Influence of Light and Heavy Thresholds on SUSY Unification

In this paper we study and compare susy unification using two different approaches in order to take into account the effect of light particle thresholds on the evolution of gauge couplings: the step--function approximation, on the one hand, and a mass dependent procedure, which gives a more accurate description of the dependence of the results on the masses, on the other. We also include the effect of heavy thresholds, when $SU(5)$ is chosen as the unifying group. We find that the mass--dependent procedure excludes scenarios where all susy masses are below $1\;TeV$, and favors a value of $\alpha_3(m_Z)$ near its upper experimental bound, contrary to the results obtained with the step--function approximation. We underline the dependence of the results on the procedure chosen to deal with light thresholds.Comment: 18 pages,LAEFF-93/014,REVTEX-2.1, 5 figures not included, available upon request (include FAX number)

Novel Approach to Confront Electroweak Data and Theory

A novel approach to study electroweak physics at one-loop level in generic ${\rm SU(2)_L \times U(1)_Y}$ theories is introduced. It separates the 1-loop corrections into two pieces: process specific ones from vertex and box contributions, and universal ones from contributions to the gauge boson propagators. The latter are parametrized in terms of four effective form factors $\bar{e}^2(q^2)$, $\bar{s}^2(q^2)$, $\bar{g}_Z^2(q^2)$ and $\bar{g}_W^2 (q^2)$ corresponding to the $\gamma\gamma$, $\gamma Z$, $ZZ$ and $WW$ propagators. Under the assumption that only the Standard Model contributes to the process specific corrections, the magnitudes of the four form factors are determined at $q^2=0$ and at q^2=\mmz by fitting to all available precision experiments. These values are then compared systematically with predictions of ${\rm SU(2)_L \times U(1)_Y}$ theories. In all fits \alpha_s(\mz) and \bar{\alpha}(\mmz) are treated as external parameters in order to keep the interpretation as flexible as possible. The treatment of the electroweak data is presented in detail together with the relevant theoretical formulae used to interpret the data. No deviation from the Standard Model has been identified. Ranges of the top quark and Higgs boson masses are derived as functions of \alpha_s(\mz) and \bar{\alpha}(\mmz). Also discussed are consequences of the recent precision measurement of the left-right asymmetry at SLC as well as the impact of a top quark mass and an improved $W$ mass measurement.Comment: 123 pages, LaTeX (33 figures available via anonymous ftp), KEK-TH-375, KEK preprint 93-159, KANAZAWA-94-19, DESY 94-002, YUMS 94-22, SNUTP 94-82, to be published in Z.Phys.

Subjects Agree to Participate in Environmental Health Studies without Fully Comprehending the Associated Risk

Recent advances in environmental health research have greatly improved our ability to measure and quantify how individuals are exposed. These advances, however, bring bioethical uncertainties and potential risks that individuals should be aware of before consenting to participate. This study assessed how well participants from two environmental health studies comprehended consent form material. After signing the consent form, participants were asked to complete a comprehension assessment tool. The tool measured whether participants could recognize or recall six elements of the consent form they had just reviewed. Additional data were collected to look for differences in comprehension by gender, age, race, and the time spent reading the original consent form. Seventy-three participants completed a comprehension assessment tool. Scores ranged from 1.91 to 6.00 (mean = 4.66); only three people had perfect comprehension scores. Among the least comprehended material were questions on study-related risks. Overall, 53% of participants were not aware of two or more study-related risks. As environmental public health studies pose uncertainties and potential risks, researchers need to do more to assess participants’ understanding before assuming that individuals have given their ‘informed’ consent

Muscle structural assembly and functional consequences.

The relationship between muscle structure and function has been a matter of investigation since the Renaissance period. Extensive use of anatomical dissections and the introduction of the scientific method enabled early scholars to lay the foundations of muscle physiology and biomechanics. Progression of knowledge in these disciplines led to the current understanding that muscle architecture, together with muscle fibre contractile properties, has a major influence on muscle mechanical properties. Recently, advances in laser diffraction, optical microendoscopy and ultrasonography have enabled in vivo investigations into the behaviour of human muscle fascicles and sarcomeres with varying joint angle and muscle contraction intensity. With these technologies it has become possible to identify the length region over which fascicles and sarcomeres develop maximum isometric force in vivo as well as the operating ranges of fascicles and sarcomeres during real-life activities such as walking. Also, greater insights into the remodelling of muscle architecture in response to overloading and unloading, and in ageing, have been obtained by the use of ultrasonography; these have led to the identification of clinical biomarkers of disuse atrophy and sarcopenia. Recent evidence also shows that the pattern of muscle hypertrophy in response to chronic loading is contraction-mode dependent (eccentric versus concentric), as similar gains in muscle mass, but through differing addition of sarcomeres in series and in parallel (as indirectly inferred from changes in fascicle length and pennation angle), have been found. These innovative observations prompted a new set of investigations into the molecular mechanisms regulating this contraction-specific muscle growth

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Social Impact Assessment: A Sourcebook for Highway Planners. Volume II \u2013 A Review of Empirical Studies

P.O. 3-1-1541The seven volume Sourcebook describes the social impacts associated with the planning, design, construction, and operation of highway projects and discusses procedures and techniques available for the assessment of these impacts. Included in the Sourcebook are a number of case study assessments along with descriptions of specific assessment techniques such as obtrusive and unobtrusive forms of surveying and observation. This volume takes a critical look at social impact studies done prior to 1975

Studies in environment.

"Grant no. 801473, program element no. 1HA098.""Project Officers: Samuel Ratick, John Gerba, Environmental Studies Division, Washington Environmental Research Center.""December 1973."Includes bibliographical references (pages 67-112).Mode of access: Internet