56 research outputs found
Distinguishing Various Models of the 125 GeV Boson in Vector Boson Fusion
The hint of a new particle around 125 GeV at the LHC through the decay modes
of diphoton and a number of others may point to quite a number of
possibilities. While at the LHC the dominant production mechanism for the Higgs
boson of the standard model and some other extensions is via the gluon fusion
process, the alternative vector boson fusion is more sensitive to electroweak
symmetry breaking through the gauge-Higgs couplings and therefore can be used
to probe for models beyond the standard model. In this work, using the well
known dijet-tagging technique to single out the vector boson fusion mechanism,
we investigate its capability to discriminate a number of models that have been
suggested to give an enhanced inclusive diphoton production rate, including the
standard model Higgs boson, fermiophobic Higgs boson, Randall-Sundrum radion,
inert-Higgs-doublet model, two-Higgs-doublet model, and the MSSM. The rates in
vector-boson fusion can give more information of the underlying models to help
distinguishing among the models.Comment: 31 pages, 3 figures; in this version some wordings are change
Fractal ventilation enhances respiratory sinus arrhythmia
BACKGROUND: Programming a mechanical ventilator with a biologically variable or fractal breathing pattern (an example of 1/f noise) improves gas exchange and respiratory mechanics. Here we show that fractal ventilation increases respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) – a mechanism known to improve ventilation/perfusion matching. METHODS: Pigs were anaesthetised with propofol/ketamine, paralysed with doxacurium, and ventilated in either control mode (CV) or in fractal mode (FV) at baseline and then following infusion of oleic acid to result in lung injury. RESULTS: Mean RSA and mean positive RSA were nearly double with FV, both at baseline and following oleic acid. At baseline, mean RSA = 18.6 msec with CV and 36.8 msec with FV (n = 10; p = 0.043); post oleic acid, mean RSA = 11.1 msec with CV and 21.8 msec with FV (n = 9, p = 0.028); at baseline, mean positive RSA = 20.8 msec with CV and 38.1 msec with FV (p = 0.047); post oleic acid, mean positive RSA = 13.2 msec with CV and 24.4 msec with FV (p = 0.026). Heart rate variability was also greater with FV. At baseline the coefficient of variation for heart rate was 2.2% during CV and 4.0% during FV. Following oleic acid the variation was 2.1 vs. 5.6% respectively. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest FV enhances physiological entrainment between respiratory, brain stem and cardiac nonlinear oscillators, further supporting the concept that RSA itself reflects cardiorespiratory interaction. In addition, these results provide another mechanism whereby FV may be superior to conventional CV
Phenomenology of the Higgs effective Lagrangian via FeynRules
The Higgs discovery and the lack of any other hint for new physics favor a description of non-standard Higgs physics in terms of an effective field theory. We present an implementation of a general Higgs effective Lagrangian containing operators up to dimension six in the framework of FeynRules and provide details on the translation between the mass and interaction bases, in particular for three- and four-point interaction vertices involving Higgs and gauge bosons. We illustrate the strengths of this implementation by using the UFO interface of FeynRules capable to generate model files that can be understood by the MadGraph 5 event generator and that have the specificity to contain all interaction vertices, without any restriction on the number of external legs or on the complexity of the Lorentz structures. We then investigate several new physics effects in total rates and differential distributions for different Higgs production modes, including gluon fusion, associated production with a gauge boson and di-Higgs production. We finally study contact interactions of gauge and Higgs bosons to fermions
A multidisciplinary cognitive behavioural programme for coping with chronic neuropathic pain following spinal cord injury: the protocol of the CONECSI trial
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Most people with a spinal cord injury rate neuropathic pain as one of the most difficult problems to manage and there are no medical treatments that provide satisfactory pain relief in most people. Furthermore, psychosocial factors have been considered in the maintenance and aggravation of neuropathic spinal cord injury pain. Psychological interventions to support people with spinal cord injury to deal with neuropathic pain, however, are sparse. The primary aim of the CONECSI (COping with NEuropathiC Spinal cord Injury pain) trial is to evaluate the effects of a multidisciplinary cognitive behavioural treatment programme on pain intensity and pain-related disability, and secondary on mood, participation in activities, and life satisfaction.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>CONECSI is a multicentre randomised controlled trial. A sample of 60 persons with chronic neuropathic spinal cord injury pain will be recruited from four rehabilitation centres and randomised to an intervention group or a waiting list control group. The control group will be invited for the programme six months after the intervention group. Main inclusion criteria are: having chronic (> 6 months) neuropathic spinal cord injury pain as the worst pain complaint and rating the pain intensity in the last week as 40 or more on a 0-100 scale. The intervention consists of educational, cognitive, and behavioural elements and encompasses 11 sessions over a 3-month period. Each meeting will be supervised by a local psychologist and physical therapist. Measurements will be perfomed before starting the programme/entering the control group, and at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. Primary outcomes are pain intensity and pain-related disability (Chronic Pain Grade questionnaire). Secondary outcomes are mood (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), participation in activities (Utrecht Activities List), and life satisfaction (Life Satisfaction Questionnaire). Pain coping and pain cognitions will be assessed with three questionnaires (Coping Strategy Questionnaire, Pain Coping Inventory, and Pain Cognition List).</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The CONECSI trial will reveal the effects of a multidisciplinary cognitive behavioural programme for people with chronic neuropathic spinal cord injury pain. This intervention is expected to contribute to the rehabilitation treatment possibilities for this population.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>Dutch Trial Register NTR1580.</p
Natural SUSY Predicts: Higgs Couplings
We study Higgs production and decays in the context of natural SUSY, allowing
for an extended Higgs sector to account for a 125 GeV lightest Higgs boson.
