Radiation Campaign of HPK Prototype LGAD sensors for the High-Granularity Timing Detector (HGTD)

We report on the results of a radiation campaign with neutrons and protons of Low Gain Avalanche Detectors (LGAD) produced by Hamamatsu (HPK) as prototypes for the High-Granularity Timing Detector (HGTD) in ATLAS. Sensors with an active thickness of 50~$\mu$m were irradiated in steps of roughly 2$\times$ up to a fluence of $3\times10^{15}~\mathrm{n_{eq}cm^{-2}}$. As a function of the fluence, the collected charge and time resolution of the irradiated sensors will be reported for operation at $-30^{\circ}$

The πLUP project: Exploiting new techniques and neural networks in high-energy experiment data acquisition

The constant challenge to break the frontiers of energy and luminosity in high-energy physics experiments at LHC brings along the necessity of constant technological efforts in the acquisition of the signal generated by particles detectors. The relatively slow pace of the technological advance when compared to the constant increase of the outcoming bandwidth from the detectors requires the exploit of innovative methods and architectures for the data acquisition electronics. The πLUP project aims to create the prototype of a new generation of flexible data acquisition boards by exploiting the capabilities of the FPGA technology combined with the ease of use of an integrated Linux kernel, in order to implement new technological paradigms and to study the impact of neural networks in the reconstruction of acquired data

Search for chargino-neutralino production with mass splittings near the electroweak scale in three-lepton final states in √s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for supersymmetry through the pair production of electroweakinos with mass splittings near the electroweak scale and decaying via on-shell W and Z bosons is presented for a three-lepton final state. The analyzed proton-proton collision data taken at a center-of-mass energy of √s=13  TeV were collected between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139  fb−1. A search, emulating the recursive jigsaw reconstruction technique with easily reproducible laboratory-frame variables, is performed. The two excesses observed in the 2015–2016 data recursive jigsaw analysis in the low-mass three-lepton phase space are reproduced. Results with the full data set are in agreement with the Standard Model expectations. They are interpreted to set exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level on simplified models of chargino-neutralino pair production for masses up to 345 GeV

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

An overview on dietary polyphenols and their biopharmaceutical classification system (Bcs)

Polyphenols are natural organic compounds produced by plants, acting as antioxidants by reacting with ROS. These compounds are widely consumed in daily diet and many studies report several benefits to human health thanks to their bioavailability in humans. However, the digestion process of phenolic compounds is still not completely clear. Moreover, bioavailability is dependent on the metabolic phase of these compounds. The LogP value can be managed as a simplified measure of the lipophilicity of a substance ingested within the human body, which affects resultant absorption. The biopharmaceutical classification system (BCS), a method used to classify drugs intended for gastrointestinal absorption, correlates the solubility and permeability of the drug with both the rate and extent of oral absorption. BCS may be helpful to measure the bioactive constituents of foods, such as polyphenols, in order to understand their nutraceutical potential. There are many literature studies that focus on permeability, absorption, and bioavailability of polyphenols and their resultant metabolic byproducts, but there is still confusion about their respective LogP values and BCS classifi-cation. This review will provide an overview of the information regarding 10 dietarypolyphenols (ferulic acid, chlorogenic acid, rutin, quercetin, apigenin, cirsimaritin, daidzein, resveratrol, ellagic acid, and curcumin) and their association with the BCS classification

Projected Range Contractions of European Protected Oceanic Montane Plant Communities: Focus on Climate Change Impacts Is Essential for Their Future Conservation

Global climate is rapidly changing and while many studies have investigated the potential impacts of this on the distribution of montane plant species and communities, few have focused on those with oceanic montane affinities. In Europe, highly sensitive bryophyte species reach their optimum occurrence, highest diversity and abundance in the northwest hyperoceanic regions, while a number of montane vascular plant species occur here at the edge of their range. This study evaluates the potential impact of climate change on the distribution of these species and assesses the implications for EU Habitats Directive-protected oceanic montane plant communities. We applied an ensemble of species distribution modelling techniques, using atlas data of 30 vascular plant and bryophyte species, to calculate range changes under projected future climate change. The future effectiveness of the protected area network to conserve these species was evaluated using gap analysis. We found that the majority of these montane species are projected to lose suitable climate space, primarily at lower altitudes, or that areas of suitable climate will principally shift northwards. In particular, rare oceanic montane bryophytes have poor dispersal capacity and are likely to be especially vulnerable to contractions in their current climate space. Significantly different projected range change responses were found between 1) oceanic montane bryophytes and vascular plants; 2) species belonging to different montane plant communities; 3) species categorised according to different biomes and eastern limit classifications. The inclusion of topographical variables in addition to climate, significantly improved the statistical and spatial performance of models. The current protected area network is projected to become less effective, especially for specialised arctic-montane species, posing a challenge to conserving oceanic montane plant communities. Conservation management plans need significantly greater focus on potential climate change impacts, including models with higher-resolution species distribution and environmental data, to aid these communities’ long-term survival

