Testing the Higgs Mechanism in the Lepton Sector with multi-TeV e+e- Collisions

Multi-TeV e+e- collisions provide with a large enough sample of Higgs bosons to enable measurements of its suppressed decays. Results of a detailed study of the determination of the muon Yukawa coupling at 3 TeV, based on full detector simulation and event reconstruction, are presented. The muon Yukawa coupling can be determined with a relative accuracy of 0.04 to 0.08 for Higgs bosons masses from 120 GeV to 150 GeV, with an integrated luminosity of 5 inverse-ab. The result is not affected by overlapping two-photon background.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, submitted to J Phys G.: Nucl. Phy

Infrastructure for Detector Research and Development towards the International Linear Collider

The EUDET-project was launched to create an infrastructure for developing and testing new and advanced detector technologies to be used at a future linear collider. The aim was to make possible experimentation and analysis of data for institutes, which otherwise could not be realized due to lack of resources. The infrastructure comprised an analysis and software network, and instrumentation infrastructures for tracking detectors as well as for calorimetry.Comment: 54 pages, 48 picture

Pion and proton showers in the CALICE scintillator-steel analogue hadron calorimeter

Showers produced by positive hadrons in the highly granular CALICE scintillator-steel analogue hadron calorimeter were studied. The experimental data were collected at CERN and FNAL for single particles with initial momenta from 10 to 80 GeV/c. The calorimeter response and resolution and spatial characteristics of shower development for proton- and pion-induced showers for test beam data and simulations using Geant4 version 9.6 are compared.Comment: 26 pages, 16 figures, JINST style, changes in the author list, typos corrected, new section added, figures regrouped. Accepted for publication in JINS

In Situ Metabolic Rates of Alkane-Degrading Sulphate-Reducing Bacteria in Hydrocarbon Seep Sediments Revealed by Combining CARD-FISH, NanoSIMS, and Mathematical Modelling

Marine hydrocarbon seeps are hotspots for sulphate reduction coupled to hydrocarbon oxidation. In situ metabolic rates of sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) degrading hydrocarbons other than methane, however, remain poorly understood. Here, we assessed the environmental role of Desulfosarcinaceae clades SCA1, SCA2 for degradation of n-butane and clade LCA2 for n-dodecane. Quantification by CARD-FISH showed that SCA1 constituted up to 31%, SCA2 up to 9%, and LCA2 up to 6% of cells from the recently re-classified class Deltaproteobacteria across diverse hydrocarbon seeps. Cell-specific oxidation rates estimated by stable-isotope probing combined with NanoSIMS and modelling were similar to 0.73 and similar to 2.11 fmol butane cell(-1) d(-1) for SCA1 and SCA2, respectively, and similar to 0.023 fmol dodecane cell(-1) d(-1) for LCA2 in sediments from Amon Mud Volcano and Guaymas Basin sediments. Cellular carbon assimilation, dissolved inorganic carbon production, and sulphate reduction rates indicated that butane-degrading SRB have higher metabolic activity than those utilising dodecane. Estimates based on in situ cell abundances, biovolumes, and cellular activities suggest that at certain seeps, clades SCA1, SCA2 and LCA2 account for nearly all sulphate reduction not driven by methane oxidation. These findings highlight the important role of alkane-degrading SRB in influencing marine carbon and sulphur cycles, particularly at seeps emitting higher hydrocarbons

Development of a chemically defined medium and discovery of new mitogenic growth factors for mouse hepatocytes: Mitogenic effects of FGF1/2 and PDGF

Chemically defined serum-free media for rat hepatocytes have been useful in identifying EGFR ligands and HGF/MET signaling as direct mitogenic factors for rat hepatocytes. The absence of such media for mouse hepatocytes has prevented screening for discovery of such mitogens for mouse hepatocytes. We present results obtained by designing such a chemically defined medium for mouse hepatocytes and demonstrate that in addition to EGFR ligands and HGF, the growth factors FGF1 and FGF2 are also important mitogenic factors for mouse hepatocytes. Smaller mitogenic response was also noticed for PDGF AB. Mouse hepatocytes are more likely to enter into spontaneous proliferation in primary culture due to activation of cell cycle pathways resulting from collagenase perfusion. These results demonstrate unanticipated fundamental differences in growth biology of hepatocytes between the two rodent species. Copyright: © 2014 Reekie et al

