Combination of searches for Higgs boson pairs in pp collisions at \sqrts = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This letter presents a combination of searches for Higgs boson pair production using up to 36.1 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy root s = 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The combination is performed using six analyses searching for Higgs boson pairs decaying into the b (b) over barb (b) over bar, b (b) over barW(+)W(-), b (b) over bar tau(+)tau(-), W+W-W+W-, b (b) over bar gamma gamma and W+W-gamma gamma final states. Results are presented for non-resonant and resonant Higgs boson pair production modes. No statistically significant excess in data above the Standard Model predictions is found. The combined observed (expected) limit at 95% confidence level on the non-resonant Higgs boson pair production cross-section is 6.9 (10) times the predicted Standard Model cross-section. Limits are also set on the ratio (kappa(lambda)) of the Higgs boson self-coupling to its Standard Model value. This ratio is constrained at 95% confidence level in observation (expectation) to -5.0 &lt; kappa(lambda) &lt; 12.0 (-5.8 &lt; kappa(lambda) &lt; 12.0). In addition, limits are set on the production of narrow scalar resonances and spin-2 Kaluza-Klein Randall-Sundrum gravitons. Exclusion regions are also provided in the parameter space of the habemus Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model and the Electroweak Singlet Model. For complete list of authors see http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2019.135103</p

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time, and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space. While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes, vast areas of the tropics remain understudied. In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity, but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases. To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge, it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific mortality and life expectancy, 1950–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

BACKGROUND: Assessments of age-specific mortality and life expectancy have been done by the UN Population Division, Department of Economics and Social Affairs (UNPOP), the United States Census Bureau, WHO, and as part of previous iterations of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD). Previous iterations of the GBD used population estimates from UNPOP, which were not derived in a way that was internally consistent with the estimates of the numbers of deaths in the GBD. The present iteration of the GBD, GBD 2017, improves on previous assessments and provides timely estimates of the mortality experience of populations globally. METHODS: The GBD uses all available data to produce estimates of mortality rates between 1950 and 2017 for 23 age groups, both sexes, and 918 locations, including 195 countries and territories and subnational locations for 16 countries. Data used include vital registration systems, sample registration systems, household surveys (complete birth histories, summary birth histories, sibling histories), censuses (summary birth histories, household deaths), and Demographic Surveillance Sites. In total, this analysis used 8259 data sources. Estimates of the probability of death between birth and the age of 5 years and between ages 15 and 60 years are generated and then input into a model life table system to produce complete life tables for all locations and years. Fatal discontinuities and mortality due to HIV/AIDS are analysed separately and then incorporated into the estimation. We analyse the relationship between age-specific mortality and development status using the Socio-demographic Index, a composite measure based on fertility under the age of 25 years, education, and income. There are four main methodological improvements in GBD 2017 compared with GBD 2016: 622 additional data sources have been incorporated; new estimates of population, generated by the GBD study, are used; statistical methods used in different components of the analysis have been further standardised and improved; and the analysis has been extended backwards in time by two decades to start in 1950. FINDINGS: Globally, 18·7% (95% uncertainty interval 18·4–19·0) of deaths were registered in 1950 and that proportion has been steadily increasing since, with 58·8% (58·2–59·3) of all deaths being registered in 2015. At the global level, between 1950 and 2017, life expectancy increased from 48·1 years (46·5–49·6) to 70·5 years (70·1–70·8) for men and from 52·9 years (51·7–54·0) to 75·6 years (75·3–75·9) for women. Despite this overall progress, there remains substantial variation in life expectancy at birth in 2017, which ranges from 49·1 years (46·5–51·7) for men in the Central African Republic to 87·6 years (86·9–88·1) among women in Singapore. The greatest progress across age groups was for children younger than 5 years; under-5 mortality dropped from 216·0 deaths (196·3–238·1) per 1000 livebirths in 1950 to 38·9 deaths (35·6–42·83) per 1000 livebirths in 2017, with huge reductions across countries. Nevertheless, there were still 5·4 million (5·2–5·6) deaths among children younger than 5 years in the world in 2017. Progress has been less pronounced and more variable for adults, especially for adult males, who had stagnant or increasing mortality rates in several countries. The gap between male and female life expectancy between 1950 and 2017, while relatively stable at the global level, shows distinctive patterns across super-regions and has consistently been the largest in central Europe, eastern Europe, and central Asia, and smallest in south Asia. Performance was also variable across countries and time in observed mortality rates compared with those expected on the basis of development. INTERPRETATION: This analysis of age-sex-specific mortality shows that there are remarkably complex patterns in population mortality across countries. The findings of this study highlight global successes, such as the large decline in under-5 mortality, which reflects significant local, national, and global commitment and investment over several decades. However, they also bring attention to mortality patterns that are a cause for concern, particularly among adult men and, to a lesser extent, women, whose mortality rates have stagnated in many countries over the time period of this study, and in some cases are increasing

