Branching fractions of tau leptons to three charged hadrons

From electron-positron collision data collected with the CLEO detector operating at Cornell Electron Storage Ring near sqrt[s]=10.6 GeV, improved measurements of the branching fractions for tau decays into three explicitly identified hadrons and a neutrino are presented as B(tau(-)-->pi(-)pi(+)pi(-)nu(tau))=(9.13+/-0.05+/-0.46)%, B(tau(-)-->K-pi(+)pi(-)nu(tau))=(3.84+/-0.14+/-0.38) x 10(-3), B(tau(-)-->K-K+pi(-)nu(tau))=(1.55+/-0.06+/-0.09) x 10(-3), and B(tau(-)-->K-K+K-nu(tau))<3.7 x 10(-5) at 90% C.L., where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.

Stable mixed hematopoietic chimerism after bone marrow transplantation for sickle cell anemia

A multicenter investigation of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation for children with sickle cell disease was conducted that included 27 European and North American transplant centers. Fifty-nine patients who ranged in age from 3.3 to 15.9 years (median, 10.1 years) received HLA-identical sibling marrow allografts between September 1991 and April 2000. Fifty-five patients survive, and 50 survive free from sickle cell disease, with a median follow-up of 42.2 months (range, 11.8 to 115 months) after transplantation. Of the 50 patients with successful allografts, 13 developed stable mixed donor-host hematopoietic chimerism. The level of donor chimerism, measured > or =6 months after transplantation in peripheral blood, varied between 90% and 99% in 8 patients. Five additional patients had a lower proportion of donor cells (range, 11% to 74%). Among these 5 patients, hemoglobin levels varied between 11.2 and 14.2 g/dL (median, 11.3 g/dL; mean, 12.0 g/dL). In patients who had donors with a normal hemoglobin genotype (Hb), the Hb S fractions were 0%, 0%, and 7%, corresponding to donor chimerism levels of 67%, 74%, and 11%, respectively. Among patients who had donors with sickle trait, the Hb S fractions were 36% and 37%, corresponding to donor chimerism levels of 25% and 60%, respectively. Thus, allograft recipients with stable mixed chimerism had Rb S levels similar to donor levels, and only 1 patient required a red blood cell transfusion beyond 90 days posttransplantation. None of the patients have experienced painful events or other clinical complications related to sickle cell disease after transplantation. These observations strongly suggest that patients with sickle cell disease who develop persistent mixed hematopoietic chimerism after transplantation experience a significant ameliorative effect.

First search for the flavor changing neutral current decay D0-->gammagamma

Using 13.8 fb(-1) of data collected at or just below the Upsilon(4S) with the CLEO detector, we report the result of a search for the flavor changing neutral current process D0-->gammagamma. We observe no significant signal for this decay mode and determine 90% confidence level upper limits on the branching fractions B(D0-->gammagamma)/B(D0-->pi(0)pi(0))<0.033 and B(D0-->gammagamma)<2.9 x 10(-5).

Resonant interaction between localized and extended vibrational modes in Si: 18O under pressure

The interaction between localized and extended vibrational modes in solids is of central importance in understanding how local vibrational modes decay into phonons. Interstitial oxygen (O(i)) in silicon is a model system for studying such interactions. Using hydrostatic pressure, we have brought the antisymmetric stretch mode of (18)O(i) in silicon into resonance with the second harmonic of the (18)O(i) resonant mode. Infrared spectroscopy was used to observe an anticrossing between these two vibrational modes at pressures near 4 GPa. A model of the interaction between these modes produced excellent agreement with the experimentally observed frequencies and linewidths.

Genetic association tests with age at onset

Many diseases or traits exhibit a varying age at onset. Recent data examples of prostate cancer and childhood diabetes show that compared to simply treating the disease outcome as affected vs. unaffected, incorporation of age-at-onset information into the transmission/disequilibrium type of test (TDT) does not appear to change the results much. In this paper, we evaluate the power of TDT as a function of age at onset, and show that age-at-onset information is most useful when the disease is common, or the relative risk associated with the high-risk genotype varies with age. Moreover, an extremely old unaffected subject can contribute substantially to the power of the TDT, sometimes as much as old-onset subjects. We propose a modified test statistic for testing no association between the marker at the candidate locus and age at onset. The simulation study was conducted to evaluate the finite sample properties of proposed and the TDT test statistics under various sampling schemes for trios of parents and offspring, as well as for sibling clusters where unaffected siblings were used as controls.

