Following initial platelet activation, arachidonic acid is metabolised by cyclooxygenase-1 and 12-lipoxygenase (12-LOX). While the role of 12-LOX in the platelet is not well defined, recent evidence suggests that it may be important for regulation of platelet activity and is agonist-specific in the manner in which it regulates platelet function. Using small molecule inhibitors selective for 12-LOX and 12-LOX-deficient mice, the role of 12-LOX in regulation of human platelet activation and thrombosis was investigated. Pharmacologically inhibiting 12-LOX resulted in attenuation of platelet aggregation, selective inhibition of dense versus alpha granule secretion, and inhibition of platelet adhesion under flow for PAR4 and collagen. Additionally, 12-LOX-deficient mice showed attenuated integrin activity to PAR4-AP and convulxin compared to wild-type mice. Finally, platelet activation by PARs was shown to be differentially dependent on COX-1 and 12-LOX with PAR1 relying on COX-1 oxidation of arachidonic acid while PAR4 being more dependent on 12-LOX for normal platelet function. These studies demonstrate an important role for 12-LOX in regulating platelet activation and thrombosis. Furthermore, the data presented here provide a basis for potentially targeting 12-LOX as a means to attenuate unwanted platelet activation and clot formation.

The NSF has chosen the site for the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL) to be in Lead, South Dakota. In fact, the state of South Dakota has already stepped up to the plate and contributed its own funding for the proposed lab, see https://www.sanfordlaboratoryathomestake.org/index.html. The final decision by NSF for funding the Initial Suite of Experiments for DUSEL will be made early in 2009. At that time the NSF Science Board must make a decision. Of order 200 experimentalists have already expressed an interest in performing experiments at DUSEL. In order to assess the interest of the theoretical community, the Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics (CCAPP) at The Ohio State University (OSU) organized a 3-day DUSEL Theory Workshop in Columbus, Ohio from April 4 - 6, 2008. The workshop focused on the scientific case for six proposed experiments for DUSEL: long baseline neutrino oscillations, proton decay, dark matter, astrophysical neutrinos, neutrinoless double beta decay and N-Nbar oscillations. The outcome of this workshop is the DUSEL Theory White paper addressing the scientific case at a level which may be useful in the decision making process for policy makers at the NSF and in the U.S. Congress. In order to assess the physics interest in the DUSEL project we have posted the DUSEL Theory White paper on the following CCAPP link https://ccapp.osu.edu/whitepaper.html . Please read the white paper and, if you are interested, use the link to show your support by co-signing the white paper.

We report a Dalitz plot analysis of charmless hadronic decays of charged B mesons to the final state KS0π+π0 using the full BABAR data set of 470.9±2.8 million BB events collected at the ϒ(4S) resonance. We measure the overall branching fraction and CP asymmetry to be B(B+→K0π+π0)=(31.8±1.8±2.1-0.0+6.0)×10-6 and ACP(B+→K0π+π0)=0.07±0.05±0.03-0.03+0.02, where the uncertainties are statistical, systematic, and due to the signal model, respectively. This is the first measurement of the branching fraction for B+→K0π+π0. We find first evidence of a CP asymmetry in B+→K∗(892)+π0 decays: ACP(B+→K∗(892)+π0)=-0.52±0.14±0.04-0.02+0.04. The significance of this asymmetry, including systematic and model uncertainties, is 3.4 standard deviations. We also measure the branching fractions and CP asymmetries for three other intermediate decay modes.

Based on a sample of 500 million e+e-→cc¯ events recorded by the BABAR detector at c.m. energies of close to 10.6 GeV, we report on a study of the decay D0→π-e+νe. We measure the ratio of branching fractions, RD=B(D0→π-e+νe)/B(D0→K-π+)=0.0713±0.0017stat±0.0024syst, and use the present world average for B(D0→K-π+) to obtain B(D0→π-e+νe)=(2.770±0.068stat±0.092syst±0.037ext)×10-3 where the third error accounts for the uncertainty on the branching fraction for the reference channel. The measured dependence of the differential branching fraction on q2, the four-momentum transfer squared between the D and the π meson, is compared to various theoretical predictions for the hadronic form factor, f+,Dπ(q2), and the normalization |Vcd|×f+,Dπ(q2=0)=0.1374±0.0038stat±0.0022syst±0.0009ext. is extracted from a fit to data. Using the most recent LQCD prediction of f+,Dπ(q2=0)=0.666±0.029, we obtain |Vcd|=0.206±0.007exp±0.009LQCD. Assuming, instead, |Vcd|=|Vus|=0.2252±0.0009, we obtain f+,Dπ(q2=0)=0.610±0.020exp±0.005ext. The q2 dependence of f+,Dπ(q2) is compared to a variety of multipole parametrizations. This information is applied to B0→π-e+νe decays and, combined with an earlier B0→π-e+νe measurement by BABAR, is used to derive estimates of |Vub|.

