1,187 research outputs found
Microbiological, histological, immunological, and toxin response to antibiotic treatment in the mouse model of Mycobacterium ulcerans disease.
Mycobacterium ulcerans infection causes a neglected tropical disease known as Buruli ulcer that is now found in poor rural areas of West Africa in numbers that sometimes exceed those reported for another significant mycobacterial disease, leprosy, caused by M. leprae. Unique among mycobacterial diseases, M. ulcerans produces a plasmid-encoded toxin called mycolactone (ML), which is the principal virulence factor and destroys fat cells in subcutaneous tissue. Disease is typically first manifested by the appearance of a nodule that eventually ulcerates and the lesions may continue to spread over limbs or occasionally the trunk. The current standard treatment is 8 weeks of daily rifampin and injections of streptomycin (RS). The treatment kills bacilli and wounds gradually heal. Whether RS treatment actually stops mycolactone production before killing bacilli has been suggested by histopathological analyses of patient lesions. Using a mouse footpad model of M. ulcerans infection where the time of infection and development of lesions can be followed in a controlled manner before and after antibiotic treatment, we have evaluated the progress of infection by assessing bacterial numbers, mycolactone production, the immune response, and lesion histopathology at regular intervals after infection and after antibiotic therapy. We found that RS treatment rapidly reduced gross lesions, bacterial numbers, and ML production as assessed by cytotoxicity assays and mass spectrometric analysis. Histopathological analysis revealed that RS treatment maintained the association of the bacilli with (or within) host cells where they were destroyed whereas lack of treatment resulted in extracellular infection, destruction of host cells, and ultimately lesion ulceration. We propose that RS treatment promotes healing in the host by blocking mycolactone production, which favors the survival of host cells, and by killing M. ulcerans bacilli
Magnetic fields in noncommutative quantum mechanics
We discuss various descriptions of a quantum particle on noncommutative space
in a (possibly non-constant) magnetic field. We have tried to present the basic
facts in a unified and synthetic manner, and to clarify the relationship
between various approaches and results that are scattered in the literature.Comment: Dedicated to the memory of Julius Wess. Work presented by F. Gieres
at the conference `Non-commutative Geometry and Physics' (Orsay, April 2007
Measurement of the ratio of branching fractions BR(B0 -> K*0 gamma)/BR(Bs0 -> phi gamma)
The ratio of branching fractions of the radiative B decays B0 -> K*0 gamma
and Bs0 -> phi gamma has been measured using 0.37 fb-1 of pp collisions at a
centre of mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, collected by the LHCb experiment. The
value obtained is BR(B0 -> K*0 gamma)/BR(Bs0 -> phi gamma) = 1.12 +/- 0.08
^{+0.06}_{-0.04} ^{+0.09}_{-0.08}, where the first uncertainty is statistical,
the second systematic and the third is associated to the ratio of fragmentation
fractions fs/fd. Using the world average for BR(B0 -> K*0 gamma) = (4.33 +/-
0.15) x 10^{-5}, the branching fraction BR(Bs0 -> phi gamma) is measured to be
(3.9 +/- 0.5) x 10^{-5}, which is the most precise measurement to date.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure, 2 table
Measurement of the CKM angle γ from a combination of B±→Dh± analyses
A combination of three LHCb measurements of the CKM angle γ is presented. The decays B±→D K± and
B±→Dπ± are used, where D denotes an admixture of D0 and D0 mesons, decaying into K+K−, π+π−, K±π∓, K±π∓π±π∓, K0Sπ+π−, or K0S K+K− final states. All measurements use a dataset corresponding to 1.0 fb−1 of integrated luminosity. Combining results from B±→D K± decays alone a best-fit value of
γ =72.0◦ is found, and confidence intervals are set
γ ∈ [56.4,86.7]◦ at 68% CL,
γ ∈ [42.6,99.6]◦ at 95% CL.
