Z-prime Gauge Bosons at the Tevatron

We study the discovery potential of the Tevatron for a Z-prime gauge boson. We introduce a parametrization of the Z-prime signal which provides a convenient bridge between collider searches and specific Z-prime models. The cross section for p pbar -> Z-prime X -> l^+ l^- X depends primarily on the Z-prime mass and the Z-prime decay branching fraction into leptons times the average square coupling to up and down quarks. If the quark and lepton masses are generated as in the standard model, then the Z-prime bosons accessible at the Tevatron must couple to fermions proportionally to a linear combination of baryon and lepton numbers in order to avoid the limits on Z--Z-prime mixing. More generally, we present several families of U(1) extensions of the standard model that include as special cases many of the Z-prime models discussed in the literature. Typically, the CDF and D0 experiments are expected to probe Z-prime-fermion couplings down to 0.1 for Z-prime masses in the 500--800 GeV range, which in various models would substantially improve the limits set by the LEP experiments.Comment: 34 pages, 13 figure

Attitudes toward and experiences of gender issues among physician teachers: A survey study conducted at a university teaching hospital in Sweden

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Gender issues are important to address during medical education, however research about the implementation of gender in medical curricula reports that there are obstacles. The aim of this study was to explore physician teachers' attitudes to gender issues.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>As part of a questionnaire, physician teachers at Umeå University in Sweden were given open-ended questions about explanations for and asked to write examples why they found gender important or not. The 1 469 comments from the 243 respondents (78 women, 165 men) were analyzed by way of content analysis. The proportion of comments made by men and women in each category was compared.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found three themes in our analysis: Understandings of gender, problems connected with gender and approaches to gender. Gender was associated with differences between women and men regarding behaviour and disease, as well as with inequality of life conditions. Problems connected with gender included: delicate situations involving investigations of intimate body parts or sexual attraction, different expectations on male and female physicians and students, and difficulty fully understanding the experience of people of the opposite sex. The three approaches to gender that appeared in the comments were: 1) avoidance, implying that the importance of gender in professional relationships was recognized but minimized by comparing gender with aspects, such as personality and neutrality; 2) simplification, implying that gender related problems were easy to address, or already solved; and 3) awareness, implying that the respondent was interested in gender issues or had some insights in research about gender. Only a few individuals described gender as an area of competence and knowledge. There were comments from men and women in all categories, but there were differences in the relative weight for some categories. For example, recognizing gender inequities was more pronounced in the comments from women and avoidance more common in comments from men.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The surveyed physician teachers gave many examples of gender-related problems in medical work and education, but comments describing gender as an area of competence and knowledge were few. Approaches to gender characterized by avoidance and simplification suggest that faculty development programs on gender need to address and reflect on attitudes as well as knowledge.</p

Decreased exposure to sunitinib due to concomitant administration of ifosfamide: results of a phase I and pharmacokinetic study on the combination of sunitinib and ifosfamide in patients with advanced solid malignancies

Background:This study aimed to define the maximally tolerated dose (MTD) of sunitinib combined with two different infusion schedules of ifosfamide. Methods:Patients with advanced solid tumours, good performance score, good organ function, and no standard therapy available were eligible. Continuous once daily sunitinib, in escalating doses per cohort, was combined with ifosfamide, 9 g m-2 for 3 days or 6 g m-2 for 5 days, administered every 3 weeks. Pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) assessments were performed. Results:With growth-factor support, the MTD of sunitinib combined with either ifosfamide schedule was 12.5 mg in 32 patients enrolled. Neutropenia-related adverse events were dose-limiting toxicities. Sunitinib did not affect ifosfamide PK. Ifosfamide significantly decreased exposure to sunitinib and increased exposure to its metabolite, SU12662. No consistent changes in PD parameters were observed. Conclusion:With growth-factor support, the MTD of sunitinib with both ifosfamide schedules was 12.5 mg. Ifosfamide produced decreased sunitinib blood levels because of CYP3A induction. As PK interactions cannot explain the relatively low sunitinib doses that can be combined with ifosfamide, synergy in toxicity is likely. Whether this also holds true for anti-tumour activity needs to be further explored.British Journal of Cancer advance online publication, 18 May 2010; doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6605696 www.bjcancer.com

An OPR3-independent pathway uses 4,5-didehydrojasmonate for jasmonate synthesis.

