A Simple Phenomenological Parametrization of Supersymmetry without R-Parity

We present a parametrization of the supersymmetric standard model without R-parity that permits efficient phenomenological analyses of the full model without a priori assumptions. Under the parametrization, which is characterized by a single vacuum expectation value for the scalar components of the Y=-1/2 superfields, the expressions for tree-level mass matrices are quite simple. They do not involve the trilinear R-parity violating couplings; however, the bilinear {\mu}_i terms do enter and cannot be set to zero without additional assumptions. We set up a framework for doing phenomenology and show some illustrative results for fermion mass matrices and related bounds on parameters. We find in particular that large values of tan(beta) can suppress R-parity violating effects, substantially weakening experimental constraints.Comment: LaTeX file plus postscript figure files, 17 pages; minor typographical changes, to appear in Physics Letters

Glutathione-Mediated Neuroprotection Against Methylmercury Neurotoxicity in Cortical Culture is Dependent on MRP1

Methylmercury (MeHg) exposure at high concentrations poses significant neurotoxic threat to humans worldwide. The present study investigated the mechanisms of glutathione-mediated attenuation of MeHg neurotoxicity in primary cortical culture. MeHg (5 μM) caused depletion of mono- and disulfide glutathione in neuronal, glial and mixed cultures. Supplementation with exogenous glutathione, specifically glutathione monoethyl ester (GSHME) protected against the MeHg induced neuronal death. MeHg caused increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation measured by dichlorodihydrofluorescein (DCF) fluorescence with an early increase at 30 min and a late increase at 6 h. This oxidative stress was prevented by the presence of either GSHME or the free radical scavenger, trolox. While trolox was capable of quenching the ROS, it showed no neuroprotection. Exposure to MeHg at subtoxic concentrations (3 μM) caused an increase in system xc− mediated 14C-cystine uptake that was blocked by the protein synthesis inhibitor, cycloheximide (CHX). Interestingly, blockade of the early ROS burst prevented the functional upregulation of system xc−. Inhibition of multidrug resistance protein-1 (MRP1) potentiated MeHg neurotoxicity and increased cellular MeHg. Taken together, these data suggest glutathione offers neuroprotection against MeHg toxicity in a manner dependent on MRP1-mediated efflux

Newton's laws of motion in form of Riccati equation

We discuss two applications of Riccati equation to Newton's laws of motion. The first one is the motion of a particle under the influence of a power law central potential V(r)=k r^{\epsilon}. For zero total energy we show that the equation of motion can be cast in the Riccati form. We briefly show here an analogy to barotropic Friedmann-Robertson-Lemaitre cosmology where the expansion of the universe can be also shown to obey a Riccati equation. A second application in classical mechanics, where again the Riccati equation appears naturally, are problems involving quadratic friction. We use methods reminiscent to nonrelativistic supersymmetry to generalize and solve such problem

Gravitational Equilibrium in the Presence of a Positive Cosmological Constant

We reconsider the virial theorem in the presence of a positive cosmological constant Lambda. Assuming steady state, we derive an inequality of the form rho >= A (Lambda / 4 pi GN) for the mean density rho of the astrophysical object. With a minimum at Asphere = 2, its value can increase by several orders of magnitude as the shape of the object deviates from a spherically symmetric one. This, among others, indicates that flattened matter distributions like e.g. clusters or superclusters, with low density, cannot be in gravitational equilibrium.Comment: 7 pages, no figure

Properties of the solvation force of a two-dimensional Ising strip in scaling regimes

We consider d=2 Ising strip with surface fields acting on boundary spins. Using the properties of the transfer matrix spectrum we identify two pseudotransition temperatures and show that they satisfy similar scaling relations as expected for real transition temperatures in strips with d>2. The solvation force between the boundaries of the strip is analysed as a function of temperature, surface fields and the width of the strip. For large widths the solvation force can be described by scaling functions in three different regimes: in the vicinity of the critical wetting temperature of 2D semi-infinite system, in the vicinity of the bulk critical temperature, and in the regime of weak surface fields where the critical wetting temperature tends towards the bulk critical temperature. The properties of the relevant scaling functions are discussed

