F. Romeo

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) caused by carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) in patients hospitalized in intensive care units (ICUs) is an important and challenging complication, including in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Considering the poor lung penetration of most antibiotics, including intravenous colistin due to the poor pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics at the infection site, the choice of the best antibiotic regimen is still being debated. This single-centre, observational study was conducted from March 2020 to August 2022, and included all patients hospitalized consecutively with VAP and concomitant bloodstream infection due to CRAB in the COVID-ICU. The main goal of the study was to evaluate risk factors associated with survival or death at 30 days from VAP onset. A propensity score for receiving therapy was added to the model. During the study period, 73 patients who developed VAP and concomitant positive blood cultures caused by CRAB were enrolled in the COVID-ICU. Of these patients, 67 (91.7%) developed septic shock, 42 (57.5%) had died at 14 days and 59 (80.8%) had died at 30 days. Overall, 54 (74%) patients were treated with a colistin-containing regimen and 19 (26%) were treated with a cefiderocol-containing regimen. Cox regression analysis showed that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and age were independently associated with 30-day mortality. Conversely, cefiderocol-containing regimens and cefiderocol + fosfomycin in combination were independently associated with 30-day survival, as confirmed by propensity score analysis. This real-life study in patients with bacteraemic VAP caused by CRAB provides useful suggestions for clinicians, showing a possible benefit of cefiderocol and its association with fosfomycin.

The High Luminosity phase of the Large Hadron Collider will deliver 10 times more integrated luminosity than the existing collider, posing significant challenges for radiation tolerance and event pileup on detectors, especially for forward calorimetry. As part of its upgrade program, the Compact Muon Solenoid collaboration is designing a high-granularity calorimeter (HGCAL) to replace the existing endcap calorimeters. It will feature unprecedented transverse and longitudinal readout and triggering segmentation for both electromagnetic and hadronic sections. The electromagnetic section and a large fraction of the hadronic section will be based on hexagonal silicon sensors of 0.5–1 cm2 cell size, with the remainder of the hadronic section being based on highly-segmented scintillators with silicon photomultiplier readout. The intrinsic high-precision timing capabilities of the silicon sensors will add an extra dimension to event reconstruction, especially in terms of pileup rejection. First hexagonal silicon modules, using the existing Skiroc2 front-end ASIC developed for CALICE, have been tested in beams at Fermilab and CERN in 2016. We present results from these tests, in terms of system stability, calibration with minimum-ionizing particles and resolution (energy, position and timing) for electrons, and the comparisons of these quantities with GEANT4-based simulation.

Sepsis is a life-threatening multiple-organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection, with high mortality worldwide; 11 million deaths per year are attributable to sepsis in high-income countries. Several research groups have reported that septic patients display a dysbiotic gut microbiota, often related to high mortality. Based on current knowledge, in this narrative review, we revised original articles, clinical trials, and pilot studies to evaluate the beneficial effect of gut microbiota manipulation in clinical practice, starting from an early diagnosis of sepsis and an in-depth analysis of gut microbiota.

We investigate the search for heavy Majorana neutrinos stemming from a composite model scenario at the upcoming LHC Run II at a centre of mass energy of 13 TeV. While previous studies of the composite Majorana neutrino were focussed on gauge interactions via magnetic type transition coupling between ordinary and heavy fermions (with mass $$m^*$$ ) here we complement the composite model with contact interactions at the energy scale $$\Lambda $$ and we find that the production cross sections are dominated by such contact interactions by roughly two/three orders of magnitude. This mechanism provides therefore very interesting rates at the prospected luminosities. We study the same-sign di-lepton and di-jet signature ( $$pp \rightarrow \ell \ell jj$$ ) and perform a fast detector simulation based on Delphes. We compute 3 $$\sigma $$ and 5 $$\sigma $$ contour plots of the statistical significance in the parameter space ( $$\Lambda ,m^*$$ ). We find that the potentially excluded regions at $$\sqrt{s} =13$$ TeV are quite larger than those excluded so far at Run I considering searches with other signatures.

A new physics scenario shows that four-fermion operators of Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) type have a strong-coupling UV fixed point, where composite fermions $F$ (bosons $\Pi$) form as bound states of three (two) SM elementary fermions and they couple to their constituents via effective contact interactions at the composite scale $\Lambda \approx {\cal O} $(TeV). We present a phenomenological study to investigate such composite particles at the LHC by computing the production cross sections and decay widths of composite fermions in the context of the relevant experiments at the LHC with $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}={\rm 13}$ TeV and $\sqrt{s}={\rm 14}$ TeV. Systematically examining all the different composite particles $F$ and the signatures with which they can manifest, we found a vast spectrum of composite particles $F$ that has not yet been explored at the LHC. Recasting the recent CMS results of the resonant channel $pp\rightarrow e^+F \rightarrow e^+e^- q\bar{q}'$, we find that the composite fermion mass $m_F$ below 4.25 TeV is excluded for $\Lambda$/$m_F$ = 1. We further highlight the region of parameter space where this specific composite particle $F$ can appear using 3 ab$^{-1}$, expected by the High-Luminosity LHC, computing 3 and 5 $\sigma$ contour plots of its statistical significance.

