Trends in Organochlorine Residue Concentrations in Ringed Seal (Phoca hispida) from Holman, Northwest Territories, 1972-91

Samples of blubber for organochlorine (OC) analysis were collected from ringed seals (Phoca hispida) taken during subsistence hunts at Holman, Northwest Territories, in 1972, 1981, 1989, and 1991. DDT-group residue burdens did not change appreciably between 1972 and 1981, but after 1981 concentrations of p,p'-DDE and p,p'-DDT began to fall. By 1991, p,p'-DDE concentrations were less than half, and p,p'-DDT concentrations about 20%, of their 1972 values. Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) fell to about one-third of their 1972 values by 1981, and then stayed constant until 1991; small but significant changes in the relative proportions of individual congeners, probably resulting from metabolism, occurred between 1981 and 1991. Concentrations of hexachlorobenzene (HCB) fell by 40 to 50% between 1981 and 1991, but those of alpha and beta hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCH) did not change. Only minor changes were seen in the distribution of other OC pesticides (oxychlordane, cis- and trans-chlordane, cis- and trans-nonachlor, mirex, heptachlor epoxide and dieldrin). Female ringed seals consistently had lower blubber DDT-group and PCB concentrations than males. These temporal trends are consistent with changes in the production and use pattern of some OCs, and with their expected environmental behaviour as inferred from their physico-chemical properties.En 1972, 1981, 1989 et 1991, on a prélevé des échantillons de lard de phoques annelés (Phoca hispida) pris durant des chasses de subsistance à Holman (Territoires du Nord-Ouest), en vue d'en analyser les organochlorés. Les charges des résidus du groupe DDT n'ont pas changé de façon appréciable entre 1972 et 1981, mais après 1981 les concentrations de p,p'-DDE et de p,p'-DDT ont commencé à chuter. En 1991, les concentrations de p,p'-DDE étaient de plus de 50 p. cent inférieures à leurs valeurs de 1972, et celles de p,p'-DDT, d'environ 20 p. cent. En 1981, les concentrations de diphényles polychlorés (PCB) avaient baissé pour atteindre environ un tiers de leurs valeurs de 1972, puis elles se sont stabilisées jusqu'en 1991; des changements faibles mais significatifs dans les proportions relatives des congénères analysés individuellement, résultant probablement du métabolisme, se sont produits entre 1981 et 1991. Les concentrations d'hexachlorobenzène (HCB) ont diminué de 40 à 50 p. cent entre 1981 et 1991, mais celles des I- et K-hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCH) n'ont pas varié. Seuls des changements mineurs ont été observés dans la distribution d'autres pesticides organochlorés (oxychlordane, cis- et trans-chlordane, cis- et trans-nonachlore, mirex, époxyde d'heptachlore et dieldrine). Les concentrations de substances du groupe DDT et celles de PCB dans le lard des phoques annelés femelles étaient systématiquement moindres que dans celui des mâles. Ces tendances temporelles sont en harmonie avec les changements survenus dans la production et le schéma d'utilisation de certains organochlorés, ainsi qu'avec le comportement environnemental que leurs propriétés physico-chimiques laissent prévoir

TOI-431/HIP 26013: A super-Earth and a sub-Neptune transiting a bright, early K dwarf, with a third RV planet

We present the bright (Vmag = 9.12), multiplanet system TOI-431, characterized with photometry and radial velocities (RVs). We estimate the stellar rotation period to be 30.5 ± 0.7 d using archival photometry and RVs. Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) objects of Interest (TOI)-431 b is a super-Earth with a period of 0.49 d, a radius of 1.28 ± 0.04 R, a mass of 3.07 ± 0.35 M, and a density of 8.0 ± 1.0 g cm-3; TOI-431 d is a sub-Neptune with a period of 12.46 d, a radius of 3.29 ± 0.09 R, a mass of 9.90+1.53-1.49 M, and a density of 1.36 ± 0.25 g cm-3. We find a third planet, TOI-431 c, in the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher RV data, but it is not seen to transit in the TESS light curves. It has an Msin i of 2.83+0.41-0.34 M, and a period of 4.85 d. TOI-431 d likely has an extended atmosphere and is one of the most well-suited TESS discoveries for atmospheric characterization, while the super-Earth TOI-431 b may be a stripped core. These planets straddle the radius gap, presenting an interesting case-study for atmospheric evolution, and TOI-431 b is a prime TESS discovery for the study of rocky planet phase curves

TOI-431/HIP 26013: a super-Earth and a sub-Neptune transiting a bright, early K dwarf, with a third RV planet

