952 research outputs found
Evaluation of the supplementation of a feed additive as a potential protector against the adverse effects of 2.5 ppm T-2 toxin on growing broiler chickens
The Role of Subclass Switching in the Pathogenesis of Endemic Pemphigus Foliaceus
Endemic pemphigus foliaceus, like the sporadic form seen in the developed world, is mediated by IgG antibodies to desmoglein-1. We studied an endemic focus in Limao Verde, Brazil, where disease prevalence is 3.4%. We previously detected IgG antibodies to desmoglein-1 in 97% of patients, but also in 55% of normal subjects in the endemic focus, with progressively lower levels in normal subjects in surrounding areas. An environmental trigger is hypothesized to explain these and other findings. In this study we sought to determine if patients and enzyme-linked-immunosorbent-assay-positive normal subjects in Limao Verde differ in IgG subclass response to desmoglein-1. We developed a sensitive and specific subclass enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using recombinant desmoglein-1 and standardized the assay to enable comparability between the four subclasses. We found that normal subjects have an IgG1 and IgG4 response, whereas patients have similar levels of IgG1 but a mean 19.3-fold higher IgG4 response. Patients in remission have a weak IgG4 response, and a 74.3-fold higher IgG4 response is associated with active disease. Finally, in five patients in whom we had blood samples from both before and after the onset of clinical disease, a mean 103.08-fold rise in IgG4 was associated with onset of clinical disease, but only a mean 3.45-fold rise in IgG1. These results suggest that the early antibody response in normal subjects living in the endemic area and in patients before the onset of clinical disease is mainly IgG1. Acquisition of an IgG4 response is a key step in the development of clinical disease
Generalized Brans-Dicke cosmology in the presence of matter and dark energy
We study the Generalized Brans-Dicke cosmology in the presence of matter and
dark energy. Of particular interest for a constant Brans-Dicke parameter, the
de Sitter space has also been investigated.Comment: 9 page
Flavor changing Z-decays from scalar interactions at a Giga-Z Linear Collider
The flavor changing decay Z -> d_I \bar{d}_J is investigated with special
emphasis on the b \bar{s} final state. Various models for flavor violation are
considered: two Higgs doublet models (2HDM's), supersymmetry (SUSY) with flavor
violation in the up and down-type squark mass matrices and SUSY with flavor
violation mediated by R-parity-violating interaction. We find that, within the
SUSY scenarios for flavor violation, the branching ratio for the decay Z -> b
\bar{s} can reach 10^{-6} for large \tan\beta values, while the typical size
for this branching ratio in the 2HDM's considered is about two orders of
magnitudes smaller at best. Thus, flavor changing SUSY signatures in radiative
Z decays such as Z -> b \bar{s} may be accessible to future ``Z factories''
such as a Giga-Z version of the TESLA design.Comment: 27 pages, 15 figures, REVTeX4. A new section added and a few minor
corrections were made in the tex
Gravitational Coupling and Dynamical Reduction of The Cosmological Constant
We introduce a dynamical model to reduce a large cosmological constant to a
sufficiently small value. The basic ingredient in this model is a distinction
which has been made between the two unit systems used in cosmology and particle
physics. We have used a conformal invariant gravitational model to define a
particular conformal frame in terms of large scale properties of the universe.
It is then argued that the contributions of mass scales in particle physics to
the vacuum energy density should be considered in a different conformal frame.
In this manner, a decaying mechanism is presented in which the conformal factor
appears as a dynamical field and plays a key role to relax a large effective
cosmological constant. Moreover, we argue that this model also provides a
possible explanation for the coincidence problem.Comment: To appear in GR
Solar Neutrino Masses and Mixing from Bilinear R-Parity Broken Supersymmetry: Analytical versus Numerical Results
We give an analytical calculation of solar neutrino masses and mixing at
one-loop order within bilinear R-parity breaking supersymmetry, and compare our
results to the exact numerical calculation. Our method is based on a systematic
perturbative expansion of R-parity violating vertices to leading order. We find
in general quite good agreement between approximate and full numerical
calculation, but the approximate expressions are much simpler to implement. Our
formalism works especially well for the case of the large mixing angle MSW
solution (LMA-MSW), now strongly favoured by the recent KamLAND reactor
neutrino data.Comment: 34 pages, 14 ps figs, some clarifying comments adde
Phenomenology of GUT-less Supersymmetry Breaking
We study models in which supersymmetry breaking appears at an intermediate
scale, M_{in}, below the GUT scale. We assume that the soft
supersymmetry-breaking parameters of the MSSM are universal at M_{in}, and
analyze the morphology of the constraints from cosmology and collider
experiments on the allowed regions of parameter space as M_{in} is reduced from
the GUT scale. We present separate analyses of the (m_{1/2},m_0) planes for
tan(beta)=10 and tan(beta)=50, as well as a discussion of non-zero trilinear
couplings, A_0. Specific scenarios where the gaugino and scalar masses appear
to be universal below the GUT scale have been found in mirage-mediation models,
which we also address here. We demand that the lightest neutralino be the LSP,
and that the relic neutralino density not conflict with measurements by WMAP
and other observations. At moderate values of M_{in}, we find that the allowed
regions of the (m_{1/2},m_0) plane are squeezed by the requirements of
electroweak symmetry breaking and that the lightest neutralino be the LSP,
whereas the constraint on the relic density is less severe. At very low M_{in},
the electroweak vacuum conditions become the dominant constraint, and a
secondary source of astrophysical cold dark matter would be necessary to
explain the measured relic density for nearly all values of the soft
SUSY-breaking parameters and tan(beta). We calculate the neutralino-nucleon
cross sections for viable scenarios and compare them with the present and
projected limits from direct dark matter searches.Comment: 35 pages, 9 figures; typos corrected, references adde
Search for a Higgs Boson Decaying to Weak Boson Pairs at LEP
A Higgs particle produced in association with a Z boson and decaying into
weak boson pairs is searched for in 336.4 1/pb of data collected by the L3
experiment at LEP at centre-of-mass energies from 200 to 209 GeV. Limits on the
branching fraction of the Higgs boson decay into two weak bosons as a function
of the Higgs mass are derived. These results are combined with the L3 search
for a Higgs boson decaying to photon pairs. A Higgs produced with a Standard
Model e+e- --> Zh cross section and decaying only into electroweak boson pairs
is excluded at 95% CL for a mass below 107 GeV
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