Experimental study of differential cross sections dσdy in neutral current neutrino and antineutrino interactions

We present differential cross sections dσ/dy corrected for resolution and acceptance, for events induced by both the neutral- and charged-current interactions of neutrinos and antineutrinos. They are based on 8553 neutrino and 3578 antineutrino events obtained using the CHARM fine-grain calorimeter in the CERN 200 GeV narrow-band beam. From these differential cross sections we demonstrate that the coupling strength of the weak neutral current to the strange quark is compatible with being equal to that of the down quark. Assuming this equality we then describe the weak neutral current in terms of one parameter, sin²θ, which we find to be 0.222 ± 0.016. The charged-current differential cross sections yield values of the fractional momentum-weighted content of the nucleon for non-strange (0.12 ± 0.04) and strange (0.06 ± 0.04) sea quarks. Furthermore, from the strength of the allowed y² term in the neutral-current differential cross sections we put a limit of 3% on the presence of scalar or pseudoscalar contributions to the weak neutral current. This can alternatively be expressed in terms of the Callan-Gross violation parameter R, where we find R = 0 .10 ± 0.10.     

Astrophysical S-factors from asymptotic normalization coefficients

S-factors for direct capture reactions can be found at astrophysical energies from asymptotic normalization coefficients which provide the normalization of the tail of the overlap function. For example the overlap for ⁸B → ⁷Be+p defines the S-factor for ⁷Be (p, γ)⁸B. Peripheral transfer reactions offer a technique to determine these asymptotic normalization coefficients. As a test of the technique, the ¹⁶O(³He, d)¹⁷F reaction has been used to determine asymptotic normalization coefficients for transitions to the ground and first excited states of ¹⁷F. The S-factors for ¹⁶O(p, γ)¹⁷F calculated from these ¹⁷F → ¹⁶O+p asymptotic normalization coefficients are found to be in very good agreement with recent measurements. Following the same technique, the ¹⁰B(⁷Be, ⁸B)⁹Be and ¹⁴N(⁷Be, ⁸B)¹³C reactions have been used to measure the asymptotic normalization coefficient for ⁷Be(p, γ)⁸B. This result provides an indirect determination of S ₁₇(0).     

Gas-phase deprotonation of arylalkylamines. A collision-induced dissociation study

The collision-induced dissociation (CID) of deprotonated arylalkylamines of general formula R(1)C(6)H(4)CHR(2)CH(2)NR(3)(2) (where R(1) = H, OH, F or NO(2); R(2) = H or OH; R(3) = H or CH(3)) generated by negative chemical ionization with H(2)O and D(2)O as ionizing reagents, is discussed. The negative chemical ionization mass spectra show that, in the absence of a hydroxy group in the aromatic ring, deprotonation takes place at the benzylic position whereas the proton is lost from the OH group when present. The nitro compound forms only M(-.) ions. The CID spectra of the deprotonated molecules show that fragmentations are strongly dependent on the structural features of the molecules, namely the presence or absence of substituents in the aromatic ring or aliphatic chain. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Isolation of NO(3)(-)-N as 1-phenylazo-2-naphthol (Sudan-1) for measurement of delta(15)N

The conversion of nitrate (NO(3)(-)) to 1-phenylazo-2-naphthol (Sudan-1) has been examined as a method for natural abundance measurement of delta(15)N of NO(3)(-). The reaction results in dilution of NO(3)(-)-N with only one reagent-derived N and the product is readily concentrated from dilute samples by reverse phase chromatography. There is systematic isotopic fractionation during the reaction, but this can be allowed for by analysing known NO(3)(-) standards along with each sample set. Sudan-1 prepared from surface water samples containing approximately 50 &mgr;g NO(3)(-)-N can be analysed by automated continuous flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry with a precision of 0.2 per thousand (one standard deviation) and the accuracy is not affected by interference from other nitrogenous species in the sample or reagents. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

DNA vaccine containing the mycobacterial hsp65 gene prevented insulitis in MLD-STZ diabetes

Background  

Our group previously demonstrated that a DNA plasmid encoding the mycobacterial 65-kDa heat shock protein (DNA-HSP65) displayed prophylactic and therapeutic effect in a mice model for tuberculosis. This protection was attributed to induction of a strong cellular immunity against HSP65. As specific immunity to HSP60 family has been detected in arthritis, multiple sclerosis and diabetes, the vaccination procedure with DNA-HSP65 could induce a cross-reactive immune response that could trigger or worsen these autoimmune diseases.     

Wave attenuation model for dephasing and measurement of conditional times

Inelastic scattering induces dephasing in mesoscopic systems. An analysis of previous models to simulate inelastic scattering in such systems is presented and a relatively new model based on wave attenuation is introduced. The problem of Aharonov-Bohm (AB) oscillations in conductance of a mesoscopic ring is studied. We show that the conductance is symmetric under flux reversal and the visibility of AB oscillations decays to zero as a function of the incoherence parameter, signaling dephasing. Further the wave attenuation model is applied to a fundamental problem in quantum mechanics, that of the conditional (reflection/transmission) times spent in a given region of space by a quantum particle before scattering off from that region.     

Proton-proton elastic scattering and nucleon resonance production at high energies

Angular distributions of proton-proton elastic scattering have been measured for incident beam momenta of 10.0, 12.0, 14.2 and 24.0 GeV/c over a range of lab scattering angles from 12 to 152 mrad. This is equivalent to a range of four-momentum transfer squared from about 0.1 to 6.7 GeV² at the highest momentum. Nucleon resonance production in the two-body reaction p + p → p + X has been studied at 24.0 GeV/c incident momentum from 13.5 to 112 mrad by measuring the proton momentum spectra from the elastic peak down to a momentum corresponding to a missing mass of about 2.6 GeV. The new data are compared with previous results and theoretical models.     

The energy dependence of the proton-proton total cross-section for centre-of-mass energies between 23 and 53 GeV

Measurements of proton-proton elastic scattering at angles around 6 mrad have been made at centre-of-mass energies of 23, 31, 45 and 53 GeV using the CERN Intersecting Storage Rings. The absolute scale of the cross-section was established by determination of the effective density of the colliding beans in their overlap region. Proton-proton total cross sections were deduced by extrapolation of the elastic differential cross-section to the forward direction and by application of the optical theorem. The results indicate that over the energy range studied the proton-proton total cross-section increases from about 39 to about 43 mb.     

Momentum spectra of secondary particles produced in proton-proton collisions at 14.2, 19.2 and 24.0 GeV/c

Results on charged particle yields in proton-proton collisions at 14.2, 19.2 and 24.0 GeV/c for secondary momenta above 4 GeV/c and lab angles between 10 and 150 mrad are reported. Cross sections for inclusive reactions involving the production of π^± K^±, p and $\text{p}$ are presented. The general features of the dependence of the data on transverse and longitudinal momentum, missing mass, and four-momentum transfer are described and the approach to limiting distributions in the 10 to 30 GeV energy range is discussed.