Differential Changes in Expression of Stress- and Metabolic-related Neuropeptides in the Rat Hypothalamus during Morphine Dependence and Withdrawal

Chronic morphine treatment and naloxone precipitated morphine withdrawal activates stress-related brain circuit and results in significant changes in food intake, body weight gain and energy metabolism. The present study aimed to reveal hypothalamic mechanisms underlying these effects. Adult male rats were made dependent on morphine by subcutaneous implantation of constant release drug pellets. Pair feeding revealed significantly smaller weight loss of morphine treated rats compared to placebo implanted animals whose food consumption was limited to that eaten by morphine implanted pairs. These results suggest reduced energy expenditure of morphine-treated animals. Chronic morphine exposure or pair feeding did not significantly affect hypothalamic expression of selected stress- and metabolic related neuropeptides - corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), urocortin 2 (UCN2) and proopiomelanocortin (POMC) compared to placebo implanted and pair fed animals. Naloxone precipitated morphine withdrawal resulted in a dramatic weight loss starting as early as 15-30 min after naloxone injection and increased adrenocorticotrophic hormone, prolactin and corticosterone plasma levels in morphine dependent rats. Using real-time quantitative PCR to monitor the time course of relative expression of neuropeptide mRNAs in the hypothalamus we found elevated CRH and UCN2 mRNA and dramatically reduced POMC expression. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) mRNA levels were transiently increased during opiate withdrawal. These data highlight that morphine withdrawal differentially affects expression of stress- and metabolic-related neuropeptides in the rat hypothalamus, while relative mRNA levels of these neuropeptides remain unchanged either in rats chronically treated with morphine or in their pair-fed controls

SuperB: A High-Luminosity Asymmetric e+ e- Super Flavor Factory. Conceptual Design Report.

The physics objectives of SuperB, an asymmetric electron-positron collider with a luminosity above 10^36/cm^2/s are described, together with the conceptual design of a novel low emittance design that achieves this performance with wallplug power comparable to that of the current B Factories, and an upgraded detector capable of doing the physics in the SuperB environment

Measurement of the B0 ->&#960&#8722&#8467&#957and B ->&#951(&#8242)&#8467&#957Branching Fractions, the B0 ->&#960&#8722&#8467&#957and B ->&#951&#8467&#957Form-Factor Shapes, and Determination of |Vub|

We report the results of a study of the exclusive charmless semileptonic decays, B{sup +} {yields} {eta}{sup {prime}}{ell}{sup +}{nu} and B{sup 0} {yields} {pi}{sup -}{ell}{sup +}{nu}, undertaken with approximately 464 million B{bar B} pairs collected at the {Upsilon}(4S) resonance with the BABAR detector. The analysis uses events in which the signal B decays are reconstructed with a loose neutrino reconstruction technique. We obtain partial branching fractions for B{sup +} {yields} {eta}{ell}{sup +}{nu} and B{sup 0} {yields} {pi}{sup -}{ell}{sup +}{nu} decays in three and 12 bins of q{sup 2}, respectively, from which we extract the f{sub +}(q{sup 2}) form-factor shapes and the total branching fractions {Beta}(B{sup +} {yields} {eta}{ell}{sup +}{nu}) = (0.36 {+-} 0.05{sub stat} {+-} 0.04{sub syst}) x 10{sup -4} and {Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} {pi}{sup -}{ell}{sup +}{nu}) = (1.42 {+-} 0.05{sub stat} {+-} 0.07{sub syst}) x 10{sup -4}. We also measure {Beta}(B{sup +} {yields} {eta}{sup {prime}}{ell}{sup +}{nu}) = (0.24 {+-} 0.08{sub stat} {+-} 0.03{sub syst}) x 10{sup -4}. We obtain values for the magnitude of the CKM matrix element |V{sub ub}| using three different QCD calculations

Search for CP Violation using T-odd Correlations in D+ to K+K0spi+pi- and DS+ to K+K0spi+pi- Decays

We search for CP violation in a sample of 20,000 Cabibbo-suppressed decays, D{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}K{sub S}{sup 0}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}, and 30,000 Cabibbo-favored decays, D{sub s}{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}K{sub S}{sup 0}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}. We use 520 fb{sup -1} of data recorded by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy e{sup +}e{sup -} collider operating at center of mass energies near 10.6 GeV. We search for CP violation in the difference between the T-odd asymmetries obtained using triple product correlations of the D+ (D{sub s}{sup +}) and D{sup -} (D{sub s}{sup -}) decays, respectively. The T violation parameter values obtained are {Alpha}{sub T} (D{sup +}) = (-12.0 {+-} 10.0{sub stat} {+-} 4.6{sub syst}) x 10{sup -3} and {Alpha}{sub T}(D{sub s}{sup +}) = (-13.6 {+-} 7.7{sub stat} {+-} 3.4{sub syst}) x 10{sup -3}, which are consistent with the Standard Model expectations

Search for Bbar to Lambda_c+ X l- nu Decays in Events with a Fully Reconstructed B Meson

We present a search for semileptonic B decays to the charmed baryon {Lambda}{sub c}{sup +} based on 420 fb{sup -1} of data collected at the {Upsilon}(4S) resonance with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II e{sup +}e{sup -} storage rings. By fully reconstructing the recoiling B in a hadronic decay mode, we reduce non-B backgrounds and determine the flavor of the signal B. We statistically correct the flavor for the effect of the B{sup 0} mixing. We obtain a 90% confidence level upper limit of {Beta}({bar B} {yields} {Lambda}{sub c}{sup +} X{ell}{sup -} {bar {nu}}{sub {ell}})/{Beta}({bar B} {yields} {Lambda}{sub c}{sup +} X) < 3.5%

