Performance of the CMS Cathode Strip Chambers with Cosmic Rays

The Cathode Strip Chambers (CSCs) constitute the primary muon tracking device in the CMS endcaps. Their performance has been evaluated using data taken during a cosmic ray run in fall 2008. Measured noise levels are low, with the number of noisy channels well below 1%. Coordinate resolution was measured for all types of chambers, and fall in the range 47 microns to 243 microns. The efficiencies for local charged track triggers, for hit and for segments reconstruction were measured, and are above 99%. The timing resolution per layer is approximately 5 ns

Risk of Brain Tumors in Children and Susceptibility to Organophosphorus Insecticides: The Potential Role of Paraoxonase (PON1)

Prior research suggests that childhood brain tumors (CBTs) may be associated with exposure to pesticides. Organophosphorus insecticides (OPs) target the developing nervous system, and until recently, the most common residential insecticides were chlorpyrifos and diazinon, two OPs metabolized in the body through the cytochrome P450/paraoxonase 1 (PON1) pathway. To investigate whether two common PON1 polymorphisms, C-108T and Q192R, are associated with CBT occurrence, we conducted a population-based study of 66 cases and 236 controls using DNA from neonatal screening archive specimens in Washington State, linked to interview data. The risk of CBT was nonsignificantly increased in relation to the inefficient PON1 promoter allele [per PON1(-108T) allele, relative to PON1(-108CC): odds ratio (OR) = 1.4; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.0–2.2; p-value for trend = 0.07]. Notably, this association was strongest and statistically significant among children whose mothers reported chemical treatment of the home for pests during pregnancy or childhood (per PON1(-108T) allele: among exposed, OR = 2.6; 95% CI, 1.2–5.5; among unexposed, OR = 0.9; 95% CI, 0.5–1.6) and for primitive neuroectodermal tumors (per PON1(-108T) allele: OR = 2.4; 95% CI, 1.1–5.4). The Q192R polymorphism, which alters the structure of PON1 and influences enzyme activity in a substrate-dependent manner, was not associated with CBT risk, nor was the PON1(C-108T/Q192R) haplotype. These results are consistent with an inverse association between PON1 levels and CBT occurrence, perhaps because of PON1’s ability to detoxify OPs common in children’s environments. Larger studies that measure plasma PON1 levels and incorporate more accurate estimates of pesticide exposure will be required to confirm these observations

Risk of Childhood Cancers Associated with Residence in Agriculturally Intense Areas in the United States

Background: The potential for widespread exposure to agricultural pesticides through drift during application raises concerns about possible health effects to exposed children living in areas of high agricultural activity. Objectives: We evaluated whether residence in a county with greater agricultural activity was associated with risk of developing cancer in children \u3c 15 years of age. Methods: Incidence data for U.S. children 0–14 years of age diagnosed with cancer between 1995 and 2001 were provided by member registries of the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries. We determined percent cropland for each county using agricultural census data, and used the overall study distribution to classify agriculturally intense counties. We estimated odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for all ages and 5-year age groups for total cancers and selected cancer sites using logistic regression. Results: Our study results showed statistically significant increased risk estimates for many types of childhood cancers associated with residence at diagnosis in counties having a moderate to high level of agricultural activity, with a remarkably consistent dose–response effect seen for counties having ≥ 60% of the total county acreage devoted to farming. Risk for different cancers varied by type of crop. Conclusions: Although interpretation is limited by the ecologic design, in this study we were able to evaluate rarer childhood cancers across a diverse agricultural topography. The findings of this exploratory study support a continued interest in the possible impact of long-term, low-level pesticide exposure in communities located in agriculturally intense areas

Retinoblastoma incidence and sunlight exposure

To evaluate positive findings from an earlier report, we studied the relation between retinoblastoma incidence and ultraviolet (UV-B) radiation levels in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) programme areas of the USA using weighted regression, as well as in international data after adjusting for race, economic development, and climate. The association was not statistically significant within the USA (P> 0.20). At an international level, the relation was significant overall and after adjusting for economic development, but it was not significant after adjusting for race and tropical climate, suggesting that environmental factors other than UV-B may be responsible for the geographic patterns of retinoblastoma. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaig

Search for Higgsino pair production in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV in final states with large missing transverse momentum and two Higgs bosons decaying via H -> b(b)over bar

Results are reported from a search for new physics in 13 TeV proton-proton collisions in the final state with large missing transverse momentum and two Higgs bosons decaying via H -> b(b)over bar. The search uses a data sample accumulated by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2016, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1). The search is motivated by models based on gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking, which predict the electroweak production of a pair of Higgsinos, each of which can decay via a cascade process to a Higgs boson and an undetected lightest supersymmetric particle. The observed event yields in the signal regions are consistent with the standard model background expectation obtained from control regions in data. Higgsinos in the mass range 230-770 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level in the context of a simplified model for the production and decay of approximately degenerate Higgsinos.Peer reviewe

Search for single production of vector-like quarks decaying into a b quark and a W boson in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

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Search for new physics in the multijet and missing transverse momentum final state in proton-proton collisions at √s=8 Tev

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Search for a light pseudoscalar Higgs boson produced in association with bottom quarks in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV

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Search for light bosons in decays of the 125 GeV Higgs boson in proton-proton collisions at root s=8 TeV

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Search for Evidence of the Type-III Seesaw Mechanism in Multilepton Final States in Proton-Proton Collisions at root s=13 TeV

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