Statistical Understanding of Quark and Lepton Masses in Gaussian Landscapes

The fundamental theory of nature may allow a large landscape of vacua. Even if the theory contains a unified gauge symmetry, the 22 flavor parameters of the Standard Model, including neutrino masses, may be largely determined by the statistics of this landscape, and not by any symmetry. Then the measured values of the flavor parameters do not lead to any fundamental symmetries, but are statistical accidents; their precise values do not provide any insights into the fundamental theory, rather the overall pattern of flavor reflects the underlying landscape. We investigate whether random selection from the statistics of a simple landscape can explain the broad patterns of quark, charged lepton, and neutrino masses and mixings. We propose Gaussian landscapes as simplified models of landscapes where Yukawa couplings result from overlap integrals of zero-mode wavefunctions in higher-dimensional supersymmetric gauge theories. In terms of just five free parameters, such landscapes can account for all gross features of flavor, including: the hierarchy of quark and charged lepton masses; small quark mixing angles, with 13 mixing less than 12 and 23 mixing; very light Majorana neutrino masses, with the solar to atmospheric neutrino mass ratio consistent with data; distributions for leptonic 12 and 23 mixings that are peaked at large values, while the distribution for 13 mixing is peaked at low values; and order unity CP violating phases in both the quark and lepton sectors. While the statistical distributions for flavor parameters are broad, the distributions are robust to changes in the geometry of the extra dimensions. Constraining the distributions by loose cuts about observed values leads to narrower distributions for neutrino measurements of 13 mixing, CP violation, and neutrinoless double beta decay.Comment: 86 pages, 26 figures, 2 tables, and table of content

Quark and Lepton Masses from Gaussian Landscapes

The flavor structure of the standard model (SM) might arise from random selection on a landscape. We propose a class of simple models, “Gaussian landscapes,” where Yukawa couplings derive from overlap integrals of Gaussian wave functions on extra-dimensions. Statistics of vacua are generated by scanning the peak positions of these zero-modes, giving probability distributions for all flavor observables. Gaussian landscapes can account for all observed flavor patterns with few free parameters. Although they give broad probability distributions, the predictions are correlated and accounting for measured parameters sharpens the distributions of future neutrino measurements

Neutrino mixing and mass hierarchy in Gaussian landscapes

The flavor structure of the Standard Model may arise from random selection on a landscape. In a class of simple models, called "Gaussian landscapes," Yukawa couplings derive from overlap integrals of Gaussian zero-mode wavefunctions on an extra-dimensional space. Statistics of vacua are generated by scanning the peak positions of these wavefunctions, giving probability distributions for all flavor observables. Gaussian landscapes can account for all of the major features of flavor, including both the small electroweak mixing in the quark sector and the large mixing observed in the lepton sector. We find that large lepton mixing stems directly from lepton doublets having broad wavefunctions on the internal manifold. Assuming the seesaw mechanism, we find the mass hierarchy among neutrinos is sensitive to the number of right-handed neutrinos, and can provide a good fit to neutrino oscillation measurements.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figure

Identification of a novel regulatory mechanism for the disease associated protein, uPAR

Expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs), as determined through a series of statistical association studies collectively known as genome-wide association (GWA) studies, have provided us with a hypothesis free approach for the investigation into regulatory loci for disease and disease-associated proteins. This has led to the identification of multiple novel gene-disease interactions, especially in the field of respiratory medicine. This review describes the case study of a GWA approach in order to identify eQTLs for the soluble form of the urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR), a protein associated with obstructive respiratory disease. Molecular and cellular investigations based on the eQTLs identified for this GWA study has led to the identification of a novel regulatory mechanism with implications in the disease processes with which this protein is associated. This highlights the potential of eQTLs defined associations in the identification of novel mechanisms, with implications in disease.peer-reviewe

Early Enrollment in Working Healthy: Program Features Make a Difference

Working Healthy allows persons with disabilities the opportunity to increase their earnings and assets without jeopardizing their Medicaid health insurance coverage. Working Healthy has been in operation in Kansas for almost a year now. In that time, enrollment has steadily increased and premium payers continue to constitute more than half of all enrollees. The initial accomplishments of Working Healthy are especially gratifying in the current depressed economic setting. Through their enrollment, many people with disabilities are now working more, paying taxes, and putting money into the state’s economy by virtue of having additional disposable income—all without fear of losing their health insurance coverage. However, there are a few areas of concern in its early stages that are explored in this articl

What providers and Medicaid policymakers need to know about barriers to employment for people with disabilities

