Search

This paper presents a search for hypothetical massive, charged, long-lived particles with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1 of proton–proton collisions at s = 13 TeV. These particles are expected to move significantly slower than the speed of light and should be identifiable by their high transverse momenta and anomalously large specific ionisation losses, dE/dx. Trajectories reconstructed solely by the inner tracking system and a dE/dx measurement in the pixel detector layers provide sensitivity to particles with lifetimes down to O (1) ns with a mass, measured using the Bethe–Bloch relation, ranging from 100 GeV to 3 TeV. Interpretations for pair-production of R-hadrons, charginos and staus in scenarios of supersymmetry compatible with these particles being long-lived are presented, with mass limits extending considerably beyond those from previous searches in broad ranges of lifetime. [Figure not available: see fulltext.], QC 20230823

In this study we use comparative genomics to uncover a gene with uncharacterized function (1700011H14Rik/C14orf105/CCDC198), which we hereby name FAME (Factor Associated with Metabolism and Energy). We observe that FAME shows an unusually high evolutionary divergence in birds and mammals. Through the comparison of single nucleotide polymorphisms, we identify gene flow of FAME from Neandertals into modern humans. We conduct knockout experiments on animals and observe altered body weight and decreased energy expenditure in Fame knockout animals, corresponding to genome-wide association studies linking FAME with higher body mass index in humans. Gene expression and subcellular localization analyses reveal that FAME is a membrane-bound protein enriched in the kidneys. Although the gene knockout results in structurally normal kidneys, we detect higher albumin in urine and lowered ferritin in the blood. Through experimental validation, we confirm interactions between FAME and ferritin and show co-localization in vesicular and plasma membranes., Correction in DOI 10.1038/s41467-023-39373-wQC 20230711

Measurements of single-, double-, and triple-differential cross-sections are presented for boosted top-quark pair-production in 13 TeV proton–proton collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The top quarks are observed through their hadronic decay and reconstructed as large-radius jets with the leading jet having transverse momentum (pT) greater than 500 GeV. The observed data are unfolded to remove detector effects. The particle-level cross-section, multiplied by the tt¯ → WWbb¯ branching fraction and measured in a fiducial phase space defined by requiring the leading and second-leading jets to have pT> 500 GeV and pT> 350 GeV, respectively, is 331 ± 3(stat.) ± 39(syst.) fb. This is approximately 20% lower than the prediction of 398−49+48 fb by Powheg+Pythia 8 with next-to-leading-order (NLO) accuracy but consistent within the theoretical uncertainties. Results are also presented at the parton level, where the effects of top-quark decay, parton showering, and hadronization are removed such that they can be compared with fixed-order next-to-next-to-leading-order (NNLO) calculations. The parton-level cross-section, measured in a fiducial phase space similar to that at particle level, is 1.94 ± 0.02(stat.) ± 0.25(syst.) pb. This agrees with the NNLO prediction of 1.96−0.17+0.02 pb. Reasonable agreement with the differential cross-sections is found for most NLO models, while the NNLO calculations are generally in better agreement with the data. The differential cross-sections are interpreted using a Standard Model effective field-theory formalism and limits are set on Wilson coefficients of several four-fermion operators. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]., QC 20230713

The Galileo mission to Jupiter revealed that Europa is an ocean world. The Galileo magnetometer experiment in particular provided strong evidence for a salty subsurface ocean beneath the ice shell, likely in contact with the rocky core. Within the ice shell and ocean, a number of tectonic and geodynamic processes may operate today or have operated at some point in the past, including solid ice convection, diapirism, subsumption, and interstitial lake formation. The science objectives of the Europa Clipper mission include the characterization of Europa’s interior; confirmation of the presence of a subsurface ocean; identification of constraints on the depth to this ocean, and on its salinity and thickness; and determination of processes of material exchange between the surface, ice shell, and ocean. Three broad categories of investigation are planned to interrogate different aspects of the subsurface structure and properties of the ice shell and ocean: magnetic induction, subsurface radar sounding, and tidal deformation. These investigations are supplemented by several auxiliary measurements. Alone, each of these investigations will reveal unique information. Together, the synergy between these investigations will expose the secrets of the Europan interior in unprecedented detail, an essential step in evaluating the habitability of this ocean world., QC 20230920

Inclusive and differential measurements of the top–antitop (Formula presented.) charge asymmetry (Formula presented.) and the leptonic asymmetry (Formula presented.) are presented in proton–proton collisions at s = 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurement uses the complete Run 2 dataset, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1, combines data in the single-lepton and dilepton channels, and employs reconstruction techniques adapted to both the resolved and boosted topologies. A Bayesian unfolding procedure is performed to correct for detector resolution and acceptance effects. The combined inclusive (Formula presented.) charge asymmetry is measured to be (Formula presented.), which differs from zero by 4.7 standard deviations. Differential measurements are performed as a function of the invariant mass, transverse momentum and longitudinal boost of the (Formula presented.) system. Both the inclusive and differential measurements are found to be compatible with the Standard Model predictions, at next-to-next-to-leading order in quantum chromodynamics perturbation theory with next-to-leading-order electroweak corrections. The measurements are interpreted in the framework of the Standard Model effective field theory, placing competitive bounds on several Wilson coefficients. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]., QC 20230912

