Honey Bee PTEN – Description, Developmental Knockdown, and Tissue-Specific Expression of Splice-Variants Correlated with Alternative Social Phenotypes

Phosphatase and TENsin (PTEN) homolog is a negative regulator that takes part in IIS (insulin/insulin-like signaling) and Egfr (epidermal growth factor receptor) activation in Drosophila melanogaster. IIS and Egfr signaling events are also involved in the developmental process of queen and worker differentiation in honey bees (Apis mellifera). Here, we characterized the bee PTEN gene homologue for the first time and begin to explore its potential function during bee development and adult life.Honey bee PTEN is alternatively spliced, resulting in three splice variants. Next, we show that the expression of PTEN can be down-regulated by RNA interference (RNAi) in the larval stage, when female caste fate is determined. Relative to controls, we observed that RNAi efficacy is dependent on the amount of PTEN dsRNA that is delivered to larvae. For larvae fed queen or worker diets containing a high amount of PTEN dsRNA, PTEN knockdown was significant at a whole-body level but lethal. A lower dosage did not result in a significant gene down-regulation. Finally, we compared same-aged adult workers with different behavior: nursing vs. foraging. We show that between nurses and foragers, PTEN isoforms were differentially expressed within brain, ovary and fat body tissues. All isoforms were expressed at higher levels in the brain and ovaries of the foragers. In fat body, isoform B was expressed at higher level in the nurse bees.Our results suggest that PTEN plays a central role during growth and development in queen- and worker-destined honey bees. In adult workers, moreover, tissue-specific patterns of PTEN isoform expression are correlated with differences in complex division of labor between same-aged individuals. Therefore, we propose that knowledge on the roles of IIS and Egfr activity in developmental and behavioral control may increase through studies of how PTEN functions can impact bee social phenotypes

Differential tt¯cross-section measurements using boosted top quarks in the all-hadronic final state with 139 fb−1 of ATLAS data

Measurements of single-, double-, and triple-differential cross-sections are presented for boosted top-quark pair-production in 13 TeV proton–proton collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The top quarks are observed through their hadronic decay and reconstructed as large-radius jets with the leading jet having transverse momentum (pT) greater than 500 GeV. The observed data are unfolded to remove detector effects. The particle-level cross-section, multiplied by the tt¯ → WWbb¯ branching fraction and measured in a fiducial phase space defined by requiring the leading and second-leading jets to have pT> 500 GeV and pT> 350 GeV, respectively, is 331 ± 3(stat.) ± 39(syst.) fb. This is approximately 20% lower than the prediction of 398−49+48 fb by Powheg+Pythia 8 with next-to-leading-order (NLO) accuracy but consistent within the theoretical uncertainties. Results are also presented at the parton level, where the effects of top-quark decay, parton showering, and hadronization are removed such that they can be compared with fixed-order next-to-next-to-leading-order (NNLO) calculations. The parton-level cross-section, measured in a fiducial phase space similar to that at particle level, is 1.94 ± 0.02(stat.) ± 0.25(syst.) pb. This agrees with the NNLO prediction of 1.96−0.17+0.02 pb. Reasonable agreement with the differential cross-sections is found for most NLO models, while the NNLO calculations are generally in better agreement with the data. The differential cross-sections are interpreted using a Standard Model effective field-theory formalism and limits are set on Wilson coefficients of several four-fermion operators. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

Measurement of the Higgs boson mass in the H → Z Z∗ → 4 decay channel using 139 fb−1 of √s = 13 TeV pp collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC

The mass of the Higgs boson is measured in the H→ZZ⁎→4ℓ decay channel. The analysis uses proton–proton collision data from the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector between 2015 and 2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1. The measured value of the Higgs boson mass is 124.99±0.18(stat.)±0.04(syst.) GeV. In final states with muons, this measurement benefits from an improved momentum-scale calibration relative to that adopted in previous publications. The measurement also employs an analytic model that takes into account the invariant-mass resolution of the four-lepton system on a per-event basis and the output of a deep neural network discriminating signal from background events. This measurement is combined with the corresponding measurement using 7 and 8 TeV pp collision data, resulting in a Higgs boson mass of 124.94±0.17(stat.)±0.03(syst.) GeV

Measurement of the total cross section and ρ -parameter from elastic scattering in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

In a special run of the LHC with β⋆= 2.5 km, proton–proton elastic-scattering events were recorded at s=13 TeV with an integrated luminosity of 340μb-1 using the ALFA subdetector of ATLAS in 2016. The elastic cross section was measured differentially in the Mandelstam t variable in the range from - t= 2.5 · 10 - 4 GeV 2 to - t= 0.46 GeV 2 using 6.9 million elastic-scattering candidates. This paper presents measurements of the total cross section σtot , parameters of the nuclear slope, and the ρ -parameter defined as the ratio of the real part to the imaginary part of the elastic-scattering amplitude in the limit t→ 0 . These parameters are determined from a fit to the differential elastic cross section using the optical theorem and different parameterizations of the t-dependence. The results for σtot and ρ are σtot(pp→X)=104.7±1.1mb,ρ=0.098±0.011. The uncertainty in σtot is dominated by the luminosity measurement, and in ρ by imperfect knowledge of the detector alignment and by modelling of the nuclear amplitude

Search for new phenomena in multi-body invariant masses in events with at least one isolated lepton and two jets using √s = 13 TeV proton–proton collision data collected by the ATLAS detector

