Machine learning has been used in high energy physics (HEP) for a long time, primarily at the analysis level with supervised classification. Quantum computing was postulated in the early 1980s as way to perform computations that would not be tractable with a classical computer. With the advent of noisy intermediate-scale quantum computing devices, more quantum algorithms are being developed with the aim at exploiting the capacity of the hardware for machine learning applications. An interesting question is whether there are ways to apply quantum machine learning to HEP. This paper reviews the first generation of ideas that use quantum machine learning on problems in HEP and provide an outlook on future applications.
High Energy Physics (HEP) data acquisition systems are often built from high-end FPGAs. As such systems scale in the HL-LHC era, severe under-utilization of FPGA transceivers can occur because front-end links prioritize radiation hardness and power consumption over raw data bandwidth. This work evaluates recently introduced low-power, low-cost FPGA devices as an alternative building block for future readout architectures. This study presents the implementation of a readout back-End on FPGA where the front-end protocol is based on the Low-Power GigaBit Transceiver (lpGBT) and the readout protocol is based on 10 Gigabit Ethernet, using the LHCb Run 4 RICH detector as a practical case study.
Abstract Liver fibrosis is a global life-threatening disorder with no approved treatment. It leads to serious hepatic complications when progressive, such as cirrhosis and carcinoma. Luteolin (LUT) is a plant flavonoid possessing a promising therapeutic potential in various liver diseases particularly, liver fibrosis. It was reported to have potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. It also suppresses the proliferation of activated hepatic stellate cells (HSC) and induces their apoptosis. However, its poor aqueous solubility and exposure to metabolism hinder its clinical use. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)-derived exosomes, nano-sized extracellular vesicles, have recently emerged as natural biocompatible drug delivery vehicles permitting efficient drug delivery. Accordingly, the present study aimed for the first time to investigate the potential of bone marrow MSCs-derived exosomes to improve LUTs antifibrotic effectiveness. LUT-loaded exosomes (LUT-Ex) were successfully developed, optimized and subjected to both in vitro and in vivo characterization. The elaborated LUT-Ex presented good colloidal properties (size; 150 nm, PDI; 0.3 and ζ-potential; −28 mV), typical vesicular shape, reasonable drug entrapment efficiency (40%) with sustained drug release over 72 h. Additionally, the cellular uptake study of coumarin-6-loaded exosomes in HEP-G2 revealed a significant enhancement in their uptake by 78.4% versus free coumarin-6 solution (p ≤ 0.001). Following a single intraperitoneal injection, LUT-Ex revealed a superior antifibrotic activity compared with either LUT-suspension or blank exosomes as evidenced by the results of biochemical and histopathological evaluation. In conclusion, the elaborated LUT-Ex could be addressed as a promising nanocarrier for effective treatment of liver fibrosis.
Magnesium alloy is considered as one of the ideal cardiovascular stent materials owing to its good mechanical properties and biodegradability. However, the in vivo rapid degradation rate and the insufficient biocompatibility restrict its clinical applications. In this study, the magnesium alloy (AZ31B) was modified by combining the surface chemical treatment and in-situ self-assembly of 16-phosphonyl-hexadecanoic acid, followed by the immobilization of chitosan-functionalized graphene oxide (GOCS). Heparin (Hep) and GOCS were alternatively immobilized on the GOCS-modified surface through layer by layer (LBL) to construct the GOCS/Hep bioactive multilayer coating, and the corrosion resistance and biocompatibility were extensively explored. The results showed that the GOCS/Hep bioactive multilayer coating can endow magnesium alloys with an excellent in vitro corrosion resistance. The GOCS/Hep multilayer coating can significantly reduce the hemolysis rate and the platelet adhesion and activation, resulting in an excellent blood compatibility. In addition, the multilayer coating can not only enhance the adhesion and proliferation of the endothelial cells, but also promote the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and nitric oxide (NO) expression of the attached endothelial cells on the surfaces. Therefore, the method of the present study can be used to simultaneously control the corrosion resistance and improve the biocompatibility of the magnesium alloys, which is expected to promote the application of magnesium alloys in biomaterials or medical devices, especially cardiovascular stent.
In pursuit of effective agents for hepatocellular carcinoma derived from the Artemisia species, this study built upon initial findings that an ethanol (EtOH) extract and ethyl acetate (EtOAc) fraction of the aerial parts of Artemisia dubia Wall. ex Bess. exhibited cytotoxicity against HepG2 cells with inhibitory rates of 57.1% and 84.2% (100 μg·mL-1), respectively. Guided by bioactivity, fourteen previously unidentified sesquiterpenes, artemdubinoids A-N (1-14), were isolated from the EtOAc fraction. Their structural elucidation was achieved through comprehensive spectroscopic analyses and corroborated by the comparison between the experimental and calculated ECD spectra. Single crystal X-ray diffraction provided definitive structure confirmation for artemdubinoids A, D, F, and H. Artemdubinoids A and B (1-2) represented unique sesquiterpenes featuring a 6/5-fused bicyclic carbon scaffold, and their putative biosynthetic pathways were discussed; artemdubinoid C (3) was a novel guaianolide derivative that might be formed by the [4 + 2] Diels-Alder reaction; artemdubinoids D and E (4-5) were rare 1,10-seco-guaianolides; artemdubinoids F-K (6-11) were chlorine-containing guaianolides. Eleven compounds exhibited cytotoxicity against three human hepatoma cell lines (HepG2, Huh7, and SK-Hep-1) with half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values spanning 7.5-82.5 μmol·L-1. Artemdubinoid M (13) exhibited the most active cytotoxicity with IC50 values of 14.5, 7.5 and 8.9 μmol·L-1 against the HepG2, Huh7, and SK-Hep-1 cell lines, respectively, which were equivalent to the positive control, sorafenib.
