288 research outputs found
Graft-versus-host disease of the skin: life and death on the epidermal edge
AbstractDespite impressive advances in the field of allogeneic hematopoietic transplantation, graft versus host disease (GVHD) remains a significant obstacle to be overcome; it would enhance the safety and efficacy of this life-saving therapy. This review provides a framework for understanding the molecular and cellular basis underlying GVHD. We propose a 3-phase model of GVHD that highlights the importance of the conditioning regimen on the recipient tissues administered prior to infusion of donor bone marrow inoculum. A novel skin explant model, designed to take into consideration the immunobiological consequences of conditioning regimens on resident host cells, is proposed to advance our understanding of GVHD and serve as a potential prognostic tool when allogeneic recipient/donor combinations are being contemplated in the clinic. Within this review, specific emphasis is placed on the importance of defining the apoptotic machinery engaged in epidermal keratinocytes triggered by both conditioning regimens, and by host resident and recruited immunocytes and soluble mediators produced at sites of injury. The review is completed with a working model for cutaneous GVHD. Although the skin is highlighted because of its accessibility for clinical observations and serial sampling opportunities, lessons learned from studies of cutaneous GVHD are likely to provide valuable insights into GVHD occurring in the gastrointestinal tract, lung, and liver. With new insights designed to better predict and prevent GVHD and novel agents designed to treat GVHD, overcoming this current impediment to successful bone marrow transplantation should become increasingly feasible
Massive-Field Approach to the Scalar Self Force in Curved Spacetime
We derive a new regularization method for the calculation of the (massless)
scalar self force in curved spacetime. In this method, the scalar self force is
expressed in terms of the difference between two retarded scalar fields: the
massless scalar field, and an auxiliary massive scalar field. This field
difference combined with a certain limiting process gives the expression for
the scalar self-force. This expression provides a new self force calculation
method.Comment: 23 pages, few modification
Mass loss by a scalar charge in an expanding universe
We study the phenomenon of mass loss by a scalar charge -- a point particle
that acts a source for a noninteracting scalar field -- in an expanding
universe. The charge is placed on comoving world lines of two cosmological
spacetimes: a de Sitter universe, and a spatially-flat, matter-dominated
universe. In both cases, we find that the particle's rest mass is not a
constant, but that it changes in response to the emission of monopole scalar
radiation by the particle. In de Sitter spacetime, the particle radiates all of
its mass within a finite proper time. In the matter-dominated cosmology, this
happens only if the charge of the particle is sufficiently large; for smaller
charges the particle first loses some of its mass, but then regains it all
eventually.Comment: 11 pages, RevTeX4, Accepted for Phys. Rev.
The Uncertainty in Newton's Constant and Precision Predictions of the Primordial Helium Abundance
The current uncertainty in Newton's constant, G_N, is of the order of 0.15%.
For values of the baryon to photon ratio consistent with both cosmic microwave
background observations and the primordial deuterium abundance, this
uncertainty in G_N corresponds to an uncertainty in the primordial 4He mass
fraction, Y_P, of +-1.3 x 10^{-4}. This uncertainty in Y_P is comparable to the
effect from the current uncertainty in the neutron lifetime, which is often
treated as the dominant uncertainty in calculations of Y_P. Recent measurements
of G_N seem to be converging within a smaller range; a reduction in the
estimated error on G_N by a factor of 10 would essentially eliminate it as a
source of uncertainty in the calculation of the primordial 4He abundance.Comment: 3 pages, no figures, fixed typos, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Approximating the inspiral of test bodies into Kerr black holes
We present a new approximate method for constructing gravitational radiation
driven inspirals of test-bodies orbiting Kerr black holes. Such orbits can be
fully described by a semi-latus rectum , an eccentricity , and an
inclination angle ; or, by an energy , an angular momentum component
, and a third constant . Our scheme uses expressions that are exact
(within an adiabatic approximation) for the rates of change (,
, ) as linear combinations of the fluxes (,
, ), but uses quadrupole-order formulae for these fluxes.
This scheme thus encodes the exact orbital dynamics, augmenting it with
approximate radiation reaction. Comparing inspiral trajectories, we find that
this approximation agrees well with numerical results for the special cases of
eccentric equatorial and circular inclined orbits, far more accurate than
corresponding weak-field formulae for (, , ). We
use this technique to study the inspiral of a test-body in inclined, eccentric
Kerr orbits. Our results should be useful tools for constructing approximate
waveforms that can be used to study data analysis problems for the future LISA
gravitational-wave observatory, in lieu of waveforms from more rigorous
techniques that are currently under development.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, submitted to PR
Branching Fractions for D0 -> K+K- and D0 -> pi+pi-, and a Search for CP Violation in D0 Decays
Using the large hadroproduced charm sample collected in experiment E791 at
Fermilab, we have measured ratios of branching fractions for the two-body
singly-Cabibbo-suppressed charged decays of the D0:
(D0 -> KK)/(D0 -> Kpi) = 0.109 +- 0.003 +- 0.003,
(D0 -> pipi)/(D0 -> Kpi) = 0.040 +- 0.002 +- 0.003, and
(D0 -> KK)/(D0 -> pipi) = 2.75 +- 0.15 +- 0.16. We have looked for
differences in the decay rates of D0 and D0bar to the CP eigenstates K+K- and
pi+pi-, and have measured the CP asymmetry parameters
A_CP(K+K-) = -0.010 +- 0.049 +- 0.012 and
A_CP(pi+pi-) = -0.049 +- 0.078 +- 0.030, both consistent with zero.Comment: 10 Postscript pages, including 2 figures. Submitted to Phys. Lett.
Search for CP Violation in Charged D Meson Decays
We report results of a search for CP violation in the singly
Cabibbo-suppressed decays D+ -> K- K+ pi+, phi pi+, K*(892)0 K+, and pi- pi+
pi+ based on data from the charm hadroproduction experiment E791 at Fermilab.
We search for a difference in the D+ and D- decay rates for each of the final
states. No evidence for a difference is seen. The decay rate asymmetry
parameters A(CP), defined as the difference in the D+ and D- decay rates
divided by the sum of the decay rates, are measured to be: A(CP)(K K pi) =
-0.014 +/- 0.029, A(CP)(phi pi) = -0.028 +/- 0.036, A(CP)(K*(892) K) = -0.010
+/- 0.050, and A(CP)(pi pi pi) = -0.017 +/- 0.042.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, 1 table; Elsevier LaTe
Search for Rare and Forbidden Dilepton Decays of the D+, Ds, and D0 Charmed Mesons
We report the results of a search for flavor-changing neutral current,
lepton-flavor violating, and lepton-number violating decays of D+, Ds, and D0
mesons (and their antiparticles) into modes containing muons and electrons.
Using data from Fermilab charm hadroproduction experiment E791, we examine the
pi,l,l and K,l,l decay modes of D+ and Ds and the l+l- decay modes of D0. No
evidence for any of these decays is found. Therefore, we present
branching-fraction upper limits at 90% confidence level for the 24 decay modes
examined. Eight of these modes have no previously reported limits, and fourteen
are reported with significant improvements over previously published results.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, LaTeX, elsart.cls, epsf.sty, amsmath.sty
Submitted to Physics Letters
Asymmetries between the production of D+ and D- mesons from 500 GeV/c pi- nucleon interactions as a function of xF and pt**2
We present asymmetries between the production of D+ and D- mesons in Fermilab
experiment E791 as a function of xF and pt**2. The data used here consist of
74,000 fully-reconstructed charmed mesons produced by a 500 GeV/c pi- beam on C
and Pt foils. The measurements are compared to results of models which predict
differences between the production of heavy-quark mesons that have a light
quark in common with the beam (leading particles) and those that do not
(non-leading particles). While the default models do not agree with our data,
we can reach agreement with one of them, PYTHIA, by making a limited number of
changes to parameters used
Measurement of the form-factor ratios for D+ --> K* l nu
The form factor ratios rv=V(0)/A1(0), r2=A2(0)/A1(0) and r3=A3(0)/A1(0) in
the decay D+ --> K* l nu, K* -->K-pi+ have been measured using data from charm
hadroproduction experiment E791 at Fermilab. From 3034 (595) signal
(background) events in the muon channel, we obtain rv=1.84+-0.11+-0.09,
r2=0.75+-0.08+-0.09 and, as a first measurement of r3, we find 0.04+-0.33
+-0.29. The values of the form factor ratios rv and r2 measured for the muon
channel are combined with the values of rv and r2 that we have measured in the
electron channel. The combined E791 results for the muon and electron channels
are rv=1.87+-0.08+-0.07 and r2=0.73+-0.06+-0.08.Comment: 9 pages + 3 figures ; submitted to PL
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