Single lesion multibacillary leprosy, a treatment enigma: a case report

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Pathogen-Specific Epitopes as Epidemiological Tools for Defining the Magnitude of Mycobacterium leprae Transmission in Areas Endemic for Leprosy

During recent years, comparative genomic analysis has allowed the identification of Mycobacterium leprae-specific genes with potential application for the diagnosis of leprosy. In a previous study, 58 synthetic peptides derived from these sequences were tested for their ability to induce production of IFN-γ in PBMC from endemic controls (EC) with unknown exposure to M. leprae, household contacts of leprosy patients and patients, indicating the potential of these synthetic peptides for the diagnosis of sub- or preclinical forms of leprosy. In the present study, the patterns of IFN-γ release of the individuals exposed or non-exposed to M. leprae were compared using an Artificial Neural Network algorithm, and the most promising M. leprae peptides for the identification of exposed people were selected. This subset of M. leprae-specific peptides allowed the differentiation of groups of individuals from sites hyperendemic for leprosy versus those from areas with lower level detection rates. A progressive reduction in the IFN-γ levels in response to the peptides was seen when contacts of multibacillary (MB) patients were compared to other less exposed groups, suggesting a down modulation of IFN-γ production with an increase in bacillary load or exposure to M. leprae. The data generated indicate that an IFN-γ assay based on these peptides applied individually or as a pool can be used as a new tool for predicting the magnitude of M. leprae transmission in a given population

Search for pair-produced vectorlike quarks coupling to light quarks in the lepton plus jets final state using 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search is presented for the pair production of heavy vectorlike quarks (VLQs) that each decay into a W boson and a light quark. This study focuses on events where one W boson decays into leptons and the other into hadrons. The search analyzed 140 fb−1 of pp collision data with pffiffi s 1⁄4 13 TeV, recorded by the ATLAS detector from 2015 to 2018 during run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider. The final state is characterized by a high-transverse-momentum isolated electron or muon, large missing transverse momentum, multiple small-radius jets, and a single large-radius jet identified as originating from the hadronic decay of a boosted W boson. With higher center-of-mass energy and integrated luminosity than in the run 1 search, and improved analysis tools, this analysis excludes VLQs (Q) with masses below 1530 GeV at 95% confidence level for the branching ratio BðQ → WqÞ 1⁄4 1, an improvement of 840 GeV on the previous ATLAS limit

Measurement of the tt ̄ cross section and its ratio to the Z production cross section using pp collisions at s=13.6 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive top-quark-pair production cross section σtt ̄ and its ratio to the Z-boson production cross section have been measured in proton–proton collisions at s=13.6 TeV, using 29 fb−1 of data collected in 2022 with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Using events with an opposite-charge electron-muon pair and b-tagged jets, and assuming Standard Model decays, the top-quark-pair production cross section is measured to be σtt ̄=850±3(stat.)±18(syst.)±20(lumi.) pb. The ratio of the tt ̄ and the Z-boson production cross sections is also measured, where the Z-boson contribution is determined for inclusive e+e− and μ+μ− events in a fiducial phase space. The relative uncertainty on the ratio is reduced compared to the tt ̄ cross section, thanks to the cancellation of several systematic uncertainties. The result for the ratio, Rtt ̄/Z=1.145±0.003(stat.)±0.021(syst.)±0.002(lumi.) is consistent with the Standard Model prediction using the PDF4LHC21 PDF set

Performance of electron and photon triggers in ATLAS during LHC Run 2

Electron and photon triggers covering transverseenergies from 5 GeV to several TeV are essential for theATLAS experiment to record signals for a wide variety ofphysics: from Standard Model processes to searches for newphenomena in both proton–proton and heavy-ion collisions.To cope with a fourfold increase of peak LHC luminosityfrom 2015 to 2018 (Run 2), to 2.1×1034cm−2s−1, anda similar increase in the number of interactions per beam-crossing to about 60, trigger algorithms and selections wereoptimised to control the rates while retaining a high effi-ciency for physics analyses. For proton–proton collisions, thesingle-electron trigger efficiency relative to a single-electronoffline selection is at least 75% for an offline electron of31 GeV, and rises to 96% at 60 GeV; the trigger efficiency ofa 25 GeV leg of the primary diphoton trigger relative to a tightoffline photon selection is more than 96% for an offline pho-ton of 30 GeV. For heavy-ion collisions, the primary electronand photon trigger efficiencies relative to the correspondingstandard offline selections are at least 84% and 95%, respec-tively, at 5 GeV above the corresponding trigger threshold

