Search for long-lived, massive particles in events with a displaced vertex and a muon with large impact parameter in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for long-lived particles decaying into hadrons and at least one muon is presented. The analysis selects events that pass a muon or missing-transverse-momentum trigger and contain a displaced muon track and a displaced vertex. The analyzed dataset of proton-proton collisions at √ s = 13 TeV was collected with the ATLAS detector and corresponds to 136 fb − 1. The search employs dedicated reconstruction techniques that significantly increase the sensitivity to long-lived particle decays that occur in the ATLAS inner detector. Background estimates for Standard Model processes and instrumental effects are extracted from data. The observed event yields are compatible with those expected from background processes. The results are presented as limits at 95% confidence level on model-independent cross sections for processes beyond the Standard Model, and interpreted as exclusion limits in scenarios with pair production of long-lived top squarks that decay via a small R -parity-violating coupling into a quark and a muon. Top squarks with masses up to 1.7 TeV are excluded for a lifetime of 0.1 ns, and masses below 1.3 TeV are excluded for lifetimes between 0.01 ns and 30 ns

Search for long-lived neutral particles produced in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV decaying into displaced hadronic jets in the ATLAS inner detector and muon spectrometer

A search is presented for pair production of long-lived neutral particles using 33     fb − 1 of √ s = 13     TeV proton–proton collision data, collected during 2016 by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. This search focuses on a topology in which one long-lived particle decays in the ATLAS inner detector and the other decays in the muon spectrometer. Special techniques are employed to reconstruct the displaced tracks and vertices in the inner detector and in the muon spectrometer. One event is observed that passes the full event selection, which is consistent with the estimated background. Limits are placed on scalar boson propagators with masses from 125 GeV to 1000 GeV decaying into pairs of long-lived hidden-sector scalars with masses from 8 GeV to 400 GeV. The limits placed on several low-mass scalars extend previous exclusion limits in the range of proper lifetimes c τ from 5 cm to 1 m

Searches for third-generation scalar leptoquarks in s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

Limits are set on the pair production of scalar leptoquarks, where all possible decays of the leptoquark into a quark (t, b) and a lepton (τ, ν) of the third generation are considered. The limits are presented as a function of the leptoquark mass and the branching ratio into charged leptons for up-type (LQ 3 u  → tν/bτ) and down-type (LQ 3 d  → bν/tτ) leptoquarks. Many results are reinterpretations of previously published ATLAS searches. In all cases, LHC proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of s√ = 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016 are used, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1. Masses below 800 GeV are excluded for both LQ 3 u and LQ 3 d independently of the branching ratio, with masses below about 1 TeV being excluded for the limiting cases of branching ratios equal to zero or unity

A Preformulation Study of a New Medicine for Chagas Disease Treatment: Physicochemical Characterization, Thermal Stability, and Compatibility of Benznidazole

This work aimed the studies of physicochemical characterization, thermal stability, and compatibility of benznidazole (BNZ) drug by spectroscopy (NMR, IR), thermoanalytical (differential thermal analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetry), and chromatographic (HPLC) techniques, beyond the analytical tools of Van’t Hoff equation and Ozawa model. The compatibility study was conducted by binary mixtures (1:1, w/w) of the drug with microcrystalline cellulose 102 and 250, anhydrous lactose, and sodium starch glycolate. The physicochemical characterization confirmed data reported in scientific literature, guaranteeing authenticity of the analyzed raw material. The drug melts at 191.68°C (∆H, 119.71 J g−1), characteristic of a non-polymorphic raw material, and a main stage decomposition at 233.76–319.35°C (∆m, 43.32%) occurred, ending the study with almost all mass volatilized. The quantification of drug purity demonstrated a correlation of 99.63% between the data obtained by chromatographic (99.20%) and thermoanalytical technique (99.56%). The Arrhenius equation and Ozawa model showed a zero-order kinetic behavior for the drug decomposition, and a calculated provisional validity time was 2.37 years at 25°C. The compatibility study evidenced two possible chemical incompatibilities between BNZ and the tested excipients, both associated by the authors to the reaction of the BNZ’s amine and a polymer carbohydrate’s carbonile, being maillard reactions. The BNZ reaction with anhydrous lactose is more pronounced than with the sodium starch glycolate because the lactose has more free hydroxyl groups to undergo reduction by the drug. In this sense, this work guides the development of a new solid pharmaceutical product for Chagas disease treatment, with defined quality control parameters and physicochemical stability