PGB pair production at LHC and ILC as a probe of the topcolor-assisted technicolor models

The topcolor-assisted technicolor (TC2) model predicts some light pseudo goldstone bosons (PGBs), which may be accessible at the LHC or ILC. In this work we study the pair productions of the charged or neutral PGBs at the LHC and ILC. For the productions at the LHC we consider the processes proceeding through gluon-gluon fusion and quark-antiquark annihilation, while for the productions at the ILC we consider both the electron-positron collision and the photon-photon collision. We find that in a large part of parameter space the production cross sections at both colliders can be quite large compared with the low standard model backgrounds. Therefore, in future experiments these productions may be detectable and allow for probing TC2 model.Comment: 26 pages, 16 figures. slight changes in the text; notations for curves changed; references adde

ABJM Baryon Stability and Myers effect

We consider magnetically charged baryon vertex like configurations in AdS^4 X CP^3 with a reduced number of quarks l. We show that these configurations are solutions to the classical equations of motion and are stable beyond a critical value of l. Given that the magnetic flux dissolves D0-brane charge it is possible to give a microscopical description in terms of D0-branes expanding into fuzzy CP^n spaces by Myers dielectric effect. Using this description we are able to explore the region of finite 't Hooft coupling.Comment: 29 pages, Latex; minor changes; version to appear in JHE

Evaluating psychometric properties of the Emotional Eating Scale Adapted for Children and Adolescents (EES-C) in a clinical sample of children seeking treatment for obesity: a case for the unidimensional model.

BackgroundThe Emotional Eating Scale - Adapted for Children and Adolescents (EES-C) assesses children's urge to eat in response to experiences of negative affect. Prior psychometric studies have demonstrated the high reliability, concurrent validity, and test-retest reliability of theoretically defined subconstructs among non-clinical samples of children and adolescents who were primarily healthy weight; however, no psychometric studies exist investigating the EES-C among clinical samples of children with overweight/obesity (OW/OB). Furthermore, studies conducted in different contexts have suggested a discordant number of subconstructs of emotions related to eating. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity of the EES-C in a clinical sample of children seeking weight-loss treatment.MethodUsing a hierarchical bi-factor approach, we evaluated the validity of the EES-C to measure a single general construct, a set of two separate correlated subconstructs, or a hierarchical arrangement of two constructs, and determined reliability in a clinical sample of treatment-seeking children with OW/OB aged 8-12 years (N = 147, mean age = 10.4 years.; mean BMI z = 2.0; female = 66%; Hispanic = 32%, White and other = 68%).ResultsComparison of factor-extraction methods suggested a single primary construct underlying EES-C in this clinical sample. The bi-factor indices provided clear evidence that most of the reliable variance in the total score (90.8 for bi-factor model with three grouping factors and 95.2 for bi-factor model with five grouping factors) was attributed to the general construct. After adjusting for relationships with the primary construct, remaining correlations among sets of items did not suggest additional reliable constructs.ConclusionResults suggest that the primary interpretive emphasis of the EES-C among treatment-seeking children with overweight or obesity should be placed on a single general construct, not on the 3- or 5- subconstructs as was previously suggested

Acute kidney disease and renal recovery : consensus report of the Acute Disease Quality Initiative (ADQI) 16 Workgroup

Consensus definitions have been reached for both acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) and these definitions are now routinely used in research and clinical practice. The KDIGO guideline defines AKI as an abrupt decrease in kidney function occurring over 7 days or less, whereas CKD is defined by the persistence of kidney disease for a period of > 90 days. AKI and CKD are increasingly recognized as related entities and in some instances probably represent a continuum of the disease process. For patients in whom pathophysiologic processes are ongoing, the term acute kidney disease (AKD) has been proposed to define the course of disease after AKI; however, definitions of AKD and strategies for the management of patients with AKD are not currently available. In this consensus statement, the Acute Disease Quality Initiative (ADQI) proposes definitions, staging criteria for AKD, and strategies for the management of affected patients. We also make recommendations for areas of future research, which aim to improve understanding of the underlying processes and improve outcomes for patients with AKD

