Finding bichromatic-bidirectional waves with ADVS

The aim of this study is to investigate Bichromatic-Bidirectional waves to characterize the subtractive wave-wave nonlinear interactions, using adaptive techniques rather than traditional spectral techniques. A physical model test in a 3D-wave basin was conducted and measurements were made with two arrays of ultrasonic sensors of free surface and one array of ADVs. The Hilbert-Huang transform, aided by the Multivariate Empirical Mode Decomposition, was applied to the orbital velocity data and the main characteristics of the infragravity wave (velocity amplitude, period and direction) were extracted with a good precision. © 2018 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). All rights reserved

High connectivity of the Crocodile Shark between the Atlantic and Southwest Indian Oceans: highlights for conservation

Among the various shark species that are captured as bycatch in commercial fishing operations, the group of pelagic sharks is still one of the least studied and known. Within those, the crocodile shark, Pseudocarcharias kamoharai, a small-sized lamnid shark, is occasionally caught by longline vessels in certain regions of the tropical oceans worldwide. However, the population dynamics of this species, as well as the impact of fishing mortality on its stocks, are still unknown, with the crocodile shark currently one of the least studied of all pelagic sharks. Given this, the present study aimed to assess the population structure of P. kamoharai in several regions of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans using genetic molecular markers. The nucleotide composition of the mitochondrial DNA control region of 255 individuals was analyzed, and 31 haplotypes were found, with an estimated diversity Hd = 0.627, and a nucleotide diversity pi = 0.00167. An analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed a fixation index phi(ST) = -0.01118, representing an absence of population structure among the sampled regions of the Atlantic Ocean, and between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. These results show a high degree of gene flow between the studied areas, with a single genetic stock and reduced population variability. In panmictic populations, conservation efforts can be concentrated in more restricted areas, being these representative of the total biodiversity of the species. When necessary, this strategy could be applied to the genetic maintenance of P. kamoharai.Foundation for Research Support of the Sao Paulo State - FAPESP [2011/23787-0, 2010/51903-2]; Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) [SFRH/BPD/93936/2013]; Foundation for Research Support of the Sao Paulo State - FAPESP [2011/23787-0, 2010/51903-2]; Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) [SFRH/BPD/93936/2013]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Impairment of the Plasmodium falciparum Erythrocytic Cycle Induced by Angiotensin Peptides

Plasmodium falciparum causes the most serious complications of malaria and is a public health problem worldwide with over 2 million deaths each year. The erythrocyte invasion mechanisms by Plasmodium sp. have been well described, however the physiological aspects involving host components in this process are still poorly understood. Here, we provide evidence for the role of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) components in reducing erythrocyte invasion by P. falciparum. Angiotensin II (Ang II) reduced erythrocyte invasion in an enriched schizont culture of P. falciparum in a dose-dependent manner. Using mass spectroscopy, we showed that Ang II was metabolized by erythrocytes to Ang IV and Ang-(1–7). Parasite infection decreased Ang-(1–7) and completely abolished Ang IV formation. Similar to Ang II, Ang-(1–7) decreased the level of infection in an A779 (specific antagonist of Ang-(1–7) receptor, MAS)-sensitive manner. 10−7 M PD123319, an AT2 receptor antagonist, partially reversed the effects of Ang-(1–7) and Ang II. However, 10−6 M losartan, an antagonist of the AT1 receptor, had no effect. Gs protein is a crucial player in the Plasmodium falciparum blood cycle and angiotensin peptides can modulate protein kinase A (PKA) activity; 10−8 M Ang II or 10−8 M Ang-(1–7) inhibited this activity in erythrocytes by 60% and this effect was reversed by 10−7 M A779. 10−6 M dibutyryl-cAMP increased the level of infection and 10−7 M PKA inhibitor decreased the level of infection by 30%. These results indicate that the effect of Ang-(1–7) on P. falciparum blood stage involves a MAS-mediated PKA inhibition. Our results indicate a crucial role for Ang II conversion into Ang-(1–7) in controlling the erythrocytic cycle of the malaria parasite, adding new functions to peptides initially described to be involved in the regulation of vascular tonus

Impairment of the Plasmodium falciparum Erythrocytic Cycle Induced by Angiotensin Peptides

