183 research outputs found
Thermal production of ultrarelativistic right-handed neutrinos: Complete leading-order results
The thermal production of relativistic right-handed Majorana neutrinos is of
importance for models of thermal leptogenesis in the early Universe.
Right-handed neutrinos can be produced both by 1 2 decay or inverse decay
and by 2 -> 2 scattering processes. In a previous publication, we have studied
the production via 1 2 (inverse) decay processes. There we have shown that
multiple scattering mediated by soft gauge boson exchange also contributes to
the production rate at leading order, and gives a strong enhancement. Here we
complete the leading order calculation by adding 2 -> 2 scattering processes
involving either electroweak gauge bosons or third-generation quarks. We find
that processes with gauge interactions give the most important contributions.
We also obtain a new sum rule for the Hard Thermal Loop resummed fermion
propagator.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures. Error in the matrix element for the
(subdominant) subprocess with s-channel fermion exchange corrected. This
changes the corresponding phase space integral and the constant c_V.
Numerically it increases the total 2 -> 2 rate by about 2 percent and the
complete rate by about 1 percent. The main results and conclusions are
unaffecte
Tradable Pollution Permits and the Regulatory Game
This paper analyzes polluters\u27 incentives to move from a traditional command and control (CAC) environmental regulatory regime to a tradable permits (TPP) regime. Existing work in environmental economics does not model how firms contest and bargain over actual regulatory implementation in CAC regimes, and therefore fail to compare TPP regimes with any CAC regime that is actually observed. This paper models CAC environmental regulation as a bargaining game over pollution entitlements. Using a reduced form model of the regulatory contest, it shows that CAC regulatory bargaining likely generates a regulatory status quo under which firms with the highest compliance costs bargain for the smallest pollution reductions, or even no reduction at all. As for a tradable permits regime, it is shown that all firms are better off under such a regime than they would be under an idealized CAC regime that set and enforced a uniform pollution standard, but permit sellers (low compliance cost firms) may actually be better off under a TPP regime with relaxed aggregate pollution levels. Most importantly, because high cost firms (or facilities) are the most weakly regulated in the equilibrium under negotiated or bargained CAC regimes, they may be net losers in a proposed move to a TPP regime. When equilibrium costs under a TPP regime are compared with equilibrium costs under a status quo CAC regime, several otherwise paradoxical aspects of firm attitudes toward TPP type reforms can be explained. In particular, the otherwise paradoxical pattern of allowances awarded under Phase II of the 1990 Clean Air Act\u27s acid rain program, a pattern tending to favor (in Phase II) cleaner, newer generating units, is explained by the fact that under the status quo regime, a kind of bargained CAC, it was the newer cleaner units that were regulated, and which therefore had higher marginal control costs than did the largely unregulated older, plants. As a normative matter, the analysis here implies that the proper baseline for evaluating TPP regimes such as those contained in the Bush Administration\u27s recent Clear Skies initiative is not idealized, but nonexistent CAC regulatory outcomes, but rather the outcomes that have resulted from the bargaining game set up by CAC laws and regulations
Flavor Changing Neutral Currents involving Heavy Quarks with Four Generations
We study various FCNC involving heavy quarks in the Standard Model (SM) with
a sequential fourth generation. After imposing , and constraints, we find can be enhanced by an order of magnitude to ,
while decays can reach , which are orders of magnitude
higher than in SM. However,these rates are still not observable for the near
future.With the era of LHC approaching, we focus on FCNC decays involving
fourth generation and quarks. We calculate the rates for
loop induced FCNC decays , as well as
t^\prime\to tZ,\tH, tg, t\gamma. If is of order , tree level decay would dominate, posing a challenge
since -tagging is less effective. For ,
would tend to dominate, while could also open for heavier
, leading to thepossibility of quadruple- signals via . The FCNC decays could still dominate if
is just above 200 GeV. For the case of , ingeneral would be dominant, hence it behaves like a heavy top. For both and
, except for the intriguing light case, FCNC decays are in the
range, and are quite detectable at the LHC.For a possible
future ILC, we find the associated production of FCNC ,
are below sensitivity, while
and can be better probed.Tevatron Run-II can still probe the
lighter or scenario. LHC would either discover the fourth generation
and measure the FCNC rates, or rule out the fourth generation conclusively.Comment: 31 pages, 15 eps figures, version to appear in JHE
Derivation of an endogenous small RNA from double-stranded Sox4 sense and natural antisense transcripts in the mouse brain
