This thesis deals with regression analysis of experimentally measured data of processed cheese. There is a polynomial regression used. The choice of regressors is based on Stepwise Regression and Mallows's Statistics. The estimation of the mean value is used to find the best mixture of the emulsifying salts with regards to the observed characteristic of the processed cheese. Analysis of the experiment and its results are well documented graphically.

Fall armyworm larvae (FAW), which are serious pests in the southern United States, show retarded growth when they feed on insect-resistant maize inbreds Mp704 and Mp708. These maize genotypes are not only resistant to FAW, but to a number of other lepidopteran pests. In these genotypes, a unique, extracellular, 33-KDa cysteine protease (Mir1-CP) rapidly accumulates in the whorl in response to insect feeding. Initial morphological studies on larvae feeding on resistant maize plants over-expressing the cysteine protease showed severe damage in insect?s first line of defense, the peritrophic matrix (PM). But it is not known whether the cysteine protease has unprecedented effect on insect defense mechanisms. This study focuses on understanding the functional involvement of the cysteine protease (Mir1-CP) in a plant-herbivore defense mechanism. I used purified, recombinant 33-KDa cysteine protease (Mir1-CP) and its two mutated forms (Mut1 and Mut2) to determine their effects on the permeability of PMs from fall armyworm and other lepidopteran larvae. The purified Mir1-CP was also used to determine its minimal effective dosage on lepidopteran larval growth as well as to qualitatively determine their direct morphological effects on PM and gut regions of fall armyworm larvae. In vitro permeability studies demonstrated that the recombinant Mir1-CP directly permeabilized the PM and requires both cysteine at the active site and the terminal 25 amino acids to achieve complete permeabilization. Dose response study suggested that physiologically relevant concentrations of Mir1-CP in the maize whorl would be effective in controlling a broad range of lepidopteran pests. The study also suggested that stacking Mir1-CP and Bt-toxin (Bt-CryIIA) genes in transgenic plants could broaden the normal range of both Mir1-CP and Bt-toxin. Morphological studies using three different microscopic techniques showed damaged PM in larvae fed on Mir1-CP diet. These results suggest that by directly permeabilizing and damaging the PM, the Mir1-CP provides critical defense in host plants against lepidopteran pests.

No description available.

No description available.

KOPIO is an experiment designed to search for the CP-symmetry-violating reaction K_L⁰ → π⁰νν̅. Measurement of the branching ratio of this reaction, depending on the accuracy of the measurement, could be the most precise measurement of the CP-violation parameters of the Standard Model to date. The K_L⁰ → π⁰νν̅ reaction is exceedingly rare, with an expected branching ratio of (2.6 ± 1.2) ·10⁻¹¹ . The rareness of this reaction means two things: 1) that we need prodigious numbers of kaons, and 2) that a multitude of "improper" decays will have to be screened out by means of a veto detector system, part of which is being designed here at Virginia Tech. This detector must be able to detect the passage of daughters of the undesired decay reactions (charged particles and gammas). It must be operational inside a magnetic field, and must have signal timing fast enough to accommodate the rate at which these decays occur. A detector consisting of alternating layers of scintillator and lead, with wavelength-shifting fibers embedded in the scintillator, provides the characteristics sought after. This paper presents methodology used in design and construction of this detector, as well as results of signal property tests, using both cosmic rays and gammas as event triggers. Also included is a discussion on transporting the detector signal outside of the magnetic field so it can be read by photomultiplier tubes resting outside of the sweeping magnet. / Master of Science

Yes / Here in, we report the cytotoxicity of both rhodium and iridium functionalised Cp* analogues of the [Cp*MCl2]2 dimers. The functionalised dimers contain a hydroxy tethered arm of differing carbon length. These show promising IC50 values when tested against HT-29, A2780 and cisplatin-resistant A2780cis human cancer cell lines, with the cytotoxicity improving proportionally with an increase in carbon tether length of the Cp* ring. The most promising results are seen for the 14-carbon Cp* tethered rhodium (2d) and iridium (3b) complexes, which show up to a 24-fold increase in IC50 compared to the unfunctionalised [Cp*MCl2]2 dimer. All complexes were potent inhibitors of purified thioredoxin reductase suggesting that disruption of cellular anti-oxidant function is one potential mechanism of action.

De la première mention d'une masse pour les neutrinos par B. Pontecorvo en 1957 jusqu'aux récentes expériences sur les neutrinos, la mise en évidence de leur comportement oscillatoire pointe vers la nécessité d'une physique au-delà du modèle standard. Heureusement, l'oscillation des neutrinos n'apporte pas uniquement son lot de problèmes ; ce phénomène, pouvant être expliqué par l'existence d'une masse pour ces particules, mène également à une piste de solution quant à la brisure de la symétrie CP. En considérant des masses aux neutrinos, il devient possible d'expliquer cette brisure de symétrie de la même manière que pour les quarks, c'està-dire par la présence de phases dans les matrices de mélange. Cependant, l'étude de ces phases n'est pas révélatrice de la brisure de la symétrie CP puisque celles-ci dépendent de la paramétrisation utilisée pour la matrice de mélange. De plus, les quantités qui sauraient remplir un tel rôle devraient également être invariantes sous changement de base. C'est pour répondre à ces besoins qu'en 1985, Jarlskog a développé un formalisme plus adéquat basé sur des quantités nommées invariants de rephasage qui sont l'objet principal de ce projet de recherche. Les objectifs sont de calculer et de déterminer les propriétés des distributions de ces invariants dans le cadre du principe anarchique. Ce cadre théorique permet l'étude des entrées de la matrice PMNS sans qu'aucune symétrie ne soit initialement imposée de sorte que celles-ci y apparaissent aléatoires à basse énergie. Il est possible de conclure que la mesure de Haar, qui apparaît naturellement à partir du principe anarchique, est susceptible de reproduire la matrice PMNS à basses énergies. On développe alors un formalisme permettant l'étude des distributions des invariants de rephasage sous la mesure de Haar. De là, on montre que pour un nombre fixe de générations de neutrinos, tous les invariants de rephasage d'un même type possèdent la même distribution sous la mesure de Haar. Puis, on calcule les distributions des invariants de rephasage quadratiques et quartiques sous cette même mesure à partir d'une nouvelle approche passant par la transformée de Mellin. On obtient alors des résultats complètement analytiques dont les implications physiques en fonction du nombre de générations de neutrinos sont finalement discutées. / From the first mention of massive neutrinos by Pontecorvo in 1957 to recent experiments with neutrinos, the demonstration of their oscillatory behavior indicates the need for a physics beyond the standard model. One way to solve neutrinos oscillation is by adding a mass to these particles. Fortunately, this deviation from the physics of the Standard Model is the solution to another problem, CP violation. Assuming massive neutrinos, one can add phases to the mixing matrix and then explain CP violation in the same way as for quarks. Those phases cannot inform about the amplitude of the CP violation since they depend on the chosen parametrization for the PMNS matrix, and they are not invariant under change of basis. That is why in 1985, Jarlskog developed a new formalism based on basis invariant quantity namely the rephasing invariants. This memoir aims to study those phases in the context of the anarchy principle. In this theoretical framework, the elements of the PMNS matrix are studied without any constraints being imposed on them so that they appear random in the low energy limit. It is possible to conclude that the Haar measure, which follows naturally from the anarchy principle, is likely to reproduce the PMNS matrix at low energies. A formalism is therefore developed to study the rephasing invariants under this measure. Moreover, we show that all the rephasing invariants of the same type have the same probability density function under the Haar measure for a fixed number of neutrinos. From these results, the probability density functions for all types of rephasing invariants under the Haar measure are easily obtained for an arbitrary number of neutrinos. Finally, the physical implications of our analytical results in terms of neutrino generation number are discussed.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-17T16:50:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2007-03-30. Added 1 bitstream(s) on 2016-05-17T16:54:21Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000855449.pdf: 4043234 bytes, checksum: 764d71e0d48fbcfce543c2becab2c918 (MD5) / Esta tese visa ao estudo das propriedades de violação de CP e mistura de sabor no Modelo Padrão (MP) e em extensões do mesmo. Estudaremos a conexão entre os dois fenômenos e a relação com os espaços formados pela replicação de multipletos de gauge, os quais chamaremos de espaços horizontais, presentes nos modelos. A presença de tais espaços em teorias de gauge é condição necessária para o aparecimento de mistura de sabor ao nível lagrangiano. Esta pode introduzir novas fontes de violação de CP, como no mecanismo de violação espontânea de CP (VECP), bem como, às vezes, dificultar a análise das propriedades de CP da teoria devido à liberdade de rotação nesses espaços (transformações horizontais). A relação entre replicação de multipletos escalares e violação de CP é investigada em extensões do MP com N dubletos de Higgs. No potencial escalar desses modelos as condições necessárias e suficientes para a violação explícita e espontânea de CP são estudadas e invariantes ímpares por CP, como invariante de Jarlskog no MP, são encontrados. Nessa mesma classe de modelos, o mecanismo de violação espontânea de CP é ilustrado nos modelos com dois e três dubletos, conjuntamente com as restrições impostas pela necessidade de supressão das correntes neutras que trocam sabor. A violação soft de CP é ilustrada em um modelo baseado no grupo de gauge eletrofraco SU(3)L x U(1)N e mostrado que pode acomodar a fenomenologia de violação de CP no sistema dos káons neutros mesmo quando o mecanismo CKM é desligado e toda a assimetria CP é proveniente da troca de férmions exóticos. O fenômeno de mistura de sabor é investigado no âmbito da oscilação de neutrinos, sob o ponto de vista de campos clássicos relativísticos, que incluem aspectos de localização, a fim de procurar por novos efeitos e desvios... / he aim of this thesis is the study of the properties of CP violation and flavor mixing in the Standard Model (SM) and in some of its extensions. We study the connection between both phenomena and their relation with the space formed by the replication of gauge multiplets, which will be called horizontal spaces, present in the models. The presence of such spaces in gauge theories is a necessary condition for the appearance of flavor mixing at the Lagrangian level. These identical multiplets can introduce new sources of CP violation, as in the mechanism of spontaneous CP violation (SCPV), and, sometimes, make difficult the analysis of the CP properties of the theory, due to the freedom to rotate the basis of such spaces. The relation between the replication of scalar multiplets and CP violation is investigated in extensions of the SM with N-Higgs-doublets. In the scalar potential of these models the necessary and sufficient conditions for explicit and spontaneous CP violation are studied and CP odd invariants, like the Jarlskog invariant in the SM, are found. In these class of models, the SCPV mechanism is illustrated in the 2-Higgs- and 3-Higgs-doublet models, and the restrictions imposed by the suppression of flavor changing neutral currents are also exposed. The soft CP violation is illustrated in a model based in the gauge group SU(3)L x U(1)N nd it is shown that it can accommodate the phenomenology of the CP violation of the neutral kaons system even when the CKM mechanism is switched off and all CP violation effects are mediated by exotic fermions. The flavor mixing phenomenon is investigated through neutrino flavor oscillations from the perspective of classical relativistic field theories taking localization aspects intoaccount to search for new effects and observable deviations from the usual oscillation formulas...