Dalitz Analysis of Ds -> K K- pi-

We perform a Dalitz plot analysis of about 100,000 D{sub s}{sup +} decays to K{sup +}K{sup -}{pi}{sup +} and measure the complex amplitudes of the intermediate resonances which contribute to this decay mode. We also measure the relative branching fractions of D{sub s}{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}K{sup +}{pi}{sup -} and D{sub s}{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}K{sup +}K{sup -}. For this analysis we use a 384 fb{sup -1} data sample, recorded by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy e{sup +}e{sup -} collider running at center-of-mass energies near 10.58 GeV

Evidence for B+ --> tau+ nu_tau Decays using Hadronic B Tags

We present a search for the decay B{sup +} --> {tau}{sup +} {nu}{sub {tau}} using 467.8 x 10{sup 6} B{anti B} pairs collected at the {Upsilon}(4S) resonance with the BABAR detector at the SLAC PEP-II B-Factory. We select a sample of events with on completely reconstructed B{sup -} in an hadronic decay mode (B{sup -} --> D{sup (*)0}X{sup -} and B{sup -} --> J/{psi} X{sup -}). We examine the rest of the event to search for a B{sup +} --> {tau}{sup +} {nu}{sub {tau}} decay. We identify the {tau}{sup +} lepton in the following modes: {tau}{sup +} --> e{sup +} {nu}{sub e}{anti {nu}}{sub {tau}}, {tau}{sup +} --> {mu}{sup +} {nu}{sub {mu}}{anti {nu}}{sub {tau}}, {tau}{sup +} --> {pi}{sup +}{anti {nu}}{sub {tau}} and {tau}{sup +} --> {rho}{anti {nu}}{sub {tau}}. We find an excess of events with respect to expected background, which excludes the null signal hypothesis at the level of 3.3 {sigma} and can be converted to a branching fraction central value of B(B{sup +} --> {tau}{sup +} {nu}{sub {tau}})= (1.80{sup + 0.57}{sub - 0.54}(stat.) {+-} 0.26 (syst.)) x 10{sup -4}

Search for b --> u Transitions in B^{+-} --> [K^{-+} pi^{+-} pi0]_D K^{+-} Decays

The authors present a study of the decays B{sup {+-}} {yields} DK{sup {+-}} with D mesons reconstructed in the K{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup 0} or K{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup 0} final states, where D indicates a D{sup 0} or a {bar D}{sup 0} meson. Using a sample of 474 million B{bar B} pairs collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy e{sup +}e{sup -} collider at SLAC, they measure the ratios R{sup {+-}} {triple_bond} {Lambda}(B{sup {+-}}{yields}[K{sup {-+}}{pi}{sup {+-}}{pi}{sup 0}]{sub D}K{sup {+-}})/{Lambda}(B{sup {+-}}{yields}[K{sup {+-}}{pi}{sup {-+}}{pi}{sup 0}]{sub D}K{sup {+-}}). They obtain R{sup +} = (5{sub -10}{sup +12}(stat){sub -4}{sup +2}(syst)) x 10{sup -3} and R{sup -} = (12{sub -10}{sup +12}(stat){sub -5}{sup +3}(syst)) x 10{sup -3}, from which they extract the upper limits at 90% probability: R{sup +} < 23 x 10{sup -3} and R{sup -} < 29 x 10{sup -3}. Using these measurements, they obtain an upper limit for the ratio r{sub B} of the magnitudes of the b {yields} u and b {yields} c amplitudes r{sub B} < 0.13 at 90% probability

Observation of the Rare Decay B+ \to K+pi0pi0 and Measurement of the Quasi-two Body Contributions B+ \to K*(892)+pi0, B+ \to f0(980)K+ and B+ \to chic0K+

We report an analysis of charmless hadronic decays of charged B mesons to the final state K{sup +}{pi}{sup 0}{pi}{sup 0}, using a data sample of (470.9 {+-} 2.8) x 10{sup 6} B{bar B} events collected with the BABAR detector at the {Gamma}(4S) resonance. We observe an excess of signal events, with a significance above 10 standard deviations including systematic uncertainties, and measure the branching fraction and CP asymmetry to be {Beta}(B{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}{pi}{sup 0}{pi}{sup 0}) = (16.2 {+-} 1.2 {+-} 1.5) x 10{sup -6} and A{sub CP}(B{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}{pi}{sup 0}{pi}{sup 0}) = -0.06 {+-} 0.06 {+-} 0.04, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. Additionally, we study the contributions of the B{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}(892){sup +}{pi}{sup 0}, B{sup +} {yields} f{sub 0}(980)K{sup +}, and B{sup +} {yields} {chi}{sub c0}K{sup +} quasi-two-body decays. We report the world's best measurements of the branching fraction and CP asymmetry of the B{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}{pi}{sup 0}{pi}{sup 0} and B{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}(892){sup +}{pi}{sup 0} channels

Search for CP Violation in the Decay tau- \to pi- K^0_S (>= 0 pi0) nu_tau

We report a search for CP violation in the decay {tau}{sup -} {yields} {pi}{sup -}K{sub S}{sup 0}({>=} 0{pi}{sup 0}){nu}{sub {tau}} using a dataset of 437 million {tau} lepton pairs, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 476 fb{sup -1}, collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric energy e{sup +}e{sup -} storage rings. The CP-violating decay-rate asymmetry is determined to be (-0.45 {+-} 0.24 {+-} 0.11)%, approximately three standard deviations from the Standard Model prediction of (0.33 {+-} 0.01)%