Neutrino masses and mixings in the baryon triality constrained minimal supersymmetric standard model

We discuss how the experimental neutrino oscillation data can be realized in the framework of the baryon triality ($B_3$) constrained supersymmetric Standard Model (cSSM). We show how to obtain phenomenologically viable solutions, which are compatible with the recent WMAP observations. We present results for the hierarchical, inverted and degenerate cases which illustrate the possible size and structure of the lepton number violating couplings. We work with a new, as yet unpublished version of SOFTSUSY, where we implemented full one--loop neutrino masses. Finally, we shortly discuss some phenomenological implications at the LHC.Comment: 25 pages, 17 figure

Studies on Hypoxia: XI. Long-Term Effects on the Epiphyseal Plate—A Histomeric and Radioautographic Study

Rats were exposed to hypoxia for one week. The mean thickness of epiphyseal plates from control rats was 430 micrometers (μm) which was reduced to 313 μm in hypoxic rats. Radioautographic incorporation of 3H-phenylalanine by connective tissue cells in hypoxic rats was reduced up to 38% in control rats.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66916/2/10.1177_00220345760550031301.pd

Supersymmetric Jarlskog Invariants: the Neutrino Sector

We generalize the notion of the Jarlskog invariant to supersymmetric models with right--handed neutrinos. This allows us to formulate basis--independent necessary and sufficient conditions for CP conservation in such models.Comment: 10 pages, no figure

Sequential algorithm for life threatening cardiac pathologies detection based on mean signal strength and EMD functions

Abstract Background Ventricular tachycardia (VT) and ventricular fibrillation (VF) are the most serious cardiac arrhythmias that require quick and accurate detection to save lives. Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) have been developed to recognize these severe cardiac arrhythmias using complex algorithms inside it and determine if an electric shock should in fact be delivered to reset the cardiac rhythm and restore spontaneous circulation. Improving AED safety and efficacy by devising new algorithms which can more accurately distinguish shockable from non-shockable rhythms is a requirement of the present-day because of their uses in public places. Method In this paper, we propose a sequential detection algorithm to separate these severe cardiac pathologies from other arrhythmias based on the mean absolute value of the signal, certain low-order intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) of the Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) analysis of the signal and a heart rate determination technique. First, we propose a direct waveform quantification based approach to separate VT plus VF from other arrhythmias. The quantification of the electrocardiographic waveforms is made by calculating the mean absolute value of the signal, called the mean signal strength. Then we use the IMFs, which have higher degree of similarity with the VF in comparison to VT, to separate VF from VTVF signals. At the last stage, a simple rate determination technique is used to calculate the heart rate of VT signals and the amplitude of the VF signals is measured to separate the coarse VF from VF. After these three stages of sequential detection procedure, we recognize the two components of shockable rhythms separately. Results The efficacy of the proposed algorithm has been verified and compared with other existing algorithms, e.g., HILB 1, PSR 2, SPEC 3, TCI 4, Count 5, using the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia Database, Creighton University Ventricular Tachyarrhythmia Database and MIT-BIH Malignant Ventricular Arrhythmia Database. Four quality parameters (e.g., sensitivity, specificity, positive predictivity, and accuracy) were calculated to ascertain the quality of the proposed and other comparing algorithms. Comparative results have been presented on the identification of VTVF, VF and shockable rhythms (VF + VT above 180 bpm). Conclusions The results show significantly improved performance of the proposed EMD-based novel method as compared to other reported techniques in detecting the life threatening cardiac arrhythmias from a set of large databases.</p

The Diversity of Diffuse Lyα\alpha Nebulae around Star-Forming Galaxies at High Redshift

We report the detection of diffuse Ly$\alpha$ emission, or Ly$\alpha$ halos (LAHs), around star-forming galaxies at $z\approx3.78$ and $2.66$ in the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey Bo\"otes field. Our samples consist of a total of $\sim$1400 galaxies, within two separate regions containing spectroscopically confirmed galaxy overdensities. They provide a unique opportunity to investigate how the LAH characteristics vary with host galaxy large-scale environment and physical properties. We stack Ly$\alpha$ images of different samples defined by these properties and measure their median LAH sizes by decomposing the stacked Ly$\alpha$ radial profile into a compact galaxy-like and an extended halo-like component. We find that the exponential scale-length of LAHs depends on UV continuum and Ly$\alpha$ luminosities, but not on Ly$\alpha$ equivalent widths or galaxy overdensity parameters. The full samples, which are dominated by low UV-continuum luminosity Ly$\alpha$ emitters ($M_{\rm UV} \gtrsim -21$), exhibit LAH sizes of 5$\,-\,6\,$kpc. However, the most UV- or Ly$\alpha$-luminous galaxies have more extended halos with scale-lengths of 7$\,-\,9\,$kpc. The stacked Ly$\alpha$ radial profiles decline more steeply than recent theoretical predictions that include the contributions from gravitational cooling of infalling gas and from low-level star formation in satellites. On the other hand, the LAH extent matches what one would expect for photons produced in the galaxy and then resonantly scattered by gas in an outflowing envelope. The observed trends of LAH sizes with host galaxy properties suggest that the physical conditions of the circumgalactic medium (covering fraction, HI column density, and outflow velocity) change with halo mass and/or star-formation rates.Comment: published in ApJ, minor proof corrections applie

Electroweak Contributions to Squark Pair Production at the LHC

In this paper we compute electroweak contributions to the production of squark pairs at hadron colliders. These include the exchange of electroweak gauge bosons in the s-channel as well as electroweak gaugino exchange in the t- and/or u-channel. In many cases these can interfere with the dominant QCD contributions. As a result, we find sizable contributions to the production of two SU(2) doublet squarks. At the LHC, they amount to 10 to 20% for typical mSUGRA (or CMSSM) scenarios, but in more general scenarios they can vary between -40 and +55%, depending on size and sign of the SU(2) gaugino mass. The electroweak contribution to the total squark pair production rate at the LHC is about 3.5 times smaller.Comment: 28 pages, 9 figure

The Role of Attention-Deficit/hyperactivity Disorder in the Association between Verbal Ability and Conduct Disorder

Although there is clear evidence that low verbal ability is a risk factor for conduct disorder (CD), some researchers have questioned whether this association is due to the common comorbidity between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and CD. The present study examined the association among verbal ability, ADHD, and CD in a genetically informative sample in order to examine the role of genes and/or environmental influences shared in common with ADHD on the covariation between verbal ability and CD. Participants were 2744 adolescents from the Center for Antisocial Drug Dependence (CADD), and included 360 monozygotic (MZ) female twin pairs, 221 dizygotic (DZ) female twin pairs, 297 MZ male twin pairs, 220 DZ male twin pairs, and 274 opposite-sex DZ twin pairs. The Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC-IV) was used to assess lifetime symptoms of ADHD and CD. Verbal ability was assessed via the Vocabulary subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale III (WAIS-III) for individuals over the age of 16 and the Vocabulary subtest of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children III (WISC-III) for individuals under the age of 16. There was a small but significant negative covariance between verbal ability and CD and between verbal ability and ADHD. Results also suggest that the covariation between verbal ability and CD is due to influences shared in common with ADHD