Assessing the reliability of retrospective reports of adverse childhood experiences among adolescents with documented childhood maltreatment

The literature suggests that childhood maltreatment is related to a higher probability of developing psychopathology and disease in adulthood. However, some authors have questioned the reliability of self-reports of maltreatment, suggesting that psychopathology at the time of evaluation affects self-reports. We evaluated the reliability of the self-reports of 79 young adults who were identified in childhood by Child Protective Services by comparing two moments of evaluation. Psychological and physical symptoms were tested to evaluate their interference with the reports. We found good to excellent agreement, with no significant correlation between the changes in self-reported experiences and the changes in physical and psychological symptoms, suggesting that the reliability of reports is not related to the health state at the time of the report

Selective inhibition of the human tie-1 promoter with triplex-forming oligonucleotides targeted to ets binding sites

The Tie receptors (Tie-1 and Tie-2/Tek) are essential for angiogenesis and vascular remodeling/integrity. Tie receptors are up-regulated in tumor-associated endothelium, and their inhibition disrupts angiogenesis and can prevent tumor growth as a consequence. To investigate the potential of anti-gene approaches to inhibit tie gene expression for anti-angiogenic therapy, we have examined triple-helical (triplex) DNA formation at 2 tandem Ets transcription factor binding motifs (designated E-1 and E-2) in the human tie-1 promoter. Various tie-1 promoter deletion/mutation luciferase reporter constructs were generated and transfected into endothelial cells to examine the relative activities of E-1 and E-2. The binding of antiparallel and parallel (control) purine motif oligonucleotides (21-22 bp) targeted to E-1 and E-2 was assessed by plasmid DNA fragment binding and electrophoretic mobility shift assays. Triplex-forming oligonucleotides were incubated with tie-1 reporter constructs and transfected into endothelial cells to determine their activity. The Ets binding motifs in the E-1 sequence were essential for human tie-1 promoter activity in endothelial cells, whereas the deletion of E-2 had no effect. Antiparallel purine motif oligonucleotides targeted at E-1 or E-2 selectively formed strong triplex DNA (K(d) approximately 10(-7) M) at 37 degrees C. Transfection of tie-1 reporter constructs with triplex DNA at E-1, but not E-2, specifically inhibited tie-1 promoter activity by up to 75% compared with control oligonucleotides in endothelial cells. As similar multiple Ets binding sites are important for the regulation of several endothelial-restricted genes, this approach may have broad therapeutic potential for cancer and other pathologies involving endothelial proliferation/dysfunction

Quantitative Analysis of Viral Load per Haploid Genome Revealed the Different Biological Features of Merkel Cell Polyomavirus Infection in Skin Tumor

Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) has recently been identified in Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), an aggressive cancer that occurs in sun-exposed skin. Conventional technologies, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunohistochemistry, have produced conflicting results for MCPyV infections in non-MCC tumors. Therefore, we performed quantitative analyses of the MCPyV copy number in various skin tumor tissues, including MCC (n = 9) and other sun exposure-related skin tumors (basal cell carcinoma [BCC, n = 45], actinic keratosis [AK, n = 52], Bowen’s disease [n = 34], seborrheic keratosis [n = 5], primary cutaneous anaplastic large-cell lymphoma [n = 5], malignant melanoma [n = 5], and melanocytic nevus [n = 6]). In a conventional PCR analysis, MCPyV DNA was detected in MCC (9 cases; 100%), BCC (1 case; 2%), and AK (3 cases; 6%). We then used digital PCR technology to estimate the absolute viral copy number per haploid human genome in these tissues. The viral copy number per haploid genome was estimated to be around 1 in most MCC tissues, and there were marked differences between the MCC (0.119–42.8) and AK (0.02–0.07) groups. PCR-positive BCC tissue showed a similar viral load as MCC tissue (0.662). Immunohistochemistry with a monoclonal antibody against the MCPyV T antigen (CM2B4) demonstrated positive nuclear localization in most of the high-viral-load tumor groups (8 of 9 MCC and 1 BCC), but not in the low-viral-load or PCR-negative tumor groups. These results demonstrated that MCPyV infection is possibly involved in a minority of sun-exposed skin tumors, including BCC and AK, and that these tumors display different modes of infection

