Leading-order QCD Analysis of Neutrino-Induced Dimuon Events

The results of a leading-order QCD analysis of neutrino-induced charm production are presented. They are based on a sample of 4111 \numu- and 871 \anumu-induced opposite-sign dimuon events with $E_{\mu 1},E_{\mu 2} > 6~{\rm GeV}$, $35 5.5\,{\rm GeV^2}$, observed in the CHARM~II detector exposed to the CERN wideband neutrino and antineutrino beams. The analysis yields the value of \linebreak the charm quark mass $m_c=1.79\pm0.38\,{\rm GeV}/c^2$ and the Cabibbo--Kobayashi--Maskawa matrix element $|V_{cd}|=0.219\pm0.016$. The strange quark content of the nucleon is found to be suppressed with respect to non-strange sea quarks by a factor $\kappa =0.39\pm0.09$

Experimental search for muonic photons

We report new limits on the production of muonic photons in the CERN neutrino beam. The results are based on the analysis of neutrino production of dimuons in the CHARM II detector. A $90\%$ CL limit on the coupling constant of muonic photons, $\alpha_{\mu} / \alpha < (1.5 \div 3.2) \times10^{-6}$ is derived for a muon neutrino mass in the range $m_{\nu_{\mu}} = (10^{-20} \div 10^5)$ eV. This improves the limit obtained from a precision measurement of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon $(g-2)_\mu$ by a factor from 8 to 4

The role of ascorbate in antioxidant protection of biomembranes: Interaction with vitamin E and coenzyme Q

One of the vital roles of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is to act as an antioxidant to protect cellular components from free radical damage. Ascorbic acid has been shown to scavenge free radicals directly in the aqueous phases of cells and the circulatory system. Ascorbic acid has also been proven to protect membrane and other hydrophobic compartments from such damage by regenerating the antioxidant form of vitamin E. In addition, reduced coenzyme Q, also a resident of hydrophobic compartments, interacts with vitamin E to regenerate its antioxidant form. The mechanism of vitamin C antioxidant function, the myriad of pathologies resulting from its clinical deficiency, and the many health benefits it provides, are reviewed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44796/1/10863_2004_Article_BF00762775.pd

Body mass index and the risk of male cancer mortality of various sites: 17-year follow-up of the Basel cohort study

QUESTIONS UNDER STUDY: There is growing evidence for a link between body weight and cancer risk, but there is not a clear consensus yet. METHODS: We studied the association between body mass index (BMI) and overall, lung, prostate and colon cancer mortality. In 1971/73, weight and height were measured in 2974 men working in Basel, Switzerland. In 1990, the vital status of all participants was assessed. RESULTS: 290 men had died from cancer, 87 from lung, 30 from prostate, and 22 from colon cancer. In the predefined Cox Proportional Hazards Regression Models for survival analysis, a baseline hazard was modified multiplicatively by covariates, i.e. the untransformed continuous variable "BMI" was chosen as covariate. In addition it was assumed that the baseline hazard may be different for smokers, non-smokers and different age groups (age at entry into study). Thus, multiple strata, i.e. combinations of smoking status and age groups were allowed. With increasing BMI overall cancer mortality did not change. Accordingly, the relative risk (RR) per 1-unit increase of BMI (unit = 1 kg/m2) was 1.03 (95% CI: 0.99-1.07). In relation to lung cancer, mortality did neither increase nor decrease with increasing BMI (RR = 1.0; 95% CI 0.93- 1.07). The results for prostate cancer mortality were similar, i.e. no correlation with BMI was observed (RR = 0.95; 95% CI: 0.93-1.18). The same was true for colon cancer mortality (RR = 1.09; 95% CI: 0.92-1.24). CONCLUSIONS: This investigation provides little evidence of an association between BMI and mortality of all cancers combined, cancer of the lung, the prostate and the colon

Effects of the new anti-lymphocytic peptide cyclosporin A in animals.

The fungus metabolite cyclosporin A is a small cyclic peptide acting as a novel antilymphocytic agent. It is effective following either parenteral or oral administration in mice, rats and guinea-pigs. The suppressive effect after short and prolonged treatment on plaque-forming cells, the inhibition of the secondary humoral response and the reversibility of its effect on haemagglutinin formation is demonstrated. Cyclosporin A inhibits delayed hypersensitivity skin reaction to oxazolone (primary and secondary responses) in mice and to tuberculin in guinea-pigs. Its failure to suppress antibody synthesis to lipopolysaccharide antigens in nude mice suggests a selective effect on T cells. High doses of the compound affect the haemopoietic tissues very weakly as shown by the bone marrow and stem cell numbers in mice, which finding markedly contrasts with most other immunosuppressive and cytostatic drugs

Normal ranges of neuropsychological tests for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

The diagnosis of early stage dementia is a highly complex process involving not only a somatic examination but also a neuropsychological assessment of the patient's cognitive capability. The American 'Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease' (CERAD) has proposed a set of tests in English which has been translated into German. This paper presents the statistical methodology applied to determine normal ranges adjusted for demographic variables for the German CERAD neuropsychological assessment battery (CERAD-NAB). The study population consists of participants of the Basel Study on the Elderly (Project BASEL) which aims at identifying preclinical markers of Alzheimer's disease. The normative sample has been defined by carefully excluding potentially relevant medical history and concomitant diseases and consists of 617 participants which are between 53 and 92 years old. Test results should be adjusted for gender, age, and years of education. For this purpose, a set of linear models including these predictors and subsets of their interactions and squares was evaluated for all 11 test scores derived from the CERAD-NAB battery. Model selection was based on the PRESS (predicted residual sum of squares) statistic. Although a strict application of this criterion selected 6 different models, a slight compromise allowed to fit all test scores by two models. In several tests of the CERAD-NAB many participants achieve maximal scores. Residuals of such test scores are heavily skewed. An arcsine transformation has been tuned to the data, so that residuals are close to a normal distribution, at least for residuals in the lower quartile which is relevant in diagnosing cognitive impairment. Test results are finally presented as z-scores which can be easily compared to a standard normal distribution. The evaluation of the CERAD-NAB is implemented on the Internet and in an Excel application