A Non-coding RNA of Insect HzNV-1 Virus Establishes Latent Viral Infection through MicroRNA

Heliothis zea nudivirus-1 (HzNV-1) is an insect virus previously known as Hz-1 baculovirus. One of its major early genes, hhi1, is responsible for the establishment of productive viral infection; another gene, pag1, which expresses a non-coding RNA, is the only viral transcript detectable during viral latency. Here we showed that this non-coding RNA was further processed into at least two distinct miRNAs, which targeted and degraded hhi1 transcript. This is a result strikingly similar to a recent report that herpes simplex virus produces tightly-regulated latent specific miRNAs to silence its own key early transcripts. Nevertheless, proof for the establishment of viral latency by miRNA is still lacking. We further showed that HzNV-1 latency could be directly induced by pag1-derived miRNAs in cells infected with a pag1-deleted, latency-deficient virus. This result suggests the existence of a novel mechanism, where miRNAs can be functional for the establishment of viral latency

NMR Experiments on a Three-Dimensional Vibrofluidized Granular Medium

A three-dimensional granular system fluidized by vertical container vibrations was studied using pulsed field gradient (PFG) NMR coupled with one-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The system consisted of mustard seeds vibrated vertically at 50 Hz, and the number of layers N_ell <= 4 was sufficiently low to achieve a nearly time-independent granular fluid. Using NMR, the vertical profiles of density and granular temperature were directly measured, along with the distributions of vertical and horizontal grain velocities. The velocity distributions showed modest deviations from Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics, except for the vertical velocity distribution near the sample bottom which was highly skewed and non-Gaussian. Data taken for three values of N_ell and two dimensionless accelerations Gamma=15,18 were fit to a hydrodynamic theory, which successfully models the density and temperature profiles including a temperature inversion near the free upper surface.Comment: 14 pages, 15 figure

Concept of temperature in multi-horizon spacetimes: Analysis of Schwarzschild-De Sitter metric

In case of spacetimes with single horizon, there exist several well-established procedures for relating the surface gravity of the horizon to a thermodynamic temperature. Such procedures, however, cannot be extended in a straightforward manner when a spacetime has multiple horizons. In particular, it is not clear whether there exists a notion of global temperature characterizing the multi-horizon spacetimes. We examine the conditions under which a global temperature can exist for a spacetime with two horizons using the example of Schwarzschild-De Sitter (SDS) spacetime. We systematically extend different procedures (like the expectation value of stress tensor, response of particle detectors, periodicity in the Euclidean time etc.) for identifying a temperature in the case of spacetimes with single horizon to the SDS spacetime. This analysis is facilitated by using a global coordinate chart which covers the entire SDS manifold. We find that all the procedures lead to a consistent picture characterized by the following features: (a) In general, SDS spacetime behaves like a non-equilibrium system characterized by two temperatures. (b) It is not possible to associate a global temperature with SDS spacetime except when the ratio of the two surface gravities is rational (c) Even when the ratio of the two surface gravities is rational, the thermal nature depends on the coordinate chart used. There exists a global coordinate chart in which there is global equilibrium temperature while there exist other charts in which SDS behaves as though it has two different temperatures. The coordinate dependence of the thermal nature is reminiscent of the flat spacetime in Minkowski and Rindler coordinate charts. The implications are discussed.Comment: 12 page

Achieving coordinated national immunity and cholera elimination in Haiti through vaccination: a modelling study

Background: Cholera was introduced into Haiti in 2010. Since then, more than 820 000 cases and nearly 10 000 deaths have been reported. Oral cholera vaccine (OCV) is safe and effective, but has not been seen as a primary tool for cholera elimination due to a limited period of protection and constrained supplies. Regionally, epidemic cholera is contained to the island of Hispaniola, and the lowest numbers of cases since the epidemic began were reported in 2019. Hence, Haiti may represent a unique opportunity to eliminate cholera with OCV. Methods: In this modelling study, we assessed the probability of elimination, time to elimination, and percentage of cases averted with OCV campaign scenarios in Haiti through simulations from four modelling teams. For a 10-year period from January 19, 2019, to Jan 13, 2029, we compared a no vaccination scenario with five OCV campaign scenarios that differed in geographical scope, coverage, and rollout duration. Teams used weekly department-level reports of suspected cholera cases from the Haiti Ministry of Public Health and Population to calibrate the models and used common vaccine-related assumptions, but other model features were determined independently. Findings: Among campaigns with the same vaccination coverage (70% fully vaccinated), the median probability of elimination after 5 years was 0–18% for no vaccination, 0–33% for 2-year campaigns focused in the two departments with the highest historical incidence, 0–72% for three-department campaigns, and 35–100% for nationwide campaigns. Two-department campaigns averted a median of 12–58% of infections, three-department campaigns averted 29–80% of infections, and national campaigns averted 58–95% of infections. Extending the national campaign to a 5-year rollout (compared to a 2-year rollout), reduced the probability of elimination to 0–95% and the proportion of cases averted to 37–86%. Interpretation: Models suggest that the probability of achieving zero transmission of Vibrio cholerae in Haiti with current methods of control is low, and that bolder action is needed to promote elimination of cholera from the region. Large-scale cholera vaccination campaigns in Haiti would offer the opportunity to synchronise nationwide immunity, providing near-term population protection while improvements to water and sanitation promote long-term cholera elimination. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Global Good Fund, Institute for Disease Modeling, Swiss National Science Foundation, and US National Institutes of Health