Cystic Fibrosis Kidney Disease: 10 Tips for Clinicians

Increased longevity in people with cystic fibrosis (CF) means that more people are surviving long enough to develop kidney complications. Nephrologists and their colleagues now face a steep learning curve as many of them encounter patients with CF related kidney disease (CFKD) for the first time. This article presents perspectives from a medical sociologist with CF on what renal health professionals should know about people with CFKD. It outlines challenges that people with CFKD as they age, framing these struggles as opportunities for clinicians to help these unique patients achieve and maintain their best possible quality of life

Shape invariance through Crum transformation

We show in a rigorous way that Crum's result on equal eigenvalue spectrum of Sturm-Liouville problems can be obtained iteratively by successive Darboux transformations. It can be shown that all neighbouring Darboux-transformed potentials of higher order, u_{k} and u_{k+1}, satisfy the condition of shape invariance provided the original potential u does. We use this result to proof that under the condition of shape invariance the n-th iteration of the original Sturm-Liouville problem defined through shape invariance is equal to the n-th Crum transformationComment: 26 pp, one more reference, J.-M. Sparenberg and D. Baye, J. Phys. A 28, 5079 (1995), has been added as Ref. 18 in the published version, which has 47 ref

CP-Violation in Bosonic Sector of SM with two Higgs Doublets

We investigate CP-violation effects in the bosonic sector of the Standard Model (SM) with two Higgs doublets. First we calculate the mass eigenstates of the physical neutral Higgses for small but nonzero CP-violation parameter $\xi_{\ast}$, and then a ``forward-backward'' asymmetry ${\cal A}_{fb}$ for the decay $H \to W^+W^-Z$ that would be a signal of CP-violation. Although the effects are in general small (${\cal A}_{fb} = \Gamma_{fb}/\Gamma \sim {\cal O}(10^{-3})$), ${\cal A}_{fb}$ turns out to be a rather clean signal of CP-violation, since neither the CP-conserving final state interactions nor the direct production background events contribute to $\Gamma_{fb}$. The process is a counterexample to the widespread belief that CP-violation processes must involve fermions. The CKM-type CP-violation effects that could in principle also contribute to ${\cal A}_{fb}$ are negligible. The nonzero ${\cal A}_{fb}$ could possibly be detected at some later stage in future colliders such as LHC or SSC.Comment: 11 pages (standard LaTeX), 3 figures (available from the author), DO-TH 93-1

Same Old New Normal: The Ableist Fallacy of “Post-Pandemic” Work

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has catalyzed long-needed changes in accessibility and flexibility for work tasks. Disabled and chronically ill people have often experienced unprecedented inclusion during this time. As someone who is both disabled and chronically ill, I have experienced this firsthand. My work as a medical educator, public health program evaluator, and community advocate has been more accessible in recent months than at any prior time. As the pandemic escalated in early 2020, people readily embraced a “new normal” that would allow them to sustain their own livelihoods while staying as safe as possible. Yet even as Covid-19 cases increase sharply both locally and nationally with the spread of the Delta virus variant, many abled people from both my institution and others increasingly demand a return to pre-pandemic practices. The “normal” state for which abled individuals ardently long violates the basic human rights of disabled and chronically ill people. This desire for “normalcy” is fueled by false notions of the pandemic being over. It remains preferred by many for the sake of their own comfort—even though sustaining the inclusive approaches to collaboration introduced during the pandemic often requires little effort and offers advantages for abled people as well. This experiential piece describes ableist implications of seeking “post-pandemic” work environments—and how these constitute “generic processes” in the reproduction of ableism—using both oral history from the author and emerging literature from fellow scholars. In response, it recommends inclusive strategies for anti-ableist work collaboration that achieve justice in accessibility while fostering a welcome sense of normalcy for all

Hidden evidence of non-exponential nuclear decay

The framework to describe natural phenomena at their basics being quantum mechanics, there exist a large number of common global phenomena occurring in different branches of natural sciences. One such global phenomenon is spontaneous quantum decay. However, its long time behaviour is experimentally poorly known. Here we show, that by combining two genuine quantum mechanical results, it is possible to infer on this large time behaviour, directly from data. Specifically, we find evidence for non-exponential behaviour of alpha decay of 8Be at large times from experiments.Comment: 12 pages LaTex, 3 figure