Dengue disease surveillance: an updated systematic literature review

Objectives To review the evidence for the application of tools for dengue outbreak prediction/detection and trend monitoring in passive and active disease surveillance systems in order to develop recommendations for endemic countries and identify important research needs. Methods This systematic literature review followed the protocol of a review from 2008, extending the systematic search from January 2007 to February 2013 on PubMed, EMBASE, CDSR, WHOLIS and Lilacs. Data reporting followed the PRISMA statement. The eligibility criteria comprised (i) population at risk of dengue, (ii) dengue disease surveillance, (iii) outcome of surveillance described and (iv) empirical data evaluated. The analysis classified studies based on the purpose of the surveillance programme. The main limitation of the review was expected publication bias. Results A total of 1116 papers were identified of which 36 articles were included in the review. Four cohort-based prospective studies calculated expansion factors demonstrating remarkable levels of underreporting in the surveillance systems. Several studies demonstrated that enhancement methods such as laboratory support, sentinel-based reporting and staff motivation contributed to improvements in dengue reporting. Additional improvements for passive surveillance systems are possible by incorporating simple data forms/entry/electronic-based reporting; defining clear system objectives; performing data analysis at the lowest possible level (e.g. district); seeking regular data feedback. Six studies showed that serotype changes were positively correlated with the number of reported cases or with dengue incidence, with lag times of up to 6 months. Three studies found that data on internet searches and event-based surveillance correlated well with the epidemic curve derived from surveillance data. Conclusions Passive surveillance providing the baseline for outbreak alert should be strengthened and appropriate threshold levels for outbreak alerts investigated. Additional enhancement tools such as syndromic surveillance, laboratory support and motivation strategies can be added. Appropriate alert signals need to be identified and integrated into a risk assessment tool. Shifts in dengue serotypes/genotype or electronic event-based surveillance have also considerable potential as indicator in dengue surveillance. Further research on evidence-based response strategies and cost-effectiveness is needed

Persistence of anticancer activity in berry extracts after simulated gastrointestinal digestion and colonic fermentation

Fruit and vegetable consumption is associated at the population level with a protective effect against colorectal cancer. Phenolic compounds, especially abundant in berries, are of interest due to their putative anticancer activity. After consumption, however, phenolic compounds are subject to digestive conditions within the gastrointestinal tract that alter their structures and potentially their function. However, the majority of phenolic compounds are not efficiently absorbed in the small intestine and a substantial portion pass into the colon. We characterized berry extracts (raspberries, strawberries, blackcurrants) produced by in vitro-simulated upper intestinal tract digestion and subsequent fecal fermentation. These extracts and selected individual colonic metabolites were then evaluated for their putative anticancer activities using in vitro models of colorectal cancer, representing the key stages of initiation, promotion and invasion. Over a physiologically-relevant dose range (0–50 µg/ml gallic acid equivalents), the digested and fermented extracts demonstrated significant anti-genotoxic, anti-mutagenic and anti-invasive activity on colonocytes. This work indicates that phenolic compounds from berries undergo considerable structural modifications during their passage through the gastrointestinal tract but their breakdown products and metabolites retain biological activity and can modulate cellular processes associated with colon cancer

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Study of Bc+B_c^+ decays to the K+K−π+K^+K^-\pi^+ final state and evidence for the decay Bc+→χc0π+B_c^+\to\chi_{c0}\pi^+

A study of $B_c^+\to K^+K^-\pi^+$ decays is performed for the first time using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ collected by the LHCb experiment in $pp$ collisions at centre-of-mass energies of $7$ and $8$ TeV. Evidence for the decay $B_c^+\to\chi_{c0}(\to K^+K^-)\pi^+$ is reported with a significance of 4.0 standard deviations, resulting in the measurement of $\frac{\sigma(B_c^+)}{\sigma(B^+)}\times\mathcal{B}(B_c^+\to\chi_{c0}\pi^+)$ to be $(9.8^{+3.4}_{-3.0}(\mathrm{stat})\pm 0.8(\mathrm{syst}))\times 10^{-6}$. Here $\mathcal{B}$ denotes a branching fraction while $\sigma(B_c^+)$ and $\sigma(B^+)$ are the production cross-sections for $B_c^+$ and $B^+$ mesons. An indication of $\bar b c$ weak annihilation is found for the region $m(K^-\pi^+)<1.834\mathrm{\,Ge\kern -0.1em V\!/}c^2$, with a significance of 2.4 standard deviations.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2016-022.html, link to supplemental material inserted in the reference

First two unrelated cases of isolated sedoheptulokinase deficiency: A benign disorder?