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 squarks and gluinos in final states with hadronically decaying tau-leptons, jets, and missing transverse momentum using pp collisions at root s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for supersymmetry in events with large missing transverse momentum, jets, and at least one hadronically decaying τ-lepton is presented. Two exclusive final states with either exactly one or at least two τ-leptons are considered. The analysis is based on proton-proton collisions at √s=13  TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1  fb⁻¹ delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded by the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess is observed over the Standard Model expectation. At 95% confidence level, model-independent upper limits on the cross section are set and exclusion limits are provided for two signal scenarios: a simplified model of gluino pair production with τ-rich cascade decays, and a model with gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking (GMSB). In the simplified model, gluino masses up to 2000 GeV are excluded for low values of the mass of the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP), while LSP masses up to 1000 GeV are excluded for gluino masses around 1400 GeV. In the GMSB model, values of the supersymmetry-breaking scale are excluded below 110 TeV for all values of tanβ in the range 2 ≤ tanβ ≤ 60, and below 120 TeV for tanβ > 30.M. Aaboud … D. Duvnjak … P. Jackson … J.L. Oliver … A. Petridis … A. Qureshi … A.S. Sharma … M.J. White … et al. [The ATLAS Collaboration

A measurement of material in the ATLAS tracker using secondary hadronic interactions in 7 TeV pp collisions

Knowledge of the material in the ATLAS inner tracking detector is crucial in understanding the reconstruction of charged-particle tracks, the performance of algorithms that identify jets containing b-hadrons and is also essential to reduce background in searches for exotic particles that can decay within the inner detector volume. Interactions of primary hadrons produced in pp collisions with the material in the inner detector are used to map the location and amount of this material. The hadronic interactions of primary particles may result in secondary vertices, which in this analysis are reconstructed by an inclusive vertex-finding algorithm. Data were collected using minimum-bias triggers by the ATLAS detector operating at the LHC during 2010 at centre-of-mass energy √ s = 7 TeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19 nb−1 . Kinematic properties of these secondary vertices are used to study the validity of the modelling of hadronic interactions in simulation. Secondary-vertex yields are compared between data and simulation over a volume of about 0.7 m3 around the interaction point, and agreement is found within overall uncertainties

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities 1,2 . This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity 3�6 . Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55 of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017�and more than 80 in some low- and middle-income regions�was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing�and in some countries reversal�of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories. © 2019, The Author(s)

Dasyphyllum Diamantinense (asteraceae, Barnadesioideae): A New Species From The Chapada Diamantina, Bahia State, Brazil

