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Bacterial pathogens Neisseria meningitidis and Brucella abortus pose threats to human and animal health worldwide, causing meningococcal disease and brucellosis, respectively. Mortality from acute N. meningitidis infections remains high despite antibiotics, and brucellosis presents alimentary and health consequences. Superoxide dismutases are master regulators of reactive oxygen and general pathogenicity factors and are therefore therapeutic targets. Cu,Zn superoxide dismutases (SODs) localized to the periplasm promote survival by detoxifying superoxide radicals generated by major host antimicrobial immune responses. We discovered that passive immunization with an antibody directed at N. meningitidis SOD (NmSOD) was protective in a mouse infection model. To define the relevant atomic details and solution assembly states of this important virulence factor, we report high-resolution and X-ray scattering analyses of NmSOD and of SOD from B. abortus (BaSOD). The NmSOD structures revealed an auxiliary tetrahedral Cu-binding site bridging the dimer interface; mutational analyses suggested that this metal site contributes to protein stability, with implications for bacterial defense mechanisms. Biochemical and structural analyses informed us about electrostatic substrate guidance, dimer assembly, and an exposed C-terminal epitope in the NmSOD dimer. In contrast, the monomeric BaSOD structure provided insights for extending immunogenic peptide epitopes derived from the protein. These collective results reveal unique contributions of SOD to pathogenic virulence, refine predictive motifs for distinguishing SOD classes, and suggest general targets for antibacterial immune responses. The identified functional contributions, motifs, and targets distinguishing bacterial and eukaryotic SOD assemblies presented here provide a foundation for efforts to develop SOD-specific inhibitors of or vaccines against these harmful pathogens.

Importance

By protecting microbes against reactive oxygen insults, SODs aid survival of many bacteria within their hosts. Despite the ubiquity and conservation of these key enzymes, notable species-specific differences relevant to pathogenesis remain undefined. To probe mechanisms that govern the functioning of Neisseria meningitidis and Brucella abortus SODs, we used X-ray structures, enzymology, modeling, and murine infection experiments. We identified virulence determinants common to the two homologs, assembly differences, and a unique metal reservoir within meningococcal SOD that stabilizes the enzyme and may provide a safeguard against copper toxicity. The insights reported here provide a rationale and a basis for SOD-specific drug design and an extension of immunogen design to target two important pathogens that continue to pose global health threats.

Indirect Drive Inertial Confinement Fusion Experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) have achieved a burning plasma state with neutron yields exceeding 170 kJ, roughly 3 times the prior record and a necessary stage for igniting plasmas. The results are achieved despite multiple sources of degradations that lead to high variability in performance. Results shown here, for the first time, include an empirical correction factor for mode-2 asymmetry in the burning plasma regime in addition to previously determined corrections for radiative mix and mode-1. Analysis shows that including these three corrections alone accounts for the measured fusion performance variability in the two highest performing experimental campaigns on the NIF to within error. Here we quantify the performance sensitivity to mode-2 symmetry in the burning plasma regime and apply the results, in the form of an empirical correction to a 1D performance model. Furthermore, we find the sensitivity to mode-2 determined through a series of integrated 2D radiation hydrodynamic simulations to be consistent with the experimentally determined sensitivity only when including alpha-heating.

For the Phase-II Upgrade of the ATLAS Detector [1], its Inner Detector, consisting of silicon pixel, silicon strip and transition radiation sub-detectors, will be replaced with an all new 100% silicon tracker, composed of a pixel tracker at inner radii and a strip tracker at outer radii. The future ATLAS strip tracker will include 11,000 silicon sensor modules in the central region (barrel) and 7,000 modules in the forward region (end-caps), which are foreseen to be constructed over a period of 3.5 years. The construction of each module consists of a series of assembly and quality control steps, which were engineered to be identical for all production sites. In order to develop the tooling and procedures for assembly and testing of these modules, two series of major prototyping programs were conducted: An early program using readout chips designed using a 250 nm fabrication process (ABCN-250) [2,2] and a subsequent program using a follow-up chip set made using 130 nm processing (ABC130 and HCC130 chips). This second generation of readout chips was used for an extensive prototyping program that produced around 100 barrel-type modules and contributed significantly to the development of the final module layout. This paper gives an overview of the components used in ABC130 barrel modules, their assembly procedure and findings resulting from their tests.

A measurement of vector boson (V) production in conjunction with a D∗(2010)+ meson is presented. Using a data sample corresponding to 9.7 fb-1 of proton-antiproton collisions at center-of-mass energy s=1.96 TeV produced by the Fermilab Tevatron, we reconstruct V+D∗+ samples with the CDF II detector. The D∗+ is fully reconstructed in the D∗(2010)+→D0(→K-π+)π+ decay mode. This technique is sensitive to the associated production of vector boson plus charm or bottom mesons. We measure the ratio of production cross sections σ(W+D∗)/σ(W)=[1.75±0.13(stat)±0.09(stat)]% and σ(Z+D∗)/σ(Z)=[1.5±0.4(stat)±0.2(stat)]% and perform a differential measurement of dσ(W+D∗)/dpT(D∗). Event properties are utilized to determine the fraction of V+D∗(2010)+ events originating from different production processes. The results are in agreement with the predictions obtained with the pythia program, limiting possible contribution from non-standard-model physics processes.