Plasmodium falciparum causes the most serious complications of malaria and is a public health problem worldwide with over 2 million deaths each year. The erythrocyte invasion mechanisms by Plasmodium sp. have been well described, however the physiological aspects involving host components in this process are still poorly understood. Here, we provide evidence for the role of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) components in reducing erythrocyte invasion by P. falciparum. Angiotensin II (Ang II) reduced erythrocyte invasion in an enriched schizont culture of P. falciparum in a dose-dependent manner. Using mass spectroscopy, we showed that Ang II was metabolized by erythrocytes to Ang IV and Ang-(1–7). Parasite infection decreased Ang-(1–7) and completely abolished Ang IV formation. Similar to Ang II, Ang-(1–7) decreased the level of infection in an A779 (specific antagonist of Ang-(1–7) receptor, MAS)-sensitive manner. 10−7 M PD123319, an AT2 receptor antagonist, partially reversed the effects of Ang-(1–7) and Ang II. However, 10−6 M losartan, an antagonist of the AT1 receptor, had no effect. Gs protein is a crucial player in the Plasmodium falciparum blood cycle and angiotensin peptides can modulate protein kinase A (PKA) activity; 10−8 M Ang II or 10−8 M Ang-(1–7) inhibited this activity in erythrocytes by 60% and this effect was reversed by 10−7 M A779. 10−6 M dibutyryl-cAMP increased the level of infection and 10−7 M PKA inhibitor decreased the level of infection by 30%. These results indicate that the effect of Ang-(1–7) on P. falciparum blood stage involves a MAS-mediated PKA inhibition. Our results indicate a crucial role for Ang II conversion into Ang-(1–7) in controlling the erythrocytic cycle of the malaria parasite, adding new functions to peptides initially described to be involved in the regulation of vascular tonus

Measurement of the CP-violating phase ϕs and the Bs0 meson decay width difference with Bs0 → J/ψϕ decays in ATLAS

A measurement of the Bs0 decay parameters in the Bs0 → J/ψϕ channel using an integrated luminosity of 14.3 fb−1 collected by the ATLAS detector from 8 TeV pp collisions at the LHC is presented. The measured parameters include the CP -violating phase ϕs, the decay width Γs and the width difference between the mass eigenstates ΔΓs. The values measured for the physical parameters are statistically combined with those from 4.9 fb−1 of 7 TeV data, leading to the following: ϕ s =−0.090±0.078(stat.)±0.041(syst.)rad ΔΓ s =0.085±0.011(stat.)±0.007(syst.)ps −1 Γ s =0.675±0.003(stat.)±0.003(syst.)ps −1 In the analysis the parameter ΔΓs is constrained to be positive. Results for ϕs and ΔΓs are also presented as 68% and 95% likelihood contours in the ϕs-ΔΓs plane. Also measured in this decay channel are the transversity amplitudes and corresponding strong phases. All measurements are in agreement with the Standard Model predictions

Search for massive, long-lived particles using multitrack displaced vertices or displaced lepton pairs in pp collisions at √s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Many extensions of the Standard Model posit the existence of heavy particles with long lifetimes. This article presents the results of a search for events containing at least one long-lived particle that decays at a significant distance from its production point into two leptons or into five or more charged particles. This analysis uses a data sample of proton-proton collisions at √s=8  TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3  fb−1 collected in 2012 by the ATLAS detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. No events are observed in any of the signal regions, and limits are set on model parameters within supersymmetric scenarios involving R-parity violation, split supersymmetry, and gauge mediation. In some of the search channels, the trigger and search strategy are based only on the decay products of individual long-lived particles, irrespective of the rest of the event. In these cases, the provided limits can easily be reinterpreted in different scenarios

Measurement of the production cross-section of a single top quark in association with a W boson at 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

The cross-section for the production of a single top quark in association with a W boson in proton-proton collisions at s√=8TeV is measured. The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb−1, collected by the ATLAS detector in 2012 at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Events containing two leptons and one central b-jet are selected. The W t signal is separated from the backgrounds using boosted decision trees, each of which combines a number of discriminating variables into one classifier. Production of W t events is observed with a significance of 7.7σ. The cross-section is extracted in a profile likelihood fit to the classifier output distributions. The W t cross-section, inclusive of decay modes, is measured to be 23.0 ± 1.3(stat.)− 3.5+ 3.2(syst.)±1.1(lumi.) pb. The measured cross-section is used to extract a value for the CKM matrix element |Vtb| of 1.01 ± 0.10 and a lower limit of 0.80 at the 95% confidence level. The cross-section for the production of a top quark and a W boson is also measured in a fiducial acceptance requiring two leptons with pT> 25 GeV and |η| 20 GeV and |η|  20 GeV, including both W t and top-quark pair events as signal. The measured value of the fiducial cross-section is 0.85 ± 0.01(stat.)− 0.07+ 0.07(syst.)±0.03(lumi.) pb

Measurement of the differential cross-section of highly boosted top quarks as a function of their transverse momentum in s =8 TeV proton-proton collisions using the ATLAS detector

The differential cross-section for pair production of top quarks with high transverse momentum is measured in 20.3  fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The measurement is performed for tt¯ events in the lepton+jets channel. The cross-section is reported as a function of the hadronically decaying top quark transverse momentum for values above 300 GeV. The hadronically decaying top quark is reconstructed as an anti-kt jet with radius parameter R=1.0 and identified with jet substructure techniques. The observed yield is corrected for detector effects to obtain a cross-section at particle level in a fiducial region close to the event selection. A parton-level cross-section extrapolated to the full phase space is also reported for top quarks with transverse momentum above 300 GeV. The predictions of a majority of next-to-leading-order and leading-order matrix-element Monte Carlo generators are found to agree with the measured cross-sections.- We thank CERN for the very successful operation of the LHC, as well as the support staff from our institutions without whom ATLAS could not be operated efficiently. We acknowledge the support of ANPCyT, Argentina; YerPhI, Armenia; ARC, Australia; BMWFW and FWF, Austria; ANAS, Azerbaijan; SSTC, Belarus; CNPq and FAPESP, Brazil; NSERC, NRC and CFI, Canada; CERN; CONICYT, Chile; CAS, MOST and NSFC, China; COLCIENCIAS, Colombia; MSMT CR, MPO CR and VSC CR, Czech Republic; DNRF, DNSRC and Lundbeck Foundation, Denmark; IN2P3-CNRS, CEA-DSM/IRFU, France; GNSF, Georgia; BMBF, HGF, and MPG, Germany; GSRT, Greece; RGC, Hong Kong SAR, China; ISF, I-CORE and Benoziyo Center, Israel; INFN, Italy; MEXT and JSPS, Japan; CNRST, Morocco; FOM and NWO, Netherlands; RCN, Norway; MNiSW and NCN, Poland; FCT, Portugal; MNE/IFA, Romania; MES of Russia and NRC KI, Russian Federation; JINR; MESTD, Serbia; MSSR, Slovakia; ARRS and MIZS, Slovenia; DST/NRF, South Africa; MINECO, Spain; SRC and Wallenberg Foundation, Sweden; SERI, SNSF and Cantons of Bern and Geneva, Switzerland; MOST, Taiwan; TAEK, Turkey; STFC, United Kingdom; DOE and NSF, United States of America. In addition, individual groups and members have received support from BCKDF, the Canada Council, CANARIE, CRC, Compute Canada, FQRNT, and the Ontario Innovation Trust, Canada; EPLANET, ERC, FP7, Horizon 2020 and Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, European Union; Investissements d'Avenir Labex and Idex, ANR, Region Auvergne and Fondation Partager le Savoir, France; DFG and AvH Foundation, Germany; Herakleitos, Thales and Aristeia programmes co-financed by EU-ESF and the Greek NSRF; BSF, GIF and Minerva, Israel; BRF, Norway; the Royal Society and Leverhulme Trust, United Kingdom. The crucial computing support from all WLCG partners is acknowledged gratefully, in particular from CERN and the ATLAS Tier-1 facilities at TRIUMF (Canada), NDGF (Denmark, Norway, Sweden), CC-IN2P3 (France), KIT/GridKA (Germany), INFN-CNAF (Italy), NL-T1 (Netherlands), PIC (Spain), ASGC (Taiwan), RAL (UK) an

Measurements of the Higgs boson production and decay rates and coupling strengths using pp collision data at √S=7 and 8 TeV in the ATLAS experiment

Combined analyses of the Higgs boson production and decay rates as well as its coupling strengths to vector bosons and fermions are presented. The combinations include the results of the analyses of the H -> gamma gamma, ZZ*, WW*, Z gamma, b (b) over bar, tau tau and mu mu decay modes, and the constraints on the associated production with a pair of top quarks and on the off-shell coupling strengths of the Higgs boson. The results are based on the LHC proton-proton collision datasets, with integrated luminosities of up to 4.7 fb(-1) at root s = 7 TeV and 20.3 fb(-1) at root s = 8 TeV, recorded by the ATLAS detector in 2011 and 2012. Combining all production modes and decay channels, the measured signal yield, normalised to the Standard Model expectation, is 1.18(-0.14)(+0.15). The observed Higgs boson production and decay rates are interpreted in a leading-order coupling framework, exploring a wide range of benchmark coupling models both with and without assumptions on the Higgs boson width and on the Standard Model particle content in loop processes. The data are found to be compatible with the Standard Model expectations for a Higgs boson at a mass of 125.36 GeV for all models considered