Medicaid Buy-Ins provide a new and exciting opportunity for people with disabilities to engage in meaningful employment while maintaining Medicaid coverage. Through interviews with participants in the Kansas Medicaid Buy-In, we examined perceived external influences on the decision to acquire or increase employment by people with disabilities. Two major external barriers were identified. First, physicians, therapists and case workers had frequently discouraged participants from getting jobs or increasing employment levels. Difficulty accessing adequate and consistent medical care and/or medications through Medicaid was also an issue in preventing participants from being able to acquire or increase employment

Working Healthy-A Medicaid Buy-In for Kansas

While official national unemployment estimates hover between 5-7%, reported unemployment for persons with disabilities are almost ten times that, estimated at a disturbing 70% (National Organization on Disability, 2000). A significant majority of unemployed persons with disabilities want to work, but the sharp increase in persons receiving Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits in the past five years belies state and federal efforts to wean people from benefits they need to survive. To return to work for many would be to jeopardize health insurance coverage, a sig- nificantly stronger disincentive than is the promise of increased earnings. It became clear to many disability policy analysts and the disability community that even after passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), additional legislation would be needed to balance the intent of state and federal programs to assure minimal social security with the goal of increasing independence and social integration among persons with disabilities seeking work. State Medicaid programs were viewed as one vehicle for helping achieve this balance

Novel Bio-Logging Tool for Studying Fine-Scale Behaviors of Marine Turtles in Response to Sound

Increases in the spatial scale and intensity of activities that produce marine anthropogenic sound highlight the importance of understanding the impacts and effects of sound on threatened species such as marine turtles. Marine turtles detect and behaviorally respond to low-frequency sounds, however few studies have directly examined their behavioral responses to specific types or intensities of anthropogenic or natural sounds. Recent advances in the development of bio-logging tools, which combine acoustic and fine-scale movement measurements, have allowed for evaluations of animal responses to sound. Here, we describe these tools and present a case study demonstrating the potential application of a newly developed technology (ROTAG, Loggerhead Instruments, Inc.) to examine behavioral responses of freely swimming marine turtles to sound. The ROTAG incorporates a three-axis accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer to record the turtle\u27s pitch, roll, and heading; a pressure sensor to record turtle depth; a hydrophone to record the turtle\u27s received underwater acoustic sound field; a temperature gauge; and two VHF radio telemetry transmitters and antennas for tag and turtle tracking. Tags can be programmed to automatically release via a timed corrodible link several hours or days after deployment. We describe an example of the data collected with these tags and present a case study of a successful ROTAG deployment on a juvenile green turtle (Chelonia mydas) in the Paranaguá Estuary Complex, Brazil. The tag was deployed for 221 min, during which several vessels passed closely (\u3c2 km) by the turtle. The concurrent movement and acoustic data collected by the ROTAG were examined during these times to determine if the turtle responded to these anthropogenic sound sources. While fine-scale behavioral responses were not apparent (second-by-second), the turtle did appear to perform dives during which it remained still on or near the sea floor during several of the vessel passes. This case study provides proof of concept that ROTAGs can successfully be applied to free-ranging marine turtles to examine their behavioral response to sound. Finally, we discuss the broad applications that these tools have to study the fine-scale behaviors of marine turtles and highlight their use to aid in marine turtle conservation and management

Relaxed Bell inequalities and Kochen-Specker theorems

The combination of various physically plausible properties, such as no signaling, determinism, and experimental free will, is known to be incompatible with quantum correlations. Hence, these properties must be individually or jointly relaxed in any model of such correlations. The necessary degrees of relaxation are quantified here, via natural distance and information-theoretic measures. This allows quantitative comparisons between different models in terms of the resources, such as the number of bits, of randomness, communication, and/or correlation, that they require. For example, measurement dependence is a relatively strong resource for modeling singlet state correlations, with only 1/15 of one bit of correlation required between measurement settings and the underlying variable. It is shown how various 'relaxed' Bell inequalities may be obtained, which precisely specify the complementary degrees of relaxation required to model any given violation of a standard Bell inequality. The robustness of a class of Kochen-Specker theorems, to relaxation of measurement independence, is also investigated. It is shown that a theorem of Mermin remains valid unless measurement independence is relaxed by 1/3. The Conway-Kochen 'free will' theorem and a result of Hardy are less robust, failing if measurement independence is relaxed by only 6.5% and 4.5%, respectively. An appendix shows the existence of an outcome independent model is equivalent to the existence of a deterministic model.Comment: 19 pages (including 3 appendices); v3: minor clarifications, to appear in PR