The production of heavy mass resonances has been widely studied theoretically and experimentally. Several extensions of the standard model (SM) of particle physics, naturally give rise to a new resonance, with neutral electric charge, commonly referred to as the $\textrm{Z}^{\prime}$ boson. The nature, mass, couplings, and associated quantum numbers of this hypothetical particle are yet to be determined. We present a feasibility study on the production of a vector like $\textrm{Z}^{\prime}$ boson at the LHC, with preferential couplings to third generation fermions, considering proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ $\mathrm{TeV}$ and 14 TeV. We work under two simplified phenomenological frameworks where the $\mathrm{Z}^{\prime}$ masses and couplings to the SM particles are free parameters, and consider final states of the $\textrm{Z}^{\prime}$ decaying to a pair of $\mathrm{b}$ quarks. The analysis is performed using machine learning techniques in order to maximize the experimental sensitivity. The proposed search methodology can be a key mode for discovery, complementary to the existing search strategies considered in literature, and extends the LHC sensitivity to the $\mathrm{Z}^{\prime}$ parameter space.

The most recent results from searches of leptoquark-like signatures are presented using 1.03 and 4.7 fb−1 of pp collision data collected by the ATLAS detector with s=7 TeV and 19.6 fb−1 of pp collision data collected by the CMS detector with s=8 TeV at the LHC. First- and second-generation scalar leptoquarks are looked for in the final states with either two leptons and two jets (ℓℓ+jj, ℓ=e, μ) or one lepton, missing transverse energy, and two jets (ℓν+jj, ℓ=e, μ). Apart from leptoquark investigations, the ℓℓ+jj final states are further studied in a search for W bosons with right-handed couplings that arise in left-right models. Third-generation scalar leptoquarks are looked for in the final state with two tau leptons and two b quarks or two top quarks (ττ+bb and ττ+tt). The ττ+bb final state is also sensitive to stop pairs decaying through R-parity violating and conserving processes that are foreseen in some models of supersymmetry. In addition, results are shown for third-generation scalar leptoquarks in the final states bb+νν and tt+νν, reinterpreting searches for bottom and top squark pair production. 95% confidence level upper limits are set on the scalar leptoquark pair production cross section times branching fraction in each decay channel as a function of the leptoquark mass and the branching ratio of decay.

Acute coronary syndromes (ACS) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. As cytomegalovirus (CMV) may contribute to cardio-vascular (CV) manifestations, we sought to provide a proof-of-concept for the involvement of coronary and/or systemic CMV-reactivation as a possible ACS trigger.We prospectively enrolled consecutive patients undergoing a coronary angiography for ACS (acute-cases, N.=136), or non-ACS reasons (chronic-cases, N.=57). Matched coronary and peripheral blood-samples were processed for quantification of CMV-DNAemia (RT-PCR), CMV-IgG/IgM, and CMV-IgG avidity (ELISA). Peripheral-blood samples from 17 healthy subjects were included as controls.Out of the 193 cases included, 18.1% were aged ≤55 years, 92.5% were Central-European, and 100% immunocompetent. CMV-IgG seroprevalence was 91.7% (95%CI: 87.8-95.6), significantly higher than in healthy-controls (52.9% [95%CI: 29.2-76.5]; P<0.001), yet consistent across age-groups (P=0.602), male/females (P=0.765), and acute/chronic-cases (P=0.157). Median (IQR) IgG titers were 110 (84-163) AU/mL, with 0.62 (0.52-0.72) avidity, supporting a long history of infection. No acute CMV infections were found. In 22.6% (n/N.=40/177) of the IgG-positive cases low-level coronary and/or systemic CMV-DNAemia (always <40 copies/mL) was detected. While no differences in peripheral CMV-DNAemia prevalence were observed nor among cases nor controls, coronary CMV-DNAemia was more frequent in acute-cases without modifiable CV risk-factors (n/N.=4/10; 40.0%), than in chronic-cases (n/N.=6/55, 10.9%; P=0.029), or acute-cases with risk-factors (n/N.=16/112, 14.3%; P=0.058).CMV-IgG seroprevalence was high in patients with heart diseases. CMV-DNAemia can be found, although uncommonly, in coronary circulation during an ACS, with increased prevalence in older subjects and in absence of CV risk-factors, identifying possible areas for novel interventions.

A tight binding supercell approach is used for the calculation of the electronic structure of the (111) LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ interface. The confinement potential at the interface is evaluated solving a discrete Poisson equation by means of an iterative method. In addition to the effect of the confinement, local Hubbard electron-electron terms are included at mean-field level within a fully self-consistent procedure. The calculation carefully describes how the two-dimensional electron gas arises from the quantum confinement of electrons near the interface due to band bending potential. The resulting electronic sub-bands and Fermi surfaces show full agreement with the electronic structure determined by angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy experiments. In particular, it is analyzed how the effect of local Hubbard interactions changes the density distribution over the layers from the interface to the bulk. Interestingly, the two-dimensional electron gas at interface is not depleted by local Hubbard interactions which indeed induce an enhancement of the electron density between the first layers and the bulk.

