Search for pair-produced resonances decaying to quark pairs in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A general search for the pair production of resonances, each decaying to two quarks, is reported. The search is conducted separately for heavier resonances (masses above 400 GeV), where each of the four final-state quarks generates a hadronic jet resulting in a four-jet signature, and for lighter resonances (masses between 80 and 400 GeV), where the pair of quarks from each resonance is collimated and reconstructed as a single jet resulting in a two-jet signature. In addition, a b-tagged selection is applied to target resonances with a bottom quark in the final state. The analysis uses data collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1), from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The mass spectra are analyzed for the presence of new resonances, and are found to be consistent with standard model expectations. The results are interpreted in the framework of R-parity-violating supersymmetry assuming the pair production of scalar top quarks decaying via the hadronic coupling lambda ''(312) or lambda ''(323) and upper limits on the cross section as a function of the top squark mass are set. These results probe a wider range of masses than previously explored at the LHC, and extend the top squark mass limits in the (t) over tilde -> qq' scenario.Peer reviewe

Use of Metallomics and Metabolomics to Assess Metal Pollution in Doñana National Park (SW Spain)

Monitoring organism exposure to heavy metals has acquired increased importance in the last decades. The mouse <i>Mus spretus</i> has been used to assess the biological response to contaminants in the relevant ecological area of Doñana National Park (DNP) and surrounding areas (SW Spain), where many migrating birds land for breeding and feeding every year. A metallomics approach, based on the characterization of metal biomolecules using size exclusion chromatography coupled with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (SEC-ICP-MS) and a metabolomics approach based on direct infusion to a mass spectrometer (DI-ESI-QTOF-MS) followed by a partial linear square-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), were used to compare the biological responses of <i>M. spretus</i> living in three areas of DNP (the reference) and surrounding areas (El Partido and El Matochal). The activities of key antioxidant enzymes, such as Cu/Zn-SOD, Mn-SOD, CAT, GR, and guaiacol peroxidase, were also determined in connection with environmental contamination issues. The results show differences caused by the presence of metals in the ecosystem that affected to the levels of metals and metalloproteins, such as MT, Cu/Zn-SOD, or Mn-CA, the breakdown of membrane phospholipids, perturbations in metabolic pathways, related to energy metabolism, and oxidative stress

PRE-SWOT Cruise Report. Mesoscale and sub-mesoscale vertical exchanges from multi-platform experiments and supporting modeling simulations: anticipating SWOT launch (CTM2016-78607-P)

CRUISE REPORT. Version 5.0The PRE-SWOT experiment was conducted onboard R/V García del Cid between 5 and 17 May 2018 in the southern region of the Balearic Islands (western Mediterranean Sea). PRE-SWOT aimed at anticipating the daily high-resolution 2D SSH fields that Surface Water & Ocean Topography (SWOT) will provide during the fast sampling phase after launch in selected areas of the global ocean; one of them being the region around the Balearic Islands. In situ systems, including 2 gliders, 12 drifters, CTD, ADCP, and more than 2000 water samples, were collected in synergy with satellite data and modeling simulations to determine physical and biochemical ocean variability. This experiment will contribute to the preparatory SWOT cal/val activities and was coordinated with the PROTEUS-SWOT cruise (R/V Beautemps-Beauprè).PRE-SWOT project (CTM2016-78607-P) is funded by the Spanish Research Agency and the European Regional Development Fund (AEI/FEDER, UE). We express our gratitude to the technical staff (UTM- CSIC) and crew of R/V García del Cid for supporting our work at sea.Peer reviewe

Formation of Large-Area Nitrogen-Doped Graphene Film Prepared from Simple Solution Casting of Edge-Selectively Functionalized Graphite and Its Electrocatalytic Activity

"Pristine" graphite is edge-selectively functionalized with 4-aminobenzoic acid by a "direct" Friedel Crafts acylation reaction in a polyphosphoric acid/phosphorus pentoxide medium to produce 4-aminobenzoyl edge-functionalized graphite (EFG). The EFG is readily dispersible in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP). Subsequent solution casting leads to the formation of large-area graphene film on a silicon wafer. The film shows sheet resistances of 60 and 200 Omega/sq, respectively, before and after heat treatment at 900 degrees C in an argon atmosphere. Upon the heat treatment, the EFG film becomes a N-doped graphene (N-graphene) film to display outstanding electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR).close554

Microwave-Exfoliated Graphite Oxide/Polycarbonate Composites

We present the first report of polymer composites using microwave-exfoliated graphite oxide (MEGO) as filler, a high surface area carbon material that resembles graphene on a local scale. MEGO has a &quot;wormlike&quot; layered structure which can be sheared apart during melt mixing with a polymer host. In this study, we produced MEGO/polycarbonate (PC) composites at various loadings and evaluated their morphology and properties. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray scattering studies suggested an exfoliated morphology, with wrinkled platelets of approximately 4-5 nm thickness evenly dispersed throughout the PC matrix. Frequency scans of composite melts using shear rheology showed an onset of frequency-independent terminal behavior around 2.1 wt %, suggesting an effective aspect ratio of nearly 50 for the dispersed platelets, in agreement with TEM analysis. The composites showed significant increases in electrical conductivity, with an onset of electrical percolation around 1.3 wt %, but only exhibited modest improvements in thermal conductivity. Long-term thermal annealing was performed to promote disorientation of the dispersed platelets, which further improved the electrical conductivity but had little effect on the thermal conductivity. Dynamic mechanical analysis showed reinforcement by MEGO; however, very little change in the glass transition temperature and in the thermal stability was observed in the composites versus neat PC

Outcomes of Patients Presenting with Mild Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: Insights from the LUNG SAFE Study

WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW ABOUT THIS TOPIC: Hospital mortality in acute respiratory distress syndrome is approximately 40%, but mortality and trajectory in "mild" acute respiratory distress syndrome (classified only since 2012) are unknown, and many cases are not detected WHAT THIS ARTICLE TELLS US THAT IS NEW: Approximately 80% of cases of mild acute respiratory distress syndrome persist or worsen in the first week; in all cases, the mortality is substantial (30%) and is higher (37%) in those in whom the acute respiratory distress syndrome progresses BACKGROUND:: Patients with initial mild acute respiratory distress syndrome are often underrecognized and mistakenly considered to have low disease severity and favorable outcomes. They represent a relatively poorly characterized population that was only classified as having acute respiratory distress syndrome in the most recent definition. Our primary objective was to describe the natural course and the factors associated with worsening and mortality in this population. METHODS: This study analyzed patients from the international prospective Large Observational Study to Understand the Global Impact of Severe Acute Respiratory Failure (LUNG SAFE) who had initial mild acute respiratory distress syndrome in the first day of inclusion. This study defined three groups based on the evolution of severity in the first week: "worsening" if moderate or severe acute respiratory distress syndrome criteria were met, "persisting" if mild acute respiratory distress syndrome criteria were the most severe category, and "improving" if patients did not fulfill acute respiratory distress syndrome criteria any more from day 2. RESULTS: Among 580 patients with initial mild acute respiratory distress syndrome, 18% (103 of 580) continuously improved, 36% (210 of 580) had persisting mild acute respiratory distress syndrome, and 46% (267 of 580) worsened in the first week after acute respiratory distress syndrome onset. Global in-hospital mortality was 30% (172 of 576; specifically 10% [10 of 101], 30% [63 of 210], and 37% [99 of 265] for patients with improving, persisting, and worsening acute respiratory distress syndrome, respectively), and the median (interquartile range) duration of mechanical ventilation was 7 (4, 14) days (specifically 3 [2, 5], 7 [4, 14], and 11 [6, 18] days for patients with improving, persisting, and worsening acute respiratory distress syndrome, respectively). Admissions for trauma or pneumonia, higher nonpulmonary sequential organ failure assessment score, lower partial pressure of alveolar oxygen/fraction of inspired oxygen, and higher peak inspiratory pressure were independently associated with worsening. CONCLUSIONS: Most patients with initial mild acute respiratory distress syndrome continue to fulfill acute respiratory distress syndrome criteria in the first week, and nearly half worsen in severity. Their mortality is high, particularly in patients with worsening acute respiratory distress syndrome, emphasizing the need for close attention to this patient population

Observation of the Λb0→J/ψΛφ decay in proton-proton collisions at s=13TeV

The observation of the Λb0→J/ψΛφ decay is reported using proton-proton collision data collected at s=13TeV by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 60fb−1. The ratio of the branching fractions B(Λb0→J/ψΛφ)/B(Λb0→ψ(2S)Λ) is measured to be (8.26±0.90(stat)±0.68(syst)±0.11(B))×10−2, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, and the last uncertainty reflects the uncertainties in the world-average branching fractions of φ and ψ(2S) decays to the reconstructed final states

Measurement of the cross section for tt‾ \mathrm{t}\overline{\mathrm{t}} production with additional jets and b jets in pp collisions at s \sqrt{s} = 13 TeV

Measurements of the cross section for the production of top quark pairs in association with a pair of jets from bottom quarks $$\left({\sigma}_{\mathrm{t}\overline{\mathrm{t}}\mathrm{b}\overline{\mathrm{b}}}\right)$$and in association with a pair of jets from quarks of any flavor or gluons $$\left({\sigma}_{\mathrm{t}\overline{\mathrm{t}}\mathrm{jj}}\right)$$and their ratio are presented. The data were collected in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2016 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb−1. The measurements are performed in a fiducial phase space and extrapolated to the full phase space, separately for the dilepton and lepton+jets channels, where lepton corresponds to either an electron or a muon. The results of the measurements in the fiducial phase space for the dilepton and lepton+jets channels, respectively, are $${\sigma}_{\mathrm{t}\overline{\mathrm{t}}\mathrm{jj}}$$= 2.36±0.02 (stat)±0.20 (syst) pb and 31.0±0.2 (stat)±2.9 (syst) pb, and for the cross section ratio 0.017 ± 0.001 (stat) ± 0.001 (syst) and 0.020 ± 0.001 (stat) ± 0.001 (syst). The values of $${\sigma}_{\mathrm{t}\overline{\mathrm{t}}\mathrm{b}\overline{\mathrm{b}}}$$are determined from the product of the $${\sigma}_{\mathrm{t}\overline{\mathrm{t}}\mathrm{jj}}$$and the cross section ratio, obtaining, respectively, 0.040±0.002 (stat)±0.005 (syst) pb and 0.62±0.03 (stat)±0.07 (syst) pb. These measurements are the most precise to date and are consistent, within the uncertainties, with the standard model expectations obtained using a matrix element calculation at next-to-leading order in quantum chromodynamics matched to a parton shower