53 research outputs found
Antenatal Microbial Colonization of Mammalian Gut
The widely accepted dogma of intrauterine sterility and initial colonization of the newborn during birth has been blurred by recent observations of microbial presence in meconium, placenta, and amniotic fluid. Given the importance of a maternal-derived in utero infant seeding, it is crucial to exclude potential environmental or procedural contaminations and to assess fetal colonization before parturition. To this end, we analyzed sterilely collected intestinal tissues, placenta, and amniotic fluid from rodent fetuses and tissues from autoptic human fetuses. Total bacterial DNA was extracted from collected samples and analyzed by Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) techniques using hypervariable 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) regions (V3-V4). Colonizing microbes were visualized in situ, using labeled probes targeting 16S ribosomal DNA by fluorescent in situ hybridization. The NGS analysis showed the presence of pioneer microbes in both rat and human intestines as well as in rodent placentas and amniotic fluids. Microbial communities showed fetus- and dam-dependent clustering, confirming the high interindividual variability of commensal microbiota even in the antenatal period. Fluorescent in situ hybridization analysis confirmed the microbes' presence in the lumen of the developing gut. These findings suggest a possible antenatal colonization of the developing mammalian gut
Evidence for two-quark content of in exclusive decays
Inspired by a large decay branching ratio (BR) of
measured by Belle recently, we propose that a significant evidence of the
component of in could be
demonstrated in exclusive decays by the observation of in
the final states and . We predict the BRs of to be () while
the unknown wave functions of () are chosen to fit the
observed decays of .Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Revtex4, version to appear in PR
On the Resummed Hadronic Spectra of Inclusive B Decays
In this paper we investigate the hadronic mass spectra of inclusive B decays.
Specifically, we study how an upper cut on the invariant mass spectrum, which
is necessary to extract V_{ub}, results in the breakdown of the standard
perturbative expansion due to the existence of large infrared logs. We first
show how the decay rate factorizes at the level of the double differential
distribution. Then, we present closed form expressions for the resummed cut
rate for the inclusive decays B -> X_s gamma and B -> X_u e nu at
next-to-leading order in the infrared logs. Using these results, we determine
the range of cuts for which resummation is necessary, as well as the range for
which the resummed expansion itself breaks down. We also use our results to
extract the leading and next to leading infrared log contribution to the two
loop differential rate. We find that for the phenomenologically interesting cut
values, there is only a small region where the calculation is under control.
Furthermore, the size of this region is sensitive to the parameter
\bar{\Lambda}. We discuss the viability of extracting V_{ub} from the hadronic
mass spectrum.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, minor change
Strong coupling of excited heavy mesons
We compute the strong coupling constant , where () is the wave state, by QCD sum rules and by light-cone sum rules. The two methods give
compatible results in the limit , with a rather large value of
the coupling constant. We apply the results to the calculation of the hadronic
widths of the positive parity and states and to the chiral loop
contribution to the ratio .Comment: 31 pages, RevTeX, 4 figures appended as uuencoded fil
Young and Intermediate-age Distance Indicators
Distance measurements beyond geometrical and semi-geometrical methods, rely
mainly on standard candles. As the name suggests, these objects have known
luminosities by virtue of their intrinsic proprieties and play a major role in
our understanding of modern cosmology. The main caveats associated with
standard candles are their absolute calibration, contamination of the sample
from other sources and systematic uncertainties. The absolute calibration
mainly depends on their chemical composition and age. To understand the impact
of these effects on the distance scale, it is essential to develop methods
based on different sample of standard candles. Here we review the fundamental
properties of young and intermediate-age distance indicators such as Cepheids,
Mira variables and Red Clump stars and the recent developments in their
application as distance indicators.Comment: Review article, 63 pages (28 figures), Accepted for publication in
Space Science Reviews (Chapter 3 of a special collection resulting from the
May 2016 ISSI-BJ workshop on Astronomical Distance Determination in the Space
Age
Measurement of (anti)deuteron and (anti)proton production in DIS at HERA
The first observation of (anti)deuterons in deep inelastic scattering at HERA
has been made with the ZEUS detector at a centre-of-mass energy of 300--318 GeV
using an integrated luminosity of 120 pb-1. The measurement was performed in
the central rapidity region for transverse momentum per unit of mass in the
range 0.3<p_T/M<0.7. The particle rates have been extracted and interpreted in
terms of the coalescence model. The (anti)deuteron production yield is smaller
than the (anti)proton yield by approximately three orders of magnitude,
consistent with the world measurements.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures, 5 tables, submitted to Nucl. Phys.
Anisotropy studies around the galactic centre at EeV energies with the Auger Observatory
Data from the Pierre Auger Observatory are analyzed to search for
anisotropies near the direction of the Galactic Centre at EeV energies. The
exposure of the surface array in this part of the sky is already significantly
larger than that of the fore-runner experiments. Our results do not support
previous findings of localized excesses in the AGASA and SUGAR data. We set an
upper bound on a point-like flux of cosmic rays arriving from the Galactic
Centre which excludes several scenarios predicting sources of EeV neutrons from
Sagittarius . Also the events detected simultaneously by the surface and
fluorescence detectors (the `hybrid' data set), which have better pointing
accuracy but are less numerous than those of the surface array alone, do not
show any significant localized excess from this direction.Comment: Matches published versio
Gluons and the quark sea at high energies: distributions, polarization, tomography
This report is based on a ten-week program on "Gluons and the quark sea at
high-energies", which took place at the Institute for Nuclear Theory in Seattle
in Fall 2010. The principal aim of the program was to develop and sharpen the
science case for an Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), a facility that will be able
to collide electrons and positrons with polarized protons and with light to
heavy nuclei at high energies, offering unprecedented possibilities for
in-depth studies of quantum chromodynamics. This report is organized around
four major themes: i) the spin and flavor structure of the proton, ii)
three-dimensional structure of nucleons and nuclei in momentum and
configuration space, iii) QCD matter in nuclei, and iv) Electroweak physics and
the search for physics beyond the Standard Model. Beginning with an executive
summary, the report contains tables of key measurements, chapter overviews for
each of the major scientific themes, and detailed individual contributions on
various aspects of the scientific opportunities presented by an EIC.Comment: 547 pages, A report on the joint BNL/INT/Jlab program on the science
case for an Electron-Ion Collider, September 13 to November 19, 2010,
Institute for Nuclear Theory, Seattle; v2 with minor changes, matches printed
versio
Deep inelastic inclusive and diffractive scattering at values from 25 to 320 GeV with the ZEUS forward plug calorimeter
Deep inelastic scattering and its diffractive component, , have been studied at HERA with the ZEUS
detector using an integrated luminosity of 52.4 pb. The method has
been used to extract the diffractive contribution. A wide range in the
centre-of-mass energy (37 -- 245 GeV), photon virtuality (20 -- 450
GeV) and mass (0.28 -- 35 GeV) is covered. The diffractive cross
section for GeV rises strongly with , the rise becoming
steeper as increases. The data are also presented in terms of the
diffractive structure function, , of the proton. For fixed
and fixed , \xpom F^{\rm D(3)}_2 shows a strong rise as \xpom \to
0, where \xpom is the fraction of the proton momentum carried by the
Pomeron. For Bjorken-, \xpom F^{\rm D(3)}_2 shows
positive scaling violations, while for
negative scaling violations are observed. The diffractive structure function is
compatible with being leading twist. The data show that Regge factorisation is
broken.Comment: 89 pages, 27 figure
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