Revelations of the E_6/U(1)_N Model: Two-Loop Neutrino Mass and Dark Matter

The E_6/U(1)_N gauge extension of the Supersymmetric Standard Model, first proposed by Ma, is shown to have exactly the requisite ingredients to realize the important new idea that dark matter is the origin of neutrino mass. With the implementation of a discrete Z_2 X Z_2 symmetry, and particle content given by three {27} representations of E_6, neutrino masses are naturally generated in two loops, with candidates of dark matter in the loops. All particles of this model are expected to be at or below the TeV scale, allowing them to be observable at the LHC.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Neutral SU(2) Gauge Extension of the Standard Model and a Vector-Boson Dark-Matter Candidate

If the standard model of particle interactions is extended to include a neutral SU(2)_N gauge factor, with SU(3)_C x SU(2)_L x U(1)_Y x SU(2)_N embedded in E_6 or [SU(3)]^3, a conserved generalized R parity may appear. As a result, we have the first example of a possible dark-matter candidate X_1 which is a non-Abelain vector boson. Using current data, its mass is predicted to be less than about 1 TeV. The associated Z' of this model, as well as some signatures of the Higgs sector, should then be observable at the LHC (Large Hadron Collider).Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure; version accepted in PL

Z_3 Dark Matter and Two-Loop Neutrino Mass

Dark matter is usually distinguished from ordinary matter by an odd-even parity, i.e. the discrete symmetry Z_2. The new idea of Z_3 dark matter is proposed with a special application to generating radiative Majorana neutrino masses in two-loop order.Comment: expanded (9 pages, 2 figures), 2 references adde

Cold Dark Matter, Radiative Neutrino Mass, mu to e gamma, and Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay

Two of the most important and pressing questions in cosmology and particle physics are: (1) What is the nature of cold dark matter? and (2) Will near-future experiments on neutrinoless double beta decay be able to ascertain that the neutrino is a Majorana particle, i.e. its own antiparticle? We show that these two seemingly unrelated issues are intimately connected if neutrinos acquire mass only because of their interactions with dark matter.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Associations of Daily Eating Episodes, and Eating Away-from-home with Blood Level of Total Cholesterol

The objective of this investigation is to describe the associations of number of eating episodes and proportion of meals eaten away from home with total serum cholesterol. Data from 499 participants, recruited from a health maintenance organization in central Massachusetts, aged 20-70, were used for this analysis. Dietary information and total blood cholesterol were obtained at five sampling points (baseline and four consecutive quarters) during the one-year follow-up. A cross-sectional study was conducted. The results from the study do not support the hypothesis that the number of eating episodes per day is associated with total blood cholesterol. However, we noted that the mean concentration of total cholesterol decreased with increasing number of eating episodes among women, although the adjusted mean among three categories of number of eating episodes per day was not statistically significant. On the other hand, the results of our study suggest that increased frequency of meals (breakfast, lunch, or dinner) eaten away from home is positively associated with mean total blood cholesterol concentration. Furthermore, meals eaten away from home, especially breakfast and dinner, were significantly higher in total calories, and percent calories from total and saturated fat, but lower in percent calories from protein and carbohydrate, and grams of fiber, than corresponding meals eaten at home. We conclude that eating out may have adverse influences on blood lipids. Further research is needed to better understand the impact of eating away from home on blood lipids

Pure Leptonic Gauge Symmetry, Neutrino Masses and Dark Matter

A possible extension of the Standard Model to include lepton number as local gauge symmetry is investigated. In such a model, anomalies are canceled by two extra fermions doublet. After leptonic gauge symmetry spontaneously broken, three active neutrinos may acquire non-zero Majorana masses through the modified Type-II seesaw mechanism. Constraints on the model from electro-weak precision measurements are studied. Due to the $Z_2$ discrete flavor symmetry, right-handed Majorana neutrinos can serve as cold dark matter candidate of the Universe. Constraint from dark matter relic abundance is calculated.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures; typos corrected, comments and references added, to appear in Phys. Lett.

Accidental stability of dark matter

We propose that dark matter is stable as a consequence of an accidental Z2 that results from a flavour-symmetry group which is the double-cover group of the symmetry group of one of the regular geometric solids. Although model-dependent, the phenomenology resembles that of a generic Higgs portal dark matter scheme.Comment: 12 pages, final version, published in JHE

Ecology of Sleeping: The Microbial and Arthropod Associates of Chimpanzee Beds

The indoor environment created by the construction of homes and other buildings is often considered to be uniquely different from other environments. It is composed of organisms that are less diverse than those of the outdoors and strongly sourced by, or dependent upon, human bodies. Yet, no one has ever compared the composition of species found in contemporary human homes to that of other structures built by mammals, including those of non-human primates. Here we consider the microbes and arthropods found in chimpanzee beds, relative to the surrounding environment (n = 41 and 15 beds, respectively). Based on the study of human homes, we hypothesized that the microbes found in chimpanzee beds would be less diverse than those on nearby branches and leaves and that their beds would be primarily composed of body-associated organisms. However, we found that differences between wet and dry seasons and elevation above sea level explained nearly all of the observed variation in microbial diversity and community structure. While we can identify the presence of a chimpanzee based on the assemblage of bacteria, the dominant signal is that of environmental microbes. We found just four ectoparasitic arthropod specimens, none of which appears to be specialized on chimpanzees or their structures. These results suggest that the life to which chimpanzees are exposed while in their beds is predominately the same as that of the surrounding environment

Increased Sensitivity to Mirror Symmetry in Autism

Can autistic people see the forest for the trees? Ongoing uncertainty about the integrity and role of global processing in autism gives special importance to the question of how autistic individuals group local stimulus attributes into meaningful spatial patterns. We investigated visual grouping in autism by measuring sensitivity to mirror symmetry, a highly-salient perceptual image attribute preceding object recognition. Autistic and non-autistic individuals were asked to detect mirror symmetry oriented along vertical, oblique, and horizontal axes. Both groups performed best when the axis was vertical, but across all randomly-presented axis orientations, autistics were significantly more sensitive to symmetry than non-autistics. We suggest that under some circumstances, autistic individuals can take advantage of parallel access to local and global information. In other words, autistics may sometimes see the forest and the trees, and may therefore extract from noisy environments genuine regularities which elude non-autistic observers

Neutrino Masses, Dark Matter and B-L Symmetry at the LHC

We establish a hybrid seesaw mechanism to explain small neutrino masses and predict cold dark matter candidate in the context of the B-L gauge symmetry extension of the Standard Model. In this model a new scalar doublet and two new fermion singlets are introduced at loop-level beyond the minimal Type I seesaw. The lightest particle inside the loop can be dark matter candidate. We study in detail the constraints from neutrino oscillation data, lepton flavor violating processes and cosmological observation. We also explore the predictions of the decays of the new charged scalars in each spectrum of neutrino masses and show the most optimistic scenarios to distinguish the spectra. We consider the pair production of the stable fermion associated with two observable SM charged leptons at the LHC, which occurs in a two-step cascade decay of the new gauge boson Z' and the new charged scalars stand as intermediate particles. The masses of missing dark matter and its parent particle can be well-determined in such production topology.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures and 2 tables, revised version accepted for publication in Nucl. Phys.