4,861 research outputs found
Bounds and Decays of New Heavy Vector-like Top Partners
We study the phenomenology of new heavy vector-like fermions that couple to
the third generation quarks via Yukawa interactions, covering all the allowed
representations under the standard model gauge groups. We first review tree and
loop level bounds on these states. We then discuss tree level decays and
loop-induced decays to photon or gluon plus top. The main decays at tree level
are to W b and/or Z and Higgs plus top via the new Yukawa couplings. The
radiative loop decays turn out to be quite close to the naive estimate: in all
cases, in the allowed perturbative parameter space, the branching ratios are
mildly sensitive on the new Yukawa couplings and small. We therefore conclude
that the new states can be observed at the LHC and that the tree level decays
can allow to distinguish the different representations. Moreover, the
observation of the radiative decays at the LHC would suggest a large Yukawa
coupling in the non-perturbative regime.Comment: 32 pages, 2 tables, 10 figure
Colored Resonant Signals at the LHC: Largest Rate and Simplest Topology
We study the colored resonance production at the LHC in a most general
approach. We classify the possible colored resonances based on group theory
decomposition, and construct their effective interactions with light partons.
The production cross section from annihilation of valence quarks or gluons may
be on the order of 400 - 1000 pb at LHC energies for a mass of 1 TeV with
nominal couplings, leading to the largest production rates for new physics at
the TeV scale, and simplest event topology with dijet final states. We apply
the new dijet data from the LHC experiments to put bounds on various possible
colored resonant states. The current bounds range from 0.9 to 2.7 TeV. The
formulation is readily applicable for future searches including other decay
modes.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures. References updated and additional K-factors
include
Extreme Technicolor & The Walking Critical Temperature
We map the phase diagram of gauge theories of fundamental interactions in the
flavor-temperature plane using chiral perturbation theory to estimate the
relation between the pion decaying constant and the critical temperature above
which chiral symmetry is restored. We then investigate the impact of our
results on models of dynamical electroweak symmetry breaking and therefore on
the electroweak early universe phase transition.Comment: RevTeX, 18 pages, 3 figure
Probing Colored Particles with Photons, Leptons, and Jets
If pairs of new colored particles are produced at the Large Hadron Collider,
determining their quantum numbers, and even discovering them, can be
non-trivial. We suggest that valuable information can be obtained by measuring
the resonant signals of their near-threshold QCD bound states. If the particles
are charged, the resulting signatures include photons and leptons and are
sufficiently rich for unambiguously determining their various quantum numbers,
including the charge, color representation and spin, and obtaining a precise
mass measurement. These signals provide well-motivated benchmark models for
resonance searches in the dijet, photon+jet, diphoton and dilepton channels.
While these measurements require that the lifetime of the new particles be not
too short, the resulting limits, unlike those from direct searches for pair
production above threshold, do not depend on the particles' decay modes. These
limits may be competitive with more direct searches if the particles decay in
an obscure way.Comment: 39 pages, 9 figures; v2: more recent searches include
Estimating the mean and variance from the median, range, and the size of a sample
BACKGROUND: Usually the researchers performing meta-analysis of continuous outcomes from clinical trials need their mean value and the variance (or standard deviation) in order to pool data. However, sometimes the published reports of clinical trials only report the median, range and the size of the trial. METHODS: In this article we use simple and elementary inequalities and approximations in order to estimate the mean and the variance for such trials. Our estimation is distribution-free, i.e., it makes no assumption on the distribution of the underlying data. RESULTS: We found two simple formulas that estimate the mean using the values of the median (m), low and high end of the range (a and b, respectively), and n (the sample size). Using simulations, we show that median can be used to estimate mean when the sample size is larger than 25. For smaller samples our new formula, devised in this paper, should be used. We also estimated the variance of an unknown sample using the median, low and high end of the range, and the sample size. Our estimate is performing as the best estimate in our simulations for very small samples (n ≤ 15). For moderately sized samples (15 <n ≤ 70), our simulations show that the formula range/4 is the best estimator for the standard deviation (variance). For large samples (n > 70), the formula range/6 gives the best estimator for the standard deviation (variance). We also include an illustrative example of the potential value of our method using reports from the Cochrane review on the role of erythropoietin in anemia due to malignancy. CONCLUSION: Using these formulas, we hope to help meta-analysts use clinical trials in their analysis even when not all of the information is available and/or reported
