Showing papers by "Bulgarian Academy of Sciences published in 2021"

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

Abstract: In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field.

Power of Infrared and Raman Spectroscopies to Characterize Metal-Organic Frameworks and Investigate Their Interaction with Guest Molecules

Abstract: The variety of functionalities and porous structures inherent to metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) together with the facile tunability of their properties makes these materials suitable for a wide range of existing and emerging applications. Many of these applications are based on processes involving interaction of MOFs with guest molecules. To optimize a certain process or successfully design a new one, a thorough knowledge is required about the physicochemical characteristics of materials and the mechanisms of their interaction with guest molecules. To obtain such important information, various complementary analytical techniques are applied, among which vibrational spectroscopy (IR and Raman) plays an important role and is indispensable in many cases. In this review, we critically examine the reported applications of IR and Raman spectroscopies as powerful tools for initial characterization of MOF materials and for studying processes of their interaction with various gases. Both the advantages and the limitations of the technique are considered, and the cases where IR or Raman spectroscopy is preferable are highlighted. Peculiarities of MOFs interaction with specific gases and some inconsistent band assignments are also emphasized. Summarizing the broad analytical possibilities of the IR and Raman spectroscopies, we conclude that it can be applied in combinations with other techniques to explicitly establish the structure, properties, and reactivity of MOFs.

Jet energy scale and resolution measured in proton-proton collisions at s =13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Abstract: Jet energy scale and resolution measurements with their associated uncertainties are reported for jets using 36-81 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data with a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Jets are reconstructed using two different input types: topo-clusters formed from energy deposits in calorimeter cells, as well as an algorithmic combination of charged-particle tracks with those topo-clusters, referred to as the ATLAS particle-flow reconstruction method. The anti-$k_t$ jet algorithm with radius parameter $R=0.4$ is the primary jet definition used for both jet types. Jets are initially calibrated using a sequence of simulation-based corrections. Next, several $\textit{in situ}$ techniques are employed to correct for differences between data and simulation and to measure the resolution of jets. The systematic uncertainties in the jet energy scale for central jets ($|\eta| 2.5$ TeV). The relative jet energy resolution is measured and ranges from ($24 \pm 1.5$)% at 20 GeV to ($6 \pm 0.5$)% at 300 GeV.

Electron and photon reconstruction and identification with the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC

Abstract: The performance is presented of the reconstruction and identification algorithms for electrons and photons with the CMS experiment at the LHC. The reported results are based on proton-proton collision data collected at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV and recorded in 2016-2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 136 fb$^{-1}$. Results obtained from lead-lead collision data collected at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}=$ 5.02 TeV are also presented. Innovative techniques are used to reconstruct the electron and photon signals in the detector and to optimize the energy resolution. Events with electrons and photons in the final state are used to measure the energy resolution and energy scale uncertainty in the recorded events. The measured energy resolution for electrons produced in Z boson decays in proton-proton collision data ranges from 2 to 5%, depending on electron pseudorapidity and energy loss through bremsstrahlung in the detector material. The energy scale in the same range of energies is measured with an uncertainty smaller than 0.1 (0.3)% in the barrel (endcap) region in proton-proton collisions and better than 1 (3)% in the barrel (endcap) region in heavy ion collisions. The timing resolution for electrons from Z boson decays with the full 2016-2018 proton-proton collision data set is measured to be 200 ps.

Muon reconstruction and identification efficiency in ATLAS using the full Run 2 pp collision data set at √ s = 13 TeV

Abstract: This article documents the muon reconstruction and identification efficiency obtained by the ATLAS experiment for 139 $$\hbox {fb}^{-1}$$ fb - 1 of pp collision data at $$\sqrt{s}=13$$ s = 13 TeV collected between 2015 and 2018 during Run 2 of the LHC. The increased instantaneous luminosity delivered by the LHC over this period required a reoptimisation of the criteria for the identification of prompt muons. Improved and newly developed algorithms were deployed to preserve high muon identification efficiency with a low misidentification rate and good momentum resolution. The availability of large samples of $$Z\rightarrow \mu \mu $$ Z → μ μ and $$J/\psi \rightarrow \mu \mu $$ J / ψ → μ μ decays, and the minimisation of systematic uncertainties, allows the efficiencies of criteria for muon identification, primary vertex association, and isolation to be measured with an accuracy at the per-mille level in the bulk of the phase space, and up to the percent level in complex kinematic configurations. Excellent performance is achieved over a range of transverse momenta from 3 GeV to several hundred GeV, and across the full muon detector acceptance of $$|\eta |<2.7$$ | η | < 2.7 .

Evidence for Higgs boson decay to a pair of muons

Abstract: Evidence for Higgs boson decay to a pair of muons is presented. This result combines searches in four exclusive categories targeting the production of the Higgs boson via gluon fusion, via vector boson fusion, in association with a vector boson, and in association with a top quark-antiquark pair. The analysis is performed using proton-proton collision data at $ \sqrt{s} $ = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{−1}$, recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC. An excess of events over the back- ground expectation is observed in data with a significance of 3.0 standard deviations, where the expectation for the standard model (SM) Higgs boson with mass of 125.38 GeV is 2.5. The combination of this result with that from data recorded at $ \sqrt{s} $ = 7 and 8 TeV, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 5.1 and 19.7 fb$^{−1}$, respectively, increases both the expected and observed significances by 1%. The measured signal strength, relative to the SM prediction, is $ {1.19}_{-0.39}^{+0.40}{\left(\mathrm{stat}\right)}_{-0.14}^{+0.15}\left(\mathrm{syst}\right) $. This result constitutes the first evidence for the decay of the Higgs boson to second generation fermions and is the most precise measurement of the Higgs boson coupling to muons reported to date.[graphic not available: see fulltext]

Initial Upper Palaeolithic humans in Europe had recent Neanderthal ancestry.

Abstract: Modern humans appeared in Europe by at least 45,000 years ago1–5, but the extent of their interactions with Neanderthals, who disappeared by about 40,000 years ago6, and their relationship to the broader expansion of modern humans outside Africa are poorly understood. Here we present genome-wide data from three individuals dated to between 45,930 and 42,580 years ago from Bacho Kiro Cave, Bulgaria1,2. They are the earliest Late Pleistocene modern humans known to have been recovered in Europe so far, and were found in association with an Initial Upper Palaeolithic artefact assemblage. Unlike two previously studied individuals of similar ages from Romania7 and Siberia8 who did not contribute detectably to later populations, these individuals are more closely related to present-day and ancient populations in East Asia and the Americas than to later west Eurasian populations. This indicates that they belonged to a modern human migration into Europe that was not previously known from the genetic record, and provides evidence that there was at least some continuity between the earliest modern humans in Europe and later people in Eurasia. Moreover, we find that all three individuals had Neanderthal ancestors a few generations back in their family history, confirming that the first European modern humans mixed with Neanderthals and suggesting that such mixing could have been common. Genome-wide data for the three oldest known modern human remains in Europe, dated to around 45,000 years ago, shed light on early human migrations in Europe and suggest that mixing with Neanderthals was more common than is often assumed.

Search for resonant and nonresonant new phenomena in high-mass dilepton final states at √s = 13 TeV

Abstract: A search is presented for physics beyond the standard model (SM) using electron or muon pairs with high invariant mass. A data set of proton-proton collisions collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC at s = 13 TeV from 2016 to 2018 corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of up to 140 fb−1 is analyzed. No significant deviation is observed with respect to the SM background expectations. Upper limits are presented on the ratio of the product of the production cross section and the branching fraction to dileptons of a new narrow resonance to that of the Z boson. These provide the most stringent lower limits to date on the masses for various spin-1 particles, spin-2 gravitons in the Randall-Sundrum model, as well as spin-1 mediators between the SM and dark matter particles. Lower limits on the ultraviolet cutoff parameter are set both for four-fermion contact interactions and for the Arkani-Hamed, Dimopoulos, and Dvali model with large extra dimensions. Lepton flavor universality is tested at the TeV scale for the first time by comparing the dimuon and dielectron mass spectra. No significant deviation from the SM expectation of unity is observed.

Sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array to a dark matter signal from the Galactic centre

Abstract: We provide an updated assessment of the power of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) to search for thermally produced dark matter at the TeV scale, via the associated gamma-ray signal from pair-annihilating dark matter particles in the region around the Galactic centre. We find that CTA will open a new window of discovery potential, significantly extending the range of robustly testable models given a standard cuspy profile of the dark matter density distribution. Importantly, even for a cored profile, the projected sensitivity of CTA will be sufficient to probe various well-motivated models of thermally produced dark matter at the TeV scale. This is due to CTA's unprecedented sensitivity, angular and energy resolutions, and the planned observational strategy. The survey of the inner Galaxy will cover a much larger region than corresponding previous observational campaigns with imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. CTA will map with unprecedented precision the large-scale diffuse emission in high-energy gamma rays, constituting a background for dark matter searches for which we adopt state-of-the-art models based on current data. Throughout our analysis, we use up-to-date event reconstruction Monte Carlo tools developed by the CTA consortium, and pay special attention to quantifying the level of instrumental systematic uncertainties, as well as background template systematic errors, required to probe thermally produced dark matter at these energies.

Excited-State Intramolecular Proton Transfer: A Short Introductory Review

Abstract: In this short review, we attempt to unfold various aspects of excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) from the studies that are available up to date. Since Weller’s discovery of ESIPT in salicylic acid (SA) and its derivative methyl salicylate (MS), numerous studies have emerged on the topic and it has become an attractive field of research because of its manifold applications. Here, we discuss some critical aspects of ESIPT and tautomerization from the mechanistic viewpoint. We address excitation wavelength dependence, anti-Kasha ESIPT, fast and slow ESIPT, reversibility and irreversibility of ESIPT, hydrogen bonding and geometrical factors, excited-state double proton transfer (ESDPT), concerted and stepwise ESDPT.

Propolis extraction methods: a review

Abstract: Propolis (bee glue) is a sticky material collected by bees from plant resins, it has been proven to possess numerous beneficial pharmacological properties: antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, an...

Higher-derivative supergravity, AdS4 holography, and black holes

Abstract: We use conformal supergravity techniques to study four-derivative corrections in four-dimensional gauged supergravity. We show that the four-derivative Lagrangian for the propagating degrees of freedom of the $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 2 gravity multiplet is determined by two real dimensionless constants. We demonstrate that all solutions of the two-derivative equations of motion in the supergravity theory also solve the four-derivative equations of motion. These results are then applied to explicitly calculate the regularized on-shell action for any asymptotically locally AdS4 solution of the two-derivative equations of motion. The four-derivative terms in the supergravity Lagrangian modify the entropy and other thermodynamic observables for the black hole solutions of the theory. We calculate these corrections explicitly and demonstrate that the quantum statistical relation holds for general stationary black holes in the presence of the four-derivative corrections. Employing an embedding of this supergravity model in M-theory we show how to use supersymmetric localization results in the holographically dual three-dimensional SCFT to determine the unknown coefficients in the four-derivative supergravity action. This in turn leads to new detailed results for the first subleading $$ {N}^{\frac{1}{2}} $$ correction to the large N partition function of a class of three-dimensional SCFTs on compact Euclidean manifolds. In addition, we calculate explicitly the first subleading correction to the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy of asymptotically AdS4 black holes in M-theory. We also discuss how to add matter multiplets to the supergravity theory in the presence of four-derivative terms and to generalize some of these results to six- and higher-derivative supergravity.

Rosmarinic acid - From bench to valuable applications in food industry

Abstract: Background Rosmarinic acid (RA) is widely distributed in plant species of Lamiaceae and Boraginaceae families, among others. Structurally RA is an ester of caffeic acid and 3,4-dihydroxyphenyllactic acid with well explored biosynthetic pathway, physiological functions in plants and (potential) biological activities. Great number of herbal preparations and food supplements, containing RA, are marketed with claims for beneficial health effects. Furthermore, due to the inhibition of lipid peroxidation and bacterial growth, RA is approved for use as natural antioxidant and/or preservative in food industry. Scope and approach The present review will explore the contemporary biotechnological approaches for RA mass-production and will attempt to summarize its main biological properties based on recent studies. Future applications in food industry and potential functional food development will be proposed. Implications for technological and chemical modification of RA aiming to improve its bioavailability will be presented. Key findings and conclusions The advances in biotechnological production of RA provide effective and “green” approach which worth further implementation to a large-scale application. Numerous in vitro and in vivo studies confirm many of the claimed health-promoting effects of RA, as well as, its value as food additive. Despite the recent improvements in RA stability and bioavailability, its use in food products should be thoroughly evaluated until a tight balance between safety and efficiency is set.

Precision luminosity measurement in proton-proton collisions at s=13TeV in 2015 and 2016 at CMS.

