Probing Compositeness with Higgs Boson Decays at the LHC

A method is proposed to directly probe the Higgs boson compositeness using the unique characteristics of a boosted Higgs boson produced in association with a weak gauge boson ($W^{\pm},Z$). The discovery potential for the upcoming LHC running is presented, showing that compositeness scales up to 3 TeV can be probed at the LHC with an integrated luminosity of $\mathcal{L}=3000$ fb$^{-1}$ collected at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure

The composition of phosphate granules in the digestive glands of marine prosobranch gastropods: variation in relation to taxonomy

The composition of some 1150 phosphate granules in the digestive glands of over 40 species of marine prosobranch gastropods has been surveyed using a simple preparation technique and semiquantitative SEM x-ray microanalysis. Spectral peaks for Mg, K, Ca, Mn, Fe and Zn were compared to that of P. Four major types of phosphate granule can be recognised, each generally characteristic of a taxonomic grouping: high Mg in archaeogastropods and littorinids, multiple metal in higher mesogastropods, and, in neogastropods, Mg-Ca in muricoideans and high Zn in buccinoideans. At least one Conus species (C. ventricosus) has high-Mg granules. Some causes of variation in granule composition are discussed: speculatively, it is suggested a palaeoenvironmental influence seems possible.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Westward advancement of Pseudonereis anomala (Polychaeta: Nereididae) in the Mediterranean Basin (Piraeus, Saronikos Bay, Aegean Sea)

This paper reports the establishment of the Lessepsian Pseudonereis anomala (Gravier, 1901) in its new locality in the port of Piraeus (Saronikos Bay) and provides additional information on its population. The mean densities of P. anomala ranged from 0 indiv./m2 to 382.5 indiv./m2 among the calcareous alga Corallina elongata. A variety of sizes (length of the head and fi rst ten chaetigerous segments) was observed ranging fromPseudonereis anomala; Saronikos Gulf; Polychaete; Immigrant. 1.3mm to 8.1mm. There are indications that P. anomala may compete with other species of Nereididae. Accepted in December 200

Monocytes Promote Osteogenic Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Bone loss is a characteristic of many chronic inflammatory and degenerative diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis. A major challenge is how to replace bone once it is lost. It is known that the immune system strongly regulates bone and investigations into these interactions have demonstrated that osteoclasts, the bone resorbing cells, are strongly regulated by the immune system. However, less is known about the regulation of osteoblasts, the bone forming cells. Mesenchymal stem cells are multipotent progenitors that can be induced in culture to form osteoblasts. The aim of this study was to investigate whether immune cells also regulate OB differentiation. Using in vitro cell cultures of human bone marrow-derived MSCs it was shown that monocytes/Mφs potently induced MSC differentiation to OBs evidenced by increased alkaline phosphatase and mineralisation. However, the ability of monocyte/Mφs to promote osteogenesis differed between CD14++CD16- and CD14+CD16+ monocyte subset as well as M-CSF and GM-CSF Mφs when activated; the CD16- monocytes and M-CSF Mφs still promoted differentiation whereas the CD16+ monocytes and GM-CSF Mφs inhibited it. The monocyte osteogenic effect was mediated by monocyte-derived soluble factors and required STAT3 signalling as well as COX2 upregulation and the production of PGE2. Finally, gene profiling microarray identified Oncostatin M as the mediator of monocyte-induced osteogenesis. This study established a role for monocyte/Mφs as critical regulators of osteogenic differentiation via OSM and STAT3 signalling. It also provides an insight into the interactions between MSCs and monocyte/Mφs in an inflammatory setting where OB differentiation will depend on the balance between pro-inflammatory versus anti-inflammatory monocyte/Mφs

Variability of environmental factors of an eastern Mediterranean Sea river influenced coastal system

Spercheios River discharge rates of nutrients, suspended particulate matter (SPM) and particulate organic carbon (POC) and seawater concentrations of these parameters as well as chlorophyll a(chl a) were measured in the Maliakos Gulf, Greece, on a monthly basis between 1992-1993. From all the nutrients measured, silicate showed the highest discharge rates followed by nitrate, phosphate and nitrite. The river introduced significant amounts of SPM (8.5 – 35.5 Kg d -1 ) with very low POC content (<3%). Most of the variables measured showed no gradient from the river to the outer gulf, which could be attributed to fast mixing of the incoming water. However, chl a had higher concentrations in the inner (0.3 – 4.9 Μg l -1 ) and lower in the outer gulf (0.05 – 2.5 Μg l -1 ). It is suggested that the nutrients introduced by the river are consumed faster in the inner gulf and that a number of temporal streams and non-point sources at the periphery of the gulf prevent the formation of a gradient