&lt;p&gt;RNA library preparation and sequencing. Classification of molecular subtypes. Immunohistochemical analysis.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Molecule activity predictor analysis of Ingenuity Pathway Analysis performed on Cdc42 signaling and Rac signaling in PDE5-overexpressing MCF-7 cells compared to vector-transfected cells.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Effects of PDE5 overexpression on c-Myc and NF-κB Activation.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Characteristic of breast cancer cohort.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Differentially expressed genes identified by RNA sequencing in PDE5-overexpressing MCF-7 cells compared to empty-vector transfected cells.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Abstract&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Purpose:&lt;/b&gt; By catalyzing cGMP hydrolysis, phosphodiesterase (PDE) 5 is a critical regulator of its concentration and effects in different (patho)physiologic processes, including cancers. As PDE5 is a known druggable target, we investigated the clinical significance of its expression in breast cancer and the underlying mechanisms by which it may contribute to tumor progression.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Experimental Design:&lt;/b&gt; PDE5 expression was evaluated in seven breast cancer cell lines by RT-PCR and immunoblotting. To examine the impact of PDE5 on cancer phenotype, MCF-7 cells expressing lower levels of the enzyme were engineered to stably overexpress PDE5. Proliferation was evaluated by MTT assays, motility and invasion by wound-healing/transmigration/invasion assays, transcriptome-profiling by RNA-sequencing, and Rho GTPase signaling activation by GST-pulldown assays and immunoblotting. Clinical relevance was investigated by IHC on tissues and retrospective studies from METABRIC cohort.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Results:&lt;/b&gt; PDE5 is differentially expressed in each molecular subtype of both breast cancer cell lines and tissues, with higher levels representing a startling feature of HER2-positive and triple-negative breast cancers. A positive correlation was established between elevated PDE5 levels and cancers of high histologic grade. Higher PDE5 expression correlated with shorter patient survival in retrospective analyses. On molecular level, stable PDE5 overexpression in Luminal-A–like MCF-7 cells resulted in enhanced motility and invasion through Rho GTPase signaling activation. Treatment of PDE5-stable clones with selective ROCK or PDE5 inhibitors completely restored the less motile and weak invasive behavior of control vector cells.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Conclusions:&lt;/b&gt; PDE5 expression enhances breast cancer cell invasive potential, highlighting this enzyme as a novel prognostic candidate and an attractive target for future therapy in breast cancers. &lt;i&gt;Clin Cancer Res; 22(9); 2271–82. ©2015 AACR&lt;/i&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Abstract&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Purpose:&lt;/b&gt; By catalyzing cGMP hydrolysis, phosphodiesterase (PDE) 5 is a critical regulator of its concentration and effects in different (patho)physiologic processes, including cancers. As PDE5 is a known druggable target, we investigated the clinical significance of its expression in breast cancer and the underlying mechanisms by which it may contribute to tumor progression.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Experimental Design:&lt;/b&gt; PDE5 expression was evaluated in seven breast cancer cell lines by RT-PCR and immunoblotting. To examine the impact of PDE5 on cancer phenotype, MCF-7 cells expressing lower levels of the enzyme were engineered to stably overexpress PDE5. Proliferation was evaluated by MTT assays, motility and invasion by wound-healing/transmigration/invasion assays, transcriptome-profiling by RNA-sequencing, and Rho GTPase signaling activation by GST-pulldown assays and immunoblotting. Clinical relevance was investigated by IHC on tissues and retrospective studies from METABRIC cohort.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Results:&lt;/b&gt; PDE5 is differentially expressed in each molecular subtype of both breast cancer cell lines and tissues, with higher levels representing a startling feature of HER2-positive and triple-negative breast cancers. A positive correlation was established between elevated PDE5 levels and cancers of high histologic grade. Higher PDE5 expression correlated with shorter patient survival in retrospective analyses. On molecular level, stable PDE5 overexpression in Luminal-A–like MCF-7 cells resulted in enhanced motility and invasion through Rho GTPase signaling activation. Treatment of PDE5-stable clones with selective ROCK or PDE5 inhibitors completely restored the less motile and weak invasive behavior of control vector cells.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Conclusions:&lt;/b&gt; PDE5 expression enhances breast cancer cell invasive potential, highlighting this enzyme as a novel prognostic candidate and an attractive target for future therapy in breast cancers. &lt;i&gt;Clin Cancer Res; 22(9); 2271–82. ©2015 AACR&lt;/i&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Characteristic of breast cancer cohort.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Molecule activity predictor analysis of Ingenuity Pathway Analysis performed on Cdc42 signaling and Rac signaling in PDE5-overexpressing MCF-7 cells compared to vector-transfected cells.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Differentially expressed genes identified by RNA sequencing in PDE5-overexpressing MCF-7 cells compared to empty-vector transfected cells.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;RNA library preparation and sequencing. Classification of molecular subtypes. Immunohistochemical analysis.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Effects of PDE5 overexpression on c-Myc and NF-κB Activation.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Supplementary Figures S1-S6 and Supplementary Tables S1-S3.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Supplementary Figures S1-S6 and Supplementary Tables S1-S3.&lt;/p&gt;

Deep learning approaches for jet tagging in high-energy physics are characterized as black boxes that process a large amount of information from which it is difficult to extract key distinctive observables. In this proceeding, we present an alternative to deep learning approaches, Boost Invariant Polynomials, which enables direct analysis of simple analytic expressions representing the most important features in a given task. Further, we show how this approach provides an extremely low dimensional classifier with a minimum set of features representing %effective discriminating physically relevant observables and how it consequently speeds up the algorithm execution, with relatively close performance to the algorithm using the full information.

In this paper, by using a combinatorial approach, we establish a new upper bound for the F-threshold $c^\mm(\mm)$ of determinantal rings generated by maximal minors. We prove that $c^\mm(\mm)$ coincides with the $a$-invariant in the case of $3\times n$ and $4\times n$ matrices and we conjecture such equality holds for all matrices.