Under broad assumptions, Higgs observables at the LHC depend on at most four
free parameters with restricted numerical ranges. Two parameters suffice to
describe MSSM particle loops. The MSSM loop contribution to the diphoton rate
is constrained from above by direct stop and chargino searches and by
electroweak precision tests. Naturalness, in particular in demanding that rare
B decays remain consistent with experiment without fine-tuned cancellations,
provides a lower (upper) bound to the stop contribution to the Higgs-gluon
coupling (Higgs mass). Two parameters suffice to describe Higgs mixing, even in
the presence of loop induced non-holomorphic Yukawa couplings. Generic classes
of MSSM extensions, that address the fine-tuning problem, predict sizable
modifications to the effective bottom Yukawa, yb. Non-decoupling gauge
extensions enhance yb, while a heavy SM singlet reduces yb. A factor of 4-6
enhancement in the diphoton rate at the LHC, compared to the SM prediction, can
be accommodated. The ratio of the enhancements in the diphoton vs. the WW and
ZZ channels cannot exceed 1.4. The h to bbbar rate in associated production
cannot exceed the SM rate by more than 50%.Comment: 31 pages, 11 figure
Status of low energy SUSY models confronted with the LHC 125 GeV Higgs data
Confronted with the LHC data of a Higgs boson around 125 GeV, different
models of low energy SUSY show different behaviors: some are favored, some are
marginally survived and some are strongly disfavored or excluded. In this note
we update our previous scan over the parameter space of various low energy SUSY
models by considering the latest experimental limits like the LHCb data for
B_s->\mu^+\mu^- and the XENON 100(2012) data for dark matter-neucleon
scattering. Then we confront the predicted properties of the SM-like Higgs
boson in each model with the combined 7 TeV and 8 TeV Higgs search data of the
LHC. For a SM-like Higgs boson around 125 GeV, we have the following
observations: (i) The most favored model is the NMSSM, whose predictions about
the Higgs boson can naturally (without any fine tuning) agree with the
experimental data at 1-sigma level, better than the SM; (ii) The MSSM can fit
the LHC data quite well but suffer from some extent of fine tuning; (iii) The
nMSSM is excluded at 3-sigma level after considering all the available Higgs
data; (iv) The CMSSM is quite disfavored since it is hard to give a 125 GeV
Higgs boson mass and at the same time cannot enhance the di-photon signal rate.Comment: more comprehensive (table and figs showing chi-square added
Neuroimaging in anxiety disorders
Neuroimaging studies have gained increasing importance in validating neurobiological network hypotheses for anxiety disorders. Functional imaging procedures and radioligand binding studies in healthy subjects and in patients with anxiety disorders provide growing evidence of the existence of a complex anxiety network, including limbic, brainstem, temporal, and prefrontal cortical regions. Obviously, “normal anxiety” does not equal “pathological anxiety” although many phenomena are evident in healthy subjects, however to a lower extent. Differential effects of distinct brain regions and lateralization phenomena in different anxiety disorders are mentioned. An overview of neuroimaging investigations in anxiety disorders is given after a brief summary of results from healthy volunteers. Concluding implications for future research are made by the authors
- …