Effects of fatigue on muscle stiffness and intermittent sprinting during cycling

Purpose: It was recently demonstrated that musculoarticular (MA) stiffness is related to sprint cycling performance in nonfatigued conditions. This study examined whether relatively stiffer cyclists were more effective at sprinting under fatigued conditions, as occurs during endurance cycling competitions. Methods: MA stiffness of the quadriceps was assessed in 21 trained male cyclists (28.7 ± 9.5 yr, 1.74 ± 0.08 m, 67.5 ± 7.2 kg). Participants also performed a maximal 6-s sprint on a cycle ergometer to assess peak power output (PO peak ), peak crank torque (CT peak ), and peak rate of crank torque development (RCTD peak ). A cycling fatigue protocol then required cyclists to pedal at 30%, 35%, and 40% of PO peak and sprint at the end of each stage. Surface EMG was recorded from vastus lateralis during each sprint and analyzed in the time domain as integrated EMG (iEMG) and in the frequency domain as instantaneous median frequency (MDF) adopting a continuous wavelet transform. Participants were then retested for MA stiffness. Results: MA stiffness (-12%) was significantly reduced after the cycling protocol. Further, PO peak , CT peak , RCTD peak , and iEMG were reduced by 20%, 15%, 13%, and 20%, respectively, after the fatigue protocol (P < 0.05). When the cyclists were divided into relatively stiff (SG) and relatively compliant groups (CG), only SG exhibited significant decreases in MA stiffness, C T peak , RCTD peak (P < 0.05), and instantaneous MDF (R = 0.705). Conclusions: Whereas neuromechanical parameters were generally reduced under conditions of fatigue, stiff and compliant cyclists were affected differently, with the sprint abilities of SG decreased to the level of CG. It seems important for endurance cyclists to incorporate training strategies to maintain MA stiffness during competition to offset declines in sprint performance. © 2011 by the American College of Sports Medicine

Measurement of the inelastic proton-proton cross section at √s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

This Letter presents a measurement of the inelastic proton-proton cross section using 60  μb −1 of pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy √s of 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Inelastic interactions are selected using rings of plastic scintillators in the forward region (2.0710 −6 , where M X is the larger invariant mass of the two hadronic systems separated by the largest rapidity gap in the event. In this ξ range the scintillators are highly efficient. For diffractive events this corresponds to cases where at least one proton dissociates to a system with M X >13  GeV . The measured cross section is compared with a range of theoretical predictions. When extrapolated to the full phase space, a cross section of 78.1±2.9  mb is measured, consistent with the inelastic cross section increasing with center-of-mass energy

Charged-particle distributions at low transverse momentum in √s=13 13 TeV pp interactions measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements of distributions of charged particles produced in proton–proton collisions with a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV are presented. The data were recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 151 μb −1 μb−1 . The particles are required to have a transverse momentum greater than 100 MeV and an absolute pseudorapidity less than 2.5. The charged-particle multiplicity, its dependence on transverse momentum and pseudorapidity and the dependence of the mean transverse momentum on multiplicity are measured in events containing at least two charged particles satisfying the above kinematic criteria. The results are corrected for detector effects and compared to the predictions from several Monte Carlo event generators

Search for Higgs boson decays into a pair of light bosons in the bbμμ final state in pp collision at √s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for decays of the Higgs boson into a pair of new spin-zero particles, H→aa, where the a-bosons decay into a b-quark pair and a muon pair, is presented. The search uses 36.1fb−1of proton–proton collision data at √s=13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in 2015 and 2016. No significant deviation from the Standard Model prediction is observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are placed on the branching ratio (σH/σSM) ×B(H→aa →bbμμ), ranging from 1.2 ×10−4to 8.4 ×10−4in the a-boson mass range of 20–60GeV. Model-independent limits are set on the visible production cross-section times the branching ratio to the bbμμ final state for new physics, σvis(X) ×B(X→bbμμ), ranging from 0.1fb to 0.73fb for mμμ between 18 and 62GeV