Interferons Regulate the Phenotype of Wild-type and Mutant Herpes Simplex Viruses In Vivo

Mechanisms responsible for neuroattenuation of herpes simplex virus (HSV) have been defined previously by studies of mutant viruses in cultured cells. The hypothesis that null mutations in host genes can override the attenuated phenotype of null mutations in certain viral genes was tested. Mutants such as those in infected cell protein (ICP) 0, thymidine kinase, ribonucleotide reductase, virion host shutoff, and ICP34.5 are reduced in their capacity to replicate in nondividing cells in culture and in vivo. The replication of these viruses was examined in eyes and trigeminal ganglia for 1–7 d after corneal inoculation in mice with null mutations (−/−) in interferon receptors (IFNR) for type I IFNs (IFN-α/βR), type II IFN (IFN-γR), and both type I and type II IFNs (IFN-α/β/γR). Viral titers in eyes and ganglia of IFN-γR−/− mice were not significantly different from congenic controls. However, in IFN-α/βR−/− or IFN-α/β/γR−/− mice, growth of all mutants, including those with significantly impaired growth in cell culture, was enhanced by up to 1,000-fold in eyes and trigeminal ganglia. Blepharitis and clinical signs of infection were evident in IFN-α/βR−/− and IFN-α/β/γR−/− but not control mice for all viruses. Also, IFNs were shown to significantly reduce productive infection of, and spread from intact, but not scarified, corneas. Particularly striking was restoration of near-normal trigeminal ganglion replication and neurovirulence of an ICP34.5 mutant in IFN-α/βR−/− mice. These data show that IFNs play a major role in limiting mutant and wild-type HSV replication in the cornea and in the nervous system. In addition, the in vivo target of ICP34.5 may be host IFN responses. These experiments demonstrate an unsuspected role for host factors in defining the phenotypes of some HSV mutants in vivo. The phenotypes of mutant viruses therefore cannot be interpreted based solely upon studies in cell culture but must be considered carefully in the context of host factors that may define the in vivo phenotype

Atmospheric waves and global seismoacoustic observations of the January 2022 Hunga eruption, Tonga

The 15 January 2022 climactic eruption of Hunga volcano, Tonga, produced an explosion in the atmosphere of a size that has not been documented in the modern geophysical record. The event generated a broad range of atmospheric waves observed globally by various ground-based and spaceborne instrumentation networks. Most prominent is the surface-guided Lamb wave (≲0.01 Hz), which we observed propagating for four (+three antipodal) passages around the Earth over six days. Based on Lamb wave amplitudes, the climactic Hunga explosion was comparable in size to that of the 1883 Krakatau eruption. The Hunga eruption produced remarkable globally-detected infrasound (0.01–20 Hz), long-range (~10,000 km) audible sound, and ionospheric perturbations. Seismometers worldwide recorded pure seismic and air-to-ground coupled waves. Air-to-sea coupling likely contributed to fast-arriving tsunamis. We highlight exceptional observations of the atmospheric waves

Observation of the J/ψ\psi→\toμ+μ−μ+μ−\mu^+\mu^-\mu^+\mu^- decay in proton-proton collisions at s\sqrt{s} = 13 TeV

International audienceThe J/$\psi$$\to$$\mu^+\mu^-\mu^+\mu^-$ decay has been observed with a statistical significance in excess of five standard deviations. The analysis is based on an event sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment in 2018 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 33.6 fb${-1}$. Normalizing to the J/$\psi$$\to$$\mu^+\mu^-$ decay mode leads to a branching fraction [10.1$^{+3.3}_{-2.7}$ (stat) $\pm$ 0.4 (syst) ]$\times$ 10$^{-7}$, a value that is consistent with the standard model prediction

Observation of the J/ψ→μ+μ−μ+μ− {\mathrm{J}/\psi} \to\mu^{+}\mu^{-}\mu^{+}\mu^{-} decay in proton-proton collisions at s= \sqrt{s} = 13 TeV

The ${\mathrm{J}/\psi} \to\mu^{+}\mu^{-}\mu^{+}\mu^{-}$ decay has been observed with a statistical significance in excess of five standard deviations. The analysis is based on an event sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment in 2018 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 33.6 fb$^{-1}$. Normalizing to the ${\mathrm{J}/\psi} \to\mu^{+}\mu^{-}$ decay mode leads to a branching fraction of $[$ 10.1 $^{+3.3}_{-2.7}$ (stat) $\pm$ 0.4 (syst) $] \times$ 10$^{-7}$, a value that is consistent with the standard model prediction.The J/ψ→μ+μ-μ+μ- decay has been observed with a statistical significance in excess of five standard deviations. The analysis is based on an event sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment in 2018 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 33.6  fb-1. Normalizing to the J/ψ→μ+μ- decay mode leads to a branching fraction of [10.1-2.7+3.3(stat)±0.4(syst)]×10-7, a value that is consistent with the standard model prediction.The J/$\psi$$\to$$\mu^+\mu^-\mu^+\mu^-$ decay has been observed with a statistical significance in excess of five standard deviations. The analysis is based on an event sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment in 2018 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 33.6 fb$^{-1}$. Normalizing to the J/$\psi$$\to$$\mu^+\mu^-$ decay mode leads to a branching fraction [10.1 $^{+3.3}_{-2.7}$ (stat) $\pm$ 0.4 (syst)] $\times$ 10$^{-7}$, a value that is consistent with the standard model prediction

Search for new physics with emerging jets in proton-proton collisions at s\sqrt{s} = 13 TeV

International audienceA search for ``emerging jets'' produced in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is performed using data collected by the CMS experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. This search examines a hypothetical dark quantum chromodynamics (QCD) sector that couples to the standard model (SM) through a scalar mediator. The scalar mediator decays into an SM quark and a dark sector quark. As the dark sector quark showers and hadronizes, it produces long-lived dark mesons that subsequently decay into SM particles, resulting in a jet, known as an emerging jet, with multiple displaced vertices. This search looks for pair production of the scalar mediator at the LHC, which yields events with two SM jets and two emerging jets at leading order. The results are interpreted using two dark sector models with different flavor structures, and exclude mediator masses up to 1950 (1850) GeV for an unflavored (flavor-aligned) dark QCD model. The unflavored results surpass a previous search for emerging jets by setting the most stringent mediator mass exclusion limits to date, while the flavor-aligned results provide the first direct mediator mass exclusion limits to date

Search for long-lived heavy neutrinos in the decays of B mesons produced in proton-proton collisions at s\sqrt{s} = 13 TeV

International audienceA search for long-lived heavy neutrinos (N) in the decays of \PB mesons produced in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV is presented. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 41.6 fb$^{-1}$ collected in 2018 by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC, using a dedicated data stream that enhances the number of recorded events containing B mesons. The search probes heavy neutrinos with masses in the range 1 $\lt$$m_\mathrm{N}$$\lt$ 3 GeV and decay lengths in the range 10$^{-2}$$\lt$$c\tau$$\lt$ 10$^{4}$ mm, where $\tau_\mathrm{N}$ is the N proper mean lifetime. Signal events are defined by the signature B $\to$$\ell_\mathrm{B}$NX; N $\to$$\ell^{\pm} \pi^{\mp}$, where the leptons $\ell_\mathrm{B}$ and $\ell$ can be either a muon or an electron, provided that at least one of them is a muon. The hadronic recoil system, X, is treated inclusively and is not reconstructed. No significant excess of events over the standard model background is observed in any of the $\ell^{\pm}\pi^{\mp}$ invariant mass distributions. Limits at 95% confidence level on the sum of the squares of the mixing amplitudes between heavy and light neutrinos, $\vert V_\mathrm{N}\vert^2$, and on $c\tau$ are obtained in different mixing scenarios for both Majorana and Dirac-like N particles. The most stringent upper limit $\vert V_\mathrm{N}\vert^2$ $\lt$ 2.0$\times$10$^{-5}$ is obtained at $m_\mathrm{N}$ = 1.95 GeV for the Majorana case where N mixes exclusively with muon neutrinos. The limits on $\vert V_\mathrm{N}\vert^2$ for masses 1 $\lt$ $m_\mathrm{N}$ $\lt$ 1.7 GeV are the most stringent from a collider experiment to date

Search for new physics with emerging jets in proton-proton collisions at s\sqrt{s} = 13 TeV

International audienceA search for ``emerging jets'' produced in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is performed using data collected by the CMS experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. This search examines a hypothetical dark quantum chromodynamics (QCD) sector that couples to the standard model (SM) through a scalar mediator. The scalar mediator decays into an SM quark and a dark sector quark. As the dark sector quark showers and hadronizes, it produces long-lived dark mesons that subsequently decay into SM particles, resulting in a jet, known as an emerging jet, with multiple displaced vertices. This search looks for pair production of the scalar mediator at the LHC, which yields events with two SM jets and two emerging jets at leading order. The results are interpreted using two dark sector models with different flavor structures, and exclude mediator masses up to 1950 (1850) GeV for an unflavored (flavor-aligned) dark QCD model. The unflavored results surpass a previous search for emerging jets by setting the most stringent mediator mass exclusion limits to date, while the flavor-aligned results provide the first direct mediator mass exclusion limits to date

Search for new physics with emerging jets in proton-proton collisions at s\sqrt{s} = 13 TeV

International audienceA search for ``emerging jets'' produced in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is performed using data collected by the CMS experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. This search examines a hypothetical dark quantum chromodynamics (QCD) sector that couples to the standard model (SM) through a scalar mediator. The scalar mediator decays into an SM quark and a dark sector quark. As the dark sector quark showers and hadronizes, it produces long-lived dark mesons that subsequently decay into SM particles, resulting in a jet, known as an emerging jet, with multiple displaced vertices. This search looks for pair production of the scalar mediator at the LHC, which yields events with two SM jets and two emerging jets at leading order. The results are interpreted using two dark sector models with different flavor structures, and exclude mediator masses up to 1950 (1850) GeV for an unflavored (flavor-aligned) dark QCD model. The unflavored results surpass a previous search for emerging jets by setting the most stringent mediator mass exclusion limits to date, while the flavor-aligned results provide the first direct mediator mass exclusion limits to date