Predicting leptonic CP violation in the light of Daya Bay result

In the light of the recent Daya Bay result the reactor angle is about 9 degrees, we reconsider the model presented in arXiv:1005.3482 showing that, when all neutrino oscillation parameters are taken at their best fit values of Schwetz et al and the reactor angle to be the central value of Daya Bay, the predicted value of the CP phase is approximately 45 degrees.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, update of arXiv:1005.348

Renormalization Group Running of Lepton Mixing Parameters in See-Saw Models with S4S_4 Flavor Symmetry

We study the renormalization group running of the tri-bimaximal mixing predicted by the two typical $S_4$ flavor models at leading order. Although the textures of the mass matrices are completely different, the evolution of neutrino mass and mixing parameters is found to display approximately the same pattern. For both normal hierarchy and inverted hierarchy spectrum, the quantum corrections to both atmospheric and reactor neutrino mixing angles are so small that they can be neglected. The evolution of the solar mixing angle $\theta_{12}$ depends on $\tan\beta$ and neutrino mass spectrum, the deviation from its tri-bimaximal value could be large. Taking into account the renormalization group running effect, the neutrino spectrum is constrained by experimental data on $\theta_{12}$ in addition to the self-consistency conditions of the models, and the inverted hierarchy spectrum is disfavored for large $\tan\beta$. The evolution of light-neutrino masses is approximately described by a common scaling factor.Comment: 23 pages, 6figure

A novel (1,4)-beta-linked glucoxylan is synthesized by members of the cellulose synthase-like F gene family in land plants

As a significant component of monocot cell walls, (1,3;1,4)-β-glucan has conclusively been shown to be synthesized by the cellulose synthase-like F6 protein. In this study, we investigated the synthetic activity of other members of the barley (Hordeum vulgare) CslF gene family using heterologous expression. As expected, the majority of the genes encode proteins that are capable of synthesizing detectable levels of (1,3;1,4)-β-glucan. However, overexpression of HvCslF3 and HvCslF10 genes resulted in the synthesis of a novel linear glucoxylan that consists of (1,4)-β-linked glucose and xylose residues. To demonstrate that this product was not an aberration of the heterologous system, the characteristic (1,4)-β-linkage between glucose and xylose was confirmed to be present in wild type barley tissues known to contain HvCslF3 and HvCslF10 transcripts. This polysaccharide linkage has also been reported in species of Ulva, a marine green alga, and has significant implications for defining the specificity of the cell wall content of many crop species. This finding supports previous observations that members of a single CSL family may not possess the same carbohydrate synthetic activity, with the CSLF family now associated with the formation of not only (1,3)- and (1,4)-β-glucosidic linkages, but also (1,4)-β-glucosidic and (1,4)-β-xylosidic linkages.Alan Little, Jelle Lahnstein, David W. Jeffery, Shi F. Khor, Julian G. Schwerdt, Neil J. Shirley, Michelle Hooi, Xiaohui Xing, Rachel A. Burton, and Vincent Bulon

Probing the seesaw mechanism with neutrino data and leptogenesis

In the framework of the seesaw mechanism with three heavy right-handed Majorana neutrinos and no Higgs triplets we carry out a systematic study of the structure of the right-handed neutrino sector. Using the current low-energy neutrino data as an input and assuming hierarchical Dirac-type neutrino masses $m_{Di}$, we calculate the masses $M_i$ and the mixing of the heavy neutrinos. We confront the inferred properties of these neutrinos with the constraints coming from the requirement of a successful baryogenesis via leptogenesis. In the generic case the masses of the right-handed neutrinos are highly hierarchical: $M_i \propto m_{Di}^2$; the lightest mass is $M_1 \approx 10^3 - 10^6$ GeV and the generated baryon-to-photon ratio $\eta_B\lesssim 10^{-14}$ is much smaller than the observed value. We find the special cases which correspond to the level crossing points, with maximal mixing between two quasi-degenerate right-handed neutrinos. Two level crossing conditions are obtained: ${m}_{ee}\approx 0$ (1-2 crossing) and $d_{12}\approx 0$ (2-3 crossing), where ${m}_{ee}$ and $d_{12}$ are respectively the 11-entry and the 12-subdeterminant of the light neutrino mass matrix in the basis where the neutrino Yukawa couplings are diagonal. We show that sufficient lepton asymmetry can be produced only in the 1-2 crossing where $M_1 \approx M_2 \approx 10^{8}$ GeV, $M_3 \approx 10^{14}$ GeV and $(M_2 - M_1)/ M_2 \lesssim 10^{-5}$.Comment: 30 pages, 2 eps figures, JHEP3.cls, typos corrected, note (and references) added on non-thermal leptogenesi

Sulfated seaweed polysaccharides as multifunctional materials in drug delivery applications

