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The Size and Lung function In Children (SLIC) study was designed as a prospective, cross-sectional and longitudinal study to investigate the factors contributing to ethnic differences in lung function. After adjusting for sex, age and height, the degree to which these differences can be reduced after further adjustment for body shape, size and composition was examined. The aim of this technical report is to describe the study design and protocol and to examine the feasibility of conducting complex physiological investigations in London primary schools. Methods: Recruitment and assessments were undertaken in London primary schools. Children with parental consent were eligible and categorised into 4 broad ethnic groups: White; Black; South-Asian and other/mixed ethnicities. Assessments were performed in children aged 5-11y, on 2 occasions a year apart and included detailed anthropometry; 3D photonic scanning for regional body shape; body composition using bioelectrical impedance analysis and isotope dilution technique; spirometry and saliva samples (for cotinine & DNA analysis of genetic ancestry). Information on country of origin (child-parents-grandparents); self-reported ethnicity; the child’s respiratory history, family socio-economic circumstances and tobacco smoking exposure were obtained, principally from parents via a questionnaire. Health status of the children was verified from medical records where feasible. Data linkages to pollution index and area deprivation scores were based on home postcodes. Results: Fourteen London primary schools participated with 52% parental consent for children to take part in the study. Consent rate for each type of assessment was generally high and ranged from near 100% for spirometry and anthropometry to 88% for DNA sample collection. With the exception of 3D scanning for body shape, where acceptable data were only achieved in 68% children assessed, success rate for all assessments ranged from 88% to 99%. In total, 2171 (47% boys; 34% White; 29% Black; 25% South-Asian; 12% Other/mixed) children were assessed on 3302 test occasions over the two year period, with successful spirometry being achieved in 90% (2986/3302) of assessments. After excluding 20% of children with acute or chronic illness and 10% with failed spirometry, data was available from 1520 healthy children for final analysis. Summary: This is the first study to demonstrate the feasibility (in terms of consent and success rate) of undertaking complex physiological assessments within the school environment in children as young as 5 years of age, including those for DNA. However, until software is refined and adapted for children, current technology for performing 3D scans for health related studies is not cost-effective. Approximately 30% of the children studied were preterm/LBW, had prior asthma or were symptomatic. Hence if the target population is healthy young children then the recruited sample size may need to be increased by 30% to ensure adequate power.

A search is presented for direct top squark pair production using events with at least two leptons including a same-flavour opposite-sign pair with invariant mass consistent with the [Formula: see text] boson mass, jets tagged as originating from [Formula: see text]-quarks and missing transverse momentum. The analysis is performed with proton-proton collision data at [Formula: see text] collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2012 corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb[Formula: see text]. No excess beyond the Standard Model expectation is observed. Interpretations of the results are provided in models based on the direct pair production of the heavier top squark state ([Formula: see text]) followed by the decay to the lighter top squark state ([Formula: see text]) via [Formula: see text], and for [Formula: see text] pair production in natural gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking scenarios where the neutralino ([Formula: see text]) is the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle and decays producing a [Formula: see text] boson and a gravitino ([Formula: see text]) via the [Formula: see text] process.

A peaking structure in the J/ψφ mass spectrum near threshold is observed in B →J/ψφK decays, produced in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. The data sample, selected on the basis of the dimuon decay mode of the J/ψ, corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.2 fb. Fitting the structure to an S-wave relativistic Breit-Wigner lineshape above a three-body phase-space nonresonant component gives a signal statistical significance exceeding five standard deviations. The fitted mass and width values are m = 4148.0 ± 2.4 (stat.) ± 6.3 (syst.)MeV and Γ=28 (stat.)±19(syst.)MeV, respectively. Evidence for an additional peaking structure at higher J/ψφ mass is also reported. © 2014 The Authors.

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of $\sim$1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg$^2$ at a luminosity distance of $40^{+8}_{-8}$ Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Msun. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at $\sim$40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One-Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over $\sim$10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient's position $\sim$9 and $\sim$16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. (Abridged) The astrophysical journal / 2 848(2), L12 (2017). doi:10.3847/2041-8213/aa91c9 Published by IOP Publ., London