Measurements of inclusive B-->psi production

Using the combined CLEO II and CLEO II.V data sets of 9.1 fb(-1) at the Upsilon(4S), we measure properties of psi mesons produced directly from decays of the B meson, where "B" denotes an admixture of B+, B-, B0, and B;(0), and "psi" denotes either J/psi(1S) or psi(2S). We report first measurements of psi polarization in B-->psi(direct)X: alpha(psi(1S))=-0.30(+0.07)(-0.06)+/-0.04 and alpha(psi(2S))=-0.45(+0.22)(-0.19)+/-0.04. We also report improved measurements of the momentum distributions of psi produced directly from B decays, correcting for measurement smearing. Finally, we report measurements of the inclusive branching fraction for B-->psiX and B-->chi(c1)X.

Observation of B-->K(0)(S)pi(+)pi(-) and Evidence for B-->K(*+/-)pi(-/+)

We report on a search for charmless hadronic B decays to the three-body final states K(0)(S)h(+)pi(-), K(+)h(-)pi(0), K(0)(S)h(+)pi(0) (h(+/-) denotes a charged pion or kaon), and their charge conjugates, using 13.5 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity produced near sqrt[s]=10.6 GeV, and collected with the CLEO detector. We observe the decay B-->K0pi(+)pi(-) with a branching fraction (50(+10)(-9)(stat.)+/-7(syst.))x10(-6) and the decay B-->K(*+)(892)pi(-) with a branching fraction (16(+6)(-5)(stat.)+/-2(syst.))x10(-6).

Dalitz analysis of D0-->K(0)(S)pi(+)pi(-)

In e(+)e(-) collisions using the CLEO detector, we have studied the decay of the D0 to the final state K(0)(S)pi(+)pi(-) with the initial flavor of the D0 tagged by the decay D(*+)-->D0pi(+). We use the Dalitz technique to measure the resonant substructure in this final state and clearly observe ten different contributions by fitting for their amplitudes and relative phases. We observe a K(*)(892)(+)pi(-) component which arises from doubly Cabibbo suppressed decays or D0-D0; mixing.

Measurement of B(D+-->K(*0)l(+)nu(l))

Using 13.53 fb(-1) of CLEO data, we have measured the ratios of the branching fractions R(+)(e),R(+)(mu) and the combined branching fraction ratio R(+)(l), defined by R(+)(l)=[B(D+-->K(*0)l(+)nu(l))]/[B(D+-->K-pi(+)pi(+))]. We find R(+)(e)=0.74+/-0.04+/-0.05, R(+)(mu)=0.72+/-0.10+/-0.05, and R(+)(l)=0.74+/-0.04+/-0.05, where the first and second errors are statistical and systematic, respectively. The known branching fraction B(D+-->K-pi(+)pi(+)) leads to B(D+-->K(*0)e(+)nu(e))=(6.7+/-0.4+/-0.5+/-0.4)%, B(D+-->K(*0)mu(+)nu(mu))=(6.5+/-0.9+/-0.5+/-0.4)%, and B(D+-->K(*0)l(+)nu(l))=(6.7+/-0.4+/-0.5+/-0.4)%, where the third error is due to the uncertainty in B(D+-->K-pi(+)pi(+)).

