39 research outputs found
A Comprehensive Analysis of Electric Dipole Moment Constraints on CP-violating Phases in the MSSM
We analyze the constraints placed on individual, flavor diagonal CP-violating
phases in the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM) by
current experimental bounds on the electric dipole moments (EDMs) of the
neutron, Thallium, and Mercury atoms. We identify the four CP-violating phases
that are individually highly constrained by current EDM bounds, and we explore
how these phases and correlations among them are constrained by current EDM
limits. We also analyze the prospective implications of the next generation of
EDM experiments. We point out that all other CP-violating phases in the MSSM
are not nearly as tightly constrained by limits on the size of EDMs. We
emphasize that a rich set of phenomenological consequences is potentially
associated with these generically large EDM-allowed phases, ranging from B
physics, electroweak baryogenesis, and signals of CP-violation at the CERN
Large Hadron Collider and at future linear colliders. Our numerical study takes
into account the complete set of contributions from one- and two-loop EDMs of
the electron and quarks, one- and two-loop Chromo-EDMs of quarks, the Weinberg
3-gluon operator, and dominant 4-fermion CP-odd operator contributions,
including contributions which are both included and not included yet in the
CPsuperH2.0 package. We also introduce an open-source numerical package, 2LEDM,
which provides the complete set of two-loop electroweak diagrams contributing
to the electric dipole moments of leptons and quarks.Comment: 23 pages, 11 figures; v2: references added, minor change
A Profile Likelihood Analysis of the Constrained MSSM with Genetic Algorithms
The Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (CMSSM) is one of the
simplest and most widely-studied supersymmetric extensions to the standard
model of particle physics. Nevertheless, current data do not sufficiently
constrain the model parameters in a way completely independent of priors,
statistical measures and scanning techniques. We present a new technique for
scanning supersymmetric parameter spaces, optimised for frequentist profile
likelihood analyses and based on Genetic Algorithms. We apply this technique to
the CMSSM, taking into account existing collider and cosmological data in our
global fit. We compare our method to the MultiNest algorithm, an efficient
Bayesian technique, paying particular attention to the best-fit points and
implications for particle masses at the LHC and dark matter searches. Our
global best-fit point lies in the focus point region. We find many
high-likelihood points in both the stau co-annihilation and focus point
regions, including a previously neglected section of the co-annihilation region
at large m_0. We show that there are many high-likelihood points in the CMSSM
parameter space commonly missed by existing scanning techniques, especially at
high masses. This has a significant influence on the derived confidence regions
for parameters and observables, and can dramatically change the entire
statistical inference of such scans.Comment: 47 pages, 8 figures; Fig. 8, Table 7 and more discussions added to
Sec. 3.4.2 in response to referee's comments; accepted for publication in
JHE
Psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale Form C in a non-Western culture
Form C of the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scales (MHLC-C) was designed to investigate health-related control beliefs of persons with an existing medical condition. The aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of this instrument in a culture characterized by external control beliefs and learned helplessness—contrary to the societal context of original test development. Altogether, 374 Hungarian patients with cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes, and cardiovascular and musculoskeletal disorders were enrolled in the study. Besides the MHLC-C, instruments measuring general control beliefs, anxiety, depression, self-efficacy, and health behaviors were also administered to evaluate the validity of the scale. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analytic techniques were used to investigate the factor structure of the scale. Our results showed that the Hungarian adaptation of the instrument had a slightly different structure than the one originally hypothesized: in the present sample, a three-factor structure emerged where the items of the Doctors and the Others subscales loaded onto a single common component. Internal reliability of all three subscales was adequate (alphas between .71 and .79). Data concerning the instrument's validity were comparable with previous results from Western countries. These findings may suggest that health locus of control can be construed very similarly to Western countries even in a post-communist society—regardless of the potential differences in general control beliefs
