0000000001078512
AUTHOR
H. Wittig
Cell line DNA typing in forensic genetics—the necessity of reliable standards
The incorporation of reference DNA is crucial to the validation of any DNA typing protocol. This paper aims to provide a panel of reference DNAs for actual forensic profiling strategies, i.e. autosomal and gonosomal STR typing as well as mtDNA sequencing. We have characterised three human lymphoid cell lines, GM9947, GM9948 and GM3657, and considered 58 autosomal and gonosomal microsatellites as well as the mitochondrial control region sequence. Well-established markers and STRs recently developed for forensic use were involved. K562 DNA samples which we purchased from two different suppliers were also analysed. They revealed conflicting results with regard to the ChrX STR marker genotype. …
Testing chiral effective theory with quenched lattice QCD
We investigate two-point correlation functions of left-handed currents computed in quenched lattice QCD with the Neuberger-Dirac operator. We consider two lattice spacings a ~ 0.09, 0.12 fm and two different lattice extents L ~ 1.5, 2.0 fm; quark masses span both the p- and the epsilon-regimes. We compare the results with the predictions of quenched chiral perturbation theory, with the purpose of testing to what extent the effective theory reproduces quenched QCD at low energy. In the p-regime we test volume and quark mass dependence of the pseudoscalar decay constant and mass; in the epsilon-regime, we investigate volume and topology dependence of the correlators. While the leading order b…
A strategy to study the role of the charm quark in explaining the Delta{I}=1/2 rule
We present a strategy designed to separate several possible origins of the well-known enhancement of the Delta{I}=1/2 amplitude in non-leptonic kaon decays. In particular, we seek to disentangle the contribution of physics at the typical QCD scale (soft-gluon exchange) from the effects at the scale of the charm quark mass. This is achieved by considering QCD with an unphysically light charm quark, so that the theory possesses an approximate SU(4)_L x SU(4)_R chiral symmetry. By computing the relevant operator matrix elements and monitoring their values as the charm quark mass departs from the SU(4)-symmetric situation, the role of the charm quark can be assessed. We study the influence of t…
Determination of the ΔS=1 weak Hamiltonian of the SU(4) chiral limit through topological zero-mode wave functions
38 pages, 9 figures.-- Published in: JHEP05(2008)043, available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1126-6708/2008/05/043 (open-acess).
Computing the Adler function from the vacuum polarization function
We use a lattice determination of the hadronic vacuum polarization tensor to study the associated Ward identities and compute the Adler function. The vacuum polarization tensor is computed from a combination of point-split and local vector currents, using two flavours of O($a$)-improved Wilson fermions. Partially twisted boundary conditions are employed to obtain a fine momentum resolution. The modifications of the Ward identities by lattice artifacts and by the use of twisted boundary conditions are monitored. We determine the Adler function from the derivative of the vacuum polarization function over a large region of momentum transfer $q^2$. As a first account of systematic effects, a co…
Mitochondrial DNA in the central european population
Sequencing of mtDNA is an advanced method for the individualisation of traces. Disadvantages of this method are expensive and time-consuming analysis and evaluation procedures as well as the necessary stock of population-genetic data which is still insufficient. Central European institutes of forensic medicine from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland have been working together since the beginning of 1998 to establish a mtDNA database. The aim is to build up a large stock of forensically established data and provide population-genetic data for frequency investigations, which will serve as a basis for expert opinions and scientific research. Good data quality is ensured by using original sequen…
Nucleon axial form factors from two-flavour Lattice QCD
We present preliminary results on the axial form factor $G_A(Q^2)$ and the induced pseudoscalar form factor $G_P(Q^2)$ of the nucleon. A systematic analysis of the excited-state contributions to form factors is performed on the CLS ensemble `N6' with $m_\pi = 340 \ \text{MeV}$ and lattice spacing $a \sim 0.05 \ \text{fm}$. The relevant three-point functions were computed with source-sink separations ranging from $t_s \sim 0.6 \ \text{fm}$ to $t_s \sim \ 1.4 \ \text{fm}$. We observe that the form factors suffer from non-trivial excited-state contributions at the source-sink separations available to us. It is noted that naive plateau fits underestimate the excited-state contributions and that…
QCD and Strongly Coupled Gauge Theories: Challenges and Perspectives
We dedicate this document to the memory of Mikhail Polikarpov, who passed away in July 2013. Misha worked with us for decades as a convener of the “Confinement” section of the Quark Confinement and Hadron Spectrum Series. He guided and expanded the scientific discussion of that topic, inspiring and under taking new research avenues. From its initial conception, he supported the enterprise of this document and organized Sect. 8, writing the part on confinement himself. He attracted the XIth Conference on Quark Confinement and the Hadron Spectrum to St. Petersburg (September 8-12, 2014; see http://phys.spbu.ru/confxi.html). His warm and kind personality, his high sense of humor, his ideas in …