Anti-Inflammatory Activity of the Essential Oil Citral in Experimental Infection with Staphylococcus aureus

This study proposes to implement an alternative and effective strategy for local treatment of disease provoked by S. aureus. For the analysis of possible anti-inflammatory activity of essential oil, after establishing an air pouch model, 48 male mice of Balb/c were treated, infected, and euthanized at 4 and 8 h. Thus, the total and differential white blood cells were counted in the animal’s blood, and cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α were titrated using ELISA in the air pouch lavage. Moreover, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 gene expression was analyzed through an RT-qPCR array, and S. aureus was quantified using qPCR. Our results, p<0.05, showed that EOC reduced the quantity of microorganisms. The group of mice treated with essential oil citral showed a significant decrease in TNF-α levels in tests demonstrating anti-inflammatory activity. There is no data about the mutual influence of the air pouch model, essential oil citral, and S. aureus. Thus, considering the interaction of these variables and the anti-inflammatory activity of the essential oil citral, we demonstrated, by alternative local treatment, a new antimicrobial agent that is not an antibiotic

Measurement of the cross section of top quark-antiquark pair production in association with a W boson in proton-proton collisions at s \sqrt{s} = 13 TeV

The production of a top quark-antiquark pair in association with a W boson ($\textrm{t}\overline{\textrm{t}}\textrm{W}$) is measured in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The analyzed data was recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{−1}$. Events with two or three leptons (electrons and muons) and additional jets are selected. In events with two leptons, a multiclass neural network is used to distinguish between the signal and background processes. Events with three leptons are categorized based on the number of jets and of jets originating from b quark hadronization, and the lepton charges. The inclusive $\textrm{t}\overline{\textrm{t}}\textrm{W}$ production cross section in the full phase space is measured to be 868 ± 40(stat) ± 51(syst) fb. The $\textrm{t}\overline{\textrm{t}}\textrm{W} ^{+}$ and $\textrm{t}\overline{\textrm{t}}\textrm{W} ^{−}$ cross sections are also measured as 553 ± 30(stat) ± 30(syst) and 343 ± 26(stat) ± 25(syst) fb, respectively, and the corresponding ratio of the two cross sections is found to be $1.61\pm 0.15{\left(\textrm{stat}\right)}_{-0.05}^{+0.07}\left(\textrm{syst}\right)$. The measured cross sections are larger than but consistent with the standard model predictions within two standard deviations, and represent the most precise measurement of these cross sections to date.[graphic not available: see fulltext

Search for top squarks in the four-body decay mode with single lepton final states in proton-proton collisions at s= \sqrt{s}= 13 TeV

