308 research outputs found
Vacuum replicas in two-dimensional QCD
Two-dimensional QCD is studied from the point of view of existence of
multiple chirally noninvariant solutions to the mass-gap equation. The
ground-state solution is reproduced and an infinite set of replica solutions is
discovered for this equation using the WKB quantisation procedure.Comment: LaTeX2e, 9 pages, 1 Postscript figure, uses epsfig.sty, to appear in
Phys.Lett.
Inflation with Non-minimal Gravitational Couplings and Supergravity
We explore in the supergravity context the possibility that a Higgs scalar
may drive inflation via a non-minimal coupling to gravity characterised by a
large dimensionless coupling constant. We find that this scenario is not
compatible with the MSSM, but that adding a singlet field (NMSSM, or a variant
thereof) can very naturally give rise to slow-roll inflation. The inflaton is
necessarily contained in the doublet Higgs sector and occurs in the D-flat
direction of the two Higgs doublets.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figur
The thermal coupling constant and the gap equation in the model
By the concurrent use of two different resummation methods, the composite
operator formalism and the Dyson-Schwinger equation, we re-examinate the
behavior at finite temperature of the O(N)-symmetric model in
a generic D-dimensional Euclidean space. In the cases D=3 and D=4, an analysis
of the thermal behavior of the renormalized squared mass and coupling constant
are done for all temperatures. It results that the thermal renormalized squared
mass is positive and increases monotonically with the temperature. The behavior
of the thermal coupling constant is quite different in odd or even dimensional
space. In D=3, the thermal coupling constant decreases up to a minimum value
diferent from zero and then grows up monotonically as the temperature
increases. In the case D=4, it is found that the thermal renormalized coupling
constant tends in the high temperature limit to a constant asymptotic value.
Also for general D-dimensional Euclidean space, we are able to obtain a formula
for the critical temperature of the second order phase transition. This formula
agrees with previous known values at D=3 and D=4.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figure
Heavy Quark Expansion and Preasymptotic Corrections to Decay Widths in the 't Hooft Model
We address nonperturbative power corrections to inclusive decay widths of
heavy flavor hadrons in the context of the 't Hooft model (two-dimensional QCD
at N_c->oo), with the emphasis on the spectator-dependent effects sensitive to
the flavor of the spectator. The summation of exclusive widths is performed
analytically using the `t Hooft equation. We show that the 1/m_Q expansion of
both the Weak Annihilation and Pauli Interference widths coincides with the OPE
predictions, to the computed orders. Violation of local duality in the
inclusive widths is quantified, and the new example is identified where the OPE
prediction and the actual effect are completely saturated by a single final
state. The qualitative aspects of quark hadronization emerging from the
analysis in the 't Hooft model are discussed. Certain aspects of summation of
spectator-independent hadronic weak decay widths are given in more detail,
which were not spelled out previously. We also give some useful details of the
1/m_Q expansion in the 't~Hooft model.Comment: 54 pages, 8 figures in the text. Version to be published in Phys.
Rev. D. A number of typos are corrected and relevant references added.
Clarifications in Conclusions, Appendices 2.1 and 3 are adde
The Conformal Sector of F-theory GUTs
D3-brane probes of exceptional Yukawa points in F-theory GUTs are natural
hidden sectors for particle phenomenology. We find that coupling the probe to
the MSSM yields a new class of N = 1 conformal fixed points with computable
infrared R-charges. Quite surprisingly, we find that the MSSM only weakly mixes
with the strongly coupled sector in the sense that the MSSM fields pick up
small exactly computable anomalous dimensions. Additionally, we find that
although the states of the probe sector transform as complete GUT multiplets,
their coupling to Standard Model fields leads to a calculable threshold
correction to the running of the visible sector gauge couplings which improves
precision unification. We also briefly consider scenarios in which SUSY is
broken in the hidden sector. This leads to a gauge mediated spectrum for the
gauginos and first two superpartner generations, with additional contributions
to the third generation superpartners and Higgs sector.Comment: v2: 51 pages, 2 figures, remark added, typos correcte
Bethe-Salpeter Approach for Unitarized Chiral Perturbation Theory
The Bethe-Salpeter equation restores exact elastic unitarity in the
channel by summing up an infinite set of chiral loops. We use this equation to
show how a chiral expansion can be undertaken in the two particle irreducible
amplitude and the propagators accomplishing exact elastic unitarity at any
step. Renormalizability of the amplitudes can be achieved by allowing for an
infinite set of counter-terms as it is the case in ordinary Chiral Perturbation
Theory. Crossing constraints can be imposed on the parameters to a given order.
