The golden ratio prediction for the solar neutrino mixing

We present a simple texture that predicts the cotangent of the solar neutrino mixing angle to be equal to the golden ratio. This prediction is 1.4 standard deviations below the present best-fit value and final SNO and KamLAND data could discriminate it from tri-bi-maximal mixing. The neutrino mass matrix is invariant under a Z_2 x Z'_2 symmetry: that geometrically is a reflection along the diagonal of the golden rectangle. Assuming an analogous structure in the quark sector suggests a golden prediction for the Cabibbo angle, theta_C = pi/4- theta_12 = 13.3 degree, up to uncertainties comparable to V_{ub}.Comment: 5 pages. Final version, to appear on PR

Universal Structure of Twist-3 Soft-Gluon-Pole Cross Sections for Single Transverse-Spin Asymmetry

We prove that twist-3 soft-gluon-pole (SGP) cross section for single spin asymmetries (SSA) is determined by a certain ``primordial'' twist-2 cross section up to kinematic and color factors in the leading order perturbative QCD. In particular, for the processes in which the partonic hard scattering occurs among massless partons, the invariance of the ``primordial'' partonic cross section under scale transformation leads to remarkable simplification of the SGP cross section, reproducing compact form that was recently observed for pion production $p^\uparrow p\to \pi X$ and direct-photon production $p^\uparrow p\to \gamma X$.Comment: 5 pages in LaTex. 2 figures. Minor modifications in the tex

More anomaly-free models of six-dimensional gauged supergravity

We construct a huge number of anomaly-free models of six-dimensional N = (1,0) gauged supergravity. The gauge groups are products of U(1) and SU(2), and every hyperino is charged under some of the gauge groups. It is also found that the potential may have flat directions when the R-symmetry is diagonally gauged together with another gauge group. In an appendix, we determine the contribution to the global SU(2) anomaly from symplectic Majorana Weyl fermions in six dimensions.Comment: 20 pages, v3: published versio

Efficacy and safety of long-acting β-agonist/long-acting muscarinic antagonist combinations in COPD:a network meta-analysis

BackgroundThe place of long-acting β agonist/long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LABA/LAMA) combinations in stable patients with COPD is not well defined. The purpose of this study was to systematically review the efficacy and safety of LABA/LAMA combinations.MethodsSeveral databases and manufacturers’ websites were searched for relevant clinical trials. Randomised control trials, at least 12 weeks duration, comparing a LABA/LAMA combination with placebo and/or monotherapy were included. The data were pooled using a network as well as a traditional direct comparison meta-analysis.ResultsTwenty-three trials with a total of 27 172 patients were included in the analysis. LABA/LAMA combinations were associated with a greater improvement in lung function, St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) score, and Transitional Dyspnoea Index (TDI) than monotherapies. LABA/LAMA combinations were associated with a significantly greater proportion of SGRQ and TDI responders than monotherapies (OR 1.23 (95% credible interval (CrI) 1.06–1.39), OR 1.34 (95% CrI 1.19–1.50) versus LABAs and OR 1.24 (95% CrI 1.11–1.36), OR 1.31 (95% CrI 1.18–1.46) versus LAMAs, respectively) and fewer moderate-to-severe exacerbations compared with LABAs (HR 0.82 (95% CrI 0.73–0.93)), but not when compared with LAMAs (HR 0.92 (95% CrI 0.84–1.00)). There were no statistically significant differences associated with LABA/LAMA combinations compared with monotherapies in safety outcomes as well as in severe exacerbations.ConclusionsThe combination therapy was the most effective strategy in improving lung function, quality of life, symptom scores and moderate-to-severe exacerbation rates, and had similar effects on safety outcomes and severe exacerbations as compared with monotherapies.</jats:sec