Search for a W' boson decaying to a bottom quark and a top quark in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

Results are presented from a search for a W' boson using a dataset corresponding to 5.0 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity collected during 2011 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV. The W' boson is modeled as a heavy W boson, but different scenarios for the couplings to fermions are considered, involving both left-handed and right-handed chiral projections of the fermions, as well as an arbitrary mixture of the two. The search is performed in the decay channel W' to t b, leading to a final state signature with a single lepton (e, mu), missing transverse energy, and jets, at least one of which is tagged as a b-jet. A W' boson that couples to fermions with the same coupling constant as the W, but to the right-handed rather than left-handed chiral projections, is excluded for masses below 1.85 TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the first time using LHC data, constraints on the W' gauge coupling for a set of left- and right-handed coupling combinations have been placed. These results represent a significant improvement over previously published limits.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters B. Replaced with version publishe

Dapagliflozin: a sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor in development for type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a growing worldwide epidemic. Patients face lifelong therapy to control hyperglycemia and prevent the associated complications. There are many medications, with varying mechanisms, available for the treatment of T2DM, but almost all target the declining insulin sensitivity and secretion that are associated with disease progression. Medications with such insulin-dependent mechanisms of action often lose efficacy over time, and there is increasing interest in the development of new antidiabetes medications that are not dependent upon insulin. One such approach is through the inhibition of renal glucose reuptake. Dapagliflozin, the first of a class of selective sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors, reduces renal glucose reabsorption and is currently under development for the treatment of T2DM. Here, we review the literature relating to the preclinical and clinical development of dapagliflozin

Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV

A search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons is described. The analysis is performed using a dataset recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC from pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, which corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.8 inverse femtobarns. Limits are set on the cross section of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The expected exclusion limit at 95% confidence level is between 1.4 and 2.4 times the standard model cross section in the mass range between 110 and 150 GeV. The analysis of the data excludes, at 95% confidence level, the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the mass range 128 to 132 GeV. The largest excess of events above the expected standard model background is observed for a Higgs boson mass hypothesis of 124 GeV with a local significance of 3.1 sigma. The global significance of observing an excess with a local significance greater than 3.1 sigma anywhere in the search range 110-150 GeV is estimated to be 1.8 sigma. More data are required to ascertain the origin of this excess.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters

Measurement of the Lambda(b) cross section and the anti-Lambda(b) to Lambda(b) ratio with Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda decays in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The Lambda(b) differential production cross section and the cross section ratio anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) are measured as functions of transverse momentum pt(Lambda(b)) and rapidity abs(y(Lambda(b))) in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The measurements are based on Lambda(b) decays reconstructed in the exclusive final state J/Psi Lambda, with the subsequent decays J/Psi to an opposite-sign muon pair and Lambda to proton pion, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.9 inverse femtobarns. The product of the cross section times the branching ratio for Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda versus pt(Lambda(b)) falls faster than that of b mesons. The measured value of the cross section times the branching ratio for pt(Lambda(b)) > 10 GeV and abs(y(Lambda(b))) < 2.0 is 1.06 +/- 0.06 +/- 0.12 nb, and the integrated cross section ratio for anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) is 1.02 +/- 0.07 +/- 0.09, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters

Search for new physics in events with opposite-sign leptons, jets, and missing transverse energy in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search is presented for physics beyond the standard model (BSM) in final states with a pair of opposite-sign isolated leptons accompanied by jets and missing transverse energy. The search uses LHC data recorded at a center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the CMS detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 5 inverse femtobarns. Two complementary search strategies are employed. The first probes models with a specific dilepton production mechanism that leads to a characteristic kinematic edge in the dilepton mass distribution. The second strategy probes models of dilepton production with heavy, colored objects that decay to final states including invisible particles, leading to very large hadronic activity and missing transverse energy. No evidence for an event yield in excess of the standard model expectations is found. Upper limits on the BSM contributions to the signal regions are deduced from the results, which are used to exclude a region of the parameter space of the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model. Additional information related to detector efficiencies and response is provided to allow testing specific models of BSM physics not considered in this paper.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Measurement of isolated photon production in pp and PbPb collisions at sqrt(sNN) = 2.76 TeV

Isolated photon production is measured in proton-proton and lead-lead collisions at nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energies of 2.76 TeV in the pseudorapidity range |eta|<1.44 and transverse energies ET between 20 and 80 GeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The measured ET spectra are found to be in good agreement with next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD predictions. The ratio of PbPb to pp isolated photon ET-differential yields, scaled by the number of incoherent nucleon-nucleon collisions, is consistent with unity for all PbPb reaction centralities.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters