608 research outputs found
Evaluating Temporal Factors in Combined Interventions of Workforce Shift and School Closure for Mitigating the Spread of Influenza
10.1371/journal.pone.0032203PLoS ONE7
Chronic Viral Infection and Primary Central Nervous System Malignancy
Primary central nervous system (CNS) tumors cause significant morbidity and mortality in both adults and children. While some of the genetic and molecular mechanisms of neuro-oncogenesis are known, much less is known about possible epigenetic contributions to disease pathophysiology. Over the last several decades, chronic viral infections have been associated with a number of human malignancies. In primary CNS malignancies, two families of viruses, namely polyomavirus and herpesvirus, have been detected with varied frequencies in a number of pediatric and adult histological tumor subtypes. However, establishing a link between chronic viral infection and primary CNS malignancy has been an area of considerable controversy, due in part to variations in detection frequencies and methodologies used among researchers. Since a latent viral neurotropism can be seen with a variety of viruses and a widespread seropositivity exists among the population, it has been difficult to establish an association between viral infection and CNS malignancy based on epidemiology alone. While direct evidence of a role of viruses in neuro-oncogenesis in humans is lacking, a more plausible hypothesis of neuro-oncomodulation has been proposed. The overall goals of this review are to summarize the many human investigations that have studied viral infection in primary CNS tumors, discuss potential neuro-oncomodulatory mechanisms of viral-associated CNS disease and propose future research directions to establish a more firm association between chronic viral infections and primary CNS malignancies
Close Encounters in a Pediatric Ward: Measuring Face-to-Face Proximity and Mixing Patterns with Wearable Sensors
International audienceBackground Nosocomial infections place a substantial burden on health care systems and represent one of the major issues in current public health, requiring notable efforts for its prevention. Understanding the dynamics of infection transmission in a hospital setting is essential for tailoring interventions and predicting the spread among individuals. Mathematical models need to be informed with accurate data on contacts among individuals. Methods and Findings We used wearable active Radio-Frequency Identification Devices (RFID) to detect face-to-face contacts among individuals with a spatial resolution of about 1.5 meters, and a time resolution of 20 seconds. The study was conducted in a general pediatrics hospital ward, during a one-week period, and included 119 participants, with 51 health care workers, 37 patients, and 31 caregivers. Nearly 16,000 contacts were recorded during the study period, with a median of approximately 20 contacts per participants per day. Overall, 25% of the contacts involved a ward assistant, 23% a nurse, 22% a patient, 22% a caregiver, and 8% a physician. The majority of contacts were of brief duration, but long and frequent contacts especially between patients and caregivers were also found. In the setting under study, caregivers do not represent a significant potential for infection spread to a large number of individuals, as their interactions mainly involve the corresponding patient. Nurses would deserve priority in prevention strategies due to their central role in the potential propagation paths of infections. Conclusions Our study shows the feasibility of accurate and reproducible measures of the pattern of contacts in a hospital setting. The obtained results are particularly useful for the study of the spread of respiratory infections, for monitoring critical patterns, and for setting up tailored prevention strategies. Proximity-sensing technology should be considered as a valuable tool for measuring such patterns and evaluating nosocomial prevention strategies in specific settings
Nuclear expression of Rac1 in cervical premalignant lesions and cervical cancer cells
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Abnormal expression of Rho-GTPases has been reported in several human cancers. However, the expression of these proteins in cervical cancer has been poorly investigated. In this study we analyzed the expression of the GTPases Rac1, RhoA, Cdc42, and the Rho-GEFs, Tiam1 and beta-Pix, in cervical pre-malignant lesions and cervical cancer cell lines.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Protein expression was analyzed by immunochemistry on 102 cervical paraffin-embedded biopsies: 20 without Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions (SIL), 51 Low- grade SIL, and 31 High-grade SIL; and in cervical cancer cell lines C33A and SiHa, and non-tumorigenic HaCat cells. Nuclear localization of Rac1 in HaCat, C33A and SiHa cells was assessed by cellular fractionation and Western blotting, in the presence or not of a chemical Rac1 inhibitor (NSC23766).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Immunoreacivity for Rac1, RhoA, Tiam1 and beta-Pix was stronger in L-SIL and H-SIL, compared to samples without SIL, and it was significantly associated with the histological diagnosis. Nuclear expression of Rac1 was observed in 52.9% L-SIL and 48.4% H-SIL, but not in samples without SIL. Rac1 was found in the nucleus of C33A and SiHa cells but not in HaCat cells. Chemical inhibition of Rac1 resulted in reduced cell proliferation in HaCat, C33A and SiHa cells.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Rac1 is expressed in the nucleus of epithelial cells in SILs and cervical cancer cell lines, and chemical inhibition of Rac1 reduces cellular proliferation. Further studies are needed to better understand the role of Rho-GTPases in cervical cancer progression.</p
Quantum Rings in Electromagnetic Fields
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer via the DOI in this recordThis chapter is devoted to optical properties of so-called Aharonov-Bohm
quantum rings (quantum rings pierced by a magnetic flux resulting in AharonovBohm
oscillations of their electronic spectra) in external electromagnetic fields.
