Reconstruction of primary vertices at the ATLAS experiment in Run 1 proton–proton collisions at the LHC

This paper presents the method and performance of primary vertex reconstruction in proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment during Run 1 of the LHC. The studies presented focus on data taken during 2012 at a centre-of-mass energy of √s=8 TeV. The performance has been measured as a function of the number of interactions per bunch crossing over a wide range, from one to seventy. The measurement of the position and size of the luminous region and its use as a constraint to improve the primary vertex resolution are discussed. A longitudinal vertex position resolution of about 30μm is achieved for events with high multiplicity of reconstructed tracks. The transverse position resolution is better than 20μm and is dominated by the precision on the size of the luminous region. An analytical model is proposed to describe the primary vertex reconstruction efficiency as a function of the number of interactions per bunch crossing and of the longitudinal size of the luminous region. Agreement between the data and the predictions of this model is better than 3% up to seventy interactions per bunch crossing

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Imatinib and Nilotinib Reverse Multidrug Resistance in Cancer Cells by Inhibiting the Efflux Activity of the MRP7 (ABCC10)

One of the major mechanisms that could produce resistance to antineoplastic drugs in cancer cells is the ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporters. The ABC transporters can significantly decrease the intracellular concentration of antineoplastic drugs by increasing their efflux, thereby lowering the cytotoxic activity of antineoplastic drugs. One of these transporters, the multiple resistant protein 7 (MRP7, ABCC10), has recently been shown to produce resistance to antineoplastic drugs by increasing the efflux of paclitaxel. In this study, we examined the effects of BCR-Abl tyrosine kinase inhibitors imatinib, nilotinib and dasatinib on the activity and expression of MRP7 in HEK293 cells transfected with MRP7, designated HEK-MRP7-2.We report for the first time that imatinib and nilotinib reversed MRP7-mediated multidrug resistance. Our MTT assay results indicated that MRP7 expression in HEK-MRP7-2 cells was not significantly altered by incubation with 5 microM of imatinib or nilotinib for up to 72 hours. In addition, imatinib and nilotinib (1-5 microM) produced a significant concentration-dependent reversal of MRP7-mediated multidrug resistance by enhancing the sensitivity of HEK-MRP7-2 cells to paclitaxel and vincristine. Imatinib and nilotinib, at 5 microM, significantly increased the accumulation of [(3)H]-paclitaxel in HEK-MRP7-2 cells. The incubation of the HEK-MRP7-2 cells with imatinib or nilotinib (5 microM) also significantly inhibited the efflux of paclitaxel.Imatinib and nilotinib reverse MRP7-mediated paclitaxel resistance, most likely due to their inhibition of the efflux of paclitaxel via MRP7. These findings suggest that imatinib or nilotinib, in combination with other antineoplastic drugs, may be useful in the treatment of certain resistant cancers

ATLAS Run 1 searches for direct pair production of third-generation squarks at the Large Hadron Collider

This paper reviews and extends searches for the direct pair production of the scalar supersymmetric partners of the top and bottom quarks in proton-proton collisions collected by the ATLAS collaboration during the LHC Run 1. Most of the analyses use 20 fb$^{-1}$ of collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 8 TeV, although in some case an additional 4.7 fb$^{-1}$ of collision data at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV are used. New analyses are introduced to improve the sensitivity to specific regions of the model parameter space. Since no evidence of third-generation squarks is found, exclusion limits are derived by combining several analyses and are presented in both a simplified model framework, assuming simple decay chains, as well as within the context of more elaborate phenomenological supersymmetric models