Dasyphyllum diamantinense is a new species endemic to the Chapada Diamantina Mountains in the northern section of the Espinhaço Range, in Bahia State, Brazil, which grows in rocky fields, forests and savannas, and on inselbergs. The new taxon is morphologically similar to Dasyphyllum leptacanthum. Affinities and diagnostic characters are discussed, and illustrations and a map are provided. © 2014 Magnolia Press.1744231236Cabrera, A.L., Revisión del gênero (1959) Dasyphyllum (Compositae). Revista del Museo de La Plata, Seción Botánica, 38 (6), pp. 20-109Cabrera, A.L., Nota crítica en la tribu Mutisieae (Compositae) para la Flora de Paraguay (1997) Candollea, 52, p. 216Cabrera, A.L., Freire, S., Compositae V: Asteroideae, Inuleae and Mutisieae (1998) Flora del Paraguay, pp. 103-214. , In: Spichiger, R. & Ramella, L. (Eds.) 28. Conservatoire et Jardin Botanique de Gèneve and Missouri Botanical Garden PressCabrera, A.L., Klein, R.M., Compostas 1. Tribo Mutisieae (1973) Flora Ilustrada Catarinense, pp. 5-20. , In: Reitz, R. (ed.) Herbário Barbosa Rodrigues, ItajaíGardner, G., Contributions towards a Flora of Brazil, being the distinctive Characters of a Century of New Species of Plants from the Organ Mountains (1845) London Journal of Botany, 4, pp. 97-136Hind, D.J.N., Compositae (1995) Flora of the Pico das Almas, Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil, pp. 175-278. , In: Stannard, B.L. (Ed.) Royal Botanic Gardens, KewKunth, K.S., Compositae (1820) Nova Genera et Species Plantarum quas in peregrinatione ad plagam aequinoctialem orbis novi collegerunt Bonpland et Humboldt., pp. 1-312. , In: Humboldt, F.W.H.A., Bonpland, A.J.A. & Kunth, K.S. Chez N. Maze, ParisMagenta, M.A.G., Semir, J., Heiden, G., Teles, A.M., Souza-Buturi, F.O., Nakajima, J., Pirani, J.R., Biachini, R., Asteraceae (2011) Checklist das Spermatophyta do Estado de São Paulo, Brasil, , http://www.biotaneotropica.org.br/v11n1a/pt/fullpaper?bn0131101a2011+pt, In: Wanderley, M.G.L., Sheperd, G.J., Martins, S.E., Duque Estrada, T.E.M., Romanini, R.P., Koch, I., Pirani, J.R., Melhem, T.S., Harley, A.M.G., Kinoshita, L.S., Magenta, M.A.G., Wagner, H.M.L., Barros, F., Lohmann, L.G., Amaral, M.C.E., Bianchini, R.S. & Aragaki, S. (Eds.) Biota Neotropropica 11(1a)Nakajima, J.N., Semir, J., Asteraceae do Parque Nacional da Serra da Canastra, Minas Gerais, Brasil (2001) Revista Brasileira de Botânica, 24 (4), pp. 471-478. , http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0100-84042001000400013Roque, N., Pirani, J.R., Flora da Serra do Cipó, Minas Gerais: Compositae-Barnadesieae e Mutisieae (1997) Boletim de Botânica da Universidade de São Paulo, 16, pp. 151-185. , http://dx.doi.org/10.11606/issn.2316-9052.v16i1p151-185Saavedra, M.M., Dasyphyllum (2010) Catálogo de Plantas e Fungos do Brasil, (1), p. 871. , In: Forzza, R.C., Leitman, P.M., Costa, A.F., Carvalho Jr., A.A., Peixoto, A.L., Walter, B.M.T. Bicudo, C., Zappi, D., Costa, D.P., Lleras, E., Martinelli, G., Lima, H.C., Prado, J., Stehmann, J.R., Baum, gratz, J.F.A., Pirani, J.R., Sylvestre, L., Maia, L.C., Lohmann, L.G., Queiroz, L.P., Silveira, M., Coelho, M.N., Mamede, M.C., Bastos, M.N.C., Morim, M.P., Barbosa, M.R., Menezes, M., Hopkins, M., Secco, R., Cavalcanti, T.B. & Souza, V.C. 2010. Andrea Jacobsen & Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de JaneiroSagástegui-Alva, A., Compuestas andino-peruanas nuevas para la ciencia. I (1980) Boletin de la Sociedad Argentina de Botanica, 19 (1-2), pp. 61-68Sagástegui-Alva, A., Dillon, M.O., Four new species of Asteraceae from Peru (1985) Brittonia, 37 (1), pp. 6-13. , http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02809659Zardini, E.M., Soria, N., A new species of Dasyphyllum (Asteraceae-Mutisieae) from Paraguay (1994) Novon, 4, pp. 80-8