Measurements of the production cross-section for a Z boson in association with b-jets in proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents a measurement of the production cross-section of a Z boson in association with b-jets, in proton-proton collisions at √s = 13$ TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.6 fb-1. Inclusive and differential cross-sections are measured for events containing a Z boson decaying into electrons or muons and produced in association with at least one or at least two b-jets with transverse momentum PT > 20 GeV and rapidity |y| <2.5. Predictions from several Monte Carlo generators based on leading-order (LO) or next-to-leading-order (NLO) matrix elements interfaced with a parton-shower simulation and testing different flavour schemes for the choice of initial-state partons are compared with measured cross-sections. The 5-flavour number scheme predictions at NLO accuracy agree better with data than 4-flavour number scheme ones. The 4-flavour number scheme predictions underestimate data in events with at least one b-jet

Measurement of the charge asymmetry in top-quark pair production in association with a photon with the ATLAS experiment

A measurement of the charge asymmetry in top-quark pair (tt ̄) production in association with a photon is presented. The measurement is performed in the single-lepton tt ̄ decay channel using proton–proton collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN at a centre-of-mass-energy of 13 TeV during the years 2015–2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1. The charge asymmetry is obtained from the distribution of the difference of the absolute rapidities of the top quark and antiquark using a profile likelihood unfolding approach. It is measured to be AC=−0.003±0.029 in agreement with the Standard Model expectation

Search for tt¯ resonances in fully hadronic final states in pp collisions at s√ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents a search for new heavy particles decaying into a pair of top quarks using 139 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data recorded at a centre-of-mass energy of s√ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The search is performed using events consistent with pair production of high-transverse-momentum top quarks and their subsequent decays into the fully hadronic final states. The analysis is optimized for resonances decaying into a tt¯ pair with mass above 1.4 TeV, exploiting a dedicated multivariate technique with jet substructure to identify hadronically decaying top quarks using large-radius jets and evaluating the background expectation from data. No significant deviation from the background prediction is observed. Limits are set on the production cross-section times branching fraction for the new Z′ boson in a topcolor-assisted-technicolor model. The Z′ boson masses below 3.9 and 4.7 TeV are excluded at 95% confidence level for the decay widths of 1% and 3%, respectively.(undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Measurement of muon pairs produced via γγ scattering in nonultraperipheral Pb + Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a measurement of dimuon photoproduction in nonultraperipheral Pb + Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV are presented. Themeasurement uses ATLAS data from the 2015 and 2018 Pb + Pb data-taking periods at the LHC with an integrated luminosity of 1.94 nb.1. The γγ → μ+ μ- pairs are identified via selections on pair momentum asymmetry and acoplanarity. Differential cross sections for dimuon production are measured in different centrality, average muon momentum, and pair rapidity intervals as functions of acoplanarity and k⊥, the transverse momentum kick of one muon relative to the other. Measurements are also made as a function of the rapidity separation of the muons and the angle of the muon pair relative to the second-order event plane to test whether magnetic fields generated in the quark-gluon plasma affect the measured muons. A prior observation of a centrality-dependent broadening of the acoplanarity distribution is confirmed. Furthermore, the improved precision of the measurement reveals a depletion in the number of pairs having small acoplanarity or k⊥ values in more central collisions. The acoplanarity distributions in a given centrality interval are observed to vary with the mean pT of the muons in the pair, but the k⊥ distributions do not. Comparisons with recent theoretical predictions are made. The predicted trends associated with effects of magnetic fields on the dimuons are not observed

Measurements of WH and ZH production in the H→ bb¯ decay channel in pp collisions at 13Te with the ATLAS detector

Measurements of the Standard Model Higgs boson decaying into a bb¯ pair and produced in association with a W or Z boson decaying into leptons, using proton–proton collision data collected between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS detector, are presented. The measurements use collisions produced by the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of s=13Te, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139fb-1. The production of a Higgs boson in association with a W or Z boson is established with observed (expected) significances of 4.0 (4.1) and 5.3 (5.1) standard deviations, respectively. Cross-sections of associated production of a Higgs boson decaying into bottom quark pairs with an electroweak gauge boson, W or Z, decaying into leptons are measured as a function of the gauge boson transverse momentum in kinematic fiducial volumes. The cross-section measurements are all consistent with the Standard Model expectations, and the total uncertainties vary from 30% in the high gauge boson transverse momentum regions to 85% in the low regions. Limits are subsequently set on the parameters of an effective Lagrangian sensitive to modifications of the WH and ZH processes as well as the Higgs boson decay into bb¯