1,689 research outputs found
Observation of a new particle in the search for the Standard Model Higgs boson at the CMS detector
The discovery of the Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson is one of the
primary physics objectives of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. This
thesis describes a search carried out for the SM Higgs boson on data collected
during the 2011 and 2012 proton-proton (pp) collision runs with
the CMS detector corresponding to integrated luminosities of 5:1fb-1
and 5:3fb-1 respectively. A detailed description of the search for the
SM Higgs boson decaying to two photons from the full dataset collected
at CMS during the 2011 pp collision run is provided. In particular, the
development of signal and background modelling techniques used for
statistical interpretations of the data are highlighted. Results of the
search using these techniques from the 2011 dataset are presented. In
addition, an update to the analysis including data taken during 2012
is described and the results from the combined 2011 and 2012 analyses
given. Results from the combination of several Higgs decay channels at
CMS are reported, including those presented in the International Conference
on High Energy Physics in July 2012 at which the announcement of
discovery was made. Ongoing studies to ascertain the properties of the
new particle are discussed and preliminary results from the combined 7
and 8 TeV datasets (corresponding to 5:1fb-1 and 12:2fb-1 respectively)
are presented.Open Acces
“The People Who Leave Here Are Not the People Who Arrived.”: A Qualitative Analysis of the Therapeutic Process and Identity Transition in the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway
Individuals with personality disorder are often construed as difficult to treat, and sometimes even “untreatable.” In this study, 24 men who had completed treatment on the offender personality disorder treatment pathway participated in focus groups at a high-security prison in the United Kingdom. The results of the data analysis revealed three superordinate themes that captured the impact and experience of the therapeutic process. The three themes were “A self-reconstructed,” which focused on the reconstruing and reconstructions of participants’ identity and how intervention assisted with a coherent narrative of self. The second superordinate theme, “Relational resilience and dealing with abandonment,” relates to the attachment to therapists and the negotiation of relational boundaries and resilience. The third theme, “Reimagining and re-experiencing trauma,” focuses on participants’ exploration and reliving of trauma, and how group processes allowed for shared understanding and a reconstruing of their trauma. Implications for policy and practice are discussed
3 to 12 millimetre studies of dense gas towards the western rim of supernova remnant RX J1713.7-3946
The young X-ray and gamma-ray-bright supernova remnant RXJ1713.7-3946 (SNR
G347.3-0.5) is believed to be associated with molecular cores that lie within
regions of the most intense TeV emission. Using the Mopra telescope, four of
the densest cores were observed using high-critical density tracers such as
CS(J=1-0,J=2-1) and its isotopologue counterparts, NH3(1,1) and (2,2) inversion
transitions and N2H+(J=1-0) emission, confirming the presence of dense gas
>10^4cm^-3 in the region. The mass estimates for Core C range from 40M_{\odot}
(from CS(J=1-0)) to 80M_{\odot} (from NH3 and N2H+), an order of magnitude
smaller than published mass estimates from CO(J=1-0) observations. We also
modelled the energy-dependent diffusion of cosmic-ray protons accelerated by
RXJ1713.7-3946 into Core C, approximating the core with average density and
magnetic field values. We find that for considerably suppressed diffusion
coefficients (factors \chi=10^{-3} down to 10^{-5} the galactic average), low
energy cosmic-rays can be prevented from entering the inner core region. Such
an effect could lead to characteristic spectral behaviour in the GeV to TeV
gamma-ray and multi-keV X-ray fluxes across the core. These features may be
measurable with future gamma-ray and multi-keV telescopes offering arcminute or
better angular resolution, and can be a novel way to understand the level of
cosmic-ray acceleration in RXJ1713.7-3946 and the transport properties of
cosmic-rays in the dense molecular cores.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures and 5 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS
2012 February 1
Pushing the precision frontier at the LHC with V+jets
