394 research outputs found
Diagnosis of infections in newborns using a new particle-mediated immunoassay for serum C-reactive protein
C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were measured using a new particle-mediated immunoassay. Tests for precision and linearity of this method gave satisfactory results. The minimum sensitivity of the assay was 1 ng/ml. Interference by bilirubin (<220mg/l) and haemoglobin (<20g/l) was not observed. Using this method,
CRP was assayed as a means of monitoring for infection in newborns up to 72 h after delivery. The pattern of time course elevation curves was similar for both groups (10 healthy subjects and 26 patients), but the serum CRP (ng/ml) of infected newborns rose significantly higher than in healthy subjects at 24 h after birth. The rate of increase of CRP (∆CRP; ng/ml/h) may be a more useful parameter to detect infection, since a significant change in ∆CRP was apparent only 12 h after birth. The reported method was reliable and the parameters obtained were considered clinically useful for early detection of infection
A New Class of Majoron-Emitting Double-Beta Decays
Motivated by the excess events that have recently been found near the
endpoints of the double beta decay spectra of several elements, we re-examine
models in which double beta decay can proceed through the neutrinoless emission
of massless Nambu-Goldstone bosons (majorons). Noting that models proposed to
date for this process must fine-tune either a scalar mass or a VEV to be less
than 10 keV, we introduce a new kind of majoron which avoids this difficulty by
carrying lepton number . We analyze in detail the requirements that
models of both the conventional and our new type must satisfy if they are to
account for the observed excess events. We find: (1) the electron sum-energy
spectrum can be used to distinguish the two classes of models from one another;
(2) the decay rate for the new models depends on different nuclear matrix
elements than for ordinary majorons; and (3) all models require a (pseudo)
Dirac neutrino, having a mass of a several hundred MeV, which mixes with
.Comment: 43 pages, 10 figures (included), [figure captions are now included
New results for the two neutrino double beta decay in deformed nuclei with angular momentum projected basis
Four nuclei which are proved to be emitters (Ge,
Se, Nd, U), and four suspected, due to the corresponding
Q-values, to have this property (Nd, Sm, Gd,
Th), were treated within a proton-neutron quasiparticle random phase
approximation (pnQRPA) with a projected spherical single particle basis. The
advantage of the present procedure over the ones using a deformed Woods Saxon
or Nilsson single particle basis is that the actual pnQRPA states have a
definite angular momentum while all the others provide states having only K as
a good quantum number. The model Hamiltonian involves a mean field term
yielding the projected single particle states, a pairing interaction for alike
nucleons and a dipole-dipole proton-neutron interaction in both the
particle-hole (ph) and particle-particle (pp) channels. The effect of nuclear
deformation on the single beta strength distribution as well as on the double
beta Gamow-Teller transition amplitude (M) is analyzed. The
results are compared with the existent data and with the results from a
different approach, in terms of the process half life T. The case of
different deformations for mother and daughter nuclei is also presented.Comment: 45 pages, 13 figure
A Common Explanation for the Atmospheric, Solar-Neutrino and Double Beta Decay Anomalies
We make a number of small changes, including correcting an error in our
heavy-neutrino decay rate. None of our analysis is changed, either in substance
or detail.Comment: 25 pages, 6 Figures, McGill-93/1
Probing New Physics Models of Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay with SuperNEMO
The possibility to probe new physics scenarios of light Majorana neutrino
exchange and right-handed currents at the planned next generation neutrinoless
double beta decay experiment SuperNEMO is discussed. Its ability to study
different isotopes and track the outgoing electrons provides the means to
discriminate different underlying mechanisms for the neutrinoless double beta
decay by measuring the decay half-life and the electron angular and energy
distributions.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures, to be published in E.P.J.
