Differences in Respiratory Symptoms and Lung Structure Between Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White Smokers: A Comparative Study

Background: Prior studies have demonstrated that U.S. Hispanic smokers have a lower risk of decline in lung function and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) compared with non-Hispanic whites (NHW). This suggests there might be racial-ethnic differences in susceptibility in cigarette smoke-induced respiratory symptoms, lung parenchymal destruction, and airway and vascular disease, as well as in extra-pulmonary manifestations of COPD. Therefore, we aimed to explore respiratory symptoms, lung function, and pulmonary and extra-pulmonary structural changes in Hispanic and NHW smokers. Methods: We compared respiratory symptoms, lung function, and computed tomography (CT) measures of emphysema-like tissue, airway disease, the branching generation number (BGN) to reach a 2-mm-lumen-diameter airway, and vascular pruning as well as muscle and fat mass between 39 Hispanic and 39 sex-, age- and smoking exposure-matched NHW smokers. Results: Hispanic smokers had higher odds of dyspnea than NHW after adjustment for COPD and asthma statuses (odds ratio[OR] = 2.96; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.09-8.04), but no significant differences were found in lung function and CT measurements. Conclusions: While lung function and CT measures of the lung structure were similar, dyspnea is reported more frequently by Hispanic than matched-NHW smokers. It seems to be an impossible puzzle but it's easy to solve a Rubik' Cube using a few algorithms

B cell–adaptive immune profile in emphysema-predominant chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Cigarette smoke, the major risk factor for COPD in developed countries, causes pulmonary inflammation that persists long after smoking cessation, suggesting self-perpetuating adaptive immune responses similar to those that occur in autoimmune diseases. Increases in the number and size of B cell–rich lymphoid follicles (LFs) have been shown in patients in severe stages of COPD (4), and increased B-cell products (autoantibodies) have been observed in the blood and lungs of patients with COPD (5, 6). Oligoclonal rearrangement of the immunoglobulin genes has been observed in B cells isolated from COPD LFs, suggesting that a specific antigenic stimulation drives B-cell proliferation. Consistently, we have shown that in the COPD lung, there is an overexpression of BAFF (B-cell activation factor of the TNF family), which is a key regulator of B-cell homeostasis in several autoimmune diseases (7) and is involved in the growth of LFs in COPD. However, a network analysis of lung transcriptomics showed that a prominent B-cell molecular signature characterized emphysema preferentially but was absent in AD independently of the degree of airflow limitation (8). In the current study, we investigated the correlation between B-cell responses in lung tissue from patients with COPD and healthy smokers, and the extent of emphysema versus airflow limitation

The GAPS programme at TNG XXII. The GIARPS view of the extended helium atmosphere of HD189733 b accounting for stellar activity

Exoplanets orbiting very close to their host star are strongly irradiated. This can lead the upper atmospheric layers to expand and evaporate into space. The metastable helium (HeI) triplet at 1083.3nm has recently been shown to be a powerful diagnostic to probe extended and escaping exoplanetary atmosphere. We perform high-resolution transmission spectroscopy of the transiting hot Jupiter HD189733b with the GIARPS (GIANO-B + HARPS-N) observing mode of the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo, taking advantage of the simultaneous optical+near infrared spectral coverage to detect HeI in the planet's extended atmosphere and to gauge the impact of stellar magnetic activity on the planetary absorption signal. Observations were performed during five transit events of HD189733b. By comparison of the in- and out-of-transit GIANO-B observations we compute high-resolution transmission spectra, on which we perform equivalent width measurements and light-curves analyses to gauge the excess in-transit absorption in the HeI triplet. We detect an absorption signal during all five transits. The mean in-transit absorption depth amounts to 0.75+/-0.03%. We detect night-to-night variations in the HeI absorption signal likely due to the transit events occurring in presence of stellar surface inhomogeneities. We evaluate the impact of stellar-activity pseudo-signals on the true planetary absorption using a comparative analysis of the HeI and the H$\alpha$ lines. We interpret the time-series of the HeI absorption lines in the three nights not affected by stellar contamination -exhibiting a mean in-transit absorption depth of 0.77+/-0.04%- using a 3-d atmospheric code. Our simulations suggest that the helium layers only fill part of the Roche lobe. Observations can be explained with a thermosphere heated to $\sim$12000 K, expanding up to $\sim$1.2 planetary radii, and losing $\sim$1 g/s of metastable helium.Comment: 17 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Dynamical Patterns of Cattle Trade Movements