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

Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections for Higgs boson production in the diphoton decay channel at s√=8 TeV with ATLAS

Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections are presented for Higgs boson production in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of s√=8 TeV. The analysis is performed in the H → γγ decay channel using 20.3 fb−1 of data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The signal is extracted using a fit to the diphoton invariant mass spectrum assuming that the width of the resonance is much smaller than the experimental resolution. The signal yields are corrected for the effects of detector inefficiency and resolution. The pp → H → γγ fiducial cross section is measured to be 43.2 ±9.4(stat.) − 2.9 + 3.2 (syst.) ±1.2(lumi)fb for a Higgs boson of mass 125.4GeV decaying to two isolated photons that have transverse momentum greater than 35% and 25% of the diphoton invariant mass and each with absolute pseudorapidity less than 2.37. Four additional fiducial cross sections and two cross-section limits are presented in phase space regions that test the theoretical modelling of different Higgs boson production mechanisms, or are sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model. Differential cross sections are also presented, as a function of variables related to the diphoton kinematics and the jet activity produced in the Higgs boson events. The observed spectra are statistically limited but broadly in line with the theoretical expectations

Measurement of the cross-section of high transverse momentum vector bosons reconstructed as single jets and studies of jet substructure in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents a measurement of the cross-section for high transverse momentum W and Z bosons produced in pp collisions and decaying to all-hadronic final states. The data used in the analysis were recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7 TeV;{\rm Te}{\rm V}$and correspond to an integrated luminosity of$4.6\;{\rm f}{{{\rm b}}^{-1}}$. The measurement is performed by reconstructing the boosted W or Z bosons in single jets. The reconstructed jet mass is used to identify the W and Z bosons, and a jet substructure method based on energy cluster information in the jet centre-of-mass frame is used to suppress the large multi-jet background. The cross-section for events with a hadronically decaying W or Z boson, with transverse momentum${{p}_{{\rm T}}}\gt 320\;{\rm Ge}{\rm V}$and pseudorapidity$|\eta |\lt 1.9$, is measured to be${{\sigma }_{W+Z}}=8.5\pm 1.7$ pb and is compared to next-to-leading-order calculations. The selected events are further used to study jet grooming techniques

Search for the neutral Higgs bosons of the minimal supersymmetric standard model in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for neutral Higgs bosons of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) is reported. The analysis is based on a sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The data were recorded in 2011 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb-1 to 4.8 fb-1. Higgs boson decays into oppositely-charged muon or τ lepton pairs are considered for final states requiring either the presence or absence of b-jets. No statistically significant excess over the expected background is observed and exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level are derived. The exclusion limits are for the production cross-section of a generic neutral Higgs boson, φ, as a function of the Higgs boson mass and for h/A/H production in the MSSM as a function of the parameters mA and tan β in the mhmax scenario for mA in the range of 90GeV to 500 GeV. Copyright CERN

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

Search for pair-produced long-lived neutral particles decaying to jets in the ATLAS hadronic calorimeter in ppcollisions at √s=8TeV

The ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN is used to search for the decay of a scalar boson to a pair of long-lived particles, neutral under the Standard Model gauge group, in 20.3fb−1of data collected in proton–proton collisions at √s=8TeV. This search is sensitive to long-lived particles that decay to Standard Model particles producing jets at the outer edge of the ATLAS electromagnetic calorimeter or inside the hadronic calorimeter. No significant excess of events is observed. Limits are reported on the product of the scalar boson production cross section times branching ratio into long-lived neutral particles as a function of the proper lifetime of the particles. Limits are reported for boson masses from 100 GeVto 900 GeV, and a long-lived neutral particle mass from 10 GeVto 150 GeV