The Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model: Group Summary Report

CONTENTS: 1. Synopsis, 2. The MSSM Spectrum, 3. The Physical Parameters, 4. Higgs Boson Production and Decays, 5. SUSY Particle Production and Decays, 6. Experimental Bounds on SUSY Particle Masses, 7. References.Comment: 121 pages, latex + epsfig, graphicx, axodraw, Report of the MSSM working group for the Workshop "GDR-Supersym\'etrie",France. Rep. PM/98-4

Fast Tracking for the Second Level Trigger of the ATLAS Experiment Using Silicon Detectors Data

Online track reconstruction is an important ingredient for event selection at Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments. In the ATLAS experiment the first stage where this goal will be achievable is the software-based Second Level Trigger (LVL2). In this contribution we present an algorithm for fast pattern recognition and reconstruction of charged tracks and of the primary vertex in the framework of the High Level Trigger (HLT) of ATLAS. The pattern recognition makes extensive use of Monte Carlo Look Up Tables to quickly identify, in the innermost layers of the ATLAS silicon detectors, triplets of space points reconstructed from hits produced by the same track. The reconstruction strategy is compared, in the ATLAS LVL2 framework, with an alternative tracking algorithm, showing the complementarity of the two approaches. The algorithm’s performance is presented for different event topologies and luminosities, showing good tracking capabilities and uniform results with mean execution times which are compatible with the LVL2 requirements

Combined treatment with low-dose interferon plus vinblastine is associated with less toxicity than conventional interferon monotherapy in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma

The outcome of treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma is disappointing. In interferon (IFN)-treated patients, the high incidence of adverse effects causes many patients to withdraw from treatment. This 12-week randomized study compared the incidence of toxicity associated with high-dose IFN monotherapy (15 x 106 U thrice weekly) and treatment with the combination of low-dose IFN (5 x 106 U thrice weekly) and 6 mg/m2 vinblastine (VBL) every 14 days in 100 consecutive patients. There was no significant difference in response rate between treatment arms (42% IFN vs. 34% IFN + VBL) or between subgroups (by tumor location). Combined treatment was associated with a significantly lower incidence of fever, fatigue, and weight loss but with a higher incidence of leukopenia. There was no significant difference in the incidence of other events. More patients treated with IFN monotherapy required bed rest, and overall treatment costs were 60% higher than for combined treatment. It is concluded that combined treatment with low-dose IFN and VBL, without loss of short-term efficacy, is better tolerated and less expensive than high-dose IFN monotherapy

Online muon reconstruction in the ATLAS level-2 trigger system

To cope with the 40 MHz event production rate of LHC, the trigger of the ATLAS experiment selects events in three sequential steps of increasing complexity and accuracy whose final results are close to the offline reconstruction. The Level-1, implemented with custom hardware, identifies physics objects within Regions of Interests and operates with a first reduction of the event rate to 75 kHz. The higher trigger levels, Level-2 and Level-3, provide a software based event selection which further reduces the event rate to about 100 Hz. This paper presents the algorithm (mu Fast) employed at Level-2 to confirm the muon candidates flagged by the Level-1. mu Fast identifies hits of muon tracks inside the barrel region of the Muon Spectrometer and provides a precise measurement of the muon momentum at the production vertex. The algorithm must process the Level-1 muon output rate (-20 kHz), thus particular care has been taken for its optimization. The result is a very fast track reconstruction algorithm with good physics performance which, in some cases, approaches that of the offline reconstruction: it finds muon tracks with an efficiency of about 95% and computes PT of prompt muons with a resolution of 5.5% at 6 GeV and 4.0% at 20 GeV. The algorithm requires an overall execution time of similar to 1 ms on a 100 SpecInt95 machine and has been tested in the online environment of the Atlas detector test beam