Within this framework, we calculate the leading and next-to-leading
contributions to the elastic scattering amplitudes, for all isospin
channels, and to the vector and scalar pion form factors in several
renormalization schemes. A satisfactory description of amplitudes and form
factors is obtained. In this latter case, Watson's theorem is automatically
satisfied. From such studies we obtain a quite accurate determination of some
of the ChPT low energy parameters ({\bar l}_1 - {\bar l}_2 =
-6.1\er{0.1}{0.3} and ). We also compare the two
loop piece of our amplitudes to recent two--loop calculations.Comment: 63 pages, 9 figures. Some discussions on off-shell ambiguities and
convergence of the expansion adde
Cisplatin neurotoxicity in the treatment of metastatic germ cell tumour: time course and prognosis
In order to ascertain the incidence and prognosis of cisplatin-induced neurotoxicity in testis cancer patients undergoing combination chemotherapy, 29 patients with metastatic disease were studied prospectively. Assessments included enquiry into neurological symptoms, measurement of sural nerve sensory action potential and conduction velocity, and vibration threshold in the left big toe. At the end of chemotherapy (3 to 4 cycles) only 3 out of 26 (11%) patients had paraesthesiae, but 3 months later the proportion rose to 65%. Resolution occurred in the majority over the ensuing 12 months so that only 17% had persistent symptoms. None of the 11 patients treated with 3 cycles of chemotherapy had persisting symptoms. Vibration thresholds showed a significant deterioration during chemotherapy (P = 0.032), further deterioration in the 3 months following chemotherapy (P = 0.009) and significant improvement between 3 and 12 months after chemotherapy (P = 0.038). Sural nerve sensory action potentials and conduction velocities were unhelpful.© 2001 Cancer Research Campaignhttp://www.bjcancer.co
MSSM in view of PAMELA and Fermi-LAT
We take the MSSM as a complete theory of low energy phenomena, including
neutrino masses and mixings. This immediately implies that the gravitino is the
only possible dark matter candidate. We study the implications of the
astrophysical experiments such as PAMELA and Fermi-LAT, on this scenario. The
theory can account for both the realistic neutrino masses and mixings, and the
PAMELA data as long as the slepton masses lie in the TeV range. The
squarks can be either light or heavy, depending on their contribution to
radiative neutrino masses. On the other hand, the Fermi-LAT data imply heavy
superpartners, all out of LHC reach, simply on the grounds of the energy scale
involved, for the gravitino must weigh more than 2 TeV. The perturbativity of
the theory also implies an upper bound on its mass, approximately TeV.Comment: Published version, figures update
Placental transfer of anti-group B Streptococcus immunoglobulin G antibody subclasses from HIV-infected and uninfected women to their uninfected infants.
OBJECTIVES: Placental antibody transfer is impaired in the context of HIV infection, which may render HIV-exposed, uninfected infants vulnerable to group B Streptococcus (GBS) disease. The GBS antibody response predominately consists of immunoglobulin G2 (IgG2) antibody. Thus we determined whether concentration and placental transfer of anti-GBS antibody subclasses was altered in HIV-infected compared with HIV-uninfected mothers. DESIGN: A retrospective analysis of anti-GBS antibody subclasses in 38 HIV-infected and 33 HIV-uninfected mothers and their uninfected infants. METHODS: Sera were analysed using a novel flow cytometric assay that quantified binding of IgG1, IgG2, IgG3 and IgG4 to serotype (ST)Ia, STIII and STV GBS bacteria. RESULTS: IgG2 binding to GBS STIa and V was lower in HIV-infected women compared with HIV-uninfected women. Moreover, IgG2 binding to GBS STIa was also lower in HIV-exposed, uninfected infants compared with unexposed infants. However, there were no statistically significant differences in the transplacental transfer ratio of IgG2 for any GBS serotype. The transplacental transfer of total IgG was reduced for GBS STIII and V and IgG1 subclass for STIII; placental transfer of all other subclasses was comparable in HIV-affected and HIV-unaffected pregnancies. CONCLUSION: Anti-GBS IgG2 placental transfer is not affected by HIV infection. This is important for functional antibody against the capsular polysaccharide of GBS and provides confidence that maternal GBS vaccination may result in functional activity in HIV-infected and uninfected women
Absence of microsatellite instability and BRAF (V600E) mutation in testicular germ cell tumors
Testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) are the most common malignant neoplasm in young men. DNA mismatch repair deficiency can lead to microsatellite instability (MSI), an important mechanism of genetic instability. A mutation of the BRAF gene has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several solid tumors and has recently become an important therapeutic target. The role of MSI and BRAF gene mutation in TGCT, particularly in refractory disease, is poorly understood and reported findings are controversial. In this study, we aimed to determine the frequency and clinical impact of MSI status and BRAF mutations in TGCT. DNA was isolated from formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue from 150 TGCT cases. The MSI phenotype was evaluated using multiplex PCR for five quasimonomorphic mononucleotide repeat markers. Exon 15 of the BRAF oncogene (V600E) was analyzed by PCR, followed by direct sequencing. Sixteen percent of cases were considered to have refractory disease. In a small subset of cases (17 for MSI and 18 for BRAF), the quantity and quality of DNA recovery were poor and therefore, were unable to be analyzed. The remaining 133 TGCT cases showed a complete absence of MSI. Of the 132 cases successfully evaluated for BRAF mutations, all were V600E wild-type. In conclusion, despite a distinct response of testicular germ cell tumors to therapy, microsatellite instability, and the BRAF V600E mutation were absent in all testicular germ cell tumors tested in this study.This project was financially supported by Barretos Cancer Hospital internal research funds (PAIP). The authors acknowledge Dr. Laura Musselwhite for her critical review of the manuscript
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