An Evaluation of Techniques for Sampling Skin Flora

Three methods of sampling skin bacteria were evaluated to determine whether the large differences observed from adjacent areas of the back were real or due to variability in sampling methods. It was found that in addition to actual differences in the skin flora populations of adjacent areas, there were significant differences in populations obtained by different sampling techniques and significant differences between individuals. Equally high bacterial populations were recovered from skin by the Teflon spatula method and the rayon swab method; however, scrubbing with rayon swabs gave the most consistent results

Cosmological Large-scale Structures beyond Linear Theory in Modified Gravity

We consider the effect of modified gravity on the growth of large-scale structures at second order in perturbation theory. We show that modified gravity models changing the linear growth rate of fluctuations are also bound to change, although mildly, the mode coupling amplitude in the density and reduced velocity fields. We present explicit formulae which describe this effect. We then focus on models of modified gravity involving a scalar field coupled to matter, in particular chameleons and dilatons, where it is shown that there exists a transition scale around which the existence of an extra scalar degree of freedom induces significant changes in the coupling properties of the cosmic fields. We obtain the amplitude of this effect for realistic dilaton models at the tree-order level for the bispectrum, finding them to be comparable in amplitude to those obtained in the DGP model.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figure

FROM MOUSTACHES TO MY SPACES

Radical removal of malignant lesions may be improved using tumor-targeted dual-modality probes that contain both a radiotracer and a fluorescent label to allow for enhanced intraoperative delineation of tumor resection margins. Because pretargeting strategies yield high signal-to-background ratios, we evaluated the feasibility of a pretargeting strategy for intraoperative imaging in prostate cancer using an anti-TROP-2 x anti-HSG bispecific antibody (TF12) in conjunction with the dual-labeled diHSG peptide (RDC018) equipped with both a DOTA chelate for radiolabeling purposes and a fluorophore (IRdye800CW) to allow near-infrared optical imaging. Nude mice implanted s.c. with TROP-2-expressing PC3 human prostate tumor cells or with PC3 metastases in the scapular and suprarenal region were injected i.v. with 1 mg of TF12 and, after 16 hours of tumor accumulation and blood clearance, were subsequently injected with 10 MBq, 0.2 nmol/mouse of either (111)In-RDC018 or (111)In-IMP288 as a control. Two hours after injection, both microSPECT/CT and fluorescence images were acquired, both before and after resection of the tumor nodules. After image acquisition, the biodistribution of (111)In-RDC018 and (111)In-IMP288 was determined and tumors were analyzed immunohistochemically. The biodistribution of the dual-label RDC018 showed specific accumulation in the TROP-2-expressing PC3 tumors (12.4 +/- 3.7% ID/g at 2 hours postinjection), comparable with (111)In-IMP288 (9.1 +/- 2.8% ID/g at 2 hours postinjection). MicroSPECT/CT and near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging confirmed this TROP-2-specific uptake of the dual-label (111)In-RDC018 in both the s.c. and metastatic growing tumor model. In addition, PC3 metastases could be visualized preoperatively with SPECT/CT and could subsequently be resected by image-guided surgery using intraoperative NIRF imaging, showing the preclinical feasibility of pretargeted dual-modality imaging approach in prostate cancer

Residential mobility and childhood leukemia.

AimsStudies of environmental exposures and childhood leukemia studies do not usually account for residential mobility. Yet, in addition to being a potential risk factor, mobility can induce selection bias, confounding, or measurement error in such studies. Using data collected for California Powerline Study (CAPS), we attempt to disentangle the effect of mobility.MethodsWe analyzed data from a population-based case-control study of childhood leukemia using cases who were born in California and diagnosed between 1988 and 2008 and birth certificate controls. We used stratified logistic regression, case-only analysis, and propensity-score adjustments to assess predictors of residential mobility between birth and diagnosis, and account for potential confounding due to residential mobility.ResultsChildren who moved tended to be older, lived in housing other than single-family homes, had younger mothers and fewer siblings, and were of lower socioeconomic status. Odds ratios for leukemia among non-movers living <50 meters (m) from a 200+ kilovolt line (OR: 1.62; 95% CI: 0.72-3.65) and for calculated fields ≥ 0.4 microTesla (OR: 1.71; 95% CI: 0.65-4.52) were slightly higher than previously reported overall results. Adjustments for propensity scores based on all variables predictive of mobility, including dwelling type, increased odds ratios for leukemia to 2.61 (95% CI: 1.76-3.86) for living < 50 m from a 200 + kilovolt line and to 1.98 (1.11-3.52) for calculated fields. Individual or propensity-score adjustments for all variables, except dwelling type, did not materially change the estimates of power line exposures on childhood leukemia.ConclusionThe residential mobility of childhood leukemia cases varied by several sociodemographic characteristics, but not by the distance to the nearest power line or calculated magnetic fields. Mobility appears to be an unlikely explanation for the associations observed between power lines exposure and childhood leukemia

