To what distances do we know the confining potential?

We argue that asymptotically linear static potential is built in into the common procedure of extracting it from lattice Wilson loop measurements. To illustrate the point, we extract the potential by the standard lattice method in a model vacuum made of instantons. A beautiful infinitely rising linear potential is obtained in the case where the true potential is actually flattening. We argue that the flux tube formation might be also an artifact of the lattice procedure and not necessarily a measured physical effect. We conclude that at present the rising potential is known for sure up to no more than about 0.7 fm. It may explain why no screening has been clearly observed so far for adjoint sources and for fundamental sources but with dynamical fermions. Finally, we speculate on how confinement could be achieved even if the static potential in the pure glue theory is not infinitely rising.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures. Additional arguments presented, a new figure and references adde

Concomitant CIS on TURBT does not impact oncological outcomes in patients treated with neoadjuvant or induction chemotherapy followed by radical cystectomy

© Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018Background: Cisplatin-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) for muscle invasive bladder cancer improves all-cause and cancer specific survival. We aimed to evaluate whether the detection of carcinoma in situ (CIS) at the time of initial transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) has an oncological impact on the response to NAC prior to radical cystectomy. Patients and methods: Patients were identified retrospectively from 19 centers who received at least three cycles of NAC or induction chemotherapy for cT2-T4aN0-3M0 urothelial carcinoma of the bladder followed by radical cystectomy between 2000 and 2013. The primary and secondary outcomes were pathological response and overall survival, respectively. Multivariable analysis was performed to determine the independent predictive value of CIS on these outcomes. Results: Of 1213 patients included in the analysis, 21.8% had concomitant CIS. Baseline clinical and pathologic characteristics of the ‘CIS’ versus ‘no-CIS’ groups were similar. The pathological response did not differ between the two arms when response was defined as pT0N0 (17.9% with CIS vs 21.9% without CIS; p = 0.16) which may indicate that patients with CIS may be less sensitive to NAC or ≤ pT1N0 (42.8% with CIS vs 37.8% without CIS; p = 0.15). On Cox regression model for overall survival for the cN0 cohort, the presence of CIS was not associated with survival (HR 0.86 (95% CI 0.63–1.18; p = 0.35). The presence of LVI (HR 1.41, 95% CI 1.01–1.96; p = 0.04), hydronephrosis (HR 1.63, 95% CI 1.23–2.16; p = 0.001) and use of chemotherapy other than ddMVAC (HR 0.57, 95% CI 0.34–0.94; p = 0.03) were associated with shorter overall survival. For the whole cohort, the presence of CIS was also not associated with survival (HR 1.05 (95% CI 0.82–1.35; p = 0.70). Conclusion: In this multicenter, real-world cohort, CIS status at TURBT did not affect pathologic response to neoadjuvant or induction chemotherapy. This study is limited by its retrospective nature as well as variability in chemotherapy regimens and surveillance regimens.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Influenza H5 Hemagglutinin DNA Primes the Antibody Response Elicited by the Live Attenuated Influenza A/Vietnam/1203/2004 Vaccine in Ferrets

Priming immunization plays a key role in protecting individuals or populations to influenza viruses that are novel to humans. To identify the most promising vaccine priming strategy, we have evaluated different prime-boost regimens using inactivated, DNA and live attenuated vaccines in ferrets. Live attenuated influenza A/Vietnam/1203/2004 (H5N1) candidate vaccine (LAIV, VN04 ca) primed ferrets efficiently while inactivated H5N1 vaccine could not prime the immune response in seronegative ferrets unless an adjuvant was used. However, the H5 HA DNA vaccine alone was as successful as an adjuvanted inactivated VN04 vaccine in priming the immune response to VN04 ca virus. The serum antibody titers of ferrets primed with H5 HA DNA followed by intranasal vaccination of VN04 ca virus were comparable to that induced by two doses of VN04 ca virus. Both LAIV-LAIV and DNA-LAIV vaccine regimens could induce antibody responses that cross-neutralized antigenically distinct H5N1 virus isolates including A/HongKong/213/2003 (HK03) and prevented nasal infection of HK03 vaccine virus. Thus, H5 HA DNA vaccination may offer an alternative option for pandemic preparedness

Antigenic Fingerprinting of H5N1 Avian Influenza Using Convalescent Sera and Monoclonal Antibodies Reveals Potential Vaccine and Diagnostic Targets