We present a detailed study concerning a new physics scenario involving four fermion operators of the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio type characterized by a strong-coupling ultraviolet fixed point where composite particles are formed as bound states of elementary fermions at the scale $\Lambda ={\cal O}(\text{TeV})$. After implementing the model in the Universal FeynRules Output format, we focus on the phenomenology of the scalar leptoquarks at the LHC and the High-Luminosity option. Leptoquark particles have undergone extensive scrutiny in the literature and experimental searches, primarily relying on pair production and, more recently, incorporating single, t-channel, and lepton-induced processes. This study marks, for the first time, the examination of these production modes at varying jet multiplicities. Novel mechanisms emerge, enhancing the total production cross-section, especially for leptoquarks couplings to higher fermion generations. A global strategy is devised to capture all final state particles produced in association with leptoquarks or originating from their decay, which we termed ``exclusive'', in an analogy to the nomenclature used in nuclear reactions. The assessment of the significance in current and future LHC runs, focusing on the case of leptoquark coupling to a muon - $\textit{c}$ quark pair, reveals superior sensitivity compared to ongoing searches. Given this heightened discovery potential, we advocate the incorporation of exclusive leptoquark searches in future investigations at the LHC.

&lt;div&gt;Abstract&lt;p&gt;γ-secretase inhibitors have been proposed as drugs able to kill cancer cells by targeting the &lt;i&gt;NOTCH&lt;/i&gt; pathway. Here, we investigated two of such inhibitors, the Benzyloxicarbonyl-Leu-Leu-Nle-CHO (LLNle) and the &lt;i&gt;N&lt;/i&gt;-[&lt;i&gt;N&lt;/i&gt;-(3,5-difluorophenacetyl)-l-alanyl]-&lt;i&gt;S&lt;/i&gt;-phenylglycine &lt;i&gt;t&lt;/i&gt;-butyl ester (DAPT), to assess whether they were effective in killing human glioblastoma tumor–initiating cells (GBM TIC) &lt;i&gt;in vitro&lt;/i&gt;. We found that only LLNle was able at the micromolar range to induce the death of GBM TICs by apoptosis. To determine the cellular processes that were activated in GBM TICs by treatment with LLNle, we analyzed the amount of the NOTCH intracellular domain and the gene expression profiles following treatment with LLNle, DAPT, and DMSO (vehicle). We found that LLNIe, beside inhibiting the generation of the NOTCH intracellular domain, also induces proteasome inhibition, proteolytic stress, and mitotic arrest in these cells by repressing genes required for DNA synthesis and mitotic progression and by activating genes acting as mitotic inhibitors. DNA content flow cytometry clearly showed that cells treated with LLNle undergo arrest in the G&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;-M phases of the cell cycle. We also found that DAPT and L-685,458, another selective Notch inhibitor, were unable to kill GBM TICs, whereas lactacystin, a pure proteasome inhibitor, was effective although at a much less extent than LLNle. These data show that LLNle kills GBM TIC cells by inhibiting the proteasome activity. We suggest that LLNle, being able to target two relevant pathways for GBM TIC survival, may have a potential therapeutic value that deserves further investigation in animal models. (Mol Cancer Res 2009;7(11):1822–34)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Abstract&lt;p&gt;γ-secretase inhibitors have been proposed as drugs able to kill cancer cells by targeting the &lt;i&gt;NOTCH&lt;/i&gt; pathway. Here, we investigated two of such inhibitors, the Benzyloxicarbonyl-Leu-Leu-Nle-CHO (LLNle) and the &lt;i&gt;N&lt;/i&gt;-[&lt;i&gt;N&lt;/i&gt;-(3,5-difluorophenacetyl)-l-alanyl]-&lt;i&gt;S&lt;/i&gt;-phenylglycine &lt;i&gt;t&lt;/i&gt;-butyl ester (DAPT), to assess whether they were effective in killing human glioblastoma tumor–initiating cells (GBM TIC) &lt;i&gt;in vitro&lt;/i&gt;. We found that only LLNle was able at the micromolar range to induce the death of GBM TICs by apoptosis. To determine the cellular processes that were activated in GBM TICs by treatment with LLNle, we analyzed the amount of the NOTCH intracellular domain and the gene expression profiles following treatment with LLNle, DAPT, and DMSO (vehicle). We found that LLNIe, beside inhibiting the generation of the NOTCH intracellular domain, also induces proteasome inhibition, proteolytic stress, and mitotic arrest in these cells by repressing genes required for DNA synthesis and mitotic progression and by activating genes acting as mitotic inhibitors. DNA content flow cytometry clearly showed that cells treated with LLNle undergo arrest in the G&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;-M phases of the cell cycle. We also found that DAPT and L-685,458, another selective Notch inhibitor, were unable to kill GBM TICs, whereas lactacystin, a pure proteasome inhibitor, was effective although at a much less extent than LLNle. These data show that LLNle kills GBM TIC cells by inhibiting the proteasome activity. We suggest that LLNle, being able to target two relevant pathways for GBM TIC survival, may have a potential therapeutic value that deserves further investigation in animal models. (Mol Cancer Res 2009;7(11):1822–34)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

We present the theoretical prediction of a gate tunable anomalous Hall effect (AHE) in an oxide interface as a hallmark of spin-orbit coupling. The observed AHE at low-temperatures in the presence of an external magnetic field emerges from a complex structure of the Berry curvature of the electrons on the Fermi surface and strongly depends on the orbital character of the occupied bands. A detailed picture of the results comes from a multiband low-energy model with a generalized Rashba interaction that supports characteristic out-of-plane spin and orbital textures. We discuss strategies for optimizing the intrinsic AHE in (111) SrTiO$_3$ heterostructure interfaces.

Let $G=C_{n}(S)$ be a circulant graph on $n$ vertices. In this paper we characterize chordal circulant graphs and then we compute $\nu (G)$, the induced matching number of $G$. These latter are useful in bounding the Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity of the edge ring of $G$.

A new high-order accurate staggered semi-implicit space-time discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method is presented for the simulation of viscous incompressible flows on unstructured triangular grids in two space dimensions. The staggered DG scheme defines the discrete pressure on the primal triangular mesh, while the discrete velocity is defined on a staggered edge-based dual quadrilateral mesh. In this paper, a new pair of equal-order-interpolation velocity-pressure finite elements is proposed. On the primary triangular mesh (the pressure elements), the basis functions are piecewise polynomials of degree N and are allowed to jump on the boundaries of each triangle. On the dual mesh instead (the velocity elements), the basis functions consist in the union of piecewise polynomials of degree N on the two subtriangles that compose each quadrilateral and are allowed to jump only on the dual element boundaries, while they are continuous inside. In other words, the basis functions on the dual mesh are built by continuous finite elements on the subtriangles. This choice allows the construction of an efficient, quadrature-free and memory saving algorithm. In our coupled space-time pressure correction formulation for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations, the arbitrary high order of accuracy in time is achieved through the use of time-dependent test and basis functions, in combination with simple and efficient Picard iterations. Several numerical tests on classical benchmarks confirm that the proposed method outperforms existing staggered semi-implicit space-time DG schemes, not only from a computer memory point of view, but also concerning the computational time.

Tau leptons constitute an important experimental signature for analyses at the CERN LHC related to Higgs boson, Standard Model, and beyond the Standard Model measurements. We describe the algorithm used by the CMS experiment to reconstruct and identify decays of tau leptons into hadrons and a neutrino during Run 1 of the CERN LHC. The performance of the algorithm is studied in proton-proton collisions recorded at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb−1. The algorithm achieves an identification efficiency of typically 50-60%, with misidentification rates for quark and gluon jets, electrons and muons that vary between per mille and percent levels.

Final states with a pair of particles are sensitive to many models beyond the standard model (SM) and allow for a clean search for both new narrow resonances and broad deviations from SM predictions.The most recent results from searches with dileptons, leptons plus missing transverse energy, and dijets are presented using 19.7 fb -1 of pp collision data collected by the CMS detector with √ s = 8 TeV at the LHC.No evidence is observed for physics beyond the SM and 95% confidence level (CL) limits are set on parameters from a number of theoretical models such as Z , W , RS gravitons, large extra dimensions scenarios, and contact interactions.

We present selected measurements regarding W and Z bosons performed with the CMS detector, based on samples of events collected during 2011 and 2012 LHC physics runs. Measurements include W and Z inclusive cross sections, transverse momentum distribution with Z events, Drell-Yan differential and double-differential cross sections, and lepton charge asymmetry in W events.

The most recent results on searches in lepton plus jet final states motivated by different models beyond the standard model are presented, using pp collision data collected by the ATLAS and CMS detectors during Run I and Run II at the CERN LHC. Leptoquarks and heavy Majorana neutrinos that arise in the left-right model are looked for in the final states with two leptons and two jets (ll + jj; l = e; mu; tau ). Heavy Majorana neutrinos are further investigated by relying on a composite-fermion scenario, considering two leptons and one large-radius jet (ll + J; l = e, mu), and in the context of a model with Type-1 seesaw mechanism, requiring two same-sign leptons plus dijet (ll' + jj; l,l' = e, mu). Finally, models of microscopic black holes with two to six extra dimensions are tested by analysing the channels with at least one lepton and two additional jets (l + jj; l = e, mu). In all the searches, the observed data are in good agreement with the standard model prediction and 95% confidence level upper limits are set on the parameters of difierent models.

Let $G$ be the circulant graph $C_n(S)$ with $S\subseteq\{ 1,\ldots,\left \lfloor\frac{n}{2}\right \rfloor\}$. We study the reduced Euler characteristic $\tildeχ$ of the independence complex $Δ(G)$ for $n=p^k$ with $p$ prime and for $n=2p^k$ with $p$ odd prime, proving that in both cases $\tildeχ$ does not vanish. We also give an example of circulant graph whose independence complex has $\tildeχ$ equals to $0$, giving a negative answer to R. Hoshino.

The most recent results on searches in lepton plus jet final states motivated by different models beyond the standard model are presented, using pp collision data collected by the ATLAS and CMS detectors during Run I and Run II at the CERN LHC. Leptoquarks and heavy Majorana neutrinos that arise in the left-right model are looked for in the final states with two leptons and two jets (ll + jj; l = e; mu; tau ). Heavy Majorana neutrinos are further investigated by relying on a composite-fermion scenario, considering two leptons and one large-radius jet (ll + J; l = e, mu), and in the context of a model with Type-1 seesaw mechanism, requiring two same-sign leptons plus dijet (ll' + jj; l,l' = e, mu). Finally, models of microscopic black holes with two to six extra dimensions are tested by analysing the channels with at least one lepton and two additional jets (l + jj; l = e, mu). In all the searches, the observed data are in good agreement with the standard model prediction and 95% confidence level upper limits are set on the parameters of difierent models.

