Long reach cantilevers for sub-cellular force measurements

Maneuverable, high aspect ratio poly 3-4 ethylene dioxythiophene (PEDOT) fibers are fabricated for use as cellular force probes that can interface with individual pseudopod adhesive contact sites without forming unintentional secondary contacts to the cell. The straight fibers have lengths between 5 and 40 μm and spring constants in the 0.07-23.2 nN μm-1 range. The spring constants of these fibers were measured directly using an atomic force microscope (AFM). These AFM measurements corroborate determinations based on the transverse vibrational resonance frequencies of the fibers, which is a more convenient method. These fibers are employed to characterize the time dependent forces exerted at adhesive contacts between apical pseudopods of highly migratory D. discoideum cells and the PEDOT fibers, finding an average terminal force of 3.1 ± 2.7 nN and lifetime of 23.4 ± 18.5 s to be associated with these contacts

Neutrino mass models at μ\muTRISTAN

We study the prospects of probing neutrino mass models at the newly proposed antimuon collider $\mu$TRISTAN, involving $\mu^+e^-$ scattering at $\sqrt{s}= 346$ GeV and $\mu^+\mu^+$ scattering at $\sqrt{s}= 2$ TeV. We show that $\mu$TRISTAN is uniquely sensitive to leptophilic neutral and doubly-charged scalars naturally occurring in various neutrino mass models, such as Zee, Zee-Babu, cocktail, and type-II seesaw models, over a wide range of mass and coupling values, well beyond the current experimental constraints. It also allows for the possibility to correlate the collider signals with neutrino mixing parameters and charged lepton flavor violating observables.Comment: 8 pages and references, 5 figure

Constraining Lepton Flavor Violating Higgs Couplings at the HL-LHC in the Vector Boson Fusion Channel

We explore the parameter space of lepton flavor violating (LFV) neutral Higgs Yukawa couplings with the muon and tau leptons that can be probed at the high-luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) via the vector boson fusion~(VBF) Higgs production process. Our projected sensitivities for the Standard Model Higgs ($h$) LFV branching ratio ${\rm Br}(h \to \mu\tau)$ in the $pp \to h j j \to (h \to \mu \tau) jj$ channel at the HL-LHC are contrasted with the current and future low-energy constraints from the anomalous magnetic moment and electric dipole moment of the muon, as well as with other LFV observables, such as $\tau\to 3\mu$ and $\tau\to \mu\gamma$. We also study the LFV prospects of a generic beyond the Standard Model neutral Higgs boson ($H$) with a mass in the range of $m_{H}\in [20,800]~$GeV and give the projected model-independent upper limits on the VBF production cross-section of $Hjj$ times the branching ratio of $H\to \mu\tau$ at the HL-LHC. We interpret these results in the context of a two-Higgs doublet model as a case study.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, 6 tables. Revised version, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Non-Standard Interactions in Radiative Neutrino Mass Models

Models of radiative Majorana neutrino masses require new scalars and/or fermions to induce lepton number violating interactions. We show that these new particles also generate observable neutrino nonstandard interactions (NSI) with matter. We classify radiative models as type-I or II, with type-I models containing at least one Standard Model (SM) particle inside the loop diagram generating neutrino mass, and type-II models having no SM particle inside the loop. While type-II radiative models do not generate tree-level NSI, popular models which fall under the type-I category are shown, somewhat surprisingly, to generate observable NSI at tree-level, while being consistent with direct and indirect constraints from colliders, electroweak precision data and charged-lepton flavor violation (cLFV). We survey such models where neutrino masses arise at one, two and three loops. In the prototypical Zee model which generates neutrino masses via one-loop diagrams involving charged scalars, we find that diagonal NSI can be as large as ($8\%, 3.8\%, 9.3\%$) for ($\varepsilon_{ee},\varepsilon_{\mu \mu}, \varepsilon_{\tau \tau}$), while off-diagonal NSI can be at most ($10^{-3}\%, 0.56\%, 0.34\%$) for ($\varepsilon_{e\mu},\varepsilon_{e \tau}, \varepsilon_{\mu \tau}$). In one-loop neutrino mass models using leptoquarks (LQs), $(\varepsilon_{\mu\mu},\, \varepsilon_{\tau\tau})$ can be as large as $(21.6\%,\,51.7\%)$, while $\varepsilon_{ee}$ and $(\varepsilon_{e\mu},\, \varepsilon_{e\tau},\,\varepsilon_{\mu\tau})$ can at most be 0.6\%. The most stringent constraints on the diagonal NSI are found to come from neutrino oscillation and scattering experiments, while the off-diagonal NSI are mostly constrained by low-energy processes, such as atomic parity violation and cLFV. While our analysis is focused on radiative neutrino mass models, it essentially covers all NSI possibilities with heavy mediators.Comment: 122 pages, journal versio

Estimates of genetic parameters of fruit quality traits in teasle gourd (Momordica subangulata Blume. subsp. renigera)

The present investigation was carried out to assess genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance in five genotypes of teasle gourd. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with four replications. High phenotypic coefficients of variation were observed for all characters except ascorbic acid in excoarp, ascorbic acid in mesocarp, total soluble solids (TSS) in exocarp, b-carotene in exocarp, acidity in mesocarp, b-carotene in mesocarp, TSS in mesocarp, acidity in exocarp which showed high heritability coupled with high genetic advance indicating that these traits were gene control and simple phenotypic selection can be used for further improvement of these traits. Fruit weight, which showed the highest positive direct effect on fruit yield also showed positive correlation with β-carotene in exocarp. The most important fruit quality influencing traits from the study includes TSS content of exocarp and mesocarp since these traits character showed positive correlations with most important fruit quality characters.Keywords: Teasle gourd, clones, variability, heritability, genetic advance, correlation coefficientAfrican Journal of Biotechnology, Vol. 13(2), pp. 257-264, 8 January, 201

Developing a scalable training model in global mental health: pilot study of a video-assisted training Program for Generalist Clinicians in Rural Nepal.

BackgroundIn low- and middle-income countries, mental health training often includes sending few generalist clinicians to specialist-led programs for several weeks. Our objective is to develop and test a video-assisted training model addressing the shortcomings of traditional programs that affect scalability: failing to train all clinicians, disrupting clinical services, and depending on specialists.MethodsWe implemented the program -video lectures and on-site skills training- for all clinicians at a rural Nepali hospital. We used Wilcoxon signed-rank tests to evaluate pre- and post-test change in knowledge (diagnostic criteria, differential diagnosis, and appropriate treatment). We used a series of 'Yes' or 'No' questions to assess attitudes about mental illness, and utilized exact McNemar's test to analyze the proportions of participants who held a specific belief before and after the training. We assessed acceptability and feasibility through key informant interviews and structured feedback.ResultsFor each topic except depression, there was a statistically significant increase (Δ) in median scores on knowledge questionnaires: Acute Stress Reaction (Δ = 20, p = 0.03), Depression (Δ = 11, p = 0.12), Grief (Δ = 40, p < 0.01), Psychosis (Δ = 22, p = 0.01), and post-traumatic stress disorder (Δ = 20, p = 0.01). The training received high ratings; key informants shared examples and views about the training's positive impact and complementary nature of the program's components.ConclusionVideo lectures and on-site skills training can address the limitations of a conventional training model while being acceptable, feasible, and impactful toward improving knowledge and attitudes of the participants