Higgs Phenomenology in the Minimal Dilaton Model after Run I of the LHC

The Minimal Dilaton Model (MDM) extends the Standard Model (SM) by a singlet scalar, which can be viewed as a linear realization of general dilaton field. This new scalar field mixes with the SM Higgs field to form two mass eigenstates with one of them corresponding to the 125 GeV SM-like Higgs boson reported by the LHC experiments. In this work, under various theoretical and experimental constrains, we perform fits to the latest Higgs data and then investigate the phenomenology of Higgs boson in both the heavy dilaton scenario and the light dilaton scenario of the MDM. We find that: (i) If one considers the ATLAS and CMS data separately, the MDM can explain each of them well, but refer to different parameter space due to the apparent difference in the two sets of data. If one considers the combined data of the LHC and Tevatron, however, the explanation given by the MDM is not much better than the SM, and the dilaton component in the 125-GeV Higgs is less than about 20% at 2 sigma level. (ii) The current Higgs data have stronger constrains on the light dilaton scenario than on the heavy dilaton scenario. (iii) The heavy dilaton scenario can produce a Higgs triple self coupling much larger than the SM value, and thus a significantly enhanced Higgs pair cross section at hadron colliders. With a luminosity of 100 fb^{-1} (10 fb^{-1}) at the 14-TeV LHC, a heavy dilaton of 400 GeV (500 GeV) can be examined. (iv) In the light dilaton scenario, the Higgs exotic branching ratio can reach 43% (60%) at 2 sigma (3 sigma) level when considering only the CMS data, which may be detected at the 14-TeV LHC with a luminosity of 300 fb^{-1} and the Higgs Factory.Comment: 27 pages, 13 figures, discussions added, to appear in JHE

Dual loading miR-218 mimics and Temozolomide using AuCOOH@FA-CS drug delivery system: promising targeted anti-tumor drug delivery system with sequential release functions

Supplementary figures. (DOCX 524 kb

SCULPTOR: Skeleton-Consistent Face Creation Using a Learned Parametric Generator

Recent years have seen growing interest in 3D human faces modelling due to its wide applications in digital human, character generation and animation. Existing approaches overwhelmingly emphasized on modeling the exterior shapes, textures and skin properties of faces, ignoring the inherent correlation between inner skeletal structures and appearance. In this paper, we present SCULPTOR, 3D face creations with Skeleton Consistency Using a Learned Parametric facial generaTOR, aiming to facilitate easy creation of both anatomically correct and visually convincing face models via a hybrid parametric-physical representation. At the core of SCULPTOR is LUCY, the first large-scale shape-skeleton face dataset in collaboration with plastic surgeons. Named after the fossils of one of the oldest known human ancestors, our LUCY dataset contains high-quality Computed Tomography (CT) scans of the complete human head before and after orthognathic surgeries, critical for evaluating surgery results. LUCY consists of 144 scans of 72 subjects (31 male and 41 female) where each subject has two CT scans taken pre- and post-orthognathic operations. Based on our LUCY dataset, we learn a novel skeleton consistent parametric facial generator, SCULPTOR, which can create the unique and nuanced facial features that help define a character and at the same time maintain physiological soundness. Our SCULPTOR jointly models the skull, face geometry and face appearance under a unified data-driven framework, by separating the depiction of a 3D face into shape blend shape, pose blend shape and facial expression blend shape. SCULPTOR preserves both anatomic correctness and visual realism in facial generation tasks compared with existing methods. Finally, we showcase the robustness and effectiveness of SCULPTOR in various fancy applications unseen before.Comment: 16 page, 13 fig

Pharmacologic inhibition of the Menin-MLL interaction blocks progression of MLL leukemia in vivo

Chromosomal translocations affecting mixed lineage leukemia gene (MLL) result in acute leukemias resistant to therapy. The leukemogenic activity of MLL fusion proteins is dependent on their interaction with menin, providing basis for therapeutic intervention. Here we report the development of highly potent and orally bioavailable small-molecule inhibitors of the menin-MLL interaction, MI-463 and MI-503, and show their profound effects in MLL leukemia cells and substantial survival benefit in mouse models of MLL leukemia. Finally, we demonstrate the efficacy of these compounds in primary samples derived from MLL leukemia patients. Overall, we demonstrate that pharmacologic inhibition of the menin-MLL interaction represents an effective treatment for MLL leukemias in vivo and provide advanced molecular scaffold for clinical lead identification

A SM-like Higgs near 125 GeV in low energy SUSY: a comparative study for MSSM and NMSSM