Despite their importance for the spread of zoonotic diseases, our understanding of the dynamical aspects characterizing the movements of farmed animal populations remains limited as these systems are traditionally studied as static objects and through simplified approximations. By leveraging on the network science approach, here we are able for the first time to fully analyze the longitudinal dataset of Italian cattle movements that reports the mobility of individual animals among farms on a daily basis. The complexity and inter-relations between topology, function and dynamical nature of the system are characterized at different spatial and time resolutions, in order to uncover patterns and vulnerabilities fundamental for the definition of targeted prevention and control measures for zoonotic diseases. Results show how the stationarity of statistical distributions coexists with a strong and non-trivial evolutionary dynamics at the node and link levels, on all timescales. Traditional static views of the displacement network hide important patterns of structural changes affecting nodes' centrality and farms' spreading potential, thus limiting the efficiency of interventions based on partial longitudinal information. By fully taking into account the longitudinal dimension, we propose a novel definition of dynamical motifs that is able to uncover the presence of a temporal arrow describing the evolution of the system and the causality patterns of its displacements, shedding light on mechanisms that may play a crucial role in the definition of preventive actions

Dynamical Patterns of Cattle Trade Movements

Despite their importance for the spread of zoonotic diseases, our understanding of the dynamical aspects characterizing the movements of farmed animal populations remains limited as these systems are traditionally studied as static objects and through simplified approximations. By leveraging on the network science approach, here we are able for the first time to fully analyze the longitudinal dataset of Italian cattle movements that reports the mobility of individual animals among farms on a daily basis. The complexity and inter-relations between topology, function and dynamical nature of the system are characterized at different spatial and time resolutions, in order to uncover patterns and vulnerabilities fundamental for the definition of targeted prevention and control measures for zoonotic diseases. Results show how the stationarity of statistical distributions coexists with a strong and non-trivial evolutionary dynamics at the node and link levels, on all timescales. Traditional static views of the displacement network hide important patterns of structural changes affecting nodes' centrality and farms' spreading potential, thus limiting the efficiency of interventions based on partial longitudinal information. By fully taking into account the longitudinal dimension, we propose a novel definition of dynamical motifs that is able to uncover the presence of a temporal arrow describing the evolution of the system and the causality patterns of its displacements, shedding light on mechanisms that may play a crucial role in the definition of preventive actions

Determinants in early life for asthma development

A reliable screening test in newborns for the subsequent development of bronchial asthma (BA) has not been found yet. This is mainly due to the complexity of BA, being made up by different types and underlying mechanisms. In different studies, a number of risk factors for BA have been identified. These include a positive family history of BA, passive smoking (also during pregnancy), prematurity (including pulmonary infections, RDS and BPD), early viral respiratory infections (such as RSV-bronchiolitis), male gender, early lung function abnormalities and atopic constitution. The major risk factor for persistent BA is an underlying allergic constitution. Therefore, early symptoms and markers of allergy (i.e. The Allergic March) and a positive family history for allergy should be considered as important risk factors for the development of BA

Measurement of Leptonic Asymmetries and Top Quark Polarization in ttbar Production

We present measurements of lepton (l) angular distributions in ttbar -> W+ b W- b -> l+ nu b l- nubar bbar decays produced in ppbar collisions at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s)=1.96TeV, where l is an electron or muon. Using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.4fb^-1, collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Collider, we find that the angular distributions of l- relative to anti-protons and l+ relative to protons are in agreement with each other. Combining the two distributions and correcting for detector acceptance we obtain the forward-backward asymmetry A^l_FB = (5.8 +- 5.1(stat) +- 1.3(syst))%, compared to the standard model prediction of A^l_FB (predicted) = (4.7 +- 0.1)%. This result is further combined with the measurement based on the analysis of the l+jets final state to obtain A^l_FB = (11.8 +- 3.2)%. Furthermore, we present a first study of the top-quark polarization.Comment: submitted versio

Search for B0→π0π0B^{0}\to \pi^{0}\pi^{0} Decay

We have searched for the charmless hadronic decay of B0 mesons into two neutral pions. Using 9.13fb^-1 taken at the Upsilon(4S) with the CLEO detector, we obtain an improved upper limit for the branching fraction BR(B0-->pi0pi0) < 5.7*10^-6 at the 90% confidence level.Comment: pages postscript, also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN

Search for Zgamma events with large missing transverse energy in ppbar collisions at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV

We present the first search for supersymmetry (SUSY) in Zgamma final states with large missing transverse energy using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 6.2 fb-1 collected with the D0 experiment in ppbar collisions at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV. This signature is predicted in gauge-mediated SUSY-breaking models, where the lightest neutralino is the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle (NLSP) and is produced in pairs, possibly through decay from heavier supersymmetric particles. The NLSP can decay either to a Z boson or a photon and an associated gravitino that escapes detection. We exclude this model at the 95% C.L. for SUSY breaking scales of Lambda < 87 TeV, corresponding to neutralino masses of < 151 GeV.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. Let