A search for forward proton scattering in association with light-by-light scattering mediated by an axion-like particle is presented, using the ATLAS Forward Proton spectrometer to detect scattered protons and the central ATLAS detector to detect pairs of outgoing photons. Proton-proton collision data recorded in 2017 at a centre-of-mass energy of s = 13 TeV were analysed, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 14.6 fb −1. A total of 441 candidate events were selected. A search was made for a narrow resonance in the diphoton mass distribution, corresponding to an axion-like particle (ALP) with mass in the range 150–1600 GeV. No excess is observed above a smooth background. Upper limits on the production cross section of a narrow resonance are set as a function of the mass, and are interpreted as upper limits on the ALP production coupling constant, assuming 100% decay branching ratio into a photon pair. The inferred upper limit on the coupling constant is in the range 0.04–0.09 TeV −1 at 95% confidence level. [Figure not available: see fulltext.], QC 20230901

Background: The international Dog10K project aims to sequence and analyze several thousand canine genomes. Incorporating 20 × data from 1987 individuals, including 1611 dogs (321 breeds), 309 village dogs, 63 wolves, and four coyotes, we identify genomic variation across the canid family, setting the stage for detailed studies of domestication, behavior, morphology, disease susceptibility, and genome architecture and function. Results: We report the analysis of > 48 M single-nucleotide, indel, and structural variants spanning the autosomes, X chromosome, and mitochondria. We discover more than 75% of variation for 239 sampled breeds. Allele sharing analysis indicates that 94.9% of breeds form monophyletic clusters and 25 major clades. German Shepherd Dogs and related breeds show the highest allele sharing with independent breeds from multiple clades. On average, each breed dog differs from the UU_Cfam_GSD_1.0 reference at 26,960 deletions and 14,034 insertions greater than 50 bp, with wolves having 14% more variants. Discovered variants include retrogene insertions from 926 parent genes. To aid functional prioritization, single-nucleotide variants were annotated with SnpEff and Zoonomia phyloP constraint scores. Constrained positions were negatively correlated with allele frequency. Finally, the utility of the Dog10K data as an imputation reference panel is assessed, generating high-confidence calls across varied genotyping platform densities including for breeds not included in the Dog10K collection. Conclusions: We have developed a dense dataset of 1987 sequenced canids that reveals patterns of allele sharing, identifies likely functional variants, informs breed structure, and enables accurate imputation. Dog10K data are publicly available., QC 20230830

We evaluate the shared genetic regulation of mRNA molecules, proteins and metabolites derived from whole blood from 3029 human donors. We find abundant allelic heterogeneity, where multiple variants regulate a particular molecular phenotype, and pleiotropy, where a single variant associates with multiple molecular phenotypes over multiple genomic regions. The highest proportion of share genetic regulation is detected between gene expression and proteins (66.6%), with a further median shared genetic associations across 49 different tissues of 78.3% and 62.4% between plasma proteins and gene expression. We represent the genetic and molecular associations in networks including 2828 known GWAS variants, showing that GWAS variants are more often connected to gene expression in trans than other molecular phenotypes in the network. Our work provides a roadmap to understanding molecular networks and deriving the underlying mechanism of action of GWAS variants using different molecular phenotypes in an accessible tissue., QC 20230830

Measurements of differential cross sections are presented for inclusive isolated-photon production in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV provided by the LHC and using 139 fb −1 of data recorded by the ATLAS experiment. The cross sections are measured as functions of the photon transverse energy in different regions of photon pseudorapidity. The photons are required to be isolated by means of a fixed-cone method with two different cone radii. The dependence of the inclusive-photon production on the photon isolation is investigated by measuring the fiducial cross sections as functions of the isolation-cone radius and the ratios of the differential cross sections with different radii in different regions of photon pseudorapidity. The results presented in this paper constitute an improvement with respect to those published by ATLAS earlier: the measurements are provided for different isolation radii and with a more granular segmentation in photon pseudorapidity that can be exploited in improving the determination of the proton parton distribution functions. These improvements provide a more in-depth test of the theoretical predictions. Next-to-leading-order QCD predictions from JETPHOX and SHERPA and next-to-next-to-leading-order QCD predictions from NNLOJET are compared to the measurements, using several parameterisations of the proton parton distribution functions. The measured cross sections are well described by the fixed-order QCD predictions within the experimental and theoretical uncertainties in most of the investigated phase-space region. [Figure not available: see fulltext.], QC 20230815

A search for new phenomena has been performed in final states with at least one isolated high-momentum photon, jets and missing transverse momentum in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of s = 13 TeV. The data, collected by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN LHC, correspond to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1. The experimental results are interpreted in a supersymmetric model in which pair-produced gluinos decay into neutralinos, which in turn decay into a gravitino, at least one photon, and jets. No significant deviations from the predictions of the Standard Model are observed. Upper limits are set on the visible cross section due to physics beyond the Standard Model, and lower limits are set on the masses of the gluinos and neutralinos, all at 95% confidence level. Visible cross sections greater than 0.022 fb are excluded and pair-produced gluinos with masses up to 2200 GeV are excluded for most of the NLSP masses investigated., QC 20230823

