Baryogenesis at the Electroweak Phase Transition for a SUSY Model with a Gauge Singlet

SUSY models with a gauge singlet easily allow for a strongly first order electroweak phase transition (EWPT). We discuss the wall profile, in particular transitional CP violation during the EWPT. We calculate CP violating source terms for the charginos in the WKB approximation and solve the relevant transport equations to obtain the generated baryon asymmetry.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures. To appear in the Proceedings of Strong and Electroweak Matter 2000 (SEWM2000), Marseilles; a reference adde

Suppressing lepton flavor violation in a soft-wall extra dimension

A soft-wall warped extra dimension allows one to relax the tight constraints imposed by electroweak data in conventional Randall-Sundrum models. We investigate a setup, where the lepton flavor structure of the standard model is realized by split fermion locations. Bulk fermions with general locations are not analytically tractable in a soft-wall background, so we follow a numerical approach to perform the Kaluza-Klein reduction. Lepton flavor violation is induced by the exchange of Kaluza-Klein gauge bosons. We find that rates for processes such as muon-electron conversion are significantly reduced compared to hard-wall models, allowing for a Kaluza-Klein scale as low as 2 TeV. Accommodating small neutrino masses forces one to introduce a large hierarchy of scales into the model, making pressing the question of a suitable stabilization mechanism

Persecution Restitution: Removing the Jurisdictional Roadblocks to Torture Victim Protection Act Claims

The Center for Victims of Torture estimates that as many as 1.3 million torture victims are living in the United States, but few of them have ever sought recourse against their offenders. Instead, most victims of torture flee the region where they are at risk of being further victimized and seek refuge in the United States. Fortunately, the United States provides a judicial method of recovery for those who have suffered, even when that suffering took place abroad at the hands of a foreign individual. The Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991, or TVPA, allows torture victims to pursue damages in a United States civil suit against individuals who, acting under the color of law, carried out acts that the TVPA defines as torture. Unfortunately, however, few of these claims will be decided on their merits because of a personal jurisdiction roadblock. Despite the legislature’s intent to condemn torture that “violate[s] standards accepted by virtually every nation,” the lawmakers were cautious not to “turn the U.S. courts into tribunals for torts having no connection to the United States whatsoever.” This note argues that if the United States truly desires to be a champion of human rights and hold torturers accountable for their heinous acts, the Supreme Court and Judicial Conference must rewrite Rule 4(k)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to adopt an expanded view of personal jurisdiction that allows for foreign individuals to be brought to U.S. courts to have the claims against them adjudicated

Impact of glucuronide interferences on therapeutic drug monitoring of posaconazole by tandem mass spectrometry

Background: Posaconazole is a novel antifungal drug for oral application intended especially for therapy of invasive mycoses. Due to variable gastrointestinal absorption, adverse side effects, and suspected drug-drug interactions, therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of posaconazole is recommended. Method: A fast ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method for quantification of posaconazole with a run-time <3 min was developed and compared to a LC-MS/MS method and HPLC method with fluorescence detection. Results: During evaluation of UPLC-MS/MS, two earlier eluting peaks were observed in the MRM trace of posaconazole. This was only seen in patient samples, but not in spiked calibrator samples. Comparison with LC-MS/MS disclosed a significant bias with higher concentrations measured by LC-MS/MS, while UPLC-MS/MS showed excellent agreement with the commercially available HPLC method. In the LC-MS/MS procedure, comparably wide and left side shifted peaks were noticed. This could be ascribed to in-source fragmentation of conjugate metabolites during electrospray ionisation. Precursor and product ion scans confirmed the assumption that the additional compounds are posaconazole glucuronides. Reducing the cone voltage led to disappearance of the glucuronide peaks. Slight modification of the LC-MS/MS method enabled separation of the main interference, leading to significantly reduced deviation. Conclusions: These results highlight the necessity to reliably eliminate interference from labile drug metabolites for correct TDM results, either by sufficient separation or selective MS conditions. The presented UPLC-MS/MS method provides a reliable and fast assay for TDM of posaconazole. Clin Chem Lab Med 2010; 48:1723-31