This documents the proceedings from a workshop titled `Illuminating Standard candles at the LHC: V+jets' held at Imperial College London on 25th-26th April 2017. It summarises the numerous contributions to the workshop, from the experimental overview of V+jets measurements at CMS and ATLAS and their role in searching for physics beyond the Standard Model to the status of higher order perturbative calculations to these processes and their inclusion in state of the art Monte Carlo simulations. An executive summary of the ensuing discussions including a list of outcomes and wishlist for future consideration is also presented
Impact of general practice endorsement on the social gradient in uptake in bowel cancer screening
This is a summary of independent research funded by the National Institute for Health. Research (NIHR)’s Programme Grants for Applied Research Programme (RP-PG-0609–10106
Operation Moonshot: rapid translation of a SARS-CoV-2 targeted peptide immunoaffinity liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry test from research into routine clinical use
OBJECTIVES: During 2020, the UK's Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) established the Moonshot programme to fund various diagnostic approaches for the detection of SARS-CoV-2, the pathogen behind the COVID-19 pandemic. Mass spectrometry was one of the technologies proposed to increase testing capacity. METHODS: Moonshot funded a multi-phase development programme, bringing together experts from academia, industry and the NHS to develop a state-of-the-art targeted protein assay utilising enrichment and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to capture and detect low levels of tryptic peptides derived from SARS-CoV-2 virus. The assay relies on detection of target peptides, ADETQALPQRK (ADE) and AYNVTQAFGR (AYN), derived from the nucleocapsid protein of SARS-CoV-2, measurement of which allowed the specific, sensitive, and robust detection of the virus from nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of LC-MS/MS was compared with reverse transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) via a prospective study. RESULTS: Analysis of NP swabs (n=361) with a median RT-qPCR quantification cycle (Cq) of 27 (range 16.7-39.1) demonstrated diagnostic sensitivity of 92.4% (87.4-95.5), specificity of 97.4% (94.0-98.9) and near total concordance with RT-qPCR (Cohen's Kappa 0.90). Excluding Cq>32 samples, sensitivity was 97.9% (94.1-99.3), specificity 97.4% (94.0-98.9) and Cohen's Kappa 0.95. CONCLUSIONS: This unique collaboration between academia, industry and the NHS enabled development, translation, and validation of a SARS-CoV-2 method in NP swabs to be achieved in 5Â months. This pilot provides a model and pipeline for future accelerated development and implementation of LC-MS/MS protein/peptide assays into the routine clinical laboratory
FTO Is Expressed in Neurones throughout the Brain and Its Expression Is Unaltered by Fasting
Single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the first intron of the ubiquitously expressed FTO gene are associated with obesity. Although the physiological functions of FTO remain unclear, food intake is often altered when Fto expression levels are manipulated. Furthermore, deletion of FTO from neurones alone has a similar effect on food intake to deletion of FTO in all tissues. These results indicate that FTO expression in the brain is particularly important. Considerable focus has been placed on the dynamic regulation of Fto mRNA expression in the hypothalamus after short-term (16–48 hour) fasting, but results have been controversial. There are no studies that quantify FTO protein levels across the brain, and assess its alteration following short-term fasting. Using immunohistochemistry, we found that FTO protein is widely expressed in mouse brain, and present in the majority of neurones. Using quantitative Western blotting and RT-qPCR we show that FTO protein and mRNA levels in the hypothalamus, cerebellum and rostral brain are relatively uniform, and levels in the brain are higher than in skeletal muscles of the lower limbs. Fasting for 18 hours does not alter the expression pattern, or levels, of FTO protein and mRNA. We further show that the majority of POMC neurones, which are critically involved in food intake regulation, also express FTO, but that the percentage of FTO-positive POMC neurones is not altered by fasting. In summary, we find no evidence that Fto/FTO expression is regulated by short-term (18-hour) fasting. Thus, it is unlikely that the hunger and increased post-fasting food intake caused by such food deprivation is driven by alterations in Fto/FTO expression. The widespread expression of FTO in neurones also suggests that physiological studies of this protein should not be limited to the hypothalamus
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