Status of the ACCULINNA-2 project at FLNR

The project of a new and more powerful in-flight fragment separator ACCULINNA-2 at U-400M cyclotron in FLNR, JINR planned to build in addition to the existing separator ACCULINNA is presented. The new separator will provide high intensity RIBs in the lowest energy range (5÷50 MeV/nucleon) which is attainable for in-flight separators. The possibilities for the astrophysics studies at the proposed device are presented. ACCULINNA-2 separator is planned to be constructed in the years 2010-2015. The current status of the project is reported

Few-body resonances in light nuclei

We have localized several few-body resonances in light nuclei, using methods which can properly handle two- or three-body resonant states. Among other results, we predict the existence of a three-neutron resonance, small spin-orbit splittings between the low-lying states in He-5 and Li-5, the nonexistence of the soft dipole resonance in He-6, new 1+ states in Li-8 and B-8, and the presence of a nonlinear amplification phenomenon in the 0+_2 state of C-12

Neuroanatomical Study of the A11 Diencephalospinal Pathway in the Non-Human Primate

BACKGROUND: The A11 diencephalospinal pathway is crucial for sensorimotor integration and pain control at the spinal cord level. When disrupted, it is thought to be involved in numerous painful conditions such as restless legs syndrome and migraine. Its anatomical organization, however, remains largely unknown in the non-human primate (NHP). We therefore characterized the anatomy of this pathway in the NHP. METHODS AND FINDINGS: In situ hybridization of spinal dopamine receptors showed that D1 receptor mRNA is absent while D2 and D5 receptor mRNAs are mainly expressed in the dorsal horn and D3 receptor mRNA in both the dorsal and ventral horns. Unilateral injections of the retrograde tracer Fluoro-Gold (FG) into the cervical spinal enlargement labeled A11 hypothalamic neurons quasi-exclusively among dopamine areas. Detailed immunohistochemical analysis suggested that these FG-labeled A11 neurons are tyrosine hydroxylase-positive but dopa-decarboxylase and dopamine transporter-negative, suggestive of a L-DOPAergic nucleus. Stereological cell count of A11 neurons revealed that this group is composed by 4002±501 neurons per side. A 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1, 2, 3, 6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) intoxication with subsequent development of a parkinsonian syndrome produced a 50% neuronal cell loss in the A11 group. CONCLUSION: The diencephalic A11 area could be the major source of L-DOPA in the NHP spinal cord, where it may play a role in the modulation of sensorimotor integration through D2 and D3 receptors either directly or indirectly via dopamine formation in spinal dopa-decarboxylase-positives cells

Search for strongly interacting massive particles generating trackless jets in proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV

A search for dark matter in the form of strongly interacting massive particles (SIMPs) using the CMS detector at the LHC is presented. The SIMPs would be produced in pairs that manifest themselves as pairs of jets without tracks. The energy fraction of jets carried by charged particles is used as a key discriminator to suppress efficiently the large multijet background, and the remaining background is estimated directly from data. The search is performed using proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 16.1 fb - 1 , collected with the CMS detector in 2016. No significant excess of events is observed above the expected background. For the simplified dark matter model under consideration, SIMPs with masses up to 100 GeV are excluded and further sensitivity is explored towards higher masses

Evidence for Top Quark Production in Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions

Peer reviewe

Search for dark matter produced in association with a Higgs boson decaying to a pair of bottom quarks in proton-proton collisions at root s=13TeV

A search for dark matter produced in association with a Higgs boson decaying to a pair of bottom quarks is performed in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. The analyzed data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1). The signal is characterized by a large missing transverse momentum recoiling against a bottom quark-antiquark system that has a large Lorentz boost. The number of events observed in the data is consistent with the standard model background prediction. Results are interpreted in terms of limits both on parameters of the type-2 two-Higgs doublet model extended by an additional light pseudoscalar boson a (2HDM+a) and on parameters of a baryonic Z simplified model. The 2HDM+a model is tested experimentally for the first time. For the baryonic Z model, the presented results constitute the most stringent constraints to date.Peer reviewe

Observation of the B-s(0) -> X(3872)phi Decay

Using a data sample of proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb(-1) collected by the CMS experiment in 2016-2018, the B-s(0) -> X(3872)phi decay is observed. Decays into J/psi pi(+)pi(-) and K+K- are used to reconstruct, respectively, the X(3872) and phi. The ratio of the product of branching fractions B[B-s(0) -> X(3872)phi]B[X(3872) -> J/psi pi(+)pi(-)] to the product B[B-s(0) ->psi(2S)phi]B[psi(2S) -> J/psi pi(+)pi(-)] is measured to be [2.21 +/- 0.29(stat) +/- 0.17(syst)]%. The ratio B[B-s(0) -> X(3872)phi]/B[B-0 -> X(3872)K-0] is found to be consistent with one, while the ratio B[B-s(0) -> X(3872)phi]/B[B+-> X(3872)K+] is two times smaller. This suggests a difference in the production dynamics of the X(3872) in B-0 and B(0)s meson decays compared to B+. The reported observation may shed new light on the nature of the X(3872) particle.Peer reviewe

Observation of a New Excited Beauty Strange Baryon Decaying to Ξb- π+π-

The Ξb-π+π- invariant mass spectrum is investigated with an event sample of proton-proton collisions at s=13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2016-2018 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb-1. The ground state Ξb- is reconstructed via its decays to J/ψΞ- and J/ψΛK-. A narrow resonance, labeled Ξb(6100)-, is observed at a Ξb-π+π- invariant mass of 6100.3±0.2(stat)±0.1(syst)±0.6(Ξb-) MeV, where the last uncertainty reflects the precision of the Ξb- baryon mass. The upper limit on the Ξb(6100)- natural width is determined to be 1.9 MeV at 95% confidence level. The low Ξb(6100)- signal yield observed in data does not allow a measurement of the quantum numbers of the new state. However, following analogies with the established excited Ξc baryon states, the new Ξb(6100)- resonance and its decay sequence are consistent with the orbitally excited Ξb- baryon, with spin and parity quantum numbers JP=3/2-

Measurement of the inclusive and differential Higgs boson production cross sections in the decay mode to a pair of τ Leptons in pp collisions at sqrt[s]=13 TeV

Measurements of the inclusive and differential fiducial cross sections of the Higgs boson are presented, using the τ lepton decay channel. The differential cross sections are measured as functions of the Higgs boson transverse momentum, jet multiplicity, and transverse momentum of the leading jet in the event, if any. The analysis is performed using proton-proton collision data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13  TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138  fb^{-1}. These are the first differential measurements of the Higgs boson cross section in the final state of two τ leptons. In final states with a large jet multiplicity or with a Lorentz-boosted Higgs boson, these measurements constitute a significant improvement over measurements performed in other final states

Molecular signatures of the rediae, cercariae and adult stages in the complex life cycles of parasitic flatworms (Digenea: Psilostomatidae)

BACKGROUND: Parasitic flatworms (Trematoda: Digenea) represent one of the most remarkable examples of drastic morphological diversity among the stages within a life cycle. Which genes are responsible for extreme differences in anatomy, physiology, behavior, and ecology among the stages? Here we report a comparative transcriptomic analysis of parthenogenetic and amphimictic generations in two evolutionary informative species of Digenea belonging to the family Psilostomatidae. METHODS: In this study the transcriptomes of rediae, cercariae and adult worm stages of Psilotrema simillimum and Sphaeridiotrema pseudoglobulus, were sequenced and analyzed. High-quality transcriptomes were generated, and the reference sets of protein-coding genes were used for differential expression analysis in order to identify stage-specific genes. Comparative analysis of gene sets, their expression dynamics and Gene Ontology enrichment analysis were performed for three life stages within each species and between the two species.RESULTS: Reference transcriptomes for P. simillimum and S. pseudoglobulus include 21,433 and 46,424 sequences, respectively. Among 14,051 orthologous groups (OGs), 1354 are common and specific for two analyzed psilostomatid species, whereas 13 and 43 OGs were unique for P. simillimum and S. pseudoglobulus, respectively. In contrast to P. simillimum, where more than 60% of analyzed genes were active in the redia, cercaria and adult worm stages, in S. pseudoglobulus less than 40% of genes had such a ubiquitous expression pattern. In general, 7805 (36.41%) and 30,622 (65.96%) of genes were preferentially expressed in one of the analyzed stages of P. simillimum and S. pseudoglobulus, respectively. In both species 12 clusters of co-expressed genes were identified, and more than a half of the genes belonging to the reference sets were included into these clusters. Functional specialization of the life cycle stages was clearly supported by Gene Ontology enrichment analysis.CONCLUSIONS: During the life cycles of the two species studied, most of the genes change their expression levels considerably, consequently the molecular signature of a stage is not only a unique set of expressed genes, but also the specific levels of their expression. Our results indicate unexpectedly high level of plasticity in gene regulation between closely related species. Transcriptomes of P. simillimum and S. pseudoglobulus provide high quality reference resource for future evolutionary studies and comparative analyses