A search for the pair production of the lightest supersymmetric partner of the top quark, the top squark ($\tilde{\mathrm{t}}_{1}$), is presented. The search targets the four-body decay of the $\tilde{\mathrm{t}}_{1}$, which is preferred when the mass difference between the top squark and the lightest supersymmetric particle is smaller than the mass of the W boson. This decay mode consists of a bottom quark, two other fermions, and the lightest neutralino ($\tilde{\chi}_{1}^{0}$), which is assumed to be the lightest supersymmetric particle. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC. Events are selected using the presence of a high-momentum jet, an electron or muon with low transverse momentum, and a significant missing transverse momentum. The signal is selected based on a multivariate approach that is optimized for the difference between $m(\tilde{\mathrm{t}}_{1})$ and $m(\tilde{\chi}_{1}^{0})$. The contribution from leading background processes is estimated from data. No significant excess is observed above the expectation from standard model processes. The results of this search exclude top squarks at 95% confidence level for masses up to 480 and 700 GeV for $m(\tilde{\mathrm{t}}_{1}) - m(\tilde{\chi}_{1}^{0}) =$ 10 and 80 GeV, respectively.A search for the pair production of the lightest supersymmetric partner of the top quark, the top squark (${\overset{\sim }{\textrm{t}}}_1$), is presented. The search targets the four-body decay of the ${\overset{\sim }{\textrm{t}}}_1$, which is preferred when the mass difference between the top squark and the lightest supersymmetric particle is smaller than the mass of the W boson. This decay mode consists of a bottom quark, two other fermions, and the lightest neutralino (${\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^0$), which is assumed to be the lightest supersymmetric particle. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{−1}$ of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC. Events are selected using the presence of a high-momentum jet, an electron or muon with low transverse momentum, and a significant missing transverse momentum. The signal is selected based on a multivariate approach that is optimized for the difference between m(${\overset{\sim }{\textrm{t}}}_1$) and m(${\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^0$). The contribution from leading background processes is estimated from data. No significant excess is observed above the expectation from standard model processes. The results of this search exclude top squarks at 95% confidence level for masses up to 480 and 700 GeV for m(${\overset{\sim }{\textrm{t}}}_1$) − m(${\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^0$) = 10 and 80 GeV, respectively.[graphic not available: see fulltext]A search for the pair production of the lightest supersymmetric partner of the top quark, the top squark ($\tilde{\mathrm{t}}_1$), is presented. The search targets the four-body decay of the $\tilde{\mathrm{t}}_1$, which is preferred when the mass difference between the top squark and the lightest supersymmetric particle is smaller than the mass of the W boson. This decay mode consists of a bottom quark, two other fermions, and the lightest neutralino ($\tilde{\chi}^0_1$), which is assumed to be the lightest supersymmetric particle. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC. Events are selected using the presence of a high-momentum jet, an electron or muon with low transverse momentum, and a significant missing transverse momentum. The signal is selected based on a multivariate approach that is optimized for the difference between $m(\tilde{\mathrm{t}}_1)$ and $m(\tilde{\chi}^0_1)$. The contribution from leading background processes is estimated from data. No significant excess is observed above the expectation from standard model processes. The results of this search exclude top squarks at 95% confidence level for masses up to 480 and 700 GeV for $m(\tilde{\mathrm{t}}_1) - m(\tilde{\chi}^0_1$) = 10 and 80 GeV, respectively

Search for the lepton-flavor violating decay of the Higgs boson and additional Higgs bosons in the eμ\mu final state in proton-proton collisions at s\sqrt{s} = 13 TeV

A search for the lepton-flavor violating decay of the Higgs boson and potential additional Higgs bosons with a mass in the range 110-160 GeV to an e$^{\pm}\mu^{\mp}$ pair is presented. The search is performed with a proton-proton collision data set at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. No excess is observed for the Higgs boson. The observed (expected) upper limit on the e$^{\pm}\mu^{\mp}$ branching fraction for it is determined to be 4.4 (4.7) $\times$ 10$^{-5}$ at 95% confidence level, the most stringent limit set thus far from direct searches. The largest excess of events over the expected background in the full mass range of the search is observed at an e$^{\pm}\mu^{\mp}$ invariant mass of approximately 146 GeV with a local (global) significance of 3.8 (2.8) standard deviations

Search for a high-mass dimuon resonance produced in association with b quark jets at s\sqrt{s}=13 TeV

International audienceA search for high-mass dimuon resonance production in association with one or more b quark jets is presented. The study uses proton-proton collision data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$ at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. Model-independent limits are derived on the number of signal events with exactly one or more than one b quark jet. Results are also interpreted in a lepton-flavor-universal model with Z$'$ boson couplings to a bb quark pair ($g_\mathrm{b}$), an sb quark pair ($g_\mathrm{b}\delta_\mathrm{bs}$), and any same-flavor charged lepton ($g_\ell$) or neutrino pair ($g_\nu$), with $\left|g_{\nu}\right|=\left|g_\ell\right|$. For a Z$'$ boson with a mass $m_{\mathrm{Z}'}$ = 350 GeV (2 TeV) and $\left|\delta_\mathrm{bs}\right| \lt$ 0.25, the majority of the parameter space with 0.0057 $\lt \left|g_\ell\right| \lt$ 0.35 (0.25 $\lt \left|g_\ell\right| \lt$ 0.43) and 0.0079 $\lt \left|g_\mathrm{b}\right| \lt$ 0.46 (0.34 $\lt \left|g_\mathrm{b}\right| \lt$ 0.57) is excluded at 95% confidence level. Finally, constraints are set on a Z$'$ model with parameters consistent with low-energy b $\to$ s$\ell\ell$ measurements. In this scenario, most of the allowed parameter space is excluded for a Z$'$ boson with 350 $\lt m_{\mathrm{Z}'}\lt$ 500 GeV, while the constraints are less stringent for higher $m_{\mathrm{Z}'}$ hypotheses. This is the first dedicated search at the LHC for a high-mass dimuon resonance produced in association with multiple b quark jets, and the constraints obtained on models with this signature are the most stringent to date

Observation of the rare decay of the η\eta meson to four muons

A search for the rare $\eta$$\to$$\mu^+\mu^-\mu^+\mu^-$ double-Dalitz decay is performed using a sample of proton-proton collisions, collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC with high-rate muon triggers in 2017-2018 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 101 fb$^{-1}$. A signal having a statistical significance well in excess of 5 standard deviations is observed. Using the \emm decay as normalization, the branching fraction $\mathcal{B}($η$\to \mu^+\mu^-\mu^+\mu^-)$ = ( 5.0 $\pm$ 0.8 (stat) $\pm$ 0.7 (syst) $\pm$ 0.7 $\mathcal{B}_{2\mu}$ ) $\times$ 10$^{-9}$ is measured, where the last term is the uncertainty in the normalization channel branching fraction. This is the first measurement of this branching fraction and is found to be in agreement with theoretical predictions

Search for top squarks in the four-body decay mode with single lepton final states in proton-proton collisions at s= \sqrt{s}= 13 TeV

Journal of high energy physics 06(6), 060 (2023). doi:10.1007/JHEP06(2023)060 A search for the pair production of the lightest supersymmetric partner of the top quark, the top squark (${\overset{\sim }{\textrm{t}}}_1$), is presented. The search targets the four-body decay of the ${\overset{\sim }{\textrm{t}}}_1$, which is preferred when the mass difference between the top squark and the lightest supersymmetric particle is smaller than the mass of the W boson. This decay mode consists of a bottom quark, two other fermions, and the lightest neutralino (${\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^0$), which is assumed to be the lightest supersymmetric particle. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{−1}$ of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC. Events are selected using the presence of a high-momentum jet, an electron or muon with low transverse momentum, and a significant missing transverse momentum. The signal is selected based on a multivariate approach that is optimized for the difference between m(${\overset{\sim }{\textrm{t}}}_1$) and m(${\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^0$). The contribution from leading background processes is estimated from data. No significant excess is observed above the expectation from standard model processes. The results of this search exclude top squarks at 95% confidence level for masses up to 480 and 700 GeV for m(${\overset{\sim }{\textrm{t}}}_1$) − m(${\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^0$) = 10 and 80 GeV, respectively.[graphic not available: see fulltext] Published by SISSA, [Trieste

Measurements of inclusive and differential cross sections for the Higgs boson production and decay to four-leptons in proton-proton collisions at s \sqrt{s} = 13 TeV

Measurements of the inclusive and differential fiducial cross sections for the Higgs boson production in the H → ZZ → 4ℓ (ℓ = e, μ) decay channel are presented. The results are obtained from the analysis of proton-proton collision data recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{−1}$. The measured inclusive fiducial cross section is 2.73 ± 0.26 fb, in agreement with the standard model expectation of 2.86 ± 0.1 fb. Differential cross sections are measured as a function of several kinematic observables sensitive to the Higgs boson production and decay to four leptons. A set of double-differential measurements is also performed, yielding a comprehensive characterization of the four leptons final state. Constraints on the Higgs boson trilinear coupling and on the bottom and charm quark coupling modifiers are derived from its transverse momentum distribution. All results are consistent with theoretical predictions from the standard model