Electroweak Phase Transition and LHC Signatures in the Singlet Majoron Model

We reconsider the strength of the electroweak phase transition in the singlet Majoron extension of the Standard Model, with a low (~TeV) scale of the singlet VEV. A strongly first order phase transition, of interest for electroweak baryogenesis, is found in sizeable regions of the parameter space, especially when the cross-coupling lambda_{hs}|S|^2|H|^2 between the singlet and the doublet Higgs is significant. Large Majorana Yukawa couplings of the singlet neutrinos, y_i S nu_i^c nu_i, are also important for strengthening the transition. We incorporate the LEP and Tevatron constraints on the Higgs masses, and electroweak precision constraints, in our search for allowed parameters; successful examples include singlet masses ranging from 5 GeV to several TeV. Models with a strong phase transition typically predict a nonstandard Higgs with mass in the range 113 GeV < m_H < 200 GeV and production cross sections reduced by mixing with the singlet, with cos^2(theta) significantly less than 1. We also find examples where the singlet is light and the decay H -> SS can modify the Higgs branching ratios relative to Standard Model expectations.Comment: 36 pages, 18 figure

De la querelle de clocher à la monnaie d'échange : le choix des 13 capitales régionales issues de la réforme territoriale de 2014/2015

International audienceThe primary consequence of the French Regional Reform, to be enacted in 2016, will be the merging of certain existing regions leading to a choice between regional capitals as seats of administration. As in every discussion about shifting the seat of power in a territory, this has been debated at both the national and regional levels. This paper intends to measure the place of the capitals question in the process of implementation of the territorial reform. It categorizes the type of arguments used, sorted as political, symbolic or economic, by cities attempting to maintain their regional capital status. Furthermore, we depict the geography of the most contentious capital debates, placing each in relation to the geography of services actually lost or maintained. This research is based on the systematic reading of transcribed debates on this territorial reform that took place in the National Assembly and in the Senate.La réforme territoriale française qui entre en vigueur en 2016 a pour principale conséquence la fusion de certaines régions existantes et un choix entre les chefs-lieux régionaux pour le siège des administrations. Comme toute discussion sur le lieu où siège le pouvoir d’un territoire, ce sujet a pu susciter des débats à différents niveaux, national comme régional. Cette communication vise à mesurer l’importance de la question des chefs-lieux dans la chaîne de mise en place de cette réforme territoriale. Elle cherche également à déterminer le type d’arguments utilisés, qu’ils soient de nature politique, symbolique ou économique, pour qu’une ville conserve son statut de capitale régionale. Enfin, elle cherche à présenter une géographie des capitales régionales les plus discutées et à la mettre en relation avec les services effectivement perdus ou maintenus. Ce travail est le résultat d’une lecture systématique des débats à l’Assemblée nationale et au Sénat

What is the recommended size of a Volume of Interest for cancellous bone ? A skeleton-based study

The study of the bone fracture is an important issue for oste- oporosis and car safety. The behavior of cancellous bone is strongly linked to the micro-architecture, the strain rate (Prot et al. 2015), and the specimen size Harrison & McHugh 2010). Numerical models are used in order to simulate the viscoelas- tic behavior up to the point of fracture propagation in cancellous bone. Finite element method (FEM) models based on micro-CT scans are currently the most popular approach. However, the results are dependent on the specimen size and the mesh den- sity, in addition to which the fracture analysis is time-consum- ing (Hambli 2013). Moreover, the variable architecture within a typical specimen limits the minimum sample size that will still provide reasonable architectural parameter values in comparison with the full specimen size. Indeed, a BV/TV variation up to 20% was found in the same specimen (ϕ = 7.85 mm) (Stauber et al. 2014). Skeleton-based models have already shown a great poten- tial for the efficient simulation of bone behavior and fracture. Cancellous bone geometry is based on nodes, beams, and plates (Stauber & Müller 2006), which is straightforward to implement from a skeleton. In this study, the effect of the Volume of Interest (VOI) size, within a sample, on the evaluation of cancellous bone architec- tural parameters from the skeletonized model will be presented. The aim was to furnish recommendations for the sample size for further numerical simulations

Fracture characterization in cancellous bone specimens via surface difference evaluation of 3D registered pre- and post-compression micro-CT scans

In recent years, increasingly stringent passenger vehicle safety requirements have led to a renewed interest in the fracture properties of bone. It has been shown that can- cellous bone architecture is strongly linked to its overall behavior (Follet et al. 2011; Prot et al. 2015). Micro- fracture mechanisms have been resolved by time- consuming direct microscopy (Prot et al. 2012) or by the use of calcein (Lambers et al. 2014; Hernandez et al. 2014). Furthermore, the application of CT scanners, along with the development of registration algorithms, has allowed separated portions of fractured specimen to be registered to the pre-compression scan so as to quantify the differ- ence between 3D shapes as a mean to characterize the fracture behavior (Tassani & Matsopoulos 2014). How- ever, this method is operator-dependent in the case of multiple fracture zone identification and requires suffi- cient deformation of the specimen to obtain distinct reg- istration sets. In addition, built-in micro-compression testers, developed by CT scanner manufacturers, are limited to loading at low levels of strain rate, which does not allow measurement over a range that is representative of daily life. The goal of this study was to identify distinct fracture patterns based on micro-CT scans of cancellous bone specimens, loaded over a large range of strain rates, without the need for specimens that have broken into separate pieces

