Metastable Vacua in Superconformal SQCD-like Theories

We study dynamical supersymmetry breaking in vector-like superconformal N=1 gauge theories. We find appropriate deformations of the superpotential to overcome the problem of the instability of the non supersymmetric vacuum. The request for long lifetime translates into constraints on the physical couplings which in this regime can be controlled through efficient RG analysis.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, JHEP3.cl

Isolation and characterization of the full-length cDNA encoding a member of a novel cytochrome p450 family (CYP320A1) from the tropical freshwater snail, Biomphalaria glabrata, intermediate host for Schistosoma mansoni

Cytochrome p450s (cyp450s) are a family of structurally related proteins, with diverse functions, including steroid synthesis and breakdown of toxins. This paper reports the full-length sequence of a novel cyp450 gene, the first to be isolated from the tropical freshwater snail Biomphalaria glabrata, an important intermediate host of Schistosoma mansoni. The nucleotide sequence is 2291 bp with a predicted amino acid sequence of 584aa. The sequence demonstrates conserved cyp450 structural motifs, but is sufficiently different from previously reported cyp450 sequences to be given a new classification, CYP320A1. Initially identified as down-regulated in partially resistant snails in response to S. mansoni infection, amplification of this gene using RT-PCR in both totally resistant or susceptible snail lines when exposed to infection, and all tissues examined, suggests ubiquitous expression. Characterization of the first cyp450 from B. glabrata is significant in understanding the evolution of these metabolically important proteins

Flavor of quiver-like realizations of effective supersymmetry

We present a class of supersymmetric models which address the flavor puzzle and have an inverted hierarchy of sfermions. Their construction involves quiver-like models with link fields in generic representations. The magnitude of Standard-Model parameters is obtained naturally and a relatively heavy Higgs boson is allowed without fine tuning. Collider signatures of such models are possibly within the reach of LHC in the near future.Comment: LaTeX, 17 pages, 3 figures. V2: reference adde

Spectral Action for Robertson-Walker metrics

We use the Euler-Maclaurin formula and the Feynman-Kac formula to extend our previous method of computation of the spectral action based on the Poisson summation formula. We show how to compute directly the spectral action for the general case of Robertson-Walker metrics. We check the terms of the expansion up to a_6 against the known universal formulas of Gilkey and compute the expansion up to a_{10} using our direct method

Corticosteroid transdermal delivery significantly improves arthritis pain and functional disability

Arthritis is characterized by pain and functional limitation affecting the patients’ quality of life. We performed a clinical study to investigate the efficacy of a betamethasone valerate medicated plaster (Betesil) in improving pain and functional disability in patients with arthritis and osteoarthritis. We enrolled 104 patients affected by osteoarthritis (n = 40) or arthritis (n = 64) in different joints. Patients received diclofenac sodium cream (2 g, four times a day) or a 2.25-mg dose of Betesil applied to the painful joint every night before bedtime for 10 days. Pain and functional disability were assessed, by the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Western Ontario McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) scores. Redness was assessed by clinical inspection, and edema by the Bfovea sign^ method. C-reactive protein (CRP) was also measured; CRP can be used to cost-effectively monitor the pharmacological treatment efficacy and is increased during the acute-phase response, returning to physiological values after tissue recovery and functional restoration. All measurements were at baseline and at 10-day follow-up. At 10-day follow-up, a greater improvement in VAS and WOMAC pain and WOMAC stiffness and functional limitation scores from baseline was observed in patients treated with Betesil compared with diclofenac (all p < 0.01). At 10-day follow-up, improvement in redness, edema, and CRP levels from baseline was also greater in patients treated with Betesil compared with diclofenac (all p < 0.01). This study demonstrates the safety and efficacy of transdermal delivery of betamethasone valerate in patients affected by arthritis and osteoarthritis

Decays of metastable vacua in SQCD

The decay rates of metastable SQCD vacua in ISS-type models, both towards supersymmetric vacua as well as towards other nonsupersymmetric configurations arising in theories with elementary spectators, are estimated numerically in the semiclassical approximation by computing the corresponding multifield bounce configurations. The scaling of the bounce action with respect to the most relevant dimensionless couplings and ratios of scales is analyzed. In the case of the decays towards the susy vacua generated by nonperturbative effects, the results confirm previous analytical estimations of this scaling, obtained by assuming a triangular potential barrier. The decay rates towards susy vacua generated by R-symmetry breaking interactions turn out to be more than sufficiently suppressed for the phenomenologically relevant parameter range, and their behavior in this regime differs from analytic estimations valid for parametrically small scale ratios. It is also shown that in models with spectator fields, even though the decays towards vacua involving nonzero spectator VEVs don't have a strong parametric dependence on the scale ratios, the ISS vacuum can still be made long-lived in the presence of R-symmetry breaking interactions.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figure

