Bacterial isolates from patients with preterm labor with and without preterm rupture of the fetal membranes.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to describe the bacterial flora of women in preterm labor with or without premature rupture of membranes. METHODS: Retrospective studies of 239 patients with preterm labor were performed. RESULTS: One hundred and twenty-three of 239 patients with preterm labor (51.5%) had bacterial vaginosis. Seventy of the 239 patients with preterm labor (29.3%) developed premature rupture of the membranes (preterm PROM). Of the 70 patients with preterm PROM, 51 (72.9%) had bacterial vaginosis. Therefore, 51 of the 123 patients with bacterial vaginosis (41.5%) developed preterm PROM. An increased number of organisms detected from the vaginal discharge in patients with preterm labor was associated with preterm PROM by Cochran-Armitage test. An increased number of organisms detected from the vaginal discharge in patients with preterm labor complicated with bacterial vaginosis was significantly associated with preterm PROM by Cochran-Armitage test. CONCLUSIONS: In preterm labor, the number of different species detected in the vagina provide sensitive and specific prediction of preterm PROM in patients with preterm labor

Neutrino Detection with Inclined Air Showers

The possibilities of detecting high energy neutrinos through inclined showers produced in the atmosphere are addressed with an emphasis on the detection of air showers by arrays of particle detectors. Rates of inclined showers produced by both down-going neutrino interactions and by up-coming $\tau$ decays from earth-skimming neutrinos as a function of shower energy are calculated with analytical methods using two sample neutrino fluxes with different spectral indices. The relative contributions from different flavors and charged, neutral current and resonant interactions are compared for down-going neutrinos interacting in the atmosphere. No detailed description of detectors is attempted but rough energy thresholds are implemented to establish the ranges of energies which are more suitable for neutrino detection through inclined showers. Down-going and up-coming rates are compared.Comment: Submitted to New Journal of Physic

Genome Sequence of Fusobacterium nucleatum Subspecies Polymorphum — a Genetically Tractable Fusobacterium

Fusobacterium nucleatum is a prominent member of the oral microbiota and is a common cause of human infection. F. nucleatum includes five subspecies: polymorphum, nucleatum, vincentii, fusiforme, and animalis. F. nucleatum subsp. polymorphum ATCC 10953 has been well characterized phenotypically and, in contrast to previously sequenced strains, is amenable to gene transfer. We sequenced and annotated the 2,429,698 bp genome of F. nucleatum subsp. polymorphum ATCC 10953. Plasmid pFN3 from the strain was also sequenced and analyzed. When compared to the other two available fusobacterial genomes (F. nucleatum subsp. nucleatum, and F. nucleatum subsp. vincentii) 627 open reading frames unique to F. nucleatum subsp. polymorphum ATCC 10953 were identified. A large percentage of these mapped within one of 28 regions or islands containing five or more genes. Seventeen percent of the clustered proteins that demonstrated similarity were most similar to proteins from the clostridia, with others being most similar to proteins from other gram-positive organisms such as Bacillus and Streptococcus. A ten kilobase region homologous to the Salmonella typhimurium propanediol utilization locus was identified, as was a prophage and integrated conjugal plasmid. The genome contains five composite ribozyme/transposons, similar to the CdISt IStrons described in Clostridium difficile. IStrons are not present in the other fusobacterial genomes. These findings indicate that F. nucleatum subsp. polymorphum is proficient at horizontal gene transfer and that exchange with the Firmicutes, particularly the Clostridia, is common

Sterility and Gene Expression in Hybrid Males of Xenopus laevis and X. muelleri

BACKGROUND: Reproductive isolation is a defining characteristic of populations that represent unique biological species, yet we know very little about the gene expression basis for reproductive isolation. The advent of powerful molecular biology tools provides the ability to identify genes involved in reproductive isolation and focuses attention on the molecular mechanisms that separate biological species. Herein we quantify the sterility pattern of hybrid males in African Clawed Frogs (Xenopus) and apply microarray analysis of the expression pattern found in testes to identify genes that are misexpressed in hybrid males relative to their two parental species (Xenopus laevis and X. muelleri). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Phenotypic characteristics of spermatogenesis in sterile male hybrids (X. laevis x X. muelleri) were examined using a novel sperm assay that allowed quantification of live, dead, and undifferentiated sperm cells, the number of motile vs. immotile sperm, and sperm morphology. Hybrids exhibited a dramatically lower abundance of mature sperm relative to the parental species. Hybrid spermatozoa were larger in size and accompanied by numerous undifferentiated sperm cells. Microarray analysis of gene expression in testes was combined with a correction for sequence divergence derived from genomic hybridizations to identify candidate genes involved in the sterility phenotype. Analysis of the transcriptome revealed a striking asymmetric pattern of misexpression. There were only about 140 genes misexpressed in hybrids compared to X. laevis but nearly 4,000 genes misexpressed in hybrids compared to X. muelleri. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results provide an important correlation between phenotypic characteristics of sperm and gene expression in sterile hybrid males. The broad pattern of gene misexpression suggests intriguing mechanisms creating the dominance pattern of the X. laevis genome in hybrids. These findings significantly contribute to growing evidence for allelic dominance in hybrids and have implications for the mechanism of species differentiation at the transcriptome level

