H → γγ beyond the Standard Model

We consider the H → γγ decay process and the gluon fusion production of a light Higgs, and provide a general framework for testing models of new physics beyond the Standard Model. We apply our parametrisation to typical models extending the Standard Model in 4 and 5 dimensions, and show how the parametrisation can be used to discriminate between different scenarios of new physics at the Large Hadron Collider and at future Linear Colliders

Dark Matter from Lorentz Invariance and the LHC

International audienceIn extra dimensional models, a Dark Matter candidate can be present thanks to a Kaluza-Klein parity which makes the lightest resonances stable. However, compactifications considered sofar need the symmetry to be imposed by hand on the model: here we propose the unique orbifold in 6 dimensions where such parity arises naturally as part of the unbroken 6D Lorentz invariance. As an example we introduce a model of universal extra dimensions where all standard model fields propagate in the extra dimensions. The dark matter candidate is a scalar photon and its preferred mass range lies below 300 GeV. Due to the small splitting between states in the same Kaluza-Klein tier, discovery of the lightest tiers is challenging at the LH

Spanish Dentists’ Awareness, Knowledge, and Practice Regarding COVID-19: A Multiple Regression Analysis

The authors thank the Spanish Society of Epidemiology and Oral Public Health (SESPO) for expert supervision of the questionnaire; the Spanish General Council of Dentists (GCD) and the Spanish societies of dental hygienists for their rapid dissemination of the survey to their members.Introduction: During the first months of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Spain had the highest mortality rate and the second-highest infection rate in the world. Objective: To analyze the occupational situation of dentists, hygienists, and dental auxiliary staff during the peak of the pandemic, after the state of alarm was declared in Spain, and when the state of alarm was declared. In addition, a possible relationship between the geographical distribution of infected people and the availability of individual protection systems was investigated. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire was answered by 6470 dentists and dental staff via WhatsApp and social media. Results: A total of 1 in 4 dental professionals ceased working completely. Of those that kept working, 25.28% of dentists and 19.61% of hygienist-auxiliary were equipped with filtering face piece (FFP) 2 masks (P < .05), and 61.8% complied with the official protection recommendations set by the General Council of Dentists of Spain. Nearly 59.4% of respondents had symptoms, but only 1.5% of dentists were tested, with 14% of dentists in isolation at the time of response. Overall, it is suggested that 10% of dental professionals may have been in direct contact with the coronavirus. Conclusions: Direct contact of Spanish dental health professionals with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus disease 2 (SARS CoV-2) has been high during the most active phase of the pandemic. Dental professionals did not have personal protective equipment (PPE) necessary to care for patients, a situation that justified the reduction in scheduled dental care and only emergencies being treated. The Spanish geographical regions with the highest number of contagions had the least amount of individual protective resources (FFP2 and FFP3masks)

Identifikation wirksamer Interventionsmaßnahmen zur Stillförderung Eine differenzierende Betrachtung unter Berücksichtigung des sozioökonomischen Status

Breastfeeding is of great relevance for public health on account of the health advantages for mother and child. Nonetheless, the length of breastfeeding in Germany and other countries is significantly shorter than what the WHO recommends. Data on the determinants for the initialisation of breastfeeding as well as the length of breastfeeding was collected, with consideration given to socio-economic status. The goal of this paper is to generate a database that makes it possible to identify effective and target-group specific measures for promoting breastfeeding. For this, three cross-sectional surveys were conducted by computer-assisted-telephone-interviewing. The results confirm the social gradients: Breastfeeding behaviour is formed in the context of living conditions. Breastfeeding complications limit, especially for socially disadvantaged women, the length of breastfeeding significantly and reduce their willingness to breastfeed another child substantially. The target group specificity of the BFHI is not sufficiently pronounced. The results confirm the need for a target-group specific focus for the promotion of breastfeeding

Dendritic cell-expressed common gamma-chain recruits IL-15 for trans-presentation at the murine immunological synapse [version 1]

Background: Mutations of the common cytokine receptor gamma chain (γc) cause Severe Combined Immunodeficiency characterized by absent T and NK cell development. Although stem cell therapy restores these lineages, residual immune defects are observed that may result from selective persistence of γc-deficiency in myeloid lineages. However, little is known about the contribution of myeloid-expressed γc to protective immune responses.  Here we examine the importance of γc for myeloid dendritic cell (DC) function. Methods: We utilize a combination of in vitro DC/T-cell co-culture assays and a novel lipid bilayer system mimicking the T cell surface to delineate the role of DC-expressed γc during DC/T-cell interaction. Results: We observed that γc in DC was recruited to the contact interface following MHCII ligation, and promoted IL-15Rα colocalization with engaged MHCII. Unexpectedly, trans-presentation of IL-15 was required for optimal CD4+T cell activation by DC and depended on DC γc expression. Neither recruitment of IL-15Rα nor IL-15 trans-signaling at the DC immune synapse (IS), required γc signaling in DC, suggesting that γc facilitates IL-15 transpresentation through induced intermolecular cis associations or cytoskeletal reorganization following MHCII ligation. Conclusions: These findings show that DC-expressed γc is required for effective antigen-induced CD4+ T cell activation. We reveal a novel mechanism for recruitment of DC IL-15/IL-15Rα complexes to the IS, leading to CD4+ T cell costimulation through localized IL-15 transpresentation that is coordinated with antigen-recognition

A Dark Matter candidate from Lorentz Invariance in 6 Dimensions

We study the unique 6 dimensional orbifold with chiral fermions where a stable dark matter candidate is present due to Lorentz invariance on the orbifold, with no additional discrete symmetries imposed by hand. We propose a model of Universal Extra Dimensions where a scalar photon of few hundred GeV is a good candidate for dark matter. The spectrum of the model is characteristic of the geometry, and it has clear distinctive features compared to previous models of Kaluza-Klein dark matter. The 5 dimensional limit of this model is the minimal model of natural Kaluza-Klein dark matter. Notwithstanding the low mass range preferred by cosmology, the model will be a challenge for the LHC due to the relatively small splitting between the states in the same KK level.Comment: 37 pages, 6 figure

Extraordinarily high biomass benthic community on Southern Ocean seamounts

We describe a previously unknown assemblage of seamount-associated megabenthos that has by far the highest peak biomass reported in the deep-sea outside of vent communities. The assemblage was found at depths of 2–2.5 km on rocky geomorphic features off the southeast coast of Australia, in an area near the Sub-Antarctic Zone characterised by high rates of surface productivity and carbon export to the deep-ocean. These conditions, and the taxa in the assemblage, are widely distributed around the Southern mid-latitudes, suggesting the high-biomass assemblage is also likely to be widespread. The role of this assemblage in regional ecosystem and carbon dynamics and its sensitivities to anthropogenic impacts are unknown. The discovery highlights the lack of information on deep-sea biota worldwide and the potential for unanticipated impacts of deep-sea exploitation

Global Patterns of Extinction Risk in Marine and Non-marine Systems

SummaryDespite increasing concern over the effects of human activities on marine ecosystems [1, 2], extinction in the sea remains scarce: 19–24 out of a total of >850 recorded extinctions [3, 4] implies a 9-fold lower marine extinction rate compared to non-marine systems. The extent of threats faced by marine systems, and their resilience to them, receive considerable attention [2, 4–6], but the detectability of marine extinctions is less well understood. Before its extinction or threat status is recorded, a species must be both taxonomically described and then formally assessed; lower rates of either process for marine species could thus impact patterns of extinction risk, especially as species missing from taxonomic inventories may often be more vulnerable than described species [7–11]. We combine data on taxonomic description with conservation assessments from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to test these possibilities across almost all marine and non-marine eukaryotes. We find that the 9-fold lower rate of recorded extinctions and 4-fold lower rate of ongoing extinction risk across marine species can be explained in part by differences in the proportion of species assessed by the IUCN (3% cf. 4% of non-marine species). Furthermore, once taxonomic knowledge and conservation assessments pass a threshold level, differences in extinction risk between marine and non-marine groups largely disappear. Indeed, across the best-studied taxonomic groups, there is no difference between marine and non-marine systems, with on average between 20% and 25% of species being threatened with extinction, regardless of realm