43 research outputs found
Aerosols Transmit Prions to Immunocompetent and Immunodeficient Mice
Prions, the agents causing transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, colonize the brain of hosts after oral, parenteral, intralingual, or even transdermal uptake. However, prions are not generally considered to be airborne. Here we report that inbred and crossbred wild-type mice, as well as tga20 transgenic mice overexpressing PrPC, efficiently develop scrapie upon exposure to aerosolized prions. NSE-PrP transgenic mice, which express PrPC selectively in neurons, were also susceptible to airborne prions. Aerogenic infection occurred also in mice lacking B- and T-lymphocytes, NK-cells, follicular dendritic cells or complement components. Brains of diseased mice contained PrPSc and transmitted scrapie when inoculated into further mice. We conclude that aerogenic exposure to prions is very efficacious and can lead to direct invasion of neural pathways without an obligatory replicative phase in lymphoid organs. This previously unappreciated risk for airborne prion transmission may warrant re-thinking on prion biosafety guidelines in research and diagnostic laboratories
Observation of B(s)0→J/ψpp¯ decays and precision measurements of the B(s)0 masses
The first observation of the decays
B
0
(
s
)
→
J
/
ψ
p
¯
p
is reported, using proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of
5.2
 
 
fb
−
1
, collected with the LHCb detector. These decays are suppressed due to limited available phase space, as well as due to Okubo-Zweig-Iizuka or Cabibbo suppression. The measured branching fractions are
B
(
B
0
→
J
/
ψ
p
¯
p
)
=
[
4.51
±
0.40
(
stat
)
±
0.44
(
syst
)
]
×
10
−
7
,
B
(
B
0
s
→
J
/
ψ
p
¯
p
)
=
[
3.58
±
0.19
(
stat
)
±
0.39
(
syst
)
]
×
10
−
6
. For the
B
0
s
meson, the result is much higher than the expected value of
O
(
10
−
9
)
. The small available phase space in these decays also allows for the most precise single measurement of both the
B
0
mass as
5279.74
±
0.30
(
stat
)
±
0.10
(
syst
)
 
 
MeV
and the
B
0
s
mass as
5366.85
±
0.19
(
stat
)
±
0.13
(
syst
)
 
 
MeV
Amplitude analysis of the B0 (s)! K0K0 decays and measurement of the branching fraction of the B0! K0K0 decay
The and decays are studied using proton-proton collision data
corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3fb. An untagged and
time-integrated amplitude analysis of
decays in two-body invariant mass regions of 150 MeV around the
mass is performed. A stronger longitudinal polarisation fraction in the decay, , is observed as compared to in the decay. The ratio of branching fractions of the two decays
is measured and used to determine .Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and
additional information, are available at
https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2019-004.html (LHCb
public pages
Search for Lepton-Universality Violation in B^{+}→K^{+}ℓ^{+}ℓ^{-} Decays.
A measurement of the ratio of branching fractions of the decays B^{+}→K^{+}μ^{+}μ^{-} and B^{+}→K^{+}e^{+}e^{-} is presented. The proton-proton collision data used correspond to an integrated luminosity of 5.0  fb^{-1} recorded with the LHCb experiment at center-of-mass energies of 7, 8, and 13 TeV. For the dilepton mass-squared range 1.1<q^{2}<6.0  GeV^{2}/c^{4} the ratio of branching fractions is measured to be R_{K}=0.846_{-0.054}^{+0.060}_{-0.014}^{+0.016}, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. This is the most precise measurement of R_{K} to date and is compatible with the standard model at the level of 2.5 standard deviations
Amplitude analysis of B-s(0) -> K-S(0) K-+/-pi(-/+) decays
The first untagged decay-time-integrated amplitude analysis of decays is performed using a
sample corresponding to fb of collision data recorded with
the LHCb detector during 2011 and 2012. The data are described with an
amplitude model that contains contributions from the intermediate resonances
, and , and their
charge conjugates. Measurements of the branching fractions of the decay modes
and are in agreement with, and
more precise than, previous results. The decays and are observed for the first time, each with
significance over 10 standard deviations.Comment: 27 pages, 14 figures. All figures and tables, along with any
supplementary material and additional information, are available at
https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2018-045.htm
Search for Lepton-Universality Violation in B + → K + ℓ + ℓ − Decays
A measurement of the ratio of branching fractions of the decays B + → K + μ + μ − and B + → K + e + e − is presented. The proton-proton collision data used correspond to an integrated luminosity of 5.0     fb − 1 recorded with the LHCb experiment at center-of-mass energies of 7, 8, and 13 TeV. For the dilepton mass-squared range 1.1 < q 2 < 6.0     GeV 2 / c 4 the ratio of branching fractions is measured to be R K = 0.84 6 + 0.060 − 0.054 + 0.016 − 0.014 , where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. This is the most precise measurement of R K to date and is compatible with the standard model at the level of 2.5 standard deviations
Search for Lepton-Universality Violation in B + → K + ℓ + ℓ − Decays
A measurement of the ratio of branching fractions of the decays B + → K + μ + μ − and B + → K + e + e − is presented. The proton-proton collision data used correspond to an integrated luminosity of 5.0     fb − 1 recorded with the LHCb experiment at center-of-mass energies of 7, 8, and 13 TeV. For the dilepton mass-squared range 1.1 < q 2 < 6.0     GeV 2 / c 4 the ratio of branching fractions is measured to be R K = 0.84 6 + 0.060 − 0.054 + 0.016 − 0.014 , where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. This is the most precise measurement of R K to date and is compatible with the standard model at the level of 2.5 standard deviations
Measurement of the electron reconstruction efficiency at LHCb
The single electron track-reconstruction efficiency is calibrated using a sample corresponding to 1.3 fb−1 of pp collision data recorded with the LHCb detector in 2017. This measurement exploits B+→ J/ψ(e+e−)K+ decays, where one of the electrons is fully reconstructed and paired with the kaon, while the other electron is reconstructed using only the information of the vertex detector. Despite this partial reconstruction, kinematic and geometric constraints allow the B meson mass to be reconstructed and the signal to be well separated from backgrounds. This in turn allows the electron reconstruction efficiency to be measured by matching the partial track segment found in the vertex detector to tracks found by LHCb's regular reconstruction algorithms. The agreement between data and simulation is evaluated, and corrections are derived for simulated electrons in bins of kinematics. These correction factors allow LHCb to measure branching fractions involving single electrons with a systematic uncertainty below 1%