High-energy nuclear collisions create a quark-gluon plasma, whose initial condition and subsequent expansion vary from event to event, impacting the distribution of the eventwise average transverse momentum [P([p_{T}])]. Disentangling the contributions from fluctuations in the nuclear overlap size (geometrical component) and other sources at a fixed size (intrinsic component) remains a challenge. This problem is addressed by measuring the mean, variance, and skewness of P([p_{T}]) in ^{208}Pb+^{208}Pb and ^{129}Xe+^{129}Xe collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNoonan syndrome (NS) is a congenital genetic disorder with a prevalence of 1 in 1000 to 2500 live births, and is characterized by distinctive facial features, short stature, chest deformities, and congenital heart disease. This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of specific genetic mutations and their impact on cardiovascular and other outcomes in NS. We conducted a retrospective clinical study of 25 pediatric patients diagnosed with NS at two institutions: The Mother and Child Health Care Institute of Serbia and the Clinic for Children Diseases, University Clinical Center of the Republic of Srpska.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe confluence of pervasiveness, bioaccumulation, and toxicity in freshwater contaminants presents an environmental threat second to none. Exemplifying this trifecta, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) present an alarming hazard among the emerging contaminants. State-of-the-art PFAS adsorbents used in drinking water treatment, namely, activated carbons and ion-exchange resins, are handicapped by low adsorption capacity, competitive adsorption, and/or slow kinetics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA search for the exclusive hadronic decays W^{±}→π^{±}γ, W^{±}→K^{±}γ, and W^{±}→ρ^{±}γ is performed using up to 140 fb^{-1} of proton-proton collisions recorded with the ATLAS detector at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt[s]=13 TeV. If observed, these rare processes would provide a unique test bench for the quantum chromodynamics factorization formalism used to calculate cross sections at colliders. Additionally, at future colliders, these decays could offer a new way to measure the W boson mass through fully reconstructed decay products.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNovel probiotic yoghurt was produced using the combination of bacterial cultures HA119 and subsp. B94 and yoghurt bacteria subsp. and .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis Letter presents results from a combination of searches for Higgs boson pair production using 126-140 fb^{-1} of proton-proton collision data at sqrt[s]=13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector. At 95% confidence level (CL), the upper limit on the production rate is 2.9 times the standard model (SM) prediction, with an expected limit of 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis Letter presents the first study of the energy dependence of diboson polarization fractions in WZ→ℓνℓ^{'}ℓ^{'}(ℓ,ℓ^{'}=e,μ) production. The dataset used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb^{-1} of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector. Two fiducial regions with an enhanced presence of events featuring two longitudinally polarized bosons are defined.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study investigates the impact of changing parameters on the photocatalytic degradation of carbofuran (CBF) using laser-treated TiO nanotube arrays on a Ti mesh under simulated sunlight irradiation and assessing toxicity during photocatalytic degradation. Various parameters, including the stirring effect, light intensity, initial CBF concentration, and variation in the active surface area of laser-treated TiO photocatalysts, were examined to determine their impact on degradation efficiency. The photodegradation kinetics were monitored using ultra-performance liquid chromatography with a PDA detector (UPLC-PDA) and UV-Vis spectrophotometry, while mineralization was assessed by a total organic carbon (TOC) analyzer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStatistical combinations of searches for charginos and neutralinos using various decay channels are performed using 139 fb^{-1} of pp collision data at sqrt[s]=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Searches targeting pure-wino chargino pair production, pure-wino chargino-neutralino production, or Higgsino production decaying via standard model W, Z, or h bosons are combined to extend the mass reach to the produced supersymmetric particles by 30-100 GeV. The depth of the sensitivity of the original searches is also improved by the combinations, lowering the 95% C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA combination of searches for a new resonance decaying into a Higgs boson pair is presented, using up to 139 fb^{-1} of pp collision data at sqrt[s]=13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The combination includes searches performed in three decay channels: bb[over ¯]bb[over ¯], bb[over ¯]τ^{+}τ^{-}, and bb[over ¯]γγ. No excess above the expected Standard Model background is observed and upper limits are set at the 95% confidence level on the production cross section of Higgs boson pairs originating from the decay of a narrow scalar resonance with mass in the range 251 GeV-5 TeV.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWastewater treatment plants play a crucial role in controlling the transport of pollutants to the environment and often discharge persistent contaminants such as synthetic microplastic fibers (MFs) to the ecosystem. In this study, we examined the fate and toxicity of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) MFs fabricated from commercial cloth in post-disinfection secondary effluents by employing conditions that closely mimic disinfection processes applied in wastewater treatment plants. Challenging conventional assumptions, this study illustrated that oxidative treatment by chlorination and ozonation incurred no significant modification to the surface morphology of the MFs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHiggsinos with masses near the electroweak scale can solve the hierarchy problem and provide a dark matter candidate, while detecting them at the LHC remains challenging if their mass splitting is O(1 GeV). This Letter presents a novel search for nearly mass-degenerate Higgsinos in events with an energetic jet, missing transverse momentum, and a low-momentum track with a significant transverse impact parameter using 140 fb^{-1} of proton-proton collision data at sqrt[s]=13 TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment. For the first time since LEP, a range of mass splittings between the lightest charged and neutral Higgsinos from 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAngular correlations between heavy quarks provide a unique probe of the quark-gluon plasma created in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. Results are presented of a measurement of the azimuthal angle correlations between muons originating from semileptonic decays of heavy quarks produced in 5.02 TeV Pb+Pb and pp collisions at the LHC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study presents an innovative approach for the reuse and recycling of waste material, brewer's spent grain (BSG) for creating a novel green biocatalyst. The same BSG was utilized in several consecutive steps: initially, it served as a substrate for the cultivation and production of laccase by a novel isolated fungal strain, Coriolopsis trogii 2SMKN, then, it was reused as a carrier for laccase immobilization, aiding in the process of azo dye decolorization and finally, reused as recycled BSG for the second successful laccase immobilization for six guaiacol oxidation, contributing to a zero-waste strategy. The novel fungal strain produced laccase with a maximum activity of 171.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis Letter presents the first study of Higgs boson production in association with a vector boson (V=W or Z) in the fully hadronic qqbb final state using data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at sqrt[s]=13 TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb^{-1}. The vector bosons and Higgs bosons are each reconstructed as large-radius jets and tagged using jet substructure techniques. Dedicated tagging algorithms exploiting b-tagging properties are used to identify jets consistent with Higgs bosons decaying into bb[over ¯].
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBearing in mind that coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is associated with a wide range of laboratory abnormalities, the aim of this study was to examine the importance of determining the parameters of oxidative stress and antioxidant protection as well as markers of inflammation and hemostasis in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. The study population included 105 patients with severe COVID-19 and 65 healthy control subjects. The parameters of oxidative stress and the activity of enzymes of the antioxidant system were determined from the obtained samples using spectrophotometric methods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFATLAS measured the centrality dependence of the dijet yield using 165 nb^{-1} of p+Pb data collected at sqrt[s_{NN}]=8.16 TeV in 2016. The event centrality, which reflects the p+Pb impact parameter, is characterized by the total transverse energy registered in the Pb-going side of the forward calorimeter.
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