Constraining Almost Degenerate Three-Flavor Neutrinos
We discuss constraints on a scenario of almost degenerate three-flavor
neutrinos imposed by the solar and the atmospheric neutrino anomalies, hot dark
matter, and neutrinoless double decays. It is found that in the
Majorana version of the model the region with relatively large is
favored and a constraint on the CP violating phases is obtained.Comment: 19 pages (uses revtex), including 6 figures (uses epsf
Measurement of double beta decay of 100Mo to excited states in the NEMO 3 experiment
The double beta decay of 100Mo to the 0^+_1 and 2^+_1 excited states of 100Ru
is studied using the NEMO 3 data. After the analysis of 8024 h of data the
half-life for the two-neutrino double beta decay of 100Mo to the excited 0^+_1
state is measured to be T^(2nu)_1/2 = [5.7^{+1.3}_{-0.9}(stat)+/-0.8(syst)]x
10^20 y. The signal-to-background ratio is equal to 3. Information about energy
and angular distributions of emitted electrons is also obtained. No evidence
for neutrinoless double beta decay to the excited 0^+_1 state has been found.
The corresponding half-life limit is T^(0nu)_1/2(0^+ --> 0^+_1) > 8.9 x 10^22 y
(at 90% C.L.).
The search for the double beta decay to the 2^+_1 excited state has allowed
the determination of limits on the half-life for the two neutrino mode
T^(2nu)_1/2(0^+ --> 2^+_1) > 1.1 x 10^21 y (at 90% C.L.) and for the
neutrinoless mode T^(0nu)_1/2(0^+ --> 2^+_1) > 1.6 x 10^23 y (at 90% C.L.).Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables, submitted to Nucl. Phy
Study of 2b-decay of Mo-100 and Se-82 using the NEMO3 detector
After analysis of 5797 h of data from the detector NEMO3, new limits on
neutrinoless double beta decay of Mo-100 (T_{1/2} > 3.1 10^{23} y, 90% CL) and
Se-82 (T_{1/2} > 1.4 10^{23} y, 90% CL) have been obtained. The corresponding
limits on the effective majorana neutrino mass are: m < (0.8-1.2) eV and m <
(1.5-3.1) eV, respectively. Also the limits on double-beta decay with Majoron
emission are: T_{1/2} > 1.4 10^{22} y (90% CL) for Mo-100 and T_{1/2}> 1.2
10^{22} y (90%CL) for Se-82. Corresponding bounds on the Majoron-neutrino
coupling constant are g < (0.5-0.9) 10^{-4} and < (0.7-1.6) 10^{-4}.
Two-neutrino 2b-decay half-lives have been measured with a high accuracy,
T_{1/2} Mo-100 = [7.68 +- 0.02(stat) +- 0.54(syst) ] 10^{18} y and T_{1/2}
Se-82 = [10.3 +- 0.3(stat) +- 0.7(syst) ] 10^{19} y.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Natural Neutrino Mass Matrix
Naturalness of the neutrino mass hierarchy and mixing is studied. First we
select among 12 neutrino mixing patterns a few patterns, which could form the
natural neutrino mass matrix. Further we show that if the Dirac neutrino mass
matrix is taken as the natural one in the quark sector, then only two mixing
patterns without the large mixing lead to the natural right-handed Majorana
mass matrix. The rest of the chosen patterns with three degenerate mass
solution lead to the unnatural right-handed Majorana mass matrix in the see-saw
mechanism. Notice however, that for the chosen two natural patterns there could
be a huge mass hierarchy such as in order to reproduce
the inverse mass hierarchy of the light neutrinos.Comment: 31 pages, LaTex file, no figures, arguments made more clear, main
conclusions unchanged, version accepted for publication in PRD Reort-no:
Lund-Mph-97/14 Revise
Limits on the Majorana neutrino mass in the 0.1 eV range
The Heidelberg-Moscow experiment gives the most stringent limit on the
Majorana neutrino mass. After 24 kg yr of data with pulse shape measurements,
we set a lower limit on the half-life of the neutrinoless double beta decay in
76Ge of T_1/2 > 5.7 * 10^{25} yr at 90% C.L., thus excluding an effective
Majorana neutrino mass greater than 0.2 eV. This allows to set strong
constraints on degenerate neutrino mass models.Comment: 6 pages (latex) including 3 postscript figures and 2 table
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