Anion emission from water molecules colliding with positive ions: Identification of binary and many-body processes

It is shown that negative ions are ejected from gas-phase water molecules when bombarded with positive ions at keV energies typical of solar-wind velocities. This finding is relevant for studies of planetary and cometary atmospheres, as well as for radiolysis and radiobiology. Emission of both H- and heavier (O- and OH-) anions, with a larger yield for H-, was observed in 6.6-keV 16O+ + H2O collisions. The ex-perimental setup allowed separate identification of anions formed in collisions with many-body dynamics from those created in hard, binary collisions. Most of the ani-ons are emitted with low kinetic energy due to many-body processes. Model calcu-lations show that both nucleus-nucleus interactions and electronic excitations con-tribute to the observed large anion emission yield.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Constraints on Four Fermion Contact Interactions from Precise Electroweak Measurements

We establish constraints on a general four-fermion contact interaction from precise measurements of electroweak parameters. We compute the one-loop contribution for the leptonic $Z$ width, anomalous magnetic, weak-magnetic, electric and weak dipole moments of leptons in order to extract bounds on the energy scale of these effective interactions.Comment: 16 pages, RevTeX, two figure

Effective-Lagrangian approach to precision measurements: the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon

We investigate the use of effective Lagrangians to describe the effects on high-precision observables of physics beyond the Standard Model. Using the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon as an example, we detail the use of effective vertices in loop calculations. We then provide estimates of the sensitivity of new experiments measuring the muon's $g - 2$ to the scale of physics underlying the Standard Model.Comment: 22 pages, 1 figure, PHYZZX & EPSF, report #s UCRHEP-T98, UM_TH-92-17, and NSF-ITP-92-122I Revision: The paper will now TeX properly; the content is unchange

Electron shakeoff following the β+ decay of trapped 35Ar+ ions

The electron shakeoff of 35Cl atoms resulting from the β+ decay of 35Ar+ ions has been investigated using a Paul trap coupled to a recoil-ion spectrometer. The charge-state distribution of the recoiling daughter nuclei is compared to theoretical calculations accounting for shakeoff and Auger processes. The calculations are in excellent agreement with the experimental results and enable one to identify the ionization reaction routes leading to the formation of all charge states.D.R. acknowledges support from the Spanish ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under the project FPA2010-14803 and the action AIC10-D000562

Uses and Abuses of Effective Lagrangians

Motivated by past and recent analyses we critically re-examine the use of effective lagrangians in the literature to constrain new physics and to determine the `physics reach' of future experiments. We demonstrate that many calculations, such as those involving anomalous trilinear gauge-boson couplings, either considerably overestimate loop-induced effects, or give ambiguous answers. The source of these problems is the use of cutoffs to evaluate the size of such operators in loop diagrams. In contrast to other critics of these loop estimates, we prove that the inclusion of nonlinearly-realized gauge invariance into the low-energy lagrangian is irrelevant to this conclusion. We use an explicit example using known multi-Higgs physics above the weak scale to underline these points. We show how to draw conclusions regarding the nature of the unknown high-energy physics without making reference to low-energy cutoffs.Comment: 36 page

Cranberry A-type proanthocyanidins selectively target acute myeloid leukemia cells

Most elderly patients affected with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) will relapse and die of their disease even after achieving complete remission, thus emphasizing the urgent need for new therapeutic approaches with minimum toxicity to normal hematopoietic cells. Cranberry (Vaccinium spp.) extracts have exhibited anticancer and chemopreventive properties that have been mostly attributed to A-type proanthocyanidin (A-PAC) compounds. A-PACs, isolated from a commercially available cranberry extract, were evaluated for their effects on leukemia cell lines, primary AML samples, and normal CD34+ cord blood specimens. Our results indicated potent and specific antileukemia activity in vitro. In addition, the antileukemia activity of A-PACs extended to malignant progenitor and stem cell populations, sparing their normal counterparts. The antileukemia effects of A-PACs were also observed in vivo using patient derived xenografts. Surprisingly, we found that the mechanism of cell death was driven by activation of NF-κB. Overall, our data suggest that A-PACs could be used to improve treatments for AML by targeting leukemia stem cells through a potentially novel pathway