Assessing childhood maltreatment and mental health correlates of disordered eating profiles in a nationally representative sample of English females

PURPOSE: Previous research suggests that childhood maltreatment is associated with the onset of eating disorders (ED). In turn, EDs are associated with alternative psychopathologies such as depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and with suicidality. Moreover, it has been reported that various ED profiles may exist. The aim of the current study was to examine the profiles of disordered eating and the associations of these with childhood maltreatment and with mental health psychopathology. METHODS: The current study utilised a representative sample of English females (N = 4206) and assessed for the presence of disordered eating profiles using Latent Class Analysis. Multinomial logistic regression was implemented to examine the associations of childhood sexual and physical abuse with the disordered eating profiles and the associations of these with PTSD, depression and suicidality. RESULTS: Results supported those of previous findings in that we found five latent classes of which three were regarded as disordered eating classes. Significant relationships were found between these and measures of childhood trauma and mental health outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Childhood sexual and physical abuse increased the likelihood of membership in disordered eating classes and these in turn increased the likelihood of adverse mental health and suicidal outcomes

Antibody Responses to a Novel Plasmodium falciparum Merozoite Surface Protein Vaccine Correlate with Protection against Experimental Malaria Infection in Aotus Monkeys

The Block 2 region of the merozoite surface protein-1 (MSP-1) of Plasmodium falciparum has been identified as a target of protective immunity by a combination of seroepidemiology and parasite population genetics. Immunogenicity studies in small animals and Aotus monkeys were used to determine the efficacy of recombinant antigens derived from this region of MSP-1 as a potential vaccine antigen. Aotus lemurinus griseimembra monkeys were immunized three times with a recombinant antigen derived from the Block 2 region of MSP-1 of the monkey-adapted challenge strain, FVO of Plasmodium falciparum, using an adjuvant suitable for use in humans. Immunofluorescent antibody assays (IFA) against erythrocytes infected with P. falciparum using sera from the immunized monkeys showed that the MSP-1 Block 2 antigen induced significant antibody responses to whole malaria parasites. MSP-1 Block 2 antigen-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) showed no significant differences in antibody titers between immunized animals. Immunized animals were challenged with the virulent P. falciparum FVO isolate and monitored for 21 days. Two out of four immunized animals were able to control their parasitaemia during the follow-up period, whereas two out of two controls developed fulminating parasitemia. Parasite-specific serum antibody titers measured by IFA were four-fold higher in protected animals than in unprotected animals. In addition, peptide-based epitope mapping of serum antibodies from immunized Aotus showed distinct differences in epitope specificities between protected and unprotected animals

Differential antibody responses to Plasmodium falciparum merozoite proteins in Malawian children with severe malaria

Cerebral malaria (CM) and severe malarial anemia (SMA) are 2 major causes of death in African children infected with Plasmodium falciparum. We investigated levels of naturally acquired antibody to conserved and variable regions of merozoite surface protein (MSP)-1 and MSP-2, apical membrane antigen (AMA)-1, and rhoptry-associated protein 1 in plasma samples from 126 children admitted to the hospital with CM, 59 with SMA, and 84 with uncomplicated malaria (UM) in Malawi. Children with SMA were distinguished by very low levels of immunoglobulin (Ig) G to the conserved C-terminus of MSP-1 and MSP-2 and to full-length AMA-1. Conversely, children with CM had significantly higher levels of IgG to the conserved regions of all antigens examined than did children with UM (for MSP-1 and AMA-1, P< .005; for MSP-2, P< .05) or SMA (for MSP-1 and MSP-2, P<.001; for AMA-1, P< .005). These distinct IgG patterns might reflect differences in age, exposure to P. falciparum, and/or genetic factors affecting immune responses

Search for new physics in multijet events with at least one photon and large missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV

A search for new physics in final states consisting of at least one photon, multiple jets, and large missing transverse momentum is presented, using proton-proton collision events at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb−1, recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC from 2016 to 2018. The events are divided into mutually exclusive bins characterized by the missing transverse momentum, the number of jets, the number of b-tagged jets, and jets consistent with the presence of hadronically decaying W, Z, or Higgs bosons. The observed data are found to be consistent with the prediction from standard model processes. The results are interpreted in the context of simplified models of pair production of supersymmetric particles via strong and electroweak interactions. Depending on the details of the signal models, gluinos and squarks of masses up to 2.35 and 1.43 TeV, respectively, and electroweakinos of masses up to 1.23 TeV are excluded at 95% confidence level

Observation of the Rare Decay of the η Meson to Four Muons

A search for the rare η→μ+μ−μ+μ− double-Dalitz decay is performed using a sample of proton-proton collisions, collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC with high-rate muon triggers during 2017 and 2018 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 101  fb−1. A signal having a statistical significance well in excess of 5 standard deviations is observed. Using the η→μ+μ− decay as normalization, the branching fraction B(η→μ+μ−μ+μ−)=[5.0±0.8(stat)±0.7(syst)±0.7(B2μ)]×10−9 is measured, where the last term is the uncertainty in the normalization channel branching fraction. This work achieves an improved precision of over 5 orders of magnitude compared to previous results, leading to the first measurement of this branching fraction, which is found to agree with theoretical predictions

Measurements of inclusive and differential cross sections for the Higgs boson production and decay to four-leptons in proton-proton collisions at s \sqrt{s} = 13 TeV

Measurements of the inclusive and differential fiducial cross sections for the Higgs boson production in the H → ZZ → 4ℓ (ℓ = e, μ) decay channel are presented. The results are obtained from the analysis of proton-proton collision data recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb−1. The measured inclusive fiducial cross section is 2.73 ± 0.26 fb, in agreement with the standard model expectation of 2.86 ± 0.1 fb. Differential cross sections are measured as a function of several kinematic observables sensitive to the Higgs boson production and decay to four leptons. A set of double-differential measurements is also performed, yielding a comprehensive characterization of the four leptons final state. Constraints on the Higgs boson trilinear coupling and on the bottom and charm quark coupling modifiers are derived from its transverse momentum distribution. All results are consistent with theoretical predictions from the standard model