Fingerprinting the contribution of colored scalars to the H+W−Z(γ)H^+ W^- Z(\gamma) vertex

Color-octet scalars arise in various Grand Unification scenarios and also in other models of new physics. They are also postulated for minimal flavour violation. Purely phenomenological imprints of such scalars are therefore worth looking at. Motivated by this, we perform a complete one-loop calculation of the H^+ \to W^+ Z (\g) decay in a two Higgs doublet model augmented by a color-octet $SU(2)_L$ scalar doublet. The computation is conveniently segregated into colorless and colored components. The color-octet part of the amplitude, being scaled by the color-factor, provides an overall enhancement to the form factors. Crucial constraints from perturbative unitarity, positivity of the scalar potential, oblique parameters, Higgs signal strengths and direct search of a charged Higgs and color-octet scalars are folded-in into the analysis. Sensitivity of the loop-induced H^+ \to W^+ Z (\g) vertex to other model parameters is elucidated. Finally, the prospect of observing a loop-induced H^+ \to W^+ Z (\g) interaction at the future hadronic collisions is also discussed.Comment: 27 pages (in 2 column format), 4 tables, 15 captioned figures. Version published in EPJ

Transmit Beamforming in Dense Networks-A Review

Communication technology has prospered in manifolds over the last decade. The scarcity of spectrum as well as the demand for higher data rates and increase in capacity has become a matter of concern. Newer technologies have evolved time and again, the latest of which is Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) systems more commonly known as 4G technology. The striking feature of LTE/LTE-A is the deployment of smaller cells (femto cells) in the vicinity of a large macro cells resulting in a dense network. As a result the data rate as well as capacity has increased in manifolds but the detrimental factor is the issue of interference between the various cells. Beamforming provides a solution in removing the issues of interference in dense networks. This paper focuses on the interference scenario in LTE dense networks and gives an overview of different beamforming methods that can provide a solution to the interference problem. Further, a review of several such methods so far proposed in available literature has been presented in this paper.Keywords:LTE/LTE-A, Dense Network, Interference,Beamformin

Knowledge, attitude and practice about hospital acquired infection among health care personnel in a tertiary care hospital of Tripura

Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at increased risk of hospital acquired infections transmitted from both blood-borne pathogens. This study was aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of health care professionals towards hospital acquired infections.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 191 on health care personnel (staff nurses, nursing student, lab technicians, OT assistants, ward girls, and sweepers) available on the day of survey of Tripura Medical College and Dr. BRAM Teaching Hospital, Hapania; data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire and analysed using Microsoft excel.Results: Majority (70.7%%) of the participants belonged to 18 to 25 years age group and were females (75.9%); mostly were Staff Nurses (35.1%) followed by nursing student (31.9%). The present study showed that, 87.4% healthcare personnel have some knowledge about Hospital Acquired Infection (HAI). According to study participants, most common hospital acquired infections was urinary tract infections (60.5%) and nurses were the most susceptible (34.6%) group to HAI. Among participants, 94.8% believed that working in hospital exposed them to infectious diseases and 60.2% were willing to change their working environment to avoid hospital acquired infection. Most of the study participants washed their hands after handling the patients (90.2%).Conclusions: Knowledge about Hospital Acquired Infection is present among health care personnel but there is still lack of adequate quality control practice to prevent Hospital Acquired Infection. Importance of prevention of Hospital Acquired Infection should be emphasized among health care personnel by intensive IEC activities

Self-medication practices among medical and nursing students in Tripura, India: a mixed-method study

Background: In developing countries like India, self-medication is a common practice because of costly clinical services and easy availability of medicine from pharmacies. There is an increase trend of self-medication among different health professional students apart from general people. This study aims to assess self-medication practice among medical and nursing students in Tripura, India.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate medical and nursing students of Tripura Medical College and Tripura College of Nursing, of Tripura for two months (January- February 2018). A pre-tested, semi-structured schedule was used to collect the required information. The collected data was entered in SPSS version 16.0, represented in proportions and p <0.05 was considered as statistically significant.Results: Overall 353 (88.3%) students of both courses practiced self-medication; prevalence was more among medical (91.5%) than nursing students (85%). Main source of information among medical students were books (90.2%) while 56.5% nursing students replied friends and/or seniors as primary source. Majority (53%) respondents took self-medication for headache (79.2% medical vs 72.4% nursing students) followed by fever (77.6% medical vs 52.4% nursing). Less than half of the respondents (48.5% medical vs 46.5% nursing students) believed that self-medication was harmful; maximum nursing students (71.5%) believed that self-medication is self-care as compare to medical students (56.5%).Conclusions: The study found wide practice of self-medication among students, inappropriate use of which may cause serious health hazards. Promoting education regarding self-medication and making healthcare system available can reduce self-medication practices substantially

Altered gene expression in asymptomatic SHIV-infected rhesus macaques (Macacca mulatta)

Simian-Human immunodeficiency virus is a chimeric virus which, in rhesus macaques (Macacca mulatta) closely imitates immunodeficiency virus infection in human (HIV). A relatively new way to study pathogenesis of viral infection is to study alterations in host gene expression induced by the virus. SHIV infection with certain strains does not result in clinical signs. We hypothesized that alterations in gene expression relating to the immune system would be present in SHIV-infected animals despite the lack of clinical signs. Splenic tissue from four adult male Indian-origin Rhesus monkeys serologically positive for non-pathogenic SHIV 89.6 was processed by cDNA microarray analysis. Results were compared with the corresponding outcome using splenic tissues from four unexposed adult male Rhesus monkeys. Subsequent gene analysis confirmed statistically significant variations between control and infected samples. Interestingly, SHIV-infected monkeys exhibited altered expression in genes related to apoptosis, signal transduction, T and B lymphocyte activation and importantly, to immune regulation. Although infected animals appeared asymptomatic, our study demonstrated that SHIV-infected monkeys cannot reliably be used in studies of other infectious agents as their baseline gene expression differs from that of normal Rhesus monkeys. The gene expression differences in SHIV-infected animals relative to uninfected animals offer additional clues to the pathogenesis of altered immune function in response to secondary infection

Network Analysis of Skeletal Muscle During Spaceflight in Male Mice

Context: The unloading associated with spaceflight results in the rapid loss of bone and muscle tissue thereby affecting functionality. These are two of the most concerning physiologic changes that occur in space and could limit long-term occupation in space. Thus, a better understanding of the mechanisms of changes to bone and muscle could lead to development of improved therapies to counteract both spaceflight and terrestrial-based bone and muscle dysfunction.Methods: Here we used a non-biased, stringent, deep sequencing (96 million paired end reads targeting 100 bp read length) assay to examine genomic networks altered by spaceflight in the quadriceps (n=4/group). Specifically, 9 week old C57BL/6 male mice were housed on the International Space Station or at Kennedy Space Center for approximately four weeks (n=10/group). Results: 14,228 genes (70% of whole mouse genome) met the cut-off criteria and the data sets were mapped to an average of ~76% of the whole mouse genome. Of these, 840 genes met the t-test criteria, p\u3c0.05. Canonical networks linked to EIF2 signaling, calcium ion signaling, and oxidative stress response were significantly enriched by the differentially expressed genes. A comprehensive energy deprivation was indicated as functions related to protein synthesis and degradation, lipid synthesis and oxidation, and ATP hydrolysis were inhibited, and mitochondrial dysfunction was activated.Conclusions: This is the first time that skeletal muscle changes have been studied in male mice during spaceflight, and these data add important new findings to changes that occur to the musculoskeletal system in male mice during spaceflight. In orthopaedic trauma, many patients spend prolonged periods non-weight bearing and can experience significant muscle atrophy as a result. The networks analyzed in this work may prove to be targets for future therapies to counter this atrophy

Forces associated with launch into space do not impact bone fracture healing

Segmental bone defects (SBDs) secondary to trauma invariably result in a prolonged recovery with an extended period of limited weight bearing on the affected limb. Soldiers sustaining blast injuries and civilians sustaining high energy trauma typify such a clinical scenario. These patients frequently sustain composite injuries with SBDs in concert with extensive soft tissue damage. For soft tissue injury resolution and skeletal reconstruction a patient may experience limited weight bearing for upwards of 6 months. Many small animal investigations have evaluated interventions for SBDs. While providing foundational information regarding the treatment of bone defects, these models do not simulate limited weight bearing conditions after injury. For example, mice ambulate immediately following anesthetic recovery, and in most cases are normally ambulating within 1-3 days post-surgery. Thus, investigations that combine disuse with bone healing may better test novel bone healing strategies. To remove weight bearing, we have designed a SBD rodent healing study in microgravity (µG) on the International Space Station (ISS) for the Rodent Research-4 (RR-4) Mission, which launched February 19, 2017 on SpaceX CRS-10 (Commercial Resupply Services). In preparation for this mission, we conducted an end-to-end mission simulation consisting of surgical infliction of SBD followed by launch simulation and hindlimb unloading (HLU) studies. In brief, a 2 mm defect was created in the femur of 10 week-old C57BL6/J male mice (n = 9-10/group). Three days after surgery, 6 groups of mice were treated as follows: 1) Vivarium Control (maintained continuously in standard cages); 2) Launch Negative Control (placed in the same spaceflight-like hardware as the Launch Positive Control group but were not subjected to launch simulation conditions); 3) Launch Positive Control (placed in spaceflight-like hardware and also subjected to vibration followed by centrifugation); 4) Launch Positive Experimental (identical to Launch Positive Control group, but placed in qualified spaceflight hardware); 5) Hindlimb Unloaded (HLU, were subjected to HLU immediately after launch simulation tests to simulate unloading in spaceflight); and 6) HLU Control (single housed in identical HLU cages but not suspended). Mice were euthanized 28 days after launch simulation and bone healing was examined via micro-Computed Tomography (µCT). These studies demonstrated that the mice post-surgery can tolerate launch conditions. Additionally, forces and vibrations associated with launch did not impact bone healing (p = .3). However, HLU resulted in a 52.5% reduction in total callus volume compared to HLU Controls (p = .0003). Taken together, these findings suggest that mice having a femoral SBD surgery tolerated the vibration and hypergravity associated with launch, and that launch simulation itself did not impact bone healing, but that the prolonged lack of weight bearing associated with HLU did impair bone healing. Based on these findings, we proceeded with testing the efficacy of FDA approved and novel SBD therapies using the unique spaceflight environment as a novel unloading model on SpaceX CRS-10

Analysis of the effects of spaceflight and local administration of thrombopoietin to a femoral defect injury on distal skeletal sites

With increased human presence in space, bone loss and fractures will occur. Thrombopoietin (TPO) is a recently patented bone healing agent. Here, we investigated the systemic effects of TPO on mice subjected to spaceflight and sustaining a bone fracture. Forty, 9-week-old, male, C57BL/6 J were divided into 4 groups: (1) Saline+Earth; (2) TPO + Earth; (3) Saline+Flight; and (4) TPO + Flight (n = 10/group). Saline- and TPO-treated mice underwent a femoral defect surgery, and 20 mice were housed in space ("Flight") and 20 mice on Earth for approximately 4 weeks. With the exception of the calvarium and incisor, positive changes were observed in TPO-treated, spaceflight bones, suggesting TPO may improve osteogenesis in the absence of mechanical loading. Thus, TPO, may serve as a new bone healing agent, and may also improve some skeletal properties of astronauts, which might be extrapolated for patients on Earth with restraint mobilization and/or are incapable of bearing weight on their bones

Skeletal adaptations in young male mice after 4 weeks aboard the International Space Station

Gravity has an important role in both the development and maintenance of bone mass. This is most evident in the rapid and intense bone loss observed in both humans and animals exposed to extended periods of microgravity in spaceflight. Here, cohabitating 9-week-old male C57BL/6 mice resided in spaceflight for ~4 weeks. A skeletal survey of these mice was compared to both habitat matched ground controls to determine the effects of microgravity and baseline samples in order to determine the effects of skeletal maturation on the resulting phenotype. We hypothesized that weight-bearing bones would experience an accelerated loss of bone mass compared to non-weight-bearing bones, and that spaceflight would also inhibit skeletal maturation in male mice. As expected, spaceflight had major negative effects on trabecular bone mass of the following weight-bearing bones: femur, tibia, and vertebrae. Interestingly, as opposed to the bone loss traditionally characterized for most weight-bearing skeletal compartments, the effects of spaceflight on the ribs and sternum resembled a failure to accumulate bone mass. Our study further adds to the insight that gravity has site-specific influences on the skeleton