Sources and utilization of foodstuffs in Belarusian households: results of the Grodno households survey

The paper is a documentation of a (non-representative) survey on the food situation of households in the Grodno region, Belarus. It covers the year between September 2000 and August 2001. The focus of the survey was on the sources of food in the households (purchase, own production, and receipt in non-monetary transactions between households) and on the utilization (consumption, feed use, sale, unpaid transfers to other households, and spoilage). The paper describes the survey design and the scope and quality of the compiled data set and it presents results of descriptive analyses. The survey households consume a well balanced diet based on potatoes and vegetables as the main staple food. 75 percent of the households use small land plots for food production and a third of the households keep livestock. Household food production provides an important contribution to food available in the households and the value of the produce represents a considerable part of average household income. Most of the self-produced food is consumed or given away in non-monetary transactions. Prices of foodstuffs differ in part significantly between different points of sale and between rural and urban areas. -- G E R M A N V E R S I O N: Dieses Diskussionspapier dokumentiert eine (nicht-repräsentative) Befragung über die Ernährungssituation von Haushalten in der Region Grodno in Weißrussland. Die Befragung wurde zwischen September 2000 und August 2001 durchgeführt. Der Fragebogen behandelt vorwiegend das Aufkommen von Nahrungsmitteln aus verschiedenen Quellen (Kauf, Eigenproduktion und den Erhalt von Nahrungsmitteln durch nicht-monetären Transfer zwischen Haushalten) und die Verwendung (Verzehr, Verfütterung, Verkauf, nicht-monetäre Vergabe und Verderb). Das Papier beschreibt das Studiendesign sowie den Umfang und die Qualität der erhobenen Daten. Weiterhin werden die Ergebnisse deskriptiver Analysen präsentiert. Die Ernährung der befragten Haushalte basiert auf Kartoffeln und Gemüse, wobei Kartoffeln das wichtigste Grundnahrungsmittel darstellen. 75 % der Haushalte nutzen kleine Landflächen zur Nahrungsmittelproduktion und ein Drittel hält Nutztiere. Die Eigenproduktion in den Haushalten leistet einen wichtigen Beitrag zum Nahrungsmittelaufkommen und der Produktionswert repräsentiert einen bedeutsamen Teil des durchschnittlichen Haushaltseinkommens. Der größte Teil der produzierten Nahrungsmittel wird verzehrt, gefolgt von der Vergabe in nichtmonetären Transaktionen. Die Nahrungsmittelpreise unterscheiden sich teilweise signifikant zwischen verschiedenen Einkaufsquellen und zwischen städtischen und ländlichen Gebieten.Belarus,Grodno,foodstuffs,food,nutrition,diet,household survey,Weißrussland,Belarus,Grodno,Ernährung,Nahrungsmittel,Haushaltsbefragung

Chemical composition of ambient aerosol, ice residues and cloud droplet residues in mixed-phase clouds: single particle analysis during the Cloud and Aerosol Characterization Experiment (CLACE 6)