A search for the leptonic charge asymmetry (Acℓ) of top-quark-antiquark pair production in association with a W boson (tt¯ W) is presented. The search is performed using final states with exactly three charged light leptons (electrons or muons) and is based on s = 13 TeV proton-proton collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN during the years 2015–2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb −1. A profile-likelihood fit to the event yields in multiple regions corresponding to positive and negative differences between the pseudorapidities of the charged leptons from top-quark and top-antiquark decays is used to extract the charge asymmetry. At reconstruction level, the asymmetry is found to be −0.12 ± 0.14 (stat.) ± 0.05 (syst.). An unfolding procedure is applied to convert the result at reconstruction level into a charge-asymmetry value in a fiducial volume at particle level with the result of −0.11 ± 0.17 (stat.) ± 0.05 (syst.). The Standard Model expectations for these two observables are calculated using Monte Carlo simulations with next-to-leading-order plus parton shower precision in quantum chromodynamics and including next-to-leading-order electroweak corrections. They are −0.084−0.003+0.005 (scale) ± 0.006 (MC stat.) and −0.063−0.004+0.007 (scale) ± 0.004 (MC stat.) respectively, and in agreement with the measurements., QC 20230823

A search for diphoton resonances in the mass range between 10 and 70 GeV with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is presented. The analysis is based on pp collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb −1 at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded from 2015 to 2018. Previous searches for diphoton resonances at the LHC have explored masses down to 65 GeV, finding no evidence of new particles. This search exploits the particular kinematics of events with pairs of closely spaced photons reconstructed in the detector, allowing examination of invariant masses down to 10 GeV. The presented strategy covers a region previously unexplored at hadron colliders because of the experimental challenges of recording low-energy photons and estimating the backgrounds. No significant excess is observed and the reported limits provide the strongest bound on promptly decaying axion-like particles coupling to gluons and photons for masses between 10 and 70 GeV. [Figure not available: see fulltext.], QC 20230814

A search for forward proton scattering in association with light-by-light scattering mediated by an axion-like particle is presented, using the ATLAS Forward Proton spectrometer to detect scattered protons and the central ATLAS detector to detect pairs of outgoing photons. Proton-proton collision data recorded in 2017 at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV were analysed, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 14.6 fb$^{-1}$. A total of 441 candidate signal events were selected. A search was made for a narrow resonance in the diphoton mass distribution, corresponding to an axion-like particle (ALP) with mass in the range 150-1600 GeV. No excess is observed above a smooth background. Upper limits on the production cross section of a narrow resonance are set as a function of the mass, and are interpreted as upper limits on the ALP production coupling constant, assuming 100% decay branching ratio into a photon pair. The inferred upper limit on the coupling constant is in the range 0.04-0.09 TeV$^{-1}$ at 95%confidence level.

Differential and double-differential distributions of kinematic variables of leptons from decays of top-quark pairs ($t\bar{t}$) are measured using the full LHC Run 2 data sample collected with the ATLAS detector. The data were collected at a $pp$ collision energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$. The measurements use events containing an oppositely charged $e\mu$ pair and $b$-tagged jets. The results are compared with predictions from several Monte Carlo generators. While no prediction is found to be consistent with all distributions, a better agreement with measurements of the lepton $p_{\text{T}}$ distributions is obtained by reweighting the $t\bar{t}$ sample so as to reproduce the top-quark $p_{\text{T}}$ distribution from an NNLO calculation. The inclusive top-quark pair production cross-section is measured as well, both in a fiducial region and in the full phase-space. The total inclusive cross-section is found to be \[ \sigma_{t\bar{t}} = 829 \pm 1\;(\textrm{stat}) \pm 13\;(\textrm{syst}) \pm 8\;(\textrm{lumi}) \pm 2\; (\textrm{beam})\ \textrm{pb}, \] where the uncertainties are due to statistics, systematic effects, the integrated luminosity and the beam energy. This is in excellent agreement with the theoretical expectation.

This paper describes a search for the single production of an up-type vector-like quark ($T$) decaying as $T \rightarrow Ht$ or $T \rightarrow Zt$. The search utilises a dataset of $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV collected with the ATLAS detector during the 2015-2018 data-taking period of the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. Data are analysed in final states containing a single lepton with multiple jets and $b$-jets. The presence of boosted heavy resonances in the event is exploited to discriminate the signal from the Standard Model background. No significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed, and 95% CL upper limits are set on the production cross section of $T$ quarks in different decay channels. The results are interpreted in several benchmark scenarios to set limits on the mass and universal coupling strength ($\kappa$) of the vector-like quark. For singlet $T$ quarks, $\kappa$ values above 0.53 are excluded for all masses below 2.3 TeV. At a mass of 1.6 TeV, $\kappa$ values as low as 0.35 are excluded. For $T$ quarks in the doublet scenario, where the production cross section is much lower, $\kappa$ values above 0.72 are excluded for all masses below 1.7 TeV, and this exclusion is extended to $\kappa$ above 0.55 for low masses around 1.0 TeV.

A search for the leptonic charge asymmetry ($A_\text{c}^{\ell}$) of top-quark$-$antiquark pair production in association with a $W$ boson ($t\bar{t}W$) is presented. The search is performed using final states with exactly three charged light leptons (electrons or muons) and is based on $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV proton$-$proton collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN during the years 2015$-$2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. A profile-likelihood fit to the event yields in multiple regions corresponding to positive and negative differences between the pseudorapidities of the charged leptons from top-quark and top-antiquark decays is used to extract the charge asymmetry. At reconstruction level, the asymmetry is found to be $-0.123 \pm 0.136$ (stat.) $\pm \, 0.051$ (syst.). An unfolding procedure is applied to convert the result at reconstruction level into a charge-asymmetry value in a fiducial volume at particle level with the result of $-0.112 \pm 0.170$ (stat.) $\pm \, 0.054$ (syst.). The Standard Model expectations for these two observables are calculated using Monte Carlo simulations with next-to-leading-order plus parton shower precision in quantum chromodynamics and including next-to-leading-order electroweak corrections. They are $-0.084 \, ^{+0.005}_{-0.003}$ (scale) $\pm\, 0.006$ (MC stat.) and $-0.063 \, ^{+0.007}_{-0.004}$ (scale) $\pm\, 0.004$ (MC stat.) respectively, and in agreement with the measurements.

