Are There Hints of Light Stops in Recent Higgs Search Results?

The recent discovery at the LHC by the CMS and ATLAS collaborations of the Higgs boson presents, at long last, direct probes of the mechanism for electroweak symmetry breaking. While it is clear from the observations that the new particle plays some role in this process, it is not yet apparent whether the couplings and widths of the observed particle match those predicted by the Standard Model. In this paper, we perform a global fit of the Higgs results from the LHC and Tevatron. While these results could be subject to as-yet-unknown systematics, we find that the data are significantly better fit by a Higgs with a suppressed width to gluon-gluon and an enhanced width to gamma gamma, relative to the predictions of the Standard Model. After considering a variety of new physics scenarios which could potenially modify these widths, we find that the most promising possibility is the addition of a new colored, charged particle, with a large coupling to the Higgs. Of particular interest is a light, and highly mixed, stop, which we show can provide the required alterations to the combination of gg and gamma gamma widths.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

The Higgs boson in the MSSM in light of the LHC

We investigate the expectations for the light Higgs signal in the MSSM in different search channels at the LHC. After taking into account dark matter and flavor constraints in the MSSM with eleven free parameters, we show that the light Higgs signal in the $gamma\gamma$ channel is expected to be at most at the level of the SM Higgs, while the $h\rightarrow b\bar{b}$ from W fusion and/or the $h \rightarrow\tau\bar\tau$ can be enhanced. For the main discovery mode, we show that a strong suppression of the signal occurs in two different cases: low $M_A$ or large invisible width. A more modest suppression is associated with the effect of light supersymmetric particles. Looking for such modification of the Higgs properties and searching for supersymmetric partners and pseudoscalar Higgs offer two complementary probes of supersymmetry.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figure

Editorial. The sustainability challenge. New perspectives on the use of microbial approaches and their impact on food and feed

Building a more resilient food chain, reducing food loss and waste, improving food production practices and increasing plant-based food consumption are some of the fundamental actions suggested in The Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations Member States in 20151. The objective of this special issue was to explore how the use of microorganisms as direct or indirect sources of transformation could contribute to these sustainability practices. In this context, the following strategies have been presented: (i) valorization of side-streams and underutilized food resources via fermentation, (ii) improvement of the efficiency of bioprocesses for the food and feed industry, and (iii) understanding and applying the microbiome as a resource to improve the agro-food system

Ethylene-propene copolymerization. Monomer reactivity and reaction mechanism

The relative reactivity of ethylene and propene in the first insertion steps of Ziegler-Natta copolymerization has been evaluated by analyzing via 13CNMR the %enriched end groups of copolymer fractionsofdifferentstereoregularity. Somepossibleinferencesconcerningreactionmechanismarereported

Impact of cooking methods of red-skinned onion on metabolic transformation of phenolic compounds and gut microbiota changes

Herein, we investigated the stability and bioaccessibility of phenolics in differently cooked red-skinned onion (RSO) and consequently their impact on the gut microbiota and metabolism of phenolics. In fact, the different processes used to cook vegetables can modify and re-arrange the molecular profiles of bioactive compounds, such as phenolics in phenolic-rich vegetables, such as RSO. Fried and grilled RSO were compared to raw RSO and a blank control and subjected to oro-gastro-intestinal digestion and subsequent colonic fermentation. For upper gut digestion, the INFOGEST protocol was used, and for lower gut fermentation, a short-term batch model, namely, MICODE (multi-unit in vitro colon gut model), was employed. During the process, phenolic compound profile (through high-resolution mass spectrometry) and colon microbiomics (qPCR of 14 core taxa) analyses were performed. According to the results, the degradation driven by the colon microbiota of RSO flavonols resulted in the accumulation of three main metabolites, i.e., 3-(3 '-hydroxyphenyl)propanoic acid, 3-(3 '-hydroxyphenyl)acetic acid and 3-(3 ',4 '-dihydroxyphenyl)acetic acid. Also, colonic fermentation of raw onions resulted in a substantial increase in beneficial taxa, which was larger compared to the heat-treated onions, particularly Lactobacillales and beneficial clostridia. Also, a higher level of inhibition of opportunistic bacteria was seen for the raw onion samples, namely, Clostridium perfringens group and Escherichia coli. Thus, our results showed that RSO, and especially the raw one, is an excellent dietary source of flavonols that are strongly metabolized by gut bacteria and can positively modulate the gut microbiota. Although additional in vivo studies are necessary, this work is one of the first to explore how RSO processed with different cooking methods can differently impact the phenolic metabolism and microbiota composition in the large intestine of humans, fine-tuning the antioxidant nature of foods

On the Angular Resolution of the AGILE gamma-ray imaging detector

We present a study of the Angular Resolution of the AGILE gamma-ray imaging detector (GRID) that is operational in space since April 2007. The AGILE instrument is made of an array of 12 planes each equipped with a Tungsten converter and Silicon micros trip detectors and is sensitive in the energy range 50 MeV - 10 GeV. Among the space instruments devoted to gamma-ray astrophysics, AGILE uniquely exploits an analog readout system with dedicated electronics coupled with Silicon detectors. We show the results of Monte Carlo simulations carried out to reproduce the gamma-ray detection by the GRID, and we compare them to in-flight data. We use the Crab (pulsar + Nebula) system for discussion of real data performance, since its E^{-2} energy spectrum is representative of the majority of gamma-ray sources. For Crab-like spectrum sources, the GRID angular resolution (FWHM of ~4deg at 100 MeV; ~0.8deg at 1 GeV; ~0.9deg integrating the full energy band from 100 MeV to tens of GeV) is stable across a large field of view, being characterized by a flat response up to 30deg off-axis. A comparison of the angular resolution obtained by the two operational gamma-ray instruments, AGILE-GRID and Fermi-LAT, is interesting in view of future gamma-ray missions, that are currently under study. The two instruments exploit different detector configurations affecting the angular resolution: the former being optimized in the readout and track reconstruction especially in the low-energy band, the latter in terms of converter thickness and power consumption. We show that, despite these differences, the angular resolution of both instruments is very similar between 100 MeV and a few GeV.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

The incidence of injuries traveling to and from school by travel mode

Objective. To assess the absolute and relative risks of youth school-related travel using the New Zealand's no fault accident liability scheme and Census at School datasets. Methods. Injury risk associated with traveling to and from school was assessed by combining census data from the Accident Compensation Commission database, New Zealand's no fault liability accident scheme database and the Census at School survey. Population injury and cost was assessed for incidents during a 2-year period (1 July 2003 to 30 June 2005) and during normal school travel hours (7.30 a.m.–9.00 a.m., 3.00 p.m.–4.30 p.m., weekdays) for youth 5–17 years of age. Results. Overall, 7573 cases were identified as being school travel-related, representing 1.6% of total, and 11.4% school travel period injuries. Walking (30.7%), cycling (30.3%), and motor vehicles (27.7%) provided the majority of injuries. Risk of injury per million trips was highest for cycling (46.1), walking (10.3), and motor vehicle travel (6.1). Conclusion. These data provide the first comprehensive examination of absolute risk of travel to and from school and by transport mode, showing that school-related travel is a relatively safe activity contributing to a minority of all injuries sustained by youth

Tako-Tsubo cardiomyopathy in an older woman with hyperkinetic delirium

Tako-Tsubo syndrome is cardiological condition, mainly affecting post-menopausal women, that mimics an acute heart attack, because a similar clinical presentation, ECG changes and altered laboratory tests. There is general consensus that the common etiology is a sudden and strong emotional or physical stress. We report here the case of 80-yearold woman who developed a Tako-Tsubo syndrome during an episode of hyperkinetic delirium. Delirium is an acute, transient, usually reversible neuropsychiatric syndrome, considered a serious and stressful condition in older patients admitted to both medical and surgical setting. This clinical case expands our knowledge on the negative consequence of delirium in hospitalized patients and describes an additional risk factor for Tako-Tsubo syndrome in older people