Search for the neutral Higgs bosons of the minimal supersymmetric standard model in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for neutral Higgs bosons of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) is reported. The analysis is based on a sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The data were recorded in 2011 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb-1 to 4.8 fb-1. Higgs boson decays into oppositely-charged muon or τ lepton pairs are considered for final states requiring either the presence or absence of b-jets. No statistically significant excess over the expected background is observed and exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level are derived. The exclusion limits are for the production cross-section of a generic neutral Higgs boson, φ, as a function of the Higgs boson mass and for h/A/H production in the MSSM as a function of the parameters mA and tan β in the mhmax scenario for mA in the range of 90GeV to 500 GeV. Copyright CERN

Search for R-parity-violating supersymmetry in events with four or more leptons in sqrt(s) =7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for new phenomena in final states with four or more leptons (electrons or muons) is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of $\sqrt{s}=7\;\mathrm{TeV}$ proton-proton collisions delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in two signal regions: one that requires moderate values of missing transverse momentum and another that requires large effective mass. The results are interpreted in a simplified model of R-parity-violating supersymmetry in which a 95% CL exclusion region is set for charged wino masses up to 540 GeV. In an R-parity-violating MSUGRA/CMSSM model, values of m 1/2 up to 820 GeV are excluded for 10 < tan β < 40

Search for high-mass resonances decaying to dilepton final states in pp collisions at s√=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider is used to search for high-mass resonances decaying to an electron-positron pair or a muon-antimuon pair. The search is sensitive to heavy neutral Z′ gauge bosons, Randall-Sundrum gravitons, Z * bosons, techni-mesons, Kaluza-Klein Z/γ bosons, and bosons predicted by Torsion models. Results are presented based on an analysis of pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 fb−1 in the e + e − channel and 5.0 fb−1 in the μ + μ −channel. A Z ′ boson with Standard Model-like couplings is excluded at 95 % confidence level for masses below 2.22 TeV. A Randall-Sundrum graviton with coupling k/MPl=0.1 is excluded at 95 % confidence level for masses below 2.16 TeV. Limits on the other models are also presented, including Technicolor and Minimal Z′ Models

Search for pair-produced long-lived neutral particles decaying to jets in the ATLAS hadronic calorimeter in ppcollisions at √s=8TeV

The ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN is used to search for the decay of a scalar boson to a pair of long-lived particles, neutral under the Standard Model gauge group, in 20.3fb−1of data collected in proton–proton collisions at √s=8TeV. This search is sensitive to long-lived particles that decay to Standard Model particles producing jets at the outer edge of the ATLAS electromagnetic calorimeter or inside the hadronic calorimeter. No significant excess of events is observed. Limits are reported on the product of the scalar boson production cross section times branching ratio into long-lived neutral particles as a function of the proper lifetime of the particles. Limits are reported for boson masses from 100 GeVto 900 GeV, and a long-lived neutral particle mass from 10 GeVto 150 GeV

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Environmental sensing and response genes in cnidaria : the chemical defensome in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2008. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Springer for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Cell Biology and Toxicology 24 (2008): 483-502, doi:10.1007/s10565-008-9107-5.The starlet sea anemone Nematostella vectensis has been recently established as a new model system for the study of the evolution of developmental processes, as cnidaria occupy a key evolutionary position at the base of the bilateria. Cnidaria play important roles in estuarine and reef communities, but are exposed to many environmental stressors. Here I describe the genetic components of a ‘chemical defensome’ in the genome of N. vectensis, and review cnidarian molecular toxicology. Gene families that defend against chemical stressors and the transcription factors that regulate these genes have been termed a ‘chemical defensome,’ and include the cytochromes P450 and other oxidases, various conjugating enyzymes, the ATP-dependent efflux transporters, oxidative detoxification proteins, as well as various transcription factors. These genes account for about 1% (266/27200) of the predicted genes in the sea anemone genome, similar to the proportion observed in tunicates and humans, but lower than that observed in sea urchins. While there are comparable numbers of stress-response genes, the stress sensor genes appear to be reduced in N. vectensis relative to many model protostomes and deuterostomes. Cnidarian toxicology is understudied, especially given the important ecological roles of many cnidarian species. New genomic resources should stimulate the study of chemical stress sensing and response mechanisms in cnidaria, and allow us to further illuminate the evolution of chemical defense gene networks.WHOI Ocean Life Institute and NIH R01-ES01591

The Cardiac Transcription Network Modulated by Gata4, Mef2a, Nkx2.5, Srf, Histone Modifications, and MicroRNAs

