Constraining the top-quark mass within the global MSHT PDF fit

We examine the ability of experimental measurements of top-quark pair production to constrain both the top-quark mass and the strong coupling within the global MSHT parton distribution function (PDF) fit. Specifically, we consider ATLAS and CMS measurements of differential distributions taken at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV, as well as $t\bar{t}$ total cross section data taken at a variety of experiments, and compare to theoretical predictions including next-to-next-to-leading order corrections. We find that supplementing the global fit with this additional information results in relatively strong constraints on the top-quark mass, and is also able to bound the strong coupling in a limited fashion. Our final result is $m_t=173.0\pm0.6~\mathrm{GeV}$ and is compatible with the world average pole mass extracted from cross section measurements of $172.5\pm0.7~\mathrm{GeV}$ by the Particle Data Group. We also study the effect of different top-quark masses on the gluon parton distribution function, finding changes at high $x$ which nonetheless lie within the large PDF uncertainties in this region.Comment: 35 pages, 13 figures, 3 table

NNLO+PS W+W−W^+W^- production using jet veto resummation at NNLL′'

We construct a novel event generator for the process $p \> p \to \ell^- \> \bar{\nu}_\ell \> \ell'^+ \> \nu_{\ell'}$, which matches fixed-order predictions at next-to-next-to-leading order in the strong coupling to a parton shower program. The matching is achieved using the GENEVA method, in this case exploiting a resummed calculation for the hardest jet transverse momentum at next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy obtained via soft-collinear effective theory and implemented in the C++ library SCETlib. This choice of resolution variable ensures that the introduction of a jet veto, commonly used by experimental analyses to reject multi-jet background events, does not result in the appearance of unmitigated large logarithms for low veto scales before showering. After validating our partonic results against publicly available fixed order and resummed calculations, we compare our predictions to measurements taken at the ATLAS and CMS experiments, finding good agreement. This is the first NNLO+PS accurate event generator to use the hardest jet transverse momentum as a resolution variable.Comment: 39 pages, 11 figure

The qTq_T spectrum for Higgs production via heavy quark annihilation at N3^3LL′'+aN3^3LO

We study the transverse momentum ($q_T$) spectrum of the Higgs boson produced via the annihilation of heavy quarks ($s,c,b$) in proton-proton collisions. Using soft-collinear effective theory (SCET) and working in the five-flavour scheme, we provide predictions at three-loop order in resummed perturbation theory (N$^3$LL$'$). We match the resummed calculation to full fixed-order results at next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO), and introduce a decorrelation method to enable a consistent matching to an approximate N$^3$LO (aN$^3$LO) result. Since the $b$-quark initiated process exhibits large nonsingular corrections, it requires special care in the matching procedure and estimation of associated theoretical uncertainties, which we discuss in detail. Our results constitute the most accurate predictions to date for these processes in the small $q_T$ region and could be used to improve the determination of Higgs Yukawa couplings from the shape of the measured Higgs $q_T$ spectrum.Comment: 25 pages + 11 appendix + references, 18 figure

GalaxyFlow: Upsampling Hydrodynamical Simulations for Realistic Gaia Mock Catalogs

Cosmological N-body simulations of galaxies operate at the level of "star particles" with a mass resolution on the scale of thousands of solar masses. Turning these simulations into stellar mock catalogs requires "upsampling" the star particles into individual stars following the same phase-space density. In this paper, we demonstrate that normalizing flows provide a viable upsampling method that greatly improves on conventionally-used kernel smoothing algorithms such as EnBiD. We demonstrate our flow-based upsampling technique, dubbed GalaxyFlow, on a neighborhood of the Solar location in two simulated galaxies: Auriga 6 and h277. By eye, GalaxyFlow produces stellar distributions that are smoother than EnBiD-based methods and more closely match the Gaia DR3 catalog. For a quantitative comparison of generative model performance, we introduce a novel multi-model classifier test. Using this classifier test, we show that GalaxyFlow more accurately estimates the density of the underlying star particles than previous methods.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figure

Protocol for parallel proteomic and metabolomic analysis of mouse intervertebral disc tissues

The comprehensiveness of data collected by “omics” modalities has demonstrated the ability to drastically transform our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of chronic, complex diseases such as musculoskeletal pathologies, how biomarkers are identified, and how therapeutic targets are developed. Standardization of protocols will enable comparisons between findings reported by multiple research groups and move the application of these technologies forward. Herein, we describe a protocol for parallel proteomic and metabolomic analysis of mouse intervertebral disc (IVD) tissues, building from the combined expertise of our collaborative team. This protocol covers dissection of murine IVD tissues, sample isolation, and data analysis for both proteomics and metabolomics applications. The protocol presented below was optimized to maximize the utility of a mouse model for “omics” applications, accounting for the challenges associated with the small starting quantity of sample due to small tissue size as well as the extracellular matrix-rich nature of the tissue

Cryopreservation of Human Adipose Tissues and Adipose-Derived Stem Cells with DMSO and/or Trehalose: A Systematic Review.

Adipose tissue senescence is implicated as a major player in obesity- and ageing-related disorders. There is a growing body of research studying relevant mechanisms in age-related diseases, as well as the use of adipose-derived stem cells in regenerative medicine. The cell banking of tissue by utilising cryopreservation would allow for much greater flexibility of use. Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is the most commonly used cryopreservative agent but is toxic to cells. Trehalose is a sugar synthesised by lower organisms to withstand extreme cold and drought that has been trialled as a cryopreservative agent. To examine the efficacy of trehalose in the cryopreservation of human adipose tissue, we conducted a systematic review of studies that used trehalose for the cryopreservation of human adipose tissues and adipose-derived stem cells. Thirteen articles, including fourteen studies, were included in the final review. All seven studies that examined DMSO and trehalose showed that they could be combined effectively to cryopreserve adipocytes. Although studies that compared nonpermeable trehalose with DMSO found trehalose to be inferior, studies that devised methods to deliver nonpermeable trehalose into the cell found it comparable to DMSO. Trehalose is only comparable to DMSO when methods are devised to introduce it into the cell. There is some evidence to support using trehalose instead of using no cryopreservative agent