Axonal Preservation in Deep Subcortical White Matter Lesions in the Ageing Brain

Cerebral white matters lesions (WML) are seen in 94% of the population aged 64 and over and are associated with cognitive decline and depression. We used immunohistochemistry and stereological methods on post mortem brain samples derived from the Medical Research Council Cognitive Function and Ageing Study (MRC-CFAS) cohort to investigate the axonal density within deep subcortical lesions. There was no significant difference between the lesional and control white matter, therefore, we conclude that there is axonal preservation within these lesions that are characterized by demyelination

[Accepted Manuscript] Anthropometry and Malaria among Children in Niger: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The complex relationship between malnutrition and malaria affects morbidity and mortality in children younger than 5 years, particularly in parts of sub-Saharan Africa where these conditions occur together seasonally. Previous research on this relationship has been inconclusive. Here, we examine the association between anthropometric indicators and malaria infection in a population-based sample of children younger than 5 years in Niger. This cross-sectional study is a secondary analysis of a cluster-randomized trial comparing treatment strategies for trachoma in Niger. We included children aged 6-60 months residing in the 48 communities enrolled in the trial who completed anthropometric and malaria infection assessments at the final study visit. We evaluated the association between anthropometric indicators, including height-for-age z-score (HAZ) and weight-for-age z-score (WAZ) and indicators of malaria infection, including malaria parasitemia and clinical malaria. In May 2013, we collected data from 1,649 children. Of these, 780 (47.3%) were positive for malaria parasitemia and 401 (24.3%) had clinical malaria. In models of malaria parasitemia, the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) was 1.05 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.00-1.10) for HAZ and 1.07 (95% CI: 0.99, 1.15) for WAZ. In models of clinical malaria, the aOR was 1.07 (95% CI: 1.02-1.11) for HAZ and 1.09 (95% CI: 1.01-1.19) for WAZ. Overall, we did not find evidence of an association between most anthropometric indicators and malaria infection. Greater height may be associated with an increased risk of clinical malaria

Observation of exclusive DVCS in polarized electron beam asymmetry measurements

We report the first results of the beam spin asymmetry measured in the reaction e + p -> e + p + gamma at a beam energy of 4.25 GeV. A large asymmetry with a sin(phi) modulation is observed, as predicted for the interference term of Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering and the Bethe-Heitler process. The amplitude of this modulation is alpha = 0.202 +/- 0.028. In leading-order and leading-twist pQCD, the alpha is directly proportional to the imaginary part of the DVCS amplitude.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Global surveillance of cancer survival 1995-2009: analysis of individual data for 25,676,887 patients from 279 population-based registries in 67 countries (CONCORD-2)

BACKGROUND: Worldwide data for cancer survival are scarce. We aimed to initiate worldwide surveillance of cancer survival by central analysis of population-based registry data, as a metric of the effectiveness of health systems, and to inform global policy on cancer control. METHODS: Individual tumour records were submitted by 279 population-based cancer registries in 67 countries for 25·7 million adults (age 15-99 years) and 75,000 children (age 0-14 years) diagnosed with cancer during 1995-2009 and followed up to Dec 31, 2009, or later. We looked at cancers of the stomach, colon, rectum, liver, lung, breast (women), cervix, ovary, and prostate in adults, and adult and childhood leukaemia. Standardised quality control procedures were applied; errors were corrected by the registry concerned. We estimated 5-year net survival, adjusted for background mortality in every country or region by age (single year), sex, and calendar year, and by race or ethnic origin in some countries. Estimates were age-standardised with the International Cancer Survival Standard weights. FINDINGS: 5-year survival from colon, rectal, and breast cancers has increased steadily in most developed countries. For patients diagnosed during 2005-09, survival for colon and rectal cancer reached 60% or more in 22 countries around the world; for breast cancer, 5-year survival rose to 85% or higher in 17 countries worldwide. Liver and lung cancer remain lethal in all nations: for both cancers, 5-year survival is below 20% everywhere in Europe, in the range 15-19% in North America, and as low as 7-9% in Mongolia and Thailand. Striking rises in 5-year survival from prostate cancer have occurred in many countries: survival rose by 10-20% between 1995-99 and 2005-09 in 22 countries in South America, Asia, and Europe, but survival still varies widely around the world, from less than 60% in Bulgaria and Thailand to 95% or more in Brazil, Puerto Rico, and the USA. For cervical cancer, national estimates of 5-year survival range from less than 50% to more than 70%; regional variations are much wider, and improvements between 1995-99 and 2005-09 have generally been slight. For women diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2005-09, 5-year survival was 40% or higher only in Ecuador, the USA, and 17 countries in Asia and Europe. 5-year survival for stomach cancer in 2005-09 was high (54-58%) in Japan and South Korea, compared with less than 40% in other countries. By contrast, 5-year survival from adult leukaemia in Japan and South Korea (18-23%) is lower than in most other countries. 5-year survival from childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is less than 60% in several countries, but as high as 90% in Canada and four European countries, which suggests major deficiencies in the management of a largely curable disease. INTERPRETATION: International comparison of survival trends reveals very wide differences that are likely to be attributable to differences in access to early diagnosis and optimum treatment. Continuous worldwide surveillance of cancer survival should become an indispensable source of information for cancer patients and researchers and a stimulus for politicians to improve health policy and health-care systems

