Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities 1,2 . This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity 3–6 . Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to re

Background: It is unclear whether there are causal associations between blood lipids, statin use and cancer risks. Under certain assumptions, Mendelian randomization analysis of a genetic marker for an exposure eliminates reverse causation and confounding. Methods: We applied Mendelian randomization analysis to genetic scores, comprising 26–41 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), as instrumenta

Diffusion MRI yields parameters sensitive to brain tissue microstructure. A structurally important aspect of this microstructure is the myelin wrapping around the axons. This study investigated the forward problem concerning whether water exchange via the spiraling structure of the myelin can meaningfully contribute to the signal in dMRI. Monte Carlo simulations were performed of a system with int

This Report summarizes the results of the activities of the LHC Higgs Cross Section Working Group in the period 2014-2016. The main goal of the working group was to present the state-of-the-art of Higgs physics at the LHC, integrating all new results that have appeared in the last few years. The first part compiles the most up-to-date predictions of Higgs boson production cross sections and decay

This Report summarizes the proceedings of the 2013 Les Houches workshop on Physics at TeV Colliders. Session 1 dealt primarily with (1) the techniques for calculating standard model multi-leg NLO and NNLO QCD and NLO EW cross sections and (2) the comparison of those cross sections with LHC data from Run 1, and projections for future measurements in Run 2.

This Report summarizes the results of the activities in 2012 and the first half of 2013 of the LHC Higgs Cross Section Working Group. The main goal of the working group was to present the state of the art of Higgs Physics at the LHC, integrating all new results that have appeared in the last few years. This report follows the first working group report Handbook of LHC Higgs Cross Sections: 1. Incl

The 2011 Les Houches workshop was the first to confront LHC data. In the two years since the previous workshop there have been significant advances in both soft and hard QCD, particularly in the areas of multi-leg NLO calculations, the inclusion of those NLO calculations into parton shower Monte Carlos, and the tuning of the non-perturbative parameters of those Monte Carlos. These proceedings desc

Radiological evaluation of incidentally detected lung nodules on computed tomography (CT) influences management. We assessed international radiological variation in 1) pulmonary nodule characterisation; 2) hypothetical guideline-derived management; and 3) radiologists' management recommendations.107 radiologists from 25 countries evaluated 69 CT-detected nodules, recording: 1) first-choice composi

In this talk three 2-sigma deviations from the Standard Model predictions in the top quark sector are briefly discussed. These are the excess of events in the tail of the H_T distribution in ttbar events, the top-quark charge asymmetry and the discrimination of s- and t-channel events in single top. The latter has only been observed by CDF, while the other two are found by both CDF and D0.

Living with a life-limiting cancer illness can entail a turmoil of feelings such as constant fear of loss, suffering and dying. Because patients live longer with life-limiting illness, there is a need for enhanced understanding of how people make sense of and cope with the complicated aspects that this life situation brings on. In this article, we explore how bloggers with advanced cancer use meta

This report summarizes the activities of the SM and NLO Multileg Working Group of the Workshop "Physics at TeV Colliders", Les Houches, France 8-26 June, 2009.

It has been almost fifteen years ago that the top quark, the heaviest and most intriguing among the six known quarks, was observed at the Tevatron experiments at Fermilab. Some of its properties, such as the mass and the production cross sections are by now quite well known. Other important aspects, however, such as the top quark invariant mass distribution, the structure of the tWb coupling, the

In this talk we discuss the recent progess in the computation and simulation of multi-leg hadronic final states. We focus on three recent developments: (i) Minlo as a path NNLOPS, (ii) NLO EW corrections and their matching to parton showers, and (iii) incorporating NLO splitting functions in parton showers.

Community currencies have emerged as a tool for building more inclusive local economic development and governance. Grassroots organisations in Nairobi and Mombasa (Kenya) have been experimenting with this form of local monies. Communities in informal settlements in Kisumu have shown interest in introducing their own community currency. Challenges remain concerning the best diffusion strategy of su

Although researchers across the social sciences speak of a linguistic turn, most research exploring culture still assumes a traditional perspective on language, which conceives meaning as representation. Yet, Wittgenstein convincingly criticized the epistemological basis of such a perspective, offering an alternative view on language. The paper begins by explaining the central points of a performa

This report summarizes the activities of the NLM working group of the Workshop 'Physics at TeV Colliders', Les Houches, France, 11-29 June, 2007.