Standard Model Electroweak Measurements at LEP

The current status of electroweak physics results from LEP is reviewed. Particular emphasis is placed on the latest results on the properties of the Z and W bosons. The updated status of the global electroweak fit to the standard model and the resulting standard model Higgs mass limits are presented.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, contribution to the Proceedings of XLI Rencontres de Moriond, Electroweak Interactions and Unified Theories, 11th - 18th March 2006, La Thuile, Ital

Tight fibred knots without L-space surgeries

We show there exist infinitely many knots of every fixed genus $g\geq 2$ which do not admit surgery to an L-space, despite resembling algebraic knots and L-space knots in general: they are algebraically concordant to the torus knot $T(2,2g+1)$ of the same genus and they are fibred and strongly quasipositive

Type-II super-Backlund transformation and integrable defects for the N=1 super sinh-Gordon model

A new super-Backlund transformation for the N=1 supersymmetric sinh-Gordon equation is constructed. Based on this construction we propose a type-II integrable defect for the supersymmetric sinh-Gordon model consistent with this new transformation through the Lagrangian formalism. Explicit expressions for the modified conserved energy, momentum and supercharges are also computed. In addition, we show for the model that the type-II defect can also been regarded as a pair of fused defects of a previously introduced type. The explicit derivation of the associated defect matrices is also presented as a necessary condition for the integrability of the model.Comment: Latex 31 pages. Version accepted for publicatio

N=1 super sinh-Gordon model with defects revisited

The Lax pair formalism is considered to discuss the integrability of the N=1 supersymmetric sinh-Gordon model with a defect. We derive associated defect matrix for the model and construct the generating functions of the modified conserved quantities. The corresponding defect contributions for the modified energy and momentum of the model are explicitly computed.Comment: Latex 26 page

Defects in the supersymmetric mKdV hierarchy via Backlund transformations

The integrability of the ${\cal N}=1$ supersymmetric modified Korteweg de-Vries (smKdV) hierarchy in the presence of defects is investigated through the construction of its super B\"acklund transformation. The construction of such transformation is performed by using essentially two methods: the B\"acklund-defect matrix approach and the superfield approach. Firstly, we employ the defect matrix associated to the hierarchy which turns out to be the same for the supersymmetric sinh-Gordon (sshG) model. The method is general for all flows and as an example we derive explicitly the B\"acklund equations in components for the first few flows of the hierarchy, namely $t_3$ and $t_5$. Secondly, the supersymmetric extension of the B\"acklund transformation in the superspace formalism is constructed for those flows. Finally, this super B\"acklund transformation is employed to introduce type I defects for the supersymmetric mKdV hierarchy. Further integrability aspects by considering modified conserved quantities are derived from the defect matrix.Comment: 40 pages. Some comments and references added. Version accepted for publication in JHE

Drastic effects of damping mechanisms on the third-order optical nonlinearity

We have investigated the optical response of superradiant atoms, which undergoes three different damping mechanisms: radiative dissipation ($\gamma_r$), dephasing ($\gamma_d$), and nonradiative dissipation ($\gamma_n$). Whereas the roles of $\gamma_d$ and $\gamma_n$ are equivalent in the linear susceptibility, the third-order nonlinear susceptibility drastically depends on the ratio of $\gamma_d$ and $\gamma_n$: When $\gamma_d \ll \gamma_n$, the third-order susceptibility is essentially that of a single atom. Contrarily, in the opposite case of $\gamma_d \gg \gamma_n$, the third-order susceptibility suffers the size-enhancement effect and becomes proportional to the system size.Comment: 5pages, 2figure

Testicular cancer and sperm DNA damage: short- and long-term effects of antineoplastic treatment

The aim of this study was to investigate sperm DNA damage induced by chemo- and radiotherapy in patients with testicular cancer to provide data on the extent and persistence of nuclear damage that might affect individual reproductive potential. We evaluated pre- and post-antineoplastic treatment sperm DNA integrity, expressed as DNA Fragmentation Index (DFI), in a large caseload of testicular cancer patients by sperm chromatin structure assay. The mean total DFI for all patients at T0 was 18.0 ± 12.5%. Sperm chromatin profile was markedly impaired at T3 (27.7 ± 17.4%) and T6 (23.2 ± 15.3%), improving considerably at T12 and T24 (14.0 ± 8.9% and 14.4 ± 10.3%). After chemotherapy, we found a marked increase in DFI at T3 and T6 and a significant reduction at T12 and T24 in comparison with the baseline. In contrast, DFI increased at T3 and T6 after radiotherapy but the subsequent reduction was far less marked, reaching baseline values at T12 and T24. Finally, post-treatment DNA damage was not age or histotype dependent, but was more marked in the advanced stage of cancer. In this study, we showed that the chromatin profile may be affected in the months immediately following the end of the treatment, improving after 12-24 months. Our results thus indicate that post-treatment DNA damage is influenced both by the type and intensity of the therapy and by the pathological and clinical stage of the disease. © 2014 American Society of Andrology and European Academy of Andrology