The genetic hallmarks of dog breed development reveal shared patterns of historical human-dog interactions

Each Approximately 15,000 years ago, the wild grey wolf gave rise to the first domestic dogs. Multiple domestication events likely took place throughout modern day Eurasia, though the precise times and locations are a hotly debated topic among researchers. Distinct populations of dogs, varying in physical appearance and behavior, developed to reflect the needs or desires of the human cultures in which they were formed. Rich in history, Italy is home to at least 24 unique dog breeds. Genetic analysis of these breeds, in relation to global dog breeds, has highlighted key technological advancements and movements of the region\u2019s people. We have analyzed DNA from 1,609 dogs, representing 182 breeds, and 16 wild canids, on a panel of 142,840 markers genomewide. Twenty-four of these breeds are native to Italy, with 3 represented by both Italian and American populations. Through analysis of phylogeny and identity-by-descent haplotype sharing, patterns of breed formation have emerged that parallel the developmental progression of humans. Selection for common physical and behavioral phenotypes in hunting sighthounds, without evidence of recent shared genetic history, reveals shared human needs and biologically ideal forms. Identification of breed relationships to the isolated Fonni\u2019s Dog of Sardinia exposes geographic regions of development and tracks shared migration with human cultures. Finally, molecular evidence of historic agricultural practices is observed in the shared genetics of livestock guardian breeds

Preoperative Exercise during Neoadjuvant Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer: A Pilot Study

Exercise improves cancer treatment outcomes including health-related quality of life and physical functioning. Patients with pancreatic cancer are generally older adults, and frailty and cachexia are prevalent. Chemotherapy and chemoradiation are increasingly administered prior to pancreatic cancer surgery, and sarcopenia has been shown to accompany these therapies. Preoperative exercise may improve health, well-being, and perioperative outcomes among patients undergoing preoperative therapy for pancreatic cancer. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the feasibility of exercise in this context. Feasibility was defined as patients completing, on average, 60% of recommended weekly exercise minutes. Twenty patients (M=64 years old, SD=9.9; 42% female) enrolled in a home-based exercise program during preoperative therapy (chemotherapy and/or chemoradiation and preoperative “rest”, M=21.2 weeks total, SD=16.4). Exercise recommendations included moderate-intensity walking for 20-30 minutes/day on ≥3 days/week and moderate-intensity resistance exercises for 30-45 minutes/day on ≥2 days/week. Exercise recommendations (120 minutes of moderate-intensity activity/week) were based on American College of Sports Medicine and American Cancer Society recommendations (150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity/week), but reduced due to patients’ older age and concurrent preoperative therapy. Resistance exercises targeted upper body, lower body, and abdominal muscles, and patients were instructed to perform 3 sets of 8-12 repetitions of multiple exercises for each region during each session. Patients received Yamax Digiwalker pedometers, graded resistance tube sets, and booklets and DVDs with instructions and safety tips. Research staff provided detailed instructions and resistance exercise demonstrations at enrollment and monitored and encouraged adherence with biweekly phone calls. Patients recorded minutes of walking and resistance exercise in daily logs. On average, patients reported 73.9 minutes of walking (\u3e100% of recommendation, SD=72.4) and 43.1 minutes of resistance exercise per week (71.8% of recommendation, SD=39.0). Patients reported the most walking during chemoradiation (M=94.7 minutes/week, SD=104.3), followed by preoperative “rest” (M=77.4 minutes/week, SD=80.4), and chemotherapy (M=70.8 minutes/week, SD=75.2). Patients reported the most resistance exercise during the preoperative “rest” period (M=51.6 minutes/week, SD=52.3), followed by chemoradiation (M=38.0 minutes/week, SD=36.8), and chemotherapy (M=31.1 minutes/week, SD=38.1). Walking and resistance exercise are feasible for patients undergoing preoperative therapy for pancreatic cancer. Varying levels of fatigue and treatment-related side effects may affect exercise during different treatment phases

Studies of modern Italian dog populations reveal multiple patterns for domestic breed evolution

Through thousands of years of breeding and strong human selection, the dog (Canis lupus familiaris) exists today within hundreds of closed populations throughout the world, each with defined phenotypes. A singular geographic region with broad diversity in dog breeds presents an interesting opportunity to observe potential mechanisms of breed formation. Italy claims 14 internationally recognized dog breeds, with numerous additional local varieties. To determine the relationship among Italian dog populations, we integrated genetic data from 263 dogs representing 23 closed dog populations from Italy, seven Apennine gray wolves, and an established dataset of 161 globally recognized dog breeds, applying multiple genetic methods to characterize the modes by which breeds are formed within a single geographic region. Our consideration of each of five genetic analyses reveals a series of development events that mirror historical modes of breed formation, but with variations unique to the codevelopment of early dog and human populations. Using 142,840 genome-wide SNPs and a dataset of 1,609 canines, representing 182 breeds and 16 wild canids, we identified breed development routes for the Italian breeds that included divergence from common populations for a specific purpose, admixture of regional stock with that from other regions, and isolated selection of local stock with specific attributes

Relativistic quantum dynamics of a charged particle in cosmic string spacetime in the presence of magnetic field and scalar potential

In this paper we analyze the relativistic quantum motion of charged spin-0 and spin-1/2 particles in the presence of a uniform magnetic field and scalar potentials in the cosmic string spacetime. In order to develop this analysis, we assume that the magnetic field is parallel to the string and the scalar potentials present a cylindrical symmetry with their center on the string. Two distinct configurations for the scalar potential, $S(r)$, are considered: $(i)$ the potential proportional to the inverse of the polar distance, i.e., $S\propto1/r$, and $(ii)$ the potential proportional to this distance, i.e., $S\propto r$. The energy spectra are explicitly computed for different physical situations and presented their dependences on the magnetic field strength and scalar coupling constants.Comment: New version with 20 pages and no figure. Some minor revisions and six references added. Accepted for publication in EJP

Measurement of the Ratio Gamma(KL -> pi+ pi-)/Gamma(KL -> pi e nu) and Extraction of the CP Violation Parameter |eta+-|

We present a measurement of the ratio of the decay rates Gamma(KL -> pi+ pi-)/Gamma(KL -> pi e nu), denoted as Gamma(K2pi)/Gamma(Ke3). The analysis is based on data taken during a dedicated run in 1999 by the NA48 experiment at the CERN SPS. Using a sample of 47000 K2pi and five million Ke3 decays, we find Gamma(K2pi)/Gamma(Ke3) = (4.835 +- 0.022(stat) +- 0.016(syst)) x 10^-3. From this we derive the branching ratio of the CP violating decay KL -> pi+ pi- and the CP violation parameter |eta+-|. Excluding the CP conserving direct photon emission component KL -> pi+ pi- gamma, we obtain the results BR(KL -> pi+ pi-) = (1.941 +- 0.019) x 10^-3 and |eta+-| = (2.223 +- 0.012) x 10^-3.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, accepted by Phys. Lett.

Measurement of K^0_e3 form factors

The semileptonic decay of the neutral K meson, KL -> pi e nu (Ke3), was used to study the strangeness-changing weak interaction of hadrons. A sample of 5.6 million reconstructed events recorded by the NA48 experiment was used to measure the Dalitz plot density. Admitting all possible Lorentz-covariant couplings, the form factors for vector (f_+(q^2)), scalar (f_S) and tensor (f_T) interactions were measured. The linear slope of the vector form factor lambda_+ = 0.0284+-0.0007+-0.0013 and values for the ratios |f_S/f_+(0)| = 0.015^{+0.007}_{-0.010}+-0.012 and |f_T/f_+(0)| = 0.05^{+0.03}_{-0.04}+-0.03 were obtained. The values for f_S and f_T are consistent with zero. Assuming only Vector-Axial vector couplings, lambda_+ = 0.0288+-0.0004+-0.0011 and a good fit consistent with pure V-A couplings were obtained. Alternatively, a fit to a dipole form factor yields a pole mass of M = 859+-18 MeV, consistent with the K^*(892) mass.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures. submitted to Phys. Lett.

A new measurement of direct CP violation in two pion decays of the neutral kaon

The NA48 experiment at CERN has performed a new measurement of direct CP violation, based on data taken in 1997 by simultaneously collecting K_L and K_S decays into pi0pi0 and pi+pi-. The result for the CP violating parameter Re(epsilon'/epsilon) is (18.5 +/- 4.5(stat)} +/- 5.8 (syst))x10^{-4}.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figure

Measurement of the branching ratio of the decay KL -> pi e nu and extraction of the CKM parameter |Vus|

We present a new measurement of the branching ratio R of the decay KL -> pi e nu (Ke3), relative to all charged KL decays with two tracks, based on data taken with the NA48 detector at the CERN SPS. We measure R = 0.4978 +- 0.0035. From this we derive the Ke3 branching fraction and the weak coupling parameter |Vus| in the CKM matrix. We obtain |Vus|f+(0) = 0.2146 +- 0.0016, where f+(0) is the vector form factor in the Ke3 decay.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures. accepted by Phys Lett.

An Integrated TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource to Drive High-Quality Survival Outcome Analytics

For a decade, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) program collected clinicopathologic annotation data along with multi-platform molecular profiles of more than 11,000 human tumors across 33 different cancer types. TCGA clinical data contain key features representing the democratized nature of the data collection process. To ensure proper use of this large clinical dataset associated with genomic features, we developed a standardized dataset named the TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource (TCGA-CDR), which includes four major clinical outcome endpoints. In addition to detailing major challenges and statistical limitations encountered during the effort of integrating the acquired clinical data, we present a summary that includes endpoint usage recommendations for each cancer type. These TCGA-CDR findings appear to be consistent with cancer genomics studies independent of the TCGA effort and provide opportunities for investigating cancer biology using clinical correlates at an unprecedented scale. Analysis of clinicopathologic annotations for over 11,000 cancer patients in the TCGA program leads to the generation of TCGA Clinical Data Resource, which provides recommendations of clinical outcome endpoint usage for 33 cancer types

Search for displaced vertices arising from decays of new heavy particles in 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

We present the results of a search for new, heavy particles that decay at a significant distance from their production point into a final state containing charged hadrons in association with a high-momentum muon. The search is conducted in a pp-collision data sample with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 33 pb^-1 collected in 2010 by the ATLAS detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. Production of such particles is expected in various scenarios of physics beyond the standard model. We observe no signal and place limits on the production cross-section of supersymmetric particles in an R-parity-violating scenario as a function of the neutralino lifetime. Limits are presented for different squark and neutralino masses, enabling extension of the limits to a variety of other models.Comment: 8 pages plus author list (20 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version to appear in Physics Letters