Using whole-genome-fragment phage display libraries, Hana Golding and colleagues identify the viral epitopes recognized by serum antibodies in humans who have recovered from infection with H5N1 avian influenza

Rapidity and Centrality Dependence of Proton and Anti-proton Production from Au+Au Collisions at sqrt(sNN) = 130GeV

We report on the rapidity and centrality dependence of proton and anti-proton transverse mass distributions from Au+Au collisions at sqrt(sNN) = 130GeV as measured by the STAR experiment at RHIC. Our results are from the rapidity and transverse momentum range of |y|<0.5 and 0.35 <p_t<1.00GeV/c. For both protons and anti-protons, transverse mass distributions become more convex from peripheral to central collisions demonstrating characteristics of collective expansion. The measured rapidity distributions and the mean transverse momenta versus rapidity are flat within |y|<0.5. Comparisons of our data with results from model calculations indicate that in order to obtain a consistent picture of the proton(anti-proton) yields and transverse mass distributions the possibility of pre-hadronic collective expansion may have to be taken into account.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, submitted to PR

Generation, Characterization and Epitope Mapping of Two Neutralizing and Protective Human Recombinant Antibodies against Influenza A H5N1 Viruses

The development of new therapeutic targets and strategies to control highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus infection in humans is urgently needed. Broadly cross-neutralizing recombinant human antibodies obtained from the survivors of H5N1 avian influenza provide an important role in immunotherapy for human H5N1 virus infection and definition of the critical epitopes for vaccine development.We have characterized two recombinant baculovirus-expressed human antibodies (rhAbs), AVFluIgG01 and AVFluIgG03, generated by screening a Fab antibody phage library derived from a patient recovered from infection with a highly pathogenic avian influenza A H5N1 clade 2.3 virus. AVFluIgG01 cross-neutralized the most of clade 0, clade 1, and clade 2 viruses tested, in contrast, AVFluIgG03 only neutralized clade 2 viruses. Passive immunization of mice with either AVFluIgG01 or AVFluIgG03 antibody resulted in protection from a lethal H5N1 clade 2.3 virus infection. Furthermore, through epitope mapping, we identify two distinct epitopes on H5 HA molecule recognized by these rhAbs and demonstrate their potential to protect against a lethal H5N1 virus infection in a mouse model.Importantly, localization of the epitopes recognized by these two neutralizing and protective antibodies has provided, for the first time, insight into the human antibody responses to H5N1 viruses which contribute to the H5 immunity in the recovered patient. These results highlight the potential of a rhAbs treatment strategy for human H5N1 virus infection and provide new insight for the development of effective H5N1 pandemic vaccines

HECTD2, a candidate susceptibility gene for Alzheimer's disease on 10q

Background: Late onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterised by the deposition of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain and is the major cause of dementia. Multiple genetic loci, including 10q, have been implicated in LOAD but to date, with the exception of APOE, the underlying genes have not been identified. HECTD2 maps to 10q and has been implicated in susceptibility to human prion diseases which are also neurodegenerative conditions associated with accumulation of misfolded host proteins. In this study we test whether the HECTD2 susceptibility allele seen in prion disease is also implicated in LOAD.Methods: DNA from 320 individuals with Alzheimer's disease and 601 controls were genotyped for a HECTD2 intronic tagging SNP, rs12249854 (A/T). Groups were further analysed following stratification by APOE genotype.Results: The rs12249854 minor allele (A) frequency was higher (5.8%) in the Alzheimer's disease group as compared to the controls (3.9%), however, this was not statistically significant (P = 0.0668). No significant difference was seen in minor allele frequency in the presence or absence of the APOE epsilon 4 allele.Conclusion: The common haplotypes of HECTD2, tagged by rs12249854, are not associated with susceptibility to LOAD

Single-cell transcriptomes from human kidneys reveal the cellular identity of renal tumors.

Messenger RNA encodes cellular function and phenotype. In the context of human cancer, it defines the identities of malignant cells and the diversity of tumor tissue. We studied 72,501 single-cell transcriptomes of human renal tumors and normal tissue from fetal, pediatric, and adult kidneys. We matched childhood Wilms tumor with specific fetal cell types, thus providing evidence for the hypothesis that Wilms tumor cells are aberrant fetal cells. In adult renal cell carcinoma, we identified a canonical cancer transcriptome that matched a little-known subtype of proximal convoluted tubular cell. Analyses of the tumor composition defined cancer-associated normal cells and delineated a complex vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling circuit. Our findings reveal the precise cellular identities and compositions of human kidney tumors