The basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor TCF4 impacts brain architecture as well as neuronal morphology and differentiation

Germline mutations in the basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor 4 (TCF4) cause the Pitt–Hopkins syndrome (PTHS), a developmental disorder with severe intellectual disability. Here, we report findings from a new mouse model with a central nervous system-specific truncation of Tcf4 leading to severe phenotypic abnormalities. Furthermore, it allows the study of a complete TCF4 knockout in adult mice, circumventing early postnatal lethality of previously published mouse models. Our data suggest that a TCF4 truncation results in an impaired hippocampal architecture affecting both the dentate gyrus as well as the cornu ammonis. In the cerebral cortex, loss of TCF4 generates a severe differentiation delay of neural precursors. Furthermore, neuronal morphology was critically affected with shortened apical dendrites and significantly increased branching of dendrites. Our data provide novel information about the role of Tcf4 in brain development and may help to understand the mechanisms leading to intellectual deficits observed in patients suffering from PTHS

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio

Rare-Earth based Oxide and Nitride thin films employing volatile homoleptic guanidinate precursors.

The application of the metalorganic compound tris(N,N'-diisopropyl-2-dimethlyamidoguanidinato)gadolinium(III) (1) as a precursor for MOCVD of Gd2O3 is discussed. Depositions were carried out in the presence of oxygen at reduced pressure and varying the substrate temperature in the range 300 - 700{degree sign}C. Employing a multi-technique approach (XRD, SEM, AFM, EDX, RBS, SNMS, SE, C-V), variations of the growth characteristics and film properties with deposition temperature are studied in terms of crystallinity, structure, surface roughness, composition, optical and electrical properties. In addition, the use of 1 as single source precursor for the MOCVD of GdN thin films is also demonstrated

Search for the associated production of the Higgs boson with a top-quark pair

A search for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a top-quark pair ($t\bar{t}$H) is presented, using data samples corresponding to integrated luminosities of up to 5.1 fb$^{-1}$ and 19.7 fb$^{-1}$ collected in pp collisions at center-of-mass energies of 7 TeV and 8 TeV respectively. The search is based on the following signatures of the Higgs boson decay: H $\to$ hadrons, H $\to$ photons, and H $\to$ leptons. The results are characterized by an observed $t\bar{t}$H signal strength relative to the standard model cross section, $\mu$ =$\sigma/\sigma_{\mathrm{SM}}$, under the assumption that the Higgs boson decays as expected in the standard model. The best fit value is $\mu$ =2.8 $\pm$ 1.0 for a Higgs boson mass of 125.6 GeV.A search for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a top-quark pair $\left(\mathrm{t}\overline{\mathrm{t}}\mathrm{H}\right)$ is presented, using data samples corresponding to integrated luminosities of up to 5.1 fb$^{−1}$ and 19.7 fb$^{−1}$ collected in pp collisions at center-of-mass energies of 7 TeV and 8 TeV respectively. The search is based on the following signatures of the Higgs boson decay: H → hadrons, H → photons, and H → leptons. The results are characterized by an observed $\mathrm{t}\overline{\mathrm{t}}\mathrm{H}$ signal strength relative to the standard model cross section, μ=σ/σ$_{SM}$,under the assumption that the Higgs boson decays as expected in the standard model. The best fit value is μ = 2.8 ± 1.0 for a Higgs boson mass of 125.6 GeV.A search for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a top-quark pair (t tbar H) is presented, using data samples corresponding to integrated luminosities of up to 5.1 inverse femtobarns and 19.7 inverse femtobarns collected in pp collisions at center-of-mass energies of 7 TeV and 8 TeV respectively. The search is based on the following signatures of the Higgs boson decay: H to hadrons, H to photons, and H to leptons. The results are characterized by an observed t tbar H signal strength relative to the standard model cross section, mu = sigma/sigma[SM], under the assumption that the Higgs boson decays as expected in the standard model. The best fit value is mu = 2.8 +/- 1.0 for a Higgs boson mass of 125.6 GeV