High‐resolution Mg/Ca and δ 18 O patterns in modern Neogloboquadrina pachyderma from the Fram Strait and Irminger Sea

Neogloboquadrina pachyderma is the dominant species of planktonic foraminifera found in polar waters and is therefore invaluable for paleoceanographic studies of the high latitudes. However, the geochemistry of this species is complicated due to the development of a thick calcite crust in its final growth stage and at greater depths within the water column. We analyzed the in situ Mg/Ca and δ18O in discrete calcite zones using LA‐ICP‐MS, EPMA and SIMS within modern N. pachyderma shells from the highly dynamic Fram Strait and the seasonally isothermal/isohaline Irminger Sea. Here we compare shell geochemistry to the measured temperature, salinity and δ18Osw in which the shells calcified to better understand the controls on N. pachyderma geochemical heterogeneity. We present a relationship between Mg/Ca and temperature in N. pachyderma lamellar calcite that is significantly different than published equations for shells that contained both crust and lamellar calcite. We also document highly variable SIMS δ18O results (up to a 3.3‰ range in single shells) on plankton tow samples which we hypothesize is due to the granular texture of shell walls. Finally, we document that the δ18O of the crust and lamellar calcite of N. pachyderma from an isothermal/isohaline environment are indistinguishable from each other, indicating that shifts in N. pachyderma δ18O are primarily controlled by changes in environmental temperature and/or salinity rather than differences in the sensitivities of the two calcite types to environmental conditions

Decline in Kidney Function among Apparently Healthy Young Adults at Risk of Mesoamerican Nephropathy.

Background Epidemic levels of CKD of undetermined cause, termed Mesoamerican nephropathy in Central America, have been found in low- and middle-income countries. We investigated the natural history of, and factors associated with, loss of kidney function in a population at high risk for this disease.Methods We conducted a 2-year prospective, longitudinal study with follow-up every 6 months in nine rural communities in northwestern Nicaragua and included all men (n=263) and a random sample of women (n=87) ages 18-30 years old without self-reported CKD, diabetes, or hypertension. We used growth mixture modeling to identify subgroups of eGFR trajectory and weighted multinomial logistic regression to examine associations with proposed risk factors.Results Among men, we identified three subpopulations of eGFR trajectory (mean baseline eGFR; mean eGFR change over follow-up): 81% remained stable (116 ml/min per 1.73 m2; -0.6 ml/min per 1.73 m2 per year), 9.5% experienced rapid decline despite normal baseline function (112 ml/min per 1.73 m2; -18.2 ml/min per 1.73 m2 per year), and 9.5% had baseline dysfunction (58 ml/min per 1.73 m2; -3.8 ml/min per 1.73 m2 per year). Among women: 96.6% remained stable (121 ml/min per 1.73 m2; -0.6 ml/min per 1.73 m2 per year), and 3.4% experienced rapid decline (132 ml/min per 1.73 m2; -14.6 ml/min per 1.73 m2 per year; n=3 women). Among men, outdoor and agricultural work and lack of shade availability during work breaks, reported at baseline, were associated with rapid decline.Conclusions Although Mesoamerican nephropathy is associated with agricultural work, other factors may also contribute to this disease

Historical Perspectives and Guidelines for Botulinum Neurotoxin Subtype Nomenclature

Botulinum neurotoxins are diverse proteins. They are currently represented by at least seven serotypes and more than 40 subtypes. New clostridial strains that produce novel neurotoxin variants are being identified with increasing frequency, which presents challenges when organizing the nomenclature surrounding these neurotoxins. Worldwide, researchers are faced with the possibility that toxins having identical sequences may be given different designations or novel toxins having unique sequences may be given the same designations on publication. In order to minimize these problems, an ad hoc committee consisting of over 20 researchers in the field of botulinum neurotoxin research was convened to discuss the clarification of the issues involved in botulinum neurotoxin nomenclature. This publication presents a historical overview of the issues and provides guidelines for botulinum neurotoxin subtype nomenclature in the future.Peer reviewe

Frequent capsule switching in 'ultra-virulent' meningococci - Are we ready for a serogroup B ST-11 complex outbreak?

The meningococcal ST-11 complex (cc11) causes large invasive disease outbreaks with high case fatality rates, such as serogroup C (MenC) epidemics in industrialised nations in the 1990s and the serogroup W epidemic currently expanding globally. Glycoconjugate vaccines are available for serogroups A, C, W and Y. Broad coverage protein-based vaccines have recently been licensed against serogroup B meningococci (MenB), however, these do not afford universal MenB protection. Capsular switching from MenC to MenB among cc11 organisms is concerning because a large MenB cc11 (B:cc11) outbreak has the potential to cause significant morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to assess the potential for licensed and developmental non-capsular meningococcal vaccines to protect against B:cc11. The population structure and vaccine antigen distribution was determined for a panel of >800 geo-temporally diverse, predominantly MenC cc11 and B:cc11 genomes. The two licensed vaccines potentially protect against many but not all B:cc11 meningococci. Furthermore, strain coverage by these vaccines is often due to a single vaccine antigen and both vaccines are highly susceptible to vaccine escape owing to the apparent dispensability of key proteins used as vaccine antigens. cc11 strains with MenB and MenC capsules warrant special consideration when formulating future non-capsular meningococcal vaccines

