Prospects for the Measurement of the Higgs Yukawa Couplings to b and c quarks, and muons at CLIC

The investigation of the properties of the Higgs boson, especially a test of the predicted linear dependence of the branching ratios on the mass of the final state is going to be an integral part of the physics program at colliders at the energy frontier for the foreseeable future. The large Higgs boson production cross section at a 3TeV CLIC machine allows for a precision measurement of the Higgs branching ratios. The cross section times branching ratio of the decays H->bb, H->cc and H->{\mu}{\mu} of a Standard Model Higgs boson with a mass of 120 GeV can be measured with a statistical uncertainty of 0.23%, 3.1% and 15%, respectively, assuming an integrated luminosity of 2 ab-1.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

An efficacy trial of an electronic health record-based strategy to inform patients on safe medication use: The role of written and spoken communication

We tested the feasibility and efficacy of an electronic health record (EHR) strategy that automated the delivery of print medication information at the time of prescribing

Sex and Ethnic Differences in 47 Candidate Proteomic Markers of Cardiovascular Disease: The Mayo Clinic Proteomic Markers of Arteriosclerosis Study

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) susceptibility differs between men and women and varies with ethnicity. This variability is not entirely explained by conventional CVD risk factors. We examined differences in circulating levels of 47 novel protein markers of CVD in 2561 men and women of African-American (AA) and non-Hispanic White (NHW) ethnicity, enrolled at geographically distinct sites.Participants (1,324 AAs, mean age 63.5 y, 71% women; 1,237 NHWs, mean age 58.9 y, 57% women) belonged to sibships ascertained on the basis of hypertension. Solid-phase immunoassays and immunoturbidometric, clot-based, chromogenic, and electrophoretic assays were used to measure the 47 protein markers in plasma or serum. Marker levels were log transformed and outliers were adjusted to within 4 SD. To identify markers independently associated with sex or ethnicity, we employed multivariable regression analyses that adjusted for conventional risk factors, prior history of CVD, medication use and lifestyle factors (physical activity, alcohol consumption and education). Generalized estimating equations were used to correct for intrafamilial correlations. After adjustment for the above covariates, female sex was associated with higher levels of 29 markers and lower levels of 6 markers. Female sex was independently associated with higher levels of several inflammatory markers as well as lipoproteins, adipokines, natriuretic peptides, vasoconstrictor peptides and markers of calcification and thrombosis. AA ethnicity was associated with higher levels of 19 markers and lower levels of 6 markers, including higher levels of several inflammatory makers, higher leptin and lower adiponectin levels, lower levels of vasodilator-natriuretic peptides, higher levels of vasoconstrictor-antidiuretic peptides and markers of calcification and thrombosis.Plasma levels of several novel protein markers of CVD differ significantly in the context of sex and ethnicity. These results have implications for individualized CVD risk assessment

Search for single top quark production at LEP2

A search for single top quark production via flavour changing neutral currents (FCNC) was performed with data collected by the OPAL detector at the e^+e^− collider LEP. Approximately 600 pb^(−1) of data collected at –209 GeV were used to search for the FCNC process e^+e^−→tc(u)→bWc(u). This analysis is sensitive to the leptonic and the hadronic decay modes of the W boson. No evidence for a FCNC process is observed. Upper limits at the 95% confidence level on the single top production cross-section as a function of the centre-of-mass energy are derived. Limits on the anomalous coupling parameters κ(γ) and κ(Z) are determined from these results

Angular analysis of the muon pair asymmetry at LEP 1

Data on muon pair production obtained by the OPAL Collaboration at centre of mass energies near the Z peak are analysed. Small angular mismatches between the directions of the two muons are used to assess the effects of initial state photon radiation and initial-final-state radiation interference on the forward–backward asymmetry of muon pairs. The dependence of the asymmetry on the invariant mass of the pair is measured in a model-independent way. Effective vector and axial-vector couplings of the Z boson are determined and compared to the Standard Model expectations

Experimental studies of unbiased gluon jets from e^+e^− annihilations using the jet boost algorithm

