743 research outputs found

    Temporary exclusion of ill children from childcare centres in Switzerland: practice, problems and potential solutions.

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    BACKGROUND: In childcare centres, temporary exclusion of ill children, if their illness poses a risk of spread of harmful diseases to others, is a central approach to fight disease transmission. However, not all ill children need to be excluded. Previous studies suggested that childcare centre staff have difficulties in deciding whether or not to exclude an ill child, even when official ill-child guidelines are used. We aimed to describe, quantify and analyse these ambiguities and discuss potential solutions. METHODS: For this cross-sectional study, we sent postal surveys to 488 childcare centre directors in the Swiss Canton of Zurich, where no official ill-child guideline is in place. We asked for exclusion criteria for ill children and ambiguities faced when dealing with ill children. We checked whether existing guidelines provided solutions to the ambiguities identified. RESULTS: 249/488 (51%) directors responded to the survey. The most common exclusion criteria were fever (87.4%) and contagiousness (52.2%). Ambiguities were mostly caused by conjunctivitis (23.7%) and use of antipyretic drugs (22.9%). Roughly one third of the ambiguities identified could have been resolved with existing guidelines, another third if existing guidelines contained additional information. For the last third, clear written directives are difficult to formulate. CONCLUSIONS: Written recommendations may help to clarify when an ill child should temporarily be excluded. However, such a guideline should cover the topics antipyretic drugs and teething and have room for modification to local circumstances. Collaboration with a paediatrician may be of additional benefit

    Prognostic and therapeutic relevance of FLIP and procaspase-8 overexpression in non-small cell lung cancer

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    Non-small cell lung carcinoma remains by far the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Overexpression of FLIP, which blocks the extrinsic apoptotic pathway by inhibiting caspase-8 activation, has been identified in various cancers. We investigated FLIP and procaspase-8 expression in NSCLC and the effect of HDAC inhibitors on FLIP expression, activation of caspase-8 and drug resistance in NSCLC and normal lung cell line models. Immunohistochemical analysis of cytoplasmic and nuclear FLIP and procaspase-8 protein expression was carried out using a novel digital pathology approach. Both FLIP and procaspase-8 were found to be significantly overexpressed in tumours, and importantly, high cytoplasmic expression of FLIP significantly correlated with shorter overall survival. Treatment with HDAC inhibitors targeting HDAC1-3 downregulated FLIP expression predominantly via post-transcriptional mechanisms, and this resulted in death receptor- and caspase-8-dependent apoptosis in NSCLC cells, but not normal lung cells. In addition, HDAC inhibitors synergized with TRAIL and cisplatin in NSCLC cells in a FLIP- and caspase-8-dependent manner. Thus, FLIP and procaspase-8 are overexpressed in NSCLC, and high cytoplasmic FLIP expression is indicative of poor prognosis. Targeting high FLIP expression using HDAC1-3 selective inhibitors such as entinostat to exploit high procaspase-8 expression in NSCLC has promising therapeutic potential, particularly when used in combination with TRAIL receptor-targeted agents

    Studying the Underlying Event in Drell-Yan and High Transverse Momentum Jet Production at the Tevatron

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    We study the underlying event in proton-antiproton collisions by examining the behavior of charged particles (transverse momentum pT > 0.5 GeV/c, pseudorapidity |\eta| < 1) produced in association with large transverse momentum jets (~2.2 fb-1) or with Drell-Yan lepton-pairs (~2.7 fb-1) in the Z-boson mass region (70 < M(pair) < 110 GeV/c2) as measured by CDF at 1.96 TeV center-of-mass energy. We use the direction of the lepton-pair (in Drell-Yan production) or the leading jet (in high-pT jet production) in each event to define three regions of \eta-\phi space; toward, away, and transverse, where \phi is the azimuthal scattering angle. For Drell-Yan production (excluding the leptons) both the toward and transverse regions are very sensitive to the underlying event. In high-pT jet production the transverse region is very sensitive to the underlying event and is separated into a MAX and MIN transverse region, which helps separate the hard component (initial and final-state radiation) from the beam-beam remnant and multiple parton interaction components of the scattering. The data are corrected to the particle level to remove detector effects and are then compared with several QCD Monte-Carlo models. The goal of this analysis is to provide data that can be used to test and improve the QCD Monte-Carlo models of the underlying event that are used to simulate hadron-hadron collisions.Comment: Submitted to Phys.Rev.