Observation of the decay Omega(0)(c)-->Omega(-)e(+)nu(e)

Using the CLEO detector at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring we have observed the Omega(0)(c) (css ground state) in the decay Omega(0)(c)-->Omega(-)e(+)nu(e). We find a signal of 11.4+/-3.8(stat) events. The probability that we have observed a background fluctuation is 7.6x10(-5). We measure B(Omega(0)(c)-->Omega(-)e(+)nu(e)).sigma(e(+)e(-)-->Omega(0)(c)X)=(42.2+/-14.1(stat)+/-5.7(syst)) fb and R=[Gamma(Omega(0)(c)-->Omega(-)pi(+))]/[Gamma(Omega(0)(c)-->Omega(-)enu(e))]=00.41+/-0.19(stat)+/-0.04(syst). This is the first statistically significant observation of an individual decay mode of the Omega(0)(c) in e(+)e(-) annihilation and the first example of a baryon decaying via beta emission, where no quarks from the first generation participate in the reaction.

Improved measurement of /V(cb)/ using B-->D*l nu decays

We determine the weak coupling /V(cb)/ between the b and c quarks using a sample of 3 x 10(6) BB; events in the CLEO detector at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring. We determine the yield of reconstructed B-->D*l nu; decays as a function of w, the boost of the D* in the B rest frame, and from this we obtain the differential decay rate d Gamma/dw. By extrapolating d Gamma/dw to w=1, the kinematic end point at which the D* is at rest relative to the B, we extract the product /V(cb)/F(1), where F(1) is the form factor at w=1. Combined with theoretical results for F(1) we determine /V(cb)/=0.0469+/-0.0014(stat)+/-0.0020(syst)+/-0.0018(theor).

Improved measurement of Vub with inclusive semileptonic B decays

We report a new measurement of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa parameter Vub made with a sample of 9.7 x 10(6) BB- events collected with the CLEO II detector. Using heavy quark theory, we combine the observed yield of leptons from semileptonic B decay in the end-point momentum interval 2.2-2.6 GeV/c with recent CLEO II data on B-->X(s)gamma to find Vub = (4.08+/-0.34+/-0.44+/-0.16+/-0.24)x10(-3), where the first two uncertainties are experimental and the last two are from theory.

Sequence analysis using logic regression

Logic Regression is a new adaptive regression methodology that attempts to construct predictors as Boolean combinations of (binary) covariates. In this paper we use this algorithm to deal with single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) sequence data. The predictors that are found are interpretable as risk factors of the disease. Significance of these risk factors is assessed using techniques like cross-validation, permutation tests, and independent test sets. These model selection techniques remain valid when data is dependent, as is the case for the family data used here. In our analysis of the Genetic Analysis Workshop 12 data we identify the exact locations of mutations on gene 1 and gene 6 and a number of mutations on gene 2 that are associated with the affected status, without selecting any false positives.

Incorporating age at onset information into the transmission/disequilibrium test

In this paper, we proposed two approaches for incorporating the age at onset into the transmission/disequilibrium test (TDT). Trios (affected offspring and their parents) were extracted from the first four replicate data sets of the general population type. Focusing on chromosome 6 where MG6 and MG7 reside, we compared the usual TDT with the newly proposed tests in terms of gene localization.

Search for CP violation in tau--> K(pi)nu(tau) decays

We search and find no evidence for CP violation in tau decays into the K(pi)nu(tau) final state. We provide limits on the imaginary part of the coupling constant Lambda describing a relative contribution of the CP violating processes with respect to the standard model to be -0.172<Im(Lambda)<0.067 at 90% C.L.

Observation of exclusive B --> D(*)K(*-) decays

We report the first observation of the exclusive decays B-->D((*))K(*-), using 9.66 x 10(6) BB pairs collected at the Upsilon(4S) with the CLEO detector. We measure the following branching fractions: B(B--->D(0)K(*-)) = (6.1+/-1.6+/-1.7)x10(-4), B(B(0)-->D(+)K(*-)) = (3.7+/-1.5+/-1.0)x10(-4), B(B(0)-->D(*+)K(*-)) = (3.8+/-1.3+/-0.8)x10(-4), and B(B--->D(*0)K(*-)) = (7.7+/-2.2+/-2.6)x10(-4). The B-->D(*)K(*-) branching ratios are the averages of those corresponding to the 00 and 11 helicity states. The errors shown are statistical and systematic, respectively.

