University of Hamburg

About: University of Hamburg is a education organization based out in Hamburg, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Laser. The organization has 45564 authors who have published 89286 publications receiving 2850161 citations. The organization is also known as: Hamburg University.

Observation of the diphoton decay of the Higgs boson and measurement of its properties

Abstract: Observation of the diphoton decay mode of the recently discovered Higgs boson and measurement of some of its properties are reported. The analysis uses the entire dataset collected by the CMS experiment in proton-proton collisions during the 2011 and 2012 LHC running periods. The data samples correspond to integrated luminosities of 5.1 inverse femtobarns at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and 19.7 inverse femtobarns at 8 TeV. A clear signal is observed in the diphoton channel at a mass close to 125 GeV with a local significance of 5.7 sigma, where a significance of 5.2 sigma is expected for the standard model Higgs boson. The mass is measured to be 124.70 +/- 0.34 GeV = 124.70 +/- 0.31 (stat) +/- 0.15 (syst) GeV, and the best-fit signal strength relative to the standard model prediction is 1.14 +0.26/-0.23 = 1.14 +/- 0.21 (stat) +0.09/-0.05 (syst) +0.13/-0.09 (theo). Additional measurements include the signal strength modifiers associated with different production mechanisms, and hypothesis tests between spin-0 and spin-2 models.

Displacement vectors derived from second-order intensity variations in image sequences

Abstract: A local approach for interframe displacement estimates is developed by minimization of the squared differences between a second-order Taylor expansion of gray values from one frame and the observed gray values within the same window from the next frame. If the second-order terms in the Taylor expansion are significant, a system of two coupled nonlinear equations for the two unknown components of the displacement vector can be derived. In the special case of “gray value corners,” these equations can be simplified to facilitate a closed form solution. An iterative refinement procedure is developed to extend these estimates for image regions which do not exhibit exactly the properties of “gray value corners.” The minimization approach is generalized in such a way that the approach of Horn and Schanck (Artif. Intell. 17, 1981, 185–203) can be recognized as a special case of this generalized form which should be applicable even across occluding edges. It thus appears to be an interesting model for the local computation of optical flow.

A cultural task analysis of implicit independence: comparing North America, Western Europe, and East Asia.

Abstract: Informed by a new theoretical framework that assigns a key role to cultural tasks (culturally prescribed means to achieve cultural mandates such as independence and interdependence) in mediating the mutual influences between culture and psychological processes, the authors predicted and found that North Americans are more likely than Western Europeans (British and Germans) to (a) exhibit focused (vs. holistic) attention, (b) experience emotions associated with independence (vs. interdependence), (c) associate happiness with personal achievement (vs. communal harmony), and (d) show an inflated symbolic self. In no cases were the 2 Western European groups significantly different from one another. All Western groups showed (e) an equally strong dispositional bias in attribution. Across all of the implicit indicators of independence, Japanese were substantially less independent (or more interdependent) than the three Western groups. An explicit self-belief measure of independence and interdependence showed an anomalous pattern. These data were interpreted to suggest that the contemporary American ethos has a significant root in both Western cultural heritage and a history of voluntary settlement. Further analysis offered unique support for the cultural task analysis.

A constitutively open potassium channel formed by KCNQ1 and KCNE3

Abstract: Mutations in all four known KCNQ potassium channel alpha-subunit genes lead to human diseases. KCNQ1 (KvLQT1) interacts with the beta-subunit KCNE1 (IsK, minK) to form the slow, depolarization-activated potassium current I(Ks) that is affected in some forms of cardiac arrhythmia. Here we show that the novel beta-subunit KCNE3 markedly changes KCNQ1 properties to yield currents that are nearly instantaneous and depend linearly on voltage. It also suppresses the currents of KCNQ4 and HERG potassium channels. In the intestine, KCNQ1 and KCNE3 messenger RNAs colocalized in crypt cells. This localization and the pharmacology, voltage-dependence and stimulation by cyclic AMP of KCNQ1/KCNE3 currents indicate that these proteins may assemble to form the potassium channel that is important for cyclic AMP-stimulated intestinal chloride secretion and that is involved in secretory diarrhoea and cystic fibrosis.