Gelidium sesquipedale (Clem.) Bornet et Thuret is the main raw material used for agar production in Morocco. The biology and biochemistry of this slow growing alga collected monthly over one year has ...been studied. The agar content varied around 40% of algal dry weight and reached a maximum of 44.5% in November. Agar gel strength was maximum in May and July (1000 g cm^sup -2^), and melting (90 °C) and gelling (35 °C) temperatures varied slightly. The agar contained a high 3,6-anhydrogalactose content (40-45 mol%) and low amounts of 6- O-methylgalactose (around 1 mol%) and sulphate (1.0 - 1.6% of dry weight). The reproductive status of the alga affected the agar synthesis and quality. The phycocolloid gel strength was related to the mean polysaccharide chain length but not to its chemical substitution.PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
The decay B+ to psi(2S) phi(1020) K+ is observed for the first time using data collected from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated ...luminosity of 19.6 inverse femtobarns. The branching fraction of this decay is measured, using the mode B+ to psi(2S) K+ as normalization, to be (4.0+/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.6 (syst) +/- 0.2 (B)1E-6, where the third uncertainty is from the imprecision in the normalization channel.
An inclusive search is performed for supersymmetry in final states containing jets and an apparent imbalance in transverse momentum, ptvecmiss, due to the production of unobserved weakly interacting ...particles in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The data, recorded with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC, correspond to an integrated luminosity of 18.5 inverse femtobarns. The dimensionless kinematic variable alphaT is used to discriminate between events with genuine ptvecmiss associated with unobserved particles and spurious values of ptvecmiss arising from jet energy mismeasurements. No excess of event yields above the expected standard model backgrounds is observed. The results are interpreted in terms of constraints on the parameter space of several simplified models of supersymmetry that assume the pair production of top squarks. The search provides sensitivity to a broad range of top squark decay modes, including the two-body decay top squark to c chi0, where c is a charm quark and chi0 is the lightest neutralino, as well as the four-body decay top squark to b f bar-f' chi0, where b is a bottom quark and f and bar-f' are fermions produced in the decay of an intermediate off-shell W boson. These modes dominate in scenarios in which the top squark and lightest neutralino are nearly degenerate in mass. For these modes, top squarks with masses as large as 260 and 230 GeV are excluded, respectively, for the two- and four-body decays.
A search is presented for narrow resonances decaying to dijet final states in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s)=13 TeV using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 12.9 inverse ...femtobarns. The dijet mass spectrum is well described by a smooth parameterization and no significant evidence for the production of new particles is observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are reported on the production cross section for narrow resonances with masses above 0.6 TeV. In the context of specific models, the limits exclude string resonances with masses below 7.4 TeV, scalar diquarks below 6.9 TeV, axigluons and colorons below 5.5 TeV, excited quarks below 5.4 TeV, color-octet ascalars below 3.0 TeV, W' bosons below 2.7 TeV, Z' bosons below 2.1 TeV and between 2.3 and 2.6 TeV, and RS gravitons below 1.9 TeV. These extend previous limits in the dijet channel. Vector and axial-vector mediators in a simplified model of interactions between quarks and dark matter are excluded below 2.0 TeV. The first limits in the dijet channel on dark matter mediators are presented as functions of dark matter mass and are compared to the exclusions of dark matter in direct detection experiments.
A dedicated search is presented for new phenomena in inclusive eight- and ten-jet final states with low missing transverse momentum, with and without identification of jets originating from b quarks. ...The analysis is based on data from proton-proton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.6 inverse femtobarns collected with the CMS detector at the LHC at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV. The dominant multijet background expectations are obtained from low jet multiplicity control samples. Data agree well with the standard model background predictions, and limits are set in several benchmark models. Colorons (axigluons) with masses between 0.6 and 0.75 (up to 1.15) TeV are excluded at 95% confidence level. Similar exclusion limits for gluinos in R-parity violating supersymmetric scenarios are from 0.6 up to 1.1TeV. These results comprise the first experimental probe of the coloron and axigluon models in multijet final states.
A search is presented for W' bosons in events with an electron or muon and large missing transverse momentum, using proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 13 TeV collected with the CMS detector in ...2015 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.3 inverse femtobarns. No evidence of an excess of events relative to the standard model expectations is observed. For a W' boson described by the sequential standard model, upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the product of the production cross section and branching fraction and lower limits are established on the new boson mass. Masses below 4.1 TeV are excluded combining electron and muon decay channels, significantly improving upon the results obtained with the 8 TeV data. Exclusion limits at 95% confidence level on the product of the W' production cross section and branching fraction are also derived in combination with the 8 TeV data. Finally, exclusion limits are set for the production of generic W' bosons decaying into this final state using a model-independent approach.
The Fourier coefficients v2 and v3 characterizing the anisotropy of the azimuthal distribution of charged particles produced in PbPb collisions at sqrt(sNN)= 5.02 TeV are measured with data collected ...by the CMS experiment. The measurements cover a broad transverse momentum range, pt= 1-100 GeV. The analysis focuses on pt > 10 GeV range, where anisotropic azimuthal distributions should reflect the path-length dependence of parton energy loss in the created medium. Results are presented in several bins of PbPb collision centrality, spanning the 60x% most central events. The v2 coefficient is measured with the scalar product and the multiparticle cumulant methods, which have different sensitivities to the initial-state fluctuations. The values of both methods remain positive up to pt ~ 70 GeV, in all examined centrality classes. The v3 coefficient, only measured with the scalar product method, tends to zero for pt >~ 20 GeV. Comparisons between theoretical calculations and data provide new constraints on the path-length dependence of parton energy loss in heavy ion collisions and highlight the importance of the initial-state fluctuations.
The total and differential cross sections for inclusive production of B(+) hadrons are measured as a function of the B(+) transverse momentum pTB and rapidity yB in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass ...energy of 13 TeV, using data collected by the CMS experiment that correspond to an integrated luminosity of 49.4 inverse-picobarns. The measurement uses the exclusive decay channel B(+) to J/psi K(+), with J/psi mesons that decay to a pair of muons. The results show a reasonable agreement with theoretical calculations within the uncertainties.
A search for massive resonances decaying to a Z boson and a photon is performed in events with a hadronically decaying Z boson candidate, separately in light-quark and b quark decay modes, identified ...using jet substructure and advanced b tagging techniques. Results are based on samples of proton-proton collisions collected with the CMS detector at the LHC at center-of-mass energies of 8 and 13 TeV, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 19.7 and 2.7 inverse femtobarns, respectively. The results of the search are combined with those of a similar search in the leptonic decay modes of the Z boson, based on the same data sets. Spin-0 resonances with various widths and with masses in a range between 0.2 and 3.0 TeV are considered. No significant excess is observed either in the individual analyses or the combination. The results are presented in terms of upper limits on the production cross section of such resonances and constitute the most stringent limits to date for a wide range of masses.
This paper describes the search for a high-mass narrow-width scalar particle decaying into a Z boson and a photon. The analysis is performed using proton-proton collision data recorded with the CMS ...detector at the LHC at center-of-mass energies of 8 and 13 TeV, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 19.7 and 2.7 inverse femtobarns, respectively. The Z bosons are reconstructed from opposite-sign electron or muon pairs. No statistically significant deviation from the standard model predictions has been found in the 200-2000 GeV mass range. Upper limits at 95% confidence level have been derived on the product of the scalar particle production cross section and the branching fraction of the Z decaying into electrons or muons, which range from 280 to 20 fb for resonance masses between 200 and 2000 GeV.