Lepton Flavour Violation and B_s Leptonic Final States at the LHC

An overview of ATLAS and CMS studies of B_s leptonic decays providing constraints on the lepton flavour violation phenomenon is presented. Except direct lepton flavour violating final states B_s -> l_1^+ l_2^-, constraints can also be set by a measurement of B_s -> mu^+ mu^- decay, whose branching ratio in some theoretical models correlates with a branching ratio of B_s -> l_1^+ l_2^-, tau -> 3mu and some other lepton flavour violating decays. In this paper, the feasibility of measurements of B_s -> mu^+ mu^- decay is described, including the present status, the trigger and the offline analysis strategies and the expected reach in the branching ratio measurement. The ATLAS and CMS experiments foresee to provide 3-sigma evidence of Standard Model B_s -> mu^+ mu^- branching ratio by the end of LHC low-luminosity stage (30 fb^(-1)). Also a CMS study of the tau -> 3mu decay and an initial particle-level based study of the B_s -> tau mu decay are presented. A sensitivity of ~10^(-8) for the tau -> 3mu branching ratio measurement is predicted by CMS.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, Heavy Quarks and Leptons, Melbourne, 200

The Impact of Structural and Functional Parameters in Glaucoma Patients on Patient-Reported Visual Functioning

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Comparison of Intravitreal Bevacizumab Upload Followed by a Dexamethasone Implant versus Dexamethasone Implant Monotherapy for Retinal Vein Occlusion with Macular Edema

Purpose: To compare the efficacy and safety of three intravitreal bevacizumab upload injections followed by a dexamethasone implant versus dexamethasone implant monotherapy in eyes with macular edema due to retinal vein occlusion. Methods: Sixty-four eyes of 64 patients were included in this prospective, consecutive, nonrandomized case series: group 1 consisted of 38 patients (22 with central retinal vein occlusion, CRVO, 16 with branch retinal vein occlusion, BRVO) treated using a dexamethasone implant (Ozurdex) alone; group 2 consisted of 26 patients (14 CRVO, 12 BRVO) treated with three consecutive intravitreal bevacizumab injections at monthly intervals followed by a dexamethasone implant. In case of recurrence, both cohorts received further dexamethasone implants. Preoperatively and monthly best corrected visual acuity (BCVA, ETDRS), central retinal thickness (Spectralis-OCT), intraocular pressure, and wide-angle fundus photodocumentation (Optomap) were performed. The primary clinical endpoint was BCVA at 6 months after initiation of therapy. Secondary endpoints were central retinal thickness and safety of the therapy applied. Results: In group 1, an increase in BCVA of 2.5 (+/- 1.6) letters in the CRVO and of 13.0 (+/- 3.2) letters in BRVO patients was seen after 6 months, in group 2 of 5.9 (+/- 0.4) letters (CRVO) and 3.8 (+/- 2.4) letters (BRVO), which was not statistically significant. When comparing the two treatment groups with respect to the type of vein occlusion, there was a significant advantage for BRVO patients for the dexamethasone implant monotherapy (BRVO patients in group 1, p = 0.005). Central retinal thickness showed a significant reduction after 6 months only in patients of group 1, both for CRVO (p = 0.01) and BRVO (p = 0.003). First recurrence after the first dexamethasone implant injection occurred after 3.8 months (mean) in CRVO and 3.5 months in BRVO patients (group 1), versus 3.2 and 3.7 months, respectively, in group 2. In group 1, 63.6% with CRVO and 50% with BRVO showed an increased intraocular pressure after treatment; in group 2, 57.1% with CRVO and 50.0% with BRVO, respectively. Conclusion: In CRVO, there was no difference between the two treatment strategies investigated. However, in BRVO, dexamethasone implant monotherapy was associated with better functional outcome. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Base

Chromosome Number Changes Associated with Speciation in Sedges: a Phylogenetic Study in Carex section Ovales (Cyperaceae) Using AFLP Data

