Search for a very light NMSSM Higgs boson produced in decays of the 125 GeV scalar boson and decaying into τ leptons in pp collisions at s = 8 $$ \sqrt{s}=8 $$ TeV

Khachatryan, V.,Sirunyan, A. M.,Tumasyan, A.,Adam, W.,Asilar, E.,Bergauer, T.,Brandstetter, J.,Brondolin, E.,Dragicevic, M.,Erö,, J.,Flechl, M.,Friedl, M.,Frü,hwirth, R.,Ghete, V. M.,Hartl, C. Springer-Verlag 2016 Journal of high energy physics Vol.2016 No.1

<P>A search for a very light Higgs boson decaying into a pair of tau leptons is presented within the framework of the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model. This search is based on a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb(-1) of proton-proton collisions collected by the CMS experiment at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The signal is defined by the production of either of the two lightest scalars, h(1) or h(2), via gluon-gluon fusion and subsequent decay into a pair of the lightest Higgs bosons, a(1) or h(1). The h(1) or h(2) boson is identified with the observed state at a mass of 125 GeV. The analysis searches for decays of the a(1) (h(1)) states into pairs of tau leptons and covers a mass range for the a(1) (h(1)) boson of 4 to 8 GeV. The search reveals no significant excess in data above standard model background expectations, and an upper limit is set on the signal production cross section times branching fraction as a function of the a(1) (h(1)) boson mass. The 95% confidence level limit ranges from 4.5 pb at m(a1) (m(h1)) = 8 GeV to 10.3 pb at m(a1) (m(h1)) = 5 GeV.</P>

J-PLUS: Identification of low-metallicity stars with artificial neural networks using SPHINX

Whitten, D. D.,Placco, V. M.,Beers, T. C.,Chies-Santos, A. L.,Bonatto, C.,Varela, J.,Cristó,bal-Hornillos, D.,Ederoclite, A.,Masseron, T.,Lee, Y. S.,Akras, S.,Borges Fernandes, M.,Caballero, J. Springer-Verlag 2019 Astronomy and astrophysics Vol.622 No.-

<P><I>Context.</I> We present a new methodology for the estimation of stellar atmospheric parameters from narrow- and intermediate-band photometry of the Javalambre Photometric Local Universe Survey (J-PLUS), and propose a method for target pre-selection of low-metallicity stars for follow-up spectroscopic studies. Photometric metallicity estimates for stars in the globular cluster M15 are determined using this method.</P><P><I>Aims.</I> By development of a neural-network-based photometry pipeline, we aim to produce estimates of effective temperature, <I>T</I>eff, and metallicity, [Fe/H], for a large subset of stars in the J-PLUS footprint.</P><P><I>Methods.</I> The Stellar Photometric Index Network Explorer, SPHINX, was developed to produce estimates of <I>T</I>eff and [Fe/H], after training on a combination of J-PLUS photometric inputs and synthetic magnitudes computed for medium-resolution (<I>R</I> ~ 2000) spectra of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. This methodology was applied to J-PLUS photometry of the globular cluster M15.</P><P><I>Results.</I> Effective temperature estimates made with J-PLUS Early Data Release photometry exhibit low scatter, σ(<I>T</I>eff) = 91 K, over the temperature range 4500 < <I>T</I>eff (K) < 8500. For stars from the J-PLUS First Data Release with 4500 < <I>T</I>eff (K) < 6200, 85 ± 3% of stars known to have [Fe/H] < −2.0 are recovered by SPHINX. A mean metallicity of [Fe/H] = − 2.32 ± 0.01, with a residual spread of 0.3 dex, is determined for M15 using J-PLUS photometry of 664 likely cluster members.</P><P><I>Conclusions.</I> We confirm the performance of SPHINX within the ranges specified, and verify its utility as a stand-alone tool for photometric estimation of effective temperature and metallicity, and for pre-selection of metal-poor spectroscopic targets.</P>

THE UNAM-KIAS CATALOG OF ISOLATED GALAXIES

Herná,ndez-Toledo, H. M.,Vá,zquez-Mata, J. A.,Martí,nez-Vá,zquez, L. A.,Choi, Yun-Young,Park, Changbom American Institute of Physics 2010 The Astronomical journal Vol.139 No.6

<P>A new catalog of isolated galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 5 (SDSS DR5) is presented. A total of 1520 isolated galaxies were found in 1.4 sr of sky. The selection criteria in this UNAM-KIAS catalog are a variation on the criteria developed by Karachentseva, including full redshift information. Through an image processing pipeline that takes advantage of the high-resolution (~0<img entity='farcs' SRC='http://ej.iop.org/icons/Entities/farcs.gif' ALT='farcs' ALIGN='BOTTOM' />4 pixel<SUP>–1</SUP>) and high dynamic range of the SDSS images, a uniform g-band morphological classification for all these galaxies is presented. We identify 80% (Sa-Sm) spirals (50% later than Sbc types) on one hand, and a scarce population of early-type E (6.5%) and S0 (8%) galaxies amounting to 14.5% on the other hand. This magnitude-limited catalog is ~80% complete at 16.5, 15.6, 15.2, 14.6, and 14.4 mag in the ugriz bands, respectively. Some representative physical properties including SDSS magnitudes and color distributions, color-color diagrams, absolute magnitude-color, and concentration-color diagrams as a function of morphological type are presented. The UNAM-KIAS Morphological Atlas is also released along with this paper. For each galaxy of a type later than Sa, a mosaic is presented that includes (1) a g-band logarithmic image, (2) a g-band filtered-enhanced image where a Gaussian kernel of various sizes was applied, and (3) a red giant branch color image from the SDSS database. For E/S0/Sa galaxies, in addition to the images in (1), (2), and (3), plots of r-band surface brightness and geometric profiles (ellipticity ε, position angle PA, and A<SUB>4</SUB>/B<SUB>4</SUB> coefficients of the Fourier series expansions of deviations of a pure ellipse) are provided. The size of the sample, the redshift completeness, the availability of high-quality multicolor photometric data and detailed morphological and spectroscopic information make the UNAM-KIAS catalog of isolated galaxies a suitable sample to address important issues such as (1) comparative studies of environmental effects, (2) constraining the currently competing scenarios of galaxy formation and evolution, (3) the nature and evolution of elliptical and spiral galaxies in the field, (4) the spectral properties of a statistically significant number of isolated galaxies and their evolution as a function of redshift, and (5) the fraction of active galactic nuclei in isolated environments, among other important topics. The optimization and estimation of new structural parameters as well as important information to complement existing ones in other wavelengths is being carried out.</P>

Electrical properties and deep traps spectra of a-plane GaN films grown on r-plane sapphire

Polyakov, A.Y.,Smirnov, N.B.,Govorkov, A.V.,Markov, A.V.,Sun, Q.,Zhang, Y.,Yerino, C.D.,Ko, T.S.,Lee, I.H.,Han, J. Elsevier 2010 Materials science & engineering. B, Advanced funct Vol.166 No.3

Electrical properties, deep traps spectra and luminescence spectra were studied for two undoped a-plane GaN (a-GaN) films grown on r-plane sapphire using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition and differing by structural perfection. For sample A, the a-GaN film was directly deposited on AlN buffer. A two-step growth scheme was implemented for sample B, including an initial islanding growth stage and a subsequent enhanced lateral growth. Preliminary detailed X-ray analysis showed that the stacking faults density was 8x10<SUP>5</SUP>cm<SUP>-1</SUP> for sample A and 1.7x10<SUP>5</SUP>cm<SUP>-1</SUP> for sample B. Electrical properties of a-GaN films were largely determined by deep traps with a level near E<SUB>c</SUB> -0.6eV, with other prominent traps having the activation energy of 0.25eV. The Fermi level was pinned by the E<SUB>c</SUB> -0.6eV deep traps for sample A, but shifted to the vicinity of the shallower 0.25eV traps for sample B, most likely due to the reduced density of the 0.6eV traps. This decrease of deep traps density is accompanied by a very pronounced improvement in the overall luminescence intensity. A correlation of the observed improvement in deep traps spectra and luminescence efficiency with the improved crystalline quality of the films is discussed.

Characteristics of a-GaN films and a-AlGaN/GaN heterojunctions prepared on r-sapphire by two-stage growth process

Polyakov, A. Y.,Jang, Lee-Woon,Smirnov, N. B.,Govorkov, A. V.,Kozhukhova, E. A.,Yugova, T. G.,Reznik, V. Y.,Pearton, S. J.,Baik, Kwang Hyeon,Hwang, Sung-Min,Jung, Sukkoo,Lee, In-Hwan American Institute of Physics 2011 JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS - Vol.110 No.9

<P>The electrical properties, presence of deep electron and hole traps and photoluminescence spectra were measured for undoped a-GaN films grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) in a two-stage process using a high V/III ratio at the first stage and low V/III ratio at the second stage. Growth was performed on r-sapphire substrates with a high temperature GaN nucleation layer. The films showed a full width at half maximum of 450-470 arcseconds for the (11-20) x-ray rocking curve with little anisotropy with respect to the sample rotation around the growth direction. The stacking fault (SF) density determined by selective etching was similar to 5 x 10(4) cm(-1). The residual donor concentration was 10(14)-10(15) cm(-3), with a very low density (2.5 x 10(13) cm(-3)) of electron traps located at E-c - 0.6 eV, which are believed to be one of the major non-radiative recombination centers in nonpolar GaN. Consequently, the films showed a high intensity of bandedge luminescence with negligible contribution from defect bands associated with SFs. In contrast to previously studied nonpolar GaN films, the a-GaN layers showed a high concentration of gallium-vacancy-related acceptors near E-v + 1 eV and a strong yellow luminescence band, both indicating that growth conditions were effectively N-rich. a-AlGaN/GaN heterojunctions with thin heavily Si doped AlGaN barriers made on a-GaN substrates showed two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) concentrations of 1.2 x 10(13) cm(-3), with 2DEG mobility of 80 cm(2)/Vs. Capacitance-voltage profiling of Schottky diodes on these HJs suggest that the 2DEG is fully depleted by the built-in voltage of the Schottky diode. (C)2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3658026]</P>

Differential effects of triterpene glycosides, frondoside A and cucumarioside A₂-2 isolated from sea cucumbers on caspase activation and apoptosis of human leukemia cells

Jin, J.O.,Shastina, V.V.,Shin, S.W.,Xu, Q.,Park, J.I.,Rasskazov, V.A.,Avilov, S.A.,Fedorov, S.N.,Stonik, V.A.,Kwak, J.Y. North-Holland Pub ; Elsevier Science Ltd 2009 FEBS letters Vol.583 No.4

Frondoside A is a pentaoside having an acetyl moiety at the aglycon ring and xylose as a third monosaccharide residue. Cucumarioside A<SUB>2</SUB>-2 is a pentaoside having glucose as a third monosaccahride unit. We compared the effects of frondoside A and A<SUB>2</SUB>-2 for cell death-inducing capability with close attention paid to structure-activity relationships. Both frondoside A and A<SUB>2</SUB>-2 strongly induced apoptosis of leukemic cells. Frondoside A-induced apoptosis was more potent and rapid than A<SUB>2</SUB>-2-induced apoptosis. A<SUB>2</SUB>-2-induced but not frondoside A-induced apoptosis was caspase-dependent. This suggests that holothurians may induce apoptosis of leukemic cells caspase-dependently or -independently, depending on the holothurian structure.

Fast response of sprayed vanadium pentoxide (V₂O₅) nanorods towards nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) gas detection

Mane, A.A.,Suryawanshi, M.P.,Kim, J.H.,Moholkar, A.V. Elsevier BV * North-Holland 2017 Applied Surface Science Vol.403 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>The V<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>5</SUB> nanorods have been successfully spray deposited at optimized substrate temperature of 400°C onto the glass substrates using vanadium trichloride (VCl<SUB>3</SUB>) solution of different concentrations. The effect of solution concentration on the physicochemical and NO<SUB>2</SUB> gas sensing properties of sprayed V<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>5</SUB> nanorods is studied at different operating temperatures and gas concentrations. The XRD study reveals the formation of V<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>5</SUB> having an orthorhombic symmetry. The FE-SEM micrographs show the nanorods-like morphology of V<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>5</SUB>. The AFM micrographs exhibit a well covered granular surface topography. For direct allowed transition, the band gap energy values are found to be decreased from 2.45eV to 2.42eV. The nanorods deposited with 30mM solution concentration shows the maximum response of 24.2% for 100ppm NO<SUB>2</SUB> gas concentration at an operating temperature of 200°C with response and recovery times of 13s and 140s, respectively. Finally, the chemisorption mechanism of NO<SUB>2</SUB> gas on the V<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>5</SUB> nanorods is discussed.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> Effect of solution concentration on physicochemical properties of sprayed V<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>5</SUB> nanorods is studied. </LI> <LI> Good re­sponse and short re­sponse- re­covery times of V<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>5</SUB> nanorods towards NO<SUB>2</SUB> gas show it is potential material for fab­ri­ca­tion of NO<SUB>2</SUB> sensor. </LI> <LI> The chemisorption mechanism of NO<SUB>2</SUB> gas on the V<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>5</SUB> nanorods is discussed. </LI> </UL> </P> <P><B>Graphical abstract</B></P> <P>[DISPLAY OMISSION]</P>

Relativistic jet activity from the tidal disruption of a star by a massive black hole

Burrows, D. N.,Kennea, J. A.,Ghisellini, G.,Mangano, V.,Zhang, B.,Page, K. L.,Eracleous, M.,Romano, P.,Sakamoto, T.,Falcone, A. D.,Osborne, J. P.,Campana, S.,Beardmore, A. P.,Breeveld, A. A.,Chester, Nature Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan P 2011 Nature Vol.476 No.7361

Supermassive black holes have powerful gravitational fields with strong gradients that can destroy stars that get too close, producing a bright flare in ultraviolet and X-ray spectral regions from stellar debris that forms an accretion disk around the black hole. The aftermath of this process may have been seen several times over the past two decades in the form of sparsely sampled, slowly fading emission from distant galaxies, but the onset of the stellar disruption event has not hitherto been observed. Here we report observations of a bright X-ray flare from the extragalactic transient Swift J164449.3+573451. This source increased in brightness in the X-ray band by a factor of at least 10,000 since 1990 and by a factor of at least 100 since early 2010. We conclude that we have captured the onset of relativistic jet activity from a supermassive black hole. A companion paper comes to similar conclusions on the basis of radio observations. This event is probably due to the tidal disruption of a star falling into a supermassive black hole, but the detailed behaviour differs from current theoretical models of such events.

Characterization of Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci and Drug Ligand Interaction between vanA of E. faecalis with the Bio-Compounds from Aegles marmelos

V Jayavarsha,A.S Smiline Girija,Gunasekaran Shoba,J Vijayashree Priyadharsini 대한약침학회 2023 Journal of pharmacopuncture Vol.26 No.3

Objectives: Enterococcus faecalis is a gram positive diplococci, highly versatile and a normal commensal of the gut microbiome. Resistance to vancomycin is a serious issue in various health-care setting exhibited by vancomycin resistant Enterococci (VRE) due to the alteration in the peptidoglycan synthesis pathway. This study is thus aimed to detect the VRE from the patients with root caries from the clinical isolates of E. faecalis and to evaluate the in-silico interactions between vanA and the Aegles marmelos bio-compounds. Methods: E. faecalis was phenotypically characterized from 20 root caries samples and the frequency of vanA and vanB genes was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Further crude methanolic extracts from the dried leaves of A. marmelos was assessed for its antimicrobial activity. This is followed by the selection of five A. marmelos bio-compounds for the computational approach towards the drug ligand interactions. Results: 12 strains (60%) of E. faecalis was identified from the root caries samples and vanA was detected from two strains (16%). Both the stains showed the presence of vanA and none of the strains possessed vanB. Crude extract of A. marmelos showed promising antibacterial activity against the VRE strains. In-silico analysis of the A. marmelos biocompounds revealed Imperatonin as the best compound with high docking energy (–8.11) and hydrogen bonds with < 140 TPSA (Topological polar surface area) and zero violations. Conclusion: The present study records the VRE strains among the root caries with imperatorin from A. marmelos as a promising drug candidate. However the study requires further experimentation and validation.

Evidence for exclusive γγ → W + W − production and constraints on anomalous quartic gauge couplings in pp collisions at s = 7 $$ \sqrt{s}=7 $$ and 8 TeV

Khachatryan, V.,Sirunyan, A. M.,Tumasyan, A.,Adam, W.,Asilar, E.,Bergauer, T.,Brandstetter, J.,Brondolin, E.,Dragicevic, M.,Erö,, J.,Flechl, M.,Friedl, M.,Frü,hwirth, R.,Ghete, V. M.,Hartl, C. Institute of Physics Pub 2016 The journal of high energy physics Vol.2016 No.8

<P>A search for exclusive or quasi-exclusive gamma gamma -> W (+) W (-) production, via pp -> p ((*)) W (+) W (-) p ((*)) -> p ((*)) mu (+/-)e(a') p ((*)) at TeV, is reported using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb(-1). Events are selected by requiring the presence of an electron-muon pair with large transverse momentum p (T)(mu (+/-)e(a')) > 30 GeV, and no associated charged particles detected from the same vertex. The 8 TeV results are combined with the previous 7 TeV results (obtained for 5.05 fb(-1) of data). In the signal region, 13 (2) events are observed over an expected background of 3.9 +/- 0.6 (0.84 +/- 0.15) events for 8 (7) TeV, resulting in a combined excess of 3.4 sigma over the background-only hypothesis. The observed yields and kinematic distributions are compatible with the standard model prediction for exclusive and quasi-exclusive gamma gamma -> W (+) W (-) production. Upper limits on the anomalous quartic gauge coupling operators a (0,C) (W) (dimension-6) and f (M0,1,2,3) (dimension-8), the most stringent to date, are derived from the measured dilepton transverse momentum spectrum.</P>