Time trend and predictors of lab positivity among suspected cases in the post pandemic phase of H1N1

BackgroundWHO declared Influenza A H1N1  to have entered the post pandemic phase on August 10, 2010. Continued surveillance activities are recommended in the post pandemic phase to watch over the trend, severity and impact of Influenza like illnesses (ILI).AimsThis study aimed to document the epidemiological profile of lab positive H1N1 cases in post pandemic period from August 2010-December 2014 in nodal H1N1 surveillance centre of Puducherry.MethodsThe study analysed secondary data collected during the period August 10, 2010 to Dec 2014 from ILI suspects attending a tertiary care hospital, for the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP).  Demographic details, lab positivity based on Real time –PCR technique for H1N1, clinical symptoms and outcomes were extracted. Data were analysed using STATA version 11.0. Independent predictors of lab positivity rate were identified using logistic regression analysis.  Time trend of frequency of suspected cases and lab positivity rate were performed using time series plots.ResultsA total of 2065 suspected cases were reported, of whom 197 cases were positive for H1N1 (lab positivity rate 9.5%).  Being an adult (OR: 1.6; 95% CI:1.1 - 2.3; p=0.02), management in in-patient settings (OR: 2.5; 95% CI:1.3-4.7; p=0.001), history of contact (OR: 2.7; 95% CI1.5 - 4.5; p=0.0001) and history of travel (OR: 2.3; 95% CI: 1.2 to 4.3; p=0.01) were the independent predictors for lab positivity. Death rate among lab confirmed cases was found to be 9.6 %. After 2012, the trend of laboratory confirmed H1N1 cases became a plateau. One needs to screen 35 suspected cases to capture one lab confirmed case of H1N1 in 2014.ConclusionLab positivity was seen among 9.5% of cases and the independent predictors were severe cases, adult patients, positive history of contact and travel. The number needed to screen to get one lab positive H1N1 case is 35 suspected cases

Expert Habitat: A Colonization Conjecture for Exoplanetary Habitability via penalized multi-objective optimization and Swarm Clustering based candidate validation

Colonization opportunities and interstellar trade are not remote possibilities if feasible habitable worlds are discovered. The Economics here relies heavily on the Science and the necessary conditions to be inspected when looking for life on planets beyond our solar system. The physical conditions demand structural similarity of an extra-solar planet (exoplanet) to Earth, and the necessary bio-chemical conditions needed to sustain life in the planet. These two aspects are commonly referred to as earth-similarity and habitability, respectively. We propose a novel bi-objective optimization framework as a tool to measuring Earth Similarity Score (CDHS). This is succeeded by investigating possible interactions between Earth-similarity and habitability. The investigation is conducted via two variants of penalized multi-objective particle swarm optimization: Speed Constrained Multi-objective PSO (SMPSO) and a novel variant of Multi-Objective Quantum PSO (MOQPSO). The optimization framework dispenses of classical gradient descent/ascent approach (GD/GA) by replacing it with SMPSO and MOQPSO. The approach to the production relations commonly adopted in production economics can be a natural influence for modeling habitability in exoplanets. An insightful demonstration establishes this claim. The scores reveal potentially habitable planets for interstellar trade. An analytical model of colonization in an exoplanet is also presented where we derive conditions for interstellar migration using the time to travel to such a planet (if possible) as one of the key parameters

Enzymatic synthesis of magnetic nanoparticles

We report the first in vitro enzymatic synthesis of paramagnetic and antiferromagnetic nanoparticles toward magnetic ELISA reporting. With our procedure, alkaline phosphatase catalyzes the dephosphorylation of L-ascorbic-2-phosphate, which then serves as a reducing agent for salts of iron, gadolinium, and holmium, forming magnetic precipitates of Fe45±14Gd5±2O50±15 and Fe42±4Ho6±4O52±5. The nanoparticles were found to be paramagnetic at 300 K and antiferromagnetic under 25 K. Although weakly magnetic at 300 K, the room-temperature magnetization of the nanoparticles found here is considerably greater than that of analogous chemically-synthesized LnxFeyOz (Ln = Gd, Ho) samples reported previously. At 5 K, the nanoparticles showed a significantly higher saturation magnetization of 45 and 30 emu/g for Fe45±14Gd5±2O50±15 and Fe42±4Ho6±4O52±5, respectively. Our approach of enzymatically synthesizing magnetic labels reduces the cost and avoids diffusional mass-transfer limitations associated with pre-synthesized magnetic reporter particles, while retaining the advantages of magnetic sensing