The best-fit value of γ found from a combination of results from B±→Dπ± decays alone, is γ =18.9◦,
and the confidence intervals
γ ∈ [7.4,99.2]◦ ∪ [167.9,176.4]◦ at 68% CL
are set, without constraint at 95% CL. The combination of results from B± → D K± and B± → Dπ±
decays gives a best-fit value of γ =72.6◦ and the confidence intervals
γ ∈ [55.4,82.3]◦ at 68% CL,
γ ∈ [40.2,92.7]◦ at 95% CL
are set. All values are expressed modulo 180◦, and are obtained taking into account the effect of D0–D0
mixing
Observation of resonances consistent with pentaquark states in decays
Observations of exotic structures in the channel, that we refer to
as pentaquark-charmonium states, in decays are
presented. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 3/fb
acquired with the LHCb detector from 7 and 8 TeV pp collisions. An amplitude
analysis is performed on the three-body final-state that reproduces the
two-body mass and angular distributions. To obtain a satisfactory fit of the
structures seen in the mass spectrum, it is necessary to include two
Breit-Wigner amplitudes that each describe a resonant state. The significance
of each of these resonances is more than 9 standard deviations. One has a mass
of MeV and a width of MeV, while the second
is narrower, with a mass of MeV and a width of MeV. The preferred assignments are of opposite parity, with one
state having spin 3/2 and the other 5/2.Comment: 48 pages, 18 figures including the supplementary material, v2 after
referee's comments, now 19 figure
Observation of the decay
The decay is observed in collision
data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb recorded by the
LHCb detector at centre-of-mass energies of 7 TeV and 8 TeV. This is the first
observation of this decay channel, with a statistical significance of 15
standard deviations. The mass of the meson is measured to be
MeV/c. The branching fraction ratio
is measured to be 0.0115\,\pm\, 0.0012\, ^{+0.0005}_{-0.0009}.
In both cases, the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is
systematic. No evidence for non-resonant or decays is found.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and
additional information, are available at
https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2015-033.htm
Precise measurements of the properties of the B-1(5721)(0,+) and B-2*(5747)(0,+) states and observation of B-+,B-0 pi(-,+) mass structures
Invariant mass distributions of B+π− and B0π+ combinations are investigated in order to study excited B mesons. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to 3.0 fb−1 of pp collision data, recorded by the LHCb detector at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV. Precise measurements of the masses and widths of the B1(5721)0,+ and B2(5747)0,+ states are reported. Clear enhancements, particularly prominent at high pion transverse momentum, are seen over background in the mass range 5850-6000 MeV in both B+π− and B0π+ combinations. The structures are consistent with the presence of four excited B mesons, labelled BJ (5840)0,+ and BJ (5960)0,+, whose masses and widths are obtained under different hypotheses for their quantum numbers
Amplitude analysis of decays
The first full amplitude analysis of with
, decays is performed with a data sample
of 3 fb of collision data collected at and TeV
with the LHCb detector. The data cannot be described by a model that contains
only excited kaon states decaying into , and four
structures are observed, each with significance over standard deviations.
The quantum numbers of these structures are determined with significance of at
least standard deviations. The lightest has mass consistent with, but width
much larger than, previous measurements of the claimed state. The
model includes significant contributions from a number of expected kaon
excitations, including the first observation of the
transition.Comment: 62 pages 26 figure
Study of decays to the final state and evidence for the decay
A study of decays is performed for the first time
using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0
collected by the LHCb experiment in collisions at centre-of-mass energies
of and TeV. Evidence for the decay
is reported with a significance of 4.0 standard deviations, resulting in the
measurement of
to
be .
Here denotes a branching fraction while and
are the production cross-sections for and mesons.
An indication of weak annihilation is found for the region
, with a significance of
2.4 standard deviations.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and
additional information, are available at
https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2016-022.html,
link to supplemental material inserted in the reference
Search for supersymmetry with a dominant R-parity violating LQDbar couplings in e+e- collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 130GeV to 172 GeV
A search for pair-production of supersymmetric particles under the assumption
that R-parity is violated via a dominant LQDbar coupling has been performed
using the data collected by ALEPH at centre-of-mass energies of 130-172 GeV.
The observed candidate events in the data are in agreement with the Standard
Model expectation. This result is translated into lower limits on the masses of
charginos, neutralinos, sleptons, sneutrinos and squarks. For instance, for
m_0=500 GeV/c^2 and tan(beta)=sqrt(2) charginos with masses smaller than 81
GeV/c^2 and neutralinos with masses smaller than 29 GeV/c^2 are excluded at the
95% confidence level for any generation structure of the LQDbar coupling.Comment: 32 pages, 30 figure
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