The Iceman's Last Meal Consisted of Fat, Wild Meat, and Cereals

The history of humankind is marked by the constant adoption of new dietary habits affecting human physiology, metabolism, and even the development of nutrition-related disorders. Despite clear archaeological evidence for the shift from hunter-gatherer lifestyle to agriculture in Neolithic Europe [1], very little information exists on the daily dietary habits of our ancestors. By undertaking a complementary -omics approach combined with microscopy, we analyzed the stomach content of the Iceman, a 5,300-yearold European glacier mummy [2, 3]. He seems to have had a remarkably high proportion of fat in his diet, supplemented with fresh or dried wild meat, cereals, and traces of toxic bracken. Our multipronged approach provides unprecedented analytical depth, deciphering the nutritional habit, meal composition, and food-processing methods of this Copper Age individual

Search for supersymmetry with a dominant R-parity violating LQDbar couplings in e+e- collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 130GeV to 172 GeV

A search for pair-production of supersymmetric particles under the assumption that R-parity is violated via a dominant LQDbar coupling has been performed using the data collected by ALEPH at centre-of-mass energies of 130-172 GeV. The observed candidate events in the data are in agreement with the Standard Model expectation. This result is translated into lower limits on the masses of charginos, neutralinos, sleptons, sneutrinos and squarks. For instance, for m_0=500 GeV/c^2 and tan(beta)=sqrt(2) charginos with masses smaller than 81 GeV/c^2 and neutralinos with masses smaller than 29 GeV/c^2 are excluded at the 95% confidence level for any generation structure of the LQDbar coupling.Comment: 32 pages, 30 figure

A gut bacterial signature in blood and liver tissue characterizes cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma

BackgroundHCC is the leading cause of cancer in chronic liver disease. A growing body of experimental mouse models supports the notion that gut-resident and liver-resident microbes control hepatic immune responses and, thereby, crucially contribute to liver tumorigenesis. However, a comprehensive characterization of the intestinal microbiome in fueling the transition from chronic liver disease to HCC in humans is currently missing.MethodsHere, we profiled the fecal, blood, and liver tissue microbiome of patients with HCC by 16S rRNA sequencing and compared profiles to nonmalignant cirrhotic and noncirrhotic NAFLD patients.ResultsWe report a distinct bacterial profile, defined from 16S rRNA gene sequences, with reduced α-and β-diversity in the feces of patients with HCC and cirrhosis compared to NAFLD. Patients with HCC and cirrhosis exhibited an increased proportion of fecal bacterial gene signatures in the blood and liver compared to NAFLD. Differential analysis of the relative abundance of bacterial genera identified an increased abundance of Ruminococcaceae and Bacteroidaceae in blood and liver tissue from both HCC and cirrhosis patients compared to NAFLD. Fecal samples from cirrhosis and HCC patients both showed a reduced abundance for several taxa, including short-chain fatty acid-producing genera, such as Blautia and Agathobacter. Using paired 16S rRNA and transcriptome sequencing, we identified a direct association between gut bacterial genus abundance and host transcriptome response within the liver tissue.ConclusionsOur study indicates perturbations of the intestinal and liver-resident microbiome as a critical determinant of patients with cirrhosis and HCC

Search for Bs0B^{0}_{s} oscillations using inclusive lepton events

A search for Bs oscillations is performed using a sample of semileptonic b-hadron decays collected by the ALEPH experiment during 1991-1995. Compared to previous inclusive lepton analyses, the prop er time resolution and b-flavour mistag rate are significantly improved. Additional sensitivity to Bs mixing is obtained by identifying subsamples of events having a Bs purity which is higher than the average for the whole data sample. Unbinned maximum likelihood amplitude fits are performed to derive a lower limit of Dms>9.5 ps-1 at 95% CL. Combining with the ALEPH Ds based analyses yields Dms>9.6 ps-1 at 95% CL.A search for B0s oscillations is performed using a sample of semileptonic b-hadron decays collected by the ALEPH experiment during 1991-1995. Compared to previous inclusive lepton analyses, the proper time resolution and b-flavour mistag rate are significantly improved. Additional sensitivity to B0s mixing is obtained by identifying subsamples of events having a B0s purity which is higher than the average for the whole data sample. Unbinned maximum likelihood amplitude fits are performed to derive a lower limit of Deltam_s>9.5ps^-1 at 95% CL. Combining with the ALEPH D-s based analyses yields Deltam_s>9.6ps^-1 at 95% CL

O-(2-18F-fluoroethyl)-L-tyrosine PET predicts failure of antiangiogenic treatment in patients with recurrent high-grade glioma.

UNLABELLED The objective of this study was to compare MRI response assessment with metabolic O-(2-(18)F-fluoroethyl)-L-tyrosine ((18)F-FET) PET response evaluation during antiangiogenic treatment in patients with recurrent high-grade glioma (rHGG). METHODS Eleven patients with rHGG were treated biweekly with bevacizumab-irinotecan. MR images and (18)F-FET PET scans were obtained at baseline and at follow-up 8-12 wk after treatment onset. MRI treatment response was evaluated by T1/T2 volumetry according to response assessment in neurooncology (RANO) criteria. For (18)F-FET PET evaluation, an uptake reduction of more than 45% calculated with a standardized uptake value of more than 1.6 was defined as a metabolic response (receiver-operating-characteristic curve analysis). MRI and (18)F-FET PET volumetry results and response assessment were compared with each other and in relation to progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). RESULTS At follow-up, MR images showed partial response in 7 of 11 patients (64%), stable disease in 2 of 11 patients (18%), and tumor progression in 2 of 11 patients (18%). In contrast, (18)F-FET PET revealed 5 of 11 metabolic responders (46%) and 6 of 11 nonresponders (54%). MRI and (18)F-FET PET showed that responders survived significantly longer than did nonresponders (10.24 vs. 4.1 mo, P = 0.025, and 7.9 vs. 2.3 mo, P = 0.015, respectively). In 4 patients (36.4%), diagnosis according to RANO criteria and (18)F-FET PET was discordant. In these cases, PET was able to detect tumor progression earlier than was MRI. CONCLUSION In rHGG patients undergoing antiangiogenic treatment, (18)F-FET PET seems to be predictive for treatment failure in that it contributes important information to response assessment based solely on MRI and RANO criteria

Individual tumor volumes and tracer uptake.

a<p>cT1 =  contrast enhanced T1 MRI volume.</p>b<p>[¹⁸F]-FET =  [¹⁸F]-FET volume according a LBR threshold of > 1.62, detected beyond the margins of cT1, T2 and [¹⁸F]-FLT.</p>c<p>[¹⁸F]-FLT =  [¹⁸F]-FLT volume according a LBR threshold of > 1.69, detected beyond the margins of cT1, T2 and [¹⁸F]-FET.</p>d<p>LBR =  lesion to background ratio.</p