Pattern analysis of vegan eating reveals healthy and unhealthy patterns within the vegan diet

Objective: This study aimed to identify the types of foods that constitute a vegan diet and establish patterns within the diet. Dietary pattern analysis, a key instrument for exploring the correlation between health and disease was used to identify patterns within the vegan diet. Design: A modified version of the EPIC-Norfolk food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was created and validated to include vegan foods and launched on social media. Setting: UK participants, recruited online Participants: A convenience sample of 129 vegans voluntarily completed the FFQ. Collected data was converted to reflect weekly consumption to enable factor and cluster analyses. Results: Factor analysis identified four distinct dietary patterns including: 1) convenience, (22%); 2) health conscious, (12%); 3) unhealthy, (9%); and 4) traditional vegan (7%). Whilst two healthy patterns were defined, the convenience pattern was the most identifiable pattern with a prominence of vegan convenience meals and snacks, vegan sweets and desserts, sauces, condiments and fats. Cluster analysis identified three clusters, cluster one ‘convenience’ (26.8%), cluster two, ‘traditional’ (22%) and cluster 3 ‘health conscious’ (51.2%). Clusters one and two consisted of an array of ultra-processed vegan food items. Together, both clusters represent almost half of participants and yielding similar results to the predominant dietary pattern, strengthens the factor analysis. Conclusions: These novel results highlight a need for further dietary pattern studies with full nutrition and blood metabolite analysis in larger samples of vegans to enhance and ratify these results

PGB pair production at LHC and ILC as a probe of the topcolor-assisted technicolor models

The topcolor-assisted technicolor (TC2) model predicts some light pseudo goldstone bosons (PGBs), which may be accessible at the LHC or ILC. In this work we study the pair productions of the charged or neutral PGBs at the LHC and ILC. For the productions at the LHC we consider the processes proceeding through gluon-gluon fusion and quark-antiquark annihilation, while for the productions at the ILC we consider both the electron-positron collision and the photon-photon collision. We find that in a large part of parameter space the production cross sections at both colliders can be quite large compared with the low standard model backgrounds. Therefore, in future experiments these productions may be detectable and allow for probing TC2 model.Comment: 26 pages, 16 figures. slight changes in the text; notations for curves changed; references adde

Top and Bottom Seesaw from Supersymmetric Strong Dynamics

We propose a top and bottom seesaw model with partial composite top and bottom quarks. Such composite quarks and topcolor gauge bosons are bound states from supersymmetric strong dynamics by Seiberg duality. Supersymmetry breaking also induces the breaking of topcolor into the QCD gauge coupling. The low energy description of our model reduces to a complete non-minimal extension of the top seesaw model with bottom seesaw. The non-minimal nature is crucial for Higgs mixings and the appearance of light Higgs fields. The Higgs fields are bound states of partial composite particles with the lightest one compatible with a 125 GeV Higgs field which was discovered at the LHC.Comment: Minor changes, Published Versio

LHC Predictions from a Tevatron Anomaly in the Top Quark Forward-Backward Asymmetry

We examine the implications of the recent CDF measurement of the top-quark forward-backward asymmetry, focusing on a scenario with a new color octet vector boson at 1-3 TeV. We study several models, as well as a general effective field theory, and determine the parameter space which provides the best simultaneous fit to the CDF asymmetry, the Tevatron top pair production cross section, and the exclusion regions from LHC dijet resonance and contact interaction searches. Flavor constraints on these models are more subtle and less severe than the literature indicates. We find a large region of allowed parameter space at high axigluon mass and a smaller region at low mass; we match the latter to an SU(3)xSU(3)/SU(3) coset model with a heavy vector-like fermion. Our scenario produces discoverable effects at the LHC with only 1-2 inverse femtobarns of luminosity at 7-8 TeV. Lastly, we point out that a Tevatron measurement of the b-quark forward-backward asymmetry would be very helpful in characterizing the physics underlying the top-quark asymmetry.Comment: 35 pages, 10 figures, 4 table