Decline in subarachnoid haemorrhage volumes associated with the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, decreased volumes of stroke admissions and mechanical thrombectomy were reported. The study\u27s objective was to examine whether subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) hospitalisations and ruptured aneurysm coiling interventions demonstrated similar declines. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional, retrospective, observational study across 6 continents, 37 countries and 140 comprehensive stroke centres. Patients with the diagnosis of SAH, aneurysmal SAH, ruptured aneurysm coiling interventions and COVID-19 were identified by prospective aneurysm databases or by International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, codes. The 3-month cumulative volume, monthly volumes for SAH hospitalisations and ruptured aneurysm coiling procedures were compared for the period before (1 year and immediately before) and during the pandemic, defined as 1 March-31 May 2020. The prior 1-year control period (1 March-31 May 2019) was obtained to account for seasonal variation. FINDINGS: There was a significant decline in SAH hospitalisations, with 2044 admissions in the 3 months immediately before and 1585 admissions during the pandemic, representing a relative decline of 22.5% (95% CI -24.3% to -20.7%, p\u3c0.0001). Embolisation of ruptured aneurysms declined with 1170-1035 procedures, respectively, representing an 11.5% (95%CI -13.5% to -9.8%, p=0.002) relative drop. Subgroup analysis was noted for aneurysmal SAH hospitalisation decline from 834 to 626 hospitalisations, a 24.9% relative decline (95% CI -28.0% to -22.1%, p\u3c0.0001). A relative increase in ruptured aneurysm coiling was noted in low coiling volume hospitals of 41.1% (95% CI 32.3% to 50.6%, p=0.008) despite a decrease in SAH admissions in this tertile. INTERPRETATION: There was a relative decrease in the volume of SAH hospitalisations, aneurysmal SAH hospitalisations and ruptured aneurysm embolisations during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings in SAH are consistent with a decrease in other emergencies, such as stroke and myocardial infarction

Multidifferential study of identified charged hadron distributions in ZZ-tagged jets in proton-proton collisions at s=\sqrt{s}=13 TeV

Jet fragmentation functions are measured for the first time in proton-proton collisions for charged pions, kaons, and protons within jets recoiling against a $Z$ boson. The charged-hadron distributions are studied longitudinally and transversely to the jet direction for jets with transverse momentum 20 $< p_{\textrm{T}} < 100$ GeV and in the pseudorapidity range $2.5 < \eta < 4$. The data sample was collected with the LHCb experiment at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.64 fb$^{-1}$. Triple differential distributions as a function of the hadron longitudinal momentum fraction, hadron transverse momentum, and jet transverse momentum are also measured for the first time. This helps constrain transverse-momentum-dependent fragmentation functions. Differences in the shapes and magnitudes of the measured distributions for the different hadron species provide insights into the hadronization process for jets predominantly initiated by light quarks.Comment: All figures and tables, along with machine-readable versions and any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-013.html (LHCb public pages

Study of the B−→Λc+Λˉc−K−B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-} decay

The decay $B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-}$ is studied in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ collected by the LHCb experiment. In the $\Lambda_{c}^+ K^{-}$ system, the $\Xi_{c}(2930)^{0}$ state observed at the BaBar and Belle experiments is resolved into two narrower states, $\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}$ and $\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}$, whose masses and widths are measured to be $$m(\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}) = 2924.5 \pm 0.4 \pm 1.1 \,\mathrm{MeV}, \\ m(\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}) = 2938.5 \pm 0.9 \pm 2.3 \,\mathrm{MeV}, \\ \Gamma(\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}) = \phantom{000}4.8 \pm 0.9 \pm 1.5 \,\mathrm{MeV},\\ \Gamma(\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}) = \phantom{00}11.0 \pm 1.9 \pm 7.5 \,\mathrm{MeV},$$ where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. The results are consistent with a previous LHCb measurement using a prompt $\Lambda_{c}^{+} K^{-}$ sample. Evidence of a new $\Xi_{c}(2880)^{0}$ state is found with a local significance of $3.8\,\sigma$, whose mass and width are measured to be $2881.8 \pm 3.1 \pm 8.5\,\mathrm{MeV}$ and $12.4 \pm 5.3 \pm 5.8 \,\mathrm{MeV}$, respectively. In addition, evidence of a new decay mode $\Xi_{c}(2790)^{0} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} K^{-}$ is found with a significance of $3.7\,\sigma$. The relative branching fraction of $B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-}$ with respect to the $B^{-} \to D^{+} D^{-} K^{-}$ decay is measured to be $2.36 \pm 0.11 \pm 0.22 \pm 0.25$, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third originates from the branching fractions of charm hadron decays.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-028.html (LHCb public pages

Measurement of the ratios of branching fractions R(D∗)\mathcal{R}(D^{*}) and R(D0)\mathcal{R}(D^{0})

The ratios of branching fractions $\mathcal{R}(D^{*})\equiv\mathcal{B}(\bar{B}\to D^{*}\tau^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\tau})/\mathcal{B}(\bar{B}\to D^{*}\mu^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\mu})$ and $\mathcal{R}(D^{0})\equiv\mathcal{B}(B^{-}\to D^{0}\tau^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\tau})/\mathcal{B}(B^{-}\to D^{0}\mu^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\mu})$ are measured, assuming isospin symmetry, using a sample of proton-proton collision data corresponding to 3.0 fb${ }^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity recorded by the LHCb experiment during 2011 and 2012. The tau lepton is identified in the decay mode $\tau^{-}\to\mu^{-}\nu_{\tau}\bar{\nu}_{\mu}$. The measured values are $\mathcal{R}(D^{*})=0.281\pm0.018\pm0.024$ and $\mathcal{R}(D^{0})=0.441\pm0.060\pm0.066$, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. The correlation between these measurements is $\rho=-0.43$. Results are consistent with the current average of these quantities and are at a combined 1.9 standard deviations from the predictions based on lepton flavor universality in the Standard Model.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-039.html (LHCb public pages