Scheme and Scale Dependence of Charm Production in Neutrino Scattering

We discuss some theoretical uncertainties in the calculation of the cross section for charm production in charged current deep inelastic neutrino scattering related to ambiguities in the treatment of terms which are singular in the limit of a vanishing charm mass. In particular we compare the so-called variable flavour scheme where these terms are absorbed in the parton distribution functions containing the charm as an active flavour, with the so-called fixed flavour scheme with no charm mass subtraction where the charm appears only in the final state of fixed-order scattering matrix elements. Using available parametrizations of parton distribution functions we find that the two schemes lead to largely differing results for separate structure functions whereas the differences cancel to a large extent in the total cross section in that kinematical region which has been measured so far.Comment: 20pages, uuencoded postscript, figures include

On parton distributions beyond the leading order

The importance of properly taking into account the factorization scheme dependence of parton distribution functions is emphasized. A serious error in the usual handling of this topic is pointed out and the correct procedure for transforming parton distribution functions from one factorisation scheme to another recalled. It is shown that the conventional $\overline{\rm {MS}}$ and DIS definitions thereof are ill-defined due to the lack of distinction between the factorisation scheme dependence of parton distribution functions and renormalisation scheme dependence of the strong coupling constant $\alpha_s$. A novel definition of parton distribution functions is suggested and its role in the construction of consistent next-to-leading order event generators briefly outlined.Comment: PRA-HEP-93/05, Latex, 10 pages and 2 Postscript figures appended at the end of this fil

Critical points for nondifferentiable functions in presence of splitting

AbstractA classical critical point theorem in presence of splitting established by Brézis–Nirenberg is extended to functionals which are the sum of a locally Lipschitz continuous term and of a convex, proper, lower semicontinuous function. The obtained result is then exploited to prove a multiplicity theorem for a family of elliptic variational–hemivariational eigenvalue problems

Light Gluinos and the Parton Structure of the Nucleon

We study the effects of light gluinos with mass below about 1 GeV on the nucleon parton densities and the running of alpha_(S). It is shown that from the available high-statistics DIS data no lower bound on the gluino mass can be derived. Also in the new kinematical region accessible at HERA the influence of such light gluinos on structure f unctions is found to be very small and difficult to detect. For use in more direct searches involving final state signatures we present a radiative estimate of the gluino distribution in the nucleon.Comment: 23 pages, LateX, 8 figures, MPI-PhT/94-22, LMU-3/9

The influence of direct DD-meson production to the determination on the nucleon strangeness asymmetry via dimuon events in neutrino experiments

Experimentally, the production of oppositely charged dimuon events by neutrino and anti-neutrino deep inelastic scattering (DIS) is used to determine the strangeness asymmetry inside a nucleon. Here we point out that the direct production of $D$-meson in DIS may make substantial influence to the measurement of nucleon strange distributions. The direct $D$-meson production is via the heavy quark recombination (HQR) and via the light quark fragmentation from perturbative QCD (LQF-P). To see the influence precisely, we compute the direct $D$-meson productions via HQR and LQF-P quantitatively and estimate their corrections to the analysis of the strangeness asymmetry. The results show that HQR has stronger effect than LQF-P does, and the former may influence the experimental determination of the nucleon strangeness asymmetry.Comment: 9 latex pages, 7 figure

A Precise Measurement of the Weak Mixing Angle in Neutrino-Nucleon Scattering

We report a precise measurement of the weak mixing angle from the ratio of neutral current to charged current inclusive cross-sections in deep-inelastic neutrino-nucleon scattering. The data were gathered at the CCFR neutrino detector in the Fermilab quadrupole-triplet neutrino beam, with neutrino energies up to 600 GeV. Using the on-shell definition, ${\rm sin ^2\theta_W} \equiv 1 - \frac{{\rm M_W} ^2}{{\rm M_Z} ^2}$, we obtain ${\rm sin ^2\theta_W} = 0.2218 \pm 0.0025 ({\rm stat.}) \pm 0.0036 ({\rm exp.\: syst.}) \pm 0.0040 ({\rm model})$.Comment: 10 pages, Nevis Preprint #1498 (Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett.