Two different single particle mass spectrometers were operated in parallel at the Swiss High Alpine Research Station Jungfraujoch (JFJ, 3580 m a.s.l.) during the Cloud and Aerosol Characterization Experiment (CLACE 6) in February and March 2007. During mixed phase cloud events ice crystals from 5–20 micro m were separated from larger ice aggregates, non-activated, interstitial aerosol particles and supercooled droplets using an Ice-Counterflow Virtual Impactor (Ice-CVI). During one cloud period supercooled droplets were additionally sampled and analyzed by changing the Ice-CVI setup. The small ice particles and droplets were evaporated by injection into dry air inside the Ice-CVI. The resulting ice and droplet residues (IR and DR) were analyzed for size and composition by the two single particle mass spectrometers: a custom-built Single Particle Laser-Ablation Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (SPLAT) and a commercial Aerosol Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (ATOFMS, TSI Model 3800). During CLACE 6 the SPLAT instrument characterized 355 individual IR that produced a mass spectrum for at least one polarity and the ATOFMS measured 152 IR. The mass spectra were binned in classes, based on the combination of dominating substances, such as mineral dust, sulfate, potassium and elemental carbon or organic material. The derived chemical information from the ice residues is compared to the JFJ ambient aerosol that was sampled while the measurement station was out of clouds (several thousand particles analyzed by SPLAT and ATOFMS) and to the composition of the residues of supercooled cloud droplets (SPLAT: 162 cloud droplet residues analyzed, ATOFMS: 1094). The measurements showed that mineral dust was strongly enhanced in the ice particle residues. Close to all of the SPLAT spectra from ice residues did contain signatures from mineral compounds, albeit connected with varying amounts of soluble compounds. Similarly, close to all of the ATOFMS IR spectra show a mineral or metallic component. Pure sulfate and nitrate containing particles were depleted in the ice residues. Sulfate and nitrate was found to dominate the droplet residues (~90% of the particles). The results from the two different single particle mass spectrometers were generally in agreement. Differences in the results originate from several causes, such as the different wavelength of the desorption and ionisation lasers and different size-dependent particle detection efficiencies

The Paradoxes of Defensive Medicine

For decades, “defensive medicine” has been the leading argument driving reforms of medical malpractice laws throughout the United States. Defensive medicine is the presumed practice of administering excessive tests and treatments as a stratagem for reducing healthcare providers’ risk of malpractice liability, despite the absence of any expected benefit for the patient. The practice is widely believed to exist throughout American healthcare as a response to fears of malpractice litigation, and thought to be enormously wasteful of healthcare dollars. In consequence, it has become a justification for law reforms insulating the healthcare industry from tort liability. These claims are promoted by the healthcare industry even though they imply that most providers routinely engage in healthcare fraud and violate their own ethical rules. We review the evidence behind these beliefs—including direct physician surveys, clinical scenario studies, and multivariate analyses of actual case data—and find little support and numerous paradoxes. The validity vel non of the defensive medicine narrative has implications for law and legal policy, as well as healthcare economics and patient safety

A Tachyonic Gluon Mass: Between Infrared and Ultraviolet

The gluon spin coupling to a Gaussian correlated background gauge field induces an effective tachyonic gluon mass. It is momentum dependent and vanishes in the UV only like 1/p^2. In the IR, we obtain stabilization through a positive m^2_{conf}(p^2) related to confinement. Recently a purely phenomenological tachyonic gluon mass was used to explain the linear rise in the q\bar q static potential at small distances and also some long standing discrepancies found in QCD sum rules. We show that the stochastic vacuum model of QCD predicts a gluon mass with the desired properties.Comment: 10 pages LaTeX, 2 figures using eps

Dynamic acousto-mechanical control of a strongly coupled photonic molecule

Two-dimensional photonic crystal membranes provide a versatile planar architecture for integrated photonics to control the propagation of light on a chip employing high quality optical cavities, waveguides, beamsplitters or dispersive elements. When combined with highly non-linear quantum emitters, quantum photonic networks operating at the single photon level come within reach. Towards large-scale quantum photonic networks, selective dynamic control of individual components and deterministic interactions between different constituents are of paramount importance. This indeed calls for switching speeds ultimately on the system's native timescales. For example, manipulation via electric fields or all-optical means have been employed for switching in nanophotonic circuits and cavity quantum electrodynamics studies. Here, we demonstrate dynamic control of the coherent interaction between two coupled photonic crystal nanocavities forming a photonic molecule. By using an electrically generated radio frequency surface acoustic wave we achieve optomechanical tuning, demonstrate operating speeds more than three orders of magnitude faster than resonant mechanical approaches. Moreover, the tuning range is large enough to compensate for the inherent fabrication-related cavity mode detuning. Our findings open a route towards nanomechanically gated protocols, which hitherto have inhibited the realization in all-optical schemes.Comment: submitted manuscrip