    Measurement of the W+WW^+W^- Production Cross Section and Search for Anomalous WWγWW\gamma and WWZWWZ Couplings in ppˉp \bar p Collisions at s=1.96\sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV

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    This Letter describes the current most precise measurement of the WW boson pair production cross section and most sensitive test of anomalous WWγWW\gamma and WWZWWZ couplings in ppˉp \bar p collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV. The WWWW candidates are reconstructed from decays containing two charged leptons and two neutrinos, where the charged leptons are either electrons or muons. Using data collected by the CDF II detector from 3.6 fb1^{-1} of integrated luminosity, a total of 654 candidate events are observed with an expected background contribution of 320±47320 \pm 47 events. The measured total cross section is σ(ppˉW+W+X)=12.1±0.9(stat)1.4+1.6(syst)\sigma (p \bar p \to W^+ W^- + X) = 12.1 \pm 0.9 \textrm{(stat)} ^{+1.6}_{-1.4} \textrm{(syst)} pb, which is in good agreement with the standard model prediction. The same data sample is used to place constraints on anomalous WWγWW\gamma and WWZWWZ couplings.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

    Measurement of CP-violation asymmetries in D0 to Ks pi+ pi-

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    We report a measurement of time-integrated CP-violation asymmetries in the resonant substructure of the three-body decay D0 to Ks pi+ pi- using CDF II data corresponding to 6.0 invfb of integrated luminosity from Tevatron ppbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV. The charm mesons used in this analysis come from D*+(2010) to D0 pi+ and D*-(2010) to D0bar pi-, where the production flavor of the charm meson is determined by the charge of the accompanying pion. We apply a Dalitz-amplitude analysis for the description of the dynamic decay structure and use two complementary approaches, namely a full Dalitz-plot fit employing the isobar model for the contributing resonances and a model-independent bin-by-bin comparison of the D0 and D0bar Dalitz plots. We find no CP-violation effects and measure an asymmetry of ACP = (-0.05 +- 0.57 (stat) +- 0.54 (syst))% for the overall integrated CP-violation asymmetry, consistent with the standard model prediction.Comment: 15 page

    Observation of the Baryonic Flavor-Changing Neutral Current Decay Lambda_b -> Lambda mu+ mu-

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    We report the first observation of the baryonic flavor-changing neutral current decay Lambda_b -> Lambda mu+ mu- with 24 signal events and a statistical significance of 5.8 Gaussian standard deviations. This measurement uses ppbar collisions data sample corresponding to 6.8fb-1 at sqrt{s}=1.96TeV collected by the CDF II detector at the Tevatron collider. The total and differential branching ratios for Lambda_b -> Lambda mu+ mu- are measured. We find B(Lambda_b -> Lambda mu+ mu-) = [1.73+-0.42(stat)+-0.55(syst)] x 10^{-6}. We also report the first measurement of the differential branching ratio of B_s -> phi mu+ mu- using 49 signal events. In addition, we report branching ratios for B+ -> K+ mu+ mu-, B0 -> K0 mu+ mu-, and B -> K*(892) mu+ mu- decays.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 4 tables. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

    Search for a New Heavy Gauge Boson Wprime with Electron + missing ET Event Signature in ppbar collisions at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV

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    We present a search for a new heavy charged vector boson WW^\prime decaying to an electron-neutrino pair in ppˉp\bar{p} collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96\unit{TeV}. The data were collected with the CDF II detector and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 5.3\unit{fb}^{-1}. No significant excess above the standard model expectation is observed and we set upper limits on σB(Weν)\sigma\cdot{\cal B}(W^\prime\to e\nu). Assuming standard model couplings to fermions and the neutrino from the WW^\prime boson decay to be light, we exclude a WW^\prime boson with mass less than 1.12\unit{TeV/}c^2 at the 95\unit{%} confidence level.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures Submitted to PR

    Measurement of the Forward-Backward Asymmetry in the B -> K(*) mu+ mu- Decay and First Observation of the Bs -> phi mu+ mu- Decay

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    We reconstruct the rare decays B+K+μ+μB^+ \to K^+\mu^+\mu^-, B0K(892)0μ+μB^0 \to K^{*}(892)^0\mu^+\mu^-, and Bs0ϕ(1020)μ+μB^0_s \to \phi(1020)\mu^+\mu^- in a data sample corresponding to 4.4fb14.4 {\rm fb^{-1}} collected in ppˉp\bar{p} collisions at s=1.96TeV\sqrt{s}=1.96 {\rm TeV} by the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. Using 121±16121 \pm 16 B+K+μ+μB^+ \to K^+\mu^+\mu^- and 101±12101 \pm 12 B0K0μ+μB^0 \to K^{*0}\mu^+\mu^- decays we report the branching ratios. In addition, we report the measurement of the differential branching ratio and the muon forward-backward asymmetry in the B+B^+ and B0B^0 decay modes, and the K0K^{*0} longitudinal polarization in the B0B^0 decay mode with respect to the squared dimuon mass. These are consistent with the theoretical prediction from the standard model, and most recent determinations from other experiments and of comparable accuracy. We also report the first observation of the Bs0ϕμ+μdecayandmeasureitsbranchingratioB^0_s \to \phi\mu^+\mu^- decay and measure its branching ratio {\mathcal{B}}(B^0_s \to \phi\mu^+\mu^-) = [1.44 \pm 0.33 \pm 0.46] \times 10^{-6}using using 27 \pm 6signalevents.Thisiscurrentlythemostrare signal events. This is currently the most rare B^0_s$ decay observed.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

    Measurement of the Bottom-Strange Meson Mixing Phase in the Full CDF Data Set

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    We report a measurement of the bottom-strange meson mixing phase \beta_s using the time evolution of B0_s -> J/\psi (->\mu+\mu-) \phi (-> K+ K-) decays in which the quark-flavor content of the bottom-strange meson is identified at production. This measurement uses the full data set of proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt(s)= 1.96 TeV collected by the Collider Detector experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to 9.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity. We report confidence regions in the two-dimensional space of \beta_s and the B0_s decay-width difference \Delta\Gamma_s, and measure \beta_s in [-\pi/2, -1.51] U [-0.06, 0.30] U [1.26, \pi/2] at the 68% confidence level, in agreement with the standard model expectation. Assuming the standard model value of \beta_s, we also determine \Delta\Gamma_s = 0.068 +- 0.026 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps-1 and the mean B0_s lifetime, \tau_s = 1.528 +- 0.019 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps, which are consistent and competitive with determinations by other experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett 109, 171802 (2012

    Hunt for new phenomena using large jet multiplicities and missing transverse momentum with ATLAS in 4.7 fb−1 of s√=7TeV proton-proton collisions

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    Results are presented of a search for new particles decaying to large numbers of jets in association with missing transverse momentum, using 4.7 fb−1 of pp collision data at s√=7TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider in 2011. The event selection requires missing transverse momentum, no isolated electrons or muons, and from ≥6 to ≥9 jets. No evidence is found for physics beyond the Standard Model. The results are interpreted in the context of a MSUGRA/CMSSM supersymmetric model, where, for large universal scalar mass m 0, gluino masses smaller than 840 GeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level, extending previously published limits. Within a simplified model containing only a gluino octet and a neutralino, gluino masses smaller than 870 GeV are similarly excluded for neutralino masses below 100 GeV
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