Advances in Precision Calculations of Higgs Boson and Single Top Quark Production at the Large Hadron Collider

Since the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012, particle physics has entered an era of precision. With the upcoming increase in luminosity of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), we will gain access to deep and detailed insights into the behaviour of fundamental particles. On the theoretical side, the description of partonic cross sections with next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) accuracy in Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) is becoming a standard. Despite the astonishing agreement between the experiments and theoretical predictions, it is clear that the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics is incomplete. One way to search for New Physics is to push the accuracy of the theoretical predictions and experimental measurements further. In this thesis, we study three problems related to precision description of Higgs boson and top quark production at the LHC. In the first part, we investigate the interference contribution between two Higgs production mechanisms in the pp → H + jetc process. This process can be used to study the Yukawa coupling of the charm quark. The interference studied in this thesis requires a helicity flip on the charm-quark line, forcing us to treat the charm quarks as massive. This requirement leads to unconventional QCD phenomena, such as the importance of soft quarks and unusual collinear factorisation. In the second part, we calculate the so-called non-factorisable corrections to t-channel single top production. These corrections arise from the crosstalk between the two fermion lines present in this process. Until now, the non-factorisable contributions to single top production have been neglected because they do not appear at next-to-leading order (NLO) and they are colour-suppressed compared to the factorisable ones. However, recent studies indicate that the factorisable corrections are relatively small at NNLO and that the non-factorisable ones can be dynamically enhanced. We compute the non-factorisable corrections and discuss their numerical impact on t-channel single top production at the LHC and the Future Circular Collider (FCC). In the third part, we consider the same type of corrections to Higgs production in weak boson fusion (WBF). Contrary to the case of t-channel single top production, an exact computation of these corrections is currently impossible. We construct an expansion of the double-virtual contribution around the forward limit of the tagging jets. It turns out that the expression of the double-virtual contribution at the next-to-leading order in the eikonal approximation can be expressed in a quite compact form

Multicentre prospective evaluation of histological and molecular criterion for diagnosis of prosthetic-joint infection

Objectives: This multicenter prospective study was performed to assess the contribution of broad range PCR diagnosis in prosthetic-joint infection (PJI). Methods: Adult patients treated for PJI at 7 centers were included between December 2010 and March 2012. Six per-operative samples were obtained for each patient, 5 for conventional cultures and 16S rRNA gene real-time PCR followed by sequencing, and 1 for histopathological classification according to Morawietz. Cultures and PCR were performed in a highly standardized manner, with 3 quality controls of PCR analyses. An infection was considered as proved (3 criteria: per-operative, bacteriological and histological), probable (clinical or bacteriological criterium), or excluded (no criterium). Molecular criterium for predicting PJI was determined using the bacteriological one as reference (>=1 positive sample for virulent organism, and >=3 positive samples for coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) and P. acnes). Results: 299 patients were included, 264 with suspicion of sepsis (S) and 35 as controls (C). The 264 S presented with acute (19%), or chronic suspicion of PJI (81%). Infection was proved or probable in 212/264 S (80%), with the bacteriological criterium in 189/212 S (89%). Out of these, 156 (83%) had monomicrobial and 33 (17%) polymicrobial infections. The isolated pathogens were S. aureus (40%), CoNS (25%), streptococci (14%), Gram-Negative rods (10%), and anaerobes 8%. Histology results were not available for 55 patients, leaving 244 patients available for analysis. Histological findings of infection (Morawietz types II or III) were present in 128/169 (76%) proved or probable infections, in 3 patients without any other criterium, and were absent in excluded infections (n=42) and controls (n=29). PCR results were not analysable for 32 patients (S=28, C=4), leaving 267 patients (S=236, C=31) available for analysis. Molecular criterium of infection was present in 63/68 (93%) proved infections, 83/124 (67%) probable infections, 3/42 excluded infections, 0/2 histological criterium alone and 2/31 controls. Molecular criterium of infection was absent in 34/189 (18%) culture-positive S, and present in 8/23 culture-negative S (8 patients treated with antibiotics). Conclusions: According to this multicenter prospective study, 16S rRNA gene real-time PCR is less susceptible than culture for diagnosis of PJI. Molecular analysis could be recommended in culture-negative patients who were receiving antibiotics

