Revisiting B_s\to\mu^+\mu^- and B\to K^{(*)}\mu^+\mu^- decays in the MSSM with and without R-parity

The rare decays B_s -> \mu^+\mu^- and B -> K^{(*)}\mu^+\mu^- are sensitive to new particles and couplings via their interferences with the standard model contributions. Recently, the upper bound on B(B_s -> \mu^+\mu^-) has been improved significantly by the CMS, LHCb, CDF, and D{\O} experiments. Combining with the measurements of B(B-> K^{(*)}\mu^+\mu^-), we derive constraints on the relevant parameters of minimal supersymmetic standard model with and without R-parity, and examine their contributions to the dimuon forward-backward asymmetry in B-> K^{*}\mu^+\mu^- decay. We find that (i) the contribution of R-parity violating coupling products \lambda^{\prime}_{2i2}\lambda^{\prime*}_{2i3} due to squark exchange is comparable with the theoretical uncertainties in B-> K \mu^+\mu^- decay, but still could be significant in B-> K^{*}\mu^+\mu^- decay and could account for the forward-backward asymmetry in all dimuon invariant mass regions; (ii) the constrained mass insertion (\delta^{u}_{LL})_{23} could have significant contribution to dA_{FB}(B-> K^{*}\mu^+\mu^-)/ds, and such effects are favored by thr recent results of the Belle, CDF, and LHCb experiments.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, published versio

How University Departmens respond to the Rise of Academic Entrepreneurship? The Pasteur's Quadrant Explanation

This paper examines how universities can develop a new organizational structure to cope with the rise of academic entrepreneurship. By deploying the Pasteurian quadrant framework, knowledge creation and knowledge utilization in universities are measured. The relationships between university antecedents, Pasteurian orientation, and research performance are analyzed. A survey of university administrators and faculty members collected 634 responses from faculty members in 99 departments among 6 universities. The findings indicate that university antecedents of strategic flexibility and balancing commitment contribute to a greater Pasteurian orientation in university departments. The higher degree of Pasteurian orientation has significantly positive impacts on the performance both of knowledge creation and knowledge utilization. Moreover, the Pasteurian orientation acts as a mediator between university antecedents and research performance. Using cluster analysis, the departments are categorized into four groups. The differences between university- and department- factors in these four groups are examined and discussed. We conclude that not all university departments should move toward the Pasteurian group, and there are specific organizational and disciplinary factors resulting in mobility barriers among groups. Policies to encourage academic entrepreneurship should consider these mobility barriers, along with this new governance of science.Academic entrepreneurship, Pasteur’s quadrant, research excellence, research commercialization

Chemoradiation for Olfactory Neuroblastoma

AbstractOlfactory neuroblastoma is a rare intranasal tumor, and the standard treatment for this disease remains controversial. Some clinicians contend that a combination of surgery and radiotherapy is the most efficacious approach, which frequently has a good prognosis. Chemotherapy is often reserved for those patients with tumor recurrence and distant metastasis. Regarding such metastasis, it is well-known that cervical metastasis indicates poor prognosis. We presented a 36-year-old woman who was diagnosed with a neuroblastoma with neck lymph node metastasis who did not undergo surgery. We treated her with chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiation, and the result showed good response without sequela. We also reviewed the literature regarding the chemotherapy of olfactory neuroblastoma. In conclusion, olfactory neuroblastoma is highly sensitive to chemotherapy. However, long-term surveillanceof patients should be maintained in the event of local recurrence and distant metastasis

Effect of Baicalin on inflammatory mediator levels and microcirculation disturbance in rats with severe acute pancreatitis

Objective: To investigate the effect of Bacailin on inflammatory mediator levels and microcirculation disturbance in severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) rats and explore its therapeutic mechanism on this disease. Methods: SAP model rats were randomly divided into model control group and Baicalin treated group, 45 rats in each group. The same number of normal rats were included in sham-operated group. These groups were further subdivided into 3 h, 6 h and 12 h subgroups, respectively (15 rats in each subgroup). At 3, 6 and 12 hours after operation, rats were killed to conduct the following experiments: (1) to examine the mortality rates of rats, the ascites volume and pancreatic pathological changes in each group; (2) to determine the contents of amylase, PLA~2~, TXB~2~, PGE~2~, PAF and IL-1[beta]; in blood as well as the changes in blood viscosity.Results: (1) Compared to model control group, treatment with Baicalin is able to improve the pathological damage of the pancreas, lower the contents of amylase and multiple inflammatory mediators in blood, decrease the amount of ascitic fluid and reduce the mortality rates of SAP rats; (2) at 3 hours after operation, the low-shear whole blood viscosity in Baicalin treated group was significantly lower than that in model control group;at 12 hours after operation, both the high-shear and low-shear whole blood viscosity in Baicalin treated group were also significantly lower than those in model control group.Conclusion: Baicalin, as a new drug, has good prospects in the treatment of SAP since it can exert therapeutic effects on this disease through inhibiting the production of inflammatory mediators, lowering blood viscosity, improving microcirculation and mitigating the pathological damage of the pancreas

Proteomic Analysis of Anticancer TCMs Targeted at Mitochondria

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a rich resource of anticancer drugs. Increasing bioactive natural compounds extracted from TCMs are known to exert significant antitumor effects, but the action mechanisms of TCMs are far from clear. Proteomics, a powerful platform to comprehensively profile drug-regulated proteins, has been widely applied to the mechanistic investigation of TCMs and the identification of drug targets. In this paper, we discuss several bioactive TCM products including terpenoids, flavonoids, and glycosides that were extensively investigated by proteomics to illustrate their antitumor mechanisms in various cancers. Interestingly, many of these natural compounds isolated from TCMs mostly exert their tumor-suppressing functions by specifically targeting mitochondria in cancer cells. These TCM components induce the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, the release of cytochrome c, and the accumulation of ROS, initiating apoptosis cascade signaling. Proteomics provides systematic views that help to understand the molecular mechanisms of the TCM in tumor cells; it bears the inherent limitations in uncovering the drug-protein interactions, however. Subcellular fractionation may be coupled with proteomics to capture and identify target proteins in mitochondria-enriched lysates. Furthermore, translating mRNA analysis, a new technology profiling the drug-regulated genes in translatome level, may be integrated into the systematic investigation, revealing global information valuable for understanding the action mechanism of TCMs

Probe R-parity Violating Supersymmetry Effects in B→K(∗)ℓ+ℓ−B\to K^{(*)}\ell^+\ell^- and Bs→ℓ+ℓ−B_s\to \ell^+\ell^- Decays

We study the decays $B\to K^{(*)}\ell^+\ell^-$ and $B_s\to \ell^+\ell^- (\ell=e,\mu)$ in the minimal supersymmetric standard model with R-parity violation (RPV). From the recent measurements of their branching ratios, we have derived new upper bounds on the relevant RPV coupling products, which are stronger than the existing ones. Using the constrained parameter space, we predict the RPV effects on the forward-backward asymmetries ${\mathcal A}_{FB}(B\to K^{(*)}\ell^+\ell^-)$ and the branching ratios ${\mathcal B}(B_s\to \ell^{+}\ell^{-})$. Our results of the forward-backward asymmetries agree with the recent experiment data. It is also found that $\mathcal{B}(B_s\to \ell^+\ell^-)$ could be enhanced several orders by the RPV sneutrino exchange. The RPV effects on the dilepton invariant mass spectra of $B\to K^{(*)}\ell^+\ell^-$ and the normalized ${\mathcal A}_{FB}(B\to K^{(*)}\ell^+\ell^-)$ are studied in detail. Our results could be used to probe RPV effects and will correlate with searches for direct RPV signals at LHC.Comment: 27 pages, 9 figures. Typos corrected and references adde