Higgs production in association with bottom quarks

We study the production of a Higgs boson in association with bottom quarks in hadronic collisions, and present phenomenological predictions relevant to the 13 TeV LHC. Our results are accurate to the next-to-leading order in QCD, and matched to parton showers through the MC@NLO method; thus, they are fully differential and based on unweighted events, which we shower by using both Herwig++ and Pythia8. We perform the computation in both the four-flavour and the five-flavour schemes, whose results we compare extensively at the level of exclusive observables. In the case of the Higgs transverse momentum, we also consider the analytically-resummed cross section up to the NNLO+NNLL accuracy. In addition, we analyse at ${\cal O}(\alpha_S^3)$ the effects of the interference between the $b\bar{b}H$ and gluon-fusion production modes.Comment: 33 pages, 17 figure

Effect of inhaled nitric oxide on pulmonary function in cystic fibrosis

AbstractConcentrations of nitric oxide (NO) have been found to be reduced in both the upper and lower airway of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). As NO modulates bronchomuscular tone, low NO levels may contribute to the obstructive lung disease in these patients. To assess whether increasing inspiratory NO concentrations has any impact on lung function, we have studied 13 CF patients aged 14–38 years in a clinically stable condition and nine healthy controls. NO was applied via a mixing chamber for 5 min with NO concentrations of 100 parts per billion, 1 and 40 parts per million. Spirometry was performed at baseline and after inhalation on each occasion.There were no clinical side-effects at any NO concentration and no changes in oxygen saturation were observed. Lung function remained unchanged in all subjects throughout the study period. Sputum nitrate and nitrite concentrations before and after inhalation of high NO concentrations (40 ppm) in eight CF patients did not show any significant changes, even though a tendency to higher nitrate levels was observed (399 ± 231 vs. 556 ± 474 μmoll−1). Therefore, inhaled NO at either the physiological levels present in the upper airway of normal individuals or those used therapeutically to treat pulmonary hypertension has no immediate effect on bronchomuscular tone in patients with cystic fibrosis

Concordance between subjective and objective measures of infant sleep varies by age and maternal mood: Implications for studies of sleep and cognitive development

Infant habitual sleep has been proposed as an important moderator of development in domains such as attention, memory or temperament. To test such hypotheses, we need to know how to accurately and consistently assess habitual sleep in infancy. Common assessment methods include easy to deploy but subjective parent-report measures (diary/sleep questionnaire); or more labour-intensive but objective motor movement measures (actigraphy). Understanding the degree to which these methods provide converging insights is important, but cross-method agreement has yet to be investigated longitudinally. Moreover, it is unclear whether concordance systematically varies with infant or maternal characteristics that could represent confounders in observational studies. This longitudinal study (up to 4 study visits/participant) investigated cross-method concordance on one objective (7-day actigraphy) and three commonly used subjective (7-day sleep diary, Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire, Sleep & Settle Questionnaire) sleep measures in 76 typically developing infants (age: 4–14 months) and assessed the impact of maternal characteristics (stress, age, education) and infant characteristics (age) on cross-method concordance. In addition, associations between objective and subjective sleep measures and a measure of general developmental status (Ages & Stages Questionnaire) were investigated. A range of equivalence analyses (tests of equivalence, correlational analyses, Bland-Altman plots) showed mixed agreement between sleep measures. Most importantly, cross-method agreement was associated with maternal stress levels and infant age. Specifically, agreement between different measures of night waking was better for mothers experiencing higher stress levels and was higher for younger than older infants; the reverse pattern was true for day sleep duration. Interestingly, objective and subjective measures did not yield the same patterns of association with developmental domains, indicating that sleep method choice can influence which associations are found between sleep and cognitive development. However, results converged across day sleep and problem-solving skills, highlighting the importance of studying day sleep in future studies. We discuss implications of sleep method choice for investigating sleep in the context of studying infant development and behaviour

"Sensory Fit Panel" – Development of a new Advertising Claim Support method to assess aesthetic diaper fit performance in an objective, reliable and reproducible way

For the product design of diapers, the fit on the baby plays a significant role. In particular, innovation in the areas of fit and freedom of movement have become increasingly important as lower order needs like leakage are sufficiently met by most products. Today’s methods to measure diaper fit focus on technical measurements (engineering and technical fit) and parents’ subjective perceptions. While these methods are useful tools for product development purposes, they are not seen as sufficient for Advertising Claim Support needs. However, when a new fit innovation should be advertised, particularly when this is done in a competitive way, a robust technical support is needed to defend this claim in case of challenges by competitors or regulatory bodies. For this purpose, methods need to be objective and technically sound in order to be acceptable to advertising regulatory bodies. Independent, objective ratings would substantiate claims on a more reliable and reproducible base. To meet this need, the diaper fit sensory panel method was developed. This test reapplies the established sensory methodology used, e.g. to assess taste or smell in food and beverages

Habitual night waking associates with dynamics of waking cortical theta power in infancy