A novel formulation of inhaled sodium cromoglicate (PA101) in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and chronic cough: a randomised, double-blind, proof-of-concept, phase 2 trial

Background Cough can be a debilitating symptom of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and is difficult to treat. PA101 is a novel formulation of sodium cromoglicate delivered via a high-efficiency eFlow nebuliser that achieves significantly higher drug deposition in the lung compared with the existing formulations. We aimed to test the efficacy and safety of inhaled PA101 in patients with IPF and chronic cough and, to explore the antitussive mechanism of PA101, patients with chronic idiopathic cough (CIC) were also studied. Methods This pilot, proof-of-concept study consisted of a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in patients with IPF and chronic cough and a parallel study of similar design in patients with CIC. Participants with IPF and chronic cough recruited from seven centres in the UK and the Netherlands were randomly assigned (1:1, using a computer-generated randomisation schedule) by site staff to receive PA101 (40 mg) or matching placebo three times a day via oral inhalation for 2 weeks, followed by a 2 week washout, and then crossed over to the other arm. Study participants, investigators, study staff, and the sponsor were masked to group assignment until all participants had completed the study. The primary efficacy endpoint was change from baseline in objective daytime cough frequency (from 24 h acoustic recording, Leicester Cough Monitor). The primary efficacy analysis included all participants who received at least one dose of study drug and had at least one post-baseline efficacy measurement. Safety analysis included all those who took at least one dose of study drug. In the second cohort, participants with CIC were randomly assigned in a study across four centres with similar design and endpoints. The study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02412020) and the EU Clinical Trials Register (EudraCT Number 2014-004025-40) and both cohorts are closed to new participants. Findings Between Feb 13, 2015, and Feb 2, 2016, 24 participants with IPF were randomly assigned to treatment groups. 28 participants with CIC were enrolled during the same period and 27 received study treatment. In patients with IPF, PA101 reduced daytime cough frequency by 31·1% at day 14 compared with placebo; daytime cough frequency decreased from a mean 55 (SD 55) coughs per h at baseline to 39 (29) coughs per h at day 14 following treatment with PA101, versus 51 (37) coughs per h at baseline to 52 (40) cough per h following placebo treatment (ratio of least-squares [LS] means 0·67, 95% CI 0·48–0·94, p=0·0241). By contrast, no treatment benefit for PA101 was observed in the CIC cohort; mean reduction of daytime cough frequency at day 14 for PA101 adjusted for placebo was 6·2% (ratio of LS means 1·27, 0·78–2·06, p=0·31). PA101 was well tolerated in both cohorts. The incidence of adverse events was similar between PA101 and placebo treatments, most adverse events were mild in severity, and no severe adverse events or serious adverse events were reported. Interpretation This study suggests that the mechanism of cough in IPF might be disease specific. Inhaled PA101 could be a treatment option for chronic cough in patients with IPF and warrants further investigation

Search for strong gravity in multijet final states produced in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV using the ATLAS detector at the LHC

A search is conducted for new physics in multijet final states using 3.6 inverse femtobarns of data from proton-proton collisions at √s = 13TeV taken at the CERN Large Hadron Collider with the ATLAS detector. Events are selected containing at least three jets with scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT) greater than 1TeV. No excess is seen at large HT and limits are presented on new physics: models which produce final states containing at least three jets and having cross sections larger than 1.6 fb with HT > 5.8 TeV are excluded. Limits are also given in terms of new physics models of strong gravity that hypothesize additional space-time dimensions

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

Peer reviewe

Measurements of fiducial cross-sections for t\bart production with one or two additional b-jets in pp collisions at √s =8 TeVusing the ATLAS detector

Fiducial cross-sections for $t\bar{t}$ production with one or two additional $b$-jets are reported, using an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider, collected with the ATLAS detector. The cross-section times branching ratio for $t\bar{t}$ events with at least one additional $b$-jet is measured to be 950 $\pm$ 70 (stat.) $^{+240}_{-190}$ (syst.) fb in the lepton-plus-jets channel and 50 $\pm$ 10 (stat.) $^{+15}_{-10}$ (syst.) fb in the $e \mu$ channel. The cross-section times branching ratio for events with at least two additional $b$-jets is measured to be 19.3 $\pm$ 3.5 (stat.) $\pm$ 5.7 (syst.) fb in the dilepton channel ($e \mu$,\,$\mu\mu$, and \,$ee$) using a method based on tight selection criteria, and 13.5 $\pm$ 3.3 (stat.) $\pm$ 3.6 (syst.) fb using a looser selection that allows the background normalisation to be extracted from data. The latter method also measures a value of 1.30 $\pm$ 0.33 (stat.) $\pm$ 0.28 (syst.)\% for the ratio of $t\bar{t}$ production with two additional $b$-jets to $t\bar{t}$ production with any two additional jets. All measurements are in good agreement with recent theory predictions.Comment: 41 pages plus author list + cover page (58 total), 9 Figures, 16 tables, submitted to EPJC, all figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/TOPQ-2014-10

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

Peer reviewe