De nos jours, l'incomplétude du modèle standard des particules est largement reconnue. L'une de ses failles les plus évidentes est le manque d'explication de l'énorme excédent de matière par rapport à l'antimatière dans l'univers, que l'on appelle l'asymétrie baryonique de l'univers. De nouvelles violations de CP (conjugaison de charge et parité spatiale) absentes dans le modèle standard sont supposées être responsables de cette asymétrie. Une telle violation pourrait être observée dans la matière ordinaire à travers un ensemble d'interactions violant les symétries de parité et de renversement du temps (impaires pour P,T) dont les prépondérantes sont les interactions du moment dipolaire électrique de l'électron (eEDM), électron-nucléon scalaire-pseudoscalaire (enSPS) et du moment quadripolaire magnétique nucléaire (nMQM). Ainsi, une preuve expérimentale d'une constante d'interaction impaire pour P,T serait une preuve de cette nouvelle physique au-delà du modèle standard. Le calcul des paramètres moléculaires correspondants est réalisé en utilisant une approche d'interaction de configurations relativiste à quatre composantes dans des molécules diatomiques polaires contenant un actinide, qui sont des systèmes particulièrement appropriés pour les expèriences eEDM, tels que ThO qui a permis d'assigner à l'eEDM la borne supérieure la plus contraignante et ThF+ qui sera utilisé dans une expérience à venir. Ces résultats sont d'une importance cruciale dans l'interprétation des mesures puisque les constantes fondamentales ne peuvent être évaluées que si l'on associe les mesures de décalages énergétiques et les paramètres moléculaires théoriques. / Nowadays, the incompleteness of the Standard Model of particles is largely acknowledged. One of its most obvious shortcomings is the lack of explanation for the huge surplus of matter over antimatter in the universe, the so-called Baryon Asymmetry of the Universe. New CP (Charge conjugation and spatial Parity) violations absent in the SM are assumed to be responsible for this asymmetry. Such a violation could be observed in ordinary matter through a set of interactions violating both parity and time-reversal symmetries (P,T-odd), among which the preponderant ones are the electron Electric Dipole Moment (eEDM), the electron-nucleon scalar-pseudoscalar (enSPS) and the nuclear magnetic quadrupole moment (nMQM) interactions. Hence, an experimental evidence of a non-zero P,T-odd interaction constant would be a probe of this New Physics beyond the Standard Model. The calculation of the corresponding molecular parameters is performed by making use of an elaborate four-component relativistic configuration interaction approach in polar diatomic molecules containing an actinide, that are particularly adequate systems for eEDM experiments, such as ThO that allowed for assigning the most constraining upper bound on the eEDM and ThF+ that will be used in a forthcoming experiment. Those results will be of crucial importance in the interpretation of the measurements since the fundamental constants can only be evaluated if one combines both experimental energy shift measurements and theoretical molecular parameters.

Orientador: Juan Carlos Montero garcia / Banca: Alex Gomes Dias / Banca: Hiroshi Nunokawa / Banca: Marcelo Moraes Guzzo / Banca: Orlando Luis Goulart Peres / Resumo: Esta tese visa ao estudo das propriedades de violação de CP e mistura de sabor no Modelo Padrão (MP) e em extensões do mesmo. Estudaremos a conexão entre os dois fenômenos e a relação com os espaços formados pela replicação de multipletos de gauge, os quais chamaremos de espaços horizontais, presentes nos modelos. A presença de tais espaços em teorias de gauge é condição necessária para o aparecimento de mistura de sabor ao nível lagrangiano. Esta pode introduzir novas fontes de violação de CP, como no mecanismo de violação espontânea de CP (VECP), bem como, às vezes, dificultar a análise das propriedades de CP da teoria devido à liberdade de "rotação" nesses espaços (transformações horizontais). A relação entre replicação de multipletos escalares e violação de CP é investigada em extensões do MP com N dubletos de Higgs. No potencial escalar desses modelos as condições necessárias e suficientes para a violação explícita e espontânea de CP são estudadas e invariantes ímpares por CP, como invariante de Jarlskog no MP, são encontrados. Nessa mesma classe de modelos, o mecanismo de violação espontânea de CP é ilustrado nos modelos com dois e três dubletos, conjuntamente com as restrições impostas pela necessidade de supressão das correntes neutras que trocam sabor. A violação soft de CP é ilustrada em um modelo baseado no grupo de gauge eletrofraco SU(3)L x U(1)N e mostrado que pode acomodar a fenomenologia de violação de CP no sistema dos káons neutros mesmo quando o mecanismo CKM é desligado e toda a assimetria CP é proveniente da troca de férmions exóticos. O fenômeno de mistura de sabor é investigado no âmbito da oscilação de neutrinos, sob o ponto de vista de campos clássicos relativísticos, que incluem aspectos de localização, a fim de procurar por novos efeitos e desvios... / Abstract: he aim of this thesis is the study of the properties of CP violation and flavor mixing in the Standard Model (SM) and in some of its extensions. We study the connection between both phenomena and their relation with the space formed by the replication of gauge multiplets, which will be called horizontal spaces, present in the models. The presence of such spaces in gauge theories is a necessary condition for the appearance of flavor mixing at the Lagrangian level. These identical multiplets can introduce new sources of CP violation, as in the mechanism of spontaneous CP violation (SCPV), and, sometimes, make difficult the analysis of the CP properties of the theory, due to the freedom to "rotate" the basis of such spaces. The relation between the replication of scalar multiplets and CP violation is investigated in extensions of the SM with N-Higgs-doublets. In the scalar potential of these models the necessary and sufficient conditions for explicit and spontaneous CP violation are studied and CP odd invariants, like the Jarlskog invariant in the SM, are found. In these class of models, the SCPV mechanism is illustrated in the 2-Higgs- and 3-Higgs-doublet models, and the restrictions imposed by the suppression of flavor changing neutral currents are also exposed. The soft CP violation is illustrated in a model based in the gauge group SU(3)L x U(1)N nd it is shown that it can accommodate the phenomenology of the CP violation of the neutral kaons system even when the CKM mechanism is switched off and all CP violation effects are mediated by exotic fermions. The flavor mixing phenomenon is investigated through neutrino flavor oscillations from the perspective of classical relativistic field theories taking localization aspects intoaccount to search for new effects and observable deviations from the usual oscillation formulas... / Doutor