Conditions for vegetative propagation of three key halophytes from habitats of EU community interest: substrate nature, salinity and PGP-bacterial interactions and cost evaluation

The ecological transition faces the challenge of expanding wetland restoration areas due to their critical role in ecosystem service provision. To improve restoration efforts, particularly in plant material production for revegetation, scientific knowledge is essential. This study focuses on establishing optimal vegetative propagation protocols for three slow-growing, perennial halophyte species from EU habitats of interest: Atriplex portulacoides, Arthrocaulon macrostachyum and Sporobolus maritimus. Cuttings were grown in three substrates (perlite, coconut fiber and mulch) with two salinity levels (0 and 171 mM NaCl) and three inoculation treatments (non-inoculated and inoculated with two plant growth-promoting (PGP) rhizobacteria consortia). Cuttings survival rate was species-specific, with A. portulacoides showing the highest survival range (78.75 ± 18.75) compared to the ranges observed for A. macrostachyum and S. maritimus (57.50 ± 12.50 \% and 59.60 ± 9.00 \%, respectively). Plants grown with coconut fiber performed best survival rate, followed by perlite independently of inoculation. Moreover, survival rates of S. maritimus were also enhanced by PGP inoculation. Similar patterns were observed for cutting development: cuttings grown in perlite, followed by coconut fiber, and exposed to high salinity showed higher above- and belowground biomass. By selecting this Substrate and Salinity, Inoculum had a positive effect on the development of A. portulacoides and A. macrostachyum. Furthermore, inoculated plants showed overall higher values of photosynthetic efficiency and carboxylation. Finally, a cost analysis comparing our approach to using direct transplant material indicates significant economic advantages. Our results provide compelling evidence to enhance nursery stock for future revegetation projects

Measuring the CMB primordial B-modes with Bolometric Interferometry

The Q&U Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology (QUBIC) is the first bolometric interferometer designed to measure the primordial B-mode polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). Bolometric interferometry is a novel technique that combines the sensitivity of bolometric detectors with the control of systematic effects that is typical of interferometry, both key features in the quest for the faint signal of the primordial B-modes. A unique feature is the so-called "spectral imaging", i.e., the ability to recover the sky signal in several sub-bands within the physical band during data analysis. This feature provides an in-band spectral resolution of \Delta{\nu}/{\nu} \sim 0.04 that is unattainable by a traditional imager. This is a key tool for controlling the Galactic foregrounds contamination. In this paper, we describe the principles of bolometric interferometry, the current status of the QUBIC experiment and future prospects

The Analytical Method algorithm for trigger primitives generation at the LHC Drift Tubes detector

The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment prepares its Phase-2 upgrade for the high-luminosity era of the LHC operation (HL-LHC). Due to the increase of occupancy, trigger latency and rates, the full electronics of the CMS Drift Tube (DT) chambers will need to be replaced. In the new design, the time bin for the digitization of the chamber signals will be of around 1 ns, and the totality of the signals will be forwarded asynchronously to the service cavern at full resolution. The new backend system will be in charge of building the trigger primitives of each chamber. These trigger primitives contain the information at chamber level about the muon candidates position, direction, and collision time, and are used as input in the L1 CMS trigger. The added functionalities will improve the robustness of the system against ageing. An algorithm based on analytical solutions for reconstructing the DT trigger primitives, called Analytical Method, has been implemented both as a software C++ emulator and in firmware. Its performance has been estimated using the software emulator with simulated and real data samples, and through hardware implementation tests. Measured efficiencies are 96 to 98% for all qualities and time and spatial resolutions are close to the ultimate performance of the DT chambers. A prototype chain of the HL-LHC electronics using the Analytical Method for trigger primitive generation has been installed during Long Shutdown 2 of the LHC and operated in CMS cosmic data taking campaigns in 2020 and 2021. Results from this validation step, the so-called Slice Test, are presented

Effectiveness of an intervention for improving drug prescription in primary care patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy: Study protocol of a cluster randomized clinical trial (Multi-PAP project)

Background: Multimorbidity is associated with negative effects both on people''s health and on healthcare systems. A key problem linked to multimorbidity is polypharmacy, which in turn is associated with increased risk of partly preventable adverse effects, including mortality. The Ariadne principles describe a model of care based on a thorough assessment of diseases, treatments (and potential interactions), clinical status, context and preferences of patients with multimorbidity, with the aim of prioritizing and sharing realistic treatment goals that guide an individualized management. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a complex intervention that implements the Ariadne principles in a population of young-old patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy. The intervention seeks to improve the appropriateness of prescribing in primary care (PC), as measured by the medication appropriateness index (MAI) score at 6 and 12months, as compared with usual care. Methods/Design: Design:pragmatic cluster randomized clinical trial. Unit of randomization: family physician (FP). Unit of analysis: patient. Scope: PC health centres in three autonomous communities: Aragon, Madrid, and Andalusia (Spain). Population: patients aged 65-74years with multimorbidity (=3 chronic diseases) and polypharmacy (=5 drugs prescribed in =3months). Sample size: n=400 (200 per study arm). Intervention: complex intervention based on the implementation of the Ariadne principles with two components: (1) FP training and (2) FP-patient interview. Outcomes: MAI score, health services use, quality of life (Euroqol 5D-5L), pharmacotherapy and adherence to treatment (Morisky-Green, Haynes-Sackett), and clinical and socio-demographic variables. Statistical analysis: primary outcome is the difference in MAI score between T0 and T1 and corresponding 95% confidence interval. Adjustment for confounding factors will be performed by multilevel analysis. All analyses will be carried out in accordance with the intention-to-treat principle. Discussion: It is essential to provide evidence concerning interventions on PC patients with polypharmacy and multimorbidity, conducted in the context of routine clinical practice, and involving young-old patients with significant potential for preventing negative health outcomes. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT0286679

