Data-driven design of the Belle II track segment finder

The Belle II experiment relies on a level-1 trigger system to reduce noise background and preselect events of interest for particle physics. The Central Drift Chamber is the main track detector which makes its trigger system important for online track reconstruction. To improve its hit efficiency, an extension of the track segment finder for low angle tracks is proposed. By combining hardware and software development flows, an automated data-driven pipeline is created and three different-sized hardware concepts are implemented. The operation point is adjustable to balance hit efficiency against hit purity in the trigger system

A 3D track finder for the Belle II CDC L1 trigger

Machine learning methods are integrated into the pipelined first level (L1) track trigger of the upgraded flavor physics experiment Belle II at KEK in Tsukuba, Japan. The novel triggering techniques cope with the severe background from events outside the small collision region provided by the new SuperKEKB asymmetric-energy electron-positron collider. Using the precise drift-time information of the central drift chamber which provides axial and stereo wire layers, a neural network L1 trigger estimates the 3D track parameters of tracks, based on input from the axial wire planes provided by a 2D track finder. An extension of this 2D Hough track finder to a 3D finder is proposed, where the single hit representations in the Hough plane are trained using Monte Carlo. This 3D finder improves the track finding efficiency by including the stereo sense wires as input. The estimated polar track angle allows a specialization of the subsequent neural networks to sectors in the polar angle

Tuning the optical emission of MoS2 nanosheets using proximal photoswitchable azobenzene molecules

We report photoluminescence measurements performed on monolayer- and two-layer-MoS2 placed on two types of mixed self-assembled monolayers (mSAMs) of photoswitchable azobenzene molecules. The two mSAMs differ via the electronegative character of the azobenzene derivatives. Thin layers of a transition metal dichalcogenide - MoS2 - were mechanically exfoliated on mSAM to allow for direct interaction between the molecules and the MoS2 layers. When the MoS2 nanosheet is in contact with the electropositive azobenzene molecules in trans configuration, an emission side band at lower energies and at low excitation powers suggest n-type doping. The photoisomerization of the molecules from trans to cis configuration lowers the doping, quenching the side band and enhancing the overall PL efficiency by a factor of 3c3. Opposite results were observed with the chlorinated, more electronegative molecules, exhibiting a reversed trend in the PL efficiency between trans and cis, but with an overall larger intensity. The type of doping induced by the two types of mSAMs was determined by Kelvin probe force microscopy technique

Novel NPM1 exon 5 mutations and gene fusions leading to aberrant cytoplasmic nucleophosmin in AML

Nucleophosmin (NPM1) mutations in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) affect exon 12, but also sporadically affect exons 9 and 11, causing changes at the protein C-terminal end (tryptophan loss, nuclear export signal [NES] motif creation) that lead to aberrant cytoplasmic NPM1 (NPM1c+), detectable by immunohistochemistry. Combining immunohistochemistry and molecular analyses in 929 patients with AML, we found non–exon 12 NPM1 mutations in 5 (1.3%) of 387 NPM1c+ cases. Besides mutations in exons 9 (n = 1) and 11 (n = 1), novel exon 5 mutations were discovered (n = 3). Another exon 5 mutation was identified in an additional 141 patients with AML selected for wild-type NPM1 exon 12. Three NPM1 rearrangements (NPM1/RPP30, NPM1/SETBP1, NPM1/CCDC28A) were detected and characterized among 13 979 AML samples screened by cytogenetic/fluorescence in situ hybridization and RNA sequencing. Functional studies demonstrated that in AML cases, new NPM1 proteins harbored an efficient extra NES, either newly created or already present in the fusion partner, ensuring its cytoplasmic accumulation. Our findings support NPM1 cytoplasmic relocation as critical for leukemogenesis and reinforce the role of immunohistochemistry in predicting AML-associated NPM1 genetic lesions. This study highlights the need to develop new assays for molecular diagnosis and monitoring of NPM1-mutated AML

TET2 mutations as a part of DNA dioxygenase deficiency in myelodysplastic syndromes

Decrease in DNA dioxygenase activity generated by TET2 gene family is crucial in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). The general downregulation of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) argues for a role of DNA demethylation in MDS beyond TET2 mutations, which albeit frequent, do not convey any prognostic significance. We investigated TETs expression to identify factors which can modulate the impact of mutations and thus 5-hmC levels on clinical phenotypes and prognosis of MDS patients. DNA/RNA-sequencing and 5-hmC data were collected from 1665 patients with MDS and 91 controls. Irrespective of mutations, a significant fraction of MDS patients exhibited lower TET2 expression, whereas 5-hmC levels were not uniformly decreased. In searching for factors explaining compensatory mechanisms, we discovered that TET3 was upregulated in MDS and inversely correlated with TET2 expression in wild type cases. Although TET2 was reduced across all age groups, TET3 levels were increased in a likely feedback mechanism induced by TET2 dysfunction. This inverse relationship of TET2 and TET3 expression also corresponded to the expression of L-2-hydroxyglutarate dehydrogenase, involved in agonist/antagonist substrate metabolism. Importantly, elevated TET3 levels influ-enced the clinical phenotype of TET2 deficiency whereby the lack of compensation by TET3 (low TET3 expression) was associated with poor outcomes of TET2 mutant carriers

Genome-wide association study identifies susceptibility loci for acute myeloid leukemia

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a hematological malignancy with an undefined heritable risk. Here we perform a meta-analysis of three genome-wide association studies, with replication in a fourth study, incorporating a total of 4018 AML cases and 10488 controls. We identify a genome-wide significant risk locus for AML at 11q13.2 (rs4930561; P = 2.15 × 10-8; KMT5B). We also identify a genome-wide significant risk locus for the cytogenetically normal AML sub-group (N = 1287) at 6p21.32 (rs3916765; P = 1.51 × 10-10; HLA). Our results inform on AML etiology and identify putative functional genes operating in histone methylation (KMT5B) and immune function (HLA)

Genome-wide association study identifies susceptibility loci for acute myeloid leukemia

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a hematological malignancy with an undefined heritable risk. Here we perform a meta-analysis of three genome-wide association studies, with replication in a fourth study, incorporating a total of 4018 AML cases and 10488 controls. We identify a genome-wide significant risk locus for AML at 11q13.2 (rs4930561; P = 2.15 × 10^{-8}; KMT5B). We also identify a genome-wide significant risk locus for the cytogenetically normal AML sub-group (N = 1287) at 6p21.32 (rs3916765; P = 1.51 × 10^{−10}; HLA). Our results inform on AML etiology and identify putative functional genes operating in histone methylation (KMT5B) and immune function (HLA)

Genome-wide association study identifies susceptibility loci for acute myeloid leukemia

\ua9 2021, The Author(s).Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a hematological malignancy with an undefined heritable risk. Here we perform a meta-analysis of three genome-wide association studies, with replication in a fourth study, incorporating a total of 4018 AML cases and 10488 controls. We identify a genome-wide significant risk locus for AML at 11q13.2 (rs4930561; P = 2.15 7 10−8; KMT5B). We also identify a genome-wide significant risk locus for the cytogenetically normal AML sub-group (N = 1287) at 6p21.32 (rs3916765; P = 1.51 7 10−10; HLA). Our results inform on AML etiology and identify putative functional genes operating in histone methylation (KMT5B) and immune function (HLA)

Search for Axionlike Particles Produced in e⁺ e⁻ Collisions at Belle II

International audienceWe present a search for the direct production of a light pseudoscalar a decaying into two photons with the Belle II detector at the SuperKEKB collider. We search for the process e+e-→γa, a→γγ in the mass range 0.2