Motivated by the recent LHC hints of a Higgs boson around 125 GeV, we assume a SM-like Higgs with the mass 123-127 GeV and study its implication in low energy SUSY by comparing the MSSM and NMSSM. We consider various experimental constraints at 2-sigma level (including the muon g-2 and the dark matter relic density) and perform a comprehensive scan over the parameter space of each model. Then in the parameter space which is allowed by current experimental constraints and also predicts a SM-like Higgs in 123-127 GeV, we examine the properties of the sensitive parameters (like the top squark mass and the trilinear coupling A_t) and calculate the rates of the di-photon signal and the VV^* (V=W,Z) signals at the LHC. Our typical findings are: (i) In the MSSM the top squark and A_t must be large and thus incur some fine-tuning, which can be much ameliorated in the NMSSM; (ii) In the MSSM a light stau is needed to enhance the di-photon rate of the SM-like Higgs to exceed its SM prediction, while in the NMSSM the di-photon rate can be readily enhanced in several ways; (iii) In the MSSM the signal rates of pp -> h -> VV^* at the LHC are never enhanced compared with their SM predictions, while in the NMSSM they may get enhanced significantly; (iv) A large part of the parameter space so far survived will be soon covered by the expected XENON100(2012) sensitivity (especially for the NMSSM).Comment: Version in JHEP (refs added

Higgs decay to dark matter in low energy SUSY: is it detectable at the LHC ?

Due to the limited statistics so far accumulated in the Higgs boson search at the LHC, the Higgs boson property has not yet been tightly constrained and it is still allowed for the Higgs boson to decay invisibly to dark matter with a sizable branching ratio. In this work, we examine the Higgs decay to neutralino dark matter in low energy SUSY by considering three different models: the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM), the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard models (NMSSM) and the nearly minimal supersymmetric standard model (nMSSM). Under current experimental constraints at 2-sigma level (including the muon g-2 and the dark matter relic density), we scan over the parameter space of each model. Then in the allowed parameter space we calculate the branching ratio of the SM-like Higgs decay to neutralino dark matter and examine its observability at the LHC by considering three production channels: the weak boson fusion VV->h, the associated production with a Z-boson pp->hZ+X or a pair of top quarks pp->htt_bar+X. We find that in the MSSM such a decay is far below the detectable level; while in both the NMSSM and nMSSM the decay branching ratio can be large enough to be observable at the LHC.Comment: Version in JHE

Association of maternal lipid levels with birth weight and cord blood insulin: a Bayesian network analysis

Objective: To assess the independent association of maternal lipid levels with birth weight and cord blood insulin (CBI) level. Setting: The Born in Guangzhou Cohort Study, Guangzhou, China. Participants: Women who delivered between January 2015 and June 2016 and with umbilical cord blood retained were eligible for this study. Those with prepregnancy health conditions, without an available fasting blood sample in the second trimester, or without demographic and glycaemic information were excluded. After random selection, data from 1522 mother–child pairs were used in this study. Exposures and outcome measures: Additive Bayesian network analysis was used to investigate the interdependency of lipid profiles with other metabolic risk factors (prepregnancy body mass index (BMI), fasting glucose and early gestational weight gain) in association with birth weight and CBI, along with multivariable linear regression models. Results: In multivariable linear regressions, maternal triglyceride was associated with increased birth weight (adjusted β=67.46, 95% CI 41.85 to 93.06 g per mmol/L) and CBI (adjusted β=0.89, 95% CI 0.06 to 1.72 μU/mL per mmol/L increase), while high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was associated with decreased birth weight (adjusted β=−45.29, 95% CI −85.49 to −5.09 g per mmol/L). After considering the interdependency of maternal metabolic risk factors in the Network analysis, none of the maternal lipid profiles was independently associated with birth weight and CBI. Instead, prepregnancy BMI was the global strongest factor for birth weight and CBI directly and indirectly. Conclusions: Gestational dyslipidaemia appears to be secondary to metabolic dysfunction with no clear association with metabolic adverse outcomes in neonates. Maternal prepregnancy overweight/obesity appears the most influential upstream metabolic risk factor for both maternal and neonatal metabolic health; these data imply weight management may need to be addressed from the preconception period and during early pregnancy

Efficient and bright warm-white electroluminescence from lead-free metal halides.

Solution-processed metal-halide perovskites are emerging as one of the most promising materials for displays, lighting and energy generation. Currently, the best-performing perovskite optoelectronic devices are based on lead halides and the lead toxicity severely restricts their practical applications. Moreover, efficient white electroluminescence from broadband-emission metal halides remains a challenge. Here we demonstrate efficient and bright lead-free LEDs based on cesium copper halides enabled by introducing an organic additive (Tween, polyethylene glycol sorbitan monooleate) into the precursor solutions. We find the additive can reduce the trap states, enhancing the photoluminescence quantum efficiency of the metal halide films, and increase the surface potential, facilitating the hole injection and transport in the LEDs. Consequently, we achieve warm-white LEDs reaching an external quantum efficiency of 3.1% and a luminance of 1570 cd m-2 at a low voltage of 5.4 V, showing great promise of lead-free metal halides for solution-processed white LED applications