Search for low-mass resonances decaying into bottom quark-antiquark pairs in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A search for narrow, low-mass, scalar, and pseudoscalar resonances decaying to bottom quark-antiquark pairs is presented. The search is based on events recorded in root s = 13 TeV proton-proton collisions with the CMS detector at the LHC, collected in 2016, and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1). The search selects events in which the resonance would be produced with high transverse momentum because of the presence of initial- or final-state radiation. In such events, the decay products of the resonance would be reconstructed as a single large-radius jet with high mass and two-prong substructure. A potential signal would be identified as a narrow excess in the jet invariant mass spectrum. No evidence for such a resonance is observed within the mass range from 50 to 350 GeV, and upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the product of the cross section and branching fraction to a bottom quark-antiquark pair. These constitute the first constraints from the LHC on exotic bottom quark-antiquark resonances with masses below 325 GeV.Peer reviewe

Measurement of the Bs0 = μ+μ- decay properties and search for the B0 → μ+μ- decay in proton-proton collisions at √s=13 TeV

Measurements are presented of the B0s & RARR; & mu;+& mu;- branching fraction and effective lifetime, as well as results of a search for the B0 & RARR; & mu;+& mu;- decay in proton-proton collisions at & RADIC;s =13 TeV at the LHC. The analysis is based on data collected with the CMS detector in 2016-2018 corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb-1. The branching fraction of the B0s & RARR; & mu;+& mu;- decay and the effective B0s meson lifetime are the most precise single measurements to date. No evidence for the B0 & RARR; & mu;+& mu;- decay has been found. All results are found to be consistent with the standard model predictions and previous measurements. & COPY; 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons .org /licenses /by /4 .0/). Funded by SCOAP3

Search for Exotic Higgs Boson Decays H→AA→4γ with Events Containing Two Merged Diphotons in Proton-Proton Collisions at Vs=13 TeV

We present the first direct search for exotic Higgs boson decays H -> AA, A -> gamma gamma in events with two photonlike objects. The hypothetical particle A is a low-mass spin-0 particle decaying promptly to a merged diphoton reconstructed as a single photonlike object. We analyze the data collected by the CMS ffiffi experiment at V s = 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 136 fb-1. No excess above the estimated background is found. We set upper limits on the branching fraction B(H -> AA -> 4 gamma) of (0.9-3.3) x 10-3 at 95% confidence level for masses of A in the range 0.1-1.2 GeV

Search for nonresonant Higgs boson pair production in final state with two √ bottom quarks and two tau leptons in proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV

A search for the nonresonant production of Higgs boson pairs (HH) via gluon-gluon and vector boson fusion processes in final states with two bottom quarks and two tau leptons is presented. The search uses data from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of & RADIC;s = 13 TeV recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb-1. Events in which at least one tau lepton decays hadronically are considered and multiple machine learning techniques are used to identify and extract the signal. The data are found to be consistent, within uncertainties, with the standard model (SM) predictions. Upper limits on the HH production cross section are set to constrain the parameter space for anomalous Higgs boson couplings. The observed (expected) upper limit at 95% confidence level corresponds to 3.3 (5.2) times the SM prediction for the inclusive HH cross section and to 124 (154) times the SM prediction for the vector boson fusion HH cross section. At 95% confidence level, the Higgs field self-coupling is constrained to be within -1.7 and 8.7 times the SM expectation, and the coupling of two Higgs bosons to two vector bosons is constrained to be within -0.4 and 2.6 times the SM expectation. & COPY; 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons .org /licenses /by /4 .0/). Funded by SCOAP3

Proton reconstruction with the CMS-TOTEM Precision Proton Spectrometer

The Precision Proton Spectrometer (PPS) of the CMS and TOTEM experiments collected 107.7 fb 1 in proton-proton (pp) collisions at the LHC at 13 TeV(Run 2). This paper describes the key features of the PPS alignment and optics calibrations, the proton reconstruction procedure, as well as the detector efficiency and the performance of the PPS simulation. The reconstruction and simulation are validated using a sample of (semi)exclusive dilepton events. The performance of PPS has proven the feasibility of continuously operating a near-beam proton spectrometer at a high luminosity hadron collider

Search for supersymmetry in final states with two or three soft leptons and missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV

A search for supersymmetry in events with two or three low-momentum leptons and missing transverse momentum is performed. The search uses proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV collected in the three-year period 2016–2018 by the CMS experiment at the LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of up to 137 fb−1. The data are found to be in agreement with expectations from standard model processes. The results are interpreted in terms of electroweakino and top squark pair production with a small mass difference between the produced supersymmetric particles and the lightest neutralino. For the electroweakino interpretation, two simplified models are used, a wino-bino model and a higgsino model. Exclusion limits at 95% confidence level are set on ̃χ0 2/ ̃χ± 1 masses up to 275 GeV for a mass difference of 10 GeV in the wino-bino case, and up to 205(150) GeV for a mass difference of 7.5 (3) GeV in the higgsino case. The results for the higgsino are further interpreted using a phenomenological minimal supersymmetric standard model, excluding the higgsino mass parameter μ up to 180 GeV with the bino mass parameter M1 at 800 GeV. In the top squark interpretation, exclusion limits are set at top squark masses up to 540 GeV for four-body top squark decays and up to 480 GeV for chargino-mediated decays with a mass difference of 30 Ge