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Abstract We report on a measurement of elastic electron scattering on argon performed with a novel cryogenic gas-jet target at the Mainz Microtron accelerator MAMI. The luminosity is estimated with the thermodynamical parameters of the target and by comparison to a calculation in distorted-wave Born approximation. The cross section, measured at new momentum transfers of 1.24 $$\hbox {fm}^{-1}$$ ${\text{fm}}^{-1}$and 1.55 $$\hbox {fm}^{-1}$$ ${\text{fm}}^{-1}$is in agreement with previous experiments performed with a traditional high-pressure gas target, as well as with modernab-initiocalculations employing state-of-the-art nuclear forces from chiral effective field theory. The nearly background-free measurement highlights the optimal properties of the gas-jet target for elements heavier than hydrogen, enabling new applications in hadron and nuclear physics. 

Bonamia(Haplosporida) are oyster parasites capable of devastating oyster populations. The near-circumglobal distribution of the host generalistB. exitiosahas previously been associated with the natural and anthropogenic dispersal of broadly distributed non-commercial oysters in theOstrea stentinaspecies complex. Here, we took a global snapshot approach to explore the role of the widely introduced Pacific oysterMagallana gigas, a commercially important species that can be found on every continent except Antarctica, in transportingBonamia.We screened 938M. gigasindividuals from 41 populations in this oyster’s native and non-native geographic range for presence ofBonamiaDNA using PCR.B. exitiosawas the only species detected and only within 2 of 5 populations from southern California, USA (10 and 42% PCR prevalence). Therefore,M. gigascould have played a role in transportingB. exitiosato California (if introduced) and/or maintainingB. exitiosapopulations within California, but morphological confirmation of infection needs to be done to better understand the host-parasite dynamics within this system. We detected noBonamiaDNA within any other non-nativeM. gigaspopulations (n = 302) nor within nativeM. gigaspopulations in Japan and Korea (n = 582) and thus found no evidence to support the co-dispersal ofM. gigasand otherBonamiaspecies. Lower sample sizes within some populations and the non-systematic nature of our sampling design may have led to false negatives, especially in areas whereBonamiaare known to occur. Nevertheless, this global snapshot provides preliminary guidance for managing both natural and farmed oyster populations. 

Abstract Despite the f₀(980) hadron having been discovered half a century ago, the question about its quark content has not been settled: it might be an ordinary quark-antiquark ($${{\rm{q}}}\overline{{{\rm{q}}}}$$ $q\overline{q}$) meson, a tetraquark ($${{\rm{q}}}\overline{{{\rm{q}}}}{{\rm{q}}}\overline{{{\rm{q}}}}$$ $q\overline{q}q\overline{q}$) exotic state, a kaon-antikaon ($${{\rm{K}}}\overline{{{\rm{K}}}}$$ $K\overline{K}$) molecule, or a quark-antiquark-gluon ($${{\rm{q}}}\overline{{{\rm{q}}}}{{\rm{g}}}$$ $q\overline{q}g$) hybrid. This paper reports strong evidence that the f₀(980) state is an ordinary$${{\rm{q}}}\overline{{{\rm{q}}}}$$ $q\overline{q}$meson, inferred from the scaling of elliptic anisotropies (v₂) with the number of constituent quarks (n_q), as empirically established using conventional hadrons in relativistic heavy ion collisions. The f₀(980) state is reconstructed via its dominant decay channel f₀(980) →π⁺π⁻, in proton-lead collisions recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC, and itsv₂is measured as a function of transverse momentum (p_T). It is found that then_q= 2 ($${{\rm{q}}}\overline{{{\rm{q}}}}$$ $q\overline{q}$state) hypothesis is favored overn_q= 4 ($${{\rm{q}}}\overline{{{\rm{q}}}}{{\rm{q}}}\overline{{{\rm{q}}}}$$ $q\overline{q}q\overline{q}$or$${{\rm{K}}}\overline{{{\rm{K}}}}$$ $K\overline{K}$states) by 7.7, 6.3, or 3.1 standard deviations in thep_T< 10, 8, or 6 GeV/cranges, respectively, and overn_q= 3 ($${{\rm{q}}}\overline{{{\rm{q}}}}{{\rm{g}}}$$ $q\overline{q}g$hybrid state) by 3.5 standard deviations in thep_T< 8 GeV/crange. This result represents the first determination of the quark content of the f₀(980) state, made possible by using a novel approach, and paves the way for similar studies of other exotic hadron candidates. 

A first search for beyond the standard model physics in jet multiplicity patterns of multilepton events is presented, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $138{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$of 13 TeV proton-proton collisions recorded by the CMS detector at the LHC. The search uses observed jet multiplicity distributions in one-, two-, and four-lepton events to explore possible enhancements in jet production rate in three-lepton events with and without bottom quarks. The data are found to be consistent with the standard model expectation. The results are interpreted in terms of supersymmetric production of electroweak chargino-neutralino superpartners with cascade decays terminating in prompt hadronic $R$-parity violating interactions.