CMS physics technical design report : Addendum on high density QCD with heavy ions

Peer reviewe

Gamma-ray astronomy and cosmic-ray physics with ARGO-YBJ

The ARGO-YBJ detector, located 4300 m a.s.l. on the Tibet plateau, is a ground-based, full- coverage array of Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) covering a surface of 78×74 m2, surrounded by a guard ring of RPCs enclosing a total surface of about 11000 m2. ARGO-YBJ was designed to detect extensive air showers generated by cosmic rays and gamma rays with primary energy greater than few hundred GeV, in order to study the region of the cosmic-ray spectrum out of the reach of both satellite-based experiments and traditional ground-based arrays. The experiment has been running with its complete layout since November 2007, collecting over 2:5×1011 events. The main results obtained by ARGO-YBJ will be presented here, and specifically: the monitoring of astronomical gamma-ray sources, such as the Crab nebula and the MRK 421 AGN, the moon shadow, the medium-scale anisotropy map, the proton-proton inelastic cross section at center-of- mass energy between 70 and 500 GeV where no accelerator data are available

Gamma-ray astronomy with ARGO-YBJ

ARGO-YBJ is a full coverage air shower array located at the YangBaJing Cosmic Ray Laboratory (Tibet, P.R. China, 4300 m a.s.l., 606 g/cm2) recording data with a duty cycle ≥85% and an energy threshold of a few hundred GeV. In this paper the latest results in Gamma-Ray Astronomy are summarized

The association of indwelling urinary catheter with delirium in hospitalized patients and nursing home residents: an explorative analysis from the "Delirium Day 2015"

BackroundUse of indwelling urinary catheter (IUC) in older adults has negative consequences, including delirium.AimThis analysis, from the Delirium Day 2015, a nationwide multicenter prevalence study, aim to evaluate the association of IUC with delirium in hospitalized and Nursing Homes (NHs) patients.MethodsPatients underwent a comprehensive geriatric assessment, including the presence of IUC; inclusion criteria were age>65 years, being Italian speaker and providing informed consent; exclusion criteria were coma, aphasia, end-of-life status. Delirium was assessed using the 4AT test (score4: possible delirium; scores 1-3: possible cognitive impairment).ResultsAmong 1867 hospitalized patients (mean age 82.07.5 years, 58% female), 539 (28.9%) had IUC, 429 (22.9%) delirium and 675 (36.1%) cognitive impairment. IUC was significantly associated with cognitive impairment (OR 1.60, 95% CI 1.19-2.16) and delirium (2.45, 95% CI 1.73-3.47), this latter being significant also in the subset of patients without dementia (OR 2.28, 95% CI 1.52-3.43). Inattention and impaired alertness were also independently associated with IUC. Among 1454 NHs residents (mean age 84.47.4 years, 70.% female), 63 (4.3%) had IUC, 535 (36.8%) a 4AT score4, and 653 (44.9%) a 4AT score 1-3. The multivariate logistic regression analysis did not show a significant association between 4AT test or its specific items with IUC, neither in the subset of patients without dementia.DiscussionWe confirmed a significant association between IUC and delirium in hospitalized patients but not in NHs residents.ConclusionEnvironmental and clinical factors of acute setting might contribute to IUC-associated delirium occurrence

Measurement of the ratio B(t -> Wb)/B(t -> Wq) in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV

The ratio of the top-quark branching fractions R = B(t --> Wb)/B(t --> Wq), where the denominator includes the sum over all down-type quarks (q = b, s, d), is measured in the t (t) over bar dilepton final state with proton-proton collision data at root s = 8 TeV from an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb(-1), collected with the CMS detector. In order to quantify the purity of the signal sample, the cross section is measured by fitting the observed jet multiplicity, thereby constraining the signal and background contributions. By counting the number of b jets per event, an unconstrained value of R = 1.014 +/- 0.003 (stat.) +/- 0.032 (syst.) is measured, in a good agreement with current precision measurements in electroweak and flavour sectors. A lower limit R > 0.955 at the 95% confidence level is obtained after requiring R 0.975 is set at 95% confidence level. The result is combined with a previous CMS measurement of the t-channel single-top-quark cross section to determine the top-quark total decay width, Gamma(t) = 1.36 +/- 0.02 (stat.)(-0.11)(+0.14) (syst.) GeV

Search for excited quarks in the gamma plus jet final state in proton-proton collisions at root s=8 TeV

A search for excited quarks decaying into the gamma + jet final state is presented. The analysis is based on data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb(-1) collected by the CMS experiment in proton-proton collisions at root s = 8 TeV at the LHC. Events with photons and jets with high transverse momenta are selected and the gamma + jet invariant mass distribution is studied to search for a resonance peak. The 95% confidence level upper limits on the product of cross section and branching fraction are evaluated as a function of the excited quark mass. Limits on excited quarks are presented as a function of their mass and coupling strength; masses below 3.5 TeV are excluded at 95% confidence level for unit couplings to their standard model partners