Standard Model Higgs Search Strategy at LEP

The Standard Model Higgs boson has been searched for by the four LEP experiments in the last twelve years. The data collected at LEP in the year 2000 suggest the first observation of a Higgs boson. In this letter, I describe the basic concepts of the Higgs search at LEP, with emphasis in the statistical method used to combine the results from the LEP experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Moriond QCD 200

Longer Lives?: Understanding the Human Life Extension Possibilities

Over the last few years, ethical and social issues related to life extension have gathered much attention among biologists, medical doctors and philosophers. However, despite the general agreement on the importance of life extension both for biogerontology and philosophy of medicine, a satisfactory definition of life extension has not been provided yet. In order to mediate with all the knowledge, in this paper I will present a conceptual model of human life extension: (1) to offer a general definition and some biomedical aspects; (2) to present the origin of the ethical mistake; (3) to introduce two levels: moderate human life extension and radical life extension (4) to comment successful aging idea.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Old ideas from a new philosophical model: levels and means of human life extension

Since 2000, the possibility of extending human lifespan has been a highly debated topic by both biomedical scientists (de Grey and Rae, 2007; Olshansky & Carnes, 2002) and philosophers (Agar, 2010; Overall, 2003). One kind of attempt to find middle ground in this debate has been efforts to distinguish two kinds of life extension: moderate and radical (Agar, 2013; Glannon 2002; Lucke et al, 2006). Although, there are three reasons for rejecting this distinction: 1. The difference between moderate and radical life extension cannot be explained only by a quantitative measurement but also by a qualitative distinction. Jeanne Calment's age is not a maximum lifespan (imaginable) and I propose the concept of Uncertainty Threshold of Longevity to debate whether there is a limit in our species. 2. The question of whether a therapy will be considered in a Weak Sense or in a Strong Sense. It still does not exist, save (or with the exception of) caloric restriction, many promising researches on aging. How to evaluate whether a treatment will add more years or more health or how to know the best way to live 200 years? 3. A thought experiment named Peter Pan Drug suggests that a healthspan extension, in a radical sense, allows us to re-think about a lifestyle totally different from now. Example: a life extended to 120 years but maintaining physical and mental condition all the time, is it moderate kind? I propose an alternative model for resolving this debate. This model builds upon the distinctions that Juengst (et al, 2003) and Wareham (2016) make about different levels and means to control human senescence, to propose the following conceptual categories: (a) Compression of Morbidity; (b) Slowed Aging; (c) Negligible Aging or SENS; (d) Arrested Aging; (e) Escaping Aging. In addition, I have to add several concepts which are relevant for my purpose: indefinite life, virtual sort of immortality or (true) immortality.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

A new framework for thinking about life extension

I propose an alternative framework for resolving the debate about life extension. This model builds upon the distinctions that Juengst (et al. 2003) and Wareham (2016) make about different levels and means to control human senescence, to propose the following conceptual categories: (a) Compression of Morbidity; (b) Slowed Aging; (c) Negligible Aging or SENS; (d) Arrested Aging; (e) Escaping Aging. In addition, I have to add several concepts which are relevant for my purpose: indefinite life, virtual sort of immortality or (true) immortality.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

MEASURING WILLINGNESS-TO-PAY IN DISCRETE CHOICE MODELS WITH SEMI- PARAMETRIC TECHNIQUES

It is usual to estimate willingness-to-pay in discrete choice models through Logit models –or their expanded versions-. Nevertheless, these models have very restrictive distributional assumptions. This paper is intended to examine the above mentioned issue and to propose an alternative estimation using semi-parametric techniques (through Simple Index Models). Furthermore, this paper introduces an empirical application of willingness-to-pay for improved subway travel times in the City of Buenos Aires.Discrete Choice models, Econometrics, Transportation

Measurement of the Higgs Cross Section and Mass with Linear Colliders

We report on the accuracy of the measurement of the Higgs boson mass and the total cross section of the process e+e- -> ZH that would be achieved in a linear collider operating at a centre-of-mass energy of 350 GeV, assuming an integrated luminosity of 500 (1/fb). For that we have exploited the recoil mass off the Z using its leptonic decays into electron and muon pairs. The Higgs mass is determined with 150 MeV accuracy, the recoil mass resolution is about 1.5 GeV and the cross section is obtained with a statistical error of 3%.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to be published in the Proceedings of the LCWS99 (Sitges, Spain) by World Scientific Publishing Company (Singapore

Practitioner requirements for integrated Knowledge-Based Engineering in Product Lifecycle Management.

The effective management of knowledge as capital is considered essential to the success of engineering product/service systems. As Knowledge Management (KM) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) practice gain industrial adoption, the question of functional overlaps between both the approaches becomes evident. This article explores the interoperability between PLM and Knowledge-Based Engineering (KBE) as a strategy for engineering KM. The opinion of key KBE/PLM practitioners are systematically captured and analysed. A set of ranked business functionalities to be fulfiled by the KBE/PLM systems integration is elicited. The article provides insights for the researchers and the practitioners playing both the user and development roles on the future needs for knowledge systems based on PLM

PTEN: A master regulator of neuronal structure, function, and plasticity.

PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog on chromosome ten) is a dual protein/lipid phosphatase that dephosphorylates PIP3, thereby inhibiting the AKT/mTOR pathway. This inhibition ultimately decreases protein translation, cell proliferation and cell growth. In the central nervous system, inhibition of PTEN leads to increased stem cell proliferation, somatic, dendritic and axonal growth, accelerated spine maturation, diminished synaptic plasticity, and altered intrinsic excitability. In agreement with these findings, patients carrying single-copy inactivating mutations of PTEN suffer from autism, macrocephaly, mental retardation, and epilepsy.(1) (-) (9) Understanding the mechanisms through which PTEN modulates the structure, function, and plasticity of cortical networks is a major focus of study. Preventing and reversing the changes induced by loss of Pten in model animals will pave the way for treatments in humans