Natural antisense transcripts (NATs) are involved in cellular development and regulatory processes. Multiple NATs at the Sox4 gene locus are spatiotemporally regulated throughout murine cerebral corticogenesis. In the study, we evaluated the potential functional role of Sox4 NATs at Sox4 gene locus. We demonstrated Sox4 sense and NATs formed dsRNA aggregates in the cytoplasm of brain cells. Over expression of Sox4 NATs in NIH/3T3 cells generally did not alter the level of Sox4 mRNA expression or protein translation. Upregulation of a Sox4 NAT known as Sox4ot1 led to the production of a novel small RNA, Sox4_sir3. Its biogenesis is Dicer1-dependent and has characteristics resemble piRNA. Expression of Sox4_sir3 was observed in the marginal and germinative zones of the developing and postnatal brains suggesting a potential role in regulating neurogenesis. We proposed that Sox4 sense-NATs serve as Dicer1-dependent templates to produce a novel endo-siRNA- or piRNA-like Sox4_sir3
Thermal production of relativistic Majorana neutrinos: Strong enhancement by multiple soft scattering
The production rate of heavy Majorana neutrinos is relevant for models of
thermal leptogenesis in the early Universe. In the high temperature limit the
production can proceed via the 1 2 (inverse) decays which are allowed by
the thermal masses. We consider new production mechanisms which are obtained by
including additional soft gauge interactions with the plasma. We show that an
arbitrary number of such interactions gives leading order contributions, and we
sum all of them. The rate turns out to be smooth in the region where the 1
2 processes are kinematically forbidden. At higher temperature it is enhanced
by a factor 3 compared to the 1 2 rate.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figures; added references, added comments on 2 to 2
scattering processes, improved appearance of fig. 8, corrected typos; matches
published versio
In depth analysis of the Sox4 gene locus that consists of sense and natural antisense transcripts
SRY (Sex Determining Region Y)-Box 4 or Sox4 is an important regulator of the pan-neuronal gene expression during post-mitotic cell differentiation within the mammalian brain. Sox4 gene locus has been previously characterized with multiple sense and overlapping natural antisense transcripts [1] and [2]. Here we provide accompanying data on various analyses performed and described in Ling et al. [2]. The data include a detail description of various features found at Sox4 gene locus, additional experimental data derived from RNA-Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (RNA-FISH), Western blotting, strand-specific reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), gain-of-function and in situ hybridization (ISH) experiments. All the additional data provided here support the existence of an endogenous small interfering- or PIWI interacting-like small RNA known as Sox4_sir3, which origin was found within the overlapping region consisting of a sense and a natural antisense transcript known as Sox4ot1
Molecular networks involved in mouse cerebral corticogenesis and spatio-temporal regulation of Sox4 and Sox11 novel antisense transcripts revealed by transcriptome profiling.
Background:
Development of the cerebral cortex requires highly specific spatio-temporal regulation of gene expression. It is proposed that transcriptome profiling of the cerebral cortex at various developmental time points or regions will reveal candidate genes and associated molecular pathways involved in cerebral corticogenesis.
Results:
Serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) libraries were constructed from C57BL/6 mouse cerebral cortices of age embryonic day (E) 15.5, E17.5, postnatal day (P) 1.5 and 4 to 6 months. Hierarchical clustering analysis of 561 differentially expressed transcripts showed regionalized, stage-specific and co-regulated expression profiles. SAGE expression profiles of 70 differentially expressed transcripts were validated using quantitative RT-PCR assays. Ingenuity pathway analyses of validated differentially expressed transcripts demonstrated that these transcripts possess distinctive functional properties related to various stages of cerebral corticogenesis and human neurological disorders. Genomic clustering analysis of the differentially expressed transcripts identified two highly transcribed genomic loci, Sox4 and Sox11, during embryonic cerebral corticogenesis. These loci feature unusual overlapping sense and antisense transcripts with alternative polyadenylation sites and differential expression. The Sox4 and Sox11 antisense transcripts were highly expressed in the brain compared to other mouse organs and are differentially expressed in both the proliferating and differentiating neural stem/progenitor cells and P19 (embryonal carcinoma) cells.
Conclusions:
We report validated gene expression profiles that have implications for understanding the associations between differentially expressed transcripts, novel targets and related disorders pertaining to cerebral corticogenesis. The study reports, for the first time, spatio-temporally regulated Sox4 and Sox11 antisense transcripts in the brain, neural stem/progenitor cells and P19 cells, suggesting they have an important role in cerebral corticogenesis and neuronal/glial cell differentiation
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