Weight outcomes audit in 1.3 million adults during their first 3 months' attendance in a commercial weight management programme

Background: Over sixty percent of adults in the UK are now overweight/obese. Weight management on a national scale requires behavioural and lifestyle solutions that are accessible to large numbers of people. Evidence suggests commercial weight management programmes help people manage their weight but there is little research examining those that pay to attend such programmes rather than being referred by primary care. The objective of this analysis was to evaluate the effectiveness of a UK commercial weight management programme in self-referred, fee-paying participants. Methods: Electronic weekly weight records were collated for self-referred, fee-paying participants of Slimming World groups joining between January 2010 and April 2012. This analysis reports weight outcomes in 1,356,105 adult, non-pregnant participants during their first 3 months’ attendance. Data were analysed by regression, ANOVA and for binomial outcomes, chi-squared tests using the R statistical program. Results: Mean (SD) age was 42.3 (13.6) years, height 1.65 m (0.08) and start weight was 88.4 kg (18.8). Mean start BMI was 32.6 kg/m² (6.3 kg/m²) and 5 % of participants were men. Mean weight change of all participants was −3.9 kg (3.6), percent weight change −4.4 (3.8), and BMI change was −1.4 kg/m² (1.3). Mean attendance was 7.8 (4.3) sessions in their first 3 months. For participants attending at least 75 % of possible weekly sessions (n = 478,772), mean BMI change was −2.5 kg/m² (1.3), weight change −6.8 kg (3.7) and percent weight change −7.5 % (3.5). Weight loss was greater in men than women absolutely (−6.5 (5.3) kg vs −3.8 (3.4) kg) and as a percentage (5.7 % (4.4) vs 4.3 % (3.7)), respectively. All comparisons were significant (p < 0.001). Level of attendance and percent weight loss in the first week of attendance together accounted for 55 % of the variability in weight lost during the study period. Conclusions: A large-scale commercial lifestyle-based weight management programme had a significant impact on weight loss outcomes over 3 months. Higher levels of attendance led to levels of weight loss known to be associated with significant clinical benefits, which on this scale may have an impact on public health

Measurement of the production cross section for a W boson and two b jets in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV

The production cross section for a Wboson and two b jets is measured using proton-proton collisions at v root s = 7 TeV in a data sample collected with the CMS experiment at the LHC corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb(-1). The W + bbevents are selected in the W..decay mode by requiring a muon with transverse momentum pT> 25GeVand pseudorapidity |eta| 25GeVand |eta| < 2.4. The measured W + bbproduction cross section in the fiducial region, calculated at the level of final-state particles, is s(pp. W + bb) xB(W..) = 0.53 +/- 0.05 (stat.) +/- 0.09 (syst.) +/- 0.06 (theo.) 0.01 (lum.) pb, in agreement with the standard model prediction. In addition, kinematic distributions of the W + bbsystem are in agreement with the predictions of a simulation usingMadGraphandpythia

Search for top-squark pairs decaying into Higgs or Z bosons in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV

A search for supersymmetry through the direct pair production of top squarks, with Higgs (H) or Z bosons in the decay chain, is performed using a data sample of proton-proton collisions at root s = 8 TeVcollected in 2012 with the CMS detector at the LHC. The sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 19.5 fb(-1). The search is performed using a selection of events containing leptons and bottom-quark jets. No evidence for a significant excess of events over the standard model background prediction is observed. The results are interpreted in the context of simplified supersymmetric models with pair production of a heavier top-squark mass eigenstate (t) over tilde (2) decaying to a lighter top-squark mass eigenstate (t) over tilde (1) via either (t) over tilde (2) -> H (t) over tilde (1) or (t) over tilde (2) -> Z (t) over tilde (1), followed in both cases by (t) over tilde (1) -> t (chi) over tilde (0)(1), where (chi) over tilde (0)(1) is an undetected, stable, lightest supersymmetric particle. The interpretation is performed in the region where the mass difference between the (t) over tilde (1) and (chi) over tilde (0)(1) states is approximately equal to the top-quark mass (m((t) over tilde )1) - m((chi) over tilde 10) similar or equal to m(t)) which is not probed by searches for direct (t) over tilde (1) squark pair production. The analysis excludes top squarks with masses m((t) over tilde2) 1) < 400 GeVat a 95% confidence level

Constraints on the Higgs boson width from off-shell production and decay to Z-boson pairs

Constraints are presented on the total width of the recently discovered Higgs boson, Gamma(H), using its relative on-shell and off-shell production and decay rates to a pair of Z bosons, where one Z boson decays to an electron or muon pair, and the other to an electron, muon, or neutrino pair. The analysis is based on the data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2011 and 2012, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 5.1 fb(-1) at a center-of-mass energy root s = 7 TeV and 19.7 fb(-1) at root s = 8 TeV. A simultaneous maximum likelihood fit to the measured kinematic distributions near the resonance peak and above the Z-boson pair production threshold leads to an upper limit on the Higgs boson width of Gamma(H) < 22 MeV at a 95% confidence level, which is 5.4 times the expected value in the standard model at the measured mass of m(H) = 125.6 GeV

Measurement of charm production at central rapidity in proton-proton collisions at ps = 7 TeV

The p t-differential inclusive production cross sections of the prompt charmed mesons D0, D+, and D*+ in the rapidity range |y| < 0.5 were measured in proton-proton collisions at Ös = 7 TeVs=7TeV at the LHC using the ALICE detector. Reconstructing the decays D0 → K−π+, D+ → K−π+π+, D*+ → D0π+, and their charge conjugates, about 8,400 D0, 2,900 D+, and 2,600 D*+ mesons with 1 < p t < 24 GeV/c were counted, after selection cuts, in a data sample of 3.14 × 108 events collected with a minimum-bias trigger (integrated luminosity L int = 5 nb−1). The results are described within uncertainties by predictions based on perturbative QCD

Alignment of the CMS tracker with LHC and cosmic ray data

The central component of the CMS detector is the largest silicon tracker ever built. The precise alignment of this complex device is a formidable challenge, and only achievable with a significant extension of the technologies routinely used for tracking detectors in the past. This article describes the full-scale alignment procedure as it is used during LHC operations. Among the specific features of the method are the simultaneous determination of up to 200 000 alignment parameters with tracks, the measurement of individual sensor curvature parameters, the control of systematic misalignment effects, and the implementation of the whole procedure in a multiprocessor environment for high execution speed. Overall, the achieved statistical accuracy on the module alignment is found to be significantly better than 10 mu m

Measurement of the ratio B(t -> Wb)/B(t -> Wq) in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV

The ratio of the top-quark branching fractions R = B(t --> Wb)/B(t --> Wq), where the denominator includes the sum over all down-type quarks (q = b, s, d), is measured in the t (t) over bar dilepton final state with proton-proton collision data at root s = 8 TeV from an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb(-1), collected with the CMS detector. In order to quantify the purity of the signal sample, the cross section is measured by fitting the observed jet multiplicity, thereby constraining the signal and background contributions. By counting the number of b jets per event, an unconstrained value of R = 1.014 +/- 0.003 (stat.) +/- 0.032 (syst.) is measured, in a good agreement with current precision measurements in electroweak and flavour sectors. A lower limit R > 0.955 at the 95% confidence level is obtained after requiring R 0.975 is set at 95% confidence level. The result is combined with a previous CMS measurement of the t-channel single-top-quark cross section to determine the top-quark total decay width, Gamma(t) = 1.36 +/- 0.02 (stat.)(-0.11)(+0.14) (syst.) GeV

Search for excited quarks in the gamma plus jet final state in proton-proton collisions at root s=8 TeV

A search for excited quarks decaying into the gamma + jet final state is presented. The analysis is based on data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb(-1) collected by the CMS experiment in proton-proton collisions at root s = 8 TeV at the LHC. Events with photons and jets with high transverse momenta are selected and the gamma + jet invariant mass distribution is studied to search for a resonance peak. The 95% confidence level upper limits on the product of cross section and branching fraction are evaluated as a function of the excited quark mass. Limits on excited quarks are presented as a function of their mass and coupling strength; masses below 3.5 TeV are excluded at 95% confidence level for unit couplings to their standard model partners