Andreas Pfeiffer

Bio: Andreas Pfeiffer is an academic researcher from CERN. The author has contributed to research in topics: Large Hadron Collider & Lepton. The author has an hindex of 149, co-authored 1756 publications receiving 131080 citations. Previous affiliations of Andreas Pfeiffer include Heidelberg University & Paul Scherrer Institute.

Search for new physics in final states with an energetic jet or a hadronically decaying W or Z boson and transverse momentum imbalance at s =13 TeV

Abstract: A search for new physics using events containing an imbalance in transverse momentum and one or more energetic jets arising from initial-state radiation or the hadronic decay of W or Z bosons is presented. A data sample of proton-proton collisions at s=13 TeV, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb-1, is used. The observed data are found to be in agreement with the expectation from standard model processes. The results are interpreted as limits on the dark matter production cross section in simplified models with vector, axial-vector, scalar, and pseudoscalar mediators. Interpretations in the context of fermion portal and nonthermal dark matter models are also provided. In addition, the results are interpreted in terms of invisible decays of the Higgs boson and set stringent limits on the fundamental Planck scale in the Arkani-Hamed, Dimopoulos, and Dvali model with large extra spatial dimensions.

A search for a doubly-charged Higgs boson in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV

Abstract: A search for a doubly-charged Higgs boson in pp collisions at root s = 7 TeV is presented. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 fb(-1), collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The search is performed using events with three or more isolated charged leptons of any flavor, giving sensitivity to the decays of pair-produced triplet components Phi(++)Phi(--), and Phi(++)Phi(-) from associated production. No excess is observed compared to the background prediction, and upper limits at the 95 % confidence level are set on the Phi(++) production cross section, under specific assumptions on its branching fractions. Lower bounds on the Phi(++) mass are reported, providing significantly more stringent constraints than previously published limits.

Evidence for the direct decay of the 125 GeV Higgs boson to fermions

Abstract: The discovery of a new boson with a mass of approximately 125 GeV in 2012 at the LHC has heralded a new era in understanding the nature of electroweak symmetry breaking and possibly completing the standard model of particle physics. Since the first observation in decays to gamma gamma, WW, and ZZ boson pairs, an extensive set of measurements of the mass and couplings to W and Z bosons, as well as multiple tests of the spin-parity quantum numbers, have revealed that the properties of the new boson are consistent with those of the long-sought agent responsible for electroweak symmetry breaking. An important open question is whether the new particle also couples to fermions, and in particular to down-type fermions, since the current measurements mainly constrain the couplings to the up-type top quark. Determination of the couplings to down-type fermions requires direct measurement of the corresponding Higgs boson decays, as recently reported by the CMS experiment in the study of Higgs decays to bottom quarks and tau leptons. In this paper we report the combination of these two channels which results, for the first time, in strong evidence for the direct coupling of the 125 GeV Higgs boson to down-type fermions, with an observed significance of 3.8 standard deviations, when 4.4 are expected.

AP-1 Proteins Mediate Hyperglycemia-Induced Activation of the Human TGF-β1 Promoter in Mesangial Cells

Abstract: Hyperglycemia-induced overproduction of the prosclerotic cytokine transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy. Because high glucose and phorbol esters (PMA) increase TGF-beta1 mRNA levels in mesangial cells, this study was designed to characterize these effects on the human TGF-beta1 promoter activity. With the use of luciferase reporter gene constructs containing TGF-beta1 5'-flanking sequence (from -453 to +11 bp) transfected into mesangial cells, it was found that 30 mM glucose induced a nearly twofold increase in TGF-beta1 promoter activity after 24 h of incubation in human and porcine mesangial cells. Stimulation by PMA was more effective (2.3-fold). Mutagenesis in either one of the two or both activating protein-1 (AP-1) binding sites abolished the high glucose and the PMA effect. Furthermore, addition of the AP-1 inhibitor curcumin obliterated the glucose response. Corresponding experiments revealed that the transcription factor stimulating protein 1 was not involved in mediating the glucose effect. The high glucose-induced TGF-beta1 promoter activation was also prevented by inhibitors of protein kinase C and p38 mitogen-activated proteinkinase. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays with oligonucleotides containing one of the two AP-1 binding sites showed that glucose treatment markedly enhanced the binding activity of nuclear proteins of mesangial cells, particularly to box B. Supershift assays demonstrated that JunD and c-Fos were present in the protein-DNA complexes under control and hyperglycemic conditions. The functional and structural results show that glucose regulates human TGF-beta1 gene expression through two adjacent AP-1 binding sites and gives rise to the involvement of protein kinase C and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase in hyperglycemia-induced TGF-beta1 gene expression.

I and i

Abstract: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality. Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

Phd by thesis

Abstract: Deposits of clastic carbonate-dominated (calciclastic) sedimentary slope systems in the rock record have been identified mostly as linearly-consistent carbonate apron deposits, even though most ancient clastic carbonate slope deposits fit the submarine fan systems better. Calciclastic submarine fans are consequently rarely described and are poorly understood. Subsequently, very little is known especially in mud-dominated calciclastic submarine fan systems. Presented in this study are a sedimentological core and petrographic characterisation of samples from eleven boreholes from the Lower Carboniferous of Bowland Basin (Northwest England) that reveals a >250 m thick calciturbidite complex deposited in a calciclastic submarine fan setting. Seven facies are recognised from core and thin section characterisation and are grouped into three carbonate turbidite sequences. They include: 1) Calciturbidites, comprising mostly of highto low-density, wavy-laminated bioclast-rich facies; 2) low-density densite mudstones which are characterised by planar laminated and unlaminated muddominated facies; and 3) Calcidebrites which are muddy or hyper-concentrated debrisflow deposits occurring as poorly-sorted, chaotic, mud-supported floatstones. These

Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes

Abstract: XI. STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING DIABETES CARE D iabetes is a chronic illness that requires continuing medical care and patient self-management education to prevent acute complications and to reduce the risk of long-term complications. Diabetes care is complex and requires that many issues, beyond glycemic control, be addressed. A large body of evidence exists that supports a range of interventions to improve diabetes outcomes. These standards of care are intended to provide clinicians, patients, researchers, payors, and other interested individuals with the components of diabetes care, treatment goals, and tools to evaluate the quality of care. While individual preferences, comorbidities, and other patient factors may require modification of goals, targets that are desirable for most patients with diabetes are provided. These standards are not intended to preclude more extensive evaluation and management of the patient by other specialists as needed. For more detailed information, refer to Bode (Ed.): Medical Management of Type 1 Diabetes (1), Burant (Ed): Medical Management of Type 2 Diabetes (2), and Klingensmith (Ed): Intensive Diabetes Management (3). The recommendations included are diagnostic and therapeutic actions that are known or believed to favorably affect health outcomes of patients with diabetes. A grading system (Table 1), developed by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and modeled after existing methods, was utilized to clarify and codify the evidence that forms the basis for the recommendations. The level of evidence that supports each recommendation is listed after each recommendation using the letters A, B, C, or E.