Effects Of Kaluza-Klein Excited W On Single Top Quark Production At Tevatron

In extra dimension theories if the gauge bosons of the standard model propagate in the bulk of the extra dimensions then they will have Kaluza-Klein excitations that can couple to the standard model fermions. In this paper we study the effects of the first excited Kaluza-Klein mode of the W on single top production at the Tevatron. We find that the cross section for the single top production can be significantly reduced if the mass of the first Kaluza-Klein excited $W \sim 1$ TeV. Hence, a measurement of the single top production cross section smaller than the standard model prediction would not necessarily imply $V_{tb} <1$ or evidence of extra generation(s) of fermions mixed with the third generation.Comment: Text added, Latex, 16 pages, 3 figures, To appear in Phys. Lett.

Biotope mapping to compare and contrast Columbia, Missouri neighborhoods

Abstract only availableHow people manage their property can ultimately have an affect on biodiversity, and ecosystem services. Our project seeks to understand the relationship of socioeconomic status to property management and how it affects biodiversity and ecosystem services. Our project compares neighborhoods with different socioeconomic characteristics by studying vegetation pattern and structure at three different scales: neighborhood, block, and lot. In this poster we compare vegetation pattern at a neighborhood scale. Our objectives are to classify vegetation in eight Columbia, Missouri neighborhoods and to determine if there are associated with socioeconomic differences. We defined neighborhoods as eight census block groups, and used data from the 2000 census to group the eight block groups into four socioeconomic categories. We used biotope mapping, a method of vegetation classification, to describe the different vegetation types in each block group. We used a similarity analysis to group the block groups based on biotope (vegetation) type. We used percent cover of the dominant biotope types to test for differences among the four socioeconomic groups. We identified 46 biotope types among the eight neighborhoods. Residential biotope types with lawn, trees and shrubs were dominant. These were divided into two subtypes, yard trees and fence rows, based on location of trees. Fence row were most common in the inner city area where the income is much lower than the areas with yard trees. The classification of the eight block groups based on the percentage of each biotope type in the block group did not match the classification based on socioeconomic data. The biotope classification did join the two block groups dominated by renters, Black residents, and low median income, a relationship supported by census data.NSF Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental Biolog

Are dentists interested in the oral-systemic disease connection? A qualitative study of an online community of 450 practitioners

Background: Dentists in the US see an increasing number of patients with systemic conditions. These patients are challenging to care for when the relationship between oral and systemic disease is not well understood. The prevalence of professional isolation exacerbates the problem due to the difficulty in finding expert advice or peer support. This study aims to identify whether dentists discuss the oral-systemic connection and what aspects they discuss; to understand their perceptions of and attitudes toward the connection; and to determine what information they need to treat patients with systemic conditions.Methods: We retrieved 14,576 messages posted to the Internet Dental Forum from April 2008 to May 2009. Using natural language processing and human classification, we identified substantive phrases and keywords and used them to retrieve 141messages on the oral-systemic connection. We then conducted coding and thematic analysis to identify recurring themes on the topic.Results: Dentists discuss a variety of topics on oral diseases and systemic health, with the association between periodontal and systemic diseases, the effect of dental materials or procedures on general health, and the impact of oral-systemic connection on practice behaviors as the leading topics. They also disseminate and share research findings on oral and systemic health with colleagues online. However, dentists are very cautious about the nature of the oral-systemic linkage that may not be causal. Nonetheless, they embrace the positive association as a motivating point for patients in practice. When treating patients with systemic conditions, dentists enquire about the cause of less common dental diseases potentially in relation to medical conditions in one-third of the cases and in half of the cases seek clinical guidelines and evidence-based interventions on treating dental diseases with established association with systemic conditions.Conclusions: Dentists' unmet information needs call for more research into the association between less studied dental conditions and systemic diseases, and more actionable clinical guidelines for well-researched disease connections. To improve dissemination and foster behavioral change, it is imperative to understand what information clinicians need and in which situations. Leveraging peer influence via social media could be a useful strategy to achieve the goal. © 2013 Song et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Comprehensive Immune Monitoring of Clinical Trials to Advance Human Immunotherapy.

The success of immunotherapy has led to a myriad of clinical trials accompanied by efforts to gain mechanistic insight and identify predictive signatures for personalization. However, many immune monitoring technologies face investigator bias, missing unanticipated cellular responses in limited clinical material. We present here a mass cytometry (CyTOF) workflow for standardized, systems-level biomarker discovery in immunotherapy trials. To broadly enumerate immune cell identity and activity, we established and extensively assessed a reference panel of 33 antibodies to cover major cell subsets, simultaneously quantifying activation and immune checkpoint molecules in a single assay. This assay enumerates ≥98% of peripheral immune cells with ≥4 positively identifying antigens. Robustness and reproducibility are demonstrated on multiple samples types, across two research centers and by orthogonal measurements. Using automated analysis, we identify stratifying immune signatures in bone marrow transplantation-associated graft-versus-host disease. Together, this validated workflow ensures comprehensive immunophenotypic analysis and data comparability and will accelerate biomarker discovery

Cyber infrastructure for Fusarium: three integrated platforms supporting strain identification, phylogenetics, comparative genomics and knowledge sharing

The fungal genus Fusarium includes many plant and/or animal pathogenic species and produces diverse toxins. Although accurate species identification is critical for managing such threats, it is difficult to identify Fusarium morphologically. Fortunately, extensive molecular phylogenetic studies, founded on well-preserved culture collections, have established a robust foundation for Fusarium classification. Genomes of four Fusarium species have been published with more being currently sequenced. The Cyber infrastructure for Fusarium (CiF; http://www.fusariumdb.org/) was built to support archiving and utilization of rapidly increasing data and knowledge and consists of Fusarium-ID, Fusarium Comparative Genomics Platform (FCGP) and Fusarium Community Platform (FCP). The Fusarium-ID archives phylogenetic marker sequences from most known species along with information associated with characterized isolates and supports strain identification and phylogenetic analyses. The FCGP currently archives five genomes from four species. Besides supporting genome browsing and analysis, the FCGP presents computed characteristics of multiple gene families and functional groups. The Cart/Favorite function allows users to collect sequences from Fusarium-ID and the FCGP and analyze them later using multiple tools without requiring repeated copying-and-pasting of sequences. The FCP is designed to serve as an online community forum for sharing and preserving accumulated experience and knowledge to support future research and education

Study of electron anti-neutrinos associated with gamma-ray bursts using KamLAND

We search for electron anti-neutrinos ($\overline{\nu}_e$) from long and short-duration gamma-ray bursts~(GRBs) using data taken by the KamLAND detector from August 2002 to June 2013. No statistically significant excess over the background level is found. We place the tightest upper limits on $\overline{\nu}_e$ fluence from GRBs below 7 MeV and place first constraints on the relation between $\overline{\nu}_e$ luminosity and effective temperature.Comment: 16 pages and 5 figure

Exchange Field Induced Magnetoresistance in Colossal Magnetoresistance Manganites

The effect of an exchange field on electrical transport in thin films of metallic ferromagnetic manganites has been investigated. The exchange field was induced both by direct exchange coupling in a ferromagnet/antiferromagnet multilayer and by indirect exchange interaction in a ferromagnet/paramagnet superlattice. The electrical resistance of the manganite layers was found to be determined by the absolute value of the vector sum of the effective exchange field and the external magnetic field.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Structure of isobaric analog states in 91Nb populated by the 90Zr(a,t) reaction

Decay via proton emission of isobaric analog states (IAS's) in $^{91}{Nb}$ was studied using the $^{90}{Zr}(\alpha,t)$ reaction at $E_\alpha$=180 MeV. This study provides information about the damping mechanism of these states. Decay to the ground state and low-lying phonon states in $^{90}{Zr}$ was observed. The experimental data are compared with theoretical predictions wherein the IAS `single-particle' proton escape widths are calculated in a continuum RPA approach. The branching ratios for decay to the phonon states are explained using a simple model.Comment: 3 figures. submitted to Phys. Lett.