Recognizing and managing a malignant hyperthermia crisis: guidelines from the European Malignant Hyperthermia Group

Survival from a malignant hyperthermia (MH) crisis is highly dependent on early recognition and prompt action. MH crises are very rare and an increasing use of total i.v. anaesthesia is likely to make it even rarer, leading to the potential risk of reduced awareness of MH. In addition, dantrolene, the cornerstone of successful MH treatment, is unavailable in large areas around the world thereby increasing the risk of MH fatalities in these areas. The European Malignant Hyperthermia Group collected and reviewed all guidelines available from the various MH centres in order to provide a consensus document. The guidelines consist of two textboxes: Box 1 on recognizing MH and Box 2 on the treatment of an MH crisi

Measurement of the Branching Fraction for B- --> D0 K*-

We present a measurement of the branching fraction for the decay B- --> D0 K*- using a sample of approximately 86 million BBbar pairs collected by the BaBar detector from e+e- collisions near the Y(4S) resonance. The D0 is detected through its decays to K- pi+, K- pi+ pi0 and K- pi+ pi- pi+, and the K*- through its decay to K0S pi-. We measure the branching fraction to be B.F.(B- --> D0 K*-)= (6.3 +/- 0.7(stat.) +/- 0.5(syst.)) x 10^{-4}.Comment: 7 pages, 1 postscript figure, submitted to Phys. Rev. D (Rapid Communications

Measurement of the quasi-elastic axial vector mass in neutrino-oxygen interactions

The weak nucleon axial-vector form factor for quasi-elastic interactions is determined using neutrino interaction data from the K2K Scintillating Fiber detector in the neutrino beam at KEK. More than 12,000 events are analyzed, of which half are charged-current quasi-elastic interactions nu-mu n to mu- p occurring primarily in oxygen nuclei. We use a relativistic Fermi gas model for oxygen and assume the form factor is approximately a dipole with one parameter, the axial vector mass M_A, and fit to the shape of the distribution of the square of the momentum transfer from the nucleon to the nucleus. Our best fit result for M_A = 1.20 \pm 0.12 GeV. Furthermore, this analysis includes updated vector form factors from recent electron scattering experiments and a discussion of the effects of the nucleon momentum on the shape of the fitted distributions.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, 6 table

Study of e+e- --> pi+ pi- pi0 process using initial state radiation with BABAR

The process e+e- --> pi+ pi- pi0 gamma has been studied at a center-of-mass energy near the Y(4S) resonance using a 89.3 fb-1 data sample collected with the BaBar detector at the PEP-II collider. From the measured 3pi mass spectrum we have obtained the products of branching fractions for the omega and phi mesons, B(omega --> e+e-)B(omega --> 3pi)=(6.70 +/- 0.06 +/- 0.27)10-5 and B(phi --> e+e-)B(phi --> 3pi)=(4.30 +/- 0.08 +/- 0.21)10-5, and evaluated the e+e- --> pi+ pi- pi0 cross section for the e+e- center-of-mass energy range 1.05 to 3.00 GeV. About 900 e+e- --> J/psi gamma --> pi+ pi- pi0 gamma events have been selected and the branching fraction B(J/psi --> pi+ pi- pi0)=(2.18 +/- 0.19)% has been measured.Comment: 21 pages, 37 postscript figues, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Evidence for the Rare Decay B -> K*ll and Measurement of the B -> Kll Branching Fraction

We present evidence for the flavor-changing neutral current decay $B\to K^*\ell^+\ell^-$ and a measurement of the branching fraction for the related process $B\to K\ell^+\ell^-$, where $\ell^+\ell^-$ is either an $e^+e^-$ or $\mu^+\mu^-$ pair. These decays are highly suppressed in the Standard Model, and they are sensitive to contributions from new particles in the intermediate state. The data sample comprises $123\times 10^6$ $\Upsilon(4S)\to B\bar{B}$ decays collected with the Babar detector at the PEP-II $e^+e^-$ storage ring. Averaging over $K^{(*)}$ isospin and lepton flavor, we obtain the branching fractions ${\mathcal B}(B\to K\ell^+\ell^-)=(0.65^{+0.14}_{-0.13}\pm 0.04)\times 10^{-6}$ and ${\mathcal B}(B\to K^*\ell^+\ell^-)=(0.88^{+0.33}_{-0.29}\pm 0.10)\times 10^{-6}$, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. The significance of the $B\to K\ell^+\ell^-$ signal is over $8\sigma$, while for $B\to K^*\ell^+\ell^-$ it is $3.3\sigma$.Comment: 7 pages, 2 postscript figues, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Search for the W-exchange decays B0 --> Ds(*)- Ds(*)+

We report a search for the decays $B^{0} \to D_{s}^{-} D_{s}^{+}$, $B^{0} \to D_{s}^{*-} D_{s}^{+}$, $B^{0} \to D_{s}^{*-} D_{s}^{*+}$ in a sample of 232 million $\Upsilon(4S)$ decays to \BBb ~pairs collected with the \babar detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy $e^+ e^-$ storage ring. We find no significant signal and set upper bounds for the branching fractions: ${\cal B}(B^{0} \to D_{s}^{-} D_{s}^{+}) < 1.0 \times 10^{-4}, {\cal B}(B^{0} \to D_{s}^{*-} D_{s}^{+}) < 1.3 \times 10^{-4}$ and ${\cal B}(B^{0} \to D_{s}^{*-} D_{s}^{*+}) < 2.4 \times 10^{-4}$ at 90% confidence level.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, submitted to PRD-R

Measurement of Branching Fraction and Dalitz Distribution for B0->D(*)+/- K0 pi-/+ Decays

We present measurements of the branching fractions for the three-body decays B0 -> D(*)-/+ K0 pi^+/-$and their resonant submodes$B0 -> D(*)-/+ K*+/- using a sample of approximately 88 million BBbar pairs collected by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric energy storage ring. We measure: B(B0->D-/+ K0 pi+/-)=(4.9 +/- 0.7(stat) +/- 0.5 (syst)) 10^{-4} B(B0->D*-/+ K0 pi+/-)=(3.0 +/- 0.7(stat) +/- 0.3 (syst)) 10^{-4} B(B0->D-/+ K*+/-)=(4.6 +/- 0.6(stat) +/- 0.5 (syst)) 10^{-4} B(B0->D*-/+ K*+/-)=(3.2 +/- 0.6(stat) +/- 0.3 (syst)) 10^{-4} From these measurements we determine the fractions of resonant events to be : f(B0-> D-/+ K*+/-) = 0.63 +/- 0.08(stat) +/- 0.04(syst) f(B0-> D*-/+ K*+/-) = 0.72 +/- 0.14(stat) +/- 0.05(syst)Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Measurement of the B+ --> p pbar K+ Branching Fraction and Study of the Decay Dynamics

With a sample of 232x10^6 Upsilon(4S) --> BBbar events collected with the BaBar detector, we study the decay B+ --> p pbar K+ excluding charmonium decays to ppbar. We measure a branching fraction Br(B+ --> p pbar K+)=(6.7+/-0.5+/-0.4)x10^{-6}. An enhancement at low ppbar mass is observed and the Dalitz plot asymmetry suggests dominance of the penguin amplitude in this B decay. We search for a pentaquark candidate Theta*++ decaying into pK+ in the mass range 1.43 to 2.00 GeV/c2 and set limits on Br(B+ --> Theta*++pbar)xBr(Theta*++ --> pK+) at the 10^{-7} level.Comment: 8 pages, 7 postscript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. D (Rapid Communications

Semileptonic Branching Fraction of Charged and Neutral B Mesons

An examination of leptons in ${\Upsilon (4S)}$ events tagged by reconstructed $B$ decays yields semileptonic branching fractions of $b_-=(10.1 \pm 1.8\pm 1.4)\%$ for charged and $b_0=(10.9 \pm 0.7\pm 1.1)\%$ for neutral $B$ mesons. This is the first measurement for charged $B$. Assuming equality of the charged and neutral semileptonic widths, the ratio $b_-/b_0=0.93 \pm 0.18 \pm 0.12$ is equivalent to the ratio of lifetimes. A postscript version is available through World-Wide-Web in http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS/1994Comment: 9 pages (in REVTEX format) Preprint CLNS94-1286, CLEO 94-1

Measurement of the Branching Ratios for the Decays of Ds+→ηπ+,η′π+,ηρ+D_{s}^{+}\to \eta\pi^{+}, \eta^{'}\pi^{+}, \eta\rho^{+}, and eta′ρ+eta^{'}\rho^{+}

Using a data sample with integrated luminosity of about 3.9 fb^{-1} collected in e+ e- annihilation with the CLEO-II detector at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring, we have measured the branching ratios for the decay modes Ds -> (eta, eta') pi and Ds -> (eta, eta') rho relative to Ds -> phi pi. These decay modes are among the most common hadronic decays of the Ds's and can be related by factorization to the semileptonic decays Ds -> (eta,eta') l nu. The results obtained are compared with previous CLEO results and with the branching ratios measured for the related semileptonic decays. We also report results on the Cabibbo-suppressed decays of the D+ to the same final states.Comment: 18 page postscript file, postscript file also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN