Selecting the Optimal LHC Signatures for Distinguishing Models

An algorithm is developed which the goal of producing the most statistically significant signature list for distinguishing between two candidate models given a set of LHC observations.Comment: SUSY09 parallel session proceedin

Effect of mercury vapor inhalation on rat ovary: stereology and histopathology

AimMercury, an environmental contaminant, is a risk factor for health in whole living organisms. In this study, we investigated whether mercury vapor (HgO) inhalation has an effect on rat ovary. MethodsTwelve Wistar albino rats were divided equally into experimental (Hg) and control groups (n = 6). Animals in the Hg group were exposed to HgO for 45 days at a dose 1 mg/m(3)/day, after which, histological and stereological assessment were carried out. ResultsOvaries exposed to HgO had histo-morphometric alterations. HgO inhalation resulted in reduction of the total number of primordial, primary and Graaf follicles. Also, mean volume of ovary, medulla and cortex, corpus luteum (c.luteum) and Graaf follicles was decreased in the Hg group. Moreover, there was a significant increase in total volume of the atretic follicles. On light microscopy, thickening of tunica albuginea, increase of fibrils within the connective tissue, congestion of the capillaries and venous vessels, thinned walls and fibrin deposition in some large blood vessels, and edema were seen. Also, irregular follicle and oocyte borders, and hydropic degeneration in follicular granulosa cells were detected. ConclusionStructural alterations could be attributed to the toxic influence of HgO on rat ovary. The use of Hg should therefore be more controlled to minimize its toxic effect

Inhalation of mercury vapor can cause the toxic effects on rat kidney

Dental amalgam has been used in dentistry as a filling material. The filler comprises mercury (Hg). It is considered one of the most important and widespread environmental pollutants, which poses a serious potential threat for the humans and animals. However, mercury deposition affects the nervous, cardiovascular, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, and especially renal systems. In most animals' species and humans, the kidney is one of the main sites of deposition of mercury and target organ for its toxicity. In this study, the effects of mercury intake on kidney in rats were searched. For the this purpose; we used 24 adult female Wistar albino rats (200g in weight) obtained from Experimental Research and Application Center of Ataturk University with ethical approval. Besides, they were placed into a specially designed glass cage. Along this experiment for 45 days, subjects were exposed to (1mg/m(3)/day) mercury vapor. However, no application was used for the control subjects. At the end of the experiment, kidney samples were obtained from all subjects and processed for routine light microscopic level and stereological aspect were assessed. Finally, according to our results, mercury affects the histological features of the kidney. That means, the severe effects of mercury has been shown using stereological approach, which is one of the ideal quantitative methods in the current literature. In this study, it was detected that chronic exposure to mercury vapor may lead to renal damage and diseases in an experimental rat model

Estimation of streamflow by slope Regional Dependency Function

International audienceKriging is one of the most developed methodologies in the regional variable modeling. However, one of its drawbacks is that the influence radius can not be determined by this method. In which distance and in what ratio that pivot station is influenced from adjacent sites is rather often encountered problem in practical applications. Regional weighting functions obtained from available data consist of several broken lines. Each line has different slopes which represent the similarity and the contribution of adjacent stations as a weighting coefficient. The approach in this study is called as Slope Regional Dependency Function (SRDF). The main idea of this approach is to express the variability in value differences [?(d)] and distances together. Originally proposed SRDF and Trigonometric Point Cumulative Semi-Variogram (TPCSV) methods are used to predict streamflow. Also TPCSV and Point Cumulative Semi-Variogram (PCSV) approaches are compared with each other. Prediction performance of all three methods stays below 10% relative error which is acceptable for the engineering applications. It is shown that SRDF outperforms PCSV and TPCSV with very high differences. It can be used for missing data completion, determination of measurement sites location, calculation of influence radius, and determination of regional variable potential. The proposed method is applied for the 38 stream flow measurement sites located in the Mississippi River basin

The assessment of maxillofacial soft tissue and intracranial calcifications via cone-beam computed tomography

Abstract: Background: Cone-beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) scans obtained with larger field of view let us see various incidental findings, anatomical variations and pathologies, like intracranial and soft tissue calcifications. Objective: The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine the prevalence of intracranial and soft tissue calcifications via CBCT. Methods: Full volume (maxillofacial region) scans of 290 patients achieved for various reasons were investigated by blinded two dentomaxillofacial radiologists. Demographic data of the patients were saved. The findings were categorized and statistically analyzed with descriptive statistics, crosstabs and chi-square tests. Results: Totally 290 patients aged between 24 and 81 years old (mean age ± standard deviation: 49±14) consisting of 155 females (53.4%) and 135 males (46.6%) were examined in the study. The most common calcifications were pineal gland calcification (64.5%), followed by tonsillolith (34.1%), petroclinoid ligament calcification (33.4%), Intracranial Internal Carotid Artery Calcifications (IICAC) (18.3%), Extracranial Internal Carotid Artery Calcifications (EICAC) (8.3%) and the others (1.7%, equally sialolith, antrolith and choroid plexus calcification), respectively. Conclusion: Tonsillolith, EICAC and IICAC showed an increase with age. EICAC was seen more in females, conversely petroclinoid ligament calcification was seen more in males. There was a statistically significant correlation between EICAC and IICAC

Higgs Boson Mass Predictions in SUGRA Unification, Recent LHC-7 Results, and Dark Matter

LHC-7 has narrowed down the mass range of the light Higgs boson. This result is consistent with the supergravity unification framework, and the current Higgs boson mass window implies a rather significant loop correction to the tree value pointing to a relatively heavy scalar sparticle spectrum with universal boundary conditions. It is shown that the largest value of the Higgs boson mass is obtained on the Hyperbolic Branch of radiative breaking. The implications of light Higgs boson in the broader mass range of 115 GeV to 131 GeV and a narrower range of 123 GeV to 127 GeV are explored in the context of the discovery of supersymmetry at LHC-7 and for the observation of dark matter in direct detection experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Flavor Changing Heavy Higgs Interactions at the LHC

A general two Higgs doublet model (2HDM) is adopted to study the signature of flavor changing neutral Higgs (FCNH) decay $\phi^0 \to t\bar{c}+\bar{t}c$, where $\phi^0$ could be a CP-even scalar ($H^0$) or a CP-odd pseudoscalar ($A^0$). Measurement of the light 125 GeV neutral Higgs boson ($h^0$) couplings at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) favor the decoupling limit or the alignment limit of a 2HDM, in which gauge boson and diagonal fermion couplings of $h^0$ approach Standard Model values. In such limit, FCNH couplings of $h^0$ are naturally suppressed by a small mixing parameter $\cos(\beta-\alpha)$, while the off-diagonal couplings of heavier neutral scalars $\phi^0$ are sustained by $\sin(\beta-\alpha) \sim 1$. We study physics background from dominant processes with realistic acceptance cuts and tagging efficiencies. Promising results are found for the LHC running at 13 or 14 TeV collision energies.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, to be published in Phys. Lett.