Vectorlike Confinement at the LHC

We argue for the plausibility of a broad class of vectorlike confining gauge theories at the TeV scale which interact with the Standard Model predominantly via gauge interactions. These theories have a rich phenomenology at the LHC if confinement occurs at the TeV scale, while ensuring negligible impact on precision electroweak and flavor observables. Spin-1 bound states can be resonantly produced via their mixing with Standard Model gauge bosons. The resonances promptly decay to pseudo-Goldstone bosons, some of which promptly decay to a pair of Standard Model gauge bosons, while others are charged and stable on collider time scales. The diverse set of final states with little background include multiple photons and leptons, missing energy, massive stable charged particles and the possibility of highly displaced vertices in dilepton, leptoquark or diquark decays. Among others, a novel experimental signature of resonance reconstruction out of massive stable charged particles is highlighted. Some of the long-lived states also constitute Dark Matter candidates.Comment: 33 pages, 6 figures. v4: expanded discussion of Z_2 symmetry for stability, one reference adde

Mercury in Nelson's Sparrow Subspecies at Breeding Sites

Background: Mercury is a persistent, biomagnifying contaminant that can cause negative effects on ecosystems. Marshes are often areas of relatively high mercury methylation and bioaccumulation. Nelson’s Sparrows (Ammodramus nelsoni) use marsh habitats year-round and have been documented to exhibit tissue mercury concentrations that exceed negative effects thresholds. We sought to further characterize the potential risk of Nelson’s Sparrows to mercury exposure by sampling individuals from sites within the range of each of its subspecies

Histone deacetylases as new therapy targets for platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian cancer

Introduction: In developed countries, ovarian cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women. Due to the nonspecific symptomatology associated with the disease many patients with ovarian cancer are diagnosed late, which leads to significantly poorer prognosis. Apart from surgery and radiotherapy, a substantial number of ovarian cancer patients will undergo chemotherapy and platinum based agents are the mainstream first-line therapy for this disease. Despite the initial efficacy of these therapies, many women relapse; therefore, strategies for second-line therapies are required. Regulation of DNA transcription is crucial for tumour progression, metastasis and chemoresistance which offers potential for novel drug targets. Methods: We have reviewed the existing literature on the role of histone deacetylases, nuclear enzymes regulating gene transcription. Results and conclusion: Analysis of available data suggests that a signifant proportion of drug resistance stems from abberant gene expression, therefore HDAC inhibitors are amongst the most promising therapeutic targets for cancer treatment. Together with genetic testing, they may have a potential to serve as base for patient-adapted therapies

TReatIng Urinary symptoms in Men in Primary Healthcare using non-pharmacological and non-surgical interventions (TRIUMPH) compared with usual care: Study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial

Background: Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) can relate to urinary storage or voiding. In men, the prevalence and severity of LUTS increases with age, with a significant impact on quality of life. The majority of men presenting with LUTS are managed by their general practitioner (GP) in the first instance, with conservative therapies recommended as the initial treatment. However, the provision of conservative therapies in primary care is variable and can be time and resource limited. GPs require practical resources to enhance patient engagement with such interventions. TRIUMPH aims to determine whether a standardised and manualised care intervention delivered in primary care achieves superior symptomatic outcome for LUTS versus usual care.Methods/design: TRIUMPH is a two-arm, cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT) being conducted in 30 National Health Service (NHS) general practices in England. The TRIUMPH intervention comprises a standardised LUTS advice booklet developed for the trial with patient and healthcare professional (HCP) consultation. The booklet is delivered to patients by nurses/healthcare assistants following assessment of their urinary symptoms. Patients are directed to relevant sections of the booklet, providing the manualised element of the intervention. To encourage adherence, HCPs provide follow-up contacts over 12 weeks. Practices are randomised 1:1 to either deliver the TRIUMPH intervention or a usual care pathway. The patient-reported International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) at 12 months post consent is the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes include cost-effectiveness, patient-reported outcomes on LUTS, quality of life, and patient and HCP acceptability and experience of the intervention. Primary analyses will be conducted on an intention-to-treat basis.Discussion: It is unclear whether conservative therapies for male LUTS are effectively delivered in primary care using current approaches. This can lead to men being inappropriately referred to secondary care or experiencing persistent symptoms. Primary care, therefore, holds the key to effective treatment for these men. The TRIUMPH intervention, through its standardised and manualised approach, has been developed to support GP practices in delivering effective conservative care. This pragmatic, cluster RCT should provide robust evidence in a primary-care setting to inform future guidelines

Minor Physical Anomalies in Patients with Schizophrenia, Unaffected First-Degree Relatives, and Healthy Controls: A Meta-Analysis

Background: Minor physical anomalies (MPAs) have been found to be more prevalent in schizophrenia than control participants in numerous studies and may index a potential endophenotype for schizophrenia.</p