Interpreting LHC searches for new physics with SModelS

ATLAS and CMS have performed a large number of searches for physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM). The results are typically presented in the context of Simplified Model Spectra (SMS), containing only a few new particles with fixed decay branching ratios, yielding generic upper limits on the cross section as a function of particle masses. The interpretation of these limits within realistic BSM scenarios is non-trivial and best done by automated computational tools. To this end we have developed SModelS, a public tool that can test any given BSM model with a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry by decomposing it into its SMS components and confronting them with a large database of SMS results. This allows to easily evaluate the main LHC constraints on the model. Additionally, SModelS returns information on important signatures that are not covered by the existing SMS results. This may be used to improve the coverage of BSM searches and SMS interpretations. We present the working principle of SModelS, in particular the decomposition procedure, the database and matching of applicable experimental results. Moreover, we present applications of SModelS to different models: the MSSM, a model with a sneutrino as the lightest supersymmetric particle and the UMSSM. These results illustrate how SModelS can be used to identify important constraints, untested regions and interesting new signatures.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. To appear in the proceedings of the European Physical Society Conference on High Energy Physics 2015 (EPS-HEP 2015), Vienna, Austria, 22nd to 29th of July 201

Dynamical projections for the visualization of PDFSense data

A recent paper on visualizing the sensitivity of hadronic experiments to nucleon structure [1] introduces the tool PDFSense which defines measures to allow the user to judge the sensitivity of PDF fits to a given experiment. The sensitivity is characterized by high-dimensional data residuals that are visualized in a 3-d subspace of the 10 first principal components or using t-SNE [2]. We show how a tour, a dynamic visualisation of high dimensional data, can extend this tool beyond 3-d relationships. This approach enables resolving structure orthogonal to the 2-d viewing plane used so far, and hence finer tuned assessment of the sensitivity.Comment: Format of the animations changed for easier viewin

PENGARUH PENERAPAN MODEL PEMBELAJARAN KOOPERATIF TYPE STUDENT TEAMS ACHIEVEMENT DIVISION (STAD) TERHADAP MINAT BELAJAR SISWA

Permasalahan yang dikaji dalam penelitian ini adalah rendahnya minat belajar siswa kelas XII pada pelajaran kewirausahaan program keahlian administrasi perkantoran di SMK Pasundan 1 Cimahi. Rendahnya minat belajar siswa tersebut ditandai dengan hasil ujian tengah semester dan ujian akhir semester yang berada dibawah kriteria kelulusan minimal. Rendahnya minat belajar tersebut disebabkan oleh penggunaan model pembelajaran yang kurang dapat menigkatkan minat belajar siswa. Maka dari itu penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menguji cobakan model pembelajaran kooperatif tipe Student Teams Achievement Division (STAD) untuk meningkatkan minat belajar siswa. Penelitian ini dilakukan dengan menggunakan desain pre-eksperimen (One Group pre-test post-test). Data diambil dari populasi sejumlah 30 orang siswa dengan menggunakan angket. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kedua variabel berada pada kategori tinggi. Hal ini ditunjukkan dengan besarnya perhitungan N-Gain dan data berdistribusi normal. Dari hasil hipotesis diperoleh bahwa variabel model pembelajaran kooperatif tipe STAD berpengaruh positif terhadap variabel minat belajar siswa. Sehingga disimpulkan bahwa model pembelajaran kooperatif tipe STAD efektif dalam meningkatkan minat belajar siswa pada pembelajaran di kelas.  The problem examined in this study is the low enthusiasm of the student on entrepreneurship lesson in SMK Pasundan 1 Cimahi class XII of office administration. The result of middle and final test semester that still under minimum criteria is one of the indications. This based on the assumption that the learning model teacher used was not good enough. Therefore, one of the ways to increase the enthusiastic of the student is by using cooperative learning type Student Teams Achievement Division. The research method used in this thesis is pre-experiment by using one group pre-test post-test model. The data was collected by using questionnaire which is gained from the students as the object. The experiment result showed that variable was categorized as high, N-Gain calculation and distribution normal data supported the experiment result. Also, from hypothesis that has been made before, cooperative learning type STAD give a positive influence to the enthusiasm of the student. So we can conclude that cooperative learning type STAD is effective enough to increase student’s enthusiasm in class

Pola Asuh Anak Dalam Keluarga Petani Di Domloli Kabupaten Alor

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan bentuk pola asuh yang dilakukan oleh orang tua dengan latar belakang pekerjaan sebagai petani di Domloli Kabupaten Alor. Untuk mengetahui kondisi ini maka rumusan masalah yang digunakan adalah 1) Bagaimana bentuk pola asuh anak dalam keluarga petani di Domloli Kabupaten Alor 2) apa saja faktor yang yang menjadi penyebab terjadi lemahnya pola asuh anak dalam keluarga petani di Domloli Kabupaten Alor dan 3) bagaimana dampak yang ditimbulkan akibat lemahnya pola asuh anak bagi orang tua petani di Domloli Kabupaten Alor. Metode Penelitian yang digunakan adalah kualtitatif etnometodologi dengan pengambilan data menggunakan metode 1) wawancara dan 2) observasi. Hasil dari penelitian ini adalah ditemukannya tiga bentuk pola asuh yang dijalankan oleh orang tua dalam mengasuh anak-anaknya. Salah satunya adalah ada orang tua yang tidak terlalu peduli dengan pendidikan anaknya, bahkan tidak memiliki waktu yang cukup untuk berkumpul dan berkomunikasi dengan anaknya. Penyebab dari munculnya pola asuh ini adalah pemahaman orang tua yang kurang terhadap pendidikan anak, juga lemahnya pendididikan orang tua. Hal ini akan berdampak kepada hilangnya tanggung jawab orang tua terhadap anaknya