Measurement of the top quark forward-backward production asymmetry and the anomalous chromoelectric and chromomagnetic moments in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV

Abstract The parton-level top quark (t) forward-backward asymmetry and the anomalous chromoelectric (d̂ t) and chromomagnetic (μ̂ t) moments have been measured using LHC pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected in the CMS detector in a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb−1. The linearized variable AFB(1) is used to approximate the asymmetry. Candidate t t ¯ events decaying to a muon or electron and jets in final states with low and high Lorentz boosts are selected and reconstructed using a fit of the kinematic distributions of the decay products to those expected for t t ¯ final states. The values found for the parameters are AFB(1)=0.048−0.087+0.095(stat)−0.029+0.020(syst),μ̂t=−0.024−0.009+0.013(stat)−0.011+0.016(syst), and a limit is placed on the magnitude of | d̂ t| < 0.03 at 95% confidence level. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Measurement of t(t)over-bar normalised multi-differential cross sections in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV, and simultaneous determination of the strong coupling strength, top quark pole mass, and parton distribution functions

Peer reviewe

An embedding technique to determine ττ backgrounds in proton-proton collision data

An embedding technique is presented to estimate standard model tau tau backgrounds from data with minimal simulation input. In the data, the muons are removed from reconstructed mu mu events and replaced with simulated tau leptons with the same kinematic properties. In this way, a set of hybrid events is obtained that does not rely on simulation except for the decay of the tau leptons. The challenges in describing the underlying event or the production of associated jets in the simulation are avoided. The technique described in this paper was developed for CMS. Its validation and the inherent uncertainties are also discussed. The demonstration of the performance of the technique is based on a sample of proton-proton collisions collected by CMS in 2017 at root s = 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 41.5 fb(-1).Peer reviewe

MUSiC : a model-unspecific search for new physics in proton-proton collisions at root s=13TeV

Results of the Model Unspecific Search in CMS (MUSiC), using proton-proton collision data recorded at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1), are presented. The MUSiC analysis searches for anomalies that could be signatures of physics beyond the standard model. The analysis is based on the comparison of observed data with the standard model prediction, as determined from simulation, in several hundred final states and multiple kinematic distributions. Events containing at least one electron or muon are classified based on their final state topology, and an automated search algorithm surveys the observed data for deviations from the prediction. The sensitivity of the search is validated using multiple methods. No significant deviations from the predictions have been observed. For a wide range of final state topologies, agreement is found between the data and the standard model simulation. This analysis complements dedicated search analyses by significantly expanding the range of final states covered using a model independent approach with the largest data set to date to probe phase space regions beyond the reach of previous general searches.Peer reviewe

Search for new particles in events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A search is presented for new particles produced at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV, using events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 101 fb(-1), collected in 2017-2018 with the CMS detector. Machine learning techniques are used to define separate categories for events with narrow jets from initial-state radiation and events with large-radius jets consistent with a hadronic decay of a W or Z boson. A statistical combination is made with an earlier search based on a data sample of 36 fb(-1), collected in 2016. No significant excess of events is observed with respect to the standard model background expectation determined from control samples in data. The results are interpreted in terms of limits on the branching fraction of an invisible decay of the Higgs boson, as well as constraints on simplified models of dark matter, on first-generation scalar leptoquarks decaying to quarks and neutrinos, and on models with large extra dimensions. Several of the new limits, specifically for spin-1 dark matter mediators, pseudoscalar mediators, colored mediators, and leptoquarks, are the most restrictive to date.Peer reviewe