Abstract: The measurement of the luminosity recorded by the CMS detector installed at LHC interaction point 5, using proton–proton collisions at s√=13TeV in 2015 and 2016, is reported. The absolute luminosity scale is measured for individual bunch crossings using beam-separation scans (the van der Meer method), with a relative precision of 1.3 and 1.0% in 2015 and 2016, respectively. The dominant sources of uncertainty are related to residual differences between the measured beam positions and the ones provided by the operational settings of the LHC magnets, the factorizability of the proton bunch spatial density functions in the coordinates transverse to the beam direction, and the modeling of the effect of electromagnetic interactions among protons in the colliding bunches. When applying the van der Meer calibration to the entire run periods, the integrated luminosities when CMS was fully operational are 2.27 and 36.3 fb−1 in 2015 and 2016, with a relative precision of 1.6 and 1.2%, respectively. These are among the most precise luminosity measurements at bunched-beam hadron colliders.

Broadband Multi-wavelength Properties of M87 during the 2017 Event Horizon Telescope Campaign

Abstract: In 2017, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration succeeded in capturing the first direct image of the center of the M87 galaxy. The asymmetric ring morphology and size are consistent with theoretical expectations for a weakly accreting supermassive black hole of mass ∼6.5 × 109 M o˙. The EHTC also partnered with several international facilities in space and on the ground, to arrange an extensive, quasi-simultaneous multi-wavelength campaign. This Letter presents the results and analysis of this campaign, as well as the multi-wavelength data as a legacy data repository. We captured M87 in a historically low state, and the core flux dominates over HST-1 at high energies, making it possible to combine core flux constraints with the more spatially precise very long baseline interferometry data. We present the most complete simultaneous multi-wavelength spectrum of the active nucleus to date, and discuss the complexity and caveats of combining data from different spatial scales into one broadband spectrum. We apply two heuristic, isotropic leptonic single-zone models to provide insight into the basic source properties, but conclude that a structured jet is necessary to explain M87's spectrum. We can exclude that the simultaneous γ-ray emission is produced via inverse Compton emission in the same region producing the EHT mm-band emission, and further conclude that the γ-rays can only be produced in the inner jets (inward of HST-1) if there are strongly particle-dominated regions. Direct synchrotron emission from accelerated protons and secondaries cannot yet be excluded.

Reactive Oxygen Species and Their Impact in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Literature Landscape Analysis.

Abstract: Significance: The excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been linked to neurodegenerative diseases (NDs), and, therefore, many scientific works were published on the impact of RO...

Resequencing of global Tartary buckwheat accessions reveals multiple domestication events and key loci associated with agronomic traits

Abstract: Tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum) is a nutritionally balanced and flavonoid-rich crop plant that has been in cultivation for 4000 years and is now grown globally. Despite its nutraceutical and agricultural value, the characterization of its genetics and its domestication history is limited. Here, we report a comprehensive database of Tartary buckwheat genomic variation based on whole-genome resequencing of 510 germplasms. Our analysis suggests that two independent domestication events occurred in southwestern and northern China, resulting in diverse characteristics of modern Tartary buckwheat varieties. Genome-wide association studies for important agricultural traits identify several candidate genes, including FtUFGT3 and FtAP2YT1 that significantly correlate with flavonoid accumulation and grain weight, respectively. We describe the domestication history of Tartary buckwheat and provide a detailed resource of genomic variation to allow for genomic-assisted breeding in the improvement of elite cultivars.

Rotating multi-charge spindles and their microstates

Abstract: Some AdS3 × M7 type IIB vacua have been recently proposed to arise from D3-branes wrapped on a spindle, a sphere with conical singularities at the poles. We explicitly construct a generalization of these solutions corresponding to a class of electrically charged and rotating supersymmetric black strings in AdS5 × S5 with general magnetic fluxes on the spindle. We then perform a counting of their microstates using the charged Cardy formula. To this purpose, we derive the general form of the anomaly polynomial of the dual $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = (0, 2) CFT in two dimensions and we show that it can be obtained via a simple gluing procedure.