Biosynthesis of the phytohormone jasmonoyl-isoleucine (JA-Ile) requires reduction of the JA precursor 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid (OPDA) by OPDA reductase 3 (OPR3). Previous analyses of the opr3-1 Arabidopsis mutant suggested an OPDA signaling role independent of JA-Ile and its receptor COI1; however, this hypothesis has been challenged because opr3-1 is a conditional allele not completely impaired in JA-Ile biosynthesis. To clarify the role of OPR3 and OPDA in JA-independent defenses, we isolated and characterized a loss-of-function opr3-3 allele. Strikingly, opr3-3 plants remained resistant to necrotrophic pathogens and insect feeding, and activated COI1-dependent JA-mediated gene expression. Analysis of OPDA derivatives identified 4,5-didehydro-JA in wounded wild-type and opr3-3 plants. OPR2 was found to reduce 4,5-didehydro-JA to JA, explaining the accumulation of JA-Ile and activation of JA-Ile-responses in opr3-3 mutants. Our results demonstrate that in the absence of OPR3, OPDA enters the β-oxidation pathway to produce 4,5-ddh-JA as a direct precursor of JA and JA-Ile, thus identifying an OPR3-independent pathway for JA biosynthesis

High-precision QCD at hadron colliders: electroweak gauge boson rapidity distributions at NNLO

We compute the rapidity distributions of W and Z bosons produced at the Tevatron and the LHC through next-to-next-to leading order in QCD. Our results demonstrate remarkable stability with respect to variations of the factorization and renormalization scales for all values of rapidity accessible in current and future experiments. These processes are therefore ``gold-plated'': current theoretical knowledge yields QCD predictions accurate to better than one percent. These results strengthen the proposal to use W and Z production to determine parton-parton luminosities and constrain parton distribution functions at the LHC. For example, LHC data should easily be able to distinguish the central parton distribution fit obtained by MRST from that obtained by Alekhin.Comment: 47 pages, 17 figures. Minor typos, 1 reference correcte

QCD and Yukawa corrections to single-top-quark production via q qbar -> t bbar

We calculate the O(alpha_s) and O(alpha_W m_t^2/M_W^2) corrections to the production of a single top quark via the weak process q qbar -> t bbar at the Fermilab Tevatron and the CERN Large Hadron Collider. An accurate calculation of the cross section is necessary in order to extract |V_tb| from experiment.Comment: LaTeX, 13 pages, replaced with version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Correction Factors for Reactions involving Quark-Antiquark Annihilation or Production

In reactions with $q \bar q$ production or $q\bar q$ annihilation, initial- and final-state interactions give rise to large corrections to the lowest-order cross sections. We evaluate the correction factor first for low relative kinetic energies by studying the distortion of the relative wave function. We then follow the procedure of Schwinger to interpolate this result with the well-known perturbative QCD vertex correction factors at high energies, to obtain an explicit semi-empirical correction factor applicable to the whole range of energies. The correction factor predicts an enhancement for $q\bar q$ in color-singlet states and a suppression for color-octet states, the effect increasing as the relative velocity decreases. Consequences on dilepton production in the quark-gluon plasma, the Drell-Yan process, and heavy quark production processes are discussed.Comment: 25 pages (REVTeX), includes 2 uuencoded compressed postscript figure

One-loop corrections to the Drell--Yan process in SANC (II). The neutral current case

Radiative corrections to the neutral current Drell--Yan-like processes are considered. Complete one-loop electroweak corrections are calculated within the SANC system. Theoretical uncertainties are discussed. Numerical results are presented for typical conditions of LHC experiments.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, 3 table

h→μτh\to \mu\tau at Hadron Colliders

We study the observability for a lepton flavor-changing decay of a Higgs boson $h\to \mu\tau$ at hadron colliders. Flavor-changing couplings of a Higgs boson exist at tree level in models with multiple Higgs doublets. The $h\mu\tau$ coupling is particularly motivated by the favorable intepretation of $\nu_\mu-\nu_\tau$ oscillation. We find that at the Tevatron Run II the unique $\mu\tau$ signature could serve as the Higgs discovery channel, surpassing expectations for Higgs boson searches in the SM and in a large parameter region of the MSSM. The sensitivity will be greatly improved at the LHC, beyond the coverage at a muon collider Higgs factory.Comment: Version to appear in PR