The development of novel electroanalytical interfaces for point of care diagnostics

Reduced sulphydryl thiols (RSH): cysteine, homocysteine and glutathione are fundamental cellular components having important biological functions, including roles within the pathogenesis of a variety of clinical conditions. Independent analysis of these species is problematic and analytical difficulties relating to instrumental selectivity and sensitivity need to be overcome. This thesis describes the work carried out on the development and characterisation of a range of systems that could be used to facilitate thiol detection, ideally at the point-of-care, focussing largely on electrochemical techniques. Silver-thiol interactions were studied as a route to assist the sample processing. Here a novel controlled silver release mechanism was assessed. Silver release was found to be dependent upon the thiol structure. This has possible future applications to the development of methods to prevent biofilm formation, although the full mechanism of silver-thiol release requires further understanding. The development of unique molecular imprinted polymers was attempted. These would facilitate the detection of amino acids and the relevant thiol species via the amine functionality

Structure-activity relationship studies of 2-phenylbenzimidazoles and related organometallic complexes as antiplasmodial agents

Malaria remains a huge public health concern, affecting millions of people from all around the world. The widespread resistance by Plasmodium parasites to previously effective quinoline-based drugs and the emerging resistance to current antimalarial therapies, stresses the urgent need for the exploration and development of diverse new classes of compounds. Amongst other requirements, these diverse new compound classes should target resistant strains in particular. In this regard, benzimidazoles have been identified as promising potential drug candidates, displaying potent antiplasmodial activity. Furthermore, benzimidazoles can be chemically transformed into metal-containing organometallic complexes that elevate generally flat benzimidazoles to the third dimension. To date, examples of metal-containing benzimidazoles are extremely limited, with only two reported as having antiplasmodial activity. Thus, we report the syntheses of a series of substituted 2-phenylbenzimidazole ligands, from the cyclo-condensation of o-phenylenediamines and benzaldehyde, as well as the synthesis of Ru(II) and Ir(III) cyclometallated benzimidazole complexes. All of the compounds synthesised were fully characterised by 1H and 13C{1H} Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy, Elemental Analysis and Mass Spectrometry. The synthesised 2-phenylbenzimidazoles and metal complexes were screened in vitro against the chloroquine-sensitive NF54 strain and selected complexes were screened against the chloroquine-resistant K1 strain of P. falciparum. In addition, selected compounds were also tested against the Chinese Hamster Ovarian (CHO) mammalian cell-line to evaluate their selectivity. The 2-phenylbenzimidazoles generally displayed weak to moderate antiplasmodial activity against the chloroquine-sensitive NF54 strain, where IC50 values ranged from 3.27 – 32.97 µM. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the antiplasmodial activities of the 2-phenylbenzimidazoles increased significantly upon metal complexation, using Ru and Ir metals. In general, the antiplasmodial activity of the Ru(II) complexes were significantly better compared to the Ir(III) complexes. The cyclometallated benzimidazole complexes were much more active across both parasite strains (0.12 < IC50 < 4.31), compared to the corresponding ligands tested. The unsubstituted Ru(II) and Ir(III) cyclometallated benzimidazole complexes were found to possess the most potent antiplasmodial activity against the NF54 strain, displaying IC50 values of 0.12 and 0.19 µM, respectively. In most cases, the resistance indices obtained for the select compounds tested were significantly lower compared to chloroquine, which suggested that the compounds are not cross-resistant with chloroquine. Furthermore, cytotoxicity studies indicated that the synthesised compounds had low cytotoxicity and were selective towards the malaria parasites. Additional studies which involved testing the aqueous solubility of selected compounds in PBS buffer at pH 6.5 showed that the introduction of water-solubilising groups improved the compounds solubility significantly. Preliminary mechanistic studies suggested that the synthesised benzimidazoles may have a different mode of action to chloroquine as the compounds did not inhibit β-haematin formation at the maximum concentration of 500 µM

Constraints on sneutrino dark matter from LHC Run 1

A mostly right-handed sneutrino as the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) is an interesting dark matter candidate, leading to LHC signatures which can be quite distinct from those of the conventional neutralino LSP. Using SModelSv1.0.1 for testing the model against the limits published by ATLAS and CMS in the context of so-called Simplified Model Spectra (SMS), we investigate to what extent the supersymmetry searches at Run 1 of the LHC constrain the sneutrino-LSP scenario. Moreover, we discuss the most relevant topologies for which no SMS results are provided by the experimental collaborations but which would allow to put more stringent constraints on sneutrino LSPs. These include, for instance, the mono-lepton signature which should be particularly interesting to consider at Run 2 of the LHC.Comment: 30 pages, 23 figures, matches published versio

Flavonoids as antiviral agents for Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71)

Flavonoids are natural biomolecules that are known to be effective antivirals. These biomolecules can act at different stages of viral infection, particularly at the molecular level to inhibit viral growth. Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71), a non-enveloped RNA virus, is one of the causative agents of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), which is prevalent in Asia. Despite much effort, no clinically approved antiviral treatment is available for children suffering from HFMD. Flavonoids from plants serve as a vast reservoir of therapeutically active constituents that have been explored as potential antiviral candidates against RNA and DNA viruses. Here, we reviewed flavonoids as evidence-based natural sources of antivirals against non-picornaviruses and picornaviruses