Observations of Active Region Loops with the EUV Imaging Spectrometer on Hinode

Previous solar observations have shown that coronal loops near 1 MK are difficult to reconcile with simple heating models. These loops have lifetimes that are long relative to a radiative cooling time, suggesting quasi-steady heating. The electron densities in these loops, however, are too high to be consistent with thermodynamic equilibrium. Models proposed to explain these properties generally rely on the existence of smaller scale filaments within the loop that are in various stages of heating and cooling. Such a framework implies that there should be a distribution of temperatures within a coronal loop. In this paper we analyze new observations from the EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) on \textit{Hinode}. EIS is capable of observing active regions over a wide range of temperatures (\ion{Fe}{8}--\ion{Fe}{17}) at relatively high spatial resolution (1\arcsec). We find that most isolated coronal loops that are bright in \ion{Fe}{12} generally have very narrow temperature distributions ($\sigma_T \lesssim 3\times10^5$ K), but are not isothermal. We also derive volumetric filling factors in these loops of approximately 10%. Both results lend support to the filament models.Comment: Submitted to ApJ

Solubilization and Humanization of Paraoxonase-1

Paraoxonase-1 (PON1) is a serum protein, the activity of which is related to susceptibility to cardiovascular disease and intoxication by organophosphorus (OP) compounds. It may also be involved in innate immunity, and it is a possible lead molecule in the development of a catalytic bioscavenger of OP pesticides and nerve agents. Human PON1 expressed in E. coli is mostly found in the insoluble fraction, which motivated the engineering of soluble variants, such as G2E6, with more than 50 mutations from huPON1. We examined the effect on the solubility, activity, and stability of three sets of mutations designed to solubilize huPON1 with fewer overall changes: deletion of the N-terminal leader, polar mutations in the putative HDL binding site, and selection of the subset of residues that became more polar in going from huPON1 to G2E6. All three sets of mutations increase the solubility of huPON1; the HDL-binding mutant has the largest effect on solubility, but it also decreases the activity and stability the most. Based on the G2E6 polar mutations, we “humanized” an engineered variant of PON1 with high activity against cyclosarin (GF) and found that it was still very active against GF with much greater similarity to the human sequence

Search for TeV Scale Physics in Heavy Flavour Decays

The subject of heavy flavour decays as probes for physics beyond the TeV scale is covered from the experimental perspective. Emphasis is placed on the more traditional Beyond the Standard Model topics that have potential for impact in the short term, with the physics explained. We do unabashedly promote our own phemonenology work.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures (now fixed); Submitted for the SUSY07 proceeding

Topoisomerase I but not thymidylate synthase is associated with improved outcome in patients with resected colorectal cancer treated with irinotecan containing adjuvant chemotherapy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Thymidylate synthase (TS) and Topoisomerase I (Topo I) are significant biomarkers in colorectal cancer (CRC). We aimed to study the expression of TS and Topo I in patients with resected CRC who received adjuvant chemotherapy and correlated it with clinical outcome.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>All patients diagnosed with CRC between 1989 and 2007 and treated with adjuvant chemotherapy within Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group's (HeCOG) protocols, were identified. Archival paraffin-embedded tumor tissues were used for immunohistochemical detection of TS and Topo I. Immunohistochemistry was performed on tissue microarray slides using monoclonal antibodies against TS and Topo I. The results were correlated with survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A cohort of 498 patients with a median age of 61 years and Dukes' stage B (49%) and C (51%) fulfilled the criteria of the study. All patients received adjuvant 5-FU-based chemotherapy, 38% irinotecan-containing. Positive TS and Topo I expression was found in 43% and 48% of cases, respectively. Five-year OS was 74% and DFS was 68%. In univariate analysis no association of TS and Topo I expression with OS and DFS was identified. In multivariate analysis however, Topo I expression was associated with a reduced risk of death (HR = 0.61, 95% CI 0.42-0.88, p = 0.009). In the irinotecan-treated subgroup, those patients who expressed Topo I had a better OS (HR = 0.47, 95% CI 0.23-0.94, p = 0.033).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Patients with resected CRC expressing Topo I seem to benefit from irinotecan-containing adjuvant chemotherapy. However randomised prospective trials are needed to confirm these results.</p

Measurement of χ c1 and χ c2 production with s√ = 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

The prompt and non-prompt production cross-sections for the χ c1 and χ c2 charmonium states are measured in pp collisions at s√ = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using 4.5 fb−1 of integrated luminosity. The χ c states are reconstructed through the radiative decay χ c → J/ψγ (with J/ψ → μ + μ −) where photons are reconstructed from γ → e + e − conversions. The production rate of the χ c2 state relative to the χ c1 state is measured for prompt and non-prompt χ c as a function of J/ψ transverse momentum. The prompt χ c cross-sections are combined with existing measurements of prompt J/ψ production to derive the fraction of prompt J/ψ produced in feed-down from χ c decays. The fractions of χ c1 and χ c2 produced in b-hadron decays are also measured

Single hadron response measurement and calorimeter jet energy scale uncertainty with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

The uncertainty on the calorimeter energy response to jets of particles is derived for the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). First, the calorimeter response to single isolated charged hadrons is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo simulation using proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of sqrt(s) = 900 GeV and 7 TeV collected during 2009 and 2010. Then, using the decay of K_s and Lambda particles, the calorimeter response to specific types of particles (positively and negatively charged pions, protons, and anti-protons) is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo predictions. Finally, the jet energy scale uncertainty is determined by propagating the response uncertainty for single charged and neutral particles to jets. The response uncertainty is 2-5% for central isolated hadrons and 1-3% for the final calorimeter jet energy scale.Comment: 24 pages plus author list (36 pages total), 23 figures, 1 table, submitted to European Physical Journal

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

Expected Performance of the ATLAS Experiment - Detector, Trigger and Physics

A detailed study is presented of the expected performance of the ATLAS detector. The reconstruction of tracks, leptons, photons, missing energy and jets is investigated, together with the performance of b-tagging and the trigger. The physics potential for a variety of interesting physics processes, within the Standard Model and beyond, is examined. The study comprises a series of notes based on simulations of the detector and physics processes, with particular emphasis given to the data expected from the first years of operation of the LHC at CERN

Standalone vertex finding in the ATLAS muon spectrometer

A dedicated reconstruction algorithm to find decay vertices in the ATLAS muon spectrometer is presented. The algorithm searches the region just upstream of or inside the muon spectrometer volume for multi-particle vertices that originate from the decay of particles with long decay paths. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using both a sample of simulated Higgs boson events, in which the Higgs boson decays to long-lived neutral particles that in turn decay to bbar b final states, and pp collision data at √s = 7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2011

Measurements of Higgs boson production and couplings in diboson final states with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements are presented of production properties and couplings of the recently discovered Higgs boson using the decays into boson pairs, H →γ γ, H → Z Z∗ →4l and H →W W∗ →lνlν. The results are based on the complete pp collision data sample recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 25 fb−1. Evidence for Higgs boson production through vector-boson fusion is reported. Results of combined fits probing Higgs boson couplings to fermions and bosons, as well as anomalous contributions to loop-induced production and decay modes, are presented. All measurements are consistent with expectations for the Standard Model Higgs boson