We explore the new physics reach for the off-shell Higgs boson measurement in the \({pp \to H^* \rightarrow Z(\ell^{+}\ell^{-})Z(\nu\bar{\nu})}\) channel at the high-luminosity LHC. The new physics ...sensitivity is parametrized in terms of the Higgs boson width, effective field theory framework, and a non-local Higgs-top coupling form factor. Adopting Machine-learning techniques, we demonstrate that the combination of a large signal rate and a precise phenomenological probe for the process energy scale, due to the transverse \(ZZ\) mass, leads to significant sensitivities beyond the existing results in the literature for the new physics scenarios considered.
In Hong Kong, improving STEM education has become timely since the government launched policy initiatives in 2016, which substantially impacted STEM education practices. Teacher education is of ...special importance in constructing the aspirations of pre-service teachers and offering professional training for a more gender equitable future in the era of STEM. Professional teachers are believed to be crucial for inspiring future students to use science and innovative technology with global and ethical awareness and for building student aspirations for STEM-related occupations and professions. This chapter reports on a study that used educational ethnography methods to examine the life stories (as cross-case studies) of eight pre-service, women teachers majoring in STEM-related programs at the largest teacher training university in Hong Kong. Empirical findings of this study show that although gender inequalities within STEM education and the local education system are not noticeable, gender stereotyping in STEM fields still exists in the society and schools of Hong Kong. This chapter illustrates how stereotypes about women in STEM can sometimes be perpetuated by everyday interactions in the classroom, especially when STEM teachers are not conscious of internalized stereotypes that are present in classrooms and schools. Establishing women role models who engage in STEM fields will help deconstruct gender stereotyping and diminish gender disparities. This chapter ends by making policy recommendations about teacher education, career and life planning education, and the role of STEM teachers in pursuing gender justice (Molyneux & Razavi, 2002) in different education systems across the world.
This chapter reports on a study that used educational ethnography methods to examine the life stories (as cross-case studies) of eight pre-service, women teachers majoring in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)-related programs at the largest teacher training university in Hong Kong. It illustrates how stereotypes about women in STEM can sometimes be perpetuated by everyday interactions in the classroom, especially when STEM teachers are not conscious of internalized stereotypes that are present in classrooms and schools. In Hong Kong, STEM education has become particularly timely since 2016 when the government launched policy initiatives which substantially impacted STEM education practices. Therefore, Hong Kong schools are urged to initiate more diverse types of STEM programs because it can develop capabilities for women’s aspirations and fascination. The chapter ends by making policy recommendations about teacher education, career and life planning education, and the role of STEM teachers in pursuing gender justice in different education systems across the world.
Vector boson fusion is arguably the most direct collider probe of electroweak
symmetry breaking. Typically, the signature includes two forward/backward jets
with low transverse momenta with a scale ...that is set by the mass of the vector
boson. For this reason, an upper cut is used when searching for vector boson
fusion processes in the Standard Model. Alternatively, the upper cut on the
forward jets can be removed and the high-momentum exchange region of vector
boson fusion can be studied. This phase space region has sensitivity to new
physics via higher dimensional operators and form factors. In this work, we
study the high-momentum region of the vector boson fusion channel where the
Higgs decays to $b\bar{b}$. We show that, depending on the form of new physics,
the limits on the new physics scale range from 0.5 TeV to 1.8 TeV.
This paper presents a new robotic system that assists surgeons in manipulating the endoscope during nasal surgical procedures. The presented robotic system has four degrees of freedom (DOF) arm with ...a wire-driven double parallelogram mechanism to control the three orientation angles and the insertion depth of the endoscope in the nasal cavity in a decoupled manner. The double parallelogram mechanism leads to a remote center of motion (RCM) at the entry point of the patient's nostril. One of the important features of the developed robot is that the safety of the operation is guaranteed by passive mechanisms and active force control. The passive mechanisms protect safety of the surgeons, the patient and the motors as well. The active force control algorithm monitors the interaction force exerted at the robot by the external environment and control it within a safe threshold. Voice and foot control interfaces have also been developed to facilitate the surgeon to fully control the robotic system without using hands. Experiments with manikin, animal and human cadaver have been conducted to demonstrate the performance of the developed robotic system.
We explore the new physics reach for the off-shell Higgs boson measurement in
the ${pp \to H^* \rightarrow Z(\ell^{+}\ell^{-})Z(\nu\bar{\nu})}$ channel at
the high-luminosity LHC. The new physics ...sensitivity is parametrized in terms
of the Higgs boson width, effective field theory framework, and a non-local
Higgs-top coupling form factor. Adopting Machine-learning techniques, we
demonstrate that the combination of a large signal rate and a precise
phenomenological probe for the process energy scale, due to the transverse $ZZ$
mass, leads to significant sensitivities beyond the existing results in the
literature for the new physics scenarios considered.
