Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae serovar 8 predominates in England and Wales

This work was supported by a Longer and Larger (LoLa) grant from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC grant numbers BB/G020744/1, BB/G019177/1, BB/G019274/1 and BB/G018553/1) and Zoetis (formerly Pfizer Animal Health) awarded to the Bacterial Respiratory Diseases of Pigs-1 Technology (BRaDP1T) Consortium

Cross-ancestry genome-wide association analysis of corneal thickness strengthens link between complex and Mendelian eye diseases

Central corneal thickness (CCT) is a highly heritable trait associated with complex eye diseases such as keratoconus and glaucoma. We perform a genome-wide association meta-analysis of CCT and identify 19 novel regions. In addition to adding support for known connective tissue-related pathways, pathway analyses uncover previously unreported gene sets. Remarkably, >20% of the CCT-loci are near or within Mendelian disorder genes. These included FBN1, ADAMTS2 and TGFB2 which associate with connective tissue disorders (Marfan, Ehlers-Danlos and Loeys-Dietz syndromes), and the LUM-DCN-KERA gene complex involved in myopia, corneal dystrophies and cornea plana. Using index CCT-increasing variants, we find a significant inverse correlation in effect sizes between CCT and keratoconus (r =-0.62, P = 5.30 × 10-5) but not between CCT and primary open-angle glaucoma (r =-0.17, P = 0.2). Our findings provide evidence for shared genetic influences between CCT and keratoconus, and implicate candidate genes acting in collagen and extracellular matrix regulation

Measurement of the azimuthal anisotropy of Y(1S) and Y(2S) mesons in PbPb collisions at √S^{S}NN = 5.02 TeV

The second-order Fourier coefficients (υ$_{2}$) characterizing the azimuthal distributions of Υ(1S) and Υ(2S) mesons produced in PbPb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV are studied. The Υmesons are reconstructed in their dimuon decay channel, as measured by the CMS detector. The collected data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 1.7 nb$^{-1}$. The scalar product method is used to extract the υ$_{2}$ coefficients of the azimuthal distributions. Results are reported for the rapidity range |y| < 2.4, in the transverse momentum interval 0 < p$_{T}$ < 50 GeV/c, and in three centrality ranges of 10–30%, 30–50% and 50–90%. In contrast to the J/ψ mesons, the measured υ$_{2}$ values for the Υ mesons are found to be consistent with zero

Measurement of prompt D0^{0} and D‾\overline{D}0^{0} meson azimuthal anisotropy and search for strong electric fields in PbPb collisions at root SNN\sqrt{S_{NN}} = 5.02 TeV

The strong Coulomb field created in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions is expected to produce a rapiditydependent difference (Av2) in the second Fourier coefficient of the azimuthal distribution (elliptic flow, v2) between D0 (uc) and D0 (uc) mesons. Motivated by the search for evidence of this field, the CMS detector at the LHC is used to perform the first measurement of Av2. The rapidity-averaged value is found to be (Av2) = 0.001 ? 0.001 (stat)? 0.003 (syst) in PbPb collisions at ?sNN = 5.02 TeV. In addition, the influence of the collision geometry is explored by measuring the D0 and D0mesons v2 and triangular flow coefficient (v3) as functions of rapidity, transverse momentum (pT), and event centrality (a measure of the overlap of the two Pb nuclei). A clear centrality dependence of prompt D0 meson v2 values is observed, while the v3 is largely independent of centrality. These trends are consistent with expectations of flow driven by the initial-state geometry. ? 2021 The Author. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY licens

Performance of the CMS Level-1 trigger in proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV

At the start of Run 2 in 2015, the LHC delivered proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13\TeV. During Run 2 (years 2015–2018) the LHC eventually reached a luminosity of 2.1× 10$^{34}$ cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$, almost three times that reached during Run 1 (2009–2013) and a factor of two larger than the LHC design value, leading to events with up to a mean of about 50 simultaneous inelastic proton-proton collisions per bunch crossing (pileup). The CMS Level-1 trigger was upgraded prior to 2016 to improve the selection of physics events in the challenging conditions posed by the second run of the LHC. This paper describes the performance of the CMS Level-1 trigger upgrade during the data taking period of 2016–2018. The upgraded trigger implements pattern recognition and boosted decision tree regression techniques for muon reconstruction, includes pileup subtraction for jets and energy sums, and incorporates pileup-dependent isolation requirements for electrons and tau leptons. In addition, the new trigger calculates high-level quantities such as the invariant mass of pairs of reconstructed particles. The upgrade reduces the trigger rate from background processes and improves the trigger efficiency for a wide variety of physics signals

P25 Feasibility cluster randomised controlled trial and process evaluation of an environmental intervention in nurseries and a web-based home intervention to increase physical activity, oral health and healthy eating in children aged 2–4 years: nap sacc uk

Background Systematic reviews have identified the lack of intervention studies to prevent obesity in young children. Most 3 year old children in the UK attend formal childcare, and the Government plans to extend free childcare to 30 hours per week for 3 and 4 year olds; therefore these settings present an opportunity to improve health. The Nutrition and Physical Activity Self Assessment for Childcare (NAP SACC) programme aims to improve child nutrition and physical activity through changes to the nursery environment. Feasibility and acceptability have been demonstrated through Randomised Controlled Trials (RCT) in the USA. This study examined the feasibility and acceptability of adapting the NAP SACC intervention for the UK. Methods A feasibility cluster RCT in 12 nurseries with 2–4 year olds in the southwest region of England. Focus groups and interviews with Health Visitors (community children’s nurses), nursery staff and parents informed adaptation of the intervention for the UK. The intervention comprised: two staff workshops on physical activity and nutrition; Health Visitor support to review nursery practices against 80 areas of best practice, set goals and make changes; a digital media-based home component. Measures were assessed at baseline and post-intervention: zBMI, accelerometer-measured physical activity and sedentary time, diet, child quality of life, health care usage, parental and nursery staff mediators and quality of nursery environment. Fidelity and acceptability were assessed through observation and interviews analysed via thematic analysis. Results Formative work resulted in the following adaptations: inclusion of an oral health component; changes to confirm with UK guidance; specialist workshop facilitators; and development of the home component. 168 (37%) eligible children were recruited from 12 nurseries. Interviews were completed with four Health Visitors, 17 nursery staff and 20 parents. The intervention was implemented with high fidelity, with two exceptions: one nursery did not implement the intervention due to staff workload; and the digital home component was used by just 12 (14%) parents. Intervention acceptability was high. A mean of seven staff per nursery attended each workshop. The workshops and Health Visitor contact were highly valued. The mean number of goals set was eight. Nursery changes included: menu modifications, reducing portion sizes and sugary snacks, role modelling physical activity and eating, and active story telling. The trial design and methods were highly acceptable. Descriptive analysis of the outcomes will be available by September 2017. Conclusion NAP SACC UK is feasible and acceptable with the exception of the home component; effectiveness should be tested through a full-scale RCT

Rationally designed mariner vectors for functional genomic analysis of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae and other Pasteurellaceae species by transposon-directed insertion-site sequencing (TraDIS).

Comprehensive identification of conditionally essential genes requires efficient tools for generating high-density transposon libraries that, ideally, can be analysed using next-generation sequencing methods such as Transposon Directed Insertion-site Sequencing (TraDIS). The Himar1 (mariner) transposon is ideal for generating near-saturating mutant libraries, especially in AT-rich chromosomes, as the requirement for integration is a TA dinucleotide, and this transposon has been used for mutagenesis of a wide variety of bacteria. However, plasmids for mariner delivery do not necessarily work well in all bacteria. In particular, there are limited tools for functional genomic analysis of Pasteurellaceae species of major veterinary importance, such as swine and cattle pathogens, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae and Pasteurella multocida, respectively. Here, we developed plasmids, pTsodCPC9 and pTlacPC9 (differing only in the promoter driving expression of the transposase gene), that allow delivery of mariner into both these pathogens, but which should also be applicable to a wider range of bacteria. Using the pTlacPC9 vector, we have generated, for the first time, saturating mariner mutant libraries in both A. pleuropneumoniae and P. multocida that showed a near random distribution of insertions around the respective chromosomes as detected by TraDIS. A preliminary screen of 5000 mutants each identified 8 and 14 genes, respectively, that are required for growth under anaerobic conditions. Future high-throughput screening of the generated libraries will facilitate identification of mutants required for growth under different conditions, including in vivo, highlighting key virulence factors and pathways that can be exploited for development of novel therapeutics and vaccines