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.69.032002.We present the first experimental results based on the jet boost algorithm, a technique to select unbiased samples of gluon jets in e^+e^− annihilations, i.e. gluon jets free of biases introduced by event selection or jet finding criteria. Our results are derived from hadronic Z^0 decays observed with the OPAL detector at the LEP e^+e^− collider at CERN. First, we test the boost algorithm through studies with HERWIG Monte Carlo events and find that it provides accurate measurements of the charged particle multiplicity distributions of unbiased gluon jets for jet energies larger than about 5 GeV, and of the jet particle energy spectra (fragmentation functions) for jet energies larger than about 14 GeV. Second, we apply the boost algorithm to our data to derive unbiased measurements of the gluon jet multiplicity distribution for energies between about 5 and 18 GeV, and of the gluon jet fragmentation function at 14 and 18 GeV. In conjunction with our earlier results at 40 GeV, we then test QCD calculations for the energy evolution of the distributions, specifically the mean and first two nontrivial normalized factorial moments of the multiplicity distribution, and the fragmentation function. The theoretical results are found to be in global agreement with the data, although the factorial moments are not well described for jet energies below about 14 GeV

An Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery at Walkington Wold, Yorkshire

This paper presents a re-evaluation of a cemetery excavated over 30 years ago at Walkington Wold in east Yorkshire. The cemetery is characterized by careless burial on diverse alignments, and by the fact that most of the skeletons did not have associated crania. The cemetery has been variously described as being the result of an early post-Roman massacre, as providing evidence for a ‘Celtic’ head cult or as an Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery. In order to resolve the matter, radiocarbon dates were acquired and a re-examination of the skeletal remains was undertaken. It was confirmed that the cemetery was an Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery, the only known example from northern England, and the site is set into its wider context in the paper

A single intranasal or intramuscular immunization with chimpanzee adenovirus-vectored SARS-CoV-2 vaccine protects against pneumonia in hamsters

The development of an effective vaccine against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the etiologic agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is a global priority. Here, we compare the protective capacity of intranasal and intramuscular delivery of a chimpanzee adenovirus-vectored vaccine encoding a prefusion stabilized spike protein (chimpanzee adenovirus [ChAd]-SARS-CoV-2-S) in Golden Syrian hamsters. Although immunization with ChAd-SARS-CoV-2-S induces robust spike-protein-specific antibodies capable of neutralizing the virus, antibody levels in serum are higher in hamsters vaccinated by an intranasal compared to intramuscular route. Accordingly, against challenge with SARS-CoV-2, ChAd-SARS-CoV-2-S-immunized hamsters are protected against less weight loss and have reduced viral infection in nasal swabs and lungs, and reduced pathology and inflammatory gene expression in the lungs, compared to ChAd-control immunized hamsters. Intranasal immunization with ChAd-SARS-CoV-2-S provides superior protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection and inflammation in the upper respiratory tract. These findings support intranasal administration of the ChAd-SARS-CoV-2-S candidate vaccine to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection, disease, and possibly transmission

Measurement of the hadronic photon structure function F_{2}^{γ} at LEP2

The hadronic structure function of the photon F_{2}^{γ} (x, Q²) is measured as a function of Bjorken x and of the photon virtuality Q² using deep-inelastic scattering data taken by the OPAL detector at LEP at e⁺e⁻ centre-of-mass energies from 183 to 209 GeV. Previous OPAL measurements of the x dependence of F_{2}^{γ} are extended to an average Q² of 〈Q²〉=780 GeV² using data in the kinematic range 0.15<x<0.98. The Q² evolution of F_{2}^{γ} is studied for 12.1<〈Q²〉<780 GeV² using three ranges of x. As predicted by QCD, the data show positive scaling violations in F_{2}^{γ} with F_{2}^{γ} (Q²)/α = (0.08±0.02⁺⁰·⁰⁵_₀.₀₃) + (0.13±0.01⁺⁰·⁰¹_₀.₀₁) lnQ², where Q² is in GeV², for the central x region 0.10–0.60. Several parameterisations of F_{2}^{γ} are in qualitative agreement with the measurements whereas the quark-parton model prediction fails to describe the data