CP Violation and Moduli Stabilization in Heterotic Models

The role of moduli stabilization in predictions for CP violation is examined in the context of four-dimensional effective supergravity models obtained from the weakly coupled heterotic string. We point out that while stabilization of compactification moduli has been studied extensively, the determination of background values for other scalars by dynamical means has not been subjected to the same degree of scrutiny. These other complex scalars are important potential sources of CP violation and we show in a simple model how their background values (including complex phases) may be determined from the minimization of the supergravity scalar potential, subject to the constraint of vanishing cosmological constant.Comment: 8 Pages. Based on a talk given at the CP Violation Conference, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, November 4-18, 2001, correction to Eq. (27

Renormalization effects on neutrino masses and mixing in a string-inspired SU(4) X SU(2)_L X SU(2)_R X U(1)_X model

We discuss renormalization effects on neutrino masses and mixing angles in a supersymmetric string-inspired SU(4) X SU(2)_L X SU(2)_R X U(1)_X model, with matter in fundamental and antisymmetric tensor representations and singlet Higgs fields charged under the anomalous U(1)_X family symmetry. The quark, lepton and neutrino Yukawa matrices are distinguished by different Clebsch-Gordan coefficients. The presence of a second U(1)_X breaking singlet with fractional charge allows a more realistic, hierarchical light neutrino mass spectrum with bi-large mixing. By numerical investigation we find a region in the model parameter space where the neutrino mass-squared differences and mixing angles at low energy are consistent with experimental data.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures; references adde

Risk models and scores for type 2 diabetes: Systematic review

This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 3.0) licence that allows reuse subject only to the use being non-commercial and to the article being fully attributed (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0).Objective - To evaluate current risk models and scores for type 2 diabetes and inform selection and implementation of these in practice. Design - Systematic review using standard (quantitative) and realist (mainly qualitative) methodology. Inclusion - criteria Papers in any language describing the development or external validation, or both, of models and scores to predict the risk of an adult developing type 2 diabetes. Data sources - Medline, PreMedline, Embase, and Cochrane databases were searched. Included studies were citation tracked in Google Scholar to identify follow-on studies of usability or impact. Data extraction - Data were extracted on statistical properties of models, details of internal or external validation, and use of risk scores beyond the studies that developed them. Quantitative data were tabulated to compare model components and statistical properties. Qualitative data were analysed thematically to identify mechanisms by which use of the risk model or score might improve patient outcomes. Results - 8864 titles were scanned, 115 full text papers considered, and 43 papers included in the final sample. These described the prospective development or validation, or both, of 145 risk prediction models and scores, 94 of which were studied in detail here. They had been tested on 6.88 million participants followed for up to 28 years. Heterogeneity of primary studies precluded meta-analysis. Some but not all risk models or scores had robust statistical properties (for example, good discrimination and calibration) and had been externally validated on a different population. Genetic markers added nothing to models over clinical and sociodemographic factors. Most authors described their score as “simple” or “easily implemented,” although few were specific about the intended users and under what circumstances. Ten mechanisms were identified by which measuring diabetes risk might improve outcomes. Follow-on studies that applied a risk score as part of an intervention aimed at reducing actual risk in people were sparse. Conclusion - Much work has been done to develop diabetes risk models and scores, but most are rarely used because they require tests not routinely available or they were developed without a specific user or clear use in mind. Encouragingly, recent research has begun to tackle usability and the impact of diabetes risk scores. Two promising areas for further research are interventions that prompt lay people to check their own diabetes risk and use of risk scores on population datasets to identify high risk “hotspots” for targeted public health interventions.Tower Hamlets, Newham, and City and Hackney primary care trusts and National Institute of Health Research

Dynamic Normalization for Compact Binary Coalescence Searches in Non-Stationary Noise

The output of gravitational-wave interferometers, such as LIGO and Virgo, can be highly non-stationary. Broadband detector noise can affect the detector sensitivity on the order of tens of seconds. Gravitational-wave transient searches, such as those for colliding black holes, estimate this noise in order to identify gravitational-wave events. During times of non-stationarity we see a higher rate of false events being reported. To accurately separate signal from noise, it is imperative to incorporate the changing detector state into gravitational-wave searches. We develop a new statistic which estimates the variation of the interferometric detector noise. We use this statistic to re-rank candidate events identified during LIGO-Virgo's second observing run by the PyCBC search pipeline. This results in a 7% improvement in the sensitivity volume for low mass binaries, particularly binary neutron stars mergers

secCl is a cys-loop ion channel necessary for the chloride conductance that mediates hormone-induced fluid secretion in Drosophila

Organisms use circulating diuretic hormones to control water balance (osmolarity), thereby avoiding dehydration and managing excretion of waste products. The hormones act through G-protein-coupled receptors to activate second messenger systems that in turn control the permeability of secretory epithelia to ions like chloride. In insects, the chloride channel mediating the effects of diuretic hormones was unknown. Surprisingly, we find a pentameric, cys-loop chloride channel, a type of channel normally associated with neurotransmission, mediating hormone-induced transepithelial chloride conductance. This discovery is important because: 1) it describes an unexpected role for pentameric receptors in the membrane permeability of secretory epithelial cells, and 2) it suggests that neurotransmitter-gated ion channels may have evolved from channels involved in secretion

Competing bounds on the present-day time variation of fundamental constants

We compare the sensitivity of a recent bound on time variation of the fine structure constant from optical clocks with bounds on time varying fundamental constants from atomic clocks sensitive to the electron-to-proton mass ratio, from radioactive decay rates in meteorites, and from the Oklo natural reactor. Tests of the Weak Equivalence Principle also lead to comparable bounds on present variations of constants. The "winner in sensitivity" depends on what relations exist between the variations of different couplings in the standard model of particle physics, which may arise from the unification of gauge interactions. WEP tests are currently the most sensitive within unified scenarios. A detection of time variation in atomic clocks would favour dynamical dark energy and put strong constraints on the dynamics of a cosmological scalar field.Comment: ~4 Phys Rev page

Non-thermal leptogenesis via direct inflaton decay without SU(2)(L) triplets

We present a non-thermal leptogenesis scenario following standard supersymmetric hybrid inflation, in the case where light neutrinos acquire mass via the usual seesaw mechanism and inflaton decay to heavy right-handed neutrino superfields is kinematically disallowed, or the right-handed neutrinos which can be decay products of the inflaton are unable to generate sufficient baryon asymmetry via their subsequent decay. The primordial lepton asymmetry is generated through the decay of the inflaton into light particles by the interference of one-loop diagrams with exchange of different right-handed neutrinos. The mechanism requires superpotential couplings explicitly violating a U(1) R-symmetry and R-parity. We take into account the constraints from neutrino masses and mixing and the preservation of the primordial asymmetry. We consider two models, one without and one with SU(2)(R) gauge symmetry. We show that the former is viable, whereas the latter is ruled out. Although the broken R-parity need not have currently observable low-energy signatures, some R-parity-violating slepton decays may be detectable in the future colliders.Comment: 22 pages including 9 figures, uses Revtex, version to appear in PR