Biomarker Validation of Dietary Intervention in Two Multiethnic Populations

Introduction: Intervention studies have been designed to change dietary and lifestyle factors associated with chronic diseases, but self-reported behavior change may incorporate intervention-related bias. This study examines plasma nutrient concentration and correlations with self-reports in the Healthy Directions intervention study. The Healthy Directions intervention studies were designed to increase multivitamin use, fruit and vegetable consumption, and physical activity in working-class, multiethnic populations. Methods: Participants in both studies completed interviewer-administered questionnaires that collected information on sociodemographic and health behavior characteristics. Postintervention blood samples were collected from 209 participants and pooled in pairs within study and within intervention group. Results: We found significantly higher plasma concentrations of retinol (P = .01) and α-carotene (P = .03) in the intervention than in the usual care group. Self-reported multivitamin users had significantly higher concentrations of retinol (P < .001), β-carotene (P = .02), and α-tocopherol (P < .001). Those who reported four or more fruit and vegetable servings per day had higher lutein and zeaxanthin (P = .05) and β-cryptoxanthin (P = .05) concentrations than those consuming fewer. Plasma nutrient concentrations were associated with reported multivitamin use and fruit and vegetable intake, but the correlations were generally higher in the usual care group. Conclusion: We found significant postintervention differences in plasma carotenoid and tocopherol concentrations by treatment group, multivitamin use, and fruit and vegetable intake. However, because we only obtained postintervention blood samples, we were unable to assess preintervention-to-postintervention changes in plasma nutrients. Self-reported intakes were significantly correlated with plasma nutrient concentrations, but the strength of the correlations differed by group, suggesting some intervention-related bias in the questionnaire responses

Perceived neighborhood safety and incident mobility disability among elders: the hazards of poverty

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We investigated whether lack of perceived neighborhood safety due to crime, or living in high crime neighborhoods was associated with incident mobility disability in elderly populations. We hypothesized that low-income elders and elders at retirement age (65 – 74) would be at greatest risk of mobility disability onset in the face of perceived or measured crime-related safety hazards.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted the study in the New Haven Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (EPESE), a longitudinal cohort study of community-dwelling elders aged 65 and older who were residents of New Haven, Connecticut in 1982. Elders were interviewed beginning in 1982 to assess mobility (ability to climb stairs and walk a half mile), perceptions of their neighborhood safety due to crime, annual household income, lifestyle characteristics (smoking, alcohol use, physical activity), and the presence of chronic co-morbid conditions. Additionally, we collected baseline data on neighborhood crime events from the New Haven Register newspaper in 1982 to measure local area crime rates at the census tract level.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>At baseline in 1982, 1,884 elders were without mobility disability. After 8 years of follow-up, perceiving safety hazards was associated with increased risk of mobility disability among elders at retirement age whose incomes were below the federal poverty line (HR 1.56, 95% CI 1.02 – 2.37). No effect of perceived safety hazards was found among elders at retirement age whose incomes were above the poverty line. No effect of living in neighborhoods with high crime rates (measured by newspaper reports) was found in any sub-group.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Perceiving a safety hazard due to neighborhood crime was associated with increased risk of incident mobility disability among impoverished elders near retirement age. Consistent with prior literature, retirement age appears to be a vulnerable period with respect to the effect of neighborhood conditions on elder health. Community violence prevention activities should address perceived safety among vulnerable populations, such as low-income elders at retirement age, to reduce future risks of mobility disability.</p

Human IgG1 Responses to Surface Localised Schistosoma mansoni Ly6 Family Members Drop following Praziquantel Treatment