Stars and planetary system

Search for pair production of boosted Higgs bosons via vector-boson fusion in the bb¯bb¯ final state using pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for Higgs boson pair production via vector-boson fusion is performed in the Lorentz-boosted regime, where a Higgs boson candidate is reconstructed as a single large-radius jet, using 140 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data at √s = 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Only Higgs boson decays into bottom quark pairs are considered. The search is particularly sensitive to the quartic coupling between two vector bosons and two Higgs bosons relative to its Standard Model prediction, K2V . This study constrains K2V to 0.55 < K2V < 1.49 at the 95% confidence level. The value K2V = 0 is excluded with a significance of 3.8 standard deviations with other Higgs boson couplings fixed to their Standard Model values. A search for new heavy spin-0 resonances that would mediate Higgs boson pair production via vector-boson fusion is carried out in the mass range of 1–5 TeV for the first time under several model and decay-width assumptions. No significant deviation from the Standard Model hypothesis is observed and exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level are derived

Search for single production of vector-like T quarks decaying into Ht or Zt in pp collisions at s√ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper describes a search for the single production of an up-type vector-like quark (T) decaying as T → Ht or T → Zt. The search utilises a dataset of pp collisions at s√ = 13 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector during the 2015–2018 data-taking period of the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1. Data are analysed in final states containing a single lepton with multiple jets and b-jets. The presence of boosted heavy resonances in the event is exploited to discriminate the signal from the Standard Model background. No significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed, and 95% CL upper limits are set on the production cross section of T quarks in different decay channels. The results are interpreted in several benchmark scenarios to set limits on the mass and universal coupling strength (κ) of the vector-like quark. For singlet T quarks, κ values above 0.53 are excluded for all masses below 2.3 TeV. At a mass of 1.6 TeV, κ values as low as 0.35 are excluded. For T quarks in the doublet scenario, where the production cross section is much lower, κ values above 0.72 are excluded for all masses below 1.7 TeV, and this exclusion is extended to κ above 0.55 for low masses around 1.0 TeV

Search for excited τ-leptons and leptoquarks in the final state with τ-leptons and jets in pp collisions at s√ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search is reported for excited τ-leptons and leptoquarks in events with two hadronically decaying τ-leptons and two or more jets. The search uses proton-proton (pp) collision data at s√ = 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment during the Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider in 2015–2018. The total integrated luminosity is 139 fb−1. The excited τ-lepton is assumed to be produced and to decay via a four-fermion contact interaction into an ordinary τ-lepton and a quark-antiquark pair. The leptoquarks are assumed to be produced in pairs via the strong interaction, and each leptoquark is assumed to couple to a charm or lighter quark and a τ-lepton. No excess over the background prediction is observed. Excited τ-leptons with masses below 2.8 TeV are excluded at 95% CL in scenarios with the contact interaction scale Λ set to 10 TeV. At the extreme limit of model validity where Λ is set equal to the excited τ-lepton mass, excited τ-leptons with masses below 4.6 TeV are excluded. Leptoquarks with masses below 1.3 TeV are excluded at 95% CL if their branching ratio to a charm quark and a τ-lepton equals 1. The analysis does not exploit flavour-tagging in the signal region

Measurement of the VH,H → ττ process with the ATLAS detector at 13 TeV

A measurement of the Standard Model Higgs boson produced in association with a W or Z boson and decaying into a pair of τ-leptons is presented. This search is based on proton-proton collision data collected at √s = 13 TeV by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1. For the Higgs boson candidate, only final states with at least one τ-lepton decaying hadronically (τ →hadrons + vτ ) are considered. For the vector bosons, only leptonic decay channels are considered: Z → ℓℓ and W → ℓvℓ, with ℓ = e, μ. An excess of events over the expected background is found with an observed (expected) significance of 4.2 (3.6) standard deviations, providing evidence of the Higgs boson produced in association with a vector boson and decaying into a pair of τ-leptons. The ratio of the measured cross-section to the Standard Model prediction is μττ VH = 1.28 +0.30 −0.29 (stat.) +0.25 −0.21 (syst.). This result represents the most accurate measurement of the VH(ττ) process achieved to date

Search for supersymmetry using vector boson fusion signatures and missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents a search for supersymmetric particles in models with highly compressed mass spectra, in events consistent with being produced through vector boson fusion. The search uses 140 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data at √s = 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Events containing at least two jets with a large gap in pseudorapidity, large missing transverse momentum, and no reconstructed leptons are selected. A boosted decision tree is used to separate events consistent with the production of supersymmetric particles from those due to Standard Model backgrounds. The data are found to be consistent with Standard Model predictions. The results are interpreted using simplified models of R-parity-conserving supersymmetry in which the lightest supersymmetric partner is a bino-like neutralino with a mass similar to that of the lightest chargino and second-to-lightest neutralino, both of which are wino-like. Lower limits at 95% confidence level on the masses of next-to-lightest supersymmetric partners in this simplified model are established between 117 and 120 GeV when the lightest supersymmetric partners are within 1 GeV in mass