Recent Higgs → ZZ(∗) → 4l results with the ATLAS experiment

This document presents a short update of the search results and a first measurement of the properties of the newly observed Higgs-like particle in the decay channel H → ZZ(∗) → l+l−l'+l'−, where l,l' = e or μ, using 4.6 fb−1 and 13 fb −1 of proton-proton collisions at √s = 7 and √s = 8TeV, respectively, recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. An excess of events over background is seen, with a minimum p0 value of 0.0021% (4.1 standard deviations) at mH = 123.5 GeV in the combined analysis of the two datasets. The fitted Higgs mass is measured to be mH = 123.5 ± 0.9 (stat.) ± 0.3 (syst.) GeV and the signal strength (the ratio of the observed cross-section to the expected SM cross-section) at this mass is found to be μ = 1.3+0.5−0.3. A spin-parity analysis is performed on the events with 115 GeV < mH < 130 GeV. The 0+ state is found to be favoured over the 0− and 2+ states with 0− excluded by 2.7 σ when compared to 0+

Non-equilibrium Green's functions in density functional tight binding: method and applications

We present a detailed description of the implementation of the non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF) technique on the density-functional-based tight-binding (gDFTB) simulation tool. This approach can be used to compute electronic transport in organic and inorganic molecular-scale devices. The DFTB tight-binding formulation gives an efficient computational tool that is able to handle a large number of atoms. NEGFs are used to compute the electronic density self-consistently with the open-boundary conditions naturally encountered in quantum transport problems and the boundary conditions imposed by the potentials at the contacts. The efficient block-iterative algorithm used to compute the Green's functions is illustrated. The Hartree potential of the density-functional Hamiltonian is obtained by solving the three-dimensional Poisson equation. A scheme to treat geometrically complex boundary conditions is discussed, including the possibility of including multiterminal calculations

New hints towards a precision medicine strategy for IDH wild-type glioblastoma.

Glioblastoma represents the most common primary malignancy of the central nervous system in adults and remains a largely incurable disease. The elucidation of disease subtypes based on mutational profiling, gene expression and DNA methylation has so far failed to translate into improved clinical outcomes. However, new knowledge emerging from the subtyping effort in the IDH-wild-type setting may provide directions for future precision therapies. Here, we review recent learnings in the field, and further consider how tumour microenvironment differences across subtypes may reveal novel contexts of vulnerability. We discuss recent treatment approaches and ongoing trials in the IDH-wild-type glioblastoma setting, and propose an integrated discovery stratagem incorporating multi-omics, single-cell technologies and computational approaches

Improving the thermal stability of Rubisco activase

The major objective is to produce wheat germplasm with improved tolerance to heat stress through the modification of the key photosynthetic enzyme Rubisco activase. Current funds have allowed transformation of “best bet” candidate gene constructs into wheat as part of SP1.5. Joanna Scales, a BBSRC PhD student jointly supervised by Martin Parry, Christine Raines, and Mike Salvucci, generated the transformation constructs and will undertake the molecular and biochemical analysis of transgenic lines

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13