The potential of an anti‐inflammatory peptide (antiflammin 1) to reduce irritation when delivered transdermally by iontophoresis was examined. A model drug irritant, chlorpromazine, was co‐delivered ...with and without antifiammin 1 by iontophoresis to hairless guinea pigs transdermally. Quantitative skin irritation measurements were obtained by monitoring erythema by skin color reflectance with the Minolta Chromameter. Antifiammin 1 delivered by iontophoresis significantly decreased, but did not eliminate, the erythema associated with co‐delivery of an irritating drug compound. Lesion formation was also reduced in the presence of antiflammin 1. In vitro flux across hairless guinea pig skin demonstrated no significant differences in flux of the irritant compound in the presence or absence of antiflammin 1. In vivo generation and efflux of the inflammation mediator Prostaglandin E2 increased during 24‐h application of irritant and was unchanged in the presence of antiflammin 1. This result is discussed with respect to recent evidence that antiflammins may act on the lipo‐oxygenase pathway. In summary, antiflammin 1, an antiflammatory peptide, can be delivered transdermally by iontophoresis with retention of its biological activity in vivo.
The single cysteine on the α‐subunit of bovine brain S‐100a protein has been modified with the thiol specific probe, Acrylodan. When the labelled apoprotein was excited at 380 nm the fluorescence ...emission maximum was centered at 484 ± 2 nm, suggesting that the probe is in a fairly hydrophobic environment. Addition of Ca
2+
to the protein caused the emission maximum to undergo a red shift to 504 ± 2 nm, implying that the fluorophore is now more exposed to the solvent. Zn
2+
, when added to the protein, induced only a small perturbation and the emission maximum shifted to 481 ± 2 nm. Ca
2+
was able to perturb the fluorophore in the presence of Zn
2+
. 2‐
p
‐Toluidinylnaphthalene‐6‐sulfonate (TNS)‐labelled α‐subunit when excited at 345 nm exhibited very little fluorescence in the absence of Ca
2+
. Addition of Ca
2+
resulted in an increase in TNS fluorescence accompanied by a blue shift of the emission maximum to 445 ± 1 nm indicating that the probe in the presence of Ca
2+
moves to a hydrophobic domain. The fact that Ca
2+
and Zn
2+
can perturb the labelled sulfhydryl group in the presence of each other clearly demonstrates that the binding sites for the two metal ions must be different on the α‐subunit as well as on the S‐100a protein.
The S-100 proteins, S-100a$\sb0$ ($\alpha\alpha),$ S-100a ($\alpha\beta)$ and S-100b ($\beta\beta),$ belong to the family of EF hand calcium binding proteins. Previous studies indicated that the two ...principal isoforms, S-100a and S-100b, differ in their metal ion binding properties. In order to facilitate a comparison of the physico-chemical properties between the two highly homologous subunits, a preparative procedure was developed to isolate and purify the $\alpha$-subunit of S-100a protein from its parent molecule, using anion exchange chromatography under denaturing conditions. Both hydrodynamic and spectroscopic approaches were employed to elucidate the physico-chemical properties of the $\alpha$-subunit. Sedimentation equilibrium measurements indicated the purified $\alpha$-subunit to exist as a non-covalently linked dimer with a $\rm \overline{M}\sb{w}$ of 21,370 $\pm$ 1000. Circular dichroism (CD), fluorescence and absorption difference spectroscopy revealed that the $\alpha$-subunit undergoes a conformational change upon binding Ca$\sp{2+}$ and Zn$\sp{2+},$ and the 2 metal ion binding sites appear to be different. Fluorescence measurements suggested that 2 Ca$\sp{2+}$ binding sites exist on the $\alpha$-subunit at pH 8.4, with apparent K$\sb{\rm d}$ values of $\sim$10$\sp{-4}$ M and 10$\sp{-5}$ M, compared to a single low affinity site (10$\sp{-4}$ M) at pH 7.5. The monovalent cation, K$\sp+,$ was observed to modulate Ca$\sp{2+}$ binding to the protein. The single cysteine in the $\alpha$-subunit was labelled with the fluorescent probe, Acrylodan. The results obtained from this study, as well as those from other spectroscopic techniques, indicated that the conformational change induced by Ca$\sp{2+}$ binding to the protein was localized in the C-terminal region where Cys 85, Trp 90 and a hydrophobic domain were located. Zn$\sp{2+},$ on the other hand, did not perturb this region of the molecule to any great extent. Chemical modification of the single tryptophan with N-bromosuccinimide and possibly one of the 2 tyrosines at positions 26 and 74 with tetranitromethane, implied that the native conformation of the protein was extremely sensitive to perturbation of these residues. An earlier study indicated S-100$\alpha$ and S-100$\beta$ bound and stimulated the in vitro activity of brain aldolase in a Ca$\sp{2+}$ dependent manner. Prior to investigating the molecular basis of this interaction, enzymatic studies repeated in our laboratory indicated a small Ca$\sp{2+}$ dependent stimulation of aldolase C activity only at abnormally high molar ratios of S-100: aldolase (213:1). These findings coupled with our inability to demonstrate a physical interaction between the two proteins using CD and affinity chromatography, suggest that such an interaction, if it occurs, is unphysiological.
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