Meta-Analysis of Results from Quantitative Trait Loci Mapping Studies on Pig Chromosome 4

Meta-analysis of results from multiple studies could lead to more precise quantitative trait loci (QTL) position estimates compared to the individual experiments. As the raw data from many different studies are not readily available, the use of results from published articles may be helpful. In this study, we performed a meta-analysis of QTL on chromosome 4 in pig, using data from 25 separate experiments. First, a meta-analysis was performed for individual traits: average daily gain and backfat thickness. Second, a meta-analysis was performed for the QTL of three traits affecting loin yield: loin eye area, carcass length and loin meat weight. Third, 78 QTL were selected from 20 traits that could be assigned to one of three broad categories: carcass, fatness or growth traits. For each analysis, the number of identified meta-QTL was smaller than the number of initial QTL. The reduction in the number of QTL ranged from 71% to 86% compared to the total number before the meta-analysis. In addition, the meta-analysis reduced the QTL confidence intervals by as much as 85% compared to individual QTL estimates. The reduction in the confidence interval was greater when a large number of independent QTL was included in the meta-analysis. Meta-QTL related to growth and fatness were found in the same region as the FAT1 region. Results indicate that the meta-analysis is an efficient strategy to estimate the number and refine the positions of QTL when QTL estimates are available from multiple populations and experiments. This strategy can be used to better target further studies such as the selection of candidate genes related to trait variation

Sire evaluation for total number born in pigs using a genomic reaction norms approach

In the era of genome-wide selection (GWS), genotype-by-environment (G×E) interactions can be studied using genomic information, thus enabling the estimation of SNP marker effects and the prediction of genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) for young candidates for selection in different environments. Although G×E studies in pigs are scarce, the use of artificial insemination has enabled the distribution of genetic material from sires across multiple environments. Given the relevance of reproductive traits such as the total number born (TNB) and the variation in environmental conditions encountered by commercial dams, understanding G×E interactions can be essential to choose the best sires for different environments. The present work proposes a two-step reaction norm approach for G×E analysis using genomic information. The first step provided estimates of environmental effects (herd-year-season - HYS), and the second step provided estimates of the intercept and slope for the TNB across different HYS levels, obtained from the first step, using a random regression model. In both steps, pedigree (A) and genomic (G) relationship matrices were considered. The genetic parameters (variance components, h2 and genetic correlations) were very similar when estimated using the A and G relationship matrices. The reaction norm graphs showed considerable differences in environmental sensitivity between sires, indicating a reranking of sires in terms of genetic merit across the HYS levels. Based on the G matrix analysis, SNP by environment interactions were observed. For some SNPs, the effects increased at increasing HYS levels, while for others, the effects decreased at increasing HYS levels or showed no changes between HYS levels. Cross-validation analysis demonstrated better performance of the genomic approach with respect to traditional pedigrees for both the G×E and standard models. The genomic reaction norm model resulted in an accuracy of GEBVs for “juvenile” boars varying from 0.14 to 0.44 across different HYS levels, while the accuracy of the standard genomic prediction model, without reaction norms, varied from 0.09 to 0.28. These results show that it is important and feasible to consider G×E interactions in evaluations of sires using genomic prediction models and that genomic information can increase the accuracy of selection across environments