Sequential model to describe the nicotinic synaptic current

An analytical formula is derived to describe the synaptic end plate current (epc) at the nicotinic receptor. Various concurrently occurring underlying processes, including (a) diffusion, (b) hydrolysis of acetylcholine, and (c) its binding to the dimeric receptor, were considered in order to develop the equation. Numeric solution of the equations that describe the events underlying the epc showed that these events occur in sequence, rather than concurrently. This sequential occurrence of the processes allowed for simplifications, which were used as the basis for the new description of the epc. The resulting formula serves as a tool for evaluating the relative contribution of the various processes in formation of the natural occurring transient epc

NLO corrections to differential cross sections for pseudo-scalar Higgs boson production

We have computed the full next-to-leading (NLO) QCD corrections to the differential distributions $d^2\sigma/(dp_T~dy)$ for pseudo-scalar Higgs (A) production at large hadron colliders. This calculation has been carried out using the effective Lagrangian approach which is valid as long as the mass of the pseudo-scalar Higgs boson $m_{\rm A}$ and its transverse momentum $p_T$ do not exceed the top-quark mass $m_t$. The shape of the distributions hardly differ from those obtained for scalar Higgs (H) production because, apart from the overall coupling constant and mass, there are only small differences between the partonic differential distributions for scalar and pseudo-scalar production. Therefore there are only differences in the magnitudes of the hadronic differential distributions which can be mainly attributed to the unknown mixing angle $\beta$ describing the pseudo-scalar Higgs coupling to the top quarks.Comment: 9 pages, LaTeX, 3 Postscript figures In the previous version we have forgotten to include contributions which arrise from interferences between graphs containing vertices corresponding to the operator $O_2(x)$ in Eq. (3) with graphs originating from the operator $O_1(x)$. These interferences occur because of the prescription for the Levi-Civita tensor given in our paper. These extra contributions are added to Eqs. (19) and (20). Numerically they are completely negligible so that the figures are not altere

Higgs production and decay with a fourth Standard-Model-like fermion generation

State-of-the-art predictions for the Higgs-boson production cross section via gluon fusion and for all relevant Higgs-boson decay channels are presented in the presence of a fourth Standard-Model-like fermion generation. The qualitative features of the most important differences to the genuine Standard Model are pointed out, and the use of the available tools for the predictions is described. For a generic mass scale of 400-600 GeV in the fourth generation explicit numerical results for the cross section and decay widths are presented, revealing extremely large electroweak radiative corrections, e.g., to the cross section and the Higgs decay into WW or ZZ pairs, where they amount to about -50% or more. This signals the onset of a non-perturbative regime due to the large Yukawa couplings in the fourth generation. An estimate of the respective large theoretical uncertainties is presented as well.Comment: 24 pages, 5 figures, contribution to LHC Higgs Cross Section Working Group https://twiki.cern.ch/twiki/bin/view/LHCPhysics/CrossSections, discussion considerably extended to more scenarios for heavy fermion masse

Cold Dark Matter detection in SUSY models at large tan(beta)

We study the direct detection rate for SUSY cold dark matter (CDM) predicted by the minimal supersymmetric standard model with universal boundary conditions and large values for tan(beta). The relic abundance of the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP), assumed to be approximately a bino, is obtained by including its coannihilations with the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle (NLSP), which is the lightest s-tau. The cosmological constraint on this quantity severely limits the allowed SUSY parameter space, especially in the case the CP-even Higgs has mass of around 114 GeV. We find that for large tan(beta) it is possible to find a subsection of the allowed parameter space, which yields detectable rates in the currently planned experiments.Comment: Changes in text and figure

Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV

A search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons is described. The analysis is performed using a dataset recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC from pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, which corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.8 inverse femtobarns. Limits are set on the cross section of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The expected exclusion limit at 95% confidence level is between 1.4 and 2.4 times the standard model cross section in the mass range between 110 and 150 GeV. The analysis of the data excludes, at 95% confidence level, the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the mass range 128 to 132 GeV. The largest excess of events above the expected standard model background is observed for a Higgs boson mass hypothesis of 124 GeV with a local significance of 3.1 sigma. The global significance of observing an excess with a local significance greater than 3.1 sigma anywhere in the search range 110-150 GeV is estimated to be 1.8 sigma. More data are required to ascertain the origin of this excess.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters

Susceptibility to chronic mucus hypersecretion, a genome wide association study

Background: Chronic mucus hypersecretion (CMH) is associated with an increased frequency of respiratory infections, excess lung function decline, and increased hospitalisation and mortality rates in the general population. It is associated with smoking, but it is unknown why only a minority of smokers develops CMH. A plausible explanation for this phenomenon is a predisposing genetic constitution. Therefore, we performed a genome wide association (GWA) study of CMH in Caucasian populations. Methods: GWA analysis was performed in the NELSON-study using the Illumina 610 array, followed by replication and meta-analysis in 11 additional cohorts. In total 2,704 subjects with, and 7,624 subjects without CMH were included, all current or former heavy smokers (≥20 pack-years). Additional studies were performed to test the functional relevance of the most significant single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). Results: A strong association with CMH, consistent across all cohorts, was observed with rs6577641 (p = 4.25x10-6, OR = 1.17), located in intron 9 of the special AT-rich sequence-binding protein 1 locus (SATB1) on chromosome 3. The risk allele (G) was associated with higher mRNA expression of SATB1 (4.3x10 -9) in lung tissue. Presence of CMH was associated with increased SATB1 mRNA expression in bronchial biopsies from COPD patients. SATB1 expression was induced during differentiation of primary human bronchial epithelial cells in culture. Conclusions: Our findings, that SNP rs6577641 is associated with CMH in multiple cohorts and is a cis-eQTL for SATB1, together with our additional observation that SATB1 expression increases during epithelial differentiation provide suggestive evidence that SATB1 is a gene that affects CMH

Collider aspects of flavour physics at high Q

This review presents flavour related issues in the production and decays of heavy states at LHC, both from the experimental side and from the theoretical side. We review top quark physics and discuss flavour aspects of several extensions of the Standard Model, such as supersymmetry, little Higgs model or models with extra dimensions. This includes discovery aspects as well as measurement of several properties of these heavy states. We also present public available computational tools related to this topic.Comment: Report of Working Group 1 of the CERN Workshop ``Flavour in the era of the LHC'', Geneva, Switzerland, November 2005 -- March 200

Search for H→γγ produced in association with top quarks and constraints on the Yukawa coupling between the top quark and the Higgs boson using data taken at 7 TeV and 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search is performed for Higgs bosons produced in association with top quarks using the diphoton decay mode of the Higgs boson. Selection requirements are optimized separately for leptonic and fully hadronic final states from the top quark decays. The dataset used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.5 fb−14.5 fb−1 of proton–proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and 20.3 fb−1 at 8 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. No significant excess over the background prediction is observed and upper limits are set on the tt¯H production cross section. The observed exclusion upper limit at 95% confidence level is 6.7 times the predicted Standard Model cross section value. In addition, limits are set on the strength of the Yukawa coupling between the top quark and the Higgs boson, taking into account the dependence of the tt¯H and tH cross sections as well as the H→γγ branching fraction on the Yukawa coupling. Lower and upper limits at 95% confidence level are set at −1.3 and +8.0 times the Yukawa coupling strength in the Standard Model

Fiducial and differential cross sections of Higgs boson production measured in the four-lepton decay channel in pp collisions at √s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections of Higgs boson production in the H→ZZ∗ → 4ℓ decay channel are presented. The cross sections are determined within a fiducial phase space and corrected for detection efficiency and resolution effects. They are based on 20.3 fb−¹ of pp collision data, produced at √s = 8 TeV centre-of-mass energy at the LHC and recorded by the ATLAS detector. The differential measurements are performed in bins of transverse momentum and rapidity of the four-lepton system, the invariant mass of the subleading lepton pair and the decay angle of the leading lepton pair with respect to the beam line in the four-lepton rest frame, as well as the number of jets and the transverse momentum of the leading jet. The measured cross sections are compared to selected theoretical calculations of the Standard Model expectations. No significant deviation from any of the tested predictions is found

Search for the Standard Model Higgs boson decay to μ+μ− with the ATLAS detector

A search is reported for Higgs boson decay to μ+μ−μ+μ− using data with an integrated luminosity of 24.8 fb−124.8 fb−¹ collected with the ATLAS detector in pp collisions at √s=7 and 8 TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The observed dimuon invariant mass distribution is consistent with the Standard Model background-only hypothesis in the 120–150 GeV search range. For a Higgs boson with a mass of 125.5 GeV, the observed (expected) upper limit at the 95% confidence level is 7.0 (7.2) times the Standard Model expectation. This corresponds to an upper limit on the branching ratio BR(H→μ+μ−)of 1.5×10−31.5×10−3