Change in Cone Structure Over 24 Months in USH2A-Related Retinal Degeneration

PurposeTo describe cone structure changes using adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO) in the Rate of Progression of USH2A-related Retinal Degeneration (RUSH2A) study.DesignMulticenter, longitudinal natural history study.MethodsAOSLO images were acquired at 4 centers, twice at baseline and annually for 24 months in this natural history study. For each eye, at least 10 regions of interest (ROIs) with ≥50 contiguous cones were analyzed by masked, independent graders. Cone spacing Z-scores, standard deviations from the normal mean at the measured location, were compared between graders and tests at baseline. The association of cone spacing with clinical characteristics was assessed using linear mixed effects regression models weighted by image quality score. Annual rates of change were calculated based on differences between visits.ResultsFourteen eyes of 14 participants were imaged, with 192 ROIs selected at baseline. There was variability among graders, which was greater in images with lower image quality score (P < .001). Cone spacing was significantly correlated with eccentricity, quality score, and disease duration (P < .02). On average, the cone spacing Z-score increased 0.14 annually (about 9%, P < .001). We observed no significant differences in rate of change between disease type (Usher syndrome or retinitis pigmentosa), imaging site, or grader.ConclusionsUsing current methods, the analysis of quantitative measures of cone structure showed some challenges, yet showed promise that AOSLO images can be used to characterize progressive change over 24 months. Additional multicenter studies using AOSLO are needed to advance cone mosaic metrics as sensitive outcome measures for clinical trials. NOTE: Publication of this article is sponsored by the American Ophthalmological Society

Measurement of t(t)over-bar normalised multi-differential cross sections in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV, and simultaneous determination of the strong coupling strength, top quark pole mass, and parton distribution functions

Peer reviewe

An embedding technique to determine ττ backgrounds in proton-proton collision data

An embedding technique is presented to estimate standard model tau tau backgrounds from data with minimal simulation input. In the data, the muons are removed from reconstructed mu mu events and replaced with simulated tau leptons with the same kinematic properties. In this way, a set of hybrid events is obtained that does not rely on simulation except for the decay of the tau leptons. The challenges in describing the underlying event or the production of associated jets in the simulation are avoided. The technique described in this paper was developed for CMS. Its validation and the inherent uncertainties are also discussed. The demonstration of the performance of the technique is based on a sample of proton-proton collisions collected by CMS in 2017 at root s = 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 41.5 fb(-1).Peer reviewe

Measurement of the Splitting Function in &ITpp &ITand Pb-Pb Collisions at root&ITsNN&IT=5.02 TeV

Data from heavy ion collisions suggest that the evolution of a parton shower is modified by interactions with the color charges in the dense partonic medium created in these collisions, but it is not known where in the shower evolution the modifications occur. The momentum ratio of the two leading partons, resolved as subjets, provides information about the parton shower evolution. This substructure observable, known as the splitting function, reflects the process of a parton splitting into two other partons and has been measured for jets with transverse momentum between 140 and 500 GeV, in pp and PbPb collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV per nucleon pair. In central PbPb collisions, the splitting function indicates a more unbalanced momentum ratio, compared to peripheral PbPb and pp collisions.. The measurements are compared to various predictions from event generators and analytical calculations.Peer reviewe

Electroweak production of two jets in association with a Z boson in proton-proton collisions root s =13 TeV

A measurement of the electroweak (EW) production of two jets in association with a Z boson in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV is presented, based on data recorded in 2016 by the CMS experiment at the LHC corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1). The measurement is performed in the lljj final state with l including electrons and muons, and the jets j corresponding to the quarks produced in the hard interaction. The measured cross section in a kinematic region defined by invariant masses m(ll) > 50 GeV, m(jj) > 120 GeV, and transverse momenta P-Tj > 25 GeV is sigma(EW) (lljj) = 534 +/- 20 (stat) fb (syst) fb, in agreement with leading-order standard model predictions. The final state is also used to perform a search for anomalous trilinear gauge couplings. No evidence is found and limits on anomalous trilinear gauge couplings associated with dimension-six operators are given in the framework of an effective field theory. The corresponding 95% confidence level intervals are -2.6 <cwww/Lambda(2) <2.6 TeV-2 and -8.4 <cw/Lambda(2) <10.1 TeV-2. The additional jet activity of events in a signal-enriched region is also studied, and the measurements are in agreement with predictions.Peer reviewe

Search for Physics beyond the Standard Model in Events with Overlapping Photons and Jets

Results are reported from a search for new particles that decay into a photon and two gluons, in events with jets. Novel jet substructure techniques are developed that allow photons to be identified in an environment densely populated with hadrons. The analyzed proton-proton collision data were collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, in 2016 at root s = 13 TeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1). The spectra of total transverse hadronic energy of candidate events are examined for deviations from the standard model predictions. No statistically significant excess is observed over the expected background. The first cross section limits on new physics processes resulting in such events are set. The results are interpreted as upper limits on the rate of gluino pair production, utilizing a simplified stealth supersymmetry model. The excluded gluino masses extend up to 1.7 TeV, for a neutralino mass of 200 GeV and exceed previous mass constraints set by analyses targeting events with isolated photons.Peer reviewe

