281 research outputs found

    Search for CP violation in D+→ϕπ+ and D+s→K0Sπ+ decays

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    A search for CP violation in D + → ϕπ + decays is performed using data collected in 2011 by the LHCb experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb−1 at a centre of mass energy of 7 TeV. The CP -violating asymmetry is measured to be (−0.04 ± 0.14 ± 0.14)% for candidates with K − K + mass within 20 MeV/c 2 of the ϕ meson mass. A search for a CP -violating asymmetry that varies across the ϕ mass region of the D + → K − K + π + Dalitz plot is also performed, and no evidence for CP violation is found. In addition, the CP asymmetry in the D+s→K0Sπ+ decay is measured to be (0.61 ± 0.83 ± 0.14)%

    Rapid and Sensitive Detection of Yersinia pestis Using Amplification of Plague Diagnostic Bacteriophages Monitored by Real-Time PCR

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    BACKGROUND: Yersinia pestis, the agent of plague, has caused many millions of human deaths and still poses a serious threat to global public health. Timely and reliable detection of such a dangerous pathogen is of critical importance. Lysis by specific bacteriophages remains an essential method of Y. pestis detection and plague diagnostics. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The objective of this work was to develop an alternative to conventional phage lysis tests--a rapid and highly sensitive method of indirect detection of live Y. pestis cells based on quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) monitoring of amplification of reporter Y. pestis-specific bacteriophages. Plague diagnostic phages phiA1122 and L-413C were shown to be highly effective diagnostic tools for the detection and identification of Y. pestis by using qPCR with primers specific for phage DNA. The template DNA extraction step that usually precedes qPCR was omitted. phiA1122-specific qPCR enabled the detection of an initial bacterial concentration of 10(3) CFU/ml (equivalent to as few as one Y. pestis cell per 1-microl sample) in four hours. L-413C-mediated detection of Y. pestis was less sensitive (up to 100 bacteria per sample) but more specific, and thus we propose parallel qPCR for the two phages as a rapid and reliable method of Y. pestis identification. Importantly, phiA1122 propagated in simulated clinical blood specimens containing EDTA and its titer rise was detected by both a standard plating test and qPCR. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Thus, we developed a novel assay for detection and identification of Y. pestis using amplification of specific phages monitored by qPCR. The method is simple, rapid, highly sensitive, and specific and allows the detection of only live bacteria

    Bacteriophage-Resistant Mutants in Yersinia pestis: Identification of Phage Receptors and Attenuation for Mice

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    Background: Bacteriophages specific for Yersinia pestis are routinely used for plague diagnostics and could be an alternative to antibiotics in case of drug-resistant plague. A major concern of bacteriophage therapy is the emergence of phageresistant mutants. The use of phage cocktails can overcome this problem but only if the phages exploit different receptors. Some phage-resistant mutants lose virulence and therefore should not complicate bacteriophage therapy. Methodology/Principal Findings: The purpose of this work was to identify Y. pestis phage receptors using site-directed mutagenesis and trans-complementation and to determine potential attenuation of phage-resistant mutants for mice. Six receptors for eight phages were found in different parts of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) inner and outer core. The receptor for R phage was localized beyond the LPS core. Most spontaneous and defined phage-resistant mutants of Y. pestis were attenuated, showing increase in LD 50 and time to death. The loss of different LPS core biosynthesis enzymes resulted in the reduction of Y. pestis virulence and there was a correlation between the degree of core truncation and the impact on virulence. The yrbH and waaA mutants completely lost their virulence. Conclusions/Significance: We identified Y. pestis receptors for eight bacteriophages. Nine phages together use at least seven different Y. pestis receptors that makes some of them promising for formulation of plague therapeutic cocktails. Most phage-resistant Y. pestis mutants become attenuated and thus should not pose a serious problem for bacteriophag

    The ELBA Force Field for Coarse-Grain Modeling of Lipid Membranes

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    A new coarse-grain model for molecular dynamics simulation of lipid membranes is presented. Following a simple and conventional approach, lipid molecules are modeled by spherical sites, each representing a group of several atoms. In contrast to common coarse-grain methods, two original (interdependent) features are here adopted. First, the main electrostatics are modeled explicitly by charges and dipoles, which interact realistically through a relative dielectric constant of unity (). Second, water molecules are represented individually through a new parametrization of the simple Stockmayer potential for polar fluids; each water molecule is therefore described by a single spherical site embedded with a point dipole. The force field is shown to accurately reproduce the main physical properties of single-species phospholipid bilayers comprising dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) and dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE) in the liquid crystal phase, as well as distearoylphosphatidylcholine (DSPC) in the liquid crystal and gel phases. Insights are presented into fundamental properties and phenomena that can be difficult or impossible to study with alternative computational or experimental methods. For example, we investigate the internal pressure distribution, dipole potential, lipid diffusion, and spontaneous self-assembly. Simulations lasting up to 1.5 microseconds were conducted for systems of different sizes (128, 512 and 1058 lipids); this also allowed us to identify size-dependent artifacts that are expected to affect membrane simulations in general. Future extensions and applications are discussed, particularly in relation to the methodology's inherent multiscale capabilities

