Role of the employment status and education of mothers in the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections in Mexican rural schoolchildren

<p><b>Background:</b> Intestinal parasitic infections are a public health problem in developing countries such as Mexico. As a result, two governmental programmes have been implemented: a) "National Deworming Campaign" and b) "Opportunities" aimed at maternal care. However, both programmes are developed separately and their impact is still unknown. We independently investigated whether a variety of socio-economic factors, including maternal education and employment levels, were associated with intestinal parasite infection in rural school children.</p> <p><b>Methods:</b> This cross-sectional study was conducted in 12 rural communities in two Mexican states. The study sites and populations were selected on the basis of the following traits: a) presence of activities by the national administration of albendazole, b) high rates of intestinal parasitism, c) little access to medical examination, and d) a population having less than 2,500 inhabitants. A total of 507 schoolchildren (mean age 8.2 years) were recruited and 1,521 stool samples collected (3 per child). Socio-economic information was obtained by an oral questionnaire. Regression modelling was used to determine the association of socio-economic indicators and intestinal parasitism.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> More than half of the schoolchildren showed poliparasitism (52%) and protozoan infections (65%). The prevalence of helminth infections was higher in children from Oaxaca (53%) than in those from Sinaloa (33%) (p < 0.0001). Giardia duodenalis and Hymenolepis nana showed a high prevalence in both states. Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and Entamoeba hystolitica/dispar showed low prevalence. Children from lower-income families and with unemployed and less educated mothers showed higher risk of intestinal parasitism (odds ratio (OR) 6.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.6–22.6; OR 4.5, 95% CI 2.5–8.2; OR 3.3, 95% CI 1.5–7.4 respectively). Defecation in open areas was also a high risk factor for infection (OR 2.4, 95% CI 2.0–3.0).</p> <p><b>Conclusion:</b> Intestinal parasitism remains an important public health problem in Sinaloa (north-western Mexico) and Oaxaca (south-eastern Mexico). Lower income, defecation in open areas, employment status and a lower education level of mothers were the significant factors related to these infections. We conclude that mothers should be involved in health initiatives to control intestinal parasitism in Mexico.</p&gt

Tuning supersymmetric models at the LHC: A comparative analysis at two-loop level

We provide a comparative study of the fine tuning amount (Delta) at the two-loop leading log level in supersymmetric models commonly used in SUSY searches at the LHC. These are the constrained MSSM (CMSSM), non-universal Higgs masses models (NUHM1, NUHM2), non-universal gaugino masses model (NUGM) and GUT related gaugino masses models (NUGMd). Two definitions of the fine tuning are used, the first (Delta_{max}) measures maximal fine-tuning wrt individual parameters while the second (Delta_q) adds their contribution in "quadrature". As a direct result of two theoretical constraints (the EW minimum conditions), fine tuning (Delta_q) emerges as a suppressing factor (effective prior) of the averaged likelihood (under the priors), under the integral of the global probability of measuring the data (Bayesian evidence p(D)). For each model, there is little difference between Delta_q, Delta_{max} in the region allowed by the data, with similar behaviour as functions of the Higgs, gluino, stop mass or SUSY scale (m_{susy}=(m_{\tilde t_1} m_{\tilde t_2})^{1/2}) or dark matter and g-2 constraints. The analysis has the advantage that by replacing any of these mass scales or constraints by their latest bounds one easily infers for each model the value of Delta_q, Delta_{max} or vice versa. For all models, minimal fine tuning is achieved for M_{higgs} near 115 GeV with a Delta_q\approx Delta_{max}\approx 10 to 100 depending on the model, and in the CMSSM this is actually a global minimum. Due to a strong ($\approx$ exponential) dependence of Delta on M_{higgs}, for a Higgs mass near 125 GeV, the above values of Delta_q\approx Delta_{max} increase to between 500 and 1000. Possible corrections to these values are briefly discussed.Comment: 23 pages, 46 figures; references added; some clarifications (section 2

Web-based monitoring tools for Resistive Plate Chambers in the CMS experiment at CERN

The Resistive Plate Chambers (RPC) are used in the CMS experiment at the trigger level and also in the standard offline muon reconstruction. In order to guarantee the quality of the data collected and to monitor online the detector performance, a set of tools has been developed in CMS which is heavily used in the RPC system. The Web-based monitoring (WBM) is a set of java servlets that allows users to check the performance of the hardware during data taking, providing distributions and history plots of all the parameters. The functionalities of the RPC WBM monitoring tools are presented along with studies of the detector performance as a function of growing luminosity and environmental conditions that are tracked over time

Search for Second-Generation Scalar Leptoquarks in ppˉ\bm{p \bar{p}} Collisions at s\sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV

Results on a search for pair production of second generation scalar leptoquark in $p \bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=1.96 TeV are reported. The data analyzed were collected by the CDF detector during the 2002-2003 Tevatron Run II and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 198 pb$^{-1}$. Leptoquarks (LQ) are sought through their decay into (charged) leptons and quarks, with final state signatures represented by two muons and jets and one muon, large transverse missing energy and jets. We observe no evidence for $LQ$ production and derive 95% C.L. upper limits on the $LQ$ production cross sections as well as lower limits on their mass as a function of $\beta$, where $\beta$ is the branching fraction for $LQ \to \mu q$.Comment: 9 pages (3 author list) 5 figure

Structural insight into SUMO chain recognition and manipulation by the ubiquitin ligase RNF4

The small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) can form polymeric chains that are important signals in cellular processes such as meiosis, genome maintenance and stress response. The SUMO-targeted ubiquitin ligase RNF4 engages with SUMO chains on linked substrates and catalyses their ubiquitination, which targets substrates for proteasomal degradation. Here we use a segmental labelling approach combined with solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and biochemical characterization to reveal how RNF4 manipulates the conformation of the SUMO chain, thereby facilitating optimal delivery of the distal SUMO domain for ubiquitin transfer

Evaluation of urinary hydrogen peroxide as an oxidative stress biomarker in a healthy Japanese population

The usefulness of urinary hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as an oxidative stress biomarker was evaluated in 766 healthy Japanese. The mean level of urinary concentrations of H2O2 was 5.66 +/- 8.27 mu mol/g creatinine, and was significantly higher in females than in males. Significant correlations of H2O2 were observed with age, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), insulin, 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), and exercise habit in females. In both sexes, H2O2 showed a significant correlation with 8-OHdG. By a multiple logistic regression analysis, urinary H2O2 was positively associated with urinary 8-OHdG and TC and was inversely associated with insulin. By stratification of sex and age, the association of urinary H2O2 with TC was positive in both sexes under 50 years old and was inverse in males over 50 years old, and that with insulin was inverse in males over 50 years old and in females under 50 years old. Moreover, by stratification of sex and age, a positive association of H2O2 with exercise and an inverse association of H2O2 with alcohol consumption became clear in males under 50 years old, although there were no significant odds for H2O2 after adjustment for covariates. In conclusion, the present results suggest that urinary H2O2 is a useful biomarker for oxidative stress, showing an association with 8-OHdG, TC, and insulin independently

Observation of the Baryonic Flavor-Changing Neutral Current Decay Lambda_b -> Lambda mu+ mu-

We report the first observation of the baryonic flavor-changing neutral current decay Lambda_b -> Lambda mu+ mu- with 24 signal events and a statistical significance of 5.8 Gaussian standard deviations. This measurement uses ppbar collisions data sample corresponding to 6.8fb-1 at sqrt{s}=1.96TeV collected by the CDF II detector at the Tevatron collider. The total and differential branching ratios for Lambda_b -> Lambda mu+ mu- are measured. We find B(Lambda_b -> Lambda mu+ mu-) = [1.73+-0.42(stat)+-0.55(syst)] x 10^{-6}. We also report the first measurement of the differential branching ratio of B_s -> phi mu+ mu- using 49 signal events. In addition, we report branching ratios for B+ -> K+ mu+ mu-, B0 -> K0 mu+ mu-, and B -> K*(892) mu+ mu- decays.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 4 tables. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Search for direct pair production of the top squark in all-hadronic final states in proton-proton collisions at s√=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The results of a search for direct pair production of the scalar partner to the top quark using an integrated luminosity of 20.1fb−1 of proton–proton collision data at √s = 8 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC are reported. The top squark is assumed to decay via t˜→tχ˜01 or t˜→ bχ˜±1 →bW(∗)χ˜01 , where χ˜01 (χ˜±1 ) denotes the lightest neutralino (chargino) in supersymmetric models. The search targets a fully-hadronic final state in events with four or more jets and large missing transverse momentum. No significant excess over the Standard Model background prediction is observed, and exclusion limits are reported in terms of the top squark and neutralino masses and as a function of the branching fraction of t˜ → tχ˜01 . For a branching fraction of 100%, top squark masses in the range 270–645 GeV are excluded for χ˜01 masses below 30 GeV. For a branching fraction of 50% to either t˜ → tχ˜01 or t˜ → bχ˜±1 , and assuming the χ˜±1 mass to be twice the χ˜01 mass, top squark masses in the range 250–550 GeV are excluded for χ˜01 masses below 60 GeV

Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Neurological Complications of Infective Endocarditis: Impact on Surgical Management and Prognosis

International audienceObjectives:Symptomatic neurological complications (NC) are a major cause of mortality in infective endocarditis (IE) but the impact of asymptomatic complications is unknown. We aimed to assess the impact of asymptomatic NC (AsNC) on the management and prognosis of IE.Methods: From the database of cases collected for a population-based study on IE, we selected 283 patients with definite left-sided IE who had undergone at least one neuroimaging procedure (cerebral CT scan and/or MRI) performed as part of initial evaluation.Results Among those 283 patients, 100 had symptomatic neurological complications (SNC) prior to the investigation, 35 had an asymptomatic neurological complications (AsNC), and 148 had a normal cerebral imaging (NoNC). The rate of valve surgery was 43% in the 100 patients with SNC, 77% in the 35 with AsNC, and 54% in the 148 with NoNC (p<0.001). In-hospital mortality was 42% in patients with SNC, 8.6% in patients with AsNC, and 16.9% in patients with NoNC (p<0.001). Among the 135 patients with NC, 95 had an indication for valve surgery (71%), which was performed in 70 of them (mortality 20%) and not performed in 25 (mortality 68%). In a multivariate adjusted analysis of the 135 patients with NC, age, renal failure, septic shock, and IE caused by S. aureus were independently associated with in-hospital and 1-year mortality. In addition SNC was an independent predictor of 1-year mortality.Conclusions The presence of NC was associated with a poorer prognosis when symptomatic. Patients with AsNC had the highest rate of valve surgery and the lowest mortality rate, which suggests a protective role of surgery guided by systematic neuroimaging results