Suche nach Zwei-Boson-Resonanzen im vollhadronischen Endzustand mit dem CMS-Detektor = Search for Diboson Resonances in the Full-Hadronic Final State with the CMS Detector at s\sqrt{s} = 13 TeV

A search for new resonances decaying to WW, WZ or ZZ in the all hadronic final state using 77.3~fb$^{-1}$ of data taken with the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is presented. The search focuses on potential new particles with a mass at the TeV scale resulting in a high transverse momentum of the produced vector bosons. The subsequent decay products of the vector bosons are therefore highly collimated and reconstructed into a single large-radius jet, which are further classified using jet substructure methods. The analysis presented utilizes a new data-driven background modeling technique based on a template fit in a three-dimensional hyperspace spanned by the dijet invariant mass and the corrected jet masses of the two final state jets. This method allows the utilization of the full available signal yield while simultaneously constraining the background processes by including the mass sideband regions in the fit. This grants the opportunity to easily expand this framework to include VH, HH or more exotic signals with different messenger particles in the future. No significant excess is observed above the estimated standard model background and limits are set at 95% confidence level on the cross section times branching fraction of a new particle, which are interpreted in terms of various models that predict spin-2 gravitons or spin-1 vector bosons. In a heavy vector triplet model, spin-1 Z\u27 and W\u27 resonances with masses below 3.5 and 3.8 TeV, respectively, are excluded at 95% confidence level. In a narrow-width bulk graviton model, upper limits on cross sections times branching fractions are set between 27 and 0.2 fb for resonance masses between 1.2 and 5 TeV, respectively. The limits presented in this thesis are the best to date in the dijet final state

Conceptualizing platformed conspiracism: Analytical framework and empirical case study of BitChute and Gab

This article introduces the notion of platformed conspiracism to conceptualize reconfigured forms of conspiracy theory communication as a result of the mutual shaping between platform specificities and emergent user practices. To investigate this relational socio-technological shaping, we propose a conceptual platform-sensitive framework that systematically guides the study of platformed conspiracism. To illustrate the application of the framework, we examine how platformed conspiracism unfolds on BitChute and Gab during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings show that both platforms have positioned themselves as technological equivalents to their “mainstream” counterparts, YouTube and Twitter, by offering similar interfaces and features. However, given their specific services, community-based and politically marketed business models, and minimalist approaches to content moderation, both platforms provide conspiracy propagators a fertile refuge through which they can diversify their presence and profit monetarily from their supply of conspiracy theories and active connection with their followers

From “Climate Change” to “Climate Crisis”?

Climate change is one of the core challenges of humankind – and legacy news media continue to be important sources of information about the issue for many people around the globe. Accordingly, how news media portray climate change is important for public awareness and perceptions of the issue. The labeling of the topic – which may rely on more neutral terms like “climate change” or “global warming” or more alarming terms like “climate crisis”, “climate emergency” or “global heating” – is an important facet in this respect. In step with the increasing importance of the issue, outlets such as the British “Guardian” have switched to these more urgent terms in their coverage of climate change. But it is unclear, so far, how pronounced this switch is, and which media have followed suit. Relying on an automated content analysis of climate change coverage from 16 news outlets in eight countries around the world between 1996 and 2021 (N = 89,887), our study investigates the use and proliferation of “climate change compounds” such as “climate crisis”, “global heating”, or “global warming” used to describe the phenomenon. We find that news media still use neutral terms – especially “climate change” – more often than alarming labels. However, the use of the latter has increased strongly since 2019, presumably due to country-specific events and changes in editorial guidelines of national outlets

Überzeugungen von Lehrpersonen zu digitalen Medien

Teachers' beliefs are considered to play a decisive role in the quality of their professional activities. When using digital media in schools and classrooms, specific beliefs about digital media are important in addition to general job-related beliefs. However, there are hardly any empirical findings on the development and change of such convictions. On the basis of professional biographical narrative interviews, the present study recorded the diverse convictions of teachers about digital media, reconstructed individual developmental trajectories and the associated conditions, and worked out different basic patterns on the basis of a typology.Überzeugungen von Lehrpersonen wird eine maßgebliche Rolle hinsichtlich der Qualität ihres Berufshandelns zugeschrieben. Beim Einsatz von digitalen Medien in Schule und Unterricht sind neben allgemeinen berufsbezogenen Überzeugungen auch spezifische Überzeugungen zu digitalen Medien von Bedeutung. Zur Entstehung und Veränderung solcher Überzeugungen sind jedoch noch kaum empirische Erkenntnisse vorhanden. Auf der Basis berufsbiografischer narrativer Interviews wurden in der vorliegenden Studie die vielfältigen Überzeugungen von Lehrpersonen zu digitalen Medien erfasst, individuelle Entwicklungsverläufe und die damit einhergehenden Bedingungen rekonstruiert und anhand einer Typenbildung unterschiedliche Grundmuster herausgearbeitet

An SU(5) x A5 Golden Ratio Flavour Model

In this paper we study an SU(5) x A5 flavour model which exhibits a neutrino mass sum rule and golden ratio mixing in the neutrino sector which is corrected from the charged lepton Yukawa couplings. We give the full renormalizable superpotential for the model which breaks SU(5) and A5 after integrating out heavy messenger fields and minimising the scalar potential. The mass sum rule allows for both mass orderings but we will show that inverted ordering is not valid in this setup. For normal ordering we find the lightest neutrino to have a mass of about 10-50 meV, and all leptonic mixing angles in agreement with experiment.Comment: 34 pages, 5 figures; version published in Nucl. Phys.

Multimorbidity and long-term care dependency - a five-year follow-up.

BACKGROUND: Not only single, but also multiple, chronic conditions are becoming the normal situation rather than the exception in the older generation. While many studies show a correlation between multimorbidity and various health outcomes, the long-term effect on care dependency remains unclear. The objective of this study is to follow up a cohort of older adults for 5 years to estimate the impact of multimorbidity on long-term care dependency. METHODS: This study is based on claims data from a German health insurance company. We included 115,203 people (mean age: 71.5 years, 41.4% females). To identify chronic diseases and multimorbidity, we used a defined list of 46 chronic conditions based on ICD-10 codes. Multimorbidity was defined as three or more chronic conditions from this list. The main outcome was "time until long-term care dependency". The follow-up started on January 1st, 2005 and lasted for 5 years until December 31st, 2009. To evaluate differences between those with multimorbidity and those without, we calculated Kaplan-Meier curves and then modeled four distinct Cox proportional hazard regressions including multimorbidity, age and sex, the single chronic conditions, and disease clusters. RESULTS: Mean follow-up was 4.5 years. People with multimorbidity had a higher risk of becoming care dependent (HR: 1.85, CI 1.78-1.92). The conditions with the highest risks for long-term care dependency are Parkinson's disease (HR: 6.40 vs. 2.68) and dementia (HR: 5.70 vs. 2.27). Patients with the multimorbidity pattern "Neuropsychiatric disorders" have a 79% higher risk of care dependency. CONCLUSIONS: The results should form the basis for future health policy decisions on the treatment of patients with multiple chronic diseases and also show the need to introduce new ways of providing long-term care to this population. A health policy focus on chronic care management as well as the development of guidelines for multimorbidity is crucial to secure health services delivery for the older population

From “nasa lies” to “reptilian eyes”: mapping communication about 10 conspiracy theories, their communities, and main propagators on twitter

In recent years, conspiracy theories have pervaded mainstream discourse. Social media, in particular, reinforce their visibility and propagation. However, most prior studies on the dissemination of conspiracy theories in digital environments have focused on individual cases or conspiracy theories as a generic phenomenon. Our research addresses this gap by comparing the 10 most prominent conspiracy theories on Twitter, the communities supporting them, and their main propagators. Drawing on a dataset of 106,807 tweets published over 6 weeks from 2018 to 2019, we combine large-scale network analysis and in-depth qualitative analysis of user profiles. Our findings illustrate which conspiracy theories are prevalent on Twitter, and how different conspiracy theories are separated or interconnected within communities. In addition, our study provides empirical support for previous assertions that extremist accounts are being “deplatformed” by leading social media companies. We also discuss how the implications of these findings elucidate the role of societal and political contexts in propagating conspiracy theories on social media

Overutilization of ambulatory medical care in the elderly German population? – An empirical study based on national insurance claims data and a review of foreign studies

Background: By definition, high utilizers receive a large proportion of medical services and produce relatively high costs. The authors report the results of a study on the utilization of ambulatory medical care by the elderly population in Germany in comparison to other OECD countries. Evidence points to an excessive utilization in Germany. It is important to document these utilization figures and compare them to those in other countries since the healtcare system in Germany stopped recording ambulatory healthcare utilization figures in 2008. Methods: The study is based on the claims data of all insurants aged >= 65 of a statutory health insurance company in Germany (n = 123,224). Utilization was analyzed by the number of contacts with physicians in ambulatory medical care and by the number of different practices contacted over one year. Criteria for frequent attendance were = 50 contacts with practices or contacts with = 10 different practices or = 3 practices of the same discipline per year. Descriptive statistical analysis and logistic regression were applied. Morbidity was analyzed by prevalence and relative risk for frequent attendance for 46 chronic diseases. Results: Nineteen percent of the elderly were identified as high utilizers, corresponding to approximately 3.5 million elderly people in Germany. Two main types were identified. One type has many contacts with practices, belongs to the oldest age group, suffers from severe somatic diseases and multimorbidity, and/or is dependent on long-term care. The other type contacts large numbers of practices, consists of younger elderly who often suffer from psychiatric and/or psychosomatic complaints, and is less frequently multimorbid and/or nursing care dependent. Conclusion: We found a very high rate of frequent attendance among the German elderly, which is unique among the OECD countries. Further research should clarify its reasons and if this degree of utilization is beneficial for elderly people

Sebaceous lipids are essential for water repulsion, protection against UVB-induced apoptosis and ocular integrity in mice

Sebocytes, which are characterized by lipid accumulation that leads to cell disruption, can be found in hair follicle-associated sebaceous glands (SGs) or in free SGs such as the Meibomian glands in the eyelids. Because genetic tools that allow targeting of sebocytes while maintaining intact epidermal lipids are lacking, the relevance of sebaceous lipids in health and disease remains poorly understood. Using Scd3, which is expressed exclusively in mature sebocytes, we established a mouse line with sebocyte-specific expression of Cre recombinase. Both RT-PCR analysis and crossing into Rosa26-lacZ reporter mice and KrasG12D mice confirmed Cre activity specifically in SGs, with no activity in other skin compartments. Importantly, loss of SCD3 function did not cause detectable phenotypical alterations, endorsing the usefulness of Scd3-Cre mice for further functional studies. Scd3-Cre-induced, diphtheria chain A toxin-mediated depletion of sebaceous lipids resulted in impaired water repulsion and thermoregulation, increased rates of UVB-induced epidermal apoptosis and caused a severe pathology of the ocular surface resembling Meibomian gland dysfunction. This novel mouse line will be useful for further investigating the roles of sebaceous lipids in skin and eye integrity