We study the processes e+e-→KS0KL0γ, KS0KL0π+π-γ, KS0KS0π+π-γ, and KS0KS0K+K-γ, where the photon is radiated from the initial state, providing cross section measurements for the hadronic states over a continuum of center-of-mass energies. The results are based on 469fb-1 of data collected with the BABAR detector at SLAC. We observe the φ(1020) resonance in the KS0KL0 final state and measure the product of its electronic width and branching fraction with about 3% uncertainty. We present a measurement of the e+e-→KS0KL0 cross section in the energy range from 1.06 to 2.2 GeV and observe the production of a resonance at 1.67 GeV. We present the first measurements of the e+e-→KS0KL0π+π-, KS0KS0π+π-, and KS0KS0K+K- cross sections and study the intermediate resonance structures. We obtain the first observations of J/ψ decay to the KS0KL0π+π-, KS0KS0π+π-, and KS0KS0K+K- final states. © 2014 American Physical Society.

We report the observation of the baryonic decay B¯0→Λc+p¯K-K+ using a data sample of 471×106 BB¯ pairs produced in e+e- annihilations at s=10.58GeV. This data sample was recorded with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II storage ring at SLAC. We find B(B¯0→Λc+p¯K-K+)=(2.5±0.4(stat)±0.2(syst)±0.6B(Λc+))×10-5, where the uncertainties are statistical, systematic, and due to the uncertainty of the Λc+→pK-π+ branching fraction, respectively. The result has a significance corresponding to 5.0 standard deviations, including all uncertainties. For the resonant decay B¯0→Λc+p¯φ, we determine the upper limit B(B¯0→Λc+p¯φ)<1.2×10-5 at 90% confidence level.

We present a search for a neutral, long-lived particle L that is produced in e+ e- collisions and decays at a significant distance from the e+ e- interaction point into various flavor combinations of two oppositely charged tracks. The analysis uses an e+ e- data sample with a luminosity of 489.1  fb(-1) collected by the BABAR detector at the ϒ(4S), ϒ(3S), and ϒ(2S) resonances and just below the ϒ(4S). Fitting the two-track mass distribution in search of a signal peak, we do not observe a significant signal, and set 90% confidence level upper limits on the product of the L production cross section, branching fraction, and reconstruction efficiency for six possible two-body L decay modes as a function of the L mass. The efficiency is given for each final state as a function of the mass, lifetime, and transverse momentum of the candidate, allowing application of the upper limits to any production model. In addition, upper limits are provided on the branching fraction B(B→XsL), where Xs is a strange hadronic system.

We use (121±1) million Υ(3S) and (98±1) million Υ(2S) mesons recorded by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II e+e- collider at SLAC to perform a study of radiative transitions involving the χbJ(1P,2P) states in exclusive decays with μ+μ-γγ final states. We reconstruct twelve channels in four cascades using two complementary methods. In the first we identify both signal photon candidates in the electromagnetic calorimeter (EMC), employ a calorimeter timing-based technique to reduce backgrounds, and determine branching-ratio products and fine mass splittings. These results include the best observational significance yet for the χb0(2P)→γΥ(2S) and χb0(1P)→γΥ(1S) transitions. In the second method, we identify one photon candidate in the EMC and one which has converted into an e+e- pair due to interaction with detector material, and we measure absolute product branching fractions. This method is particularly useful for measuring Υ(3S)→γχb1,2(1P) decays. Additionally, we provide the most up-to-date derived branching fractions, matrix elements and mass splittings for χb transitions in the bottomonium system. Using a new technique, we also measure the two lowest-order spin-dependent coefficients in the nonrelativistic QCD Hamiltonian.

We present measurements of the inclusive production of antideuterons in e+e- annihilation into hadrons at ≈10.58GeV center-of-mass energy and in (1S,2S,3S) decays. The results are obtained using data collected by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II electron-positron collider. Assuming a fireball spectral shape for the emitted antideuteron momentum, we find B((1S)→d̄X)=(2. 81±0.49(stat)-0.24+0.20(syst))×10-5, B((2S)→d̄X)=(2. 64±0.11(stat)-0.21+0.26(syst))×10-5, B((3S)→d̄X)=(2. 33±0.15(stat)-0.28+0.31(syst))×10-5, and σ(e+e- →d̄X)=(9.63±0.41(stat)-1.01+1.17(syst)fb. © 2014 American Physical Society.