The identification of b-jets, referred to as b-tagging, is an important part of many physics analyses in the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider and an accurate calibration of its performance is essential for high-quality physics results. This publication describes the calibration of the light-flavour jet mistagging efficiency in a data sample of proton–proton collision events at s=13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb . The calibration is performed in a sample of Z bosons produced in association with jets. Due to the low mistagging efficiency for light-flavour jets, a method which uses modified versions of the b-tagging algorithms referred to as flip taggers is used in this work. A fit to the jet-flavour-sensitive secondary-vertex mass is performed to extract a scale factor from data, to correct the light-flavour jet mistagging efficiency in Monte Carlo simulations, while simultaneously correcting the b-jet efficiency. With this procedure, uncertainties coming from the modeling of jets from heavy-flavour hadrons are considerably lower than in previous calibrations of the mistagging scale factors, where they were dominant. The scale factors obtained in this calibration are consistent with unity within uncertainties.

The flavour-tagging algorithms developed by the ATLAS Collaboration and used to analyse its dataset of s=13 TeV pp collisions from Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider are presented. These new tagging algorithms are based on recurrent and deep neural networks, and their performance is evaluated in simulated collision events. These developments yield considerable improvements over previous jet-flavour identification strategies. At the 77% b-jet identification efficiency operating point, light-jet (charm-jet) rejection factors of 170 (5) are achieved in a sample of simulated Standard Model tt¯ events; similarly, at a c-jet identification efficiency of 30%, a light-jet (b-jet) rejection factor of 70 (9) is obtained.

The Indian National Young Academy of Sciences often called “INYAS” functioning under the tutelage of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA), New Delhi is a vibrant and talented academy of young scientists. INYAS was established in December 2014 and is the first and only such young academy in India. At present, INYAS has over 100 members out of which 30% members are females. The Vision of INYAS is to attract the youth towards science, disseminate the excitement of science at pre-college, college and university levels, and establish a network of young scientists in India. Considering the importance of science communication, dissemination and outreach, INYAS do serve as a crusader and embraces different stakeholders such as faculties, researchers from academia, research institutes, polytechnic, schools, industries, incubation centers, policy-makers and decision-makers.

A study of B-c(+) -> J/psi D-s(+) and B-c(+)-> J/psi D-s*(+) decays using 139 fb(-1) of in- tegrated luminosity collected with the ATLAS detector from root s = 13 TeV pp collisions at the LHC is presented. The ratios of the branching fractions of the two decays to the branching fraction of the B-c(+) -> J/psi pi(+) decay are measured: B(B-c(+) -> J/psi D-s(+))/B(B-c(+) -> J/psi pi(+)) = 2.76 +/- 0.47 and B(B-c(+)-> J/psi D-s*(+))/B(B-c(+) -> J/psi pi(+)) = 5.33 +/- 0.96. The ratio of the branching fractions of the two decays is found to be B(B-c(+)-> J/psi D-s*(+))/B(B-c(+) -> J/psi D-s(+)) = 1.93 +/- 0.26. For the B-c(+)-> J/psi D-s*(+) decay, the transverse polarization fraction, Gamma(+/-+/-)/Gamma, is measured to be 0.70 +/- 0.11. The reported uncertainties include both the statistical and systematic components added in quadrature. The precision of the measurements exceeds that in all previous studies of these decays. These results supersede those obtained in the earlier ATLAS study of the same decays with root s = 7 and 8 TeV pp collision data. A comparison with available theoretical predictions for the measured quantities is presented., QC 20220830

A search for decays of pair-produced neutral long-lived particles (LLPs) is presented using 139 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2015-2018 at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. Dedicated techniques were developed for the reconstruction of displaced jets produced by LLPs decaying hadronically in the ATLAS hadronic calorimeter. Two search regions are defined for different LLP kinematic regimes. The observed numbers of events are consistent with the expected background, and limits for several benchmark signals are determined. For a SM Higgs boson with a mass of 125 GeV, branching ratios above 10% are excluded at 95% confidence level for values of c times LLP mean proper lifetime in the range between 20 mm and 10 m depending on the model. Upper limits are also set on the cross-section times branching ratio for scalars with a mass of 60 GeV and for masses between 200 GeV and 1 Tev., QC 20230925

A measurement of inclusive and differential fiducial cross-sections for the production of the Higgs boson decaying into two photons is performed using 139 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data recorded at root s = 13 TeV by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. The inclusive cross-section times branching ratio, in a fiducial region closely matching the experimental selection, is measured to be 67 +/- 6 fb, which is in agreement with the state-of-the-art Standard Model prediction of 64 +/- 4 fb. Extrapolating this result to the full phase space and correcting for the branching ratio, the total cross-section for Higgs boson production is estimated to be 58 +/- 6 pb. In addition, the cross-sections in four fiducial regions sensitive to various Higgs boson production modes and differential cross-sections as a function of either one or two of several observables are measured. All the measurements are found to be in agreement with the Standard Model predictions. The measured transverse momentum distribution of the Higgs boson is used as an indirect probe of the Yukawa coupling of the Higgs boson to the bottom and charm quarks. In addition, five differential cross-section measurements are used to constrain anomalous Higgs boson couplings to vector bosons in the Standard Model effective field theory framework., QC 20220830

Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome (RSTS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with unclear underlying mechanisms. Here, the authors unravel the contribution of a stress-responsive pathway to RSTS where impaired HSF2 acetylation, due to RSTS-associated CBP/EP300 mutations, alters the expression of neurodevelopmental players, in keeping with hallmarks of cell-cell adhesion defects. Patients carrying autosomal dominant mutations in the histone/lysine acetyl transferases CBP or EP300 develop a neurodevelopmental disorder: Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome (RSTS). The biological pathways underlying these neurodevelopmental defects remain elusive. Here, we unravel the contribution of a stress-responsive pathway to RSTS. We characterize the structural and functional interaction between CBP/EP300 and heat-shock factor 2 (HSF2), a tuner of brain cortical development and major player in prenatal stress responses in the neocortex: CBP/EP300 acetylates HSF2, leading to the stabilization of the HSF2 protein. Consequently, RSTS patient-derived primary cells show decreased levels of HSF2 and HSF2-dependent alteration in their repertoire of molecular chaperones and stress response. Moreover, we unravel a CBP/EP300-HSF2-N-cadherin cascade that is also active in neurodevelopmental contexts, and show that its deregulation disturbs neuroepithelial integrity in 2D and 3D organoid models of cerebral development, generated from RSTS patient-derived iPSC cells, providing a molecular reading key for this complex pathology., QC 20221212

A simultaneous measurement of the three components of the top-quark and top-antiquark polarisation vectors in t-channel single-top-quark production is presented. This analysis is based on data from proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1), collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Selected events contain exactly one isolated electron or muon, large missing transverse momentum and exactly two jets, one being b-tagged. Stringent selection requirements are applied to discriminate t-channel single-top-quark events from the background contributions. The top-quark and top-antiquark polarisation vectors are measured from the distributions of the direction cosines of the charged-lepton momentum in the top-quark rest frame. The three components of the polarisation vector for the selected top-quark event sample are P-x' = 0.01 +/- 0.18, P-y' = -0.029 +/- 0.027, P-z' = 0.91 +/- 0.10 and for the top-antiquark event sample they are P-x' = -0.02 +/- 0.20, P-y' = -0.007 +/- 0.051, P-z' = -0.79 +/- 0.16. Normalised differential cross-sections corrected to a fiducial region at the stable-particle level are presented as a function of the charged-lepton angles for top-quark and top-antiquark events inclusively and separately. These measurements are in agreement with Standard Model predictions. The angular differential cross-sections are used to derive bounds on the complex Wilson coefficient of the dimension-six O-tW operator in the framework of an effective field theory. The obtained bounds are C-tW is an element of[-0.9, 1.4] and C-itW is an element of [-0.8, 0.2], both at 95% confidence level., QC 20221212

Alpha particles with energies on the order of megaelectronvolts will be the main source of plasma heating in future magnetic confinement fusion reactors. Instead of heating fuel ions, most of the energy of alpha particles is transferred to electrons in the plasma. Furthermore, alpha particles can also excite Alfvénic instabilities, which were previously considered to be detrimental to the performance of the fusion device. Here we report improved thermal ion confinement in the presence of megaelectronvolts ions and strong fast ion-driven Alfvénic instabilities in recent experiments on the Joint European Torus. Detailed transport analysis of these experiments reveals turbulence suppression through a complex multi-scale mechanism that generates large-scale zonal flows. This holds promise for more economical operation of fusion reactors with dominant alpha particle heating and ultimately cheaper fusion electricity., QC 20230907

The associated production of a Higgs boson and a top-quark pair is measured in events characterised by the presence of one or two electrons or muons. The Higgs boson decay into a b-quark pair is used. The analysed data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1), were collected in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider between 2015 and 2018 at a centre-of-mass energy of A root s = 13 TeV. The measured signal strength, defined as the ratio of the measured signal yield to that predicted by the Standard Model, is 0.35(-0.34)(+0.36). This result is compatible with the Standard Model prediction and corresponds to an observed (expected) significance of 1.0 (2.7) standard deviations. The signal strength is also measured differentially in bins of the Higgs boson transverse momentum in the simplified template cross-section framework, including a bin for specially selected boosted Higgs bosons with transverse momentum above 300 GeV., QC 20230615

Nanocrystalline AlxCoCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.3, 0.6, 1 mol) high-entropy alloys were synthesized by mechanical alloying (MA) and consolidated by spark plasma sintering (SPS). Single-phase face-centered cubic (FCC) structure was achieved with x = 0 and 0.3. Dual-phase body-centered cubic (BCC)/B2 + FCC structure was obtained in x = 0.6 and 1. Complete solid solution was achieved with a significantly reduced duration of MA (10 h) followed by a brief SPS leading to crystallite size of < 10 nm for MA powders and < 60 nm post-SPS. Incremental changes in Al content translate into increase of BCC + B2 phase fraction and alter the co-existing FCC phase composition consequently. Ni dominates FCC phase of CoCrFeNi and Al0.3CoCrFeNi, whereas Fe dominates FCC phase of Al0.6CoCrFeNi and AlCoCrFeNi. Carbon and Oxygen addition during milling process resulted in nanoscale dispersion of Cr7C3 carbide and Cr2O3 /Al2O3 post-SPS. The hardness of AlCoCrFeNi (730HV0.3) was the highest among all MA-SPS alloys. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.] © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to The Materials Research Society.

Everyone agrees that scientific communication should be free for all. Unfortunately, accessing publications from many reputed journals comes at a high cost—a cost that many researchers and institutions cannot afford. Although, open-access publication model is considered by many as a possible route to ensure that science is free for all; however, it is fraught with its own challenges. This review attempts at exploring the possibilities of keeping science accessible. Firstly, we re-visit the meaning of “open science” as a comprehensive concept which includes open source, data, access, resources, peer review etc. and not merely open access publication model. Next, we have discussed the global initiatives towards open access—the Budapest Open Access Initiative, Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing, Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities, cOAlition S and its Plan S initiative, UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science and the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). Following this we have included the various open access initiatives from India. In the next part, we have focused on problems with dissemination of scientific outcomes and the challenges associated with existing publication models. Finally, we explore the possible solutions to the existing challenges, which include promotion of pre-print servers and other ideas that we have detailed in the manuscript. © 2022, Indian National Science Academy.

In genetic studies of psychiatric disorders in the pre-genome-wide association study (GWAS) era, one of the most commonly studied loci is the serotonin transporter (SLC6A4) promoter polymorphism, a 43-base-pair insertion/deletion polymorphism in the promoter region (5-HTTLPR). The genetic association signals between 5-HTTLPR and psychiatric phenotypes, however, have been inconsistent across many studies. Since the polymorphism cannot be tested via available SNP arrays, we had previously proposed an efficient machine learning algorithm to predict the genotypes of 5-HTTLPR based on the genotypes of eight nearby SNPs, which requires access to individual-level genotype and phenotype data. To utilize the advantage of publicly available GWAS summary statistics obtained from studies with very large sample sizes, we develop a GWAS summary-statistics-based approach for testing the variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) associations with various phenotypes. We first cross-verify the accuracy of the summary-statistics-based approach for 61 phenotypes in the UK Biobank. Since we observed a strong similarity between the predicted individual-level 5-HTTLPR genotype-based approach and the summary-statistics-based approach, we applied our method to the available neurobehavioral GWAS summary statistics data obtained from large-scale GWAS. We found no genome-wide significant evidence for association between 5-HTTLPR and any of the neurobehavioral traits. We did observe, however, genome-wide significant evidence for association between this locus and human adult height, BMI, and total cholesterol. Our summary-statistics-based approach provides a systematic way to examine the role of VNTRs and related types of genetic polymorphisms in disease risk and trait susceptibility of phenotypes for which large-scale GWAS summary statistics data are available. © 2021, The Author(s).

A search for a heavy neutral Higgs boson, A, decaying into a Z boson and another heavy Higgs boson, H, is performed using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1) from proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The search considers the Z boson decaying into electrons or muons and the H boson into a pair of b-quarks or W bosons. The mass range considered is 230-800 GeV for the A boson and 130-700 GeV for the H boson. The data are in good agreement with the background predicted by the Standard Model, and therefore 95% confidence-level upper limits for sigma x B( A -> ZH) x B(H -> bb or H -> WW) are set. The upper limits are in the range 0.0062-0.380 pb for the H. bb channel and in the range 0.023-8.9 pb for the H -> WW channel. An interpretation of the results in the context of two-Higgs-doublet models is also given., QC 20220314

A novel search for exotic decays of the Higgs boson into pairs of long-lived neutral particles, each decaying into a bottom quark pair, is performed using 139 fb(-1)of root s = 13 TeV proton-proton collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events consistent with the production of a Higgs boson in association with a leptonically decaying Z boson are analysed. Long-lived particle (LLP) decays are reconstructed from inner-detector tracks as displaced vertices with high mass and track multiplicity relative to Standard Model processes. The analysis selection requires the presence of at least two displaced vertices, effectively suppressing Standard Model backgrounds. The residual background contribution is estimated using a data-driven technique. No excess over Standard Model predictions is observed, and upper limits are set on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson to LLPs. Branching ratios above 10% are excluded at 95% confidence level for LLP mean proper lifetimes c tau as small as 4 mm and as large as 100 mm. For LLP masses below 40 GeV, these results represent the most stringent constraint in this lifetime regime., QC 20220105

Jet substructure has provided new opportunities for searches and measurements at the LHC, and has seen continuous development since the optimization of the large-radius jet definition used by ATLAS was performed during Run 1. A range of new inputs to jet reconstruction, pile-up mitigation techniques and jet grooming algorithms motivate an optimisation of large-radius jet reconstruction for ATLAS. In this paper, this optimisation procedure is presented, and the performance of a wide range of large-radius jet definitions is compared. The relative performance of these jet definitions is assessed using metrics such as their pileup stability, ability to identify hadronically decaying W bosons and top quarks with large transverse momenta. A new type of jet input object, called a 'unified flow object' is introduced which combines calorimeter- and inner-detector-based signals in order to achieve optimal performance across a wide kinematic range. Large-radius jet definitions are identified which significantly improve on the current ATLAS baseline definition, and their modelling is studied using pp collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector at TeV during 2017., QC 20210601

A search for heavy resonances decaying into a pair of Z bosons leading to l+l-l ' +l '- and l+l-nu nu final states, where l stands for either an electron or a muon, is presented. The search uses proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected from 2015 to 2018 that corresponds to the integrated luminosity of 139 fb-1 recorded by the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider. Different mass ranges spanning 200 GeV to 2000 GeV for the hypothetical resonances are considered, depending on the final state and model. In the absence of a significant observed excess, the results are interpreted as upper limits on the production cross section of a spin-0 or spin-2 resonance. The upper limits for the spin-0 resonance are translated to exclusion contours in the context of Type-I and Type-II two-Higgs-doublet models, and the limits for the spin-2 resonance are used to constrain the Randall-Sundrum model with an extra dimension giving rise to spin-2 graviton excitations., QC 20210601

