0000000000368208
AUTHOR
A David
Measurement of Ab_FB using inclusive b-hadron decays
Based on a sample of four million events collected by ALEPH from 1991 to 1995, a measurement of the forward-backward asymmetry in Z -> b-barb decays using inclusive final states is presented. High-performance tagging of b-barb events in a wide angular range is achieved using neural network techniques. An optimal hemisphere charge estimator is built by merging primary and secondary vertex information, leading kaon identification and jet charge in a neural network. The average charge asymmetry, the flavour tagging efficiencies and mean b-hemisphere charges are measured from data and used to extract the pole b asymmetry in the Standard Model A^{0,b}_{FB} = 0.1009 +- 0.0027 (stat) +- 0.0015 …
CNS involvement in OFD1 syndrome: a clinical, molecular, and neuroimaging study
Background Oral-facial-digital type 1 syndrome (OFD1; OMIM 311200) belongs to the expanding group of disorders ascribed to ciliary dysfunction. With the aim of contributing to the understanding of the role of primary cilia in the central nervous system (CNS), we performed a thorough characterization of CNS involvement observed in this disorder. Methods A cohort of 117 molecularly diagnosed OFD type I patients was screened for the presence of neurological symptoms and/or cognitive/behavioral abnormalities on the basis of the available information supplied by the collaborating clinicians. Seventy-one cases showing CNS involvement were further investigated through neuroimaging studies and neur…
Search for scalar leptons in e+e- collisions at centre-of-mass energies up to 209 GeV
A search for selectron, smuon and stau pair production is performed with the data collected by the ALEPH detector at LEP at centre-of-mass energies up to 209 GeV. The numbers of candidate events are consistent with the background predicted by the Standard Model. Final mass limits from ALEPH are reported.
Test of Colour Reconnection Models using Three-Jet Events in Hadronic Z Decays
Hadronic Z decays into three jets are used to test QCD models of colour reconnection (CR). A sensitive quantity is the rate of gluon jets with a gap in the particle rapidity distribution and zero jet charge. Gluon jets are identified by either energy-ordering or by tagging two b-jets. The rates predicted by two string-based tunable CR models, one implemented in JETSET (the GAL model), the other in ARIADNE, are too high and disfavoured by the data, whereas the rates from the corresponding non-CR standard versions of these generators are too low. The data can be described by the GAL model assuming a small value for the R_0 parameter in the range 0.01-0.02.
Fluid challenges in intensive care: the FENICE study: a global inception cohort study
Background: Fluid challenges (FCs) are one of the most commonly used therapies in critically ill patients and represent the cornerstone of hemodynamic management in intensive care units. There are clear benefits and harms from fluid therapy. Limited data on the indication, type, amount and rate of an FC in critically ill patients exist in the literature. The primary aim was to evaluate how physicians conduct FCs in terms of type, volume, and rate of given fluid; the secondary aim was to evaluate variables used to trigger an FC and to compare the proportion of patients receiving further fluid administration based on the response to the FC. Methods: This was an observational study conducted i…
Measurement of the W boson Mass and Width in $e^{+}e^{-}$ Collisions at LEP
The mass of the W boson is determined from the direct reconstruction of W decays in WW→qq̄qq̄ and WW→ℓνqq̄ events in e+e- collisions at LEP. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 683 pb-1 collected with the ALEPH detector at centre-of-mass energies up to 209 GeV. To minimise any effect from colour reconnection a new procedure is adopted in which low energy particles are not considered in the mass determination from the qq̄qq̄ channel. The combined result from all channels is mW=80.440±0.043(stat.)±0.024(syst.)±0.009(FSI)±0.009(LEP)GeV/c2,where FSI represents the possible effects of final state interactions in the qq̄qq̄ channel and LEP indicates the uncertainty in the b…
PREVALENCE OF BULLYING AMONGST FIRST-EPISODE PSYCHOSIS PATIENTS AND UNAFFECTED CONTROLS
Background:Despite increasing evidence suggesting that childhood mal-treatment is significantly associated with psychotic disorders, the role ofbullying in the later development of psychosis is still controversial (Kelle-her et al., 2008, Arseneault et al., 2011). Therefore, this study examinedthe prevalence of bullying amongst first-episode psychosis patients andunaffected controlsMethods:Data were collected from 227 first-presentation psychosis casesand 215 geographically-matched controls. Bullying was assessed as partof the Brief Life Events schedule. Patients and controls were shown acard listing 10 adverse events, including “bullying”, “sexual abuse”, “beingexpelled from school”, and a…
Measurement of the Michel parameters and the nu(tau) helicity in tau lepton decays
A measurement of the Michel parameters and the average $\nu_\tau$ helicity in $\tau$ lepton decays is described. The data was collected with the ALEPH detector at LEP during the years 1991 to 1995. A total integrated luminosity of 155\,$\text{pb}^{-1}$ is analysed. The Michel parameters $\rho_l$, $\xi_l$, $(\xi\delta)_l$ ($l=e,\mu$), and $\eta_\mu$ are determined for the leptonic deca ys, and the chirality parameters $\xi_\pi$, $\xi_\rho$, and $\xi_{a_1}$ for the hadronic final states. Under the assumptions of $e$\bis $\mu$ universality and $\xi_\pi=\xi_\rho=\xi_{a_1}$, the values $\rho_l=0.742\pm 0.016, \eta_l=0.01 2\pm 0.026,\break (\xi\delta)_l=0.776\pm 0.051, \xi_l=0.986\pm 0.074$, and …
Absolute mass lower limit for the lightest neutralino of the MSSM from $e^{+}e^{-}$ data at $\sqrt{s}$ up to 209 GeV
Charginos and neutralinos are searched for in the data collected by the ALEPH experiment at LEP for centre-of-mass energies up to 209 GeV. The negative result of these searches is combined with those from searches for sleptons and Higgs bosons to derive an absolute lower limit of 43.1 GeV/c(2) on the mass of the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP), assumed to be the,lightest neutralino. This limit is obtained in the framework of the MSSM with R-parity conservation and with gaugino and sfermion mass unification at the GUT scale and assuming no mixing in the stau sector. The LSP limit degrades only slightly to 42.4 GeV/c(2) if stau mixing is considered. Within the more constrained framewor…