Effects of a glucooligosaccharide supplement on the morphological characteristics of the gastro-intestinal tract and growth performance in weaned piglets

This study was designed to evaluate the effects of a gluco-oligosaccharide (GOS), as an alternative to growth promoters in piglets, on: growth performance, blood parameters and morphological characteristics of the intestinal tract. Four week old weaned piglets (n=128) (7.2 ± 1.04 kg l.w.) were divided into four groups and fed for 77 days on different diets as follows: 1.- Basal diet (CTR); 2.- Basal diet supplemented with a 2% GOS; 3.- Basal diet supplemented with chlortetracycline and spiramicine at 1000 and 400 mg/ kg, respectively, for 14 days and then fed the CTR basal diet (CTRM); or 4.-a GOS diet supplemented and administered as in group 3 (GOSM). Animals were individually weighed 5 times, on days 0, 14, 35, 56 and 77. At the same time, the feed intake and average daily gains (ADG) were recorded and the feed conversion ratio (FCR) was calculated. On days 0 and 77, plasma was sampled from 6 piglets/treatment group, whereas on 77th day, 4 piglets/treatment were slaughtered to assess the morphological characteristics of parts of their gastro-intestinal tracts (ileum and caecum). The results showed no effects of the medications on the ADG in all the experimental periods. However, from days 57 to 77 of the trial period, the ADG was found to be higher in the GOS-fed animals (P=0.0747). During the first 14 days of the trial, the piglets on the medicated diets showed a higher intake than the animals in the normal diet groups, but no differences were detectable in the FCR. The globulin concentration and the albumin/globulin ratio was found to be reduced by GOS treatment (P <0.01). The urea concentration in the blood was decreased (P<0.05), whereas the plasma concentration of phosphorous was increased (P<0.01), by GOS supplementation. We found that the heights of the villi in the ileum was higher in the piglets on the GOSM diet compared to CTRM diet: (188.66 mm vs 255.74 mm; P<0.01). We also observed that supplementing these diets with GOS lead to a higher caecum epithelial cell height (11.7 μm vs 14.7 μm; P 0.068) compared with animals on the non-supplemented diets. Our current data indicate that the growth performance did not differ between piglets fed on control, antibiotic- supplemented or GOS-supplemented diets. A dietary supplementation of GOS does increase the villus length, but only in animals previously fed with medicated feeds. The use of GOS seems to exert anti-inflammatory effects upon these animals

Velusetrag rescues GI dysfunction, gut inflammation and dysbiosis in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease

: In patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), constipation is common, and it appears in a prodromal stage before the hallmark motor symptoms. The present study aimed to investigate whether Velusetrag, a selective 5‑HT4 receptor agonist, may be a suitable candidate to improve intestinal motility in a mouse model of PD. Five months old PrP human A53T alpha-synuclein transgenic (Tg) mice, which display severe constipation along with decreased colonic cholinergic transmission already at 3 months, were treated daily with the drug for 4 weeks. Velusetrag treatment reduced constipation by significantly stimulating both the longitudinal and circular-driven contractions and improved inflammation by reducing the level of serum and colonic IL1β and TNF-α and by decreasing the number of GFAP-positive glia cells in the colon of treated mice. No significant downregulation of the 5-HT4 receptor was observed but instead Velusetrag seemed to improve axonal degeneration in Tgs as shown by an increase in NF-H and VAChT staining. Ultimately, Velusetrag restored a well-balanced intestinal microbial composition comparable to non-Tg mice. Based on these promising data, we are confident that Velusetrag is potentially eligible for clinical studies to treat constipation in PD patients

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

MUSiC : a model-unspecific search for new physics in proton-proton collisions at root s=13TeV

Results of the Model Unspecific Search in CMS (MUSiC), using proton-proton collision data recorded at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1), are presented. The MUSiC analysis searches for anomalies that could be signatures of physics beyond the standard model. The analysis is based on the comparison of observed data with the standard model prediction, as determined from simulation, in several hundred final states and multiple kinematic distributions. Events containing at least one electron or muon are classified based on their final state topology, and an automated search algorithm surveys the observed data for deviations from the prediction. The sensitivity of the search is validated using multiple methods. No significant deviations from the predictions have been observed. For a wide range of final state topologies, agreement is found between the data and the standard model simulation. This analysis complements dedicated search analyses by significantly expanding the range of final states covered using a model independent approach with the largest data set to date to probe phase space regions beyond the reach of previous general searches.Peer reviewe

Measurement of prompt open-charm production cross sections in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

The production cross sections for prompt open-charm mesons in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13TeV are reported. The measurement is performed using a data sample collected by the CMS experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 29 nb(-1). The differential production cross sections of the D*(+/-), D-+/-, and D-0 ((D) over bar (0)) mesons are presented in ranges of transverse momentum and pseudorapidity 4 < p(T) < 100 GeV and vertical bar eta vertical bar < 2.1, respectively. The results are compared to several theoretical calculations and to previous measurements.Peer reviewe

Search for new particles in events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A search is presented for new particles produced at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV, using events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 101 fb(-1), collected in 2017-2018 with the CMS detector. Machine learning techniques are used to define separate categories for events with narrow jets from initial-state radiation and events with large-radius jets consistent with a hadronic decay of a W or Z boson. A statistical combination is made with an earlier search based on a data sample of 36 fb(-1), collected in 2016. No significant excess of events is observed with respect to the standard model background expectation determined from control samples in data. The results are interpreted in terms of limits on the branching fraction of an invisible decay of the Higgs boson, as well as constraints on simplified models of dark matter, on first-generation scalar leptoquarks decaying to quarks and neutrinos, and on models with large extra dimensions. Several of the new limits, specifically for spin-1 dark matter mediators, pseudoscalar mediators, colored mediators, and leptoquarks, are the most restrictive to date.Peer reviewe

Combined searches for the production of supersymmetric top quark partners in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A combination of searches for top squark pair production using proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb(-1) collected by the CMS experiment, is presented. Signatures with at least 2 jets and large missing transverse momentum are categorized into events with 0, 1, or 2 leptons. New results for regions of parameter space where the kinematical properties of top squark pair production and top quark pair production are very similar are presented. Depending on themodel, the combined result excludes a top squarkmass up to 1325 GeV for amassless neutralino, and a neutralinomass up to 700 GeV for a top squarkmass of 1150 GeV. Top squarks with masses from 145 to 295 GeV, for neutralino masses from 0 to 100 GeV, with a mass difference between the top squark and the neutralino in a window of 30 GeV around the mass of the top quark, are excluded for the first time with CMS data. The results of theses searches are also interpreted in an alternative signal model of dark matter production via a spin-0 mediator in association with a top quark pair. Upper limits are set on the cross section for mediator particle masses of up to 420 GeV

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 b jet shapes in proton-proton collisions at root s=5.02 TeV

We present the first study of charged-hadron production associated with jets originating from b quarks in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV. The data sample used in this study was collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 27.4 pb(-1). To characterize the jet substructure, the differential jet shapes, defined as the normalized transverse momentum distribution of charged hadrons as a function of angular distance from the jet axis, are measured for b jets. In addition to the jet shapes, the per-jet yields of charged particles associated with b jets are also quantified, again as a function of the angular distance with respect to the jet axis. Extracted jet shape and particle yield distributions for b jets are compared with results for inclusive jets, as well as with the predictions from the pythia and herwig++ event generators.Peer reviewe