Rigid Limit in N=2 Supergravity and Weak-Gravity Conjecture

We analyze the coupled N=2 supergravity and Yang-Mills system using holomorphy, near the rigid limit where the former decouples from the latter. We find that there appears generically a new mass scale around g M_{pl} where g is the gauge coupling constant and M_{pl} is the Planck scale. This is in accord with the weak-gravity conjecture proposed recently. We also study the scale dependence of the gauge theory prepotential from its embedding into supergravity.Comment: 17 pages, minor correction

Dynamically generated electric charge distributions in Abelian projected SU(2) lattice gauge theories

We show in the maximal Abelian gauge the dynamical electric charge density generated by the coset fields, gauge fixing and ghosts shows antiscreening as in the case of the non-Abelian charge. We verify that with the completion of the ghost term all contributions to flux are accounted for in an exact lattice Ehrenfest relation.Comment: LATTICE98(confine

Superconducting Gap Structure of kappa-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu(NCS)2 Probed by Thermal Conductivity Tensor

The thermal conductivity of organic superconductor kappa-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu(NCS)2 (Tc =10.4 K) has been studied in a magnetic field rotating within the 2D superconducting planes with high alignment precision. At low temperatures (T < 0.5 K), a clear fourfold symmetry in the angular variation, which is characteristic of a d-wave superconducting gap with nodes along the directions rotated 45 degrees relative to the b and c axes of the crystal, was resolved. The determined nodal structure is inconsistent with recent theoretical predictions of superconductivity induced by the antiferromagnetic spin fluctuation.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. Let

Stop-and-go kinetics in amyloid fibrillation

Many human diseases are associated with protein aggregation and fibrillation. Using glucagon as a model system for protein fibrillation we show that fibrils grow in an intermittent fashion, with periods of growth followed by long pauses. Remarkably, even if the intrinsic transition rates vary considerably in each experiment, the probability of being in the growing (stopping) state is very close to 1/4 (3/4), suggesting the presence of 4 independent conformations of the fibril tip. We discuss this possibility in terms of existing structural knowledge

Solvable Optimal Velocity Models and Asymptotic Trajectory

In the Optimal Velocity Model proposed as a new version of Car Following Model, it has been found that a congested flow is generated spontaneously from a homogeneous flow for a certain range of the traffic density. A well-established congested flow obtained in a numerical simulation shows a remarkable repetitive property such that the velocity of a vehicle evolves exactly in the same way as that of its preceding one except a time delay $T$. This leads to a global pattern formation in time development of vehicles' motion, and gives rise to a closed trajectory on $\Delta x$-$v$ (headway-velocity) plane connecting congested and free flow points. To obtain the closed trajectory analytically, we propose a new approach to the pattern formation, which makes it possible to reduce the coupled car following equations to a single difference-differential equation (Rondo equation). To demonstrate our approach, we employ a class of linear models which are exactly solvable. We also introduce the concept of ``asymptotic trajectory'' to determine $T$ and $v_B$ (the backward velocity of the pattern), the global parameters associated with vehicles' collective motion in a congested flow, in terms of parameters such as the sensitivity $a$, which appeared in the original coupled equations.Comment: 25 pages, 15 eps figures, LaTe

Biphenyl-Derived Phosphepines as Chiral Nucleophilic Catalysts: Enantioselective [4+1] Annulations To Form Functionalized Cyclopentenes

Because of the frequent occurrence of cyclopentane subunits in bioactive compounds, the development of efficient catalytic asymmetric methods for their synthesis is an important objective. Introduced herein is a new family of chiral nucleophilic catalysts, biphenyl-derived phosphepines, and we apply them to an enantioselective variant of a useful [4+1] annulation. A range of one-carbon coupling partners can be employed, thereby generating cyclopentenes which bear a fully substituted stereocenter [either all-carbon or heteroatom-substituted (sulfur and phosphorus)]. Stereocenters at the other four positions of the cyclopentane ring can also be introduced with good stereoselectivity. An initial mechanistic study indicates that phosphine addition to the electrophilic four-carbon coupling partner is not the turnover-limiting step of the catalytic cycle