Twin Turtles

We present an ultraviolet extension of the Twin Higgs in which the radial mode of twin symmetry breaking is itself a pseudo-goldstone boson. This "turtle" structure raises the scale of new colored particles in exchange for additional states in the Higgs sector, making multiple Higgs-like scalars the definitive signature of naturalness in this context. We explore the parametrics and phenomenology of a concrete Twin Turtle model and demonstrate its robustness in two different supersymmetric completions. Along the way, we also introduce a new mechanism for inducing hard twin symmetry-breaking quartics via soft supersymmetry breaking.Comment: 36 pages, 13 figure

An Update on the LHC Monojet Excess

In previous work, we identified an anomalous number of events in the LHC jets+MET searches characterized by low jet multiplicity and low-to-moderate transverse energy variables. Here, we update this analysis with results from a new ATLAS search in the monojet channel which also shows a consistent excess. As before, we find that this "monojet excess" is well-described by the resonant production of a heavy colored state decaying to a quark and a massive invisible particle. In the combined ATLAS and CMS data, we now find a local (global) preference of 3.3$\sigma$ (2.5$\sigma$) for the new physics model over the Standard Model-only hypothesis. As the signal regions containing the excess are systematics-limited, we consider additional cuts to enhance the signal-to-background ratio. We show that binning finer in $H_T$ and requiring the jets to be more central can increase $S/B$ by a factor of ${\sim} 1.5$.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, source for analysis code used in this paper in attached Ancillary file

Capture and Decay of Electroweak WIMPonium

The spectrum of Weakly-Interacting-Massive-Particle (WIMP) dark matter generically possesses bound states when the WIMP mass becomes sufficiently large relative to the mass of the electroweak gauge bosons. The presence of these bound states enhances the annihilation rate via resonances in the Sommerfeld enhancement, but they can also be produced directly with the emission of a low-energy photon. In this work we compute the rate for SU(2) triplet dark matter (the wino) to bind into WIMPonium -- which is possible via single-photon emission for wino masses above 5 TeV for relative velocity v < O(10^{-2}) -- and study the subsequent decays of these bound states. We present results with applications beyond the wino case, e.g. for dark matter inhabiting a nonabelian dark sector; these include analytic capture and transition rates for general dark sectors in the limit of vanishing force carrier mass, efficient numerical routines for calculating positive and negative-energy eigenstates of a Hamiltonian containing interactions with both massive and massless force carriers, and a study of the scaling of bound state formation in the short-range Hulthen potential. In the specific case of the wino, we find that the rate for bound state formation is suppressed relative to direct annihilation, and so provides only a small correction to the overall annihilation rate. The soft photons radiated by the capture process and by bound state transitions could permit measurement of the dark matter's quantum numbers; for wino-like dark matter, such photons are rare, but might be observable by a future ground-based gamma-ray telescope combining large effective area and a low energy threshold.Comment: 3rd version. An interference sign fixed and changes propagated through the paper. Topline qualitative conclusions unchange

Digging Deeper for New Physics in the LHC Data

In this paper we describe a novel, model-independent technique of "rectangular aggregations" for mining the LHC data for hints of new physics. A typical (CMS) search now has hundreds of signal regions, which can obscure potentially interesting anomalies. Applying our technique to the two CMS jets+MET SUSY searches, we identify a set of previously overlooked $\sim 3\sigma$ excesses. Among these, four excesses survive tests of inter- and intra-search compatibility, and two are especially interesting: they are largely overlapping between the jets+MET searches and are characterized by low jet multiplicity, zero $b$-jets, and low MET and $H_T$. We find that resonant color-triplet production decaying to a quark plus an invisible particle provides an excellent fit to these two excesses and all other data -- including the ATLAS jets+MET search, which actually sees a correlated excess. We discuss the additional constraints coming from dijet resonance searches, monojet searches and pair production. Based on these results, we believe the wide-spread view that the LHC data contains no interesting excesses is greatly exaggerated.Comment: 31 pages + appendices, 14 figures, source code for recasted searches attached as auxiliary materia

Effect of ethanolic extract of green tea (Camellia sinensis) on intra-abdominal adhesions in rats

Background and Objective: Adhesion bands comprise the most important unpleasant consequences of pelvic surgeries. Green tea (Camellia sinensis), due to its anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects and prevention of production and accumulation of collagen seems to be beneficial in this event. Therefore, the present study was designed to elicit he effect of alcoholic extract of green tea on intra-abdominal adhesions. Materials and ethods: In this experimental study 30 healthy male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to two equal groups; one group taking green tea (A) and the other group taking normal aline (B). After anesthesia, their abdominal wall was opened, three longitudinal and ransverse incisions of 2 cm in length were made on the right side of peritoneal surface and a 2×2 cm piece of the left abdominal wall peritoneum was removed. Then, 4 ml green tea extract or normal saline was introduced into the abdominal cavity of the rats. Two weeks later in the second laparotomy, the adhesions were graded according to the strength, extent and appearance. Data were analyzed by Mann-Whitney test, using SPSS v.16. Results: There were significant differences between the scores of groups A and B (P=0.001). The median adhesion scores were 3 and 8 in groups A and B, respectively. Conclusion: The results of this study provide the evidence that green tea extract has a potential capacity to effectively prevent postoperative intra abdominal adhesions in rats and might be beneficial during clinical surgeries

A review of therapeutic and pharmacological effects of thymol

Thymol (C10H14O) is a monoterpene which is considered a phenolic component and is present in many vegetable oils. Thymol is an aromatic essence which is known as disinfectant in traditional medicine. Thymol is found in plants and has properties such as antibacterial, antipyretic, antispasmodic, antifungal, antioxidant, and hepatorotective, anti worm, antispasmodic for rats tracheal smooth muscles, gastroprotective, antihyperglycemic, antihyperlipidemic, analgesic, acaricide, and antiepileptic. Thymol is a medicinal, plant-based component with pleasant taste and smell and is found in many medicinal plants including Thymus vulgaris, and Carum copticum. Because it is inexpensive and exerts pharmaceutically peerless effects, it could be used to heal many of the diseases and may be commercially available in different countries in the future

The most important medicinal plants effective on constipation by the ethnobotanical documents in Iran: A review

Constipation is a prevalent gastrointestinal disease in both children and adults. This disease which is associated with the inability to empty rectum completely is diagnosed when defecation is difficult and delayed for two weeks or more and obviously causes discomfort. The culture of Iran traditional medicine is full of the medicinal plants with purgative property which have the potential to be used for production of purgative drugs. Therefore, we reported the medicinal plants used to treat constipation in the cultures and customs of different regions of Iran. In this review article, the relevant articles, books, and documents of Iran traditional medicine were searched for with the key words including constipation, bowel disorders, rectal discharge, ethnobotany, Iran traditional medicine, medicinal plants, and natural components in the databases, WOS, PubMed, Scopus, Islamic World Science Citation Center, and Magiran. The findings indicated that in East Azarbaijan, West Azarbaijan, Isfahan, Ilam, Khouzestan, Sistan va Balouchestan, Kerman, Mazandaran, and Hormozgan, local people used 41 plant species to treat constipation

Preventive effect of Silybum marianum hydroalcoholic extract on post-surgical intra-abdominal adhesion in rats

Adhesion formation is the commonest complication of abdominal surgery. Bearing an anti-oxidant activity, Silybum marianum may reduce adhesion formation. This study was an endeavor to shed light on the effect of Silybum marianum on intra-abdominal adhesions. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 30 rats were randomly assigned to three groups: treated by 1% and 5% concentrations of the S. marianum extract (groups A and B) and distillated water (group C). After laparotomy, three longitudinal and transverse incisions (2 cm in length) were made on the right wall of the abdomen and a 2×2 piece was removed from peritoneal surface on the left side of the abdominal wall. In groups A, B and C, 3 mL of 1% and 5% of S. marianum extract or distillated water were administered into abdominal cavity of the rats, respectively. After 14 days, adhesion degrees were determined according to the number of adhesion bands (Canbaz scale). Data analysis was performed through SPSS 16 using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests. Results: There was a significant difference in adhesion formation among the groups (P=0.023). Adhesion degree in groups A and B were significantly lower than the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: S. marianum extract supported a preventive effect on intra-abdominal adhesion in rats, which gives rise to the evidence that it may be similarly effective for human cases. Throughout further clinical studies, this plant and its derived compounds might be applied in the treatment of such complications subsequent to abdominal surgeries