Measurement of the Higgs boson production rate in association with top quarks in final states with electrons, muons, and hadronically decaying tau leptons at √s=13Te

Abstract: The rate for Higgs ( $${\mathrm{H}} $$ ) bosons production in association with either one ( $${\mathrm{t}} {\mathrm{H}} $$ ) or two ( $${\mathrm{t}} {{\overline{{{\mathrm{t}}}}}} {\mathrm{H}} $$ ) top quarks is measured in final states containing multiple electrons, muons, or tau leptons decaying to hadrons and a neutrino, using proton–proton collisions recorded at a center-of-mass energy of $$13\,\text {TeV} $$ by the CMS experiment. The analyzed data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 137 $$\,\text {fb}^{-1}$$ . The analysis is aimed at events that contain $${\mathrm{H}} \rightarrow {\mathrm{W}} {\mathrm{W}} $$ , $${\mathrm{H}} \rightarrow {\uptau } {\uptau } $$ , or $${\mathrm{H}} \rightarrow {\mathrm{Z}} {\mathrm{Z}} $$ decays and each of the top quark(s) decays either to lepton+jets or all-jet channels. Sensitivity to signal is maximized by including ten signatures in the analysis, depending on the lepton multiplicity. The separation among $${\mathrm{t}} {\mathrm{H}} $$ , $${\mathrm{t}} {{\overline{{{\mathrm{t}}}}}} {\mathrm{H}} $$ , and the backgrounds is enhanced through machine-learning techniques and matrix-element methods. The measured production rates for the $${\mathrm{t}} {{\overline{{{\mathrm{t}}}}}} {\mathrm{H}} $$ and $${\mathrm{t}} {\mathrm{H}} $$ signals correspond to $$0.92 \pm 0.19\,\text {(stat)} ^{+0.17}_{-0.13}\,\text {(syst)} $$ and $$5.7 \pm 2.7\,\text {(stat)} \pm 3.0\,\text {(syst)} $$ of their respective standard model (SM) expectations. The corresponding observed (expected) significance amounts to 4.7 (5.2) standard deviations for $${\mathrm{t}} {{\overline{{{\mathrm{t}}}}}} {\mathrm{H}} $$ , and to 1.4 (0.3) for $${\mathrm{t}} {\mathrm{H}} $$ production. Assuming that the Higgs boson coupling to the tau lepton is equal in strength to its expectation in the SM, the coupling $$y_{{\mathrm{t}}}$$ of the Higgs boson to the top quark divided by its SM expectation, $$\kappa _{{\mathrm{t}}}=y_{{\mathrm{t}}}/y_{{\mathrm{t}}}^{\mathrm {SM}}$$ , is constrained to be within $$-0.9< \kappa _{{\mathrm{t}}}< -0.7$$ or $$0.7< \kappa _{{\mathrm{t}}}< 1.1$$ , at 95% confidence level. This result is the most sensitive measurement of the $${\mathrm{t}} {{\overline{{{\mathrm{t}}}}}} {\mathrm{H}} $$ production rate to date.

Advances in dietary polysaccharides as anticancer agents: Structure-activity relationship

Abstract: Background The discovery of nutritious dietary supplements and side effect-free therapeutics are a priority in the current scenario of increasing cancer cases. Natural anticancer polysaccharides have shown immense potential. As a class of biomacromolecules produced by a variety of species including plants, animals, fungi, bacteria and algae, polysaccharides have drawn considerable interest over the recent years as they possess anticancer activities with fewer side effects. Scope and approach Natural polysaccharides from different sources have various structures and anticancer activities. But it is difficult to compare their bioactivities with those of synthetic drugs for their inherently physicochemical properties, including poor water solubility, low molecular weight and branching degree. However, some chemical modification methodologies (e.g., sulfation, phosphorylation, selenylation and zinc impregnation) could significantly increase the water solubility, molecular weight by grafting other groups to boost their anticancer activity. Key findings and conclusions Numerous studies have focused on the evaluation of anticancer mechanism of action for polysaccharides from different sources and further applications. Polysaccharides are considered as anti-tumor agents for their immunomodulatory activity and low toxicity and side effects. Numerous polysaccharides have been used for clinical or adjuvant treatment of tumors. However, the complex structure of some polysaccharides and their unclear anti-cancer mechanism of action brought great restrictions on their research and further clinical application. Therefore, it is important for human to resist tumors by elucidating the antitumor effects of polysaccharides from different resources and their correlation, discussing the application of anticancer polysaccharides in combination with chemotherapy drugs and anticancer vaccine adjuvants.