Prevalence and Determinants of Obesity among Primary School Children in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Childhood obesity has increased dramatically and has become a public health concern worldwide. Childhood obesity is likely to persist through adulthood and may lead to early onset of NCDs. However, there is paucity of data on obesity among primary school children in Tanzania. This study assessed the prevalence and determinants of obesity among primary school children in Dar es Salaam. A cross sectional study was conducted among school age children in randomly selected schools in Dar es Salaam. Anthropometric and blood pressure measurements were taken using standard procedures. Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters (kg/m2). Child obesity was defined as BMI at or above 95th percentile for age and sex. Socio-demographic characteristics of children were determined using a structured questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to determine association between independent variables with obesity among primary school children in Dar es Salaam. A total of 446 children were included in the analysis. The mean age of the participants was 11.1±2.0 years and 53.1% were girls. The mean BMI, SBP and DBP were 16.6±4.0 kg/m2, 103.9±10.3mmHg and 65.6±8.2mmHg respectively. The overall prevalence of child obesity was 5.2% and was higher among girls (6.3%) compared to boys (3.8%). Obese children had significantly higher mean values for age (p=0.042), systolic and diastolic blood pressures (all p<0.001). Most obese children were from households with fewer children (p=0.019) and residing in urban areas (p=0.002). Controlling for other variables, age above 10 years (AOR=3.3, 95% CI=1.5-7.2), female sex (AOR=2.6, 95% CI=1.4-4.9), urban residence (AOR=2.5, 95% CI=1.2-5.3) and having money to spend at school (AOR=2.6, 95% CI=1.4-4.8) were significantly associated with child obesity. The prevalence of childhood obesity in this population was found to be low. However, children from urban schools and girls were proportionately more obese compared to their counterparts. Primary preventive measures for childhood obesity should start early in childhood and address socioeconomic factors of parents contributing to childhood obesity
Two Simple W' Models for the Early LHC
W' gauge bosons are good candidates for early LHC discovery. We define two
reference models, one containing a W'_R and one containing a W'_L, which may
serve as ``simplified models'' for presenting experimental results of W'
searches at the LHC. We present the Tevatron bounds on each model and compute
the constraints from precision electroweak observables. We find that indirect
low-energy constraints on the W'_L are quite strong. However, for a W'_R
coupling to right-handed fermions there exists a sizeable region in parameter
space beyond the bounds from the Tevatron and low-energy precision measurements
where even 50 inverse picobarns of integrated LHC luminosity are sufficient to
discover the W'_R. The most promising final states are two leptons and two
jets, or one lepton recoiling against a ``neutrino jet''. A neutrino jet is a
collimated object consisting of a hard lepton and two jets arising from the
decay of a highly boosted massive neutrino.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures. v2: references adde
Composition of lower urinary tract stones in canines in Mexico City
11th International symposium on urolithiasis, Nice, France, 2–5 September 2008 Urological Research (2008) 36:157–232. doi:10.1007/s00240-008-0145-5. http://www.springerlink.com/ content/x263655772684210/fulltext.pdf.Effective long-term management of urolithiasis depends on identification and manipulation of factors contributing to initial stone formation; identification of these factors depends on accurate identification of the mineral composition of the urolith involved. The purpose of this study was to determine the chemical composition of uroliths obtained from the low urinary tract of dogs in Mexico City. One hundred and five cases of urolithiasis were studied in which stones were surgically obtained from the low urinary tracts of dogs treated in different hospitals. The chemical composition of the uroliths was quantita- tively and qualitatively determined by stereoscopic microscopy, IR-spectroscopy, scanning electron micros- copy and X-ray microanalysis. Age of animals ranged from 4 months to 14 years, with a median of 5 years. Compo- sition and distribution of the uroliths were struvite 38.1%,calcium oxalate 26.7%, silica 13.3%, urate 7.6%, mixed 11.4%, compounds 1.9%, and cystine 1%. Most uroliths were found in pure breed dogs (75.2%); 23 different breeds were identified, and more than half of the submissions were from breeds of small size. In our study, the frequency of struvite, calcium oxalate, cystine, urates, mixed and com- pounds stones are in agreement with papers that report on dog populations in America and Europe, but a higher fre- quency of silica uroliths was observed in Mexico City dogs.This work has been partially supported by a project of Waltham Foundation in Mexico
Strong Double Higgs Production at the LHC
The hierarchy problem and the electroweak data, together, provide a plausible
motivation for considering a light Higgs emerging as a pseudo-Goldstone boson
from a strongly-coupled sector. In that scenario, the rates for Higgs
production and decay differ significantly from those in the Standard Model.
However, one genuine strong coupling signature is the growth with energy of the
scattering amplitudes among the Goldstone bosons, the longitudinally polarized
vector bosons as well as the Higgs boson itself. The rate for double Higgs
production in vector boson fusion is thus enhanced with respect to its
negligible rate in the SM. We study that reaction in pp collisions, where the
production of two Higgs bosons at high pT is associated with the emission of
two forward jets. We concentrate on the decay mode hh -> WW^(*)WW^(*) and study
the semi-leptonic decay chains of the W's with 2, 3 or 4 leptons in the final
states. While the 3 lepton final states are the most relevant and can lead to a
3 sigma signal significance with 300 fb^{-1} collected at a 14 TeV LHC, the two
same-sign lepton final states provide complementary information. We also
comment on the prospects for improving the detectability of double Higgs
production at the foreseen LHC energy and luminosity upgrades.Comment: 54 pages, 26 figures. v2: typos corrected, a few comments and one
table added. Version published in JHE
Unnatural Origin of Fermion Masses for Technicolor
We explore the scenario in which the breaking of the electroweak symmetry is
due to the simultaneous presence and interplay of a dynamical sector and an
unnatural elementary Higgs. We introduce a low energy effective Lagrangian and
constrain the various couplings via direct search limits and electroweak and
flavor precision tests. We find that the model we study is a viable model of
dynamical breaking of the electroweak symmetry.Comment: 20 pages, 7 eps figure
- …