Radiative corrections to the semileptonic and hadronic Higgs-boson decays H -> W W/Z Z -> 4 fermions

The radiative corrections of the strong and electroweak interactions are calculated for the Higgs-boson decays H -> WW/ZZ -> 4f with semileptonic or hadronic four-fermion final states in next-to-leading order. This calculation is improved by higher-order corrections originating from heavy-Higgs-boson effects and photonic final-state radiation off charged leptons. The W- and Z-boson resonances are treated within the complex-mass scheme, i.e. without any resonance expansion or on-shell approximation. The calculation essentially follows our previous study of purely leptonic final states. The electroweak corrections are similar for all four-fermion final states; for integrated quantities they amount to some per cent and increase with growing Higgs-boson mass M_H, reaching 7-8% at M_H \sim 500 GeV. For distributions, the corrections are somewhat larger and, in general, distort the shapes. Among the QCD corrections, which include corrections to interference contributions of the Born diagrams, only the corrections to the squared Born diagrams turn out to be relevant. These contributions can be attributed to the gauge-boson decays, i.e. they approximately amount to \alpha_s/\pi for semileptonic final states and 2\alpha_s/\pi for hadronic final states. The discussed corrections have been implemented in the Monte Carlo event generator PROPHECY4F.Comment: 29 pages, LaTeX, 30 postscript figure

Search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu decay channel, where l = e or mu, in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is presented. The data were collected at the LHC, with the CMS detector, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 inverse femtobarns. No significant excess is observed above the background expectation, and upper limits are set on the Higgs boson production cross section. The presence of the standard model Higgs boson with a mass in the 270-440 GeV range is excluded at 95% confidence level.Comment: Submitted to JHE

Actin, microtubules, and vimentin intermediate filaments cooperate for elongation of invadopodia

Microtubules and intermediate filaments cooperate with actin and other components of filopodia during invadopodia maturation

The genetic organisation of prokaryotic two-component system signalling pathways

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Two-component systems (TCSs) are modular and diverse signalling pathways, involving a stimulus-responsive transfer of phosphoryl groups from transmitter to partner receiver domains. TCS gene and domain organisation are both potentially informative regarding biological function, interaction partnerships and molecular mechanisms. However, there is currently little understanding of the relationships between domain architecture, gene organisation and TCS pathway structure.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we classify the gene and domain organisation of TCS gene loci from 1405 prokaryotic replicons (>40,000 TCS proteins). We find that 200 bp is the most appropriate distance cut-off for defining whether two TCS genes are functionally linked. More than 90% of all TCS gene loci encode just one or two transmitter and/or receiver domains, however numerous other geometries exist, often with large numbers of encoded TCS domains. Such information provides insights into the distribution of TCS domains between genes, and within genes. As expected, the organisation of TCS genes and domains is affected by phylogeny, and plasmid-encoded TCS exhibit differences in organisation from their chromosomally-encoded counterparts.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We provide here an overview of the genomic and genetic organisation of TCS domains, as a resource for further research. We also propose novel metrics that build upon TCS gene/domain organisation data and allow comparisons between genomic complements of TCSs. In particular, '<it>percentage orphaned TCS genes</it>' (or 'Dissemination') and '<it>percentage of complex loci</it>' (or 'Sophistication') appear to be useful discriminators, and to reflect mechanistic aspects of TCS organisation not captured by existing metrics.</p

Phenotypic Heterogeneity and the Evolution of Bacterial Life Cycles

Most bacteria live in colonies, where they often express different cell types. The ecological significance of these cell types and their evolutionary origin are often unknown. Here, we study the evolution of cell differentiation in the context of surface colonization. We particularly focus on the evolution of a ‘sticky’ cell type that is required for surface attachment, but is costly to express. The sticky cells not only facilitate their own attachment, but also that of non-sticky cells. Using individual-based simulations, we show that surface colonization rapidly evolves and in most cases leads to phenotypic heterogeneity, in which sticky and non-sticky cells occur side by side on the surface. In the presence of regulation, cell differentiation leads to a remarkable set of bacterial life cycles, in which cells alternate between living in the liquid and living on the surface. The dominant life stage is formed by the surface-attached colony that shows many complex features: colonies reproduce via fission and by producing migratory propagules; cells inside the colony divide labour; and colonies can produce filaments to facilitate expansion. Overall, our model illustrates how the evolution of an adhesive cell type goes hand in hand with the evolution of complex bacterial life cycles

Annulations of Podocarpic Acid Derivatives via an Aryne Intermediate

The cycloaddition of substituted furans to the diterpenoid aryne (39), generated by in situ diazotization of the anthranilic acid (1) followed by cleavage of the annulated 1,4- epoxydecahydrochrysenes, provides a convenient method for the preparation in high yield of the previously unknown 1-substituted octahydrochrysen-4-ols. Use of 1,3-dipoles under the same procedure, or under a modified procedure involving pre-isolation of the diazonium tetrafluoroborate salt (9), gave novel annulated heterocyclic products directly. Attempted [2+2] cycloadditions of electron-rich alkenes to the diterpenoid aryne (39) were largely unsuccessful but reaction with 1,1-dimethoxyethene by using in situ diazotization gave a product derived from an initial [2+2] cycloaddition. </jats:p