When CoGeNT met PAMELA

If the excess events from the CoGeNT experiment arise from elastic scatterings of a light dark matter off the nuclei, crossing symmetry implies non-vanishing annihilation cross-sections of the light dark matter into hadronic final states inside the galactic halo, which we confront with the anti-proton spectrum measured by the PAMELA collaboration. We consider two types of effective interactions between the dark matter and the quarks: 1) contact interactions from integrating out heavy particles and 2) long-range interactions due to the electromagnetic properties of the dark matter. The lack of excess in the anti-proton spectrum results in tensions for a scalar and, to a less extent, a vector dark matter interacting with the quarks through the Higgs portal.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures. Updated references and included effects of solar modulatio

Looking for a light Higgs boson in the overlooked channel

The final state obtained when a Higgs boson decays to a photon and a Z boson has been mostly overlooked in current searches for a light Higgs boson. However, when the Z boson decays leptonically, all final state particles in this channel can be measured, allowing for accurate reconstructions of the Higgs mass and angular correlations. We determine the sensitivity of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) running at center of masses energies of 8 and 14 TeV to Standard Model (SM) Higgs bosons with masses in the 120 - 130 GeV range. For the 8 TeV LHC, sensitivity to several times the the SM cross section times branching ratio may be obtained with 20 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity, while for the 14 TeV LHC, the SM rate is probed with about 100 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Improves on version 1 in that 8 and 14 TeV LHC running is considered, the case of a 125 GeV Higgs is treated specifically, and the effect of an additional jet in the final state has been taken into account in studying experimental sensitivit

Landau-Yang Theorem and Decays of a Z' Boson into Two Z Bosons

We study the decay of a Z' boson into two Z bosons by extending the Landau-Yang theorem to a parent particle decaying into two Z bosons. For a spin-1 parent the theorem predicts: 1) there are only two possible couplings and 2) the normalized differential cross-section depends on kinematics only through a phase shift in the azimuthal angle between the two decay planes of the Z boson. When the parent is a Z' the two possible couplings are anomaly-induced and CP-violating, respectively. At the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) effects of the two couplings could be disentangled when both Z bosons decay leptonically.Comment: 4 pages and 1 figure. The final version has been made as close as possible to the final published version in Phys. Rev. Let

Roles and recommendations from primary care physicians towards managing low-risk breast cancer survivors in a shared-care model with specialists in Singapore-a qualitative study.

BackgroundBreast cancer is prevalent and has high cure rates. The resultant increase in numbers of breast cancer survivors (BCS) may overwhelm the current oncology workforce in years to come. We postulate that primary care physicians (PCPs) could play an expanded role in comanaging survivors, provided they are given the appropriate tools and training to do so.ObjectiveTo explore the perspectives of PCPs towards managing BCS in a community-based shared-care programme with oncologists.MethodsEleven focus groups and six in-depth interviews were conducted with seventy PCPs recruited by purposive sampling. All sessions were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and coded by three independent investigators. Thematic data analysis was performed and the coding process facilitated by NVivo 12.ResultsMajority of PCPs reported currently limited roles in managing acute and non-cancer issues, optimizing comorbidities and preventive care. PCPs aspired to expand their role to include cancer surveillance, risk assessment and addressing unmet psychosocial needs. PCPs preferred to harmonize cancer survivorship management of their primary care patients who are also BCS, with defined role distinct from oncologists. Training to understand the care protocol, enhancement of communication skills, confidence and trust were deemed necessary. PCPs proposed selection criteria of BCS and adequacy of their medical information; increased consultation time; contact details and timely access to oncologists (if needed) in the shared-care programme.ConclusionsPCPs were willing to share the care of BCS with oncologists but recommended role definition, training, clinical protocol, resources and access to oncologist's consultation to optimize the programme implementation

Adaptive selection signatures in river buffalo with emphasis on immune and major histocompatibility complex genes

River buffalo is an agriculturally important species with many traits, such as disease tolerance, which promote its use worldwide. Highly contiguous genome assemblies of the river buffalo, goat, pig, human and two cattle subspecies were aligned to study gene gains and losses and signs of positive selection. The gene families that have changed significantly in river buffalo since divergence from cattle play important roles in protein degradation, the olfactory receptor system, detoxification and the immune system. We used the branch site model in PAML to analyse single-copy orthologs to identify positively selected genes that may be involved in skin differentiation, mammary development and bone formation in the river buffalo branch. The high contiguity of the genomes enabled evaluation of differences among species in the major histocompatibility complex. We identified a Babesia-like L1 LINE insertion in the DRB1-like gene in the river buffalo and discuss the implication of this finding

MicroRNA breed and parent-of-origin effects provide insights into biological pathways differentiating cattle subspecies in fetal liver

Introduction: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a crucial role in regulating gene expression during key developmental processes, including fetal development. Brahman (Bos taurus indicus) and Angus (Bos taurus taurus) cattle breeds represent two major cattle subspecies with strikingly different phenotypes.Methods: We analyzed miRNA expression in liver samples of purebred and reciprocal crosses of Angus and Brahman to investigate breed and parent-of-origin effects at the onset of accelerated fetal growth.Results: We identified eight novel miRNAs in fetal liver samples and 14 differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) between purebred samples. Correlation of gene expression modules and miRNAs by breed and parent-of-origin effects revealed an enrichment of genes associated with breed-specific differences in traits such as heat tolerance (Brahman) and fat deposition (Angus). We demonstrate that genes predicted to be targets of DEMs were more likely to be differentially expressed than non-targets (p-value < 0.05). We identified several miRNAs (bta-miR-187, bta-miR-216b, bta-miR-2284c, bta-miR-2285c, bta-miR-2285cp, bta-miR-2419-3p, bta-miR-2419-5p, and bta-miR-11984) that showed similar correlation patterns as bta-miR-2355-3p, which has been associated with the glutamatergic synapse pathway, a key facilitator of heat tolerance. Furthermore, we report Angus-breed-specific miRNAs (bta-miR-2313-5p, btamiR-490, bta-miR-2316, and bta-miR-11990) that may be involved in fat deposition. Finally, we showed that the DEMs identified in fetal liver are involved in Rap1, MAPK, and Ras signalling pathways, which are important for fetal development, muscle development and metabolic traits such as fat metabolism.Conclusion: Our work sheds light on the miRNA expression patterns that contribute to gene expression differences driving phenotypic differences in indicine and taurine cattle

Gaur genome reveals expansion of sperm odorant receptors in domesticated cattle

publishedVersio

Antibiotic profiling of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates in stray canines and felines

Background: Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an important Gram positive pathogen that has raised concerns due to its increasing prevalence despite pharmaceutical and technological advances. It does not only cause infections in humans but it can also be zoonotic in nature. The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of MRSA from presumably healthy shelter animals, in particular, canines and felines. Methods: Fifty-two faecal samples from canines and felines were collected from an animal shelter for the isolation of MRSA. This was carried out using the ChromMRSA (Oxoid, United Kingdom) media, followed by antibiotic susceptibility testing using the Kirby–Bauer disk diffusion test in accordance to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) for ceftazidime, enrofloxacin, methicillin, oxacillin and vancomycin. Principal component analysis (PCA) was then employed to identify the variables in antibiotic sensitivity and emphasise any patterns between isolates and the antibiotic profile from both animal samples types. This was then summarised using descriptive statistics. Results: 283 and 169 S.aureus isolates were obtained respectively from the canine and feline samples on selective media. Of this, 33/283 (11.66%) and 13/169 (7.70%) were MRSA when grown on ChromMRSA. Canine MRSA isolates exhibited resistance in decreasing order of methicillin (100%), ceftazidime (81.82%), enrofloxacin (78.79%), oxacillin (60.61%) and vancomycin (0%). On the same note feline MRSA isolates indicated resistance to methicillin (100%), ceftazidime (100%), enrofloxacin (92.31%), oxacillin (84.62%) and vancomycin (0%). 51.51% of the canine and 84.62% of feline MRSA isolates indicated resistance to four out of five antibiotics tested. PCA of antibiotic resistance profiles revealed that canine and feline formed distinct groups. However, one of the feline MRSA isolates resembled more of the canine group; although likelihood of cross-transmission between the animals may be low due to separate enclosures for the canines and felines: cross-transmission may have occurred when animals are brought into the main building for vaccination, neutering and consulting procedures. Conclusion: The majority of MRSA isolates obtained were not only resistant to methicillin alone but to other antibiotics too. Vancomycin proved to be the only effective antibiotic. This will pose a greater risk of resistance developing in empirical antibiotics in the future if proper antibiotic stewardship practices are not in place

Linear B-cell epitopes in the spike and nucleocapsid proteins as markers of SARS-CoV-2 exposure and disease severity

BACKGROUND Given the unceasing worldwide surge in COVID-19 cases, there is an imperative need to develop highly specific and sensitive serology assays to define exposure to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). METHODS Pooled plasma samples from PCR positive COVID-19 patients were used to identify linear B-cell epitopes from a SARS-CoV-2 peptide library of spike (S), envelope (E), membrane (M), and nucleocapsid (N) structural proteins by peptide-based ELISA. Hit epitopes were further validated with 79 COVID-19 patients with different disease severity status, 13 seasonal human CoV, 20 recovered SARS patients and 22 healthy donors. FINDINGS Four immunodominant epitopes, S14P5, S20P2, S21P2 and N4P5, were identified on the S and N viral proteins. IgG responses to all identified epitopes displayed a strong detection profile, with N4P5 achieving the highest level of specificity (100%) and sensitivity (>96%) against SARS-CoV-2. Furthermore, the magnitude of IgG responses to S14P5, S21P2 and N4P5 were strongly associated with disease severity. INTERPRETATION IgG responses to the peptide epitopes can serve as useful indicators for the degree of immunopathology in COVID-19 patients, and function as higly specific and sensitive sero-immunosurveillance tools for recent or past SARS-CoV-2 infections. The flexibility of these epitopes to be used alone or in combination will allow for the development of improved point-of-care-tests (POCTs)