Effect of selective removal of badgers (Meles meles) on ranging behaviour during a ‘Test and Vaccinate or Remove’ intervention in Northern Ireland

Publication history: Accepted - 23 April 2021; Published online - 7 May 2021The role of the Eurasian badger (Meles meles) as a wildlife host has complicated the management of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle. Badger ranging behaviour has previously been found to be altered by culling of badgers and has been suggested to increase the transmission of bTB either among badgers or between badgers and cattle. In 2014, a five-year bTB intervention research project in a 100 km2 area in Northern Ireland was initiated involving selective removal of dual path platform (DPP) VetTB (immunoassay) test positive badgers and vaccination followed by release of DPP test negative badgers (‘Test and Vaccinate or Remove’). Home range sizes, based on position data obtained from global positioning system collared badgers, were compared between the first year of the project, where no DPP test positive badgers were removed, and follow-up years 2–4 when DPP test positive badgers were removed. A total of 105 individual badgers were followed over 21 200 collar tracking nights. Using multivariable analyses, neither annual nor monthly home ranges differed significantly in size between years, suggesting they were not significantly altered by the bTB intervention that was applied in the study area.This research was funded by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for Northern Ireland

Monitoring Mycobacterium bovis in Eurasian badgers ( Meles meles ) killed by vehicles in Northern Ireland between 1998 and 2011

Despite extensive long-term eradication programmes, bovine tuberculosis (bTB) remains endemic in much of the British Isles. The cost of the national eradication programme in Northern Ireland was estimated at £23 million in 2010/2011.1 There is evidence that badgers play a role in the maintenance and spread of Mycobacterium bovis to cattle (as reviewed by Allen and others2). Northern Ireland is a small country (13,843 km2) with an agricultural land that is dominated by grass production, which supports 1.6 million cattle among 20,000 farms.3 The estimated badger population of 34,100 (95 per cent confidence interval (CI) 26,200 to 42,000) is widespread and contained within 7600 social groups (95 per cent CI 6200 to 9000).4 A road traffic accident (RTA) survey began in 1998 in Northern Ireland with the aim of describing the occurrence of M bovis within the badger population

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

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

Measurement of the Lambda(b) cross section and the anti-Lambda(b) to Lambda(b) ratio with Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda decays in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The Lambda(b) differential production cross section and the cross section ratio anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) are measured as functions of transverse momentum pt(Lambda(b)) and rapidity abs(y(Lambda(b))) in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The measurements are based on Lambda(b) decays reconstructed in the exclusive final state J/Psi Lambda, with the subsequent decays J/Psi to an opposite-sign muon pair and Lambda to proton pion, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.9 inverse femtobarns. The product of the cross section times the branching ratio for Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda versus pt(Lambda(b)) falls faster than that of b mesons. The measured value of the cross section times the branching ratio for pt(Lambda(b)) > 10 GeV and abs(y(Lambda(b))) < 2.0 is 1.06 +/- 0.06 +/- 0.12 nb, and the integrated cross section ratio for anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) is 1.02 +/- 0.07 +/- 0.09, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters

Search for new physics in events with opposite-sign leptons, jets, and missing transverse energy in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search is presented for physics beyond the standard model (BSM) in final states with a pair of opposite-sign isolated leptons accompanied by jets and missing transverse energy. The search uses LHC data recorded at a center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the CMS detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 5 inverse femtobarns. Two complementary search strategies are employed. The first probes models with a specific dilepton production mechanism that leads to a characteristic kinematic edge in the dilepton mass distribution. The second strategy probes models of dilepton production with heavy, colored objects that decay to final states including invisible particles, leading to very large hadronic activity and missing transverse energy. No evidence for an event yield in excess of the standard model expectations is found. Upper limits on the BSM contributions to the signal regions are deduced from the results, which are used to exclude a region of the parameter space of the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model. Additional information related to detector efficiencies and response is provided to allow testing specific models of BSM physics not considered in this paper.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO