αV-Integrins Are Required for Mechanotransduction in MDCK Epithelial Cells

The properties of epithelial cells within tissues are regulated by their immediate microenvironment, which consists of neighboring cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM). Integrin heterodimers orchestrate dynamic assembly and disassembly of cell-ECM connections and thereby convey biochemical and mechanical information from the ECM into cells. However, the specific contributions and functional hierarchy between different integrin heterodimers in the regulation of focal adhesion dynamics in epithelial cells are incompletely understood. Here, we have studied the functions of RGD-binding αV-integrins in a Madin Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cell model and found that αV-integrins regulate the maturation of focal adhesions (FAs) and cell spreading. αV-integrin-deficient MDCK cells bound collagen I (Col I) substrate via α2β1-integrins but failed to efficiently recruit FA components such as talin, focal adhesion kinase (FAK), vinculin and integrin-linked kinase (ILK). The apparent inability to mature α2β1-integrin-mediated FAs and link them to cellular actin cytoskeleton led to disrupted mechanotransduction in αV-integrin deficient cells seeded onto Col I substrate

Search for heavy resonances decaying to Z(ν¯ν)V(q¯q′) in proton-proton collisions at √s=13 TeV

Publisher Copyright: © 2022 CERN.A search is presented for heavy bosons decaying to Z(ν¯ν)V(q¯q′), where V can be a W or a Z boson. A sample of proton-proton collision data at √s=13  TeV was collected by the CMS experiment during 2016–2018. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 137  fb−1. The event categorization is based on the presence of high-momentum jets in the forward region to identify production through weak vector boson fusion. Additional categorization uses jet substructure techniques and the presence of large missing transverse momentum to identify W and Z bosons decaying to quarks and neutrinos, respectively. The dominant standard model backgrounds are estimated using data taken from control regions. The results are interpreted in terms of radion, W′ boson, and graviton models, under the assumption that these bosons are produced via gluon-gluon fusion, Drell–Yan, or weak vector boson fusion processes. No evidence is found for physics beyond the standard model. Upper limits are set at 95% confidence level on various types of hypothetical new bosons. Observed (expected) exclusion limits on the masses of these bosons range from 1.2 to 4.0 (1.1 to 3.7) TeV.Peer reviewe

Innovative Educational Approach in Healthcare-Associated Infection Prevention and Control. Results of a European Study

Prevent and control healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) is a priority in healthcare assistance, not only due to present COVID-19 pandemic. Annually, around 3.2 million patients are affected by one of these infections and it is estimated that without controlling them, by 2050, 10 million more people could die every year, with especial relevance among elderly with infectious situations representing a third of mortality in people over 65 years old. Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in healthcare area have an important role in this panorama, by preparing students to be future professionals, stimulating them to have an innovative and entrepreneurial approach to today’s real-life challenges. A mixed-methods research was conducted, at European level (in Portugal, Finland, Poland and Spain), to facilitate learning of good practices on HAIs prevention and control while developing innovative solutions. 1475 participants were enrolled, from all partner HEI: 79 professors and mentors were interviewed (individual or focus group), 1326 final year nursing students made a self-report inventory (application of InovSafeCare Scale) and 70 students participated on focus group (agile piloting of the Model). The result of this research is a pedagogical model that mixes dimensions and methods that take nursing students closer to the demands of HAIs prevention and control and capacitates them to transfer knowledge to work settings with an innovative and entrepreneurial perspective – the InovSafeCare Model.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Search for charged-lepton flavor violation in top quark production and decay in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV

Results are presented from a search for charged-lepton flavor violating (CLFV) interactions in top quark production and decay in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The events are required to contain one oppositely charged electron-muon pair in the final state, along with at least one jet identified as originating from a bottom quark. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb(-1), collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. This analysis includes both the production (q -> e mu t) and decay (t -> e mu q) modes of the top quark through CLFV interactions, with q referring to a u or c quark. These interactions are parametrized using an effective field theory approach. With no significant excess over the standard model expectation, the results are interpreted in terms of vector-, scalar-, and tensor-like CLFV four-fermion effective interactions. Finally, observed exclusion limits are set at 95% confidence levels on the respective branching fractions of a top quark to an e mu pair and an up (charm) quark of 0.13 x 10(-6) (1.31 x 10(-6)), 0.07 x 10(-6) (0.89 x 10(-6)), and 0.25 x 10(-6) (2.59 x 10(-6)) for vector, scalar, and tensor CLFV interactions, respectively.Peer reviewe