The High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) upgrade of the LHC is foreseen to reach an instantaneous luminosity at a factor of five to seven times the nominal LHC design value (10 34 cm -2 s -1 ).The resulting, unprecedented requirements for background monitoring and luminosity measurement create the need for new high-precision instrumentation at the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment, using radiation-hard detectors.This contribution presents the strategy for bunch-by-bunch online luminosity measurement based on various detector technologies.The potential of the exploitation of the tracker endcap pixel detector, the outer tracker, the barrel muon detectors and the 40 MHz muon scouting system is discussed together with the concept of a standalone luminosity and beam-induced background monitor using Si-pad sensors.

Measurements indicating that planar networks of superconductive islands connected by Josephson junctions display long range quantum coherence are reported. The networks consist of superconducting islands connected by Josephson junctions and have a tree-like topological structure containing no loops. Enhancements of superconductive gap over specific branches of the networks and sharp increases of pair currents are the main signatures of the coherent states and, in order to unambiguously attribute the observed effects to branches being embedded in the networks, comparisons with geometrically equivalent, but isolated, counterparts are reported. Tuning the Josephson coupling energy by an external magnetic field generates increases of the Josephson currents, along the above mentioned specific branches, which follow a functional dependence typical of phase transitions. Results are presented for double comb and star geometry networks and in both cases the observed effects provide positive quantitative evidence of the predictions of existing theoretical models.

Converting charge current into spin current is one of the main mechanisms exploited in spintronics. One prominent example is the Edelstein effect, namely the generation of a magnetization in response to an external electric field, which can be realized in systems with lack of inversion symmetry. If a system has electrons with an orbital angular momentum character, an orbital magnetization can be generated by the applied electric field giving rise to the so-called orbital Edelstein effect. Oxide heterostructures are the ideal platform for these effects due to the strong spin-orbit coupling and the lack of inversion symmetries. Beyond a gate-tunable spin Edelstein effect, we predict an orbital Edelstein effect an order of magnitude larger then the spin one at the (111) LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ interface. We model the material as a bilayer of $t_{2g}$ orbitals using a tight-binding approach, while transport properties are obtained in the Boltzmann approach. We give an effective model at low filling which explains the non-trivial behaviour of the Edelstein response, showing that the hybridization between the electronic bands crucially impacts the Edelstein susceptibility.

Squashed entanglement and its universal upper bound, the quantum conditional mutual information, are faithful measures of bipartite quantum correlations defined in terms of multipartitions. As such, they are sensitive to the fine-grain structure of quantum systems. Building on this observation, we introduce the concept of quantum conditional mutual information between the edges of quantum many-body systems. We show that this quantity characterizes unambiguously one-dimensional topological insulators and superconductors, being equal to Bell-state entanglement in the former and to half Bell-state entanglement in the latter, mirroring the different statistics of the edge modes in the two systems. The edge-to-edge quantum conditional mutual information is robust in the presence of disorder or local perturbations, converges exponentially with the system size to a quantized topological invariant, even in the presence of interactions, and vanishes in the trivial phase. We thus conjecture that it coincides with the edge-to-edge squashed entanglement in the entire ground-state phase diagram of symmetry-protected topological systems, and we provide some analytical evidence supporting the claim. By comparing them with the entanglement negativity, we collect further indications that the quantum conditional mutual information and the squashed entanglement provide a very accurate characterization of nonlocal correlation patterns in one-dimensional quantum matter.

The production of heavy mass resonances has been widely studied theoretically and experimentally. Several extensions of the standard model (SM) of particle physics, naturally give rise to a new resonance, with neutral electric charge, commonly referred to as the $\textrm{Z}^{\prime}$ boson. The nature, mass, couplings, and associated quantum numbers of this hypothetical particle are yet to be determined. We present a feasibility study on the production of a vector like $\textrm{Z}^{\prime}$ boson at the LHC, with preferential couplings to third generation fermions, considering proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ $\mathrm{TeV}$ and 14 TeV. We work under two simplified phenomenological frameworks where the $\mathrm{Z}^{\prime}$ masses and couplings to the SM particles are free parameters, and consider final states of the $\textrm{Z}^{\prime}$ decaying to a pair of $\mathrm{b}$ quarks. The analysis is performed using machine learning techniques in order to maximize the experimental sensitivity. The proposed search methodology can be a key mode for discovery, complementary to the existing search strategies considered in literature, and extends the LHC sensitivity to the $\mathrm{Z}^{\prime}$ parameter space.

We study the properties of the rook complex $\mathcal{R}$ of a polyomino $\mathcal{P}$ seen as independence complex of a graph $G$, and the associated Stanley--Reisner ideal $I_\mathcal{R}$. In particular, we characterize the polyominoes $\mathcal{P}$ having a pure rook complex, and the ones whose Stanley--Reisner ideal has linear resolution. Furthermore, we prove that for a class of polyominoes the Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity of $I_\mathcal{R}$ coincides with the induced matching number of $G$.

We investigate the topological properties of a Josephson junction obtained by constraining a two-dimensional electron gas at oxide interface to form a quasi-1D conductor. We reveal an anomalous critical current behaviour with a magnetic field applied perpendicular to the Rashba spin-orbit one. We relate the observed critical current enhancement at small magnetic fields with a non-trivial topology, accompanied by Majorana bound states (MBSs) pinned at the edges of the superconducting leads. Signatures of MBSs also include a sawtooth profile in the current-phase relation. Our findings allow to recognize fingerprints of topological superconductivity in non-centrosymmetric materials and confined systems with Rashba spin-orbit interaction, and to explain recent experimental observations for which a microscopic description is still lacking.

We introduce a real-space version of the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer interaction allowing the investigation of the non-trivial interplay between many-body physics and particles confinement on a quantum graph. When the two-body problem is considered, we find that the two-particle wavefunction is solution of an integro-differential Schrödinger equation. The solution of the two-body eigenproblem shows the presence of a two-particle bound state whose stability is enhanced in quantum graphs with peculiar network topology. We demonstrate that the enhancement effect is robust against many-body effects, which can be studied by means of the Richardson exact solution of the many-body problem. These findings suggest that the effective pairing interaction can be enhanced in quantum graphs with peculiar connectivity. Experimental evidences in Josephson junctions arrays are also discussed in connection with the microscopic mechanism described in the present work.

We investigate the robustness of topological superconductors under the perturbing influence of a finite charge current. To this aim, we introduce a modified Kitaev Hamiltonian parametrically dependent on the quasiparticle momentum induced by the current. Using different quantifiers of the topological phase, such as the Majorana polarization and the edge state quantum conditional mutual information, we prove the existence of a finite critical value of the quasiparticle momentum below which edge modes and topological superconductivity survive. We also discuss how a finite current breaks time reversal symmetry and changes the topological class in the Altland-Zirnbauer classification scheme compared to the case of isolated systems. Our findings provide a nontrivial example of the interplay between topology and the nonequilibrium physics of open quantum systems, a relation of crucial importance in the quest to a viable topological quantum electronics.

The High Granularity Calorimeter (HGCAL) is the technology choice of the CMS collaboration for the endcap calorimetry upgrade planned to cope with the harsh radiation and pileup environment at the High-Luminosity LHC. The HGCAL is realized as a sampling calorimeter, including an electromagnetic compartment comprising 28 layers of silicon pad detectors. Prototype modules, based on hexagonal silicon pad sensors have been constructed and tested in beams at FNAL and at CERN. We present the construction and first beam-tests of these modules both in the laboratory and with beams of electrons, pions and protons, including noise performance, calibration with minimum ionizing particles, electron relative energy and position resolutions and precision-timing measurements.

A new physics scenario shows that four-fermion operators have a strong-coupling UV fixed point, where composite fermions $F$ (bosons $\Pi$) form as bound states of three (two) SM elementary fermions and they couple to their constituents via effective contact interactions at the composite scale $\Lambda \approx {\cal O} $(TeV). We present a phenomenological study to investigate such composite particles at the LHC. Using these contact interactions, we compute the production cross sections and decay widths of composite fermions in the context of the relevant experiments at LHC with $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV and $\sqrt{s}=14$ TeV. In particular, we focus on the resonant channel $pp\rightarrow e^+F \rightarrow e^+e^- qq'$, whose cross section has been recently limited by the CMS Collaboration. By a simple recasting of this result, we obtain a constraint on the model parameters such that composite fermions of mass $m_F$ below 4.25 TeV are excluded for $\Lambda$ = $m_F$. We further compute 5$\sigma$ contour plots of the statistical significance and highlight the region of parameter space where $F$ can manifest using 3 ab$^{-1}$, expected by the High-Luminosity LHC. It turns out that there is a large portion of the parameter space where $F$ can be discovered and that deserve a dedicated investigation. In addition, we also study the composite boson state $\Pi_0$ with the estimation of branching ratios into two quarks (two jets) ${\cal B}(\Pi_0\rightarrow qq')$ and into two boosted gauge bosons ${\cal B}(\Pi_0\rightarrow \tilde G \tilde G')$, from which we obtain the branching ratios of composite-fermion decay into an electron and two boosted gauge bosons ${\cal B}(F\rightarrow e\tilde G\tilde G')$. Moreover we briefly discuss the possible final states of four jets or one jet with two gauge bosons in LHC $pp$ collision.

A new high order accurate semi-implicit space-time Discontinuous Galerkin method on staggered grids, for the simulation of viscous incompressible flows on two-dimensional domains is presented. The designed scheme is of the Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian type, which is suitable to work on fixed as well as on moving meshes. In our space-time formulation, by expressing the numerical solution in terms of piecewise space-time polynomials, an arbitrary high order of accuracy in time is achieved through a simple and efficient method of Picard iterations. For the dual mesh, the basis functions consist in the union of continuous piecewise polynomials on the two subtriangles within the quadrilaterals: this allows the construction of a quadrature-free scheme, resulting in a very efficient algorithm. Some numerical examples confirm that the proposed method outperforms existing ones.

Con il presente elaborato mi prefiggo di redigere una proposta di traduzione del capitolo “The development of the bilingual child” tratto dal testo The Bilingual Family: A Handbook for Parents di Edith Harding-Esch e Philip Riley (Cambridge University Press, 2003). Lo scopo di questo testo e quello di fornire consigli pratici ai genitori che desiderano crescere i loro figli bilingui. Tale obiettivo viene perpetrato mediante una panoramica sul rapporto tra i bambini e la lingua, sul bilinguismo e sul percorso di sviluppo del bambino bilingue, presentando alcune testimonianze di situazioni reali(casi di studio) nelle quali potersi identificare.

The most recent results from searches for leptoquarks are presented using pp collision data collected by the CMS experiment at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV.A variety of final states is considered, probing leptoquark couplings to a quark and a neutrino, a top quark and a muon, a b quark and a tau lepton, and a light-flavour quark and a muon or an electron.No evidence is observed for physics beyond the standard model and 95% confidence level (C.L.) limits are set on model parameters for scalar and vector leptoquarks.

A new high order accurate semi-implicit space-time Discontinuous Galerkin method on staggered grids, for the simulation of viscous incompressible flows on two-dimensional domains is presented. The designed scheme is of the Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian type, which is suitable to work on fixed as well as on moving meshes. In our space-time formulation, by expressing the numerical solution in terms of piecewise space-time polynomials, an arbitrary high order of accuracy in time is achieved through a simple and efficient method of Picard iterations. For the dual mesh, the basis functions consist in the union of continuous piecewise polynomials on the two subtriangles within the quadrilaterals: this allows the construction of a quadrature-free scheme, resulting in a very efficient algorithm. Some numerical examples confirm that the proposed method outperform existing ones.

Let P be a simple thin polyomino, roughly speaking a polyomino that has no holes and does not contain a square tetromino as a subpolyomino. In this paper, we determine the reduced Hilbert series $h(t)/(1-t)^d$ of K[P] by proving that $h(t)$ is the rook polynomial of P. As an application, we characterize the Gorenstein simple thin polyominoes.

In this work, we provide a necessary and sufficient condition on a polyomino ideal for having the set of inner 2-minors as degree reverse lexicographic Gr\"obner basis, due to combinatorial properties of the polyomino itself. Moreover, we prove that when the latter holds the ideal coincides with the lattice ideal associated to the polyomino, that is the ideal is prime. As an application, we describe two new infinite families of prime polyominoes.

A new high order accurate semi-implicit space-time Discontinuous Galerkin method on staggered grids, for the simulation of viscous incompressible flows on two-dimensional domains is presented. The designed scheme is of the Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian type, which is suitable to work on fixed as well as on moving meshes. In our space-time formulation, by expressing the numerical solution in terms of piecewise space-time polynomials, an arbitrary high order of accuracy in time is achieved through a simple and efficient method of Picard iterations. For the dual mesh, the basis functions consist in the union of continuous piecewise polynomials on the two subtriangles within the quadrilaterals: this allows the construction of a quadrature-free scheme, resulting in a very efficient algorithm. Some numerical examples confirm that the proposed method outperforms existing ones.

We study the coordinate ring of an $L$-convex polyomino, determine its regularity in terms of the maximal number of rooks that can be placed in the polyomino. We also characterize the Gorenstein $L$-convex polyominoes and those which are Gorenstein on the punctured spectrum, and compute the Cohen--Macaulay type of any $L$-convex polyomino in terms of the maximal rectangles covering it.

We present a conjecture about the reduced Hilbert series of the coordinate ring of a simple polyomino in terms of particular arrangements of non-attacking rooks that can be placed on the polyomino. By using a computational approach, we prove that the above conjecture holds for all simple polyominoes up to rank $11$. In addition, we prove that the conjecture holds true for the class of parallelogram polyominoes, by looking at those as simple planar distributive lattices. Finally, we give a combinatorial interpretation of the Gorensteinnes of parallelogram polyominoes.

This study assesses the safety and efficacy of thin-strut stents in non-left main (non-LM) bifurcation coronary lesions.Thinner struts of recent drug-eluting stent (DES) devices are associated with improved outcomes, but data about their performance in challenging scenarios are scant.RAIN was a retrospective multicenter registry enrolling patients with coronary bifurcation lesions or left main (LM) disease treated with thin-strut DESs. Target-lesion revascularization (TLR) was the primary endpoint, while major adverse clinical event (MACE) rate, a composite of all-cause death, myocardial infarction (MI), target-vessel revascularization (TVR), TLR, and stent thrombosis (ST), and its single components were the secondary endpoints. Multivariable analysis was performed to identify predictors of TLR. Outcome incidences according to stenting strategy (provisional vs 2-stent technique), use of final kissing balloon (FKB), and intravascular ultrasound/optical coherence tomography optimization were further investigated in prespecified subanalyses.A total of 1803 patients (59% acute coronary syndrome, 41% stable coronary artery disease) with non-LM bifurcations were enrolled. After a median follow-up of 12 months, TLR incidence was 2.5% (2.2% for provisional stenting and 3.5% for 2-stent technique). MACE rate was 9.4% (all-cause death, 4.1%; MI, 3.2%; TVR, 3.7%; definite ST, 1.1%). After multivariable adjustment, postdilation (hazard ratio [HR], 0.32; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.15-0.71; P<.01) and provisional stenting (HR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.55-0.89; P=.03) were associated with lower TLR rates. FKB was associated with a lower incidence of TLR in the 2-stent subgroup (P=.03). Intracoronary imaging had no significant impact on the primary endpoint.Thin-strut DES options represent an effective choice in bifurcation lesions. Postdilation and provisional stenting are associated with a reduced risk of TLR. FKB should be recommended in 2-stent techniques.

We describe the simplicial complex $\Delta$ such that the initial ideal of $J_G$ is the Stanley-Reisner ideal of $\Delta$. By $\Delta$ we show that if $J_G$ is $(S_2)$ then $G$ is accessible. We also characterize all accessible blocks with whiskers of cycle rank 3 and we define a new infinite class of accessible blocks with whiskers for any cycle rank. Finally, by using a computational approach, we show that the graphs with at most 12 vertices whose binomial edge ideal is Cohen-Macaulay are all and only the accessible ones.