Search for Gravitational Waves from Primordial Black Hole Binary Coalescences in the Galactic Halo

We use data from the second science run of the LIGO gravitational-wave detectors to search for the gravitational waves from primordial black hole (PBH) binary coalescence with component masses in the range 0.2--$1.0 M_\odot$. The analysis requires a signal to be found in the data from both LIGO observatories, according to a set of coincidence criteria. No inspiral signals were found. Assuming a spherical halo with core radius 5 kpc extending to 50 kpc containing non-spinning black holes with masses in the range 0.2--$1.0 M_\odot$, we place an observational upper limit on the rate of PBH coalescence of 63 per year per Milky Way halo (MWH) with 90% confidence.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, to be submitted to Phys. Rev.

Subtelomeric deletions of chromosome 9q: a novel microdeletion syndrome

Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) screening of subtelomeric rearrangements has resulted in the identification of previously unrecognized chromosomal causes of mental retardation with and without dysmorphic features. This article reports the phenotypic and molecular breakpoint characterization in a cohort of 12 patients with subtelomeric deletions of chromosome 9q34. The phenotypic findings are consistent amongst these individuals and consist of mental retardation, distinct facial features and congenital heart defects (primarily conotruncal defects). Detailed breakpoint mapping by FISH, microsatellite and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping analysis has narrowed the commonly deleted region to an approximately 1.2 Mb interval containing 14 known transcripts. The majority of the proximal deletion breakpoints fall within a 400 kb interval between SNP markers C12020842 proximally and C80658 distally suggesting a common breakpoint in this interval

In situ redox reactions facilitate the assembly of a mixed-valence metal-organic nanocapsule

C-alkylpyrogallol[4]arenes (PgCs) have been studied for their ability to form metal-organic nanocapsules (MONCs) through coordination to appropriate metal ions. Here we present the synthesis and characterization of an MnII/MnIII-seamed MONC in addition to its electrochemical and magnetic behavior. This MONC assembles from 24 manganese ions and 6 PgCs, while an additional metal ion is located on the capsule interior, anchored through the introduction of bridging nitrite ions. The latter originate from an in situ redox reaction that occurs during the self-assembly process, thus representing a new route to otherwise unobtainable nanocapsules

Recombinant human complement component C2 produced in a human cell line restores the classical complement pathway activity in-vitro: an alternative treatment for C2 deficiency diseases

Background: Complement C2 deficiency is the most common genetically determined complete complement deficiency and is associated with a number of diseases. Most prominent are the associations with recurrent serious infections in young children and the development of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in adults. The links with these diseases reflect the important role complement C2 plays in both innate immunity and immune tolerance. Infusions with normal fresh frozen plasma for the treatment of associated disease have demonstrated therapeutic effects but so far protein replacement therapy has not been evaluated. Results: Human complement C2 was cloned and expressed in a mammalian cell line. The purity of recombinant human C2 (rhC2) was greater than 95% and it was characterized for stability and activity. It was sensitive to C1s cleavage and restored classical complement pathway activity in C2-deficient serum both in a complement activation ELISA and a hemolytic assay. Furthermore, rhC2 could increase C3 fragment deposition on the human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae in C2-deficient serum to levels equal to those with normal serum. Conclusions: Taken together these data suggest that recombinant human C2 can restore classical complement pathway activity and may serve as a potential therapeutic for recurring bacterial infections or SLE in C2-deficient patients

Search for CP violation in D0 → KS0KS0 decays in proton-proton collisions at √s=13TeV

A search is reported for charge-parity CP violation in D0 → K0 SK0 S decays, using data collected in proton– proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV recorded by the CMS experiment in 2018. The analysis uses a dedicated data set that corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 41.6 fb−1 , which consists of about 10 billion events containing a pair of b hadrons, nearly all of which decay to charm hadrons. The flavor of the neutral D meson is determined by the pion charge in the reconstructed decays D∗+ → D0 π+ and D∗− → D0 π−. The CP asymmetry in D0 → K0 SK0 S is measured to be ACP(K0 SK0 S) = (6.2 ± 3.0 ± 0.2 ± 0.8)%, where the three uncertainties represent the statistical uncertainty, the systematic uncertainty, and the uncertainty in the measurement of theCP asymmetry in the D0 → K0 Sπ+π− decay. This is the first CP asymmetry measurement by CMS in the charm sector as well as the first to utilize a fully hadronic final state

Search for central exclusive production of top quark pairs in proton-proton collisions at √s=13 TeV with tagged protons

A search for the central exclusive production of top quark-antiquark pairs (tt) is performed for the frst time using proton-tagged events in proton-proton collisions at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 29.4 fb−1 . The tt decay products are reconstructed using the central CMS detector, while forward protons are measured in the CMS-TOTEM precision proton spectrometer. An observed (expected) upper bound on the production cross section of 0.59 (1.14) pb is set at 95% confdence level, for collisions of protons with fractional momentum losses between 2 and 20%

Evidence for Top Quark Production in Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions

Peer reviewe

Measurement of inclusive very forward jet cross sections in proton-lead collisions at \sqrt{sNN} = 5:02 TeV

Measurements of differential cross sections for inclusive very forward jet production in proton-lead collisions as a function of jet energy are presented. The data were collected with the CMS experiment at the LHC in the laboratory pseudorapidity range −6.6 < η < −5.2. Asymmetric beam energies of 4 TeV for protons and 1.58 TeV per nucleon for Pb nuclei were used, corresponding to a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of \sqrt{sNN} = 5:02 TeV. Collisions with either the proton (p+Pb) or the ion (Pb+p) traveling towards the negative η hemisphere are studied. The jet cross sections are unfolded to stable-particle level cross sections with p_{T} ≳ 3 GeV, and compared to predictions from various Monte Carlo event generators. In addition, the cross section ratio of p+Pb and Pb+p data is presented. The results are discussed in terms of the saturation of gluon densities at low fractional parton momenta. None of the models under consideration describes all the data over the full jet-energy range and for all beam configurations. Discrepancies between the differential cross sections in data and model predictions of more than two orders of magnitude are observed