Multi-ancestry fine mapping implicates OAS1 splicing in risk of severe COVID-19

The OAS1/2/3 cluster has been identified as a risk locus for severe COVID-19 among individuals of European ancestry, with a protective haplotype of approximately 75 kilobases (kb) derived from Neanderthals in the chromosomal region 12q24.13. This haplotype contains a splice variant of OAS1, which occurs in people of African ancestry independently of gene flow from Neanderthals. Using trans-ancestry fine-mapping approaches in 20,779 hospitalized cases, we demonstrate that this splice variant is likely to be the SNP responsible for the association at this locus, thus strongly implicating OAS1 as an effector gene influencing COVID-19 severity. Multi-ancestry fine-mapping of the OAS1/2/3 region shows that a splice site variant in OAS1 is likely responsible for the association of this locus with the risk of severe COVID-19.Peer reviewe

Cage transplant experiment shows weak transport effect on relative abundance of fish community composition as revealed by eDNA metabarcoding

Protection of freshwater fish diversity is a global conservation priority in face of its alarming decline in the last decades. A crucial step to protect freshwater fish diversity is the production of prompt and precise evaluation of community composition and spatial distribution. Metabarcoding of environmental DNA (eDNA metabarcoding) generally surpasses traditional methods for documenting diversity and community composition in aquatic environments. Nevertheless, empirical evidence evaluating how eDNA transportation in water affect community composition and structure via eDNA metabarcoding data remains scarce. Using a brown trout (Salmo trutta) cage transplant experiment in the St. Lawrence River (Canada), a large fluvial system, we tested the detection and relative abundance of species’ eDNA along 15 sampling locations. We detected brown trout eDNA in five localities up to 5,000 m from the cage, but only one sampling location situated 10 m downstream and in the direct line of the cage was affected at the community composition level. This locality showed a relative abundance of brown trout eDNA of 13.1%, while the four others showed a relative abundance under 1.0%. K-means cluster analysis confirmed the impact of brown trout eDNA on community composition by separating this locality from all others. Based on species loading of a redundancy analysis, we showed that this different k-means group was associated with the high relative abundance of brown trout. No evidence of transport effect of brown trout eDNA on fish community composition was observed in any other sampling locations. Together, our results support the view that eDNA metabarcoding can be both a conveyor belt of biodiversity information and a precise tool to study the composition and structure of fish communities in river

Sex-biased expression of the TLR7 gene in severe COVID-19 patients: Insights from transcriptomics and epigenomics

This study received support from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII): GePEM (PI16/01478/Cofinanciado FEDER; A.S.), DIAVIR (DTS19/00049/Cofinanciado FEDER, A.S.), Resvi-Omics (PI19/01039/Cofinanciado FEDER, A.S.), Agencia Gallega de Innovación (GAIN): Grupos con Potential de Crecimiento (IN607B 2020/08, A.S.); Agencia Gallega para la Gestión del Conocimiento en Salud (ACIS): BI-BACVIR (PRIS-3, A.S.), and CovidPhy (SA 304C, A.S.); ReSVinext (PI16/01569/Cofinanciado FEDER, F.M.T.), Enterogen (PI19/01090/Cofinanciado FEDER, F.M.T.) and consorcio Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CB21/06/00103; F.M.T.); GEN-COVID (IN845D 2020/23, F.M-T.) and Grupos de Referencia Competitiva (IIN607A2021/05, F.M-T). The funders were not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publicationThere is abundant epidemiological data indicating that the incidence of severe cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is significantly higher in males than females worldwide. Moreover, genetic variation at the X-chromosome linked TLR7 gene has been associated with COVID-19 severity. It has been suggested that the sex-biased incidence of COVID-19 might be related to the fact that TLR7 escapes X-chromosome inactivation during early embryogenesis in females, thus encoding a doble dose of its gene product compared to males. We analyzed TLR7 expression in two acute phase cohorts of COVID-19 patients that used two different technological platforms, one of them in a multi-tissue context including saliva, nasal, and blood samples, and a third cohort that included different post-infection timepoints of long-COVID-19 patients. We additionally explored methylation patterns of TLR7 using epigenomic data from an independent cohort of COVID-19 patients stratified by severity and sex. In line with genome-wide association studies, we provide supportive evidence indicating that TLR7 has altered CpG methylation patterns and it is consistently downregulated in males compared to females in the most severe cases of COVID-19S