Genome Signature Difference between Deinococcus radiodurans and Thermus thermophilus

The extremely radioresistant bacteria of the genus Deinococcus and the extremely thermophilic bacteria of the genus Thermus belong to a common taxonomic group. Considering the distinct living environments of Deinococcus and Thermus, different genes would have been acquired through horizontal gene transfer after their divergence from a common ancestor. Their guanine-cytosine (GC) contents are similar; however, we hypothesized that their genomic signatures would be different. Our findings indicated that the genomes of Deinococcus radiodurans and Thermus thermophilus have different tetranucleotide frequencies. This analysis showed that the genome signature of D. radiodurans is most similar to that of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, whereas the genome signature of T. thermophilus is most similar to that of Thermanaerovibrio acidaminovorans. This difference in genome signatures may be related to the different evolutionary backgrounds of the 2 genera after their divergence from a common ancestor

Probing photon helicity in radiative B decays via charmonium resonance interference

We investigate a new method to probe the helicity of the photon emitted in the b -> s gamma transition. The method relies on the observation of interference effects between two resonance contributions, B -> K*(K gamma) gamma and B -> eta_c(gamma gamma) K or B -> chi_c0(gamma gamma) K to the same final state K gamma gamma. Decays of the type B -> K_res(K gamma) gamma dominate the B -> K gamma gamma yield throughout most of the phase space, and may be accessible at current B meson facilities already.Comment: elsart, 11 pages, 4 figures; added comments on strong phase (final version Phys. Lett. B

Detecting the neutral top-pion at e+e−e^{+}e^{-} colliders

We investigate some processes of the associated production of a neutral top-pion $\Pi^{0}_{t}$ with a pair of fermions($e^{+}e^{-}\to f\bar{f}\Pi^{0}_{t}$) in the context of top-color-assisted technicolor(TC2) theory at future $e^{+}e^{-}$ colliders. The studies show that the largest cross sections of the processes $e^{+}e^{-}\to f'\bar{f'}\Pi^{0}_{t}(f'=u,d,c,s,\mu,\tau)$ could only reach the level of 0.01fb, we can hardly detect a neutral top-pion through these processes. For the processes $e^{+}e^{-}\to e^{+}e^{-}\Pi^{0}_{t}$, $e^{+}e^{-}\to t\bar{t}\Pi^{0}_{t}$ and $e^{+}e^{-}\to b\bar{b}\Pi^{0}_{t}$, the cross sections of these processes are at the level of a few fb for the favorable parameters and a few tens, even hundreds, of neutral top-pion events can be produced at future $e^{+}e^{-}$ colliders each year through these processes. With the clean background of the flavor-changing $t\bar{c}$ channel, the top-pion events can possibly be detected at the planned high luminosity $e^{+}e^{-}$ colliders. Therefore, such neutral top-pion production processes provide a useful way to detect a neutral top-pion and test the TC2 model directly.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Ubiquitous CP violation in a top-inspired left-right model

We explore CP violation in a Left-Right Model that reproduces the quark mass and CKM rotation angle hierarchies in a relatively natural way by fixing the bidoublet Higgs VEVs to be in the ratio m_b:m_t. Our model is quite general and allows for CP to be broken by both the Higgs VEVs and the Yukawa couplings. Despite this generality, CP violation may be parameterized in terms of two basic phases. A very interesting feature of the model is that the mixing angles in the right-handed sector are found to be equal to their left-handed counterparts to a very good approximation. Furthermore, the right-handed analogue of the usual CKM phase delta_L is found to satisfy the relation delta_R \approx delta_L. The parameter space of the model is explored by using an adaptive Monte Carlo algorithm and the allowed regions in parameter space are determined by enforcing experimental constraints from the K and B systems. This method of solution allows us to evaluate the left- and right-handed CKM matrices numerically for various combinations of the two fundamental CP-odd phases in the model. We find that all experimental constraints may be satisfied with right-handed W and Flavour Changing Neutral Higgs masses as low as about 2 TeV and 7 TeV, respectively.Comment: 37 pages, 13 figure

Solar System Exploration Sciences by EQUULEUS on SLS EM-1 and Science Instruments Development Status

EQUULEUS is a spacecraft to explore the cislunar region including the Earth-Moon Lagrange point L2 (EML2) and will be launched by NASA’s SLS EM-1 rocket. Although the size of EQUULEUS is only 6U, the spacecraft carries three different science instruments. By using these instruments, the spacecraft will demonstrate three missions for solar system exploration science during and after the flight to EML2; imaging of the plasmasphere around the earth, observation of space dust flux in the cislunar region, and observation of lunar impact flashes at the far side of the moon. The developments and verifications of the flight models of these science instruments were completed by the end of 2018, and we started flight model integration and testing. This paper introduces the details of the scientific objectives, design results and development statuses of the instruments. In addition, results of the integration and pre-flight tests are also described

Higgs Boson Theory and Phenomenology

Precision electroweak data presently favors a weakly-coupled Higgs sector as the mechanism responsible for electroweak symmetry breaking. Low-energy supersymmetry provides a natural framework for weakly-coupled elementary scalars. In this review, we summarize the theoretical properties of the Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson and the Higgs sector of the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM). We then survey the phenomenology of the SM and MSSM Higgs bosons at the Tevatron, LHC and a future e+e- linear collider. We focus on the Higgs discovery potential of present and future colliders and stress the importance of precision measurements of Higgs boson properties.Comment: 90 pages, 31 figures. Revised version. To be published in Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics. This paper with higher resolution figures can be found at http://scipp.ucsc.edu/~haber/higgsreview/higgsrev.p

Phenomenology of Two Higgs Doublet Models with Flavor Changing Neutral Currents

A comprehensive phenomenological analysis of a two Higgs doublet model, with flavor changing scalar currents at the tree level, called model III, is presented. Constraints from existing experimental information especially on (Delta F)=2 processes are systematically incorporated. Constraints emerging from rare B-decays, Z-->b\bar b, and the \rho parameter are also examined. Experimental implications for e^+e^- (\mu^+\mu^-)-->t\bar c+\bar t c, t-->c\gamma(Z,g), D^0-\bar D^0, and B^0_s-\bar B^0_s oscillations, and for e^+e^-(Z)-->b\bar s+s\bar b are investigated and experimental effort towards these is stressed. We also emphasize the importance of clarifying the experimental issues pertaining to Z-->b\bar b.Comment: 32 pages, 11 Postscript figures, 14 Postscript files, uses revtex and epsf.st

RbR_b and RcR_c in the Two Higgs Doublet Model with Flavor Changing Neutral Currents

A study of $R_b$ and $R_c$ is presented in the context of a Two Higgs Doublet Model (2HDM) with flavor changing scalar currents (FCSC). Implications of the model for the $\rho$-parameter and for $b\to s\gamma$ are also considered. The experimental data on $R_b$ places stringent constraints on the model parameters. The configuration of the model needed to account for $R_b$ is found to be irreconcilable with constraints from $b\to s\gamma$ and $\rho$. In particular, if R^{\rm exp}_b>R^{\sss{\rm SM}}_b persists then this version of 2HDM will be ruled out or require significant modifications. Noting that aspects of the experimental analysis for $R_b$ and $R_c$ may be of some concern, we also disregard $R^{\rm exp}_b$ and $R^{\rm exp}_c$ and give predictions for these using constraints from $b\to s\gamma$ and $\rho$ parameter only. We emphasize the theoretical and experimental advantages of the observable R_{b+c}\equiv \Gamma(Z\to b\bar b\mbox{ or } c\bar c)/\Gamma(Z\to\mbox{hadrons}). We also stress the role of R_\ell\equiv \Gamma(Z\to\mbox{hadrons})/\Gamma(Z\to \ell^+\ell^-) in testing the Standard Model (SM) despite its dependence on QCD corrections. Noting that in models with FCNC the amplitude for $Z\to c\bar c$ receives a contribution which grows with $m^2_t$, the importance and uniqueness of precision $Z\to c\bar c$ measurements for constraining flavor changing $t\bar c$ currents is underscored.Comment: 35 pages, 5 Postscript figures, 10 Postscript files used in the tex file, uses epsf.st

An Upgraded Analysis of ϵ′/ϵ\epsilon\prime/\epsilon at the Next-to-Leading Order

An upgraded analysis of \ep, $x_d$ and \epp/\ep, using the latest determinations of the relevant experimental and theoretical parameters, is presented. Using the recent determination of the top quark mass, $m_t=(174 \pm 17)$ GeV, our best estimate is \epp/\ep= 3.1 \pm 2.5 , which lies in the range given by E731. We describe our determination of \epp/\ep and make a comparison with other similar studies. A detailed discussion of the matching of the full theory to the effective Hamiltonian, written in terms of lattice operators, is also given.Comment: LaTeX, 45 pages, 6 postscript figure

OryzaExpress: An Integrated Database of Gene Expression Networks and Omics Annotations in Rice

Similarity of gene expression profiles provides important clues for understanding the biological functions of genes, biological processes and metabolic pathways related to genes. A gene expression network (GEN) is an ideal choice to grasp such expression profile similarities among genes simultaneously. For GEN construction, the Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) has been widely used as an index to evaluate the similarities of expression profiles for gene pairs. However, calculation of PCCs for all gene pairs requires large amounts of both time and computer resources. Based on correspondence analysis, we developed a new method for GEN construction, which takes minimal time even for large-scale expression data with general computational circumstances. Moreover, our method requires no prior parameters to remove sample redundancies in the data set. Using the new method, we constructed rice GENs from large-scale microarray data stored in a public database. We then collected and integrated various principal rice omics annotations in public and distinct databases. The integrated information contains annotations of genome, transcriptome and metabolic pathways. We thus developed the integrated database OryzaExpress for browsing GENs with an interactive and graphical viewer and principal omics annotations (http://riceball.lab.nig.ac.jp/oryzaexpress/). With integration of Arabidopsis GEN data from ATTED-II, OryzaExpress also allows us to compare GENs between rice and Arabidopsis. Thus, OryzaExpress is a comprehensive rice database that exploits powerful omics approaches from all perspectives in plant science and leads to systems biology