Search for Long-lived Charged Massive Particles in anti-p p Collisions at s**1/2 = 1.8 TeV

We report a search for production of long-lived charged massive particles in a data sample of 90 pb^{-1} of \sqrt{s} = 1.8 TeV p anti-p collisions recorded by the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF). The search uses the muon-like penetration and anomalously high ionization energy loss signature expected for such a particle to discriminate it from backgrounds. The data is found to agree with background expectations, and cross section limits of \cal{O} (1) pb are derived using two reference models, a stable quark and a stable scalar lepton.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure

The Meningococcal Vaccine Candidate Neisserial Surface Protein A (NspA) Binds to Factor H and Enhances Meningococcal Resistance to Complement

Complement forms an important arm of innate immunity against invasive meningococcal infections. Binding of the alternative complement pathway inhibitor factor H (fH) to fH-binding protein (fHbp) is one mechanism meningococci employ to limit complement activation on the bacterial surface. fHbp is a leading vaccine candidate against group B Neisseria meningitidis. Novel mechanisms that meningococci employ to bind fH could undermine the efficacy of fHbp-based vaccines. We observed that fHbp deletion mutants of some meningococcal strains showed residual fH binding suggesting the presence of a second receptor for fH. Ligand overlay immunoblotting using membrane fractions from one such strain showed that fH bound to a ∼17 kD protein, identified by MALDI-TOF analysis as Neisserial surface protein A (NspA), a meningococcal vaccine candidate whose function has not been defined. Deleting nspA, in the background of fHbp deletion mutants, abrogated fH binding and mAbs against NspA blocked fH binding, confirming NspA as a fH binding molecule on intact bacteria. NspA expression levels vary among strains and expression correlated with the level of fH binding; over-expressing NspA enhanced fH binding to bacteria. Progressive truncation of the heptose (Hep) I chain of lipooligosaccharide (LOS), or sialylation of lacto-N-neotetraose LOS both increased fH binding to NspA-expressing meningococci, while expression of capsule reduced fH binding to the strains tested. Similar to fHbp, binding of NspA to fH was human-specific and occurred through fH domains 6–7. Consistent with its ability to bind fH, deleting NspA increased C3 deposition and resulted in increased complement-dependent killing. Collectively, these data identify a key complement evasion mechanism with important implications for ongoing efforts to develop meningococcal vaccines that employ fHbp as one of its components

Measurement of the Inclusive Jet Cross Section in pˉp{\bar p p} collisions at s=1.8\sqrt{s}=1.8 TeV

We present results from the measurement of the inclusive jet cross section for jet transverse energies from 40 to 465 GeV in the pseudo-rapidity range $0.1<|\eta|<0.7$. The results are based on 87 $pb^{-1}$ of data collected by the CDF collaboration at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. The data are consistent with previously published results. The data are also consistent with QCD predictions given the flexibility allowed from current knowledge of the proton parton distributions. We develop a new procedure for ranking the agreement of the parton distributions with data and find that the data are best described by QCD predictions using the parton distribution functions which have a large gluon contribution at high $E_T$ (CTEQ4HJ).Comment: 123 pages, 46 figure

Mucoepidermoid Carcinoma :A Clinicopathologic Study of 80 Patients With Special Reference to Histological Grading

We sought to review our experience with salivary mucoepider- moid carcinoma (MEC) over two decades to confirm the va- lidity and reproducibility of histologic grading and to investi- gate MIB-1 index as a prognosticator. Diagnosis was confirmed on 80 cases, and chart review or patient contact was achieved for 48 patients, with follow-up from 5 to 240 months (median 36 months). Immunohistochemistry with citrate antigen re- trieval for MIB-1 was performed on a subset of cases. Kaplan- Meier survival curves were generated for each stage, site, and grade according to our proposed grading system. To address the issue of grading reproducibility, 20 slides were circulated among five observers, without prior discussion; slides were categorized as low-, intermediate-, or high-grade according to one’s “own” criteria, and then according to the AFIP criteria proposed by Goode et al.10 Weighted kappa ( ) estimates were obtained to describe the extent of agreement between pairs of rating. The Wilcoxon signed rank test or the Friedman test as appropriate tested variation across ratings. There was no gender predominance and a wide age range (15–86 years, median 49 years). The two most common sites were parotid and palate. All grade 1 MECs presented as Stage I tumors, and no failures were seen for this category. The local disease failure rates at 75 months for grades 2 and 3 MEC were 30% and 70%, respec- tively. Tumor grade, stage, and negative margin status all cor- related with disease-free survival (DFS) (p 0.0091, 0.0002,and 0.048, respectively). The MIB index was not found to be predictive of grade. Regarding the reproducibility of grading, the interobserver variation for pathologists using their “own” grading, as expressed by the value, ranged from good agree- ment ( 0.79) to poor ( 0.27) (average 0.49). A somewhat better interobserver reproducibility was achieved when the pathologists utilized the standardized AFIP criteria (average 0.61, range 0.38–0.77). This greater agreement was also reflected in the Friedman test (statistical testing of intraobserver equality), which indicated significant differences in using one’s own grading systems (p 0.0001) but not in applying the AFIP “standardized” grading (p 0.33). When one’s own grading was compared with the AFIP grading, there were 100 pairs of grading “events,” with 46 disagreements/100 pairs. For 98% of disagreements, the AFIP grading “down- graded” tumors. This led us to reanalyze a subset of 31 patients for DFS versus grade, for our grading schema compared with the AFIP grading. Although statistical significance was not achieved for this subset, the log rank value revealed a trend for our grading (p 0.0993) compared with the Goode schema (p 0.2493). This clinicopathologic analysis confirms the predictive value of tumor staging and three-tiered histologic grading. Our grading exercise confirms that there is significant grading disparity for MEC, even among experienced ENT/oral pathologists. The improved reproducibility obtained when the weighted AFIP criteria were used speaks to the need for an accepted and easily reproducible system. However, these pro- posed criteria have a tendency to downgrade MEC. Therefore, the addition of other criteria (such as vascular invasion, pattern of tumor infiltration [i.e., small islands and individual cells vs cohesive islands]) is necessary. We propose a modified grading schema, which enhances predictability and provides much needed reproducibility