Determination of the Strange Quark Content of the Nucleon from a Next-to-Leading-Order QCD Analysis of Neutrino Charm Production

We present the first next-to-leading-order QCD analysis of neutrino charm production, using a sample of 6090 $\nu_\mu$- and $\bar\nu_\mu$-induced opposite-sign dimuon events observed in the CCFR detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. We find that the nucleon strange quark content is suppressed with respect to the non-strange sea quarks by a factor \kappa = 0.477 \: ^{+\:0.063}_{-\:0.053}, where the error includes statistical, systematic and QCD scale uncertainties. In contrast to previous leading order analyses, we find that the strange sea $x$-dependence is similar to that of the non-strange sea, and that the measured charm quark mass, $m_c = 1.70 \pm 0.19 \:{\rm GeV/c}^2$, is larger and consistent with that determined in other processes. Further analysis finds that the difference in $x$-distributions between $xs(x)$ and $x\bar s(x)$ is small. A measurement of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element $|V_{cd}|=0.232 ^{+\:0.018}_{-\:0.020}$ is also presented. uufile containing compressed postscript files of five Figures is appended at the end of the LaTeX source.Comment: Nevis R#150

Validation of a Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism-Based Non-Invasive Prenatal Test in Twin Gestations : Determination of Zygosity, Individual Fetal Sex, and Fetal Aneuploidy

We analyzed maternal plasma cell-free DNA samples from twin pregnancies in a prospective blinded study to validate a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT) for zygosity, fetal sex, and aneuploidy. Zygosity was evaluated by looking for either one or two fetal genome complements, fetal sex was evaluated by evaluating Y-chromosome loci, and aneuploidy was assessed through SNP ratios. Zygosity was correctly predicted in 100% of cases (93/93; 95% confidence interval (CI) 96.1%-100%). Individual fetal sex for both twins was also called with 100% accuracy (102/102; 95% weighted CI 95.2%-100%). All cases with copy number truth were also correctly identified. The dizygotic aneuploidy sensitivity was 100% (10/10; 95% CI 69.2%-100%), and overall specificity was 100% (96/96; 95% weighted CI, 94.8%-100%). The mean fetal fraction (FF) of monozygotic twins (n = 43) was 13.0% (standard deviation (SD), 4.5%); for dizygotic twins (n = 79), the mean lower FF was 6.5% (SD, 3.1%) and the mean higher FF was 8.1% (SD, 3.5%). We conclude SNP-based NIPT for zygosity is of value when chorionicity is uncertain or anomalies are identified. Zygosity, fetal sex, and aneuploidy are complementary evaluations that can be carried out on the same specimen as early as 9 weeks' gestation

Editorial Statement About JCCAP’s 2023 Special Issue on Informant Discrepancies in Youth Mental Health Assessments: Observations, Guidelines, and Future Directions Grounded in 60 Years of Research

Issue 1 of the 2011 Volume of the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (JCCAP) included a Special Section about the use of multi-informant approaches to measure child and adolescent (i.e., hereafter referred to collectively as “youth”) mental health (De Los Reyes, 2011). Researchers collect reports from multiple informants or sources (e.g., parent and peer, youth and teacher) to estimate a given youth’s mental health. The 2011 JCCAP Special Section focused on the most common outcome of these approaches, namely the significant discrepancies that arise when comparing estimates from any two informant’s reports (i.e., informant discrepancies). These discrepancies appear in assessments conducted across the lifespan (Achenbach, 2020). That said, JCCAP dedicated space to understanding informant discrepancies, because they have been a focus of scholarship in youth mental health for over 60 years (e.g., Achenbach et al., 1987; De Los Reyes & Kazdin, 2005; Glennon & Weisz, 1978; Kazdin et al., 1983; Kraemer et al., 2003; Lapouse & Monk, 1958; Quay et al., 1966; Richters, 1992; Rutter et al., 1970; van der Ende et al., 2012). Thus, we have a thorough understanding of the areas of research for which they reliably appear when clinically assessing youth. For instance, intervention researchers observe informant discrepancies in estimates of intervention effects within randomized controlled trials (e.g., Casey & Berman, 1985; Weisz et al., 2017). Service providers observe informant discrepancies when working with individual clients, most notably when making decisions about treatment planning (e.g., Hawley & Weisz, 2003; Hoffman & Chu, 2015). Scholars in developmental psychopathology observe these discrepancies when seeking to understand risk and protective factors linked to youth mental health concerns (e.g., Hawker & Boulton, 2000; Hou et al., 2020; Ivanova et al., 2022). Thus, the 2011 JCCAP Special Section posed a question: Might these informant discrepancies contain data relevant to understanding youth mental health? Suppose none of the work in youth mental health is immune from these discrepancies. In that case, the answer to this question strikes at the core of what we produce―from the interventions we develop and implement, to the developmental psychopathology research that informs intervention development