Oxidation of monoterpenes catalysed by a water-soluble Mn(III) PEG-porphyrin in a biphasic medium

It is well established that the transformation of abundant and cheap natural products, such as terpenoids, can produce other more valuable compounds. Thymoquinone, which has a commercial value significantly higher than that of its precursors, can be obtained by oxidation of carvacrol and thymol. In this work, a new water-soluble Mn-III PEG-porphyrin is reported as catalyst in a water/hexane (1:1) biphasic medium for the oxidation of carvacrol and thymol into thymoquinone. The reactions were performed using tert-butyl hydroperoxide as oxidant in the presence of ammonium acetate as co-catalyst, reaching 94 and 78% of conversion after 5 h of reaction for thymol and carvacrol, respectively. Experiments with oregano essential oil as substrate revealed selective transformation of thymol and carvacrol into thymoquinone. The main advantage of this biphasic system based on a water-soluble catalyst and on substrates and products soluble in hexane, is the straightforward isolation, recovery and recycling of the catalyst by simple phase separation. Recycling studies of the Mn-III PEG-porphyrin using thymol as substrate showed high conversion values throughout four catalytic cycles

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Search for direct pair production of the top squark in all-hadronic final states in proton-proton collisions at s√=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The results of a search for direct pair production of the scalar partner to the top quark using an integrated luminosity of 20.1fb−1 of proton–proton collision data at √s = 8 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC are reported. The top squark is assumed to decay via t˜→tχ˜01 or t˜→ bχ˜±1 →bW(∗)χ˜01 , where χ˜01 (χ˜±1 ) denotes the lightest neutralino (chargino) in supersymmetric models. The search targets a fully-hadronic final state in events with four or more jets and large missing transverse momentum. No significant excess over the Standard Model background prediction is observed, and exclusion limits are reported in terms of the top squark and neutralino masses and as a function of the branching fraction of t˜ → tχ˜01 . For a branching fraction of 100%, top squark masses in the range 270–645 GeV are excluded for χ˜01 masses below 30 GeV. For a branching fraction of 50% to either t˜ → tχ˜01 or t˜ → bχ˜±1 , and assuming the χ˜±1 mass to be twice the χ˜01 mass, top squark masses in the range 250–550 GeV are excluded for χ˜01 masses below 60 GeV

Serum Metabolome and Lipidome Changes in Adult Patients with Primary Dengue Infection

10.1371/journal.pntd.0002373PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases78

Search for R-parity-violating supersymmetry in events with four or more leptons in sqrt(s) =7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for new phenomena in final states with four or more leptons (electrons or muons) is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of $\sqrt{s}=7\;\mathrm{TeV}$ proton-proton collisions delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in two signal regions: one that requires moderate values of missing transverse momentum and another that requires large effective mass. The results are interpreted in a simplified model of R-parity-violating supersymmetry in which a 95% CL exclusion region is set for charged wino masses up to 540 GeV. In an R-parity-violating MSUGRA/CMSSM model, values of m 1/2 up to 820 GeV are excluded for 10 < tan β < 40

Carbohydrate hydrogels with stabilized phage particles for bacterial biosensing: bacterium diffusion studies

Bacteriophage particles have been reported as potentially useful in the development of diagnosis tools for pathogenic bacteria as they specifically recognize and lyse bacterial isolates thus confirming the presence of viable cells. One of the most representative microorganisms associated with health care services is the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which alone is responsible for nearly 15 % of all nosocomial infections. In this context, structural and functional stabilization of phage particles within biopolymeric hydrogels, aiming at producing cheap (chromogenic) bacterial biosensing devices, has been the goal of a previous research effort. For this, a detailed knowledge of the bacterial diffusion profile into the hydrogel core, where the phage particles lie, is of utmost importance. In the present research effort, the bacterial diffusion process into the biopolymeric hydrogel core was mathematically described and the theoretical simulations duly compared with experimental results, allowing determination of the effective diffusion coefficients of P. aeruginosa in the agar and calcium alginate hydrogels tested.Financial support to Victor M. Balcao, via an Invited Research Scientist fellowship (FAPESP Ref. No. 2011/51077-8) by Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP, Sao Paulo, Brazil), is hereby gratefully acknowledged

Measurement of the cross-section of high transverse momentum vector bosons reconstructed as single jets and studies of jet substructure in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents a measurement of the cross-section for high transverse momentum W and Z bosons produced in pp collisions and decaying to all-hadronic final states. The data used in the analysis were recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7 TeV;{\rm Te}{\rm V}$and correspond to an integrated luminosity of$4.6\;{\rm f}{{{\rm b}}^{-1}}$. The measurement is performed by reconstructing the boosted W or Z bosons in single jets. The reconstructed jet mass is used to identify the W and Z bosons, and a jet substructure method based on energy cluster information in the jet centre-of-mass frame is used to suppress the large multi-jet background. The cross-section for events with a hadronically decaying W or Z boson, with transverse momentum${{p}_{{\rm T}}}\gt 320\;{\rm Ge}{\rm V}$and pseudorapidity$|\eta |\lt 1.9$, is measured to be${{\sigma }_{W+Z}}=8.5\pm 1.7$ pb and is compared to next-to-leading-order calculations. The selected events are further used to study jet grooming techniques

TLR9 activation dampens the early inflammatory response to paracoccidioides brasiliensis, Impacting host survival

Background: Paracoccidioides brasiliensis causes paracoccidioidomycosis, one of the most prevalent systemic mycosis in Latin America. Thus, understanding the characteristics of the protective immune response to P. brasiliensis is of interest, as it may reveal targets for disease control. The initiation of the immune response relies on the activation of pattern recognition receptors, among which are TLRs. Both TLR2 and TLR4 have been implicated in the recognition of P. brasiliensis and regulation of the immune response. However, the role of TLR9 during the infection by this fungus remains unclear.J.F. Menino was supported by a grant from Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal (SFRH/BD/33446/2008). This work was supported by a grant from FCT (PTDC/BIA-MIC/108309/2008). M. Saraiva is a Ciencia 2007 fellow and M. Sturme is a Ciencia 2008 fellow. We would also like to thank FAPESP (Fundacao para Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo) and CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico) for financial support. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

The Long Term Response of Birds to Climate Change: New Results from a Cold Stage Avifauna in Northern England

The early MIS 3 (55–40 Kyr BP associated with Middle Palaeolithic archaeology) bird remains from Pin Hole, Creswell Crags, Derbyshire, England are analysed in the context of the new dating of the site’s stratigraphy. The analysis is restricted to the material from the early MIS 3 level of the cave because the upper fauna is now known to include Holocene material as well as that from the Late Glacial. The results of the analysis confirm the presence of the taxa, possibly unexpected for a Late Pleistocene glacial deposit including records such as Alpine swift, demoiselle crane and long-legged buzzard with southern and/or eastern distributions today. These taxa are accompanied by more expected ones such as willow ptarmigan /red grouse and rock ptarmigan living today in northern and montane areas. Finally, there are temperate taxa normally requiring trees for nesting such as wood pigeon and grey heron. Therefore, the result of the analysis is that the avifauna of early MIS 3 in England included taxa whose ranges today do not overlap making it a non-analogue community similar to the many steppe-tundra mammalian faunas of the time. The inclusion of more temperate and woodland taxa is discussed in the light that parts of northern Europe may have acted as cryptic northern refugia for some such taxa during the last glacial. These records showing former ranges of taxa are considered in the light of modern phylogeographic studies as these often assume former ranges without considering the fossil record of those taxa. In addition to the anomalous combination of taxa during MIS 3 living in Derbyshire, the individuals of a number of the taxa are different in size and shape to members of the species today probably due to the high carrying capacity of the steppe-tundra