First report of Galba cubensis (Gasteropoda: Lymnaeidae) in Ecuador, host of Fasciola hepatica potential in rice fields of the ecuadorian coast

Las especies invasoras representan una amenaza para la salud humana y los alimentos, especialmente cuando estas especies son introducidas a nuevos hábitats y transmiten parásitos a los seres humanos o a los animales domésticos. El molusco Galba cubensis es el principal hospedador intermediario de Fasciola hepatica – agente causal de la fascioliasis – y está distribuido desde Norte América hasta Sur América. Sin embargo, en Ecuador G. cubensis no se había reportado hasta la presente publicación. En un inventario completo de caracoles pulmonados de agua dulce llevadas a cabo en 1965, las dos únicas especies de la familia Lymnaeidae reportadas fueron el caracol invasor Pseudosuccinea columella y el caracol nativo Galba cousini. Se realizó una búsqueda malacológica en arrozales de la provincia del Guayas, Ecuador, entre 2013 y 2015 y encontramos por primera vez G. cubensis en el país. A continuación, se estudió la morfología de estos caracoles para identifcar la especie. Llegando a la conclusión de que G. cubensis es una especie invasora que se ha introducido al Ecuador en los últimos 50 años. También anticipamos que esta especie podría estar transmitiendo fascioliasis en la región litoral del Ecuador.Biological invasions represent a threat to human and food health when the species introduced transmit parasites to humans or domestic animals. Galba cubensis is the main snail host of Fasciola hepatica—the agent of fasciolosis—and has a current range from North to South America. Nonetheless, in Ecuador G. cubensis has not been reported until now. In a complete inventory of freshwater pulmonate snails carried out in 1965, the only two lymnaeid species reported were the invasive snail Pseudosuccinea columella and the native snail Galba cousini. We carried out a malacological survey in rice felds of the Guayas Province, Ecuador, between 2013 and 2015 and we found for the frst time G. cubensis in this country. We conclude that G. cubensis is an invasive species that has been introduced to Ecuador in the past 50 years. We also anticipate that this species could be spreading fasciolosis from the higher and Andean region to the lower and tropical region of Ecuador.Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectore

First report of Galba cubensis (Gasteropoda: Lymnaeidae) in Ecuador, host of Fasciola hepatica potential in rice fields of the ecuadorian coast

Las especies invasoras representan una amenaza para la salud humana y los alimentos, especialmente cuando estas especies son introducidas a nuevos hábitats y transmiten parásitos a los seres humanos o a los animales domésticos. El molusco Galba cubensis es el principal hospedador intermediario de Fasciola hepatica – agente causal de la fascioliasis – y está distribuido desde Norte América hasta Sur América. Sin embargo, en Ecuador G. cubensis no se había reportado hasta la presente publicación. En un inventario completo de caracoles pulmonados de agua dulce llevadas a cabo en 1965, las dos únicas especies de la familia Lymnaeidae reportadas fueron el caracol invasor Pseudosuccinea columella y el caracol nativo Galba cousini. Se realizó una búsqueda malacológica en arrozales de la provincia del Guayas, Ecuador, entre 2013 y 2015 y encontramos por primera vez G. cubensis en el país. A continuación, se estudió la morfología de estos caracoles para identifcar la especie. Llegando a la conclusión de que G. cubensis es una especie invasora que se ha introducido al Ecuador en los últimos 50 años. También anticipamos que esta especie podría estar transmitiendo fascioliasis en la región litoral del Ecuador.Biological invasions represent a threat to human and food health when the species introduced transmit parasites to humans or domestic animals. Galba cubensis is the main snail host of Fasciola hepatica—the agent of fasciolosis—and has a current range from North to South America. Nonetheless, in Ecuador G. cubensis has not been reported until now. In a complete inventory of freshwater pulmonate snails carried out in 1965, the only two lymnaeid species reported were the invasive snail Pseudosuccinea columella and the native snail Galba cousini. We carried out a malacological survey in rice felds of the Guayas Province, Ecuador, between 2013 and 2015 and we found for the frst time G. cubensis in this country. We conclude that G. cubensis is an invasive species that has been introduced to Ecuador in the past 50 years. We also anticipate that this species could be spreading fasciolosis from the higher and Andean region to the lower and tropical region of Ecuador.Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectore

Search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu decay channel, where l = e or mu, in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is presented. The data were collected at the LHC, with the CMS detector, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 inverse femtobarns. No significant excess is observed above the background expectation, and upper limits are set on the Higgs boson production cross section. The presence of the standard model Higgs boson with a mass in the 270-440 GeV range is excluded at 95% confidence level.Comment: Submitted to JHE

Combined search for the quarks of a sequential fourth generation

Results are presented from a search for a fourth generation of quarks produced singly or in pairs in a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 inverse femtobarns recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2011. A novel strategy has been developed for a combined search for quarks of the up and down type in decay channels with at least one isolated muon or electron. Limits on the mass of the fourth-generation quarks and the relevant Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix elements are derived in the context of a simple extension of the standard model with a sequential fourth generation of fermions. The existence of mass-degenerate fourth-generation quarks with masses below 685 GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level for minimal off-diagonal mixing between the third- and the fourth-generation quarks. With a mass difference of 25 GeV between the quark masses, the obtained limit on the masses of the fourth-generation quarks shifts by about +/- 20 GeV. These results significantly reduce the allowed parameter space for a fourth generation of fermions.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Search for new physics with same-sign isolated dilepton events with jets and missing transverse energy

A search for new physics is performed in events with two same-sign isolated leptons, hadronic jets, and missing transverse energy in the final state. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.98 inverse femtobarns produced in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. This constitutes a factor of 140 increase in integrated luminosity over previously published results. The observed yields agree with the standard model predictions and thus no evidence for new physics is found. The observations are used to set upper limits on possible new physics contributions and to constrain supersymmetric models. To facilitate the interpretation of the data in a broader range of new physics scenarios, information on the event selection, detector response, and efficiencies is provided.Comment: Published in Physical Review Letter

Search for a W' boson decaying to a bottom quark and a top quark in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

Results are presented from a search for a W' boson using a dataset corresponding to 5.0 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity collected during 2011 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV. The W' boson is modeled as a heavy W boson, but different scenarios for the couplings to fermions are considered, involving both left-handed and right-handed chiral projections of the fermions, as well as an arbitrary mixture of the two. The search is performed in the decay channel W' to t b, leading to a final state signature with a single lepton (e, mu), missing transverse energy, and jets, at least one of which is tagged as a b-jet. A W' boson that couples to fermions with the same coupling constant as the W, but to the right-handed rather than left-handed chiral projections, is excluded for masses below 1.85 TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the first time using LHC data, constraints on the W' gauge coupling for a set of left- and right-handed coupling combinations have been placed. These results represent a significant improvement over previously published limits.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters B. Replaced with version publishe

Measurement of the t t-bar production cross section in the dilepton channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The t t-bar production cross section (sigma[t t-bar]) is measured in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV in data collected by the CMS experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.3 inverse femtobarns. The measurement is performed in events with two leptons (electrons or muons) in the final state, at least two jets identified as jets originating from b quarks, and the presence of an imbalance in transverse momentum. The measured value of sigma[t t-bar] for a top-quark mass of 172.5 GeV is 161.9 +/- 2.5 (stat.) +5.1/-5.0 (syst.) +/- 3.6(lumi.) pb, consistent with the prediction of the standard model.Comment: Replaced with published version. Included journal reference and DO

Measurement of the Z/gamma* + b-jet cross section in pp collisions at 7 TeV

The production of b jets in association with a Z/gamma* boson is studied using proton-proton collisions delivered by the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and recorded by the CMS detector. The inclusive cross section for Z/gamma* + b-jet production is measured in a sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.2 inverse femtobarns. The Z/gamma* + b-jet cross section with Z/gamma* to ll (where ll = ee or mu mu) for events with the invariant mass 60 < M(ll) < 120 GeV, at least one b jet at the hadron level with pT > 25 GeV and abs(eta) < 2.1, and a separation between the leptons and the jets of Delta R > 0.5 is found to be 5.84 +/- 0.08 (stat.) +/- 0.72 (syst.) +(0.25)/-(0.55) (theory) pb. The kinematic properties of the events are also studied and found to be in agreement with the predictions made by the MadGraph event generator with the parton shower and the hadronisation performed by PYTHIA.Comment: Submitted to the Journal of High Energy Physic

Search for New Physics with Jets and Missing Transverse Momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search for new physics is presented based on an event signature of at least three jets accompanied by large missing transverse momentum, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 inverse picobarns collected in proton--proton collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. No excess of events is observed above the expected standard model backgrounds, which are all estimated from the data. Exclusion limits are presented for the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model. Cross section limits are also presented using simplified models with new particles decaying to an undetected particle and one or two jets

Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV

A search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons is described. The analysis is performed using a dataset recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC from pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, which corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.8 inverse femtobarns. Limits are set on the cross section of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The expected exclusion limit at 95% confidence level is between 1.4 and 2.4 times the standard model cross section in the mass range between 110 and 150 GeV. The analysis of the data excludes, at 95% confidence level, the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the mass range 128 to 132 GeV. The largest excess of events above the expected standard model background is observed for a Higgs boson mass hypothesis of 124 GeV with a local significance of 3.1 sigma. The global significance of observing an excess with a local significance greater than 3.1 sigma anywhere in the search range 110-150 GeV is estimated to be 1.8 sigma. More data are required to ascertain the origin of this excess.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters