A role for XRCC2 gene polymorphisms in breast cancer risk and survival

Background The XRCC2 gene is a key mediator in the homologous recombination repair of DNA double strand breaks. It is hypothesised that inherited variants in the XRCC2 gene might also affect susceptibility to, and survival from, breast cancer. Methods The study genotyped 12 XRCC2 tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 1131 breast cancer cases and 1148 controls from the Sheffield Breast Cancer Study (SBCS), and examined their associations with breast cancer risk and survival by estimating ORs and HRs, and their corresponding 95% CIs. Positive findings were further investigated in 860 cases and 869 controls from the Utah Breast Cancer Study (UBCS) and jointly analysed together with available published data for breast cancer risk. The survival findings were further confirmed in studies (8074 cases) from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC). Results The most significant association with breast cancer risk in the SBCS dataset was the XRCC2 rs3218408 SNP (recessive model p=2.3×10−4, minor allele frequency (MAF)=0.23). This SNP yielded an ORrec of 1.64 (95% CI 1.25 to 2.16) in a two-site analysis of SBCS and UBCS, and a meta-ORrec of 1.33 (95% CI 1.12 to 1.57) when all published data were included. This SNP may mark a rare risk haplotype carried by two in 1000 of the control population. Furthermore, the XRCC2 coding R188H SNP (rs3218536, MAF=0.08) was significantly associated with poor survival, with an increased per-allele HR of 1.58 (95% CI 1.01 to 2.49) in a multivariate analysis. This effect was still evident in a pooled meta-analysis of 8781 breast cancer patients from the BCAC (HR 1.19, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.36; p=0.01). Conclusions These findings suggest that XRCC2 SNPs may influence breast cancer risk and survival

Molecular characterization of a lizard adenovirus reveals the first atadenovirus with two fiber genes and the first adenovirus with either one short or three long fibers per penton

Although adenoviruses (AdVs) have been found in a wide variety of reptiles, including numerous squamate species, turtles, and crocodiles, the number of reptilian adenovirus isolates is still scarce. The only fully sequenced reptilian adenovirus, snake adenovirus 1 (SnAdV-1), belongs to the Atadenovirus genus. Recently, two new atadenoviruses were isolated from a captive Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum) and Mexican beaded lizards (Heloderma horridum). Here we report the full genomic and proteomic characterization of the latter, designated lizard adenovirus 2 (LAdV-2). The double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) genome of LAdV-2 is 32,965 bp long, with an average G+C content of 44.16%. The overall arrangement and gene content of the LAdV-2 genome were largely concordant with those in other atadenoviruses, except for four novel open reading frames (ORFs) at the right end of the genome. Phylogeny reconstructions and plesiomorphic traits shared with SnAdV-1 further supported the assignment of LAdV-2 to the Atadenovirus genus. Surprisingly, two fiber genes were found for the first time in an atadenovirus. After optimizing the production of LAdV-2 in cell culture, we determined the protein compositions of the virions. The two fiber genes produce two fiber proteins of different sizes that are incorporated into the viral particles. Interestingly, the two different fiber proteins assemble as either one short or three long fiber projections per vertex. Stoichiometry estimations indicate that the long fiber triplet is present at only one or two vertices per virion. Neither triple fibers nor a mixed number of fibers per vertex had previously been reported for adenoviruses or any other virus

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

Measurement of isolated photon production in pp and PbPb collisions at sqrt(sNN) = 2.76 TeV

Isolated photon production is measured in proton-proton and lead-lead collisions at nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energies of 2.76 TeV in the pseudorapidity range |eta|<1.44 and transverse energies ET between 20 and 80 GeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The measured ET spectra are found to be in good agreement with next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD predictions. The ratio of PbPb to pp isolated photon ET-differential yields, scaled by the number of incoherent nucleon-nucleon collisions, is consistent with unity for all PbPb reaction centralities.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters

Measurement of the mass difference between top quark and antiquark in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV

Peer reviewe

Search for leptophobic Z ' bosons decaying into four-lepton final states in proton-proton collisions at root s=8 TeV

Peer reviewe

Search for black holes and other new phenomena in high-multiplicity final states in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

Peer reviewe