Enhancement of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity is associated with treatment response to extracorporeal photopheresis in Sézary syndrome.

Sézary syndrome (SS) is a rare, leukemic type of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL), for which extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) is a first-line therapy. Reliable biomarkers to objectively monitor the response to ECP in patients with SS are missing. We examined the quantitative and qualitative impact of ECP on natural killer (NK) cell activity in SS patients, and especially their functional ability for antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). Further, we addressed the question whether the magnitude of the effect on ADCC can be associated with the anti-cancer efficacy of ECP in SS patients. We assessed numbers of NK cells, ADCC activity, and treatment response based on blood tumor staging in a cohort of 13 SS patients (8 women, 5 men) treated with ECP as a first-line therapy. Blood samples were collected before treatment start and after an average of 9 months of uninterrupted ECP treatment. NK cell numbers were reduced in SS patients compared to healthy individuals and showed a tendency of recovery after long-term ECP treatment, independent of the clinical response to treatment. Patients with marginal increase (≤1.5 AU-fold) or lack of increase in ADCC activity failed to respond clinically to treatment, while patients with an increased ADCC activity showed a reduction in blood tumor burden. NK-mediated ADCC is selectively enhanced and might be a mechanism underlying the effect of ECP while in addition it can possibly serve as a reliable biomarker to objectively monitor response to ECP in patients with SS

Search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu decay channel, where l = e or mu, in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is presented. The data were collected at the LHC, with the CMS detector, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 inverse femtobarns. No significant excess is observed above the background expectation, and upper limits are set on the Higgs boson production cross section. The presence of the standard model Higgs boson with a mass in the 270-440 GeV range is excluded at 95% confidence level.Comment: Submitted to JHE

Search for New Physics with Jets and Missing Transverse Momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search for new physics is presented based on an event signature of at least three jets accompanied by large missing transverse momentum, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 inverse picobarns collected in proton--proton collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. No excess of events is observed above the expected standard model backgrounds, which are all estimated from the data. Exclusion limits are presented for the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model. Cross section limits are also presented using simplified models with new particles decaying to an undetected particle and one or two jets

Combined search for the quarks of a sequential fourth generation

Results are presented from a search for a fourth generation of quarks produced singly or in pairs in a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 inverse femtobarns recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2011. A novel strategy has been developed for a combined search for quarks of the up and down type in decay channels with at least one isolated muon or electron. Limits on the mass of the fourth-generation quarks and the relevant Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix elements are derived in the context of a simple extension of the standard model with a sequential fourth generation of fermions. The existence of mass-degenerate fourth-generation quarks with masses below 685 GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level for minimal off-diagonal mixing between the third- and the fourth-generation quarks. With a mass difference of 25 GeV between the quark masses, the obtained limit on the masses of the fourth-generation quarks shifts by about +/- 20 GeV. These results significantly reduce the allowed parameter space for a fourth generation of fermions.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Search for anomalous t t-bar production in the highly-boosted all-hadronic final state

A search is presented for a massive particle, generically referred to as a Z', decaying into a t t-bar pair. The search focuses on Z' resonances that are sufficiently massive to produce highly Lorentz-boosted top quarks, which yield collimated decay products that are partially or fully merged into single jets. The analysis uses new methods to analyze jet substructure, providing suppression of the non-top multijet backgrounds. The analysis is based on a data sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 inverse femtobarns. Upper limits in the range of 1 pb are set on the product of the production cross section and branching fraction for a topcolor Z' modeled for several widths, as well as for a Randall--Sundrum Kaluza--Klein gluon. In addition, the results constrain any enhancement in t t-bar production beyond expectations of the standard model for t t-bar invariant masses larger than 1 TeV.Comment: Submitted to the Journal of High Energy Physics; this version includes a minor typo correction that will be submitted as an erratu

Measurement of the t t-bar production cross section in the dilepton channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The t t-bar production cross section (sigma[t t-bar]) is measured in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV in data collected by the CMS experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.3 inverse femtobarns. The measurement is performed in events with two leptons (electrons or muons) in the final state, at least two jets identified as jets originating from b quarks, and the presence of an imbalance in transverse momentum. The measured value of sigma[t t-bar] for a top-quark mass of 172.5 GeV is 161.9 +/- 2.5 (stat.) +5.1/-5.0 (syst.) +/- 3.6(lumi.) pb, consistent with the prediction of the standard model.Comment: Replaced with published version. Included journal reference and DO

Analysis of chloroplast genomes and a supermatrix inform reclassification of the Rhodomelaceae (Rhodophyta).