In the last decades, the discovery of metabolites from marine resources showing biological activity has increased significantly. Among marine resources, seaweed is a valuable source of structurally diverse bioactive compounds. The cell walls of marine algae are rich in sulfated polysaccharides, including carrageenan in red algae, ulvan in green algae and fucoidan in brown algae. Sulfated polysaccharides have been increasingly studied over the years in the pharmaceutical field, given their potential usefulness in applications such as the design of drug delivery systems. The purpose of this review is to discuss potential applications of these polymers in drug delivery systems, with a focus on carrageenan, ulvan and fucoidan. General information regarding structure, extraction process and physicochemical properties is presented, along with a brief reference to reported biological activities. For each material, specific applications under the scope of drug delivery are described, addressing in privileged manner particulate carriers, as well as hydrogels and beads. A final section approaches the application of sulfated polysaccharides in targeted drug delivery, focusing with particular interest the capacity for macrophage targeting

Study of the B^0 Semileptonic Decay Spectrum at the Upsilon(4S) Resonance

We have made a first measurement of the lepton momentum spectrum in a sample of events enriched in neutral B's through a partial reconstruction of B0 --> D*- l+ nu. This spectrum, measured with 2.38 fb**-1 of data collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance by the CLEO II detector, is compared directly to the inclusive lepton spectrum from all Upsilon(4S) events in the same data set. These two spectra are consistent with having the same shape above 1.5 GeV/c. From the two spectra and two other CLEO measurements, we obtain the B0 and B+ semileptonic branching fractions, b0 and b+, their ratio, and the production ratio f+-/f00 of B+ and B0 pairs at the Upsilon(4S). We report b+/b0=0.950 (+0.117-0.080) +- 0.091, b0 = (10.78 +- 0.60 +- 0.69)%, and b+ = (10.25 +- 0.57 +- 0.65)%. b+/b0 is equivalent to the ratio of charged to neutral B lifetimes, tau+/tau0.Comment: 14 page, postscript file also available at http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN

Tri-bimaximal-Cabibbo Mixing

Recent measurements of the lepton mixing angle $\theta_{13}$ by the Daya Bay and RENO reactor experiments are consistent with the relationship $\theta_{13}\approx \theta_C/\sqrt{2}$ where $\theta_C$ is the Cabibbo angle. We propose Tri-bimaximal-Cabibbo (TBC) mixing, in which $\sin \theta_{13}= \sin \theta_C/\sqrt{2}$, $\sin \theta_{23}= 1/\sqrt{2}$ and $\sin \theta_{12}= 1/\sqrt{3}$. We show that TBC mixing may arise approximately from Tri-bimaximal, Bi-maximal or Golden Ratio neutrino mixing, together with Cabibbo-like charged lepton corrections arising from a Pati-Salam gauge group, leading to predictions for the CP-violating phase of $\delta \approx \pm 90^o, \pm 180^o, \pm 75^o$, respectively. Alternatively, we show that TBC neutrino mixing may realised accurately using the type I see-saw mechanism with partially constrained sequential right-handed neutrino dominance, assuming a family symmetry which is broken by a flavon common to quarks and neutrinos.Comment: 16 pages. References added, minor change

Neutrino mixing matrices with relatively large θ13\theta_{13} and with texture one-zero

The recent T2K, MINOS and Double Chooz oscillation data hint a relatively large $\theta_{13}$, which can be accommodated by some general modification of the Tribimaximal/Bimaximal/Democratic mixing matrices. Using such matrices we analyze several Majorana mass matrices with texture one-zero and show whether they satisfy normal or inverted mass hierarchy and phenomenologically viable or not.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, minor modification in the text, version to appear in EPJ

Non-canonical Wnt signalling regulates scarring in biliary disease via the planar cell polarity receptors

The number of patients diagnosed with chronic bile duct disease is increasing and in most cases these diseases result in chronic ductular scarring, necessitating liver transplantation. The formation of ductular scaring affects liver function; however, scar-generating portal fibroblasts also provide important instructive signals to promote the proliferation and differentiation of biliary epithelial cells. Therefore, understanding whether we can reduce scar formation while maintaining a pro-regenerative microenvironment will be essential in developing treatments for biliary disease. Here, we describe how regenerating biliary epithelial cells express Wnt-Planar Cell Polarity signalling components following bile duct injury and promote the formation of ductular scars by upregulating pro-fibrogenic cytokines and positively regulating collagen-deposition. Inhibiting the production of Wnt-ligands reduces the amount of scar formed around the bile duct, without reducing the development of the pro-regenerative microenvironment required for ductular regeneration, demonstrating that scarring and regeneration can be uncoupled in adult biliary disease and regeneration

NMSSM Higgs Benchmarks Near 125 GeV

The recent LHC indications of a SM-like Higgs boson near 125 GeV are consistent not only with the Standard Model (SM) but also with Supersymmetry (SUSY). However naturalness arguments disfavour the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). We consider the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM) with a SM-like Higgs boson near 125 GeV involving relatively light stops and gluinos below 1 TeV in order to satisfy naturalness requirements. We are careful to ensure that the chosen values of couplings do not become non perturbative below the grand unification (GUT) scale, although we also examine how these limits may be extended by the addition of extra matter to the NMSSM at the two-loop level. We then propose four sets of benchmark points corresponding to the SM-like Higgs boson being the lightest or the second lightest Higgs state in the NMSSM or the NMSSM-with-extra-matter. With the aid of these benchmark points we discuss how the NMSSM Higgs boson near 125 GeV may be distinguished from the SM Higgs boson in future LHC searches.Comment: 40 pages, 1 figure; Minor changes and further references include