We present the first two reported unrelated patients with an isolated sedoheptulokinase (SHPK) deficiency. The first patient presented with neonatal cholestasis, hypoglycemia, and anemia, while the second patient presented with congenital arthrogryposis multiplex, multiple contractures, and dysmorphisms. Both patients had elevated excretion of erythritol and sedoheptulose, and each had a homozygous nonsense mutation in SHPK. SHPK is an enzyme that phosphorylates sedoheptulose to sedoheptulose-7-phosphate, which is an important intermediate of the pentose phosphate pathway. It is questionable whether SHPK deficiency is a causal factor for the clinical phenotypes of our patients. This study illustrates the necessity of extensive functional and clinical workup for interpreting a novel variant, including nonsense variants

Performance of the CMS Cathode Strip Chambers with Cosmic Rays

The Cathode Strip Chambers (CSCs) constitute the primary muon tracking device in the CMS endcaps. Their performance has been evaluated using data taken during a cosmic ray run in fall 2008. Measured noise levels are low, with the number of noisy channels well below 1%. Coordinate resolution was measured for all types of chambers, and fall in the range 47 microns to 243 microns. The efficiencies for local charged track triggers, for hit and for segments reconstruction were measured, and are above 99%. The timing resolution per layer is approximately 5 ns

ADHD symptomatology in eating disorders : a secondary psychopathological measure of severity?

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has commonly been described in psychiatric disorders. Although several studies have found positive associations between abnormal eating patterns during childhood and ADHD, there is a lack of studies on ADHD and Eating Disorders (ED). The aims of this exploratory study were 1) to assess the ADHD symptoms level in ED and to ascertain whether there are differences among ED subtypes; 2) to analyze whether the presence of ADHD symptoms is associated with more severe eating disorder symptoms and greater general psychopathology; and 3) to assess whether the ADHD symptoms level is associated with specific temperament and character traits. Methods: 191 female ED patients were included. Assessment was carried out with the EDI-2, ASRS-v1.1, the SCL-90-R and the TCI-R. Results: The ADHD symptoms level was similar in bulimia, eating disorder not otherwise specified and binge eating subtypes, and lower in anorexic patients. Obsessiveness and Hostility were significantly positively associated with ADHD symptoms. A path model showed that ADHD was associated with high Novelty Seeking and low Self-Directedness, whereas ED severity was influenced by ADHD severity and low Self-Directedness. Conclusions: Bingeing/purging ED subtypes have a high ADHD symptoms level, also related with more severe eating, general and personality psychopathology

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Small molecule sensitization to TRAIL is mediated via nuclear localization, phosphorylation and inhibition of chaperone activity of Hsp27

10.1038/cddis.2013.413Cell Death and Disease410

Rhodococcus opacus B4: a promising bacterium for production of biofuels and biobased chemicals

Bacterial lipids have relevant applications in the production of renewable fuels and biobased oleochemicals. The genus Rhodococcus is one of the most relevant lipid producers due to its capability to accumulate those compounds, mainly triacylglycerols (TAG), when cultivated on different defined substrates, namely sugars, organic acids and hydrocarbons but also on complex carbon sources present in industrial wastes. In this work, the production of storage lipids by Rhodococcus opacus B4 using glucose, acetate and hexadecane is reported for the first time and its productivity compared with Rhodococcus opacus PD630, the best TAG producer bacterium reported. Both strains accumulated mainly TAG from all carbon sources, being influenced by the carbon source itself and by the duration of the accumulation period. R. opacus B4 produced 0.09 and 0.14 g L1 at 24 and 72 h, with hexadecane as carbon source, which was 2 and 3.3 fold higher than the volumetric production obtained by R. opacus PD630. Both strains presented similar fatty acids (FA) profiles in intact cells while in TAG produced fraction, R. opacus B4 revealed a higher variability in fatty acid composition than R. opacus PD630, when both strains were cultivated on hexadecane. The obtained results open new perspectives for the use of R. opacus B4 to produce TAG, in particular using oily (alkane-contaminated) waste and wastewater as cheap raw-materials. Combining TAG production with hydrocarbons degradation is a promising strategy to achieve environmental remediation while producing added value compounds.This work was financially supported by the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT) and European Social Fund (ESF, POPH-QREN) through the Grant given to A.R. Castro (SFRH/BD/64500/2009), the FCT Strategic Project of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462)