Phylogenetic analysis of amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP) was used to infer patterns of morphologic and chromosomal evolution in an eastern North American group of sedges (ENA clade I of Carex sect. Ovales). Distance analyses of AFLP data recover a tree that is topologically congruent with previous phylogenetic estimates based on nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) sequences and provide support for four species groups within ENA clade I. A maximum likelihood method designed for analysis of restriction site data is used to evaluate the strength of support for alternative topologies. While there is little support for the precise placement of the root, the likelihood of topologies in which any of the four clades identified within the ENA clade I is forced to be paraphyletic is much lower than the likelihood of the optimal tree. Chromosome counts for a sampling of species from throughout sect. Ovales are mapped onto the tree, as well as counts for all species in ENA clade I. Parsimony reconstruction of ancestral character states suggest that: (1) Heilborn’s hypothesis that more highly derived species in Carex have higher chromosome counts does not apply within sect. Ovales, (2) the migration to eastern North America involved a decrease in average chromosome count within sect. Ovales, and (3) intermediate chromosome counts are ancestral within ENA clade I. A more precise understanding of chromosomal evolution in Carex should be possible using likelihood analyses that take into account the intraspecific polymorphism and wide range of chromosome counts that characterize the genus

Microbial keratitis-induced endophthalmitis: incidence, symptoms, therapy, visual prognosis and outcomes

Background: To evaluate symptoms, therapies and outcomes in rare microbial keratitis-induced endophthalmitis. Methods: Retrospective study with 11 patients treated between 2009 and 2014. Clinical findings, corneal diseases, history of steroids and trauma, use of contact lenses, number and type of surgical interventions, determination of causative organisms and visual acuity (VA) were evaluated. Results: The incidence of transformation from microbial keratitis to an endophthalmitis was 0.29% (n = 11/3773). In 90.9% (n = 10/11), there were pre-existent eyelid and corneal problems, in 45.5% (n = 5/11) rubeosis iridis with increased intraocular pressure and corneal decompensation, and in 18.2% (n = 2/11), ocular trauma. Specimens could be obtained in 10 of 11 samples: 33.3% of those 10 specimens were Gram-positive coagulase-negative Staphylococci (n = 3/10) or Gram-negative rods (n = 3/10) and 10.0% Staphylococcus aureus (n = 1/10). In 30% (n = 3/10), no pathogens were identifiable. 72.7% (n = 8/11) of all keratitis-induced endophthalmitis were treated with vitrectomy and 9.1% (n = 1/11) with amniotic-membrane transplantation. In 27.3% (n = 3/11) the infected eye had to be enucleated – 18.2% (n = 2/11) primarily, 9.1% (n = 1/11) secondarily. No patient suffered from sympathetic ophthalmia. The median initial VA was 2.1 logMAR (n = 11/11). At one month, median VA was 2.0 logMAR (n = 7/11), after three months 2.0 logMAR (n = 6/11), and after one year 2.05 logMAR (n = 6/11). The change in VA was not significant (p > 0.99). 36.4% (n = 4/11) of the cases resulted in blindness. Conclusions: The overall outcome is poor. Enucleation should be weighed against the risk of local and systemic spread of the infection, prolonged rehabilitation and sympathetic ophthalmia

The Efficacy of Classwide Peer Tutoring on Students with Attentional Difficulties

Class wide peer tutoring (CWPT) has been used as an effective intervention for reading, math, and spelling, as well as other subjects. The present study explored spelling and social skill improvement for students with attentional difficulties. Dependent measures included spelling improvement, mean initiations and responses, and total interaction times. Expected treatment effects were not as strong as found in previous studies for spelling. Social skill effects were mixed, with more consistent results obtained with the initiation and duration measures during the first baseline to implementation phase of CWPT. Response to initiation results were more mixed; perhaps because of the new friendships the students made

Search for squarks and gluinos with the ATLAS detector in final states with jets and missing transverse momentum using √s=8 TeV proton-proton collision data

A search for squarks and gluinos in final states containing high-p T jets, missing transverse momentum and no electrons or muons is presented. The data were recorded in 2012 by the ATLAS experiment in s√=8 TeV proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, with a total integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb−1. Results are interpreted in a variety of simplified and specific supersymmetry-breaking models assuming that R-parity is conserved and that the lightest neutralino is the lightest supersymmetric particle. An exclusion limit at the 95% confidence level on the mass of the gluino is set at 1330 GeV for a simplified model incorporating only a gluino and the lightest neutralino. For a simplified model involving the strong production of first- and second-generation squarks, squark masses below 850 GeV (440 GeV) are excluded for a massless lightest neutralino, assuming mass degenerate (single light-flavour) squarks. In mSUGRA/CMSSM models with tan β = 30, A 0 = −2m 0 and μ > 0, squarks and gluinos of equal mass are excluded for masses below 1700 GeV. Additional limits are set for non-universal Higgs mass models with gaugino mediation and for simplified models involving the pair production of gluinos, each decaying to a top squark and a top quark, with the top squark decaying to a charm quark and a neutralino. These limits extend the region of supersymmetric parameter space excluded by previous searches with the ATLAS detector

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal