Genetic deletion of trace-amine associated receptor 9 (TAAR9) in rats leads to decreased blood cholesterol levels

In the last two decades, interest has grown significantly in the investigation of the role of trace amines and their receptors in mammalian physiology and pathology. Trace amine-associated receptor 9 (TAAR9) is one of the least studied members of this receptor family with unidentified endogenous ligands and an unknown role in the central nervous system and periphery. In this study, we generated two new TAAR9 knockout (TAAR9-KO) rat strains by CRISPR-Cas9 technology as in vivo models to evaluate the role of TAAR9 in mammalian physiology. In these mutant rats, we performed a comparative analysis of a number of hematological and biochemical parameters in the blood. Particularly, we carried out a complete blood count, erythrocyte osmotic fragility test, and screening of a panel of basic biochemical parameters. No significant alterations in any of the hematological and most biochemical parameters were found between mutant and WT rats. However, biochemical studies revealed a significant decrease in total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in the blood of both strains of TAAR9-KO rats. Such role of TAAR9 in cholesterol regulation not only brings a new understanding of mechanisms and biological pathways of lipid exchange but also provides a new potential drug target for disorders involving cholesterol-related pathology, such as atherosclerosis

The beam energy measurement system for the Beijing electron-positron collider

The beam energy measurement system (BEMS) for the upgraded Beijing electron-positron collider BEPC-II is described. The system is based on measuring the energies of Compton back-scattered photons. The relative systematic uncertainty of the electron and positron beam energy determination is estimated as 2 \cdot 10^{-5}. The relative uncertainty of the beam's energy spread is about 6 %

Status of the GERDA experiment

The study of neutrinoless double beta (0nbb) decay is the only one presently known approach to the fundamental question if the neutrino is a Majorana particle, i.e. its own anti-particle. The observation of 0nbb decay would prove that lepton number is not conserved, establish that neutrino has a Majorana component and, assuming that light neutrino is the dominating process, provide a method for the determination of its effective mass. GERDA is a new 0nbb decay experiment which is currently taking data at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) of INFN in Italy. It implements a new shielding concept by operating bare diodes made from Ge with enriched 76Ge in high purity liquid argon supplemented by a water shield. The aim of GERDA is to verify or refute the recent claim of discovery, and, in a second phase, to achieve a two orders of magnitude lower background index than past experiments, to increase the sensitive mass and to collect an exposure of 100 kg yr. The paper will discuss design, physics reach, and status of data taking of GERDA.JRC.D.4-Standards for Nuclear Safety, Security and Safeguard

Price assymetry in the Dutch retail gasoline market

This paper analyses retail price adjustments in the Dutch gasoline market. We estimate an asymmetric error correction model on weekly price changes for the years 1996 to 2001. We construct five datasets, one for each working day. The conclusions on asymmetric pricing are shown to differ over these datasets, suggesting that the choice of the day for which prices are observed matters more than commonly believed. In our view, the insufficient robustness of outcomes might explain the mixed conclusions found in the literature. Using two approaches, we also show that the effect of asymmetry on Dutch consumer costs is negligible

Modeling of GERDA Phase II data

The GERmanium Detector Array (Gerda) experiment at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory (LNGS) of INFN is searching for neutrinoless double-beta (0\u3bd\u3b2\u3b2) decay of 76Ge. The technological challenge of Gerda is to operate in a \u201cbackground-free\u201d regime in the region of interest (ROI) after analysis cuts for the full 100 kg\ub7yr target exposure of the experiment. A careful modeling and decomposition of the full-range energy spectrum is essential to predict the shape and composition of events in the ROI around Q\u3b2\u3b2 for the 0\u3bd\u3b2\u3b2 search, to extract a precise measurement of the half-life of the double-beta decay mode with neutrinos (2\u3bd\u3b2\u3b2) and in order to identify the location of residual impurities. The latter will permit future experiments to build strategies in order to further lower the background and achieve even better sensitivities. In this article the background decomposition prior to analysis cuts is presented for Gerda Phase II. The background model fit yields a flat spectrum in the ROI with a background index (BI) of 16.04 120.85+0.78\ub710 123 cts/(keV\ub7kg\ub7yr) for the enriched BEGe data set and 14.68 120.52+0.47\ub710 123 cts/(keV\ub7kg\ub7yr) for the enriched coaxial data set. These values are similar to the one of Phase I despite a much larger number of detectors and hence radioactive hardware components

Search for exotic physics in double-β decays with GERDA Phase II

A search for Beyond the Standard Model double-$\beta$ decay modes of$^{76}$Ge has been performed with data collected during the Phase II of theGERmanium Detector Array (GERDA) experiment, located at Laboratori Nazionalidel Gran Sasso of INFN (Italy). Improved limits on the decays involvingMajorons have been obtained, compared to previous experiments with $^{76}$Ge,with half-life values on the order of 10$^{23}$ yr. For the first time with$^{76}$Ge, limits on Lorentz invariance violation effects in double-$\beta$decay have been obtained. The isotropic coefficient$\mathring{a}_\text{of}^{(3)}$, which embeds Lorentz violation indouble-$\beta$ decay, has been constrained at the order of $10^{-6}$ GeV. Wealso set the first experimental limits on the search for light exotic fermionsin double-$\beta$ decay, including sterile neutrinos.<br

The performance of the jet trigger for the ATLAS detector during 2011 data taking

The performance of the jet trigger for the ATLAS detector at the LHC during the 2011 data taking period is described. During 2011 the LHC provided proton–proton collisions with a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and heavy ion collisions with a 2.76 TeV per nucleon–nucleon collision energy. The ATLAS trigger is a three level system designed to reduce the rate of events from the 40 MHz nominal maximum bunch crossing rate to the approximate 400 Hz which can be written to offline storage. The ATLAS jet trigger is the primary means for the online selection of events containing jets. Events are accepted by the trigger if they contain one or more jets above some transverse energy threshold. During 2011 data taking the jet trigger was fully efficient for jets with transverse energy above 25 GeV for triggers seeded randomly at Level 1. For triggers which require a jet to be identified at each of the three trigger levels, full efficiency is reached for offline jets with transverse energy above 60 GeV. Jets reconstructed in the final trigger level and corresponding to offline jets with transverse energy greater than 60 GeV, are reconstructed with a resolution in transverse energy with respect to offline jets, of better than 4 % in the central region and better than 2.5 % in the forward direction

Measurement of the cross section of high transverse momentum Z→bb̄ production in proton–proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This Letter reports the observation of a high transverse momentum Z→bb̄ signal in proton–proton collisions at √s=8 TeV and the measurement of its production cross section. The data analysed were collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.5 fb−¹. The Z→bb̄ decay is reconstructed from a pair of b -tagged jets, clustered with the anti-ktkt jet algorithm with R=0.4R=0.4, that have low angular separation and form a dijet with pT>200 GeVpT>200 GeV. The signal yield is extracted from a fit to the dijet invariant mass distribution, with the dominant, multi-jet background mass shape estimated by employing a fully data-driven technique that reduces the dependence of the analysis on simulation. The fiducial cross section is determined to be σZ→bb¯fid=2.02±0.20 (stat.) ±0.25 (syst.)±0.06 (lumi.) pb=2.02±0.33 pb, in good agreement with next-to-leading-order theoretical predictions

Measurement of the branching ratio Γ(Λb⁰ → ψ(2S)Λ0)/Γ(Λb⁰ → J/ψΛ0) with the ATLAS detector

An observation of the $\Lambda_b^0 \rightarrow \psi(2S) \Lambda^0$ decay and a comparison of its branching fraction with that of the $\Lambda_b^0 \rightarrow J/\psi \Lambda^0$ decay has been made with the ATLAS detector in proton--proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=8\,$TeV at the LHC using an integrated luminosity of $20.6\,$fb$^{-1}$. The $J/\psi$ and $\psi(2S)$ mesons are reconstructed in their decays to a muon pair, while the $\Lambda^0\rightarrow p\pi^-$ decay is exploited for the $\Lambda^0$ baryon reconstruction. The $\Lambda_b^0$ baryons are reconstructed with transverse momentum $p_{\rm T}>10\,$GeV and pseudorapidity $|\eta|<2.1$. The measured branching ratio of the $\Lambda_b^0 \rightarrow \psi(2S) \Lambda^0$ and $\Lambda_b^0 \rightarrow J/\psi \Lambda^0$ decays is $\Gamma(\Lambda_b^0 \rightarrow \psi(2S)\Lambda^0)/\Gamma(\Lambda_b^0 \rightarrow J/\psi\Lambda^0) = 0.501\pm 0.033 ({\rm stat})\pm 0.019({\rm syst})$, lower than the expectation from the covariant quark model.Comment: 12 pages plus author list (28 pages total), 5 figures, 1 table, published on Physics Letters B 751 (2015) 63-80. All figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/BPHY-2013-08