Schistosoma mansoni infection and the associated antibody immune response amongst residents of Kigungu Entebbe, Uganda

Background: There are many foci endemic for Schistosoma (S.) mansoni in Uganda. The immune responses to infection with the parasites in these areas have been found to vary with host sex, age and infection intensity.Objective: To determine the profile of antibody isotypes responses against S. mansoni crude soluble egg antigens (SEA) and soluble adult worm protein (SWAP) antigens that determine the host resistance or susceptibility to reinfection.Design: Cross Sectional, cohort study.Setting: Kigugu fishing village in Entebbe, Uganda.Subjects: Nine hundred and forty five (945) Kigungu residents reported for pre-treatment screening and enrolment and 626 cohorts report for post-treatment screening and enrolment 18 months later.Results: Pearson’s Chi-sq2 showed that increase in titres of anti (SWAP IgE, SEA IgE, and SEA IgG2) was not significant, but increase in anti SEA IgG3 was significant. Decrease in titres of anti (SWAP IgG1, SEA IgG1, and SEA IgG4) was not significant but decrease of anti (SWAP IgG2, SWAP IgG3 and SWAP IgG4) was significant. Positive correlation existed between age and anti SWAP IgE in before and after treatment sera. On the contrary, age was positively correlated with anti SWAP IgG4 in pre-treatment sera but was negatively correlated with anti SWAP IgG4 in the post-treatment sera. In addition there were positive correlation between higher egg counts and the immunoglobulin levels of anti SWAP IgG4 and anti SEA IgG4 but negative correlations were observed between anti SWAP IgE and anti SEA IgE. Conversely low egg counts were associated with high levels of anti SWAP IgE. Furthermore, IgG1-4, IgE antibody to SEA and SWAP antigens did not differ significantly according to sex.Conclusion: We concluded that praziquantel treatment of S. mansoni infected persons alter the immune responses that are influenced by age and intensity. A phenomenon that is useful in the effort to produce vaccine against schistosome

Evidence of Long Term Benefit of Praziquantel Treatment Against Schistosoma mansoni in Kigungu Fishing Village of Entebbe, Uganda

Praziquantel (PZQ) is efficacious against all species of schistosome: Schistosoma mansoni; Schistosoma haematobium; Schistosoma japonicum and other parasites like the Taenia species. This cross-sectional cohorts study was carried out in Kigungu fishing village along Lake Victoria shore in Entebbe Uganda. Our analysis was based on examining microscopically three slides from a single stool specimen from each of base line cohorts 945.These included children and adults, participants from both sexes in Kigungu fishing village in Entebbe Uganda. Nine hundred and one (901) of the cohorts were re-examined after six months and 625 of the same cohorts who were examined at the baseline and after six months were re-examined 18 months later. The slides were prepared using modified Kato/Katz (Odongo-Aginya) method. The infection proportion with Schistosoma mansoni at baseline was 448 (47.5%) but this was reduced to 244 (25.8%) 18 months after treatment with a single oral dose of praziquantel at 40mg/kg. However 495 (52.5%) were negative at the baseline study. The cure proportion after six was significant {(P=0.00), (OR4.63) CI at 95% (3.53-6.06)}. Similarly the cure proportion after 18 months was significant {(P=0.00), (OR2.2) CI at 95% (1.87-3.34)}. The force of re-infection after six months was significant {(P=0.0001), (OR 0.47) CI at 95% (0.31-0.71)}. Nevertheless the force of re-infection was not significant after 18 months {(P=0.766), (OR 0.95) CI at 95% (0.68-1.34)} eggs excretion did not reach the level of the pre-treatment intensity. The egg reduction was 69.3%. This was associated with age and pre-treatment intensity < 400 eggs per gram (epg) of faeces and age groups ≥ 30 years. The egg reduction also resulted in marked decrease in clinical symptoms in the participants. Our study suggests evidence of long-term benefit of praziquantel in Kigungu and that the re-infection occurred more commonly in younger age group than in the older patients.Key words: Praziquantel; Schistosoma mansoni; Kigungu; Entebbe; Uganda

The Evolution of Compact Binary Star Systems

We review the formation and evolution of compact binary stars consisting of white dwarfs (WDs), neutron stars (NSs), and black holes (BHs). Binary NSs and BHs are thought to be the primary astrophysical sources of gravitational waves (GWs) within the frequency band of ground-based detectors, while compact binaries of WDs are important sources of GWs at lower frequencies to be covered by space interferometers (LISA). Major uncertainties in the current understanding of properties of NSs and BHs most relevant to the GW studies are discussed, including the treatment of the natal kicks which compact stellar remnants acquire during the core collapse of massive stars and the common envelope phase of binary evolution. We discuss the coalescence rates of binary NSs and BHs and prospects for their detections, the formation and evolution of binary WDs and their observational manifestations. Special attention is given to AM CVn-stars -- compact binaries in which the Roche lobe is filled by another WD or a low-mass partially degenerate helium-star, as these stars are thought to be the best LISA verification binary GW sources.Comment: 105 pages, 18 figure

Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV

The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pT≥20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60≤pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2≤{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Search for R-parity-violating supersymmetry in events with four or more leptons in sqrt(s) =7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for new phenomena in final states with four or more leptons (electrons or muons) is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of $\sqrt{s}=7\;\mathrm{TeV}$ proton-proton collisions delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in two signal regions: one that requires moderate values of missing transverse momentum and another that requires large effective mass. The results are interpreted in a simplified model of R-parity-violating supersymmetry in which a 95% CL exclusion region is set for charged wino masses up to 540 GeV. In an R-parity-violating MSUGRA/CMSSM model, values of m 1/2 up to 820 GeV are excluded for 10 < tan β < 40

Search for high-mass resonances decaying to dilepton final states in pp collisions at s√=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider is used to search for high-mass resonances decaying to an electron-positron pair or a muon-antimuon pair. The search is sensitive to heavy neutral Z′ gauge bosons, Randall-Sundrum gravitons, Z * bosons, techni-mesons, Kaluza-Klein Z/γ bosons, and bosons predicted by Torsion models. Results are presented based on an analysis of pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 fb−1 in the e + e − channel and 5.0 fb−1 in the μ + μ −channel. A Z ′ boson with Standard Model-like couplings is excluded at 95 % confidence level for masses below 2.22 TeV. A Randall-Sundrum graviton with coupling k/MPl=0.1 is excluded at 95 % confidence level for masses below 2.16 TeV. Limits on the other models are also presented, including Technicolor and Minimal Z′ Models

Motor development of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Objective: To compare both global and specific domains of motor development of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with that of typically developing children. Methods: Two hundred children (50 children with clinical diagnoses of ADHD, according to the DSM-IV-TR and 150 typically developing controls), aged 5 to 10 years, participated in this crosssectional study. The Motor Development Scale was used to assess fine and global motricity, balance, body schema, and spatial and temporal organization. Results: Between-group testing revealed statistically significant differences between the ADHD and control groups for all domains. The results also revealed a deficit of nearly two years in the motor development of children with ADHD compared with the normative sample. Conclusion: The current study shows that ADHD is associated with a delay in motor development when compared to typically developing children. The results also suggested difficulties in certain motor areas for those with ADHD. These results may point to plausible mechanisms underlying the relationship between ADHD and motor difficulties