We measure the forward-backward asymmetry of the production of top-quark and antiquark pairs in proton-antiproton collisions at center-of-mass energy s=1.96 TeV using the full data set collected by the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) in Tevatron Run II corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9.1 fb-1. The asymmetry is characterized by the rapidity difference between top quarks and antiquarks (Δy) and measured in the final state with two charged leptons (electrons and muons). The inclusive asymmetry, corrected to the entire phase space at parton level, is measured to be AFBtt=0.12±0.13, consistent with the expectations from the standard model (SM) and previous CDF results in the final state with a single charged lepton. The combination of the CDF measurements of the inclusive AFBtt in both final states yields AFBtt=0.160±0.045, which is consistent with the SM predictions. We also measure the differential asymmetry as a function of Δy. A linear fit to AFBtt(|Δy|), assuming zero asymmetry at Δy=0, yields a slope of α=0.14±0.15, consistent with the SM prediction and the previous CDF determination in the final state with a single charged lepton. The combined slope of AFBtt(|Δy|) in the two final states is α=0.227±0.057, which is 2.0σ larger than the SM prediction.

An updated measurement of the single top quark production cross section is presented using the full data set collected by the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF), corresponding to 9.5 fb-1 of integrated luminosity from proton-antiproton collisions at 1.96 TeV center-of-mass energy. The events selected contain an imbalance in the total transverse momentum, jets identified as containing b quarks, and no identified leptons. The sum of the s- and t-channel single top quark cross sections is measured to be 3.53-1.16+1.25 pb and a lower limit on the magnitude of the top-to-bottom quark coupling, |Vtb| of 0.63, is obtained at the 95% credibility level. These measurements are combined with previously reported CDF results obtained from events with an imbalance in total transverse momentum, jets identified as originating from b quarks, and one identified lepton. The combined cross section is measured to be 3.02-0.48+0.49 pb and a lower limit on |Vtb| of 0.84 is obtained at the 95% credibility level.

The Collider Detector at Fermilab collected a unique sample of jets originating from bottom-quark fragmentation (b-jets) by selecting online proton-antiproton (pp̄) collisions with a vertex displaced from the pp̄ interaction point, consistent with the decay of a bottom-quark hadron. This data set, collected at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV, and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.4 fb-1, is used to measure the Z-boson production cross section times branching ratio into bb̄. The number of Z→bb̄ events is determined by fitting the dijet-mass distribution, while constraining the dominant b-jet background, originating from QCD multijet events, with data. The result, σ(pp̄→Z)×B(Z→bb̄)=1.11±0.08(stat)±0.14(syst) nb, is the most precise measurement of this process, and is consistent with the standard-model prediction. The data set is also used to search for Higgs-boson production. No significant signal is expected in our data and the first upper limit on the cross section for the inclusive pp̄→H→bb̄ process at s=1.96 TeV is set, corresponding to 33 times the expected standard-model cross section, or σ=40.6 pb, at the 95% confidence level.

We report a measurement of the forward-backward asymmetry, AFB, in bb pairs produced in proton-antiproton collisions and identified by muons from semileptonic b-hadron decays. The event sample is collected at a center-of-mass energy of s=1.96 TeV with the CDF II detector and corresponds to 6.9 fb-1 of integrated luminosity. We obtain an integrated asymmetry of AFB(bb)=(1.2±0.7)% at the particle level for b-quark pairs with invariant mass, mbb, down to 40 GeV/c2 and measure the dependence of AFB(bb) on mbb. The results are compatible with expectations from the standard model.

At the Fermilab Tevatron proton-antiproton (pp) collider, Drell-Yan lepton pairs are produced in the process pp→e+e-+X through an intermediate γ∗/Z boson. The forward-backward asymmetry in the polar-angle distribution of the e- as a function of the e+e - pair mass is used to obtain sin2θefflept, the effective leptonic determination of the electroweak-mixing parameter sin2θW. The measurement sample, recorded by the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF), corresponds to 9.4 fb-1 of integrated luminosity from pp collisions at a center-of-momentum energy of 1.96 TeV, and is the full CDF Run II data set. The value of sin2θefflept is found to be 0.23248±0.00053. The combination with the previous CDF measurement based on μ+μ- pairs yields sin2θefflept=0.23221±0.00046. This result, when interpreted within the specified context of the standard model assuming sin2θW=1-MW2/MZ2 and that the W- and Z-boson masses are on-shell, yields sin2θW=0.22400±0.00045, or equivalently a W-boson mass of 80.328±0.024 GeV/c2.

We study charged particle production (pT>0.5 GeV/c, |η|<0.8) in proton-antiproton collisions at total center-of-mass energies s=300 GeV, 900 GeV, and 1.96 TeV. We use the direction of the charged particle with the largest transverse momentum in each event to define three regions of η-φ space: "toward", "away", and "transverse." The average number and the average scalar pT sum of charged particles in the transverse region are sensitive to the modeling of the "underlying event." The transverse region is divided into a MAX and MIN transverse region, which helps separate the "hard component" (initial and final-state radiation) from the "beam-beam remnant" and multiple parton interaction components of the scattering. The center-of-mass energy dependence of the various components of the event is studied in detail. The data presented here can be used to constrain and improve QCD Monte Carlo models, resulting in more precise predictions at the LHC energies of 13 and 14 TeV.