It studies two problems. The first problem deals with a single-electron AharonovBohm
quantum ring pierced by a magnetic flux and subjected to an in-plane (lateral)
electric field. We predict magneto-oscillations of the ring electric dipole moment.
These oscillations are accompanied by periodic changes in the selection rules for
inter-level optical transitions in the ring allowing control of polarization properties
of the associated terahertz radiation. The second problem treats a single-mode microcavity
with an embedded Aharonov-Bohm quantum ring which is pierced by a
magnetic flux and subjected to a lateral electric field. We show that external electric
and magnetic fields provide additional means of control of the emission spectrum
of the system. In particular, when the magnetic flux through the quantum ring is
equal to a half-integer number of the magnetic flux quanta, a small change in the
lateral electric field allows for tuning of the energy levels of the quantum ring into
resonance with the microcavity mode, thus providing an efficient way to control
the quantum ring-microcavity coupling strength. Emission spectra of the system are
discussed for several combinations of the applied magnetic and electric fields
Human immunoglobulin G levels of viruses and associated glioma risk
Few consistent etiological factors have been identified for primary brain tumors. Inverse associations to asthma and low levels of varicella-zoster virus, immunoglobulin (Ig) levels in prevalent cases have indicted a role for the immune system in the development of glioma. Because samples from prevalent cases of glioma could be influenced by treatments such as steroids and chemotherapy, we investigated pre-diagnostic samples from three large Scandinavian cohorts. To test the hypothesis that immune response levels to these viruses are associated etiologically with glioma risk, we investigated pre-diagnostic immunoglobulin levels for cytomegalovirus (CMV), varicella-zoster virus (VZV), adenovirus (Ad), and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) including the nuclear antigen (EBNA1) using plasma samples from 197 cases of adult glioma and 394 controls collected from population-based cohorts in Sweden and Denmark. Low VZV IgG levels were marginally significantly more common in glioma cases than the controls (odds ratio (OR)Ā =Ā 0.68, 95% CI 0.41ā1.13) for the fourth compared with the first quartile (pĀ =Ā 0.06 for trend). These results were more prominent when analyzing cases with blood sampling at least 2Ā years before diagnosis (ORĀ =Ā 0.63, 95% CI 0.37ā1.08) (pĀ =Ā 0.03). No association with glioma risk was observed for CMV, EBV, and adenovirus
Gamma-Secretase-Dependent and -Independent Effects of Presenilin1 on Ī²-CateninĀ·Tcf-4 Transcriptional Activity
Presenilin1 (PS1) is a component of the Ī³-secretase complex mutated in cases of Familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD). PS1 is synthesized as a 50 kDa peptide subsequently processed to two 29 and 20 kDa subunits that remain associated. Processing of PS1 is inhibited by several mutations detected in FAD patients. PS1 acts as negative modulator of Ī²-cateninĀ·Tcf-4 transcriptional activity. In this article we show that in murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) the mechanisms of action of the processed and non-processed forms of PS1 on Ī²-cateninĀ·Tcf-4 transcription are different. Whereas non-processed PS1 inhibits Ī²-cateninĀ·Tcf-4 activity through a mechanism independent of Ī³-secretase and associated with the interaction of this protein with plakoglobin and Tcf-4, the effect of processed PS1 is prevented by Ī³-secretase inhibitors, and requires its interaction with E- or N-cadherin and the generation of cytosolic terminal fragments of these two cadherins, which in turn destabilize the Ī²-catenin transcriptional cofactor CBP. Accordingly, the two forms of PS1 interact differently with E-cadherin or Ī²-catenin and plakoglobin: whereas processed PS1 binds E-cadherin with high affinity and Ī²-catenin or plakoglobin weakly, the non-processed form behaves inversely. Moreover, contrarily to processed PS1, that decreases the levels of c-fos RNA, non-processed PS1 inhibits the expression c-myc, a known target of Ī²-cateninĀ·Tcf-4, and does not block the activity of other transcriptional factors requiring CBP. These results indicate that prevention of PS1 processing in FAD affects the mechanism of repression of the transcriptional activity dependent on Ī²-catenin
Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector
The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets
containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass
energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The
measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1.