The results of a search for direct pair production of top squarks and for dark matter in events with two opposite-charge leptons (electrons or muons), jets and missing transverse momentum are reported, using 139 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity from proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV, collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider during Run 2 (2015-2018). This search considers the pair production of top squarks and is sensitive across a wide range of mass differences between the top squark and the lightest neutralino. Additionally, spin-0 mediator dark-matter models are considered, in which the mediator is produced in association with a pair of top quarks. The mediator subsequently decays to a pair of dark-matter particles. No significant excess of events is observed above the Standard Model background, and limits are set at 95% confidence level. The results exclude top squark masses up to about 1 TeV, and masses of the lightest neutralino up to about 500 GeV. Limits on dark-matter production are set for scalar (pseudoscalar) mediator masses up to about 250 (300) GeV., QC 20210528

Background We report the findings from 4437 individuals (3219 patients and 1218 relatives) who have been analyzed by whole genome sequencing (WGS) at the Genomic Medicine Center Karolinska-Rare Diseases (GMCK-RD) since mid-2015. GMCK-RD represents a long-term collaborative initiative between Karolinska University Hospital and Science for Life Laboratory to establish advanced, genomics-based diagnostics in the Stockholm healthcare setting. Methods Our analysis covers detection and interpretation of SNVs, INDELs, uniparental disomy, CNVs, balanced structural variants, and short tandem repeat expansions. Visualization of results for clinical interpretation is carried out in Scout-a custom-developed decision support system. Results from both singleton (84%) and trio/family (16%) analyses are reported. Variant interpretation is done by 15 expert teams at the hospital involving staff from three clinics. For patients with complex phenotypes, data is shared between the teams. Results Overall, 40% of the patients received a molecular diagnosis ranging from 19 to 54% for specific disease groups. There was heterogeneity regarding causative genes (n = 754) with some of the most common ones being COL2A1 (n = 12; skeletal dysplasia), SCN1A (n = 8; epilepsy), and TNFRSF13B (n = 4; inborn errors of immunity). Some causative variants were recurrent, including previously known founder mutations, some novel mutations, and recurrent de novo mutations. Overall, GMCK-RD has resulted in a large number of patients receiving specific molecular diagnoses. Furthermore, negative cases have been included in research studies that have resulted in the discovery of 17 published, novel disease-causing genes. To facilitate the discovery of new disease genes, GMCK-RD has joined international data sharing initiatives, including ClinVar, UDNI, Beacon, and MatchMaker Exchange. Conclusions Clinical WGS at GMCK-RD has provided molecular diagnoses to over 1200 individuals with a broad range of rare disease, QC 20210412

A search for the supersymmetric partners of quarks and gluons (squarks and gluinos) in final states containing jets and missing transverse momentum, but no electrons or muons, is presented. The data used in this search were recorded by the ATLAS experiment in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of root s = 13 TeV during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1). The results are interpreted in the context of various R-parity-conserving models where squarks and gluinos are produced in pairs or in association and a neutralino is the lightest supersymmetric particle. An exclusion limit at the 95% confidence level on the mass of the gluino is set at 2.30 TeV for a simplified model containing only a gluino and the lightest neutralino, assuming the latter is massless. For a simplified model involving the strong production of mass-degenerate first- and second-generation squarks, squark masses below 1.85 TeV are excluded if the lightest neutralino is massless. These limits extend substantially beyond the region of supersymmetric parameter space excluded previously by similar searches with the ATLAS detector., QC 20210322

A measurement of event-shape variables in proton-proton collisions at large momentum transfer is presented using data collected at root s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Six event-shape variables calculated using hadronic jets are studied in inclusive multijet events using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1). Measurements are performed in bins of jet multiplicity and in different ranges of the scalar sum of the transverse momenta of the two leading jets, reaching scales beyond 2 TeV. These measurements are compared with predictions from Monte Carlo event generators containing leading-order or next-to-leading order matrix elements matched to parton showers simulated to leading-logarithm accuracy. At low jet multiplicities, shape discrepancies between the measurements and the Monte Carlo predictions are observed. At high jet multiplicities, the shapes are better described but discrepancies in the normalisation are observed., Correction: Journal of High Energy Physics, vol. 2021, issue. 12. DOI:10.1007/JHEP12(2021)053, ISI:000732954400001, Scopus:2-s2.0-85131010119QC 20210323

Differential cross-sections are measured for top-quark pair production in the all-hadronic decay mode, using proton-proton collision events collected by the ATLAS experiment in which all six decay jets are separately resolved. Absolute and normalised single- and double-differential cross-sections are measured at particle and parton level as a function of various kinematic variables. Emphasis is placed on well-measured observables in fully reconstructed final states, as well as on the study of correlations between the top-quark pair system and additional jet radiation identified in the event. The study is performed using data from proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at CERN's Large Hadron Collider in 2015 and 2016, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb(-1). The rapidities of the individual top quarks and of the top-quark pair are well modelled by several independent event generators. Significant mismodelling is observed in the transverse momenta of the leading three jet emissions, while the leading top-quark transverse momentum and top-quark pair transverse momentum are both found to be incompatible with several theoretical predictions., QC 20210209

Scientific collaborations among nations to address common problems and to build international partnerships as part of science diplomacy is a well-established notion. The international flow of people and ideas has played an important role in the advancement of the ‘Sciences’ and the current pandemic scenario has drawn attention towards the genuine need for a stronger role of science diplomacy, science advice and science communication. In dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, visible interactions across science, policy, science communication to the public and diplomacy worldwide have promptly emerged. These interactions have benefited primarily the disciplines of knowledge that are directly informing the pandemic response, while other scientific fields have been relegated. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on scientists of all disciplines and from all world regions are discussed here, with a focus on early-career researchers (ECRs), as a vulnerable population in the research system. Young academies and ECR-driven organisations could suggest ECR-powered solutions and actions that could have the potential to mitigate these effects on ECRs working on disciplines not related to the pandemic response. In relation with governments and other scientific organisations, they can have an impact on strengthening and creating fairer scientific systems for ECRs at the national, regional, and global level.

The closely related inhibitory killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR), KIR2DL2 and KIR2DL3, regulate the activation of natural killer cells (NK) by interacting with the human leukocyte antigen-C1 (HLA-C1) group of molecules. KIR2DL2, KIR2DL3 and HLA-C1 are highly polymorphic, with this variation being associated with differences in the onset and progression of some human diseases. However, the molecular bases underlying these associations remain unresolved. Here, we determined the crystal structures of KIR2DL2 and KIR2DL3 in complex with HLA-C*07:02 presenting a self-epitope. KIR2DL2 differed from KIR2DL3 in docking modality over HLA-C*07:02 that correlates with variabilty of recognition of HLA-C1 allotypes. Mutagenesis assays indicated differences in the mechanism of HLA-C1 allotype recognition by KIR2DL2 and KIR2DL3. Similarly, HLA-C1 allotypes differed markedly in their capacity to inhibit activation of primary NK cells. These functional differences derive, in part, from KIR2DS2 suggesting KIR2DL2 and KIR2DL3 binding geometries combine with other factors to distinguish HLA-C1 functional recognition.

The jet energy scale, jet energy resolution, and their systematic uncertainties are measured for jets reconstructed with the ATLAS detector in 2012 using proton-proton data produced at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with an integrated luminosity of 20 fb-1. Jets are reconstructed from clusters of energy depositions in the ATLAS calorimeters using the anti-kt algorithm. A jet calibration scheme is applied in multiple steps, each addressing specific effects including mitigation of contributions from additional proton-proton collisions, loss of energy in dead material, calorimeter non-compensation, angular biases and other global jet effects. The final calibration step uses several in situ techniques and corrects for residual effects not captured by the initial calibration. These analyses measure both the jet energy scale and resolution by exploiting the transverse momentum balance in gamma + jet, Z + jet, dijet, and multijet events. A statistical combination of these measurements is performed. In the central detector region, the derived calibration has a precision better than 1% for jets with transverse momentum 150 GeV

Single Particle Imaging (SPI) with intense coherent X-ray pulses from X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) has the potential to produce molecular structures without the need for crystallization or freezing. Here we present a dataset of 285,944 diffraction patterns from aerosolized Coliphage PR772 virus particles injected into the femtosecond X-ray pulses of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS). Additional exposures with background information are also deposited. The diffraction data were collected at the Atomic, Molecular and Optical Science Instrument (AMO) of the LCLS in 4 experimental beam times during a period of four years. The photon energy was either 1.2 or 1.7keV and the pulse energy was between 2 and 4 mJ in a focal spot of about 1.3 mu m x 1.7 mu m full width at half maximum (FWHM). The X-ray laser pulses captured the particles in random orientations. The data offer insight into aerosolised virus particles in the gas phase, contain information relevant to improving experimental parameters, and provide a basis for developing algorithms for image analysis and reconstruction., QC 20210105

Lifetimes of negative-parity states have been determined in the neutron deficient semi-magic (N = 50) nucleus Rh-95. The fusion-evaporation reaction Ni-58(Ca-40, 3p) was used to populate high-spin states in Rh-95 at the Grand Accelerateur National d'Ions Lourds (GANIL) accelerator facility. The results were obtained using the Doppler Shift Attenuation Method (DSAM) based on the Doppler broadened line shapes produced during the slowing down process of the residual nuclei in a thick 6 mg/cm(2) metallic target. B(M1) and B(E2) reduced transition strengths are compared with predictions from large-scale shell-model calculations. state-of-the-art theory. Remarkably, the structural features up to moderate angular momentum of nuclei immediately below the N = Z = 50 shell closures can be described with high accuracy in a very simple way by shell-model calculations including only the g(9/2) and p(1/2) subshells. Of special interest is the neutron-proton pair coupling scheme which is expected to appear in the heaviest N=Z nuclei [1,2] and the seniority structure of the N = 50 isotones [3-7]. However, multiple core-excited states have been observed in the semi-magic nuclei of the Sn-100 region [8-10]. The theoretical study of those states is a challenging task, which requires a significantly larger model space for their interpretation. Transition probabilities between nuclear states provide important constraints for theoretical modelling of the structure of the nuclei of interest. Our previous lifetime study of the semimagic (N = 50) nucleus Ru-94 [ 11,12] provided information on the electromagnetic decay properties of neutron-core excited states. We now address lifetime measurements in its closest, more neutron deficient, isotone Rh-95 using the same DSAM technique. The experimental results have been interpreted within the framework of large-scale shell-model (LSSM) calculations., QC 20201217