Search for long-lived particles decaying into muon pairs in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV collected with a dedicated high-rate data stream

A search for long-lived particles decaying into muon pairs is performed using proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2017 and 2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 101 fb(-1). The data sets used in this search were collected with a dedicated dimuon trigger stream with low transverse momentum thresholds, recorded at high rate by retaining a reduced amount of information, in order to explore otherwise inaccessible phase space at low dimuon mass and nonzero displacement from the primary interaction vertex. No significant excess of events beyond the standard model expectation is found. Upper limits on branching fractions at 95% confidence level are set on a wide range of mass and lifetime hypotheses in beyond the standard model frameworks with the Higgs boson decaying into a pair of long-lived dark photons, or with a long-lived scalar resonance arising from a decay of a b hadron. The limits are the most stringent to date for substantial regions of the parameter space. These results can be also used to constrain models of displaced dimuons that are not explicitly considered in this paper.Peer reviewe

Search for supersymmetry in final states with two or three soft leptons and missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at root 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 root s = 13TeV 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 (X) over tilde (0)(2) /(X) over tilde (+/-)(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 mu up to 180 GeV with the bino mass parameter M-1 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 GeV.Peer reviewe

Search for single production of a vector-like T quark decaying to a top quark and a Z boson in the final state with jets and missing transverse momentum at root s=13 TeV

A search is presented for single production of a vector-like T quark with charge 2/3 e, in the decay channel featuring a top quark and a Z boson, with the top quark decaying hadronically and the Z boson decaying to neutrinos. The search uses data collected by the CMS experiment in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb(-1) recorded at the CERN LHC in 2016-2018. The search is sensitive to a T quark mass between 0.6 and 1.8 TeV with decay widths ranging from negligibly small up to 30% of the T quark mass. Reconstruction strategies for the top quark are based on the degree of Lorentz boosting of its final state. At 95% confidence level, the upper limit on the product of the cross section and branching fraction for a T quark of small decay width varies between 15 and 602 fb, depending on its mass. For a T quark with decay widths between 10 and 30% of its mass, this upper limit ranges between 16 and 836 fb. For most of the studied range, the results provide the best limits to date. This is the first search for single T quark production based on the full Run 2 data set of the LHC.Peer reviewe

Analysis of the CP structure of the Yukawa coupling between the Higgs boson and tau leptons in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

The first measurement of the CP structure of the Yukawa coupling between the Higgs boson and tau leptons is presented. The measurement is based on data collected in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV by the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb(-1). The analysis uses the angular correlation between the decay planes of tau leptons produced in Higgs boson decays. The effective mixing angle between CP-even and CP-odd tau Yukawa couplings is found to be -1 +/- 19 degrees, compared to an expected value of 0 +/- 21 degrees at the 68.3% confidence level. The data disfavour the pure CP-odd scenario at 3.0 standard deviations. The results are compatible with predictions for the standard model Higgs boson.Peer reviewe

Strategies and performance of the CMS silicon tracker alignment during LHC Run 2

The strategies for and the performance of the CMS silicon tracking system alignment during the 2015-2018 data-taking period of the LHC are described. The alignment procedures during and after data taking are explained. Alignment scenarios are also derived for use in the simulation of the detector response. Systematic effects, related to intrinsic symmetries of the alignment task or to external constraints, are discussed and illustrated for different scenarios.Peer reviewe

Study of quark and gluon jet substructure in Z+jet and dijet events from pp collisions

Measurements of jet substructure describing the composition of quark- and gluon-initiated jets are presented. Proton-proton (pp) collision data at root s = 13 TeV collected with the CMS detector are used, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1). Generalized angularities are measured that characterize the jet substructure and distinguish quark- and gluon-initiated jets. These observables are sensitive to the distributions of transverse momenta and angular distances within a jet. The analysis is performed using a data sample of dijet events enriched in gluon-initiated jets, and, for the first time, a Z+jet event sample enriched in quark-initiated jets. The observables are measured in bins of jet transverse momentum, and as a function of the jet radius parameter. Each measurement is repeated applying a "soft drop" grooming procedure that removes soft and large angle radiation from the jet. Using these measurements, the ability of various models to describe jet substructure is assessed, showing a clear need for improvements in Monte Carlo generators.Peer reviewe