Impact of safety-related dose reductions or discontinuations on sustained virologic response in HCV-infected patients: Results from the GUARD-C Cohort

BACKGROUND: Despite the introduction of direct-acting antiviral agents for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, peginterferon alfa/ribavirin remains relevant in many resource-constrained settings. The non-randomized GUARD-C cohort investigated baseline predictors of safety-related dose reductions or discontinuations (sr-RD) and their impact on sustained virologic response (SVR) in patients receiving peginterferon alfa/ribavirin in routine practice. METHODS: A total of 3181 HCV-mono-infected treatment-naive patients were assigned to 24 or 48 weeks of peginterferon alfa/ribavirin by their physician. Patients were categorized by time-to-first sr-RD (Week 4/12). Detailed analyses of the impact of sr-RD on SVR24 (HCV RNA <50 IU/mL) were conducted in 951 Caucasian, noncirrhotic genotype (G)1 patients assigned to peginterferon alfa-2a/ribavirin for 48 weeks. The probability of SVR24 was identified by a baseline scoring system (range: 0-9 points) on which scores of 5 to 9 and <5 represent high and low probability of SVR24, respectively. RESULTS: SVR24 rates were 46.1% (754/1634), 77.1% (279/362), 68.0% (514/756), and 51.3% (203/396), respectively, in G1, 2, 3, and 4 patients. Overall, 16.9% and 21.8% patients experienced 651 sr-RD for peginterferon alfa and ribavirin, respectively. Among Caucasian noncirrhotic G1 patients: female sex, lower body mass index, pre-existing cardiovascular/pulmonary disease, and low hematological indices were prognostic factors of sr-RD; SVR24 was lower in patients with 651 vs. no sr-RD by Week 4 (37.9% vs. 54.4%; P = 0.0046) and Week 12 (41.7% vs. 55.3%; P = 0.0016); sr-RD by Week 4/12 significantly reduced SVR24 in patients with scores <5 but not 655. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, sr-RD to peginterferon alfa-2a/ribavirin significantly impacts on SVR24 rates in treatment-naive G1 noncirrhotic Caucasian patients. Baseline characteristics can help select patients with a high probability of SVR24 and a low probability of sr-RD with peginterferon alfa-2a/ribavirin

Structure and activity of lacustrine sediment bacteria involved in nutrient and iron cycles

Knowledge about the bacterial community structure in sediments is essential to better design restoration strategies for eutrophied lakes. In that regard, the aim of this study was to quantify the abundance and activity of bacteria involved in nutrient and iron cycling in sediments from four Azorean lakes with distinct trophic states (Verde, Azul, Furnas and Fogo). Inferred from quantitative PCR, bacteria performing anaerobic ammonia oxidation, were the most abundant in the eutrophic lakes Verde, Azul and Furnas (4.5 % to 16.6 %), followed by nitrifying bacteria (0.8 % to 13.0 %), denitrifying bacteria (0.5 % to 6.8 %), iron-reducing bacteria (0.2 % to 1.4 %), and phosphorus-accumulating organisms (<0.3 %). In contrast, denitrifying bacteria dominated sediments from the oligo-mesotrophic lake Fogo (8.8 %). Activity assays suggested that bacteria performing ammonia oxidation (aerobic and anaerobic), nitrite oxidation, heterothrophic nitrate reduction, iron reduction and biological phosphorus storage/release were present and active in all Azorean lake sediments. The present work also suggested that the activity of denitrifying bacteria might contribute to the release of phosphorus from sediments.The authors are indebted and grateful to the Regional Department of Water Resources and Land Planning (Azores) for the grant (Contrato Excepcionado no. 4/2008/ DROTRH) and its staff (Dina Pacheco), and to Virgilio Cruz and Paulo Antunes (Geosciences Department, University of Azores) for the useful help in sediments' collection, to the technical staff of the Department of Environmental Engineering - DTU for chemical analysis, to Laurent Philippot (INRA - University of Burgundy) for positive controls for DNB, to Richard Glaven and Derek Lovley (Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts) for Geobacter strains, to Paul Bodelier, Marzia Milleto and Marion Meima (Netherlands Institute of Ecology, NIOO-KNAW) for SRB clones and to Yunhong Kong and Per Halkjaer Nielsen (Department of Life Sciences, Section of Environmental Engineering, Aalborg University) for PAO clones. The authors also acknowledge the Grant SFRH/BD/25639/2005 from the Foundation for Science and Technology/M.C.T.(Portugal) awarded to G. M. and a Marie Curie Excellence Award (EC FP6) to B.F.S

Autotrophic and heterotrophic acquisition of carbon and nitrogen by a mixotrophic chrysophyte established through stable isotope analysis

Collectively, phagotrophic algae (mixotrophs) form a functional continuum of nutritional modes between autotrophy and heterotrophy, but the specific physiological benefits of mixotrophic nutrition differ among taxa. Ochromonas spp. are ubiquitous chrysophytes that exhibit high nutritional flexibility, although most species generally fall towards the heterotrophic end of the mixotrophy spectrum. We assessed the sources of carbon and nitrogen in Ochromonas sp. strain BG-1 growing mixotrophically via short-term stable isotope probing. An axenic culture was grown in the presence of either heat-killed bacteria enriched with ^(15)N and ^(13)C, or unlabeled heat-killed bacteria and labeled inorganic substrates (^(13)C-bicarbonate and ^(15)N-ammonium). The alga exhibited high growth rates (up to 2 divisions per day) only until heat-killed bacteria were depleted. NanoSIMS and bulk IRMS isotope analyses revealed that Ochromonas obtained 84–99% of its carbon and 88–95% of its nitrogen from consumed bacteria. The chrysophyte assimilated inorganic ^(13)C-carbon and ^(15)N-nitrogen when bacterial abundances were very low, but autotrophic (photosynthetic) activity was insufficient to support net population growth of the alga. Our use of nanoSIMS represents its first application towards the study of a mixotrophic alga, enabling a better understanding and quantitative assessment of carbon and nutrient acquisition by this species

The accident insurance as a promising direction for insurance in Russia

Статья посвящена анализу состояния рынка услуг страхования от несчастных случаев. Актуальность исследования определяется тем, что страхование является неотъемлемым атрибутом цивилизованного общества, позволяющим сохранить обеспеченность доходами при неблагоприятных ситуациях. По статистике в России уровень травматизма и непредвиденных обстоятельств весьма велик. Люди традиционно уделяют мало внимания формированию резервов на случай временной или постоянной нетрудоспособности. Цель работы: рассмотреть систему страхования от несчастных случаев. Методы исследования: метод сопоставления, необходимый для выявления главных тенденций на рынке страховых услуг; аналитический метод, позволяющий понять, какие проблемы характерны для этого вида страхования; статистический метод, выявляющий масштабы страхования от несчастных случаев. Результаты: раскрывается сущность и виды страхования от несчастных случаев.The article is devoted to analysis of service market of accident insurance. The relevant of the study is determined by the fact that insurance is an integral attribute of a civilized society that allows you to save security income in adverse situations. According to statistics, in Russia the level of injury and unforeseen circumstances is very great. People traditionally pay little attention to formation of reserves in case of temporary or permanent incapacity for work. The main aim of the study is to consider the system of the accident insurance. Methods: the matching method required to identify the main trends in the insurance market; the analytical technique which allows understanding the typical problems for this type of insurance; the statistical method allows us to identify the extent of accident insurance. Results. The paper reveals the essence and types of accident insurance and considers the model events when the insurance company indemnifies for the damage. The causes of the demand for this type of insurance in Russia are identified. Based on the statistical data the author has determined the proportion of the accident insured people