1. |
- Schael, S, et al.
(författare)
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Precision electroweak measurements on the Z resonance
- 2006
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Ingår i: Physics Reports. - : Elsevier BV. - 0370-1573 .- 1873-6270. ; 427:5-6, s. 257-454
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on the final electroweak measurements performed with data taken at the Z resonance by the experiments operating at the electron-positron colliders SLC and LEP. The data consist of 17 million Z decays accumulated by the ALEPH, DELPHI, L3 and OPAL experiments at LEP, and 600 thousand Z decays by the SLID experiment using a polarised beam at SLC. The measurements include cross-sections, forward-backward asymmetries and polarised asymmetries. The mass and width of the Z boson, m(Z) and Gamma(Z), and its couplings to fermions, for example the p parameter and the effective electroweak mixing angle for leptons, are precisely measured: m(Z) = 91.1875 +/- 0.0021 GeV, Gamma(Z) = 2.4952 +/- 0.0023 GeV, rho(l) = 1.0050 +/- 0.0010, sin(2)theta(eff)(lept) = 0.23153 +/- 0.00016. The number of light neutrino species is determined to be 2.9840 +/- 0.0082, in agreement with the three observed generations of fundamental fermions. The results are compared to the predictions of the Standard Model (SM). At the Z-pole, electroweak radiative corrections beyond the running of the QED and QCD coupling constants are observed with a significance of five standard deviations, and in agreement with the Standard Model. Of the many Z-pole measurements, the forward-backward asymmetry in b-quark production shows the largest difference with respect to its SM expectation, at the level of 2.8 standard deviations. Through radiative corrections evaluated in the framework of the Standard Model, the Z-pole data are also used to predict the mass of the top quark, m(t) = 173(+10)(+13) GeV, and the mass of the W boson, m(W) = 80.363 +/- 0.032 GeV. These indirect constraints are compared to the direct measurements, providing a stringent test of the SM. Using in addition the direct measurements of m(t) and m(W), the mass of the as yet unobserved SM Higgs boson is predicted with a relative uncertainty of about 50% and found to be less than 285 GeV at 95% confidence level. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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2. |
- Adelfalk, C, et al.
(författare)
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Cohesin SMC1beta protects telomeres in meiocytes
- 2009
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Ingår i: The Journal of cell biology. - : Rockefeller University Press. - 1540-8140 .- 0021-9525. ; 187:2, s. 185-199
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Meiosis-specific mammalian cohesin SMC1β is required for complete sister chromatid cohesion and proper axes/loop structure of axial elements (AEs) and synaptonemal complexes (SCs). During prophase I, telomeres attach to the nuclear envelope (NE), but in Smc1β−/− meiocytes, one fifth of their telomeres fail to attach. This study reveals that SMC1β serves a specific role at telomeres, which is independent of its role in determining AE/SC length and loop extension. SMC1β is necessary to prevent telomere shortening, and SMC3, present in all known cohesin complexes, properly localizes to telomeres only if SMC1β is present. Very prominently, telomeres in Smc1β−/− spermatocytes and oocytes loose their structural integrity and suffer a range of abnormalities. These include disconnection from SCs and formation of large telomeric protein–DNA extensions, extended telomere bridges between SCs, ring-like chromosomes, intrachromosomal telomeric repeats, and a reduction of SUN1 foci in the NE. We suggest that a telomere structure protected from DNA rearrangements depends on SMC1β.
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3. |
- Novak, I, et al.
(författare)
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Cohesin Smc1beta determines meiotic chromatin axis loop organization
- 2008
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Ingår i: The Journal of cell biology. - : Rockefeller University Press. - 1540-8140 .- 0021-9525. ; 180:1, s. 83-90
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Meiotic chromosomes consist of proteinaceous axial structures from which chromatin loops emerge. Although we know that loop density along the meiotic chromosome axis is conserved in organisms with different genome sizes, the basis for the regular spacing of chromatin loops and their organization is largely unknown. We use two mouse model systems in which the postreplicative meiotic chromosome axes in the mutant oocytes are either longer or shorter than in wild-type oocytes. We observe a strict correlation between chromosome axis extension and a general and reciprocal shortening of chromatin loop size. However, in oocytes with a shorter chromosome axis, only a subset of the chromatin loops is extended. We find that the changes in chromatin loop size observed in oocytes with shorter or longer chromosome axes depend on the structural maintenance of chromosomes 1β (Smc1β), a mammalian chromosome–associated meiosis-specific cohesin. Our results suggest that in addition to its role in sister chromatid cohesion, Smc1β determines meiotic chromatin loop organization.
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