Search for jet extinction in the inclusive jet-pT spectrum from proton-proton collisions at s=8 TeV

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published articles title, journal citation, and DOI.The first search at the LHC for the extinction of QCD jet production is presented, using data collected with the CMS detector corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 10.7  fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The extinction model studied in this analysis is motivated by the search for signatures of strong gravity at the TeV scale (terascale gravity) and assumes the existence of string couplings in the strong-coupling limit. In this limit, the string model predicts the suppression of all high-transverse-momentum standard model processes, including jet production, beyond a certain energy scale. To test this prediction, the measured transverse-momentum spectrum is compared to the theoretical prediction of the standard model. No significant deficit of events is found at high transverse momentum. A 95% confidence level lower limit of 3.3 TeV is set on the extinction mass scale

Searches for electroweak neutralino and chargino production in channels with Higgs, Z, and W bosons in pp collisions at 8 TeV

Searches for supersymmetry (SUSY) are presented based on the electroweak pair production of neutralinos and charginos, leading to decay channels with Higgs, Z, and W bosons and undetected lightest SUSY particles (LSPs). The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of about 19.5 fb(-1) of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV collected in 2012 with the CMS detector at the LHC. The main emphasis is neutralino pair production in which each neutralino decays either to a Higgs boson (h) and an LSP or to a Z boson and an LSP, leading to hh, hZ, and ZZ states with missing transverse energy (E-T(miss)). A second aspect is chargino-neutralino pair production, leading to hW states with E-T(miss). The decays of a Higgs boson to a bottom-quark pair, to a photon pair, and to final states with leptons are considered in conjunction with hadronic and leptonic decay modes of the Z and W bosons. No evidence is found for supersymmetric particles, and 95% confidence level upper limits are evaluated for the respective pair production cross sections and for neutralino and chargino mass values

Green wooden cabin at Rainbow Ranche

Near beach

Deck of north side of Rainbow Ranche house

Looking west toward Okanagan Lake. Left sliver of the photo is part of another photo taken by the back door

Effect of antimicrobial peptide (AMP)–tethered stainless steel surfaces on the bacterial membrane

Bacterial colonization leading to biofilm formation on surfaces induces industry-related as well as health care–associated infections worldwide. Emerging antibiotic-resistant microbes and related persistent infections due to adherent biofilm formation on surfaces have urged the need of effective alternative solutions to eradicate prevailing problems. Antimicrobial peptides are considered as potential candidates with distinguished characteristics, namely, broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, low propensity toward pathogen resistance, and low immune response. In this study, we immobilize an in-house–designed peptide, KLLLRLRKLLRR (KLR), using a 2-step functionalization strategy onto stainless steel (SS) surfaces. SS is amino-silanized using (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane followed by tethering of KLR on it via formation of the amide bond. KLR-coated SS surfaces show nearly 95–100% reduction in bacterial colonization in vitro as obtained from antibacterial susceptibility testing while being non-toxic to mammalian cells. The coating strategy does not affect the microstructure of the SS surfaces. These findings demonstrate that this tethering process is able to produce excellent antibacterial surfaces

Interior of green wooden cabin at Rainbow Ranche

Looking into green cabin at east wall and bunk beds. There were two cabins and this is the southerly one

Interior of green wooden cabin at Rainbow Ranche

Looking into and through green cabin to Okanagan Lake. There were two cabins and this is the interior of the southerly one

Sundial at Rainbow Ranche

Spherical metal sun-dial near Okanagan Lake