Higgs and Z boson associated production via gluon fusion in the SM and the 2HDM

We analyse the associated production of Higgs and $Z$ boson via heavy-quark loops at the LHC in the Standard Model and beyond. We first review the main features of the Born $2\to 2$ production, and in particular discuss the high-energy behaviour, angular distributions and $Z$ boson polarisation. We then consider the effects of extra QCD radiation as described by the $2 \to 3$ loop matrix elements, and find that they dominate at high Higgs transverse momentum. We show how merged samples of 0-- and 1--jet multiplicities, matched to a parton shower can provide a reliable description of differential distributions in $ZH$ production. In addition to the Standard Model study, results in a generic two-Higgs-doublet-model are obtained and presented for a set of representative and experimentally viable benchmarks for $Zh^0$, $ZH^0$ and $ZA^0$ production. We observe that various interesting features appear either due to the resonant enhancement of the cross-section or to interference patterns between resonant and non-resonant contributions.Comment: 29 pages, 12 figure

Human sarcopenia reveals an increase in SOCS-3 and myostatin and a reduced efficiency of Akt phosphorylation

Age-related skeletal muscle sarcopenia is linked with increases in falls, fractures, and death and therefore has important socioeconomic consequences. The molecular mechanisms controlling age-related muscle loss in humans are not well understood, but are likely to involve multiple signaling pathways. This study investigated the regulation of several genes and proteins involved in the activation of key signaling pathways promoting muscle hypertrophy, including GH/STAT5, IGF-1/Akt/GSK-3&beta;/4E-BP1, and muscle atrophy, including TNF&alpha;/SOCS-3 and Akt/FKHR/atrogene, in muscle biopsies from 13 young (20 &plusmn; 0.2 years) and 16 older (70 &plusmn; 0.3 years) males. In the older males compared to the young subjects, muscle fiber cross-sectional area was reduced by 40&ndash;45% in the type II muscle fibers. TNF&alpha; and SOCS-3 were increased by 2.8 and 1.5 fold, respectively. Growth hormone receptor protein (GHR) and IGF-1 mRNA were decreased by 45%. Total Akt, but not phosphorylated Akt, was increased by 2.5 fold, which corresponded to a 30% reduction in the efficiency of Akt phosphorylation in the older subjects. Phosphorylated and total GSK-3&beta; were increased by 1.5 and 1.8 fold, respectively, while 4E-BP1 levels were not changed. Nuclear FKHR and FKHRL1 were decreased by 73 and 50%, respectively, with no changes in their atrophy target genes, atrogin-1 and MuRF1. Myostatin mRNA and protein levels were significantly elevated by 2 and 1.4 fold. Human sarcopenia may be linked to a reduction in the activity or sensitivity of anabolic signaling proteins such as GHR, IGF-1, and Akt. TNF&alpha;, SOCS-3, and myostatin are potential candidates influencing this anabolic perturbation.<br /

Dietary Supplements and Sports Performance: Metabolites, Constituents, and Extracts

This is the fifth in a series of six articles to discuss the major classes of dietary supplements (vitamins; minerals; amino acids; herbs or botanicals; and metabolites/constituents/extracts). The major focus is on efficacy of such dietary supplements to enhance exercise or sports performance

A New Method for Non-Invasive Estimation of Human Muscle Fiber Type Composition

Background: It has been established that excellence in sports with short and long exercise duration requires a high proportion of fast-twitch (FT) or type-II fibers and slow-twitch (ST) or type-I fibers, respectively. Until today, the muscle biopsy method is still accepted as gold standard to measure muscle fiber type composition. Because of its invasive nature and high sampling variance, it would be useful to develop a non-invasive alternative.status: publishe

Universality of next-to-leading power threshold effects for colourless final states in hadronic collisions

SCOAP

NLO QCD+EW predictions for HV and HV +jet production including parton-shower effects

We present the first NLO QCD+EW predictions for Higgs boson production in association with a ℓνℓ or ℓ+ℓ− pair plus zero or one jets at the LHC. Fixed-order NLO QCD+EW calculations are combined with a QCD+QED parton shower using the recently developed resonance-aware method in the POWHEG framework. Moreover, applying the improved MiNLO technique to Hℓνℓ +jet and Hℓ+ℓ− +jet production at NLO QCD+EW, we obtain predictions that are NLO accurate for observables with both zero or one resolved jet. This approach permits also to capture higher-order effects associated with the interplay of EW corrections and QCD radiation. The behavior of EW corrections is studied for various kinematic distributions, relevant for experimental analyses of Higgsstrahlung processes at the 13 TeV LHC. Exact NLO EW corrections are complemented with approximate analytic formulae that account for the leading and next-to-leading Sudakov logarithms in the high-energy regime. In the tails of transverse-momentum distributions, relevant for analyses in the boosted Higgs regime, the Sudakov approximation works well, and NLO EW effects can largely exceed the ten percent level. Our predictions are based on the POWHEG BOX RES+OpenLoops framework in combination with the Pythia 8.1 parton shower

Practical nutritional recovery strategies for elite soccer players when limited time separates repeated matches

Specific guidelines that aim to facilitate the recovery of soccer players from the demands of training and a congested fixture schedule are lacking; especially in relation to evidence-based nutritional recommendations. The importance of repeated high level performance and injury avoidance while addressing the challenges of fixture scheduling, travel to away venues, and training commitments requires a strategic and practically feasible method of implementing specific nutritional strategies. Here we present evidence-based guidelines regarding nutritional recovery strategies within the context of soccer. An emphasis is placed on providing practically applicable guidelines for facilitation of recovery when multiple matches are played within a short period of time (i.e. 48 h). Following match-play, the restoration of liver and muscle glycogen stores (via consumption of ~1.2 gkg-1h-1 of carbohydrate) and augmentation of protein synthesis (via ~40 g of protein) should be prioritised in the first 20 minutes of recovery. Daily intakes of 6-10 gkg-1 body mass of carbohydrate are recommended when limited time separates repeated matches while daily protein intakes of >1.5 gkg-1 body mass should be targeted; possibly in the form of multiple smaller feedings (e.g., 6 x 20-40 g). At least 150% of the body mass lost during exercise should be consumed within 1 h and electrolytes added such that fluid losses are ameliorated. Strategic use of protein, leucine, creatine, polyphenols and omega-3 supplements could also offer practical means of enhancing post-match recovery. Keywords: soccer, nutrition, recovery, polyphenols, omega-3, creatine, fixture, congestio

Creatine Monohydrate and Conjugated Linoleic Acid Improve Strength and Body Composition Following Resistance Exercise in Older Adults

Aging is associated with lower muscle mass and an increase in body fat. We examined whether creatine monohydrate (CrM) and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) could enhance strength gains and improve body composition (i.e., increase fat-free mass (FFM); decrease body fat) following resistance exercise training in older adults (>65 y). Men (N = 19) and women (N = 20) completed six months of resistance exercise training with CrM (5g/d)+CLA (6g/d) or placebo with randomized, double blind, allocation. Outcomes included: strength and muscular endurance, functional tasks, body composition (DEXA scan), blood tests (lipids, liver function, CK, glucose, systemic inflammation markers (IL-6, C-reactive protein)), urinary markers of compliance (creatine/creatinine), oxidative stress (8-OH-2dG, 8-isoP) and bone resorption (Ν-telopeptides). Exercise training improved all measurements of functional capacity (P<0.05) and strength (P<0.001), with greater improvement for the CrM+CLA group in most measurements of muscular endurance, isokinetic knee extension strength, FFM, and lower fat mass (P<0.05). Plasma creatinine (P<0.05), but not creatinine clearance, increased for CrM+CLA, with no changes in serum CK activity or liver function tests. Together, this data confirms that supervised resistance exercise training is safe and effective for increasing strength in older adults and that a combination of CrM and CLA can enhance some of the beneficial effects of training over a six-month period. Trial Registration. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT0047390