Discovery Potential for New Phenomena

We examine the ability of future facilities to discover and interpret non-supersymmetric new phenomena. We first explore explicit manifestations of new physics, including extended gauge sectors, leptoquarks, exotic fermions, and technicolor models. We then take a more general approach where new physics only reveals itself through the existence of effective interactions at lower energy scales. [Summary Report of the New Phenomena Working Group. To appear in the Proceedings of the 1996 DPF/DPB Summer Study on New Directions for High Energy Physics - Snowmass96, Snowmass, CO, 25 June - 12 July 1996.]Comment: 18 pages, LaTex2

Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin Levels Are Inversely Associated With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in HIV-Infected and -Uninfected Men.

BackgroundNonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a leading cause of liver disease worldwide. Elevated sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) levels have been observed in the setting of HIV and may protect against some metabolic disorders. We aimed to investigate whether higher SHBG levels may protect against NAFLD in men with/without HIV.MethodsNAFLD was assessed using noncontrast computed tomography in 530 men in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) who drank <3 alcoholic drinks/d and were uninfected with chronic hepatitis C or B (340HIV+, 190HIV-). Morning serum samples were tested for SHBG, total testosterone (TT), and adiponectin. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess associations between HIV, SHBG, TT, adiponectin, and NAFLD.ResultsMedian SHBG was highest among HIV+/NAFLD- men and lowest among HIV-/NAFLD+ men. Adjusted for demographics, HIV, visceral adiposity, HOMA-IR, TT, and PNPLA3 genotype, higher SHBG was associated with lower odds of NAFLD (odds ratio [OR], 0.52 per doubling; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.34-0.80). In separate multivariable models without SHBG, HIV (OR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.26-0.79) and higher adiponectin (OR, 0.66 per doubling; 95% CI, 0.49-0.89) were associated with lower NAFLD odds, whereas TT was not significantly associated (OR, 0.74 per doubling; 95% CI, 0.53-1.04). Adjusting for SHBG attenuated the associations of HIV (OR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.34-1.08) and adiponectin (OR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.54-1.02) with NAFLD.ConclusionsSHBG levels were higher among HIV+ men, were independently associated with lower NAFLD, and could partially explain the associations of HIV and higher adiponectin with lower NAFLD in our cohort. These findings suggest that SHBG may protect against NAFLD, supporting further prospective and mechanistic studies

Landing Gear Components Noise Study - PIV and Hot-Wire Measurements

PIV and hot-wire measurements of the wake flow from rods and bars are presented. The test models include rods of different diameters and cross sections and a rod juxtaposed to a plate. The latter is representative of the latch door that is attached to an aircraft landing gear when the gear is deployed, while the single and multiple rod configurations tested are representative of some of the various struts and cables configuration present on an aircraft landing gear. The test set up is described and the flow measurements are presented. The effect of model surface treatment and freestream turbulence on the spanwise coherence of the vortex shedding is studied for several rod and bar configurations

Leucine Rich α-2 Glycoprotein: A Novel Neutrophil Granule Protein and Modulator of Myelopoiesis

Leucine-rich α2 glycoprotein (LRG1), a serum protein produced by hepatocytes, has been implicated in angiogenesis and tumor promotion. Our laboratory previously reported the expression of LRG1 in murine myeloid cell lines undergoing neutrophilic granulocyte differentiation. However, the presence of LRG1 in primary human neutrophils and a role for LRG1 in regulation of hematopoiesis have not been previously described. Here we show that LRG1 is packaged into the granule compartment of human neutrophils and secreted upon neutrophil activation to modulate the microenvironment. Using immunofluorescence microscopy and direct biochemical measurements, we demonstrate that LRG1 is present in the peroxidase-negative granules of human neutrophils. Exocytosis assays indicate that LRG1 is differentially glycosylated in neutrophils, and co-released with the secondary granule protein lactoferrin. Like LRG1 purified from human serum, LRG1 secreted from activated neutrophils also binds cytochrome c. We also show that LRG1 antagonizes the inhibitory effects of TGFβ1 on colony growth of human CD34+ cells and myeloid progenitors. Collectively, these data invoke an additional role for neutrophils in innate immunity that has not previously been reported, and suggest a novel mechanism whereby neutrophils may modulate the microenvironment via extracellular release of LRG1

The very bright SCUBA galaxy count: looking for SCUBA galaxies with the Mexican Hat Wavelet

We present the results of a search for bright high-redshift galaxies in two large SCUBA scan-maps of Galactic regions. A Mexican Hat Wavelet technique was used to locate point sources in these maps, which suffer high foreground contamination as well as typical scan-map noise signatures. A catalogue of point source objects was selected and observed again in the submillimetre continuum, and in HCO+ (3->2) at zero redshift to rule out Galactic sources. No extragalactic sources were found. Simulations show that the survey was sensitive to sources with fluxes > 50 mJy, depending on the local background. These simulations result in upper limits on the 850-micron counts of SCUBA galaxies of 53 per square degree at 50 mJy and 2.9 per square degree at 100 mJy.Comment: Accepted by MNRA

Acceleressence: Dark Energy from a Phase Transition at the Seesaw Scale

Simple models are constructed for "acceleressence" dark energy: the latent heat of a phase transition occurring in a hidden sector governed by the seesaw mass scale v^2/M_Pl, where v is the electroweak scale and M_Pl the gravitational mass scale. In our models, the seesaw scale is stabilized by supersymmetry, implying that the LHC must discover superpartners with a spectrum that reflects a low scale of fundamental supersymmetry breaking. Newtonian gravity may be modified by effects arising from the exchange of fields in the acceleressence sector whose Compton wavelengths are typically of order the millimeter scale. There are two classes of models. In the first class the universe is presently in a metastable vacuum and will continue to inflate until tunneling processes eventually induce a first order transition. In the simplest such model, the range of the new force is bounded to be larger than 25 microns in the absence of fine-tuning of parameters, and for couplings of order unity it is expected to be \approx 100 microns. In the second class of models thermal effects maintain the present vacuum energy of the universe, but on further cooling, the universe will "soon" smoothly relax to a matter dominated era. In this case, the range of the new force is also expected to be of order the millimeter scale or larger, although its strength is uncertain. A firm prediction of this class of models is the existence of additional energy density in radiation at the eV era, which can potentially be probed in precision measurements of the cosmic microwave background. An interesting possibility is that the transition towards a matter dominated era has occurred in the very recent past, with the consequence that the universe is currently decelerating.Comment: 10 pages, references adde

3D simulations of linearized scalar fields in Kerr spacetime

We investigate the behavior of a dynamical scalar field on a fixed Kerr background in Kerr-Schild coordinates using a 3+1 dimensional spectral evolution code, and we measure the power-law tail decay that occurs at late times. We compare evolutions of initial data proportional to f(r) Y_lm(theta,phi) where Y_lm is a spherical harmonic and (r,theta,phi) are Kerr-Schild coordinates, to that of initial data proportional to f(r_BL) Y_lm(theta_BL,phi), where (r_BL,theta_BL) are Boyer-Lindquist coordinates. We find that although these two cases are initially almost identical, the evolution can be quite different at intermediate times; however, at late times the power-law decay rates are equal.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, revtex4. Major revision: added figures, added subsection on convergence, clarified discussion. To appear in Phys Rev

The Politics of Environmental Dispute Resolution

Also PCMA Working Paper #17.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/51148/1/380.pd