The implications of the substantial individual differences in infant sleep for early brain development remains unclear. Here, we examined whether night sleep quality relates to daytime brain activity, operationalised through measures of EEG theta power and its dynamic modulation, which have been previously linked to later cognitive development (Braithwaite et al., 2020, Jones et al., 2020). For this longitudinal study 76 typically developing infants were studied (age: 4-14 months, 166 individual study visits) over the course of 6 months with 1, 2, 3, or 4 lab visits. Habitual sleep was measured with a 7-day sleep diary and actigraphy, and the BISQ. 20-channel EEG was recorded while infants watched multiple rounds of videos of women singing nursery rhymes; oscillatory power in the theta band was extracted. Key metrics were average theta across stimuli, and the slope of change in theta within the first novel movie. Both objective and subjective sleep assessment methods showed a relationship between more night waking, and higher overall theta power and reduced dynamic modulation of theta over the course of the novel video stimuli. These results may indicate altered learning and consolidation in infants with more disrupted night sleep, which may have implications for cognitive development

Oxytocin but not naturally occurring variation in caregiver touch associates with infant social orienting

Caregiver touch is crucial for infants’ healthy development, but its role in shaping infant cognition has been relatively understudied. In particular, despite strong premises to hypothesize its function in directing infant attention to social information, little empirical evidence exists on the topic. In this study, we investigated the associations between naturally occurring variation in caregiver touch and infant social attention in a group of 6- to 13-month old infants (n = 71). Additionally, we measured infant salivary oxytocin as a possible mediator of the effects of touch on infant social attention. The hypothesized effects were investigated both short-term, with respect to touch observed during parent-infant interactions in the lab, as well as long-term, with respect to parentreported patterns of everyday touching behaviours. We did not find evidence that caregiver touch predicts infant social attention or salivary oxytocin levels, short-term or long-term. However, we found that salivary oxytocin predicted infant preferential attention to faces relative to non-social objects, measured in an eye tracking task. Our findings confirm the involvement of oxytocin in social orienting in infancy, but raise questions regarding the possible environmental factors influencing the infant oxytocin system

Developing customized NIRS-EEG for infant sleep research: methodological considerations

Significance: Studies using simultaneous fNIRS-EEG during natural sleep in infancy are rare. New developments for combined fNIRS-EEG for sleep research are needed that ensure optimal comfort whilst ensuring good coupling and data quality. Aim: We describe the steps towards developing a comfortable, wearable NIRS-EEG headgear adapted specifically for sleeping infants ages 5-9 months and present the experimental procedures and data quality to conduct infant sleep research using combined fNIRS-EEG. Approach: N=49 5-to-9-months-old infants participated. In phase 1, N=26 (10=slept) using the non-wearable version of the NIRS-EEG headgear with 13-channel-wearable EEG and 39-channel fiber-based NIRS. In phase 2, N=23 infants (21=slept) with the wireless version of the headgear with 20-channel-wearable EEG and 47-channel-wearable-NIRS. We used QT-NIRS to assess NIRS data quality based on: good time window percentage, included channels, nap duration and valid EEG percentage. Results: Infant nap rate during phase 1 was ~40% (45% valid EEG data) and increased to 90% during phase 2 (100% valid EEG data). Infants slept significantly longer with the wearable system than the non-wearable system. However, there were more included good channels based on QT-NIRS in study phase 1 (61 %) than 2 (50 %), though this difference was not statistically significant. Conclusions: We demonstrated the usability of an integrated NIRS-EEG headgear during natural infant sleep both with a non-wearable and wearable NIRS system. The wearable EEG-NIRS headgear represents a good compromise between data quality, opportunities of applications (home visits, toddlers) and experiment success (infants’ comfort, longer sleep duration, opportunities for caregiver-child interaction)

Angular Forces Around Transition Metals in Biomolecules

Quantum-mechanical analysis based on an exact sum rule is used to extract an semiclassical angle-dependent energy function for transition metal ions in biomolecules. The angular dependence is simple but different from existing classical potentials. Comparison of predicted energies with a computer-generated database shows that the semiclassical energy function is remarkably accurate, and that its angular dependence is optimal.Comment: Tex file plus 4 postscript figure

Z-score mapping for standardized analysis and reporting of cardiovascular magnetic resonance modified Look-Locker inversion recovery (MOLLI) T1 data: normal behavior and validation in patients with amyloidosis

BACKGROUND: T1 mapping using modified Look-Locker inversion recovery (MOLLI) provides quantitative information on myocardial tissue composition. T1 results differ between sites due to variations in hardware and software equipment, limiting the comparability of results. The aim was to test if Z-scores can be used to compare the results of MOLLI T1 mapping from different cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) platforms. METHODS: First, healthy subjects (n = 15) underwent 11 combinations of native short-axis T1 mapping (four CMR systems from two manufacturers at 1.5 T and 3 T, three MOLLI schemes). Mean and standard deviation (SD) of septal myocardial T1 were derived for each combination. T1 maps were transformed into Z-score maps based on mean and SD values using a prototype post-processing module. Second, Z-score mapping was applied to a validation sample of patients with cardiac amyloidosis at 1.5 T (n = 25) or 3 T (n = 13). RESULTS: In conventional T1 analysis, results were confounded by variations in field strength, MOLLI scheme, and manufacturer-specific system characteristics. Z-score-based analysis yielded consistent results without significant differences between any two of the combinations in part 1 of the study. In the validation sample, Z-score mapping differentiated between patients with cardiac amyloidosis and healthy subjects with the same diagnostic accuracy as standard T1 analysis regardless of field strength. CONCLUSIONS: T1 analysis based on Z-score mapping provides consistent results without significant differences due to field strengths, CMR systems, or MOLLI variants, and detects cardiac amyloidosis with the same diagnostic accuracy as conventional T1 analysis. Z-score mapping provides a means to compare native T1 results acquired with MOLLI across different CMR platforms