Search for charginos in e+e- interactions at sqrt(s) = 189 GeV

An update of the searches for charginos and gravitinos is presented, based on a data sample corresponding to the 158 pb^{-1} recorded by the DELPHI detector in 1998, at a centre-of-mass energy of 189 GeV. No evidence for a signal was found. The lower mass limits are 4-5 GeV/c^2 higher than those obtained at a centre-of-mass energy of 183 GeV. The (\mu,M_2) MSSM domain excluded by combining the chargino searches with neutralino searches at the Z resonance implies a limit on the mass of the lightest neutralino which, for a heavy sneutrino, is constrained to be above 31.0 GeV/c^2 for tan(beta) \geq 1.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figure

Search for composite and exotic fermions at LEP 2

A search for unstable heavy fermions with the DELPHI detector at LEP is reported. Sequential and non-canonical leptons, as well as excited leptons and quarks, are considered. The data analysed correspond to an integrated luminosity of about 48 pb^{-1} at an e^+e^- centre-of-mass energy of 183 GeV and about 20 pb^{-1} equally shared between the centre-of-mass energies of 172 GeV and 161 GeV. The search for pair-produced new leptons establishes 95% confidence level mass limits in the region between 70 GeV/c^2 and 90 GeV/c^2, depending on the channel. The search for singly produced excited leptons and quarks establishes upper limits on the ratio of the coupling of the excited fermio

Search for lightest neutralino and stau pair production in light gravitino scenarios with stau NLSP

Promptly decaying lightest neutralinos and long-lived staus are searched for in the context of light gravitino scenarios. It is assumed that the stau is the next to lightest supersymmetric particle (NLSP) and that the lightest neutralino is the next to NLSP (NNLSP). Data collected with the Delphi detector at centre-of-mass energies from 161 to 183 \GeV are analysed. No evidence of the production of these particles is found. Hence, lower mass limits for both kinds of particles are set at 95% C.L.. The mass of gaugino-like neutralinos is found to be greater than 71.5 GeV/c^2. In the search for long-lived stau, masses less than 70.0 to 77.5 \GeVcc are excluded for gravitino masses from 10 to 150 \eVcc . Combining this search with the searches for stable heavy leptons and Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model staus a lower limit of 68.5 \GeVcc may be set for the stau mas

Hadronization properties of b quarks compared to light quarks in e+e- -> q qbar from 183 to 200 GeV

The DELPHI detector at LEP has collected 54 pb^{-1} of data at a centre-of-mass energy around 183 GeV during 1997, 158 pb^{-1} around 189 GeV during 1998, and 187 pb^{-1} between 192 and 200 GeV during 1999. These data were used to measure the average charged particle multiplicity in e+e- -> b bbar events, _{bb}, and the difference delta_{bl} between _{bb} and the multiplicity, _{ll}, in generic light quark (u,d,s) events: delta_{bl}(183 GeV) = 4.55 +/- 1.31 (stat) +/- 0.73 (syst) delta_{bl}(189 GeV) = 4.43 +/- 0.85 (stat) +/- 0.61 (syst) delta_{bl}(200 GeV) = 3.39 +/- 0.89 (stat) +/- 1.01 (syst). This result is consistent with QCD predictions, while it is inconsistent with calculations assuming that the multiplicity accompanying the decay of a heavy quark is independent of the mass of the quark itself.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figure

Genetic determinants of telomere length from 109,122 ancestrally diverse whole-genome sequences in TOPMed

Genetic studies on telomere length are important for understanding age-related diseases. Prior GWASs for leukocyte TL have been limited to European and Asian populations. Here, we report the first sequencing-based association study for TL across ancestrally diverse individuals (European, African, Asian, and Hispanic/Latino) from the NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program. We used whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of whole blood for variant genotype calling and the bioinformatic estimation of telomere length in n = 109,122 individuals. We identified 59 sentinel variants (p < 5 × 10−9) in 36 loci associated with telomere length, including 20 newly associated loci (13 were replicated in external datasets). There was little evidence of effect size heterogeneity across populations. Fine-mapping at OBFC1 indicated that the independent signals colocalized with cell-type-specific eQTLs for OBFC1 (STN1). Using a multi-variant gene-based approach, we identified two genes newly implicated in telomere length, DCLRE1B (SNM1B) and PARN. In PheWAS, we demonstrated that our TL polygenic trait scores (PTSs) were associated with an increased risk of cancer-related phenotypes

Large-scale phenotyping of patients with long COVID post-hospitalization reveals mechanistic subtypes of disease

One in ten severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infections result in prolonged symptoms termed long coronavirus disease (COVID), yet disease phenotypes and mechanisms are poorly understood1. Here we profiled 368 plasma proteins in 657 participants ≥3 months following hospitalization. Of these, 426 had at least one long COVID symptom and 233 had fully recovered. Elevated markers of myeloid inflammation and complement activation were associated with long COVID. IL-1R2, MATN2 and COLEC12 were associated with cardiorespiratory symptoms, fatigue and anxiety/depression; MATN2, CSF3 and C1QA were elevated in gastrointestinal symptoms and C1QA was elevated in cognitive impairment. Additional markers of alterations in nerve tissue repair (SPON-1 and NFASC) were elevated in those with cognitive impairment and SCG3, suggestive of brain–gut axis disturbance, was elevated in gastrointestinal symptoms. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) was persistently elevated in some individuals with long COVID, but virus was not detected in sputum. Analysis of inflammatory markers in nasal fluids showed no association with symptoms. Our study aimed to understand inflammatory processes that underlie long COVID and was not designed for biomarker discovery. Our findings suggest that specific inflammatory pathways related to tissue damage are implicated in subtypes of long COVID, which might be targeted in future therapeutic trials

SARS-CoV-2-specific nasal IgA wanes 9 months after hospitalisation with COVID-19 and is not induced by subsequent vaccination

BACKGROUND: Most studies of immunity to SARS-CoV-2 focus on circulating antibody, giving limited insights into mucosal defences that prevent viral replication and onward transmission. We studied nasal and plasma antibody responses one year after hospitalisation for COVID-19, including a period when SARS-CoV-2 vaccination was introduced. METHODS: In this follow up study, plasma and nasosorption samples were prospectively collected from 446 adults hospitalised for COVID-19 between February 2020 and March 2021 via the ISARIC4C and PHOSP-COVID consortia. IgA and IgG responses to NP and S of ancestral SARS-CoV-2, Delta and Omicron (BA.1) variants were measured by electrochemiluminescence and compared with plasma neutralisation data. FINDINGS: Strong and consistent nasal anti-NP and anti-S IgA responses were demonstrated, which remained elevated for nine months (p < 0.0001). Nasal and plasma anti-S IgG remained elevated for at least 12 months (p < 0.0001) with plasma neutralising titres that were raised against all variants compared to controls (p < 0.0001). Of 323 with complete data, 307 were vaccinated between 6 and 12 months; coinciding with rises in nasal and plasma IgA and IgG anti-S titres for all SARS-CoV-2 variants, although the change in nasal IgA was minimal (1.46-fold change after 10 months, p = 0.011) and the median remained below the positive threshold determined by pre-pandemic controls. Samples 12 months after admission showed no association between nasal IgA and plasma IgG anti-S responses (R = 0.05, p = 0.18), indicating that nasal IgA responses are distinct from those in plasma and minimally boosted by vaccination. INTERPRETATION: The decline in nasal IgA responses 9 months after infection and minimal impact of subsequent vaccination may explain the lack of long-lasting nasal defence against reinfection and the limited effects of vaccination on transmission. These findings highlight the need to develop vaccines that enhance nasal immunity. FUNDING: This study has been supported by ISARIC4C and PHOSP-COVID consortia. ISARIC4C is supported by grants from the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the Medical Research Council. Liverpool Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre provided infrastructure support for this research. The PHOSP-COVD study is jointly funded by UK Research and Innovation and National Institute of Health and Care Research. The funders were not involved in the study design, interpretation of data or the writing of this manuscript

Formulation of an anaerobic culture medium of rumen ciliate protozoa and in vitro evaluation in the defaunant capacity of the extract of plants [Formulación de un medio de cultivo anaerobio para protozoários ruminales y evaluación /af wtoo en la capacidad desfaunante del extracto de plantas]

The present study was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of an anaerobic culture medium enriched with the soluble extract of Avena sativa (control treatment, MCT) to support viable to ciliate rumen protozoa, and to evaluate the capacity defaunante of water-soluble extracts of Argemone mexicana, Baccharis vaccinioides, Hibiscus rosa-sinesis, Montanoa leucanta, Morus alba and Yucca schidigera. The defaunante property was estimated inoculating 0.5 mL of concentrated protozoa in 9.5 mL with MCT, which was added 150 μL of water-soluble extract of the evaluated plants plus antibiotic, ¡n a design completely at random. The quantification of ciliate protozoa preserved in formaldehyde and viable it was done by means of the direct count to 40X in a Neubauer chamber, at 0, 24, 48 and 72 h. The MCT supported even the 72 h of incubation a concentration of protozoa of 7.5 x 10 3mL -1 culture media, with 90% of viability. Defaunante capacity (DC) was classified as high (DCA), media (DCM) and null (DCN). Compared with MCT, the extract of the plants A. mexicana, B. vaccinioides and Y. schidigera reduced (P &lt;0.05) the quantity of protozoa to less than 10 2 cell mL -1 of culture medium from 12 h of incubation, it was DCA; whereas, the extract of the plants M. leucanta, M. alba, they supported the concentration of protozoa overhead of 10 3 cell mL -1, it was DCM. The MCT kept an ideal population of rumen ciliate protozoa to do future in vitro evaluate studies of the DC. The extract evaluated of the plants has differences in the capacity defaunante during the period of evaluation

Formulation of an anaerobic culture medium of rumen ciliate protozoa and in vitro evaluation in the defaunant capacity of the extract of plants [Formulación de un medio de cultivo anaerobio para protozoarios ruminales y evaluación /af wtoo en la capacidad desfaunante del extracto de plantas]

The present study was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of an anaerobic culture medium enriched with the soluble extract of Avena sativa (control treatment, MCT) to support viable to ciliate rumen protozoa, and to evaluate the capacity defaunante of water-soluble extracts of Argemone mexicana, Baccharis vaccinioides, Hibiscus rosa-sinesis, Montanoa leucanta, Morus alba and Yucca schidigera. The defaunante property was estimated inoculating 0.5 mL of concentrated protozoa in 9.5 mL with MCT, which was added 150 ?L of water-soluble extract of the evaluated plants plus antibiotic, in a design completely at random. The quantification of ciliate protozoa preserved in formaldehyde and viable it was done by means of the direct count to 40X in a Neubauer chamber, at 0, 24, 48 and 72 h. The MCT supported even the 72 h of incubation a concentration of protozoa of 7.5 x 10 3mL -1 culture media, with 90% of viability. Defaunante capacity (DC) was classified as high (DCA), media (DCM) and null (DCN). Compared with MCT, the extract of the plants A. mexicana, B. vaccinioides and Y. schidigera reduced (P &lt;0.05) the quantity of protozoa to less than 10 2 cell mL -1 of culture medium from 12 h of incubation, it was DCA; whereas, the extract of the plants M. leucanta, M. alba, they supported the concentration of protozoa overhead of 10 3 cell mL -1, it was DCM. The MCT kept an ideal population of rumen ciliate protozoa to do future in vitro evaluate studies of the DC. The extract evaluated of the plants has differences in the capacity defaunante during the period of evaluation