The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary
decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from
the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is
used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive
b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the
range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet
cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the
range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets
and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are
compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed
between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG +
Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet
cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive
cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse
momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final
version published in European Physical Journal
Search for direct pair production of the top squark in all-hadronic final states in proton-proton collisions at sā=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector
The results of a search for direct pair production of the scalar partner to the top quark using an integrated luminosity of 20.1fbā1 of protonāproton collision data at ās = 8 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC are reported. The top squark is assumed to decay via tĖātĻĖ01 or tĖā bĻĖĀ±1 ābW(ā)ĻĖ01 , where ĻĖ01 (ĻĖĀ±1 ) denotes the lightest neutralino (chargino) in supersymmetric models. The search targets a fully-hadronic final state in events with four or more jets and large missing transverse momentum. No significant excess over the Standard Model background prediction is observed, and exclusion limits are reported in terms of the top squark and neutralino masses and as a function of the branching fraction of tĖ ā tĻĖ01 . For a branching fraction of 100%, top squark masses in the range 270ā645 GeV are excluded for ĻĖ01 masses below 30 GeV. For a branching fraction of 50% to either tĖ ā tĻĖ01 or tĖ ā bĻĖĀ±1 , and assuming the ĻĖĀ±1 mass to be twice the ĻĖ01 mass, top squark masses in the range 250ā550 GeV are excluded for ĻĖ01 masses below 60 GeV
Extracting key information from historical data to quantify the transmission dynamics of smallpox
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Quantification of the transmission dynamics of smallpox is crucial for optimizing intervention strategies in the event of a bioterrorist attack. This article reviews basic methods and findings in mathematical and statistical studies of smallpox which estimate key transmission parameters from historical data.</p> <p>Main findings</p> <p>First, critically important aspects in extracting key information from historical data are briefly summarized. We mention different sources of heterogeneity and potential pitfalls in utilizing historical records. Second, we discuss how smallpox spreads in the absence of interventions and how the optimal timing of quarantine and isolation measures can be determined. Case studies demonstrate the following. (1) The upper confidence limit of the 99th percentile of the incubation period is 22.2 days, suggesting that quarantine should last 23 days. (2) The highest frequency (61.8%) of secondary transmissions occurs 3ā5 days after onset of fever so that infected individuals should be isolated before the appearance of rash. (3) The U-shaped age-specific case fatality implies a vulnerability of infants and elderly among non-immune individuals. Estimates of the transmission potential are subsequently reviewed, followed by an assessment of vaccination effects and of the expected effectiveness of interventions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Current debates on bio-terrorism preparedness indicate that public health decision making must account for the complex interplay and balance between vaccination strategies and other public health measures (e.g. case isolation and contact tracing) taking into account the frequency of adverse events to vaccination. In this review, we summarize what has already been clarified and point out needs to analyze previous smallpox outbreaks systematically.</p
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