Phenomenological Study of Lepton Flavor Violation in Z Boson Decays with Constrained MSSM Extended by Type-II Seesaw Model

We predict the upper limit of the branching ratio (BR) of the lepton flavor violation (LFV) of Z boson decaying into \left(\mathrm{Z\longrightarrow}\mathrm{e}^\mathrm{\mp}\mathrm{\ } \mathrm{\tau}^\mathrm{\pm}\right),\left(\mathrm{Z\longrightarrow}\mathrm{\mu}^\mathrm{\mp}\mathrm{\tau}^\mathrm{\pm}\right),\left(\mathrm{Z\rightarrow}{\mathrm{\ e}}^\mathrm{\pm}\mathrm{\mu}^\mathrm{\mp}\right) .This study is conducted in the context of the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (CMSSM) which is extended by Seesaw type-II model. The decay rate of LFV processes is calculated in the CMSSM model at the grand unified scale ~2\times{10}^{16} GeV. The upper limit predicted results of LFV processes of branching ratio (BR) of Z boson decays for the three decay channels are found to be in the order of \mathrm{~1\times}{\mathrm{10}}^{\mathrm{-9}}, \mathrm{~1\times}{\mathrm{10}}^{\mathrm{-9}}and \mathrm{~1\times}{\mathrm{10}}^{\mathrm{-10}} respectively, which corresponds with the predicted sensitivity of the future colliders (FCC-ee/CEPC).Comment: 27 pages, 5 figures, 7 tables, version to be published in Chinese Physics

Electron Trap Dynamics in Polymer Light-Emitting Diodes

Semiconducting polymers are being studied intensively for optoelectronic device applications, including solution-processed light-emitting diodes (PLEDs). Charge traps in polymers limit the charge transport and thus the PLED efficiency. It is firmly established that electron transport is hindered by the presence of the universal electron trap density, whereas hole trap formation governs the long-term degradation of PLEDs. Here, the response of PLEDs to electrical driving and breaks covering the timescale from microseconds to (a few) hours is studied, thus focusing on electron traps. As reference polymer, a phenyl-substituted poly(para-phenylene vinylene) (PPV) copolymer termed super yellow (SY) is used. Three different traps with depths between approximate to 0.4 and 0.7 eV, and a total trap site density of approximate to 2 x 10(17) cm(-3) are identified. Surprisingly, filling of deep traps takes minutes to hours, at odds with the common notion that charge trapping is complete after a few hundred microseconds. The slow trap filling feature for PLEDs is confirmed using poly(2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene (MEH-PPV) and poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as active materials. This unusual phenomenon is explained with trap deactivation upon detrapping and slow trap reactivation. The results provide useful insight to pinpoint the chemical nature of the universal electron traps in semiconducting polymers

Intrauterine Exposure to Environmental Pollutants and Body Mass Index during the First 3 Years of Life

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the association between body mass index (BMI) standard deviation score (SDS) and prenatal exposure to hexachlorobenzene, dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), dioxin-like compounds, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). METHODS: In this prospective birth cohort study, we assessed a random sample of mother-infant pairs (n = 138) living in Flanders, Belgium, with follow-up until the children were 3 years of age. We measured body mass index as standard deviation scores (BMI SDS) of children 1-3 years of age as well as pollutants measured in cord blood. RESULTS: DDE correlated with BMI SDS, with effect modification by maternal smoking and the child's age. At I year, children of smoking mothers had higher BMI SDS than did children of nonsmoking mothers. At 3 years, this difference was reduced because of the Faster rate of decline in BMI SDS in the former group. This relationship held except for children with high levels of DDE. DDE had a small effect on BMI SDS at 3 years of age in children of nonsmoking mothers (difference in BMI SIDS for DDE concentrations between the 90th and 10th percentiles = 0.13). On the other hand, smoking enhanced the relation between DDE and BMI SIDS at 3 years (difference in BMI SDS for DDE concentrations between the 90th and 10th percentiles = 0.76). Increasing concentrations of PCBs were associated with higher BMI SDS values at all ages (parameter estimate = 0.003 +/- 0.001; p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: In this study we demonstrated that intrauterine exposure to DDE and PCBs is associated with BMI during early childhood. Future studies are warranted to confirm our findings and to assess possible mechanisms by which these pollutants could alter energy metabolism

Implications for Governance in Public Perceptions of Societal-scale AI Risks

Amid growing concerns over AI's societal risks--ranging from civilizational collapse to misinformation and systemic bias--this study explores the perceptions of AI experts and the general US registered voters on the likelihood and impact of 18 specific AI risks, alongside their policy preferences for managing these risks. While both groups favor international oversight over national or corporate governance, our survey reveals a discrepancy: voters perceive AI risks as both more likely and more impactful than experts, and also advocate for slower AI development. Specifically, our findings indicate that policy interventions may best assuage collective concerns if they attempt to more carefully balance mitigation efforts across all classes of societal-scale risks, effectively nullifying the near-vs-long-term debate over AI risks. More broadly, our results will serve not only to enable more substantive policy discussions for preventing and mitigating AI risks, but also to underscore the challenge of consensus building for effective policy implementation.Comment: 9 pages, 18 page supplementary material

Метформин и локальные анестетики - нормализаторы иммунных и метаболических параметров при моделировании воспаления

Chronic low-grade inflammation is a significant factor in the development of obesity associated diabetes. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of metformin (lidocaine) and the related molecular mechanisms. In light of these findings, we suggest that metformin (lidocaine) attenuates the LPS-induced expression of proinflammatory and adhesion molecule by inhibiting NF-kappaB activation. The received results testify to ability of metformin (lidocaine) to decrease adhesion and modulation of apoptosis and PMN free oxygen radicals production. It was established that the inflammation development was accompanied with pronounced proatherogenic blood lipid and lipoprotein metabolism disturbances in association with insulin resistance, hyperglycemia. The drugs' effect: the inhibition of lipid metabolism observed in all lipid fractions (i.e. free cholesterol, free fatty acids, triglycerides. Lidocaine is a commonly used local anaesthetic agent which has also been found to possess anti-inflammatory activity in several disorders. Lidocaine has been reported to attenuate the inflammatory response in addition to its anesthetic activity.Атеросклероз и сахарный диабет 2-го типа имеют ряд общих патогенетических механизмов, что позволило рассматривать метаболический компонент в качестве эквивалента типового механизма современной патологии. Применение препаратов, являющихся регуляторами нейроиммуноэндокринной системы, которые ответственны за экспрессию белков, принимающих участие в регуляции иммунитета - один из наиболее перспективных подходов к решению этой проблемы

Metformin and local anesthetics normalize the immune and metabolic parameters in experimental models of inflammation

Chronic low-grade inflammation is a significant factor in the development of obesity associated diabetes. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of metformin (lidocaine) and the related molecular mechanisms. In light of these findings, we suggest that metformin (lidocaine) attenuates the LPS-induced expression of proinflammatory and adhesion molecule by inhibiting NF-kappaB activation. The received results testify to ability of metformin (lidocaine) to decrease adhesion and modulation of apoptosis and PMN free oxygen radicals production. It was established that the inflammation development was accompanied with pronounced proatherogenic blood lipid and lipoprotein metabolism disturbances in association with insulin resistance, hyperglycemia. The drugs' effect: the inhibition of lipid metabolism observed in all lipid fractions (i.e. free cholesterol, free fatty acids, triglycerides. Lidocaine is a commonly used local anaesthetic agent which has also been found to possess anti-inflammatory activity in several disorders. Lidocaine has been reported to attenuate the inflammatory response in addition to its anesthetic activity

Relationship to CBT outcome and dropout of decision support tools of the written case formulation, list of treatment goals and plot of symptom scores

Many patients who receive cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for mood and anxiety disorders fail to respond or drop out of treatment. We tested the hypotheses that therapist use of each of three decision support tools, a written case formulation, a list of treatment goals, and a plot of symptom scores, was associated with improved outcome and reduced dropout in naturalistic CBT provided to 845 patients in a private practice setting. We conducted regression analyses to test the hypotheses that the presence of each tool in the clinical record was associated with lower end-of-treatment scores on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Burns Anxiety Inventory (BurnsAI), and lower rates of premature and uncollaborative dropout. We found that the presence of a written case formulation in the clinical record was associated with lower rates of both types of dropout. A list of treatment goals was associated with lower end-of-treatment scores on the BDI and the BurnsAI, and a lower rate of uncollaborative but a higher rate of premature dropout. A plot of symptom scores was associated with lower end-of-treatment scores on the BDI, and lower rates of both types of dropout. Results suggest that therapist use of a written case formulation, list of treatment goals, and a plot of symptom scores can contribute to improved outcome and reduced dropout in CBT