With over a thousand species, the Rhodomelaceae is the most species-rich family of red algae. While its genera have been assigned to 14 tribes, the high-level classification of the family has never been evaluated with a molecular phylogeny. Here, we reassess its classification by integrating genome-scale phylogenetic analysis with observations of the morphological characters of clades. In order to resolve relationships among the main lineages of the family we constructed a phylogeny with 55 chloroplast genomes (52 newly determined). The majority of branches were resolved with full bootstrap support. We then added 266 rbcL, 125 18S rRNA gene and 143 cox1 sequences to construct a comprehensive phylogeny containing nearly half of all known species in the family (407 species in 89 genera). These analyses suggest the same subdivision into higher-level lineages, but included many branches with moderate or poor support. The circumscription for nine of the 13 previously described tribes was supported, but the Lophothalieae, Polysiphonieae, Pterosiphonieae and Herposiphonieae required revision, and five new tribes and one resurrected tribe were segregated from them. Rhizoid anatomy is highlighted as a key diagnostic character for the morphological delineation of several lineages. This work provides the most extensive phylogenetic analysis of the Rhodomelaceae to date and successfully resolves the relationships among major clades of the family. Our data show that organellar genomes obtained through high-throughput sequencing produce well-resolved phylogenies of difficult groups, and their more general application in algal systematics will likely permit deciphering questions about classification at many taxonomic levels

Analysis of chloroplast genomes and a supermatrix inform reclassification of the Rhodomelaceae (Rhodophyta).

With over a thousand species, the Rhodomelaceae is the most species-rich family of red algae. While its genera have been assigned to 14 tribes, the high-level classification of the family has never been evaluated with a molecular phylogeny. Here, we reassess its classification by integrating genome-scale phylogenetic analysis with observations of the morphological characters of clades. In order to resolve relationships among the main lineages of the family we constructed a phylogeny with 55 chloroplast genomes (52 newly determined). The majority of branches were resolved with full bootstrap support. We then added 266 rbcL, 125 18S rRNA gene and 143 cox1 sequences to construct a comprehensive phylogeny containing nearly half of all known species in the family (407 species in 89 genera). These analyses suggest the same subdivision into higher-level lineages, but included many branches with moderate or poor support. The circumscription for nine of the 13 previously described tribes was supported, but the Lophothalieae, Polysiphonieae, Pterosiphonieae and Herposiphonieae required revision, and five new tribes and one resurrected tribe were segregated from them. Rhizoid anatomy is highlighted as a key diagnostic character for the morphological delineation of several lineages. This work provides the most extensive phylogenetic analysis of the Rhodomelaceae to date and successfully resolves the relationships among major clades of the family. Our data show that organellar genomes obtained through high-throughput sequencing produce well-resolved phylogenies of difficult groups, and their more general application in algal systematics will likely permit deciphering questions about classification at many taxonomic levels

Search for supersymmetry in events with b-quark jets and missing transverse energy in pp collisions at 7 TeV

Results are presented from a search for physics beyond the standard model based on events with large missing transverse energy, at least three jets, and at least one, two, or three b-quark jets. The study is performed using a sample of proton-proton collision data collected at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC in 2011. The integrated luminosity of the sample is 4.98 inverse femtobarns. The observed number of events is found to be consistent with the standard model expectation, which is evaluated using control samples in the data. The results are used to constrain cross sections for the production of supersymmetric particles decaying to b-quark-enriched final states in the context of simplified model spectra.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review

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