Search for single production of vector-like quarks decaying to a b quark and a Higgs boson

A search is presented for the singly produced heavy vector-like quark B, in its decay to a Higgs boson and a b quark. The Higgs boson decays to a highly boosted b¯b quark pair and is reconstructed as a single collimated jet. The analysis exploits data collected by the CMS experiment in proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV at the CERN LHC. The corresponding integrated luminosity is 35.9fb−1. The data are in agreement with the background expectations, and upper limits at 95% confidence level on the B quark cross section times the branching ratio are set. For a narrow B quark with a mass between 700 and 1800GeV, values in the range 1.28–0.07pb are obtained. Similar sensitivities are achieved also in the case of more realistic scenarios where the production of B quarks with widths of 10, 20 and 30% of the resonance mass are considered. With this search, the current knowledge on vector-like quarks was extended, being this analysis the first at the CERN LHC for the single production of a B quark through its fully hadronic decay channel, and also the first study investigating finite resonance widths of the B quark

The changes of lipid metabolism in advanced renal cell carcinoma patients treated with everolimus: A new pharmacodynamic marker?

Background: Everolimus is a mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor approved for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). We aimed to assess the association between the baseline values and treatmentrelated modifications of total serum cholesterol (C), triglycerides (T), body mass index (BMI), fasting blood glucose level (FBG) and blood pressure (BP) levels and the outcome of patients treated with everolimus for mRCC. Methods: 177 patients were included in this retrospective analysis. Time to progression (TTP), clinical benefit (CB) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated. Results: Basal BMI was significantly higher in patients who experienced a CB (p=0,0145). C, T and C +T raises were significantly associated with baseline BMI (p=0.0412, 0.0283 and 0.0001). Median TTP was significantly longer in patients with T raise compared to patients without T (10 vs 6, p =0.030), C (8 vs 5, p =0.042) and C+T raise (10.9 vs 5.0, p=0.003). At the multivariate analysis, only C+T increase was associated with improved TTP (p=0.005). T raise (21.0 vs 14.0, p=0.002) and C+T increase (21.0 vs 14.0, p=0.006) were correlated with improved OS but were not significant at multivariate analysis. Conclusion: C+T raise is an early predictor for everolimus efficacy for patients with mRCC

Constraints on the χ_(c1) versus χ_(c2) polarizations in proton-proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV

The polarizations of promptly produced χ_(c1) and χ_(c2) mesons are studied using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, in proton-proton collisions at √s=8  TeV. The χ_c states are reconstructed via their radiative decays χ_c → J/ψγ, with the photons being measured through conversions to e⁺e⁻, which allows the two states to be well resolved. The polarizations are measured in the helicity frame, through the analysis of the χ_(c2) to χ_(c1) yield ratio as a function of the polar or azimuthal angle of the positive muon emitted in the J/ψ → μ⁺μ⁻ decay, in three bins of J/ψ transverse momentum. While no differences are seen between the two states in terms of azimuthal decay angle distributions, they are observed to have significantly different polar anisotropies. The measurement favors a scenario where at least one of the two states is strongly polarized along the helicity quantization axis, in agreement with nonrelativistic quantum chromodynamics predictions. This is the first measurement of significantly polarized quarkonia produced at high transverse momentum