Study of forward Z + jet production in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV

A measurement of the $Z(\rightarrow\mu^+\mu^-)$+jet production cross-section in $pp$ collisions at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV is presented. The analysis is based on an integrated luminosity of $1.0\,\text{fb}^{-1}$ recorded by the LHCb experiment. Results are shown with two jet transverse momentum thresholds, 10 and 20 GeV, for both the overall cross-section within the fiducial volume, and for six differential cross-section measurements. The fiducial volume requires that both the jet and the muons from the Z boson decay are produced in the forward direction ($2.0<\eta<4.5$). The results show good agreement with theoretical predictions at the second-order expansion in the coupling of the strong interaction.A measurement of the $Z(\rightarrow\mu^+\mu^-)$+jet production cross-section in $pp$ collisions at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV is presented. The analysis is based on an integrated luminosity of $1.0\,\text{fb}^{-1}$ recorded by the LHCb experiment. Results are shown with two jet transverse momentum thresholds, 10 and 20 GeV, for both the overall cross-section within the fiducial volume, and for six differential cross-section measurements. The fiducial volume requires that both the jet and the muons from the Z boson decay are produced in the forward direction ($2.0<\eta<4.5$). The results show good agreement with theoretical predictions at the second-order expansion in the coupling of the strong interaction

Real-time assessment of hypnotic depth, using an EEG-based brain-computer interface: a preliminary study

Objective: Hypnosis can be an effective treatment for many conditions, and there have been attempts to develop instrumental approaches to continuously monitor hypnotic state level (“depth”). However, there is no method that addresses the individual variability of electrophysiological hypnotic correlates. We explore the possibility of using an EEG-based passive brain-computer interface (pBCI) for real-time, individualised estimation of the hypnosis deepening process. Results: The wakefulness and deep hypnosis intervals were manually defined and labelled in 27 electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings obtained from eight outpatients after hypnosis sessions. Spectral analysis showed that EEG correlates of deep hypnosis were relatively stable in each patient throughout the treatment but varied between patients. Data from each first session was used to train classification models to continuously assess deep hypnosis probability in subsequent sessions. Models trained using four frequency bands (1.5–45, 1.5–8, 1.5–14, and 4–15 Hz) showed accuracy mostly exceeding 85% in a 10-fold cross-validation. Real-time classification accuracy was also acceptable, so at least one of the four bands yielded results exceeding 74% in any session. The best results averaged across all sessions were obtained using 1.5–14 and 4–15 Hz, with an accuracy of 82%. The revealed issues are also discussed

What can we learn from model systems: Impact of polymer backbone structure on performance and stability of organic photovoltaics

We report the synthesis and extensive investigation of a broad family of novel (X-DADAD)n conjugated polymers with different X building blocks. It was shown that variation of X block in polymer backbone represents an efficient approach for tuning the polymer optical properties, frontier energy levels, charge transport characteristics as well as thin-film morphology and photovoltaic characteristics. Decent power conversion efficiencies (5.1–5.7%) were achieved for solar cells based on the polymers comprised of dibenzosilole (P2) and carbazole (P3) units. Polymers P2 and P3 showed impressive indoor and outdoor stability in solar cells while clearly outperforming common benchmark materials. In the view of the obtained results, the designed (X-DADAD)n polymers can be considered as promising semiconductor materials for stable organic photovoltaics.Peer reviewe

Hybrid Molecules of Azithromycin with Chloramphenicol and Metronidazole: Synthesis and Study of Antibacterial Properties

The sustained rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) causes a strong need to develop new antibacterial agents. One of the methods for addressing the problem of antibiotic resistance is through the design of hybrid antibiotics. In this work, we proposed a synthetic route for the conjugation of an azithromycin derivative with chloramphenicol and metronidazole hemisuccinates and synthesized two series of new hybrid molecules 4a–g and 5a–g. While a conjugation did not result in tangible synergy for wild-type bacterial strains, new compounds were able to overcome AMR associated with the inducible expression of the ermC gene on a model E. coli strain resistant to macrolide antibiotics. The newly developed hybrids demonstrated a tendency to induce premature ribosome stalling, which might be crucial since they will not induce a macrolide-resistant phenotype in a number of pathogenic bacterial strains. In summary, the designed structures are considered as a promising direction for the further development of hybrid molecules that can effectively circumvent AMR mechanisms to macrolide antibiotics

Multi-strange baryon production in pp collisions at (s)^1/2 = 7 TeV with ALICE

See paper for full list of authors -A measurement of the multi-strange Xi- and Omega- baryons and their antiparticles by the ALICE experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is presented for proton-proton collisions at centre of mass energy of 7 TeV. The transverse momentum (pt) distributions were studied at mid-rapidity (|y| 6.0 GeV/c. We also illustrate the difference between the experimental data and model by comparing the corresponding ratios of (Omega-+Omega+)/(Xi-+Xi+) as a function of transverse mass