41 research outputs found
Minimal lepton flavor violating realizations of minimal seesaw models
We study the implications of the global U(1)R symmetry present in minimal
lepton flavor violating implementations of the seesaw mechanism for neutrino
masses. In the context of minimal type I seesaw scenarios with a slightly
broken U(1)R, we show that, depending on the R-charge assignments, two classes
of generic models can be identified. Models where the right-handed neutrino
masses and the lepton number breaking scale are decoupled, and models where the
parameters that slightly break the U(1)R induce a suppression in the light
neutrino mass matrix. We show that within the first class of models,
contributions of right-handed neutrinos to charged lepton flavor violating
processes are severely suppressed. Within the second class of models we study
the charged lepton flavor violating phenomenology in detail, focusing on mu to
e gamma, mu to 3e and mu to e conversion in nuclei. We show that sizable
contributions to these processes are naturally obtained for right-handed
neutrino masses at the TeV scale. We then discuss the interplay with the
effects of the right-handed neutrino interactions on primordial B - L
asymmetries, finding that sizable right-handed neutrino contributions to
charged lepton flavor violating processes are incompatible with the requirement
of generating (or even preserving preexisting) B - L asymmetries consistent
with the observed baryon asymmetry of the Universe.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures; version 2: Discussion on possible generic models
extended, typos corrected, references added. Version matches publication in
JHE
Ultraviolet Completion of Flavour Models
Effective Flavour Models do not address questions related to the nature of
the fundamental renormalisable theory at high energies. We study the
ultraviolet completion of Flavour Models, which in general has the advantage of
improving the predictivity of the effective models. In order to illustrate the
important features we provide minimal completions for two known A4 models. We
discuss the phenomenological implications of the explicit completions, such as
lepton flavour violating contributions that arise through the exchange of
messenger fields.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figure
Implications of Flavor Dynamics for Fermion Triplet Leptogenesis
We analyze the importance of flavor effects in models in which leptogenesis
proceeds via the decay of Majorana electroweak triplets. We find that depending
on the relative strengths of gauge and Yukawa reactions the asymmetry can
be sizably enhanced, exceeding in some cases an order of magnitude level. We
also discuss the impact that such effects can have for TeV-scale triplets
showing that as long as the asymmetry is produced by the dynamics of the
lightest such triplet they are negligible, but open the possibility for
scenarios in which the asymmetry is generated above the TeV scale by heavier
states, possibly surviving the TeV triplet related washouts. We investigate
these cases and show how they can be disentangled at the LHC by using Majorana
triplet collider observables and, in the case of minimal type III see-saw
models even through lepton flavor violation observables.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, extended discussion on collider phenomenology,
references added. Version matches publication in JHE
Decaying Dark Matter in Supersymmetric Model and Cosmic-Ray Observations
We study cosmic-rays in decaying dark matter scenario, assuming that the dark
matter is the lightest superparticle and it decays through a R-parity violating
operator. We calculate the fluxes of cosmic-rays from the decay of the dark
matter and those from the standard astrophysical phenomena in the same
propagation model using the GALPROP package. We reevaluate the preferred
parameters characterizing standard astrophysical cosmic-ray sources with taking
account of the effects of dark matter decay. We show that, if energetic leptons
are produced by the decay of the dark matter, the fluxes of cosmic-ray positron
and electron can be in good agreements with both PAMELA and Fermi-LAT data in
wide parameter region. It is also discussed that, in the case where sizable
number of hadrons are also produced by the decay of the dark matter, the mass
of the dark matter is constrained to be less than 200-300 GeV in order to avoid
the overproduction of anti-proton. We also show that the cosmic gamma-ray flux
can be consistent with the results of Fermi-LAT observation if the mass of the
dark matter is smaller than nearly 4 TeV.Comment: 24 pages, 5 figure
Predictors of diagnostic yield in bronchoscopy: a retrospective cohort study comparing different combinations of sampling techniques
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The reported diagnostic yield from bronchoscopies in patients with lung cancer varies greatly. The optimal combination of sampling techniques has not been finally established.</p> <p>The objectives of this study were to find the predictors of diagnostic yield in bronchoscopy and to evaluate different combinations of sampling techniques.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>All bronchoscopies performed on suspicion of lung malignancy in 2003 and 2004 were reviewed, and 363 patients with proven malignant lung disease were included in the study. Sampling techniques performed were biopsy, transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA), brushing, small volume lavage (SVL), and aspiration of fluid from the entire procedure. Logistic regression analyses were adjusted for sex, age, endobronchial visibility, localization (lobe), distance from carina, and tumor size.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The adjusted odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for a positive diagnostic yield through all procedures were 17.0 (8.5â34.0) for endobronchial lesions, and 2.6 (1.3â5.2) for constriction/compression, compared to non-visible lesions; 3.8 (1.3â10.7) for lesions > 4 cm, 6.7 (2.1â21.8) for lesions 3â4 cm, and 2.5 (0.8â7.9) for lesions 2â3 cm compared with lesions <= 2 cm. The combined diagnostic yield of biopsy and TBNA was 83.7% for endobronchial lesions and 54.2% for the combined group without visible lesions. This was superior to either technique alone, whereas additional brushing, SVL, and aspiration did not significantly increase the diagnostic yield.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In patients with malignant lung disease, visible lesions and larger tumor size were significant predictors of higher diagnostic yield, after adjustment for sex, age, distance from carina, side and lobe. The combined diagnostic yield of biopsy and TBNA was significant higher than with either technique alone.</p
Additive Anti-Tumor Effects of Lovastatin and Everolimus In Vitro through Simultaneous Inhibition of Signaling Pathways
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are creditedThis work was supported by a research grant from the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich (Förderprogramm fĂŒr Forschung und Lehre [FöFoLe], grant number 865/829)
Laparoscopy in management of appendicitis in high-, middle-, and low-income countries: a multicenter, prospective, cohort study.
BACKGROUND: Appendicitis is the most common abdominal surgical emergency worldwide. Differences between high- and low-income settings in the availability of laparoscopic appendectomy, alternative management choices, and outcomes are poorly described. The aim was to identify variation in surgical management and outcomes of appendicitis within low-, middle-, and high-Human Development Index (HDI) countries worldwide. METHODS: This is a multicenter, international prospective cohort study. Consecutive sampling of patients undergoing emergency appendectomy over 6Â months was conducted. Follow-up lasted 30Â days. RESULTS: 4546 patients from 52 countries underwent appendectomy (2499 high-, 1540 middle-, and 507 low-HDI groups). Surgical site infection (SSI) rates were higher in low-HDI (OR 2.57, 95% CI 1.33-4.99, pâ=â0.005) but not middle-HDI countries (OR 1.38, 95% CI 0.76-2.52, pâ=â0.291), compared with high-HDI countries after adjustment. A laparoscopic approach was common in high-HDI countries (1693/2499, 67.7%), but infrequent in low-HDI (41/507, 8.1%) and middle-HDI (132/1540, 8.6%) groups. After accounting for case-mix, laparoscopy was still associated with fewer overall complications (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.42-0.71, pâ<â0.001) and SSIs (OR 0.22, 95% CI 0.14-0.33, pâ<â0.001). In propensity-score matched groups within low-/middle-HDI countries, laparoscopy was still associated with fewer overall complications (OR 0.23 95% CI 0.11-0.44) and SSI (OR 0.21 95% CI 0.09-0.45). CONCLUSION: A laparoscopic approach is associated with better outcomes and availability appears to differ by country HDI. Despite the profound clinical, operational, and financial barriers to its widespread introduction, laparoscopy could significantly improve outcomes for patients in low-resource environments. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02179112