Measurement of nuclear modification factors of gamma(1S)), gamma(2S), and gamma(3S) mesons in PbPb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV

The cross sections for ϒ(1S), ϒ(2S), and ϒ(3S) production in lead-lead (PbPb) and proton-proton (pp) collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV have been measured using the CMS detector at the LHC. The nuclear modification factors, RAA, derived from the PbPb-to-pp ratio of yields for each state, are studied as functions of meson rapidity and transverse momentum, as well as PbPb collision centrality. The yields of all three states are found to be significantly suppressed, and compatible with a sequential ordering of the suppression, RAA(ϒ(1S)) > RAA(ϒ(2S)) > RAA(ϒ(3S)). The suppression of ϒ(1S) is larger than that seen at √sNN = 2.76 TeV, although the two are compatible within uncertainties. The upper limit on the RAA of ϒ(3S) integrated over pT, rapidity and centrality is 0.096 at 95% confidence level, which is the strongest suppression observed for a quarkonium state in heavy ion collisions to date. © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Funded by SCOAP3.Peer reviewe

Bose-Einstein correlations of charged hadrons in proton-proton collisions at s\sqrt s = 13 TeV

Bose-Einstein correlations of charged hadrons are measured over a broad multiplicity range, from a few particles up to about 250 reconstructed charged hadrons in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV. The results are based on data collected using the CMS detector at the LHC during runs with a special low-pileup configuration. Three analysis techniques with different degrees of dependence on simulations are used to remove the non-Bose-Einstein background from the correlation functions. All three methods give consistent results. The measured lengths of homogeneity are studied as functions of particle multiplicity as well as average pair transverse momentum and mass. The results are compared with data from both CMS and ATLAS at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV, as well as with theoretical predictions.[graphic not available: see fulltext]Bose-Einstein correlations of charged hadrons are measured over a broad multiplicity range, from a few particles up to about 250 reconstructed charged hadrons in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV. The results are based on data collected using the CMS detector at the LHC during runs with a special low-pileup configuration. Three analysis techniques with different degrees of dependence on simulations are used to remove the non-Bose-Einstein background from the correlation functions. All three methods give consistent results. The measured lengths of homogeneity are studied as functions of particle multiplicity as well as average pair transverse momentum and mass. The results are compared with data from both CMS and ATLAS at $\sqrt{s} =$ 7 TeV, as well as with theoretical predictions

Search for an L-mu - L-tau gauge boson using Z -> 4 mu events in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A search for a narrow Z' gauge boson with a mass between 5 and 70 GeV resulting from an L-mu - L-tau U (1) local gauge symmetry is reported. Theories that predict such a particle have been proposed as an explanation of various experimental discrepancies, including the lack of a dark matter signal in direct-detection experiments, tension in the measurement of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, and reports of possible lepton flavor universality violation in B meson decays. A data sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is used, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 77.3 fb(-1) recorded in 2016 and 2017 by the CMS detector at the LHC. Events containing four muons with an invariant mass near the standard model Z boson mass are analyzed, and the selection is further optimized to be sensitive to the events that may contain Z -> Z'mu mu -> 4 mu decays. The event yields are consistent with the standard model predictions. Upper limits of 10(-8)-10(-7) at 95% confidence level are set on the product of branching fractions B(Z -> Z'mu mu)B(Z' -> mu mu), depending on the Z' mass, which excludes a Z' boson coupling strength to muons above 0.004-0.3. These are the first dedicated limits on L-mu - L-tau models at the LHC and result in a significant increase in the excluded model parameter space. The results of this search may also be used to constrain the coupling strength of any light Z' gauge boson to muons. (C) 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

Search for dark matter in events with a leptoquark and missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV

A search is presented for dark matter in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of root s= 13 TeV using events with at least one high transverse momentum (p(T)) muon, at least one high-p(T) jet, and large missing transverse momentum. The data were collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC in 2016 and 2017, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 77.4 fb(-1). In the examined scenario, a pair of scalar leptoquarks is assumed to be produced. One leptoquark decays to a muon and a jet while the other decays to dark matter and low-p(T) standard model particles. The signature for signal events would be significant missing transverse momentum from the dark matter in conjunction with a peak at the leptoquark mass in the invariant mass distribution of the highest p(T) muon and jet. The data are observed to be consistent with the background predicted by the standard model. For the first benchmark scenario considered, dark matter masses up to 500 GeV are excluded for leptoquark masses m(LQ) approximate to 1400 GeV, and up to 300 GeV for m(LQ) approximate to 1500 GeV. For the second benchmark scenario, dark matter masses up to 600 GeV are excluded for m(LQ) approximate to 1400 GeV. (C) 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe