Limit on τ\tau branching ratios into 7 or more charged particles and into undetected particles

We present studies of QCD Coherence phenomenom, well know as the Angluar Ordering (AO), which has been predicted by QCD theory. The analysis is based on the Particle-Particle-Correlation-Asymetery (PPCA) and on the Energy-Mutiplicity-Mutiplicity-Correlation (EMMC) functions, as observables sensitive to Angular Ordering. The Monte Carlo programs and a sample of 800000 hadronic events registered by ALEPH detector in 1992 and 1993 were used in this analysis. We find that the data favors Monte Carlo programs with AO, which supports the QCD prediction

Diagnostic Accuracy of Five Serologic Tests for Strongyloides stercoralis Infection

Background:The diagnosis of Strongyloides stercoralis (S. stercoralis) infection is hampered by the suboptimal sensitivity of fecal-based tests. Serological methods are believed to be more sensitive, although assessing their accuracy is difficult because of the lack of sensitivity of a fecal-based reference ("gold") standard.Methods:The sensitivity and specificity of 5 serologic tests for S. stercoralis (in-house IFAT, NIE-ELISA and NIE-LIPS and the commercially available Bordier-ELISA and IVD-ELISA) were assessed on 399 cryopreserved serum samples. Accuracy was measured using fecal results as the primary reference standard, but also using a composite reference standard (based on a combination of tests).Results:According to the latter standard, the most sensitive test was IFAT, with 94.6% sensitivity (91.2-96.9), followed by IVD-ELISA (92.3%, 87.7-96.9). The most specific test was NIE-LIPS, with specificity 99.6% (98.9-100), followed by IVD-ELISA (97.4%, 95.5-99.3). NIE-LIPS did not cross-react with any of the specimens from subjects with other parasitic infections. NIE-LIPS and the two commercial ELISAs approach 100% specificity at a cut off level that maintains ≥70% sensitivity.Conclusions:NIE-LIPS is the most accurate serologic test for the diagnosis of S. stercoralis infection. IFAT and each of the ELISA tests are sufficiently accurate, above a given cut off, for diagnosis, prevalence studies and inclusion in clinical trials.Fil: Bisoffi, Zeno. Sacro Cuore Hospital; ItaliaFil: Buonfrate, Dora. Sacro Cuore Hospital; ItaliaFil: Sequi, Marco. Istituto Di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri; ItaliaFil: Mejia, Rojelio. National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases; Estados UnidosFil: Cimino, Rubén Oscar. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Sede Regional Orán. Instituto de Investigación de Enfermedades Tropicales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Krolewiecki, Alejandro Javier. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Sede Regional Orán. Instituto de Investigación de Enfermedades Tropicales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Albonico, Marco. Sacro Cuore Hospital; ItaliaFil: Gobbo, Maria. Sacro Cuore Hospital; ItaliaFil: Bonafini, Stefania. Sacro Cuore Hospital; ItaliaFil: Angheben, Andrea. Sacro Cuore Hospital; ItaliaFil: Requena-Mendez, Ana. Universidad de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Muñoz, José. Universidad de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Nutman, Thomas B.. National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases; Estados Unido

Measurement of transverse momentum relative to dijet systems in PbPb and pp collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 2.76 TeV

An analysis of dijet events in PbPb and pp collisions is performed to explore the properties of energy loss by partons traveling in a quark-gluon plasma. Data are collected at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 2.76 TeV at the LHC. The distribution of transverse momentum (p T) surrounding dijet systems is measured by selecting charged particles in different ranges of p T and at different angular cones of pseudorapidity and azimuth. The measurement is performed as a function of centrality of the PbPb collisions, the p T asymmetry of the jets in the dijet pair, and the distance parameter R used in the anti-k T jet clustering algorithm. In events with unbalanced dijets, PbPb collisions show an enhanced multiplicity in the hemisphere of the subleading jet, with the p T imbalance compensated by an excess of low-p T particles at large angles from the jet axes

Search for supersymmetry in electroweak production with photons and large missing transverse energy in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV

Results are reported from a search for supersymmetry with gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking in electroweak production. Final states with photons and large missing transverse energy ( View the MathML sourceETmiss) were examined. The data sample was collected in pp collisions at View the MathML sources=8TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to 7.4View the MathML sourcefb−1. The analysis focuses on scenarios in which the lightest neutralino has bino- or wino-like components, resulting in decays to photons and gravitinos, where the gravitinos escape undetected. The data were obtained using a specially designed trigger with dedicated low thresholds, providing good sensitivity to signatures with photons, View the MathML sourceETmiss, and low hadronic energy. No excess of events over the standard model expectation is observed. The results are interpreted using the model of general gauge mediation. With the wino mass fixed at 10View the MathML sourceGeV above that of the bino, wino masses below 710View the MathML sourceGeV are excluded at 95% confidence level. Constraints are also set in the context of two simplified models, for which the analysis sets the lowest cross section limits on the electroweak production of supersymmetric particles

High prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection in patients with B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders in Italy.

Starting from the observation that a number of consecutive patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) resulted positive for hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies on routine testing, we set up a survey for HCV contact prevalence in all patients with lymphoproliferative disorders (LPD) followed in our institution. We searched for HCV antibodies by a thirdgeneration ELISA technique, followed by a confirmation test (RIBA III); serum viral RNA and HCV genotype were investigated by a RT-PCR technique. We screened a total of 315 patients suffering from B-NHL (91), multiple myeloma (56), MGUS (48), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (57), Waldentrom's macroglobulinemia (13), Hodgkin's disease (HD)(43), and T-NHL (9). While only I of 52 patients with a non-B-LPD (HD or T-NHL) had signs of HCV contact (i.e., 1.9%, which is in the range of the normal population in the South of Italy), 59 of 263 patients with a B-LPD (22.4%) had HCV antibodies or RNA, or both, with no major differences among the various types of disorders, except for WM, in which the rate was higher (61.5%). The same prevalence was found for patients tested at diagnosis or during the follow-up, and in transfused or never-transfused patients. Only a few patients were aware of having a liver disease; one-half of HCV-positive patients never had transaminase increase. A review of data from Central and Northern Italy is included, showing similar findings; a report from Japan has confirmed such an association, while limited surveys in England have not revealed any correlation. These findings may have important biological and clinical implications

Diamonds from Dachine, French Guiana : a unique record of Early Proterozoic subduction

This research was supported by NERC grant NE/J008583/1 to MJW and SCK.Diamonds from Dachine, French Guiana, are unique among worldwide diamond populations. The diamonds were transported to the surface in an unusual ultramafic extrusive magma with an affinity to boninite or komatiite, which was emplaced within an arc geological setting at ~ 2.2 Ga. Dachine diamonds have internal and external morphologies indicative of relatively rapid growth from carbon oversaturated fluids or melts, and exhibit internal features consistent with residence in a high-strain environment. On the basis of nitrogen (N) defects the diamonds are categorized as Type Ib-IaA. The unusually low aggregation state of N places severe constraints on the thermal history of the diamonds, effectively ruling out derivation in convecting mantle. The carbon and N isotopic compositions of Dachine diamonds are consistent with a sedimentary source of carbon, with the majority of diamonds having δ13C values + 4‰. The primary carbon was presumably deposited on an early Proterozoic seafloor. Sulphide inclusions have low Ni and Cr and are comparable to lithospheric eclogitic-type sulphide inclusions. Three garnet and one clinopyroxene inclusion are also eclogitic in composition, and one garnet inclusion has a majorite component indicating an origin around 250 km depth. The silicate inclusions are highly depleted in many incompatible trace elements (e.g. LREE, Nb, Hf, Zr), and modelling indicates an eclogitic source lithology that contained a LREE-enriched trace phase such as epidote or allanite, and an HFSE-rich phase such as rutile. Four of the five inclusions are unusually enriched in Mn, as well as Ni and Co, and modelling indicates a protolith with the bulk composition of subducted normal MORB plus about 10% ferromanganese crust component. We suggest a model wherein Dachine diamonds precipitated from remobilized sedimentary carbon at the slab-mantle interface from liquids derived ultimately by deserpentinization of slab peridotite at depths of ~ 200 to 250 km. These fluids may also trigger melting in wedge peridotite, resulting in a volatile-rich ultramafic melt that transports the diamonds rapidly to the surface. The process of diamond formation and exhumation from the slab mantle interface likely occurred in a Paleoproterozoic subduction zone and over a very limited timespan, likely less than a million years.PostprintPeer reviewe

Observation of top quark pairs produced in association with a vector boson in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV

Measurements of the cross sections for top quark pairs produced in association with a W or Z boson are presented, using 8TeV pp collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.5 fb1, collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. Final states are selected in which the associated W boson decays to a charged lepton and a neutrino or the Z boson decays to two charged leptons. Signal events are identied by matching reconstructed objects in the detector to specic nal state particles from ttW or ttZ decays. The ttW cross section is measured to be 382+117 102 fb with a signicance of 4.8 standard deviations from the background-only hypothesis. The ttZ cross section is measured to be 242+65 55 fb with a signicance of 6.4 standard deviations from the background-only hypothesis. These measurements are used to set bounds on ve anomalous dimension-six operators that would aect the ttW and ttZ cross sections

Search for standard model production of four top quarks in the lepton + jets channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV

A search is presented for standard model (SM) production of four top quarks (tt\uaftt\uaf) in pp collisions in the lepton + jets channel. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.6 fb 121 recorded at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC. The expected cross section for SM tt\uaftt\uaf production is \u3c3SMtt\uaftt\uaf 481fb. A combination of kinematic reconstruction and multivariate techniques is used to distinguish between the small signal and large background. The data are consistent with expectations of the SM, and an upper limit of 32 fb is set at a 95% confidence level on the cross section for producing four top quarks in the SM, where a limit of 32 \ub1 17 fb is expected