Observation of B(0) --> D0pi(0) and B(0) -->D(*0)pi(0)

We have studied the color-suppressed hadronic decays of neutral B mesons into the final states D*0pi(0). Using 9.67 x 10(6) BB pairs collected with the CLEO detector, we observe the decays B( 0) --> D0pi(0) and B( 0) -->D(*0)pi(0) with the branching fractions BB( 0) -->D0pi(0)) = (2.74(+0.36)(-0.32) +/- 0.55)x10(-4) and BB( 0) -->D(*0)pi(0)) = (2.20(+0.59)(-0.52) +/- 0.79)x10(-4). The first error is statistical and the second systematic. The statistical significance of the D0pi(0) signal is 12.1sigma ( 5.9sigma for D(*0)pi(0)). Utilizing the B( 0) -->D*0)pi(0) branching fractions we determine the strong phases delta(I,D(*)) between isospin 1/2 and 3/2 amplitudes in the Dpi and D*pi final states to be cosdelta(I,D) = 0.89 +/-0.08 and cosdelta(I,D*) = 0.89 +/- 0.08, respectively.

Search for charmless B --> VV decays

We have studied two-body charmless decays of the B meson into the final states rho(0)rho(0), K(*0)rho(0), K(*0)K(*0), K(*0)K(*0), K(*+)rho(0), K(*+)K(*0), and K(*+)K(*-) using only decay modes with charged daughter particles. Using 9.7x10(6) BB pairs collected with the CLEO detector, we place 90% confidence level upper limits on the branching fractions (1.4-14.1)x10(-5), depending on final state and polarization.

Search for the familon via B(+/-) --> pi+/-X(0), B(+/-) --> K(+/-)X(0), and B(0) --> K(0)(S)X(0) decays

We have searched for the two-body decay of the B meson to a light pseudoscalar meson h = pi(+/-),K+/-,K(0)(S) and a massless neutral feebly interacting particle X(0) such as the familon, the Nambu-Goldstone boson associated with a spontaneously broken global family symmetry. We find no significant signal by analyzing a data sample containing 9.7x10(6) BBbar mesons collected with the CLEO detector at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring, and set 90% C.L. upper limits italicB(B(+/-) --> h(+/-)X(0)) = 4.9x10(-5) and italicB(B(0) --> K(0)(S)X(0)) = 5.3x10(-5). These limits correspond to a lower bound of approximately 10(8) GeV on the family symmetry breaking scale with vector coupling involving the third generation of quarks.

Hadronic mass moments in inclusive semileptonic B meson decays

We have measured the first and second moments of the hadronic mass-squared distribution in B-->X(c)l nu, for P(lepton)>1.5 GeV/c. We find <M(2)(X)-M macro(2)(D)> = 0.251+/-0.066 GeV(2), <(M(2)(X)-<M(2)(X)>)(2)> = 0.576+/-0.170 GeV(4), where M macro(D) is the spin-averaged D meson mass. From that first moment and the first moment of the photon energy spectrum in b-->s gamma, we find the heavy quark effective theory parameter lambda(1) (in the modified minimal subtraction renormalization scheme, to order 1/M(3)(B) and beta(0)alpha(2)(s)) to be -0.24+/-0.11 GeV(2). Using these first moments and the B semileptonic width, and assuming parton-hadron duality, we obtain absolute value of V(cb) = 0.0404+/-0.0013.

Branching fraction and photon energy spectrum for b --> s gamma

We have measured the branching fraction and photon energy spectrum for the radiative penguin process b-->s gamma. We find Beta(b-->s gamma) = (3.21+/-0.43+/-0.27(+0.18)(-0.10))x10(-4), where the errors are statistical, systematic, and from theory corrections. We obtain first and second moments of the photon energy spectrum above 2.0 GeV, <E( gamma)> = 2.346+/-0.032+/-0.011 GeV, and <E(2)(gamma)>-<E(gamma)>(2) = 0.0226+/-0.0066+/-0.0020 GeV(2), where the errors are statistical and systematic. From the first moment, we obtain (in the modified minimal subtraction renormalization scheme, to order 1/M(3)(B) and beta(0)alpha(2)(s)) the heavy quark effective theory parameter Lambda = 0.35+/-0.08+/-0.10 GeV.