A search for resonances in events with at least one isolated lepton (e or μ) and two jets is performed using 139 fb −1 of s = 13 TeV proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Deviations from a smoothly falling background hypothesis are tested in three- and four-body invariant mass distributions constructed from leptons and jets, including jets identified as originating from bottom quarks. Model-independent limits on generic resonances characterised by cascade decays of particles leading to multiple jets and leptons in the final state are presented. The limits are calculated using Gaussian shapes with different widths for the invariant masses. The multi-body invariant masses are also used to set 95% confidence level upper limits on the cross-section times branching ratios for the production and subsequent decay of resonances predicted by several new physics scenarios. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

Search for flavour-changing neutral current interactions of the top quark and the Higgs boson in events with a pair of τ-leptons in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for flavour-changing neutral current (FCNC) tqH interactions involving a top quark, another up-type quark (q = u, c), and a Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson decaying into a τ-lepton pair (H → τ + τ −) is presented. The search is based on a dataset of pp collisions at s = 13 TeV that corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb −1 recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Two processes are considered: single top quark FCNC production in association with a Higgs boson (pp → tH), and top quark pair production in which one of top quarks decays into Wb and the other decays into qH through the FCNC interactions. The search selects events with two hadronically decaying τ-lepton candidates (τ had) or at least one τ had with an additional lepton (e, μ), as well as multiple jets. Event kinematics is used to separate signal from the background through a multivariate discriminant. A slight excess of data is observed with a significance of 2.3σ above the expected SM background, and 95% CL upper limits on the t → qH branching ratios are derived. The observed (expected) 95% CL upper limits set on the t → cH and t → uH branching ratios are 9.4×10−4(4.8−1.4+2.2×10−4) and 6.9×10−4(3.5−1.0+1.5×10−4) , respectively. The corresponding combined observed (expected) upper limits on the dimension-6 operator Wilson coefficients in the effective tqH couplings are Ccϕ < 1.35 (0.97) and Cuϕ < 1.16 (0.82). [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Search for third-generation vector-like leptons in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for vector-like leptons in multilepton (two, three, or four-or-more electrons plus muons) final states with zero or more hadronic τ-lepton decays is presented. The search is performed using a dataset corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. To maximize the separation of signal and background, a machine-learning classifier is used. No excess of events is observed beyond the Standard Model expectation. Using a doublet vector-like lepton model, vector-like leptons coupling to third-generation Standard Model leptons are excluded in the mass range from 130 GeV to 900 GeV at the 95% confidence level, while the highest excluded mass is expected to be 970 GeV. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

Exclusive dielectron production in ultraperipheral Pb+Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV with ATLAS

Exclusive production of dielectron pairs, γγ → e + e −, is studied using Lint = 1.72 nb−1 of data from ultraperipheral collisions of lead nuclei at sNN = 5.02 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The process of interest proceeds via photon–photon interactions in the strong electromagnetic fields of relativistic lead nuclei. Dielectron production is measured in the fiducial region defined by following requirements: electron transverse momentum pTe > 2.5 GeV, absolute electron pseudorapidity |η e | 5 GeV, and dielectron transverse momentum pTee < 2 GeV. Differential cross-sections are measured as a function of mee, average pTe , absolute dielectron rapidity |yee|, and scattering angle in the dielectron rest frame, |cos θ *|, in the inclusive sample, and also with a requirement of no activity in the forward direction. The total integrated fiducial cross-section is measured to be 215±1(stat.)−20+23(syst.)±4(lumi.) μb. Within experimental uncertainties the measured integrated cross-section is in good agreement with the QED predictions from the Monte Carlo programs Starlight and SuperChic, confirming the broad features of the initial photon fluxes. The differential cross-sections show systematic differences from these predictions which are more pronounced at high |yee | and |cos θ * | values. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

Production of ϒ(nS) mesons in Pb + Pb and pp collisions at 5.02 TeV

A measurement of the production of vector bottomonium states, ϒ(1S), ϒ(2S), and ϒ(3S), in Pb + Pb and pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 5.02 TeV is presented. The data correspond to integrated luminosities of 1.38 nb-1 of Pb + Pb data collected in 2018, 0.44 nb-1 of Pb + Pb data collected in 2015, and 0.26 fb-1 of pp data collected in 2017 by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The measurements are performed in the dimuon decay channel for transverse momentum pμμT < 30 GeV, absolute rapidity |yμμ| < 1.5, and Pb + Pb event centrality 0-80%. The production rates of the three bottomonium states in Pb + Pb collisions are compared with those in pp collisions to extract the nuclear modification factors as functions of event centrality, pμμT, and |yμμ|. In addition, the suppression of the excited states relative to the ground state is studied. The results are compared with theoretical model calculations

Search for top-philic heavy resonances in pp collisions at s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for the associated production of a heavy resonance with a top-quark or a top-antitop-quark pair, and decaying into a tt¯ pair is presented. The search uses the data recorded by the ATLAS detector in pp collisions at s=13 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider during the years 2015–2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb-1. Events containing exactly one electron or muon are selected. The two hadronically decaying top quarks from the resonance decay are reconstructed using jets clustered with a large radius parameter of R=1. The invariant mass spectrum of the two top quark candidates is used to search for a resonance signal in the range of 1.0 TeV to 3.2 TeV. The presence of a signal is examined using an approach with minimal model dependence followed by a model-dependent interpretation. No significant excess is observed over the background expectation. Upper limits on the production cross section times branching ratio at 95% confidence level are provided for a heavy Z′ boson based on a simplified model, for Z′ mass between 1.0 TeV and 3.0 TeV. The observed (expected) limits range from 21 (14) fb to 119 (86) fb depending on the choice of model parameters