Current Wildland Fire Patterns and Challenges in Europe: A Synthesis of National Perspectives

Abstract: Changes in climate, land use, and land management impact the occurrence and severity of wildland fires in many parts of the world. This is particularly evident in Europe, where ongoing changes in land use have strongly modified fire patterns over the last decades. Although satellite data by the European Forest Fire Information System provide large-scale wildland fire statistics across European countries, there is still a crucial need to collect and summarize in-depth local analysis and understanding of the wildland fire condition and associated challenges across Europe. This article aims to provide a general overview of the current wildland fire patterns and challenges as perceived by national representatives, supplemented by national fire statistics (2009–2018) across Europe. For each of the 31 countries included, we present a perspective authored by scientists or practitioners from each respective country, representing a wide range of disciplines and cultural backgrounds. The authors were selected from members of the COST Action “Fire and the Earth System: Science & Society” funded by the European Commission with the aim to share knowledge and improve communication about wildland fire. Where relevant, a brief overview of key studies, particular wildland fire challenges a country is facing, and an overview of notable recent fire events are also presented. Key perceived challenges included (1) the lack of consistent and detailed records for wildland fire events, within and across countries, (2) an increase in wildland fires that pose a risk to properties and human life due to high population densities and sprawl into forested regions, and (3) the view that, irrespective of changes in management, climate change is likely to increase the frequency and impact of wildland fires in the coming decades. Addressing challenge (1) will not only be valuable in advancing national and pan-European wildland fire management strategies, but also in evaluating perceptions (2) and (3) against more robust quantitative evidence.

Search for doubly and singly charged Higgs bosons decaying into vector bosons in multi-lepton final states with the ATLAS detector using proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV

Abstract: A search for charged Higgs bosons decaying into W±W± or W±Z bosons is performed, involving experimental signatures with two leptons of the same charge, or three or four leptons with a variety of charge combinations, missing transverse momentum and jets. A data sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider between 2015 and 2018 is used. The data correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1. The search is guided by a type-II seesaw model that extends the scalar sector of the Standard Model with a scalar triplet, leading to a phenomenology that includes doubly and singly charged Higgs bosons. Two scenarios are explored, corresponding to the pair production of doubly charged H±± bosons, or the associated production of a doubly charged H±± boson and a singly charged H± boson. No significant deviations from the Standard Model predictions are observed. H±± bosons are excluded at 95% confidence level up to 350 GeV and 230 GeV for the pair and associated production modes, respectively. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

Search for squarks and gluinos in final states with jets and missing transverse momentum using 139 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}$ =13 TeV $pp$ collision data with the ATLAS detector

Abstract: A search for the supersymmetric partners of quarks and gluons (squarks and gluinos) in final states containing jets and missing transverse momentum, but no electrons or muons, is presented. The data used in this search were recorded by the ATLAS experiment in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. The results are interpreted in the context of various $R$-parity-conserving models where squarks and gluinos are produced in pairs or in association and a neutralino is the lightest supersymmetric particle. An exclusion limit at the 95% confidence level on the mass of the gluino is set at 2.30 TeV for a simplified model containing only a gluino and the lightest neutralino, assuming the latter is massless. For a simplified model involving the strong production of mass-degenerate first- and second-generation squarks, squark masses below 1.85 TeV are excluded if the lightest neutralino is massless. These limits extend substantially beyond the region of supersymmetric parameter space excluded previously by similar searches with the ATLAS detector.

Towards FAIR nanosafety data

Abstract: Nanotechnology is a key enabling technology with billions of euros in global investment from public funding, which include large collaborative projects that have investigated environmental and health safety aspects of nanomaterials, but the reuse of accumulated data is clearly lagging behind. Here we summarize challenges and provide recommendations for the efficient reuse of nanosafety data, in line with the recently established FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) guiding principles. We describe the FAIR-aligned Nanosafety Data Interface, with an aggregated findability, accessibility and interoperability across physicochemical, bio–nano interaction, human toxicity, omics, ecotoxicological and exposure data. Overall, we illustrate a much-needed path towards standards for the optimized use of existing data, which avoids duplication of efforts, and provides a multitude of options to promote safe and sustainable nanotechnology. The proposal of a FAIR-aligned Nanosafety Data Interface can advance findability, accessibility and interoperability across physicochemical, bio–nano interaction, human toxicity, omics, ecotoxicological and exposure data.