Organophosphate pesticides exposure in pregnant women and maternal and cord blood thyroid hormone concentrations

Background: Animal studies suggest that organophosphate (OP) pesticides exposure affects thyroid function, but evidence in humans remains sparse and inconclusive. Gestational exposure is of particular interest, since thyroid hormone is essential for fetal brain development. OP pesticides are able to cross the placental and blood-brain barrier and may interfere with fetal development processes regulated by thyroid hormone. Objective: To investigate the association of gestational OP pesticides exposure during pregnancy with maternal and cord blood thyroid hormone concentrations. Methods: This study was embedded within Generation R (Rotterdam, the Netherlands), a prospective population-based birth cohort. Mother-child pairs with OP pesticides assessment and maternal (N = 715) or cord blood (N = 482) thyroid hormone measurements were included. OP pesticides exposure was assessed at < 18, 18–25, and > 25 weeks gestation by measuring six urinary dialkylphosphate (DAP) metabolites. Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine (FT4) were measured in maternal and cord blood. Maternal measures also included total thyroxine (TT4) and TPO antibodies (TPOAbs). To study the association of creatinine-adjusted DAP metabolite concentrations with thyroid function and TPO antibodies, multivariable linear regression models including relevant confounders were used. Results: There was no association of DAP metabolites with maternal TSH, FT4, TT4 or TPOAb concentrations during pregnancy. Similarly, there was no association of DAP metabolites with cord blood TSH or FT4. Results did not change when DAP concentrations were analyzed at individual time points or as mean gestational exposure. Conclusion: Gestational OP pesticides exposure, as assessed by repeatedly measured urinary DAP metabolite concentrations in an urban population, was not associated with maternal or cord blood t

Fluorescent carbon dioxide indicators

Over the last decade, fluorescence has become the dominant tool in biotechnology and medical imaging. These exciting advances have been underpinned by the advances in time-resolved techniques and instrumentation, probe design, chemical / biochemical sensing, coupled with our furthered knowledge in biology. Complementary volumes 9 and 10, Advanced Concepts of Fluorescence Sensing: Small Molecule Sensing and Advanced Concepts of Fluorescence Sensing: Macromolecular Sensing, aim to summarize the current state of the art in fluorescent sensing. For this reason, Drs. Geddes and Lakowicz have invited chapters, encompassing a broad range of fluorescence sensing techniques. Some chapters deal with small molecule sensors, such as for anions, cations, and CO2, while others summarize recent advances in protein-based and macromolecular sensors. The Editors have, however, not included DNA or RNA based sensing in this volume, as this were reviewed in Volume 7 and is to be the subject of a more detailed volume in the near future

Candidate genes for field resistance to cassava brown streak disease revealed through the analysis of multiple data sources

Open Access JournalCassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a food and industrial storage root crop with substantial potential to contribute to managing risk associated with climate change due to its inherent resilience and in providing a biodegradable option in manufacturing. In Africa, cassava production is challenged by two viral diseases, cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) and cassava mosaic disease. Here we detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with CBSD in a biparental mapping population of a Tanzanian landrace, Nachinyaya and AR37-80, phenotyped in two locations over three years. The purpose was to use the information to ultimately facilitate either marker-assisted selection or adjust weightings in genomic selection to increase the efficiency of breeding. Results from this study were considered in relation to those from four other biparental populations, of similar genetic backgrounds, that were phenotyped and genotyped simultaneously. Further, we investigated the co-localization of QTL for CBSD resistance across populations and the genetic relationships of parents based on whole genome sequence information. Two QTL on chromosome 4 for resistance to CBSD foliar symptoms and one on each of chromosomes 11 and 18 for root necrosis were of interest. Of significance within the candidate genes underlying the QTL on chromosome 4 are Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) and Cinnamoyl-CoA reductase (CCR) genes and three PEPR1-related kinases associated with the lignin pathway. In addition, a CCR gene was also underlying the root necrosis-resistant QTL on chromosome 11. Upregulation of key genes in the cassava lignification pathway from an earlier transcriptome study, including PAL and CCR, in a CBSD-resistant landrace compared to a susceptible landrace suggests a higher level of basal lignin deposition in the CBSD-resistant landrace. Earlier RNAscope® in situ hybridisation imaging experiments demonstrate that cassava brown streak virus (CBSV) is restricted to phloem vessels in CBSV-resistant varieties, and phloem unloading for replication in mesophyll cells is prevented. The results provide evidence for the involvement of the lignin pathway. In addition, five eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF) genes associated with plant virus resistance were found within the priority QTL regions

Complex relationships among personality traits, job characteristics, and work behaviors

The aim of the study was to investigate the additive, mediating, and moderating effects of personality traits and job characteristics on work behaviors. Job applicants (N = 161) completed personality questionnaires measuring extraversion, neuroticism, achievement motivation, and experience seeking. One and a half years later, supervisors rated the applicants' job performance, and the job incumbents completed questionnaires about skill variety, autonomy, and feedback, work stress, job satisfaction, work self-efficacy, and propensity to leave. LISREL was used to test 15 hypotheses. Perceived feedback mediated the relationship between achievement motivation and job performance. Extraversion predicted work self-efficacy and job satisfaction. Work stress mediated the relationship between neuroticism and job satisfaction. Job satisfaction and experience seeking were related to propensity to leave. Autonomy, skill variety, and feedback were related to job satisfaction

Search for the glueball candidates f0(1500) and fJ(1710) in gamma gamma collisions

Data taken with the ALEPH detector at LEP1 have been used to search for gamma gamma production of the glueball candidates f0(1500) and fJ(1710) via their decay to pi+pi-. No signal is observed and upper limits to the product of gamma gamma width and pi+pi- branching ratio of the f0(1500) and the fJ(1710) have been measured to be Gamma_(gamma gamma -> f0(1500)). BR(f0(1500)->pi+pi-) < 0.31 keV and Gamma_(gamma gamma -> fJ(1710)). BR(fJ(1710)->pi+pi-) < 0.55 keV at 95% confidence level.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

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

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