Measurement of Higgs boson production and properties in the WW decay channel with leptonic final states

Peer reviewe

Recognition and control of neutrophil extracellular trap formation by MICL

Regulation of neutrophil activation is critical for disease control. Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), which are web-like structures composed of DNA and neutrophil-derived proteins, are formed following pro-inflammatory signals; however, if this process is uncontrolled, NETs contribute to disease pathogenesis, exacerbating inflammation and host tissue damage1,2. Here we show that myeloid inhibitory C-type lectin-like (MICL), an inhibitory C-type lectin receptor, directly recognizes DNA in NETs; this interaction is vital to regulate neutrophil activation. Loss or inhibition of MICL functionality leads to uncontrolled NET formation through the ROS–PAD4 pathway and the development of an auto-inflammatory feedback loop. We show that in the context of rheumatoid arthritis, such dysregulation leads to exacerbated pathology in both mouse models and in human patients, where autoantibodies to MICL inhibit key functions of this receptor. Of note, we also detect similarly inhibitory anti-MICL autoantibodies in patients with other diseases linked to aberrant NET formation, including lupus and severe COVID-19. By contrast, dysregulation of NET release is protective during systemic infection with the fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. Together, we show that the recognition of NETs by MICL represents a fundamental autoregulatory pathway that controls neutrophil activity and NET formation

Recognition and control of neutrophil extracellular trap formation by MICL

Acknowledgements We thank the staff of the animal facilities at the University of Aberdeen and the University of Exeter for support and care for animals; C. Paterson from the University of Glasgow for assistance in establishing a Material Transfer Agreement; C. Parkin and D. Thompson for support with microscopy; and M. Stacey for valuable input. We acknowledge funding from the Wellcome Trust (102705 and 097377), Versus Arthritis (21164, 20775 and 21156), the US National Institutes of Health (R01DK121977 and R01AI163007), Versus Arthritis Centre of Excellence, Medical Research Council (MR/L020211/1) and the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology (MR/N006364/1). SLE tissue samples were provided by the Imperial College Healthcare Tissue Bank funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Biomedical Research Centre based at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Imperial College London. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.Peer reviewe

Alexithymia in juvenile primary headache sufferers: a pilot study

Starting in the 1990s, there has been accumulating evidence of alexithymic characteristics in adult patients with primary headache. Little research has been conducted, however, on the relationship between alexithymia and primary headache in developmental age. In their research on alexithymia in the formative years, the authors identified one of the most promising prospects for research, as discussed here. The aim of this study was to verify whether there is: (a) a link between tension-type headache and alexithymia in childhood and early adolescence; and (b) a correlation between alexithymia in children/preadolescents and their mothers. This study was based on an experimental group of 32 patients (26 females and 6 males, aged from 8 to 15 years, mean 11.2 ± 2.0) suffering from tension-type headache and 32 control subjects (26 females and 6 males, aged from 8 to 15 years, mean 11.8 ± 1.6). Tension-type headache was diagnosed by applying the International Headache Classification (ICHD-II, 2004). The alexithymic construct was measured using an Italian version of the Alexithymia Questionnaire for Children in the case of the juvenile patients and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) for their mothers. Higher rates of alexithymia were observed in the children/preadolescents in the experimental group (EG) than in the control group; in the EG there was no significant correlation between the alexithymia rates in the children/preadolescents and in their mothers

Evidence for the 125 GeV Higgs boson decaying to a pair of tau leptons

A search for a standard model Higgs boson decaying into a pair of τ leptons is performed using events recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2011 and 2012. The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 fb −1 at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and 19.7 fb −1 at 8 TeV. Each τ lepton decays hadronically or leptonically to an electron or a muon, leading to six different final states for the τ -lepton pair, all considered in this analysis. An excess of events is observed over the expected background contributions, with a local significance larger than 3 standard deviations for m H values between 115 and 130 GeV. The best fit of the observed H → τ τ signal cross section times branching fraction for m H = 125 GeV is 0 . 78 ± 0 . 27 times the standard model expectation. These observations constitute evidence for the 125 GeV Higgs boson decaying to a pair of τ leptons

Studies of azimuthal dihadron correlations in ultra-central PbPb collisions at √sNN =2.76 TeV

Azimuthal dihadron correlations of charged particles have been measured in PbPb collisions at √sNN = 2.76TeV by the CMS collaboration, using data from the 2011 LHC heavy-ion run. The data set includes a sample of ultra-central (0-0.2% centrality) PbPb events collected using a trigger based on total transverse energy in the hadron forward calorimeters and the total multiplicity of pixel clusters in the silicon pixel tracker. A total of about 1.8 million ultra-central events were recorded, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 120 μb − 1. The observed correlations in ultra-central PbPb events are expected to be particularly sensitive to initial-state fluctuations. The single-particle anisotropy Fourier harmonics, from v 2 to v 6, are extracted as a function of particle transverse momentum. At higher transverse momentum, the v 2 harmonic becomes significantly smaller than the higher-order v n (n ≥ 3). The p T-averaged v 2 and v 3 are found to be equal within 2%, while higher-order v n decrease as n increases. The breakdown of factorization of dihadron correlations into single-particle azimuthal anisotropies is observed. This effect is found to be most prominent in the ultra-central PbPb collisions, where the initial-state fluctuations play a dominant role. A comparison of the factorization data to hydrodynamic predictions with event-by-event fluctuating initial conditions is also presented

Magnetocaloric effect in Tb5Si2-xGe2-xFe2x (0 <= 2x <= 0.1) compounds

YUZUAK, ERCUMENT/0000-0001-6667-513XWOS: 000266117900177The influences of iron-alloying on the structure, magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of the Tb5Si2Ge2 compound have been studied using X-ray powder diffraction and magnetization measurements. X-ray diffraction studies show that both the alloyed and non-alloyed samples crystallize in the P112(1)/a monoclinic structure at room temperature. As the temperature is lowered, a first-order magnetic transition is observed in the parent compound, whereas only a second-order magnetic transition is recorded for the compounds alloyed with iron. Iron-alloying in small amounts of 2x approximate to 0.05 reduces the magnetic hysteresis significantly while retaining the magnitude of the change in magnetic entropy change. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Scientific and Technological Research Council of TurkeyTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [104T382]This work was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey under Project No. 104T382

Meta-analysis of volumetric abnormalities in cortico-striatal-pallidal-thalamic circuits in major depressive disorder

Background. Abnormalities in cortico-striatal-pallidal-thalamic (CSPT) circuits have been implicated in major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the robustness of these findings across studies is unclear, as is the extent to which they are influenced by demographic, clinical and pharmacological factors

Similarities and Differences in Reward and Avoidance Learning in OCD and Problem Gamblers

Learning to approach rewards (i.e., reward learning; RL) and to avoid punishers (i.e., avoidance learning; AL) is required to promote optimal responses and ensure our survival. For instance, AL is required in the face of basic threats (e.g., predators, rotten food), and when coupled with certain personality traits and decision-making patterns, also promotes optimal responses to more abstract threats in social (e.g., antagonists, competitors) and economic (e.g., risky investments) domains. However, difficulties or maladaptive patterns of AL and RL have been linked different forms of psychopathology. Indeed, AL is typically exaggerated in obsessive-compulsive disorder and reduced in substance and behavioural addictions (e.g., gambling), leading to differences in the anticipation and avoidance of aversive outcomes. In this talk, I will discuss the behavioural aspects of AL and RL (e.g., individual differences and temporal dynamics in learning from reward and punishment and prediction error) across OCD and problem gamblers using a newly developed task. I will then discuss how these individual differences are associated with the severity of the disorder, impulsive and compulsive personality tendencies, as well as fronto-striatal function