An electron-positron collider designed for precision studies of the Higgs boson, a so-called Higgs factory is the highest-priority next collider of the particle physics community. This contribution summarises the key physics goals of such a Higgs factory and reviews the status of the various proposed realisations from mature concepts to very recent ideas. The commonalities and special advantages of circular and linear approaches will be discussed, respectively, before highlighting some recent developments regarding the key technologies, the operation scenarios and sustainability aspects for future colliders.
We present two recent measurements of semileptonic B decays at Belle, offering valuable insights into the determination of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix element $|V_{ub}|$. These analyses use the full Belle dataset, comprising $772 \times 10^6$ $B\bar{B}$ pairs collected at the $Υ(4S)$ resonance. With an innovative strategy, the inclusive $B \to X_u \ell ν$ and exclusive $B \to π\ell ν$ decays are simultaneously analyzed for the first time, and the $|V_{ub}|$ ratio is extracted as $|V_{ub}^{\mathrm{excl.}}|/|V_{ub}^{\mathrm {incl.}}|=0.97 \pm 0.12$. Furthermore, we provide preliminary results for the inclusive branching fractions ratio of $B \to X_u \ell ν$ and $B \to X_c \ell ν$ decays, accompanied by additional interpretations aimed at deriving the inclusive $|V_{ub}|/|V_{cb}|$ ratio.
There are undeniable benefits of binding Python and C++ to take advantage of the best features of both languages. This is especially relevant to the HEP and other scientific communities that have invested heavily in the C++ frameworks and are rapidly moving their data analyses to Python. Version 2 of Awkward Array, a Scikit-HEP Python library, introduces a set of header-only C++ libraries that do not depend on any application binary interface. Users can directly include these libraries in their compilation instead of linking against platform-specific libraries. This new development makes the integration of Awkward Arrays into other projects easier and more portable, as the implementation is easily separable from the rest of the Awkward Array codebase. The code is minimal; it does not include all of the code needed to use Awkward Arrays in Python, nor does it include references to Python or pybind11. The C++ users can use it to make arrays and then copy them to Python without any specialized data types - only raw buffers, strings, and integers. This C++ code also simplifies the process of just-in-time (JIT) compilation in ROOT. This implementation approach solves some of the drawbacks, like packaging projects where native dependencies can be challenging. In this paper, we demonstrate the technique to integrate C++ and Python using a header-only approach. We also describe the implementation of a new LayoutBuilder and a GrowableBuffer. Furthermore, examples of wrapping the C++ data into Awkward Arrays and exposing Awkward Arrays to C++ without copying them are discussed.
Francesco Giovanni Celiberto, Luigi Delle Rose, Michael Fucilla
et al.
We report progress on the study of the inclusive semi-hard hadroproduction of a Higgs+jet system at LHC and FCC collision energies. We describe a prototype matching procedure aimed at combining NLO fixed-order computations via POWHEG, with the NLL resummation of energy logarithms from JETHAD. We present preliminary analyses on assessing the weight of systematic uncertainties, such as the ones coming from finite top- and bottom-quark masses.
The aim of this study was to investigate the surface morphological features and in vivo immunomodulatory activities of a hetero polysaccharide fraction (HEP-W) from Hericium erinaceus. SEM and AFM images revealed that HEP-W displayed a flexible random coil conformation, and these flexible winding chains further formed continuous fiber network structure. Meanwhile, Congo red assay and XRD further proved that HEP-W mainly exhibited amorphous structure with non-triple-helical conformation in solution. In vivo immunomodulatory experiments demonstrated that HEP-W possessed protective effects against cyclophosphamide-induced immunosuppression in mice by significantly enhancing immune organ index, splenocyte proliferation, NK cell activity, IL-2 production as well as improving the macrophage phagocytosis. These findings suggest that HEP-W could be explored as a natural and effective immunomodulatory agent.
Abstract This paper proposes a quantitative human reliability analysis (HRA) model based on fuzzy logic theory, Bayesian network, and cognitive reliability & error analysis method (CREAM) for the tanker shipping industry. The common performance conditions (CPCs) in conventional CREAM approach are custom-modified to better capture the salient aspects of the situations and conditions for on-board tanker work. Fuzzy logic technique using triangle and trapezoidal membership functions is applied to model the uncertainty and ambiguity of the CPCs as well the control modes in CREAM. A Bayesian network reasoning model using the membership of CPCs as inputs is developed which determines the probability distribution of the control modes. Human error probability (HEP) is obtained from memberships of the control modes and the results of Bayesian network reasoning. A case study in tanker shipping industry with 18 crew members is provided, and the results show that the evaluation of HEP according to the proposed HRA model is very promising and the HRA model is consistent with the original CREAM approach. The sensitivity of the model is also checked against the inputs of the crew members. It is concluded that the enhanced HRA model is able to provide reliable human performance failure results.