Search for New Particles Decaying to Dijets in p-pbar Collisions at sqrt(s)=1.8 TeV

We have used 19 pb**-1 of data collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab to search for new particles decaying to dijets. We exclude at 95% confidence level models containing the following new particles: axigluons with mass between 200 and 870 GeV, excited quarks with mass between 80 and 570 GeV, and color octet technirhos with mass between 320 and 480 GeV.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review Letters in December 199

Measurement of σ⋅B(W→eν)\sigma \cdot B (W \to e \nu) and σ⋅B(Z0→e+e−)\sigma \cdot B(Z^0 \to e^+e^-) in ppˉp {\bar p} collisions at s=1.8\sqrt{s}=1.8 TeV

We present a measurement of $\sigma \cdot B(W \to e \nu)$ and $\sigma \cdot B(Z^0 \to e^+e^-)$ in proton - antiproton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =1.8$ TeV using a significantly improved understanding of the integrated luminosity. The data represent an integrated luminosity of 19.7 pb$^{-1}$ from the 1992-1993 run with the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF). We find $\sigma \cdot B(W \to e \nu) = 2.49 \pm 0.12$~nb and $\sigma \cdot B(Z^0 \to e^+e^-) = 0.231 \pm 0.012$~nb.Comment: Uses Latex, Article 12 point, figure appended as uuencoded file The full PostScript available via WWW at http://www-cdf.fnal.gov/physics/pub95/cdf3312_sigma_1a_prl_v3.p

Measurement of correlated μ−overlineb\mu - {overline b} jet cross sections in ppˉp {\bar p} collisions at s=1.8\sqrt{s}=1.8 TeV

We report on measurements of differential $\mu - {\bar b}$ cross sections, where the muon is from a semi-leptonic $b$ decay and the ${\bar b}$ is identified using precision track reconstruction in jets. The semi-differential correlated cross sections, d$\sigma$/d\Et^{{\bar b}}, d$\sigma$/d\pt^{{\bar b}}, and d$\sigma$/d$\delta\phi(\mu - {\bar b})$ for \pt^{\mu}>~9 GeV/c, $|\eta^{\mu}|$~10 GeV, $|\eta^{{\bar b}}|<$~1.5, are presented and compared to next-to-leading order QCD calculations.Comment: Uses Latex, Article 12 point, figures appended as uuencoded file The full PostScript available via WWW at http://www-cdf.fnal.gov/physics/pub95/cdf3164_mu_bbar_prd_final.p

Limits on WWZWWZ and WWγWW\gamma couplings from WWWW and WZWZ production in pp‾p\overline{p} collisions at s=1.8\sqrt{s} = 1.8 TeV

Direct limits are set on $WWZ$ and $WW\gamma$ three-boson couplings in a search for $WW$ and $WZ$ production with high transverse momentum in $p\overline{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 1.8$ TeV, using the Collider Detector at Fermilab. The results are in agreement with the SU(2) $\times$ U(1) model of electroweak interactions. Assuming Standard Model $WW\gamma$ coupling, the the limits are interpreted as direct evidence for a non-zero $WWZ$ coupling at subprocess energies near 500 GeV. Alternatively, assumiong identical $WWZ$ and $WW\gamma$ couplings, bounds $-0.11 < \kappa < 2.27$ and $-0.81 < \lambda < 0.84$ are obtained at $95\%$ CL for a form factor scale 1000 GeV.Comment: 16 pages, submitted to PRL, URL: http://www-cdf.fnal.gov/physics/pub95/cdf2951_vvprl.p

Measurement of the BB Meson Differential Cross Section, dσ/dpTd\sigma/dp_T, in ppˉp\bar{p} Collisions at s=1.8\sqrt{s} = 1.8 TeV

This paper presents the first direct measurement of the $B$ meson differential cross section, $d\sigma/dp_T$, in $p\bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=1.8$ TeV using a sample of $19.3 \pm 0.7$ pb$^{-1}$ accumulated by the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF). The cross section is measured in the central rapidity region $|y| 6.0$ GeV/$c$ by fully reconstructing the $B$ meson decays $B^{+}\to J/\psi K^{+}$ and $B^{0}\to J/\psi K^{*0}(892)$, where $J/\psi \to \mu^+\mu^-$ and $K^{*0} \to K^+ \pi^-$. A comparison is made to the theoretical QCD prediction calculated at next-to-leading order.Comment: 14 pages. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. The postscript file is at http://www-cdf.fnal.gov/physics/pub95/cdf2893_bexcl_xsection.p