Observatoire régional du pneumocoque en région Pays de la Loire : résistance de Streptococcus pneumoniae aux antibiotiques en 2007

But de l’étudeEntre le 1er janvier et le 31 décembre 2007, les 20 laboratoires participant à l’observatoire régional du pneumocoque (ORP) Pays de la Loire ont collecté 331 souches invasives de Streptococcus pneumoniae afin d’étudier leur sensibilité aux antibiotiques et la répartition des sérogroupes/sérotypes. Méthode Les concentrations minimales inhibitrices (CMI) de la pénicilline G, de l’amoxicilline et du céfotaxime ont été déterminées par le centre coordinateur, par la méthode de référence de diffusion en milieu gélosé. Les résultats ont été interprétés selon les recommandations du CA-SFM. Les sensibilités à d’autres antibiotiques ont été étudiées et les typages des souches réalisées par le centre coordinateur. Résultats Trois cent trente et une souches ont été isolées en 2007. Elles provenaient de 30 liquides céphalorachidiens, 239 hémocultures, 53 pus d’otites moyennes aiguës et neuf liquides pleuraux. Le pourcentage de pneumocoques de sensibilité diminuée à la pénicilline G (PSDP) était de 39 % et restait plus élevé chez l’enfant (51 %) que chez l’adulte (35 %). Les PSDP étaient souvent multirésistants, avec en particulier un pourcentage élevé de résistance à l’érythromycine (87,6 % contre 8,4 % pour les pneumocoques sensibles à la pénicilline). Enfin, le sérogroupe majoritairement rencontré était le sérogroupe 19 (29,6 % des isolats). Conclusion Une diminution des PSDP a été observée depuis 2001 et les souches de haut niveau de résistance aux β-lactamines restent rares. Le pourcentage de PSDP observés en ORP Pays de la Loire demeure dans la moyenne nationale

Evaluation of 16S rRNA gene PCR sensitivity and specificity for diagnosis of prosthetic joint infection: a prospective multicenter cross-sectional study

There is no standard method for the diagnosis of prosthetic joint infection (PJI). The contribution of 16S rRNA gene PCR sequencing on a routine basis remains to be defined. We performed a prospective multicenter study to assess the contributions of 16S rRNA gene assays in PJI diagnosis. Over a 2-year period, all patients suspected to have PJIs and a few uninfected patients undergoing primary arthroplasty (control group) were included. Five perioperative samples per patient were collected for culture and 16S rRNA gene PCR sequencing and one for histological examination. Three multicenter quality control assays were performed with both DNA extracts and crushed samples. The diagnosis of PJI was based on clinical, bacteriological, and histological criteria, according to Infectious Diseases Society of America guidelines. A molecular diagnosis was modeled on the bacteriological criterion (≥ 1 positive sample for strict pathogens and ≥ 2 for commensal skin flora). Molecular data were analyzed according to the diagnosis of PJI. Between December 2010 and March 2012, 264 suspected cases of PJI and 35 control cases were included. PJI was confirmed in 215/264 suspected cases, 192 (89%) with a bacteriological criterion. The PJIs were monomicrobial (163 cases [85%]; staphylococci, n = 108; streptococci, n = 22; Gram-negative bacilli, n = 16; anaerobes, n = 13; others, n = 4) or polymicrobial (29 cases [15%]). The molecular diagnosis was positive in 151/215 confirmed cases of PJI (143 cases with bacteriological PJI documentation and 8 treated cases without bacteriological documentation) and in 2/49 cases without confirmed PJI (sensitivity, 73.3%; specificity, 95.5%). The 16S rRNA gene PCR assay showed a lack of sensitivity in the diagnosis of PJI on a multicenter routine basis