Discovery of a Glucocorticoid Receptor (GR) Activity Signature Using Selective GR Antagonism in ER-Negative Breast Cancer
Purpose: Although high glucocorticoid receptor (GR) expression in early-stage estrogen receptor (ER)-negative breast cancer is associated with shortened relapse-free survival (RFS), how associated GR transcriptional activity contributes to aggressive breast cancer behavior is not well understood. Using potent GR antagonists and primary tumor gene expression data, we sought to identify a tumor-relevant gene signature based on GR activity that would be more predictive than GR expression alone. Experimental Design: Global gene expression and GR ChIP-sequencing were performed to identify GR-regulated genes inhibited by two chemically distinct GR antagonists, mifepristone and CORT108297. Differentially expressed genes from MDA-MB-231 cells were cross-evaluated with significantly expressed genes in GR-high versus GR-low ER-negative primary breast cancers. The resulting subset of GR-targeted genes was analyzed in two independent ER-negative breast cancer cohorts to derive and then validate the GR activity signature (GRsig). Results: Gene expression pathway analysis of glucocorticoid-regulated genes (inhibited by GR antagonism) revealed cell survival and invasion functions. GR ChIP-seq analysis demonstrated that GR antagonists decreased GR chromatin association for a subset of genes. A GRsig that comprised n = 74 GR activation-associated genes (also reversed by GR antagonists) was derived from an adjuvant chemotherapy-treated Discovery cohort and found to predict probability of relapse in a separate Validation cohort (HR = 1.9; P = 0.012). Conclusions: The GRsig discovered herein identifies highrisk ER-negative/GR-positive breast cancers most likely to relapse despite administration of adjuvant chemotherapy. Because GR antagonism can reverse expression of these genes, we propose that addition of a GR antagonist to chemotherapy may improve outcome for these high-risk patients. (C) 2018 AACR
Status of low energy SUSY models confronted with the LHC 125 GeV Higgs data
Confronted with the LHC data of a Higgs boson around 125 GeV, different
models of low energy SUSY show different behaviors: some are favored, some are
marginally survived and some are strongly disfavored or excluded. In this note
we update our previous scan over the parameter space of various low energy SUSY
models by considering the latest experimental limits like the LHCb data for
B_s->\mu^+\mu^- and the XENON 100(2012) data for dark matter-neucleon
scattering. Then we confront the predicted properties of the SM-like Higgs
boson in each model with the combined 7 TeV and 8 TeV Higgs search data of the
LHC. For a SM-like Higgs boson around 125 GeV, we have the following
observations: (i) The most favored model is the NMSSM, whose predictions about
the Higgs boson can naturally (without any fine tuning) agree with the
experimental data at 1-sigma level, better than the SM; (ii) The MSSM can fit
the LHC data quite well but suffer from some extent of fine tuning; (iii) The
nMSSM is excluded at 3-sigma level after considering all the available Higgs
data; (iv) The CMSSM is quite disfavored since it is hard to give a 125 GeV
Higgs boson mass and at the same time cannot enhance the di-photon signal rate.Comment: more comprehensive (table and figs showing chi-square added
What next for the CMSSM and the NUHM: improved prospects for superpartner and dark matter detection
Notes for genera: basal clades of Fungi (including Aphelidiomycota, Basidiobolomycota, Blastocladiomycota, Calcarisporiellomycota, Caulochytriomycota, Chytridiomycota, Entomophthoromycota, Glomeromycota, Kickxellomycota, Monoblepharomycota, Mortierellomycota, Mucoromycota, Neocallimastigomycota, Olpidiomycota, Rozellomycota and Zoopagomycota)
Compared to the higher fungi (Dikarya), taxonomic and evolutionary studies on the basal clades of fungi are fewer in number. Thus, the generic boundaries and higher ranks in the basal clades of fungi are poorly known. Recent DNA based taxonomic studies have provided reliable and accurate information. It is therefore necessary to compile all available information since basal clades genera lack updated checklists or outlines. Recently, Tedersoo et al. (MycoKeys 13:1--20, 2016) accepted Aphelidiomycota and Rozellomycota in Fungal clade. Thus, we regard both these phyla as members in Kingdom Fungi. We accept 16 phyla in basal clades viz. Aphelidiomycota, Basidiobolomycota, Blastocladiomycota, Calcarisporiellomycota, Caulochytriomycota, Chytridiomycota, Entomophthoromycota, Glomeromycota, Kickxellomycota, Monoblepharomycota, Mortierellomycota, Mucoromycota, Neocallimastigomycota, Olpidiomycota, Rozellomycota and Zoopagomycota. Thus, 611 genera in 153 families, 43 orders and 18 classes are provided with details of classification, synonyms, life modes, distribution, recent literature and genomic data. Moreover, Catenariaceae Couch is proposed to be conserved, Cladochytriales Mozl.-Standr. is emended and the family Nephridiophagaceae is introduced