The impact of Er:YAG laser enamel conditioning on the microleakage of a new hydrophilic sealant — UltraSeal XT® hydro™

UltraSeal XT® hydro™ is a new hydrophilic, light-cured, methacrylate-based pit and fissure sealant which has been developed by Ultradent Products, USA. The sealant is highly filled with a 53 wt.% mixture of inorganic particles which confer both thixotropy and radiopacity. The principal purpose of this study was to investigate the microleakage of UltraSeal XT® hydro™ as a function of different enamel etching techniques. The occlusal surfaces of sound, extracted human molars were either acid etched, Er:YAG laser irradiated or successively laser irradiated and acid etched. UltraSeal XT® hydro™ was applied to each group of teeth (n=10) which were subjected to a thermocycling process consisting of 2500 cycles between 5 and 50°C with a dwell time of 30s. Microleakage assessments were then carried out using 0.5 % fuchsin dye and optical microscopy. The microleakage score data were analysed using the Kruskal-Wallis, Mann–Whitney U test with Bonferroni adjustment. No significant differences in microleakage were noted between the individually acid etched and laser-irradiated groups (p>0.05); however, teeth treated with a combination of laser irradiation and acid etching demonstrated significantly lower microleakage scores (p<0.001). Electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis revealed that the mineral filler component of UltraSeal XT® hydro™ essentially comprises micrometre-sized particles of inorganic silicon-, aluminium- and barium-bearing phases. Laser etching increases the roughness of the enamel surface which causes a concentrated zoning of the filler particles at the enamel-sealant interface

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Effect of Er:YAG laser enamel conditioning and moisture on the microleakage of a hydrophilic sealant

For a given sealant, successful pit and fissure sealing is principally governed by the enamel conditioning technique and the presence of moisture contamination. A new generation of hydrophilic resin sealants is reported to tolerate moisture. This study investigates the impact of Er:YAG laser pre-conditioning and moisture contamination on the microleakage of a recent hydrophilic sealant. Occlusal surfaces of extracted human molars were either acid etched (n = 30), or successively lased and acid etched (n = 30). Ten teeth from each group were either air-dried, water-contaminated, or saliva-contaminated prior to sealing with UltraSeal XT® hydro™. Samples were inspected for penetration of fuchsin dye following 3000 thermocycles between 5 and 50 °C, and the enamel–sealant interfaces were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Significant differences in microleakage were evaluated using the Mann–Whitney U test with Bonferroni adjustment (p = 0.05). Laser pre-conditioning significantly reduced dye penetration irrespective of whether the enamel surface was moist or dry. Microleakageof water-contaminated acid etched teeth was significantly greater than that of their air-dried or saliva-contaminated counterparts. SEM analysis demonstrated good adaptation in all groups with the exception of water-contaminated acid etched teeth which exhibited relatively wide gaps. In conclusion, this hydrophilic sealant tolerates the presence of saliva, although water was found to impair its sealing ability. Laser pre-conditioning significantly decreases microleakage in all cases

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Search for direct pair production of the top squark in all-hadronic final states in proton-proton collisions at s√=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The results of a search for direct pair production of the scalar partner to the top quark using an integrated luminosity of 20.1fb−1 of proton–proton collision data at √s = 8 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC are reported. The top squark is assumed to decay via t˜→tχ˜01 or t˜→ bχ˜±1 →bW(∗)χ˜01 , where χ˜01 (χ˜±1 ) denotes the lightest neutralino (chargino) in supersymmetric models. The search targets a fully-hadronic final state in events with four or more jets and large missing transverse momentum. No significant excess over the Standard Model background prediction is observed, and exclusion limits are reported in terms of the top squark and neutralino masses and as a function of the branching fraction of t˜ → tχ˜01 . For a branching fraction of 100%, top squark masses in the range 270–645 GeV are excluded for χ˜01 masses below 30 GeV. For a branching fraction of 50% to either t˜ → tχ˜01 or t˜ → bχ˜±1 , and assuming the χ˜±1 mass to be twice the χ˜01 mass, top squark masses in the range 250–550 GeV are excluded for χ˜01 masses below 60 GeV

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente