ZZ--Z′Z' mixing and oblique corrections in an SU(3)×U(1){\rm SU(3) \times U(1)} model

A global fit for experiments is included in this revised version.Comment: IFP-460-UNC, TRI-PP-93-11, 20 pages, 2 figures are appende

Strong coupling, discrete symmetry and flavour

We show how two principles - strong coupling and discrete symmetry - can work together to generate the flavour structure of the Standard Model. We propose that in the UV the full theory has a discrete flavour symmetry, typically only associated with tribimaximal mixing in the neutrino sector. Hierarchies in the particle masses and mixing matrices then emerge from multiple strongly coupled sectors that break this symmetry. This allows for a realistic flavour structure, even in models built around an underlying grand unified theory. We use two different techniques to understand the strongly coupled physics: confinement in N=1 supersymmetry and the AdS/CFT correspondence. Both approaches yield equivalent results and can be represented in a clear, graphical way where the flavour symmetry is realised geometrically.Comment: 31 pages, 5 figures, updated references and figure

Study of Constrained Minimal Supersymmetry

Taking seriously phenomenological indications for supersymmetry, we have made a detailed study of unified minimal SUSY, including effects at the few percent level in a consistent fashion. We report here a general analysis without choosing a particular unification gauge group. We find that the encouraging SUSY unification results of recent years do survive the challenge of a more complete and accurate analysis. Taking into account effects at the 5-10% level leads to several improvements of previous results, and allows us to sharpen our predictions for SUSY in the light of unification. We perform a thorough study of the parameter space. The results form a well-defined basis for comparing the physics potential of different facilities. Very little of the acceptable parameter space has been excluded by LEP or FNAL so far, but a significant fraction can be covered when these accelerators are upgraded. A number of initial applications to the understanding of the SUSY spectrum, detectability of SUSY at LEP II or FNAL, BR($b\to s\gamma$), Width($Z\to b\bar b$), dark matter, etc, are included in a separate section. We formulate an approach to extracting SUSY parameters from data when superpartners are detected. For small tan(beta) or large $m_top$ both $M_half$ and $M_0$ are entirely bounded from above at O(1 tev) without having to use a fine-tuning constraint.Comment: Michigan preprint UM-TH-93-24, LaTeX, 60 pages without figures. Complete paper with inline figures available by anonymous ftp to williams.physics.lsa.umich.edu in /pub/preprints/UM-TH-93-24.ps.Z (uncompresses to 10MB / 77 pages), or by e-mailing reques

Climatic and environmental patterns associated with hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Four Corners region, United States.

To investigate climatic, spatial, temporal, and environmental patterns associated with hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) cases in the Four Corners region, we collected exposure site data for HPS cases that occurred in 1993 to 1995. Cases clustered seasonally and temporally by biome type and geographic location, and exposure sites were most often found in pinyon-juniper woodlands, grasslands, and Great Basin desert scrub lands, at elevations of 1,800 m to 2,500 m. Environmental factors (e.g., the dramatic increase in precipitation associated with the 1992 to 1993 El Niño) may indirectly increase the risk for Sin Nombre virus exposure and therefore may be of value in designing disease prevention campaigns

Top quark forward-backward asymmetry in R-parity violating supersymmetry

The interaction of bottom squark-mediated top quark pair production, occurring in the R-parity violating minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM), is proposed as an explanation of the anomalously large $t\bar{t}$ forward-backward asymmetry (FBA) observed at the Tevatron. We find that this model can give a good fit to top quark data, both the inclusive and invariant mass-dependent asymmetries, while remaining consistent (at the 2-$\sigma$ level) with the total and differential production cross-sections. The scenario is challenged by strong constraints from atomic parity violation (APV), but we point out an extra diagram for the effective down quark-Z vertex, involving the same coupling constant as required for the FBA, which tends to weaken the APV constraint, and which can nullify it for reasonable values of the top squark masses and mixing angle. Large contributions to flavor-changing neutral currents can be avoided if only the third generation of sparticles is light.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures. v3: included LHC top production cross section data; model still consistent at 2 sigma leve

Low energy theorems and the unitarity bounds in the extra U(1) superstring inspired E6 models

