Fetal and infant origins of asthma

Previous studies have suggested that asthma, like other common diseases, has at least part of its origin early in life. Low birth weight has been shown to be associated with increased risks of asthma, chronic obstructive airway disease, and impaired lung function in adults, and increased risks of respiratory symptoms in early childhood. The developmental plasticity hypothesis suggests that the associations between low birth weight and diseases in later life are explained by adaptation mechanisms in fetal life and infancy in response to various adverse exposures. Various pathways leading from adverse fetal and infant exposures to growth adaptations and respiratory health outcomes have been studied, including fetal and early infant growth patterns, maternal smoking and diet, children’s diet, respiratory tract infections and acetaminophen use, and genetic susceptibility. Still, the specific adverse exposures in fetal and early postnatal life leading to respiratory disease in adult life are not yet fully understood. Current studies suggest that both environmental and genetic factors in various periods of life, and their epigenetic mechanisms may underlie the complex associations of low birth weight with respiratory disease in later life. New well-designed epidemiological studies are needed to identify the specific underlying mechanisms. This review is focused on specific adverse fetal and infant growth patterns and exposures, genetic susceptibility, possible respiratory adaptations and perspectives for new studies

Measurement of VH, H → b b ¯ production as a function of the vector-boson transverse momentum in 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

Cross-sections of associated production of a Higgs boson decaying into bottom-quark pairs and an electroweak gauge boson, W or Z, decaying into leptons are measured as a function of the gauge boson transverse momentum. The measurements are performed in kinematic fiducial volumes defined in the `simplified template cross-section' framework. The results are obtained using 79.8 fb-1 of proton-proton collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. All measurements are found to be in agreement with the Standard Model predictions, and limits are set on the parameters of an effective Lagrangian sensitive to modifications of the Higgs boson couplings to the electroweak gauge bosons

Performance of the upgraded PreProcessor of the ATLAS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger

The PreProcessor of the ATLAS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger prepares the analogue trigger signals sent from the ATLAS calorimeters by digitising, synchronising, and calibrating them to reconstruct transverse energy deposits, which are then used in further processing to identify event features. During the first long shutdown of the LHC from 2013 to 2014, the central components of the PreProcessor, the Multichip Modules, were replaced by upgraded versions that feature modern ADC and FPGA technology to ensure optimal performance in the high pile-up environment of LHC Run 2. This paper describes the features of the newMultichip Modules along with the improvements to the signal processing achieved.ANPCyTYerPhI, ArmeniaAustralian Research CouncilBMWFW, AustriaAustrian Science Fund (FWF)Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS)SSTC, BelarusNational Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq)Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP)Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of CanadaCanada Foundation for InnovationNational Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)Departamento Administrativo de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación ColcienciasMinistry of Education, Youth & Sports - Czech Republic Czech Republic GovernmentCzech Republic GovernmentDNRF, DenmarkDanish Natural Science Research CouncilCentre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)CEA-DRF/IRFU, FranceFederal Ministry of Education & Research (BMBF)Max Planck SocietyGreek Ministry of Development-GSRTRGC and Hong Kong SAR, ChinaIsrael Science FoundationBenoziyo Center, IsraelIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN)Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (MEXT)Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (MEXT) Japan Society for the Promotion of ScienceCNRST, MoroccoRCN, NorwayPortuguese Foundation for Science and TechnologyMNE/IFA, RomaniaMES of RussiaMESTD, SerbiaMSSR, SlovakiaSlovenian Research Agency - SloveniaMIZS, SloveniaSpanish GovernmentSRC, SwedenWallenberg Foundation, SwedenSNSF Geneva, SwitzerlandMinistry of Science and Technology, TaiwanMinistry of Energy & Natural Resources - TurkeyScience & Technology Facilities Council (STFC)United States Department of Energy (DOE)National Science Foundation (NSF)BCKDF, CanadaCANARIE, CanadaCRC, CanadaEuropean Research Council (ERC)European Union (EU)French National Research Agency (ANR)German Research Foundation (DFG)Alexander von Humboldt FoundationGreek NSRF, GreeceBSF-NSF, IsraelGerman-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and DevelopmentLa Caixa Banking Foundation, SpainCERCA Programme Generalitat de Catalunya, SpainPROMETEO, SpainGenT Programmes Generalitat Valenciana, SpainGoran Gustafssons Stiftelse, SwedenRoyal Society of LondonLeverhulme TrustNRC, CanadaCERNANID, ChileChinese Academy of SciencesMinistry of Science and Technology, ChinaSRNSFG, GeorgiaHGF, GermanyNetherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) Netherlands GovernmentMinistry of Science and Higher Education, PolandNCN, PolandNRCKI, Russia FederationJINRDST/NRF, South AfricaSERI, Geneva, SwitzerlandCantons of Bern and Geneva, SwitzerlandCompute Canada, CanadaHorizon 2020Marie Sklodowska-Curie ActionsEuropean Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST)EU-ESF, Greec

Search for excited electrons singly produced in proton–proton collisions at \sqrt{s} = 13 TeV with the ALAS experiment at the LHC

A search for excited electrons produced in pp collisions at s√ = 13 TeV via a contact interaction qq¯→ee∗ is presented. The search uses 36.1 fb −1 of data collected in 2015 and 2016 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Decays of the excited electron into an electron and a pair of quarks ( eqq¯ ) are targeted in final states with two electrons and two hadronic jets, and decays via a gauge interaction into a neutrino and a W boson ( νW ) are probed in final states with an electron, missing transverse momentum, and a large-radius jet consistent with a hadronically decaying W boson. No significant excess is observed over the expected backgrounds. Upper limits are calculated for the pp→ee∗→eeqq¯ and pp→ee∗→eνW production cross sections as a function of the excited electron mass me∗ at 95% confidence level. The limits are translated into lower bounds on the compositeness scale parameter Λ of the model as a function of me∗ . For me∗<0.5 TeV , the lower bound for Λ is 11 TeV . In the special case of me∗=Λ , the values of me∗<4.8 TeV are excluded. The presented limits on Λ are more stringent than those obtained in previous searches

Measurement of the inclusive isolated-photon cross section at √s = 13 TeV using fb⁻¹ of ATLAS data

The differential cross section for isolated-photon production in pp collisions is measured at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1. The differential cross section is presented as a function of the photon transverse energy in different regions of photon pseudorapidity. The differential cross section as a function of the absolute value of the photon pseudorapidity is also presented in different regions of photon transverse energy. Next-to-leading-order QCD calculations from Jetphox and Sherpa as well as next-to-next-to-leading-order QCD calculations from Nnlojet are compared with the measurement, using several parameterisations of the proton parton distribution functions. The predictions provide a good description of the data within the experimental and theoretical uncertainties

Observation of electroweak production of two jets and a Z-boson pair

Electroweak symmetry breaking explains the origin of the masses of elementary particles through their interactions with the Higgs field. Besides the measurements of the Higgs boson properties, the study of the scattering of massive vector bosons with spin 1 allows the nature of electroweak symmetry breaking to be probed. Among all processes related to vector-boson scattering, the electroweak production of two jets and a Z-boson pair is a rare and important one. Here we report the observation of this process from proton–proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1 recorded at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. We consider two different final states originating from the decays of the Z-boson pair: one containing four charged leptons and another containing two charged leptons and two neutrinos. The hypothesis of no electroweak production is rejected with a statistical significance of 5.7σ, and the measured cross-section for electroweak production is consistent with the Standard Model prediction. In addition, we report cross-sections for inclusive production of a Z-boson pair and two jets for the two final states

Constraints on mediator-based dark matter and scalar dark energy models using root s= 13 TeV pp collision data collected by the ATLAS detector

Constraints on selected mediator-based dark matter models and a scalar dark energy model using up to 37 fb−1s√ = 13 TeV pp collision data collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2015-2016 are summarised in this paper. The results of experimental searches in a variety of final states are interpreted in terms of a set of spin-1 and spin-0 single-mediator dark matter simplified models and a second set of models involving an extended Higgs sector plus an additional vector or pseudo-scalar mediator. The searches considered in this paper constrain spin-1 leptophobic and leptophilic mediators, spin-0 colour-neutral and colour-charged mediators and vector or pseudo-scalar mediators embedded in extended Higgs sector models. In this case, also s√ = 8 TeV pp collision data are used for the interpretation of the results. The results are also interpreted for the first time in terms of light scalar particles that could contribute to the accelerating expansion of the universe (dark energy).ANPCyT, Argentina; YerPhI, Armenia; ARC, Australia; BMWFW, Austria; FWF, Austria; ANAS, Azerbaijan; SSTC, Belarus; CNPq, Brazil; FAPESP, Brazil; NSERC, Canada; NRC, Canada; CFI, Canada; CERN; CONICYT, Chile; CAS, China; MOST, China; NSFC, China; COLCIENCIAS, Colombia; MSMT CR, Czech Republic; MPO CR, Czech Republic; VSC CR, Czech Republic; DNRF, Denmark; DNSRC, Denmark; IN2P3-CNRS, CEA-DRF/IRFU, France; SRNSFG, Georgia; BMBF, Germany; HGF, Germany; MPG, Germany; GSRT, Greece; RGC, Hong Kong SAR, China; ISF, Israel; Benoziyo Center, Israel; INFN, Italy; MEXT, Japan; JSPS, Japan; CNRST, Morocco; NWO, Netherlands; RCN, Norway; MNiSW, Poland; NCN, Poland; FCT, Portugal; MNE/IFA, Romania; MES of Russia, Russian Federation; NRC KI, Russian Federation; JINR; MESTD, Serbia; MSSR, Slovakia; ARRS, Slovenia; MIZS, Slovenia; DST/NRF, South Africa; MINECO, Spain; SRC, Sweden; Wallenberg Foundation, Sweden; SERI, Switzerland; SNSF, Switzerland; Canton of Bern, Switzerland; Canton of Geneva, Switzerland; MOST, Taiwan; TAEK, Turkey; STFC, United Kingdom; DOE, United States of America; NSF, United States of America; BCKDF, Canada; CANARIE, Canada; CRC, Canada; Compute Canada, Canada; COST, European Union; ERC, European Union; ERDF, European Union; Horizon 2020, European Union; Marie Sk lodowska-Curie Actions, European Union; Investissements d' Avenir Labex and Idex, ANR, France; DFG, Germany; AvH Foundation, Germany; Herakleitos programme; Thales programme; Aristeia programme; EU-ESF, Greece; Greek NSRF, Greece; BSF-NSF, Israel; GIF, Israel; CERCA Programme Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain; Royal Society, United Kingdom; Leverhulme Trust, United KingdomOpen access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Fluctuations of anisotropic flow in Pb+Pb collisions at s NN = 5. 02 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Abstract: Multi-particle azimuthal cumulants are measured as a function of centrality and transverse momentum using 470 μb−1 of Pb+Pb collisions at sNN = 5.02 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. These cumulants provide information on the event-by-event fluctuations of harmonic flow coefficients vn and correlated fluctuations between two harmonics vn and vm. For the first time, a non-zero four-particle cumulant is observed for dipolar flow, v1. The four-particle cumulants for elliptic flow, v2, and triangular flow, v3, exhibit a strong centrality dependence and change sign in ultra-central collisions. This sign change is consistent with significant non-Gaussian fluctuations in v2 and v3. The four-particle cumulant for quadrangular flow, v4, is found to change sign in mid-central collisions. Correlations between two harmonics are studied with three- and four-particle mixed-harmonic cumulants, which indicate an anti-correlation between v2 and v3, and a positive correlation between v2 and v4. These correlations decrease in strength towards central collisions and either approach zero or change sign in ultra-central collisions. To investigate the possible flow fluctuations arising from intrinsic centrality or volume fluctuations, the results are compared between two different event classes used for centrality definitions. In peripheral and mid-central collisions where the cumulant signals are large, only small differences are observed. In ultra-central collisions, the differences are much larger and transverse momentum dependent. These results provide new information to disentangle flow fluctuations from the initial and final states, as well as new insights on the influence of centrality fluctuations

Measurement of differential cross sections for single diffractive dissociation in s = 8 TeV pp collisions using the ATLAS ALFA spectrometer

Abstract: A dedicated sample of Large Hadron Collider proton-proton collision data at centre-of-mass energy s = 8 TeV is used to study inclusive single diffractive dissociation, pp → X p. The intact final-state proton is reconstructed in the ATLAS ALFA forward spectrometer, while charged particles from the dissociated system X are measured in the central detector components. The fiducial range of the measurement is −4.0 < log10ξ < −1.6 and 0.016 < |t| < 0.43 GeV2, where ξ is the proton fractional energy loss and t is the squared four-momentum transfer. The total cross section integrated across the fiducial range is 1.59 ± 0.13 mb. Cross sections are also measured differentially as functions of ξ, t, and ∆η, a variable that characterises the rapidity gap separating the proton and the system X . The data are consistent with an exponential t dependence, dσ/dt ∝ eBt with slope parameter B = 7.65 ± 0.34 GeV−2. Interpreted in the framework of triple Regge phenomenology, the ξ dependence leads to a pomeron intercept of α(0) = 1.07 ± 0.09