The reproductive capacity of Monk Parakeets Myiopsitta monachus is higher in their invasive range

Breeding parameters for Monk Parakeets Myiopsitta monachus nesting in Barcelona, Spain, were collected for 651 nests over five breeding seasons. This invasive population has a high reproductive capacity compared with the species in the native range: fledging success was double, the percentage of pairs attempting second broods three times higher and 55% of first-year birds bred compared with almost zero in South America

Melatonin treatment in old mice enables a more youthful response to LPS in the brain

Melatonin modulates the expression of a number of genes related to inflammation and immunity. Declining levels of melatonin with age may thus relate to some of the changes in immune function that occur with age. mRNA expression levels in murine CNS were measured using oligonucleotide microarrays in order to determine whether a dietary melatonin supplement may modify age-related changes in the response to an inflammatory challenge. CB6F1 male mice were fed 40ppm melatonin for 9 weeks prior to sacrifice at 26.5 months of age, and compared with age-matched untreated controls and 4.5-month-old controls. A subset of both young and old animals was injected i.p. with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). After 3 hours, total RNA was extracted from whole brain (excluding brain stem and cerebellum), and individual samples were hybridized to Affymetrix Mouse 430-2.0 arrays. Data were analyzed in Dchip and GeneSpring. Melatonin treatment markedly altered the response in gene expression of older animals subjected to an LPS challenge. These changes in general, caused the response to more closely resemble that of young animals subjected to the same LPS challenge. Thus melatonin treatment effects a major shift in the response of the CNS to an inflammatory challenge, causing a transition to a more youthful mRNA expression profile

Measurement of the cross section for isolated-photon plus jet production in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV using the ATLAS detector

The dynamics of isolated-photon production in association with a jet in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV are studied with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using a dataset with an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb−1. Photons are required to have transverse energies above 125 GeV. Jets are identified using the anti- algorithm with radius parameter and required to have transverse momenta above 100 GeV. Measurements of isolated-photon plus jet cross sections are presented as functions of the leading-photon transverse energy, the leading-jet transverse momentum, the azimuthal angular separation between the photon and the jet, the photon–jet invariant mass and the scattering angle in the photon–jet centre-of-mass system. Tree-level plus parton-shower predictions from Sherpa and Pythia as well as next-to-leading-order QCD predictions from Jetphox and Sherpa are compared to the measurements

A search for resonances decaying into a Higgs boson and a new particle X in the XH → qqbb final state with the ATLAS detector

A search for heavy resonances decaying into a Higgs boson (H) and a new particle (X) is reported, utilizing 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data at collected during 2015 and 2016 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The particle X is assumed to decay to a pair of light quarks, and the fully hadronic final state is analysed. The search considers the regime of high XH resonance masses, where the X and H bosons are both highly Lorentz-boosted and are each reconstructed using a single jet with large radius parameter. A two-dimensional phase space of XH mass versus X mass is scanned for evidence of a signal, over a range of XH resonance mass values between 1 TeV and 4 TeV, and for X particles with masses from 50 GeV to 1000 GeV. All search results are consistent with the expectations for the background due to Standard Model processes, and 95% CL upper limits are set, as a function of XH and X masses, on the production cross-section of the resonance

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

Comparison between simulated and observed LHC beam backgrounds in the ATLAS experiment at Ebeam =4 TeV

Results of dedicated Monte Carlo simulations of beam-induced background (BIB) in the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are presented and compared with data recorded in 2012. During normal physics operation this background arises mainly from scattering of the 4 TeV protons on residual gas in the beam pipe. Methods of reconstructing the BIB signals in the ATLAS detector, developed and implemented in the simulation chain based on the \textscFluka Monte Carlo simulation package, are described. The interaction rates are determined from the residual gas pressure distribution in the LHC ring in order to set an absolute scale on the predicted rates of BIB so that they can be compared quantitatively with data. Through these comparisons the origins of the BIB leading to different observables in the ATLAS detectors are analysed. The level of agreement between simulation results and BIB measurements by ATLAS in 2012 demonstrates that a good understanding of the origin of BIB has been reached

Search for an invisibly decaying Higgs boson or dark matter candidates produced in association with a Z boson in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

SCOAP

Prompt and non-prompt J/psi elliptic flow in Pb plus Pb collisions at root S-NN=5.02 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The elliptic flow of prompt and non-prompt J/ \u3c8 was measured in the dimuon decay channel in Pb+Pb collisions at sNN=5.02&nbsp;TeV with an integrated luminosity of 0.42nb-1 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The prompt and non-prompt signals are separated using a two-dimensional simultaneous fit of the invariant mass and pseudo-proper decay time of the dimuon system from the J/ \u3c8 decay. The measurement is performed in the kinematic range of dimuon transverse momentum and rapidity 9 &lt; pT&lt; 30 GeV , | y| &lt; 2 , and 0\u201360% collision centrality. The elliptic flow coefficient, v2, is evaluated relative to the event plane and the results are presented as a function of transverse momentum, rapidity and centrality. It is found that prompt and non-prompt J/ \u3c8 mesons have non-zero elliptic flow. Prompt J/ \u3c8v2 decreases as a function of pT, while for non-prompt J/ \u3c8 it is, with limited statistical significance, consistent with a flat behaviour over the studied kinematic region. There is no observed dependence on rapidity or centrality

Search for exclusive Higgs and Z boson decays to ϕγ and ργ with the ATLAS detector

A search for the exclusive decays of the Higgs and Z bosons to a φ or ρ meson and a photon is performed with a pp collision data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of up to 35.6 fb−1 collected at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. These decays have been suggested as a probe of the Higgs boson couplings to light quarks. No significant excess of events is observed above the background, as expected from the Standard Model. Upper limits at 95% confidence level were obtained on the branching fractions of the Higgs boson decays to φγ and ργ of 4.8 × 10−4 and 8.8 × 10−4, respectively. The corresponding 95% confidence level upper limits for the Z boson decays are 0.9 × 10−6 and 25 × 10−6 for φγ and ργ, respectively