The WHF Roadmap for Reducing CV Morbidity and Mortality Through Prevention and Control of Rheumatic Heart Disease.

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a preventable non-communicable condition that disproportionately affects the world's poorest and most vulnerable. The World Heart Federation Roadmap for improved RHD control is a resource designed to help a variety of stakeholders raise the profile of RHD nationally and globally, and provide a framework to guide and support the strengthening of national, regional and global RHD control efforts. The Roadmap identifies the barriers that limit access to and uptake of proven interventions for the prevention and control of RHD. It also highlights a variety of established and promising solutions that may be used to overcome these barriers. As a general guide, the Roadmap is meant to serve as the foundation for the development of tailored plans of action to improve RHD control in specific contexts

Transcriptional changes in the mammary gland during lactation revealed by single cell sequencing of cells from human milk.

Funder: Wellcome TrustUnder normal conditions, the most significant expansion and differentiation of the adult mammary gland occurs in response to systemic reproductive hormones during pregnancy and lactation to enable milk synthesis and secretion to sustain the offspring. However, human mammary tissue remodelling that takes place during pregnancy and lactation remains poorly understood due to the challenge of acquiring samples. We report here single-cell transcriptomic analysis of 110,744 viable breast cells isolated from human milk or non-lactating breast tissue, isolated from nine and seven donors, respectively. We found that human milk largely contains epithelial cells belonging to the luminal lineage and a repertoire of immune cells. Further transcriptomic analysis of the milk cells identified two distinct secretory cell types that shared similarities with luminal progenitors, but no populations comparable to hormone-responsive cells. Taken together, our data offers a reference map and a window into the cellular dynamics that occur during human lactation and may provide further insights on the interplay between pregnancy, lactation and breast cancer.UKRI-MRC project grant ((MR/S036059/1) UKRI-BBSRC project grant (BB/S006745/1) Breast Cancer Now Project Grant (2017MayPR907) CRUK Programme Foundation Award (DCRPGF\100010

Results from 730 kg days of the CRESST-II Dark Matter Search

The CRESST-II cryogenic Dark Matter search, aiming at detection of WIMPs via elastic scattering off nuclei in CaWO$_4$ crystals, completed 730 kg days of data taking in 2011. We present the data collected with eight detector modules, each with a two-channel readout; one for a phonon signal and the other for coincidently produced scintillation light. The former provides a precise measure of the energy deposited by an interaction, and the ratio of scintillation light to deposited energy can be used to discriminate different types of interacting particles and thus to distinguish possible signal events from the dominant backgrounds. Sixty-seven events are found in the acceptance region where a WIMP signal in the form of low energy nuclear recoils would be expected. We estimate background contributions to this observation from four sources: 1) "leakage" from the e/\gamma-band 2) "leakage" from the \alpha-particle band 3) neutrons and 4) Pb-206 recoils from Po-210 decay. Using a maximum likelihood analysis, we find, at a high statistical significance, that these sources alone are not sufficient to explain the data. The addition of a signal due to scattering of relatively light WIMPs could account for this discrepancy, and we determine the associated WIMP parameters.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figure

The CRESST II Dark Matter Search

Direct Dark Matter detection with cryodetectors is briefly discussed, with particular mention of the possibility of the identification of the recoil nucleus. Preliminary results from the CREEST II Dark Matter search, with 730 kg-days of data, are presented. Major backgrounds and methods of identifying and dealing with them are indicated.Comment: Talk at DSU workshop, ITP Beijing, Oct. 2011. 9 figures, 2 table

Precision measurement of 65^{65}Zn electron-capture decays with the KDK coincidence setup

$^{65}$Zn is a common calibration source, moreover used as a radioactive tracer in medical and biological studies. In many cases, $\gamma$-spectroscopy is a preferred method of $^{65}$Zn standardization, which relies directly on the branching ratio of $J \pi (^{65}\text{Zn} ) = 5/2^- \rightarrow J \pi (^{65}\text{Cu}) = 5/2^-$ via electron capture (EC*). We measure the relative intensity of this branch to that proceeding directly to the ground state (EC$^0$) using a novel coincidence technique, finding $I_{\text{EC}^0}/I_{\text{EC*}} = 0.9684 \pm 0.0018$. Re-evaluating the decay scheme of $^{65}$Zn by adopting the commonly evaluated branching ratio of $I_{\beta^+}= 1.4271(7)\%$ we obtain $I_{\text{EC*}} = (50.08 \pm 0.06)\%$, and I_\text{EC^0} = (48.50 \pm 0.06) \%. The associated 1115 keV gamma intensity agrees with the previously reported NNDC value, and is now accessible with a factor of ~2 increase in precision. Our re-evaluation removes reliance on the deduction of this gamma intensity from numerous measurements, some of which disagree and depend directly on total activity determination. The KDK experimental technique provides a new avenue for verification or updates to the decay scheme of $^{65}$Zn, and is applicable to other isotopes.Comment: Uses similar methodology to the 40K measurement by the KDK Collaboration (Stukel et al PRL 2023, arXiv:2211.10319; Hariasz et al PRC 2023, arXiv:2211.10343), as such there may be some similarity in figures and tex