The conventional method using low energy theorems [3] does not seem to lead to an explicit unitarity limit in the scattering processes of longitudinally polarized gauge bosons for the high energy case in the extra U(1) superstring inspired models, commonly known as eta model, emanating from E6 group of superstring theory. We have made use of an alternative procedure given in [14], which is applicable to SUSY GUT. Explicit unitarity bounds on the Yukawa couplings are obtained from both using unitarity constraints as well as using RGE analysis at one-loop level utilizing critical couplings concepts implying divergence of scalar coupling at MG. These are found to be consistent with finiteness over the entire range MZ<=sqrt(s)<=MG. For completeness, the similar approach has been made use of in other models, i.e., chi, psi, and nu models emanating from E6 and it has been noticed that at weak scale, the unitarity bounds on Yukawa couplings do not differ among E6 extra U(1) models significantly except for the case of chi model in 16 representations. Theoretically we have obtained the upper bounds on top quark and lightest neutral higgs boson mass using the unitarity constrained superpotential couplings and also obtained the D-quark mass as a function of MZ2 is O(3 TeV) for MZ2 is O(1 TeV). The obtained bounds on these physical parameters are found consistent with the present day experimental precision measurements.Comment: 57 Pages, 13 Tables, 7 Figs.; PACS: 12.10.Dm, 12.60.Cn; http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRD/v72/e09501

Search for a Fourth-Generation Quark More Massive than the Z0 Boson in ppbar Collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.8 TeV

We present the results of a search for pair production of a fourth-generation charge -1/3 quark (b') in sqrt(s)=1.8 TeV ppbar collisions using 88 pb^(-1) of data obtained with the Collider Detector at Fermilab. We assume that both quarks decay via the flavor-changing neutral current process b' -> bZ and that the b' mass is greater than m_Z + m_b. We studied the decay mode b'b'bar -> ZZ b bbar where one Z0 decays into e^+e^- or mu^+ mu^- and the other decays hadronically, giving a signature of two leptons plus jets. An upper limit on the cross section of ppbar -> b'b'bar times [BR (b' -> bZ)]^2 is established as a function of the b' mass. We exclude at 95% confidence level a b' quark with mass between 100 and 199 GeV/c^2 for BR(b' -> bZ) = 100%.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Letters on 9/12/9

A phase II trial of the vitamin D analogue Seocalcitol (EB1089) in patients with inoperable pancreatic cancer

Inoperable cancer of the exocrine pancreas responds poorly to most conventional anti-cancer agents, and new agents are required to palliate this disease. Seocalcitol (EB1089), a vitamin D analogue, can inhibit growth, induce differentiation and induce apoptosis of cancer cell lines in vitro and can also inhibit growth of pancreatic cancer xenografts in vivo. Thirty-six patients with advanced pancreatic cancer received once daily oral treatment with seocalcitol with dose escalation every 2 weeks until hypercalcaemia occurred, following which patients continued with maintenance therapy. The most frequent toxicity was the anticipated dose-dependent hypercalcaemia, with most patients tolerating a dose of 10–15 μg per day in chronic administration. Fourteen patients completed at least 8 weeks of treatment and were evaluable for efficacy, whereas 22 patients were withdrawn prior to completing 8 weeks' treatment and in 20 of these patients withdrawal was due to clinical deterioration as a result of disease progression. No objective responses were observed, with five of 14 patients having stable disease in whom the duration of stable disease was 82–532 days (median=168 days). The time to treatment failure (n=36) ranged from 22 to 847 days, and with a median survival of approximately 100 days. Seocalcitol is well tolerated in pancreatic cancer but has no objective anti-tumour activity in advanced disease. Further studies are necessary to determine if this agent has any cytostatic activity in this malignancy in minimal disease states

The use of antibiotic-loaded bone cement and systemic antibiotic prophylactic use in 2,971,357 primary total knee arthroplasties from 2010 to 2020: an international register-based observational study among countries in Africa, Europe, North America, and Oceania.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Antibiotic-loaded bone cement (ALBC) and systemic antibiotic prophylaxis (SAP) have been used to reduce periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) rates. We investigated the use of ALBC and SAP in primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA). PATIENTS AND METHODS This observational study is based on 2,971,357 primary TKAs reported in 2010-2020 to national/regional joint arthroplasty registries in Australia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the USA. Aggregate-level data on trends and types of bone cement, antibiotic agents, and doses and duration of SAP used was extracted from participating registries. RESULTS ALBC was used in 77% of the TKAs with variation ranging from 100% in Norway to 31% in the USA. Palacos R+G was the most common (62%) ALBC type used. The primary antibiotic used in ALBC was gentamicin (94%). Use of ALBC in combination with SAP was common practice (77%). Cefazolin was the most common (32%) SAP agent. The doses and duration of SAP used varied from one single preoperative dosage as standard practice in Bolzano, Italy (98%) to 1-day 4 doses in Norway (83% of the 40,709 TKAs reported to the Norwegian arthroplasty register). CONCLUSION The proportion of ALBC usage in primary TKA varies internationally, with gentamicin being the most common antibiotic. ALBC in combination with SAP was common practice, with cefazolin the most common SAP agent. The type of ALBC and type, dose, and duration of SAP varied among participating countries