Playing God: An Analysis of Video Game Religion

Video games offer a liberating, virtual-community building and meaning-making out-of-body experience for those that wholeheartedly engage in them. The lore and backstory of some of the most popular games (League of Legends, Kingdom Hearts, and World of Warcraft) are heavily influenced by all types of religion. In addition, and contrary to popular perception, a growing number of video games offer a global medium for instilling positive morals in society. As a result, video games become a religious placeholder or pseudo-religion for many of the most devoted gamers, because they offer many of the same experiences that religions do. This can be a potential explanation as to why organized religion is on the downswing in America

Network analyses identify liver-specific targets for treating liver diseases

We performed integrative network analyses to identify targets that can be used for effectively treating liver diseases with minimal side effects. We first generated co-expression networks (CNs) for 46 human tissues and liver cancer to explore the functional relationships between genes and examined the overlap between functional and physical interactions. Since increasedde novolipogenesis is a characteristic of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), we investigated the liver-specific genes co-expressed with fatty acid synthase (FASN). CN analyses predicted that inhibition of these liver-specific genes decreases FASN expression. Experiments in human cancer cell lines, mouse liver samples, and primary human hepatocytes validated our predictions by demonstrating functional relationships between these liver genes, and showing that their inhibition decreases cell growth and liver fat content. In conclusion, we identified liver-specific genes linked to NAFLD pathogenesis, such as pyruvate kinase liver and red blood cell (PKLR), or to HCC pathogenesis, such as PKLR, patatin-like phospholipase domain containing 3 (PNPLA3), and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9), all of which are potential targets for drug development

Measurement of charged particle spectra in minimum-bias events from proton-proton collisions at root s =13 TeV

Pseudorapidity, transverse momentum, and multiplicity distributions are measured in the pseudorapidity range vertical bar eta vertical bar 0.5 GeV in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of root s = 13 TeV. Measurements are presented in three different event categories. The most inclusive of the categories corresponds to an inelastic pp data set, while the other two categories are exclusive subsets of the inelastic sample that are either enhanced or depleted in single diffractive dissociation events. The measurements are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo event generators used to describe high-energy hadronic interactions in collider and cosmic-ray physics.Peer reviewe

The Phase-2 Upgrade of the CMS Tracker

This is the final version, approved by the LHCC, of the CMS TDR devoted to the upgrade of the CMS tracker in view of the HL-LHC running

The Phase-2 Upgrade of the CMS Tracker

This is the final version, approved by the LHCC, of the CMS TDR devoted to the upgrade of the CMS tracker in view of the HL-LHC running

Evidence for X(3872) in Pb-Pb Collisions and Studies of its Prompt Production at sNN\sqrt {s_{NN}}=5.02 TeV

The first evidence for X(3872) production in relativistic heavy ion collisions is reported. The $X(3872)$ production is studied in lead-lead (Pb-Pb) collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt {s_{NN}}$ 5.02 TeV per nucleon pair, using the decay chain $X(3872) → J/ψ π^+ π^− → μ^+ μ^- π^+ π^−$. The data were recorded with the CMS detector in 2018 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 1.7 nb$^{-1}$. The measurement is performed in the rapidity and transverse momentum ranges $|y|<$ 1.6 and 15$< p_T <$ 50 GeV/c. The significance of the inclusive $X(3872)$ signal is 4.2 standard deviations. The prompt $X(3872)$ to $ψ2S$ yield ratio is found to be $ρ^{Pb-Pb} =1.08±0.49(stat)±0.52(syst)$, to be compared with typical values of 0.1 for pp collisions. This result provides a unique experimental input to theoretical models of the $X(3872)$ production mechanism, and of the nature of this exotic state

Evidence for X(3872) in Pb-Pb Collisions and Studies of its Prompt Production at sNN\sqrt {s_{NN}}=5.02 TeV

International audienceThe first evidence for X(3872) production in relativistic heavy ion collisions is reported. The X(3872) production is studied in lead-lead (Pb-Pb) collisions at a center-of-mass energy of sNN=5.02  TeV per nucleon pair, using the decay chain X(3872)→J/ψπ+π−→μ+μ-π+π−. The data were recorded with the CMS detector in 2018 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 1.7  nb-1. The measurement is performed in the rapidity and transverse momentum ranges |y|&lt;1.6 and 15&lt;pT&lt;50  GeV/c. The significance of the inclusive X(3872) signal is 4.2 standard deviations. The prompt X(3872) to ψ2S yield ratio is found to be ρPb-Pb=1.08±0.49(stat)±0.52(syst), to be compared with typical values of 0.1 for pp collisions. This result provides a unique experimental input to theoretical models of the X(3872) production mechanism, and of the nature of this exotic state

Search for resonant pair production of Higgs bosons decaying to bottom quark-antiquark pairs in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV

A search for a narrow-width resonance decaying into two Higgs bosons, each decaying into a bottom quark-antiquark pair, is presented. The search is performed using proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$ at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV recorded by the CMS detector at the LHC. No evidence for such a signal is observed. Upper limits are set on the product of the production cross section for the resonance and the branching fraction for the selected decay mode in the resonance mass range from 260 to 1200 GeV