Search for W' bosons decaying to an electron and a neutrino with the D0 detector

This Letter describes the search for a new heavy charged gauge boson W' decaying into an electron and a neutrino. The data were collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron proton-antiproton Collider at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of about 1 inverse femtobarn. Lacking any significant excess in the data in comparison with known processes, an upper limit is set on the production cross section times branching fraction, and a W' boson with mass below 1.00 TeV can be excluded at the 95% C.L., assuming standard-model-like couplings to fermions. This result significantly improves upon previous limits, and is the most stringent to date.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Search for the Standard Model Higgs Boson in the ZH --> neutrino-neutrino-b-b channel

We report a search for the standard model (SM) Higgs boson based on data collected by the D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 260 pb^-1. We study events with missing transverse energy and two acoplanar b-jets, which provide sensitivity to the ZH production cross section in the neutrino-neutrino-b-b channel and to WH production, when the lepton from the W -> lepton+neutrino decay is undetected. The data are consistent with the SM background expectation, and we set 95% C.L. upper limits on sigma(p p-bar -> ZH/WH) x B(H -> b b-bar) from 3.4/8.3 to 2.5/6.3 pb, for Higgs masses between 105 and 135 GeV.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. Letter

A measurement of material in the ATLAS tracker using secondary hadronic interactions in 7 TeV pp collisions

Knowledge of the material in the ATLAS inner tracking detector is crucial in understanding the reconstruction of charged-particle tracks, the performance of algorithms that identify jets containing b-hadrons and is also essential to reduce background in searches for exotic particles that can decay within the inner detector volume. Interactions of primary hadrons produced in pp collisions with the material in the inner detector are used to map the location and amount of this material. The hadronic interactions of primary particles may result in secondary vertices, which in this analysis are reconstructed by an inclusive vertex-finding algorithm. Data were collected using minimum-bias triggers by the ATLAS detector operating at the LHC during 2010 at centre-of-mass energy √ s = 7 TeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19 nb−1 . Kinematic properties of these secondary vertices are used to study the validity of the modelling of hadronic interactions in simulation. Secondary-vertex yields are compared between data and simulation over a volume of about 0.7 m3 around the interaction point, and agreement is found within overall uncertainties

Processing of cell-surface signalling anti-sigma factors prior to signal recognition is aconserved autoproteolytic mechanism that produces two functional domains.

Cell-surface signalling (CSS) enables Gram-negative bacteria to transduce an environmental signal into a cytosolic response. This regulatory cascade involves an outer membrane receptor that transmits the signal to an anti-sigma factor in the cytoplasmic membrane, allowing the activation of an extracytoplasmic function (ECF) sigma factor. Recent studies have demonstrated that RseP-mediated proteolysis of the anti-sigma factors is key to σECF activation. Using the Pseudomonas aeruginosaFoxR anti-sigma factor, we show here that RseP is responsible for the generation of an N-terminal tail that likely contains pro-sigma activity. Furthermore, it has been reported previously that this anti-sigma factor is processed in two separate domains prior to signal recognition. Here, we demonstrate that this process is common in these types of proteins and that the processing event is probably due to autoproteolytic activity. The resulting domains interact and function together to transduce the CSS signal. However, our results also indicate that this processing event is not essential for activity. In fact, we have identified functional CSS anti-sigma factors that are not cleaved prior to signal perception. Together, our results indicate that CSS regulation can occur through both complete and initially processed anti-sigma factors

Model-independent measurement of the W-boson helicity in top-quark decays at D0

Contains fulltext : 72696.pdf (preprint version ) (Open Access)4 p

Distinctive features of the Gac‐Rsm

Productive plant–bacteria interactions, either beneficial or pathogenic, require that bacteria successfully sense, integrate and respond to continuously changing environmental and plant stimuli. They use complex signal transduction systems that control a vast array of genes and functions. The Gac-Rsm global regulatory pathway plays a key role in controlling fundamental aspects of the apparently different lifestyles of plant beneficial and phytopathogenic Pseudomonas as it coordinates adaptation and survival while either promoting plant health (biocontrol strains) or causing disease (pathogenic strains). Plant-interacting Pseudomonas stand out for possessing multiple Rsm proteins and Rsm RNAs, but the physiological significance of this redundancy is not yet clear. Strikingly, the components of the Gac-Rsm pathway and the controlled genes/pathways are similar, but the outcome of its regulation may be opposite. Therefore, identifying the target mRNAs bound by the Rsm proteins and their mode of action (repression or activation) is essential to explain the resulting phenotype. Some technical considerations to approach the study of this system are also given. Overall, several important features of the Gac-Rsm cascade are now understood in molecular detail, particularly in Pseudomonas protegens CHA0, but further questions remain to be solved in other plant-interacting Pseudomonas.This research was supported by grants BIO2014-55075-P and BIO2017-83533-P from the ERDF/Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities - State Research Agency. M.D.F. was supported by a FPU contract from the Spanish MECD/MEFP (ECD/1619/2013)