Adaptabilité fonctionnelle des actes moteurs : coordinations propriospinales et ajustements des réseaux locomoteurs centraux par le traitement des infromations sensorielles

Se nourrir, se reproduire, fuir un danger, explorer son environnement, sont autant de comportements qui nécessitent le déplacement de l'animal. Ainsi, la locomotion apparaît comme un système moteur crucial et vital à la survie d'une espèce et requiert la production de mouvements hautement adaptés afin de satisfaire la réalisation de tous ces comportements. Toute atteinte de la fonction locomotrice entraînera donc une perturbation multisystémique plus ou moins prononcée. Afin de comprendre pourquoi et comment un organe ne fonctionne plus, il est nécessaire au préalable de connaître son fonctionnement dans les conditions normales. Au cours de mon travail doctoral, j'ai donc développé chez le rat nouveau-né un modèle expérimental de moelle épinière isolée in vitro qui, compte tenu de son accessibilité directe, nous permet d'étudier de façon précise les mécanismes intimes du fonctionnement du système nerveux par une approche combinée électrophysiologique, pharmacologique et lésionnelle. Dans le cadre des études sur la neurobiologie des réseaux, ma problématique de recherche a été plus particulièrement focalisée sur les mécanismes cellulaires et synaptiques impliqués dans les coordinations motrices produites par différents générateurs de rythmes locomoteurs. Au final et de façon plutôt inattendue, les coordinations locomotrices nécessiteraient en particulier un flux d'informations dans le sens caudo-rostral entre les différents réseaux neuronaux spinaux.To eat, reproduce, to explore the environment and escape from danger are all behaviors that require displacement of the organism. The locomotor act is therefore critical to animal survival, necessitating the production of highly adaptive movements to satisfy these other behavioral demands. As a consequence, any locomotor deficit can have a major impact at the multiple systems level. However in order to understand the dysfunction of any biological system, it is first necessary to understand its operation under normal conditions. For my doctoral study, therefore, I used the isolated spinal cord of the neonatal rat as an in vitro experimental model, which by virtue of its direct accessibility allows investigation of the mechanistic basis of nervous system function through the combination of electrophysiological, pharmacological and lesional approaches. In the context of exploring the neurobiology of neuronal networks, my thesis research focused on the cellular and synaptic mechanisms that are implicated in the functional coordination between the spatially separate rhythm-generating circuitry responsible for quadrupedal locomotion. An unexpected finding is that locomotor coordination is particularly dependent upon a caudo-rostral flow of propriospinal information between the different spinal networks

Suse, terres cuites islamiques. Paris et Gand, Snoeck/Musée du Louvre, 2005, 262 p., ill.

Aboutissement du travail de récolement et d’étude mené par G. Joel, ce catalogue rassemble le matériel en céramique non glaçurée, issu des niveaux islamiques des fouilles de Suse et conservé au département des Arts de l’Islam du musée du Louvre. Une introduction par S. Makariou retrace l’histoire des fouilles françaises à Suse, l’arrivée des pièces au Louvre et présente les caractéristiques et l’intérêt de cette collection. Le corpus de 337 pièces est réparti par typologie : cruches, pichets,..

Eagle’s Nest. Ismaili Castles in Iran and Syria. London, I.B. Tauris Publishers en association avec The Institute of Islamili Studies, 2005, 321 p., 40 ill. coul.

L’ouvrage se décompose en deux parties. La première constitue une introduction historique où l’A. retrace les débuts de la communauté ismalienne nizarite et sa montée en puissance jusqu’à la défaite face aux Mongols en 1256, en s’appuyant principalement sur les publications récentes de Farhad Daftary. Contre la vision fantasmée occidentale des fameux « Assassins », Willey insiste sur l’habileté politique et militaire des Ismailiens qui, grâce à la personnalité avisée et charismatique de chefs..

Corporeality, equality and education. A biopedagogical perspective

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