The heptalaminate-covered, syncytial tegument is an important anatomical adaptation that enables schistosome parasites to maintain long-term, intravascular residence in definitive hosts. Investigation of the proteins present in this surface layer and the immune responses elicited by them during infection is crucial to our understanding of host/parasite interactions. Recent studies have revealed a number of novel tegumental surface proteins including three (SmCD59a, SmCD59b and Sm29) containing uPAR/Ly6 domains (renamed SmLy6A SmLy6B and SmLy6D in this study). While vaccination with SmLy6A (SmCD59a) and SmLy6D (Sm29) induces protective immunity in experimental models, human immunoglobulin responses to representative SmLy6 family members have yet to be thoroughly explored.Using a PSI-BLAST-based search, we present a comprehensive reanalysis of the Schistosoma mansoni Ly6 family (SmLy6A-K). Our examination extends the number of members to eleven (including three novel proteins) and provides strong evidence that the previously identified vaccine candidate Sm29 (renamed SmLy6D) is a unique double uPAR/Ly6 domain-containing representative. Presence of canonical cysteine residues, signal peptides and GPI-anchor sites strongly suggest that all SmLy6 proteins are cell surface-bound. To provide evidence that SmLy6 members are immunogenic in human populations, we report IgG1 (as well as IgG4 and IgE) responses against two surface-bound representatives (SmLy6A and SmLy6B) within a cohort of S. mansoni-infected Ugandan males before and after praziquantel treatment. While pre-treatment IgG1 prevalence for SmLy6A and SmLy6B differs amongst the studied population (7.4% and 25.3% of the cohort, respectively), these values are both higher than IgG1 prevalence (2.7%) for a sub-surface tegumental antigen, SmTAL1. Further, post-treatment IgG1 levels against surface-associated SmLy6A and SmLy6B significantly drop (p = 0.020 and p < 0.001, respectively) when compared to rising IgG1 levels against sub-surface SmTAL1.Collectively, these results expand the number of SmLy6 proteins found within S. mansoni and specifically demonstrate that surface-associated SmLy6A and SmLy6B elicit immunological responses during infection in endemic communities

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

Combined searches for the production of supersymmetric top quark partners in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A combination of searches for top squark pair production using proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb(-1) collected by the CMS experiment, is presented. Signatures with at least 2 jets and large missing transverse momentum are categorized into events with 0, 1, or 2 leptons. New results for regions of parameter space where the kinematical properties of top squark pair production and top quark pair production are very similar are presented. Depending on themodel, the combined result excludes a top squarkmass up to 1325 GeV for amassless neutralino, and a neutralinomass up to 700 GeV for a top squarkmass of 1150 GeV. Top squarks with masses from 145 to 295 GeV, for neutralino masses from 0 to 100 GeV, with a mass difference between the top squark and the neutralino in a window of 30 GeV around the mass of the top quark, are excluded for the first time with CMS data. The results of theses searches are also interpreted in an alternative signal model of dark matter production via a spin-0 mediator in association with a top quark pair. Upper limits are set on the cross section for mediator particle masses of up to 420 GeV

Probing effective field theory operators in the associated production of top quarks with a Z boson in multilepton final states at root s=13 TeV

Peer reviewe

Measurements of Higgs boson production cross sections and couplings in the diphoton decay channel at root s=13 TeV

Measurements of Higgs boson production cross sections and couplings in events where the Higgs boson decays into a pair of photons are reported. Events are selected from a sample of proton-proton collisions at root s = 13TeV collected by the CMS detector at the LHC from 2016 to 2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb(-1). Analysis categories enriched in Higgs boson events produced via gluon fusion, vector boson fusion, vector boson associated production, and production associated with top quarks are constructed. The total Higgs boson signal strength, relative to the standard model (SM) prediction, is measured to be 1.12 +/- 0.09. Other properties of the Higgs boson are measured, including SM signal strength modifiers, production cross sections, and its couplings to other particles. These include the most precise measurements of gluon fusion and vector boson fusion Higgs boson production in several different kinematic regions, the first measurement of Higgs boson production in association with a top quark pair in five regions of the Higgs boson transverse momentum, and an upper limit on the rate of Higgs boson production in association with a single top quark. All results are found to be in agreement with the SM expectations.Peer reviewe

Observation of tW production in the single-lepton channel in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV

A measurement of the cross section of the associated production of a single top quark and a W boson in final states with a muon or electron and jets in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV is presented. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 36 fb(-1) collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC in 2016. A boosted decision tree is used to separate the tW signal from the dominant t (t) over bar background, whilst the subleading W+jets and multijet backgrounds are constrained using data-based estimates. This result is the first observation of the tW process in final states containing a muon or electron and jets, with a significance exceeding 5 standard deviations. The cross section is determined to be 89 +/- 4 (stat) +/- 12 (syst) pb, consistent with the standard model.Peer reviewe