    Observation of Two New Excited Ξb0 States Decaying to Λb0 K-π+

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    Two narrow resonant states are observed in the Λb0K-π+ mass spectrum using a data sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected by the LHCb experiment and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 6 fb-1. The minimal quark content of the Λb0K-π+ system indicates that these are excited Ξb0 baryons. The masses of the Ξb(6327)0 and Ξb(6333)0 states are m[Ξb(6327)0]=6327.28-0.21+0.23±0.12±0.24 and m[Ξb(6333)0]=6332.69-0.18+0.17±0.03±0.22 MeV, respectively, with a mass splitting of Δm=5.41-0.27+0.26±0.12 MeV, where the uncertainties are statistical, systematic, and due to the Λb0 mass measurement. The measured natural widths of these states are consistent with zero, with upper limits of Γ[Ξb(6327)0]<2.20(2.56) and Γ[Ξb(6333)0]<1.60(1.92) MeV at a 90% (95%) credibility level. The significance of the two-peak hypothesis is larger than nine (five) Gaussian standard deviations compared to the no-peak (one-peak) hypothesis. The masses, widths, and resonant structure of the new states are in good agreement with the expectations for a doublet of 1D Ξb0 resonances

    Test of lepton universality in bs+b \rightarrow s \ell^+ \ell^- decays

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    The first simultaneous test of muon-electron universality using B+K++B^{+}\rightarrow K^{+}\ell^{+}\ell^{-} and B0K0+B^{0}\rightarrow K^{*0}\ell^{+}\ell^{-} decays is performed, in two ranges of the dilepton invariant-mass squared, q2q^{2}. The analysis uses beauty mesons produced in proton-proton collisions collected with the LHCb detector between 2011 and 2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb1\mathrm{fb}^{-1}. Each of the four lepton universality measurements reported is either the first in the given q2q^{2} interval or supersedes previous LHCb measurements. The results are compatible with the predictions of the Standard Model.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-046.html (LHCb public pages

    Observation and branching fraction measurement of the decay Ξb- → Λ0 bπ -

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    Updated measurements of exclusive J/ψ and ψ(2S) production cross-sections in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV

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    The differential cross-section as a function of rapidity has been measured for the exclusive production of J/ψ and ψ(2S) mesons in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV, using data collected by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 930 pb−1. The cross-sections times branching fractions to two muons having pseudorapidities between 2.0 and 4.5 are measured to be where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. The measurements agree with next-to-leading order QCD predictions as well as with models that include saturation effects

    Precision measurement of CP\it{CP} violation in the penguin-mediated decay Bs0ϕϕB_s^{0}\rightarrow\phi\phi

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    A flavor-tagged time-dependent angular analysis of the decay Bs0ϕϕB_s^{0}\rightarrow\phi\phi is performed using pppp collision data collected by the LHCb experiment at % at s=13\sqrt{s}=13 TeV, the center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 6 fb^{-1}. The CP\it{CP}-violating phase and direct CP\it{CP}-violation parameter are measured to be ϕssˉs=0.042±0.075±0.009\phi_{s\bar{s}s} = -0.042 \pm 0.075 \pm 0.009 rad and λ=1.004±0.030±0.009|\lambda|=1.004\pm 0.030 \pm 0.009 , respectively, assuming the same values for all polarization states of the ϕϕ\phi\phi system. In these results, the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. These parameters are also determined separately for each polarization state, showing no evidence for polarization dependence. The results are combined with previous LHCb measurements using pppp collisions at center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, yielding ϕssˉs=0.074±0.069\phi_{s\bar{s}s} = -0.074 \pm 0.069 rad and lambda=1.009±0.030|lambda|=1.009 \pm 0.030. This is the most precise study of time-dependent CP\it{CP} violation in a penguin-dominated BB meson decay. The results are consistent with CP\it{CP} symmetry and with the Standard Model predictions.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2023-001.html (LHCb public pages

    Observation of a resonant structure near the Ds+DsD_s^+ D_s^- threshold in the B+Ds+DsK+B^+\to D_s^+ D_s^- K^+ decay

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    An amplitude analysis of the B+Ds+DsK+B^+\to D_s^+ D_s^- K^+ decay is carried out to study for the first time its intermediate resonant contributions, using proton-proton collision data collected with the LHCb detector at centre-of-mass energies of 7, 8 and 13 TeV. A near-threshold peaking structure, referred to as X(3960)X(3960), is observed in the Ds+DsD_s^+ D_s^- invariant-mass spectrum with significance greater than 12 standard deviations. The mass, width and the quantum numbers of the structure are measured to be 3956±5±103956\pm5\pm10 MeV, 43±13±843\pm13\pm8 MeV and JPC=0++J^{PC}=0^{++}, respectively, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. The properties of the new structure are consistent with recent theoretical predictions for a state composed of ccˉssˉc\bar{c}s\bar{s} quarks. Evidence for an additional structure is found around 4140 MeV in the Ds+DsD_s^+ D_s^- invariant mass, which might be caused either by a new resonance with the 0++0^{++} assignment or by a J/ψϕDs+DsJ/\psi \phi\leftrightarrow D_s^+ D_s^- coupled-channel effect.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-018.html (LHCb public pages
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