The transcriptome, as the pool of all transcribed elements in a given cell, is regulated by the interaction between different molecular levels, involving epigenetic, transcriptional, and post-transcriptional mechanisms. However, many previous studies investigated each of these levels individually, and little is known about their interdependency. We present a systems biology study integrating mRNA profiles with DNA–binding events of key cardiac transcription factors (Gata4, Mef2a, Nkx2.5, and Srf), activating histone modifications (H3ac, H4ac, H3K4me2, and H3K4me3), and microRNA profiles obtained in wild-type and RNAi–mediated knockdown. Finally, we confirmed conclusions primarily obtained in cardiomyocyte cell culture in a time-course of cardiac maturation in mouse around birth. We provide insights into the combinatorial regulation by cardiac transcription factors and show that they can partially compensate each other's function. Genes regulated by multiple transcription factors are less likely differentially expressed in RNAi knockdown of one respective factor. In addition to the analysis of the individual transcription factors, we found that histone 3 acetylation correlates with Srf- and Gata4-dependent gene expression and is complementarily reduced in cardiac Srf knockdown. Further, we found that altered microRNA expression in Srf knockdown potentially explains up to 45% of indirect mRNA targets. Considering all three levels of regulation, we present an Srf-centered transcription network providing on a single-gene level insights into the regulatory circuits establishing respective mRNA profiles. In summary, we show the combinatorial contribution of four DNA–binding transcription factors in regulating the cardiac transcriptome and provide evidence that histone modifications and microRNAs modulate their functional consequence. This opens a new perspective to understand heart development and the complexity cardiovascular disorders

Minimizing discordances in automated classification of fractionated electrograms in human persistent atrial fibrillation

Ablation of persistent atrial fibrillation (persAF) targeting complex fractionated atrial electrograms (CFAEs) detected by automated algorithms has produced conflicting outcomes in previous electrophysiological studies. We hypothesize that the differences in these algorithms could lead to discordant CFAE classifications by the available mapping systems, giving rise to potential disparities in CFAE-guided ablation. This study reports the results of a head-to-head comparison of CFAE detection performed by NavX (St. Jude Medical) versus CARTO (Biosense Webster) on the same bipolar electrogram data (797 electrograms) from 18 persAF patients. We propose revised thresholds for both primary and complementary indices to minimize the differences in CFAE classification performed by either system. Using the default thresholds [NavX: CFEMean ≤ 120 ms; CARTO: ICL ≥ 7], NavX classified 70 % of the electrograms as CFAEs, while CARTO detected 36 % (Cohen’s kappa κ ≈ 0.3, P < 0.0001). Using revised thresholds found using receiver operating characteristic curves [NavX: CFE-Mean ≤ 84 ms, CFE-SD ≤ 47 ms; CARTO: ICL ≥ 4, ACI ≤ 82 ms, SCI ≤ 58 ms], NavX classified 45 %, while CARTO detected 42 % (κ ≈ 0.5, P < 0.0001). Our results show that CFAE target identification is dependent on the system and thresholds used by the electrophysiological study. The thresholds found in this work counterbalance the differences in automated CFAE classification performed by each system. This could facilitate comparisons of CFAE ablation outcomes guided by either NavX or CARTO in future works

Protein tyrosine phosphatases in glioma biology

Gliomas are a diverse group of brain tumors of glial origin. Most are characterized by diffuse infiltrative growth in the surrounding brain. In combination with their refractive nature to chemotherapy this makes it almost impossible to cure patients using combinations of conventional therapeutic strategies. The drastically increased knowledge about the molecular underpinnings of gliomas during the last decade has elicited high expectations for a more rational and effective therapy for these tumors. Most studies on the molecular pathways involved in glioma biology thus far had a strong focus on growth factor receptor protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) and phosphatidylinositol phosphatase signaling pathways. Except for the tumor suppressor PTEN, much less attention has been paid to the PTK counterparts, the protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) superfamily, in gliomas. PTPs are instrumental in the reversible phosphorylation of tyrosine residues and have emerged as important regulators of signaling pathways that are linked to various developmental and disease-related processes. Here, we provide an overview of the current knowledge on PTP involvement in gliomagenesis. So far, the data point to the potential implication of receptor-type (RPTPδ, DEP1, RPTPμ, RPTPζ) and intracellular (PTP1B, TCPTP, SHP2, PTPN13) classical PTPs, dual-specific PTPs (MKP-1, VHP, PRL-3, KAP, PTEN) and the CDC25B and CDC25C PTPs in glioma biology. Like PTKs, these PTPs may represent promising targets for the development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in the treatment of high-grade gliomas