Universal contributions to scalar masses from five dimensional supergravity

We compute the effective Kahler potential for matter fields in warped compactifications, starting from five dimensional gauged supergravity, as a function of the matter fields localization. We show that truncation to zero modes is inconsistent and the tree-level exchange of the massive gravitational multiplet is needed for consistency of the four-dimensional theory. In addition to the standard Kahler coming from dimensional reduction, we find the quartic correction coming from integrating out the gravity multiplet. We apply our result to the computation of scalar masses, by assuming that the SUSY breaking field is a bulk hypermultiplet. In the limit of extreme opposite localization of the matter and the spurion fields, we find zero scalar masses, consistent with sequestering arguments. Surprisingly enough, for all the other cases the scalar masses are tachyonic. This suggests the holographic interpretation that a CFT sector always generates operators contributing in a tachyonic way to scalar masses. Viability of warped su- persymmetric compactifications necessarily asks then for additional contributions. We discuss the case of additional bulk vector multiplets with mixed boundary conditions, which is a partic- ularly simple and attractive way to generate large positive scalar masses. We show that in this case successful fermion mass matrices implies highly degenerate scalar masses for the first two generations of squarks and sleptons.Comment: 23 pages. v2: References added, new section on effect of additional bulk vector multiplets and phenomenolog

Flavor in Minimal Conformal Technicolor

We construct a complete, realistic, and natural UV completion of minimal conformal technicolor that explains the origin of quark and lepton masses and mixing angles. As in "bosonic technicolor", we embed conformal technicolor in a supersymmetric theory, with supersymmetry broken at a high scale. The exchange of heavy scalar doublets generates higher-dimension interactions between technifermions and quarks and leptons that give rise to quark and lepton masses at the TeV scale. Obtaining a sufficiently large top quark mass requires strong dynamics at the supersymmetry breaking scale in both the top and technicolor sectors. This is natural if the theory above the supersymmetry breaking also has strong conformal dynamics. We present two models in which the strong top dynamics is realized in different ways. In both models, constraints from flavor-changing effects can be easily satisfied. The effective theory below the supersymmetry breaking scale is minimal conformal technicolor with an additional light technicolor gaugino. We argue that this light gaugino is a general consequence of conformal technicolor embedded into a supersymmetric theory. If the gaugino has mass below the TeV scale it will give rise to an additional pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson that is observable at the LHC.Comment: 37 pages; references adde

Flavour in supersymmetry: horizontal symmetries or wave function renormalisation

We compare theoretical and experimental predictions of two main classes of models addressing fermion mass hierarchies and flavour changing neutral currents (FCNC) effects in supersymmetry: Froggatt-Nielsen (FN) U(1) gauged flavour models and Nelson-Strassler/extra dimensional models with hierarchical wave functions for the families. We show that whereas the two lead to identical predictions in the fermion mass matrices, the second class generates a stronger suppression of FCNC effects. We prove that, whereas at first sight the FN setup is more constrained due to anomaly cancelation conditions, imposing unification of gauge couplings in the second setup generates conditions which precisely match the mixed anomaly constraints in the FN setup. Finally, we provide an economical extra dimensional realisation of the hierarchical wave functions scenario in which the leptonic FCNC can be efficiently suppressed due to the strong coupling (CFT) origin of the electron mass.Comment: 23 page

The Conformal Sector of F-theory GUTs

D3-brane probes of exceptional Yukawa points in F-theory GUTs are natural hidden sectors for particle phenomenology. We find that coupling the probe to the MSSM yields a new class of N = 1 conformal fixed points with computable infrared R-charges. Quite surprisingly, we find that the MSSM only weakly mixes with the strongly coupled sector in the sense that the MSSM fields pick up small exactly computable anomalous dimensions. Additionally, we find that although the states of the probe sector transform as complete GUT multiplets, their coupling to Standard Model fields leads to a calculable threshold correction to the running of the visible sector gauge couplings which improves precision unification. We also briefly consider scenarios in which SUSY is broken in the hidden sector. This leads to a gauge mediated spectrum for the gauginos and first two superpartner generations, with additional contributions to the third generation superpartners and Higgs sector.Comment: v2: 51 pages, 2 figures, remark added, typos correcte