0000000000418139
AUTHOR
A Zanetti
Higgs boson studies at the Tevatron
We combine searches by the CDF and D0 Collaborations for the standard model Higgs boson with mass in the range 90-200 GeV/c2 produced in the gluon-gluon fusion, WH, ZH, tt̄H, and vector boson fusion processes, and decaying in the H→bb̄, H→W+W-, H→ZZ, H→τ+τ-, and H→γγ modes. The data correspond to integrated luminosities of up to 10 fb-1 and were collected at the Fermilab Tevatron in pp̄ collisions at √s=1.96 TeV. The searches are also interpreted in the context of fermiophobic and fourth generation models. We observe a significant excess of events in the mass range between 115 and 140 GeV/c2. The local significance corresponds to 3.0 standard deviations at mH=125 GeV/c2, consistent with the…
Searches for rare or forbidden semileptonic charm decays
We present searches for rare or forbidden charm decays of the form $X_c^+\to h^\pm\ell^\mp\ell^{(\prime)+}$, where $X_c^+$ is a charm hadron ($D^+$, $D^+_s$, or $\Lambda_c^+$), $h^\pm$ is a pion, kaon, or proton, and $\ell^{(\prime)\pm}$ is an electron or muon. The analysis is based on $384 fb^{-1}$ of $e^+e^-$ annihilation data collected at or close to the $\Upsilon(4S)$ resonance with the BaBar detector at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. No significant signal is observed for any of the 35 decay modes that are investigated. We establish 90% confidence-level upper limits on the branching fractions between $1 \times 10^{-6}$ and $44 \times 10^{-6}$ depending on the channel. In most…
Transmission of hemagglutinin D222G mutant strain of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus.
A pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus strain carrying the D222G mutation was identified in a severely ill man and was transmitted to a household contact. Only mild illness developed in the contact, despite his obesity and diabetes. The isolated virus reacted fully with an antiserum against the pandemic vaccine strain.
Study of radiative bottomonium transitions using converted photons
We use 111+/-1 million Upsilon(3S) and 89+/-1 million Upsilon(2S) events recorded by the BaBar detector at the PEP-II B-factory at SLAC to perform a study of radiative transitions between bottomonium states using photons that have been converted to e+e- pairs by the detector material. We observe Upsilon(3S) -> gamma chi_b0,2(1P) decay, make precise measurements of the branching fractions for chi_b1,2(1P,2P) -> gamma Upsilon(1S) and chi_b1,2(2P) -> gamma Upsilon(2S) decays, and search for radiative decay to the eta_b(1S) and eta_b(2S) states.
Searches for B0 decays to combinations of charmless isoscalar mesons
We search for B meson decays into two-body combinations of eta, eta', omega, and phi mesons from 89 million B B-bar pairs collected with the BaBar detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy e+e- collider at SLAC. We find the branching fraction BF(B0 -> eta omega) = (4.0^{+1.3}_{-1.2} +- 0.4) x 10^-6 with a significance of 4.3 sigma. For all the other decay modes we set the following 90% confidence level upper limits on the branching fractions, in units of 10^-6 : BF(B0 -> eta eta)<2.8, BF(B0 -> eta eta')<4.6, BF(B0 -> eta' eta')<10, BF(B0 -> eta'omega)<2.8, BF(B0 -> eta phi)<1.0, BF(B0 -> eta' phi)<4.5, BF(B0 -> phi phi)<1.5.
Molecular surveillance of pandemic influenza A(H1N1) viruses circulating in Italy from May 2009 to February 2010: association between haemagglutinin mutations and clinical outcome
Haemagglutinin sequences of pandemic influenza A(H1N1) viruses circulating in Italy were examined, focusing on amino acid changes at position 222 because of its suggested pathogenic relevance. Among 169 patients, the D222G substitution was detected in three of 52 (5.8%) severe cases and in one of 117 (0.9%) mild cases, whereas the D222E mutation was more frequent and evenly distributed in mild (31.6%) and severe cases (38.4%). A cluster of D222E viruses among school children confirms reported human-to-human transmission of viruses mutated at amino acid position 222.