Efficacy of moxifloxacin-based triple therapy as second-line treatment for Helicobacter pylori infection

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Metronidazole and tetracycline-based second-line quadruple therapy, widely used for Helicobacter pylori infection, often ends up in failure due to antibiotic resistance and poor compliance in Korea. Our aim is to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of moxifloxacin-based triple therapy as an alternative second-line treatment for H. pylori infection. METHODS: The subjects consisted of 85 patients infected with H. pylori, in whom initial proton pump inhibitor triple therapy had failed. They were randomized to receive the following 7-day therapy: 1, moxifloxacin 400 mg q.d., esomeprazole 20 mg b.i.d., and amoxicillin 1 g b.i.d.; and 2, esomeprazole 40 mg b.i.d., tripotassium dicitrate bismuthate 300 mg q.i.d., metronidazole 500 mg t.i.d., and tetracycline 500 mg q.i.d. Eradication rates, drug compliance, and side-effect rates of each group were evaluated. RESULTS: The eradication rates were 75.6 and 83.8% with moxifloxacin triple therapy, and 54.5 and 72.7% with quadruple therapy by intention-to-treat (p = .042) and per-protocol analyses (p = .260), respectively. Moxifloxacin triple therapy was significantly superior to quadruple therapy in terms of side-effect rates (p = .039). Compliance for therapy, i.e., the percentage of tablets taken (> 85%), was 90.2 and 75.0%, numerically higher in moxifloxacin triple therapy group than in quadruple therapy group, but without statistical difference (p = .065). CONCLUSIONS: Moxifloxacin-based triple therapy showed high eradication rates with few side effects and good drug compliance, suggesting this regimen could be a safe and effective option as second-line therapy for H. pylori infection in Korea

Spread of Mutant Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus with Reduced Affinity to Human CD26 during the South Korean Outbreak

The newly emerging Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) causes a severe respiratory infection with a high mortality rate (similar to 35%). MERS-CoV has been a global threat due to continuous outbreaks in the Arabian peninsula and international spread by infected travelers since 2012. From May to July 2015, a large outbreak initiated by an infected traveler from the Arabian peninsula swept South Korea and resulted in 186 confirmed cases with 38 deaths (case fatality rate, 20.4%). Here, we show the rapid emergence and spread of a mutant MERS-CoV with reduced affinity to the human CD26 receptor during the South Korean outbreak. We isolated 13 new viral genomes from 14 infected patients treated at a hospital and found that 12 of these genomes possess a point mutation in the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of viral spike (S) protein. Specifically, 11 of these genomes have an I529T mutation in RBD, and 1 has a D510G mutation. Strikingly, both mutations result in reduced affinity of RBD to human CD26 compared to wild-type RBD, as measured by surface plasmon resonance analysis and cellular binding assay. Additionally, pseudotyped virus bearing an I529T mutation in S protein showed reduced entry into host cells compared to virus with wild-type S protein. These unexpected findings suggest that MERS-CoV adaptation during human-to-human spread may be driven by host immunological pressure such as neutralizing antibodies, resulting in reduced affinity to host receptor, and thereby impairs viral fitness and virulence, rather than positive selection for a better affinity to CD26. IMPORTANCE Recently, a large outbreak initiated by an MERS-CoV-infected traveler from the Middle East swept South Korea and resulted in 186 confirmed cases with 38 deaths. This is the largest outbreak outside the Middle East, and it raised strong concerns about the possible emergence of MERS-CoV mutations. Here, we isolated 13 new viral genomes and found that 12 of them possess a point mutation in the receptor-binding domain of viral spike protein, resulting in reduced affinity to the human cognate receptor, CD26, compared to the wild-type virus. These unexpected findings suggest that MERS-CoV adaptation in humans may be driven by host immunological pressure.111819Ysciescopu

Study of the Baryon-Antibaryon Low-Mass Enhancements in Charmless Three-body Baryonic B Decays

The angular distributions of the baryon-antibaryon low-mass enhancements seen in the charmless three-body baryonic B decays B+ -> p pbar K+, B0 -> p pbar Ks, and B0 -> p Lambdabar pi- are reported. A quark fragmentation interpretation is supported, while the gluonic resonance picture is disfavored. Searches for the Theta+ and Theta++ pentaquarks in the relevant decay modes and possible glueball states G with 2.2 GeV/c2 < M-ppbar < 2.4 GeV/c2 in the ppbar systems give null results. We set upper limits on the products of branching fractions, B(B0 -> Theta+ p)\times B(Theta+ -> p Ks) Theta++ pbar) \times B(Theta++ -> p K+) G K+) \times B(G -> p pbar) < 4.1 \times 10^{-7} at the 90% confidence level. The analysis is based on a 140 fb^{-1} data sample recorded on the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figure files, update of hep-ex/0409010 for journal submisssio

Algebraic Comparison of Partial Lists in Bioinformatics

The outcome of a functional genomics pipeline is usually a partial list of genomic features, ranked by their relevance in modelling biological phenotype in terms of a classification or regression model. Due to resampling protocols or just within a meta-analysis comparison, instead of one list it is often the case that sets of alternative feature lists (possibly of different lengths) are obtained. Here we introduce a method, based on the algebraic theory of symmetric groups, for studying the variability between lists ("list stability") in the case of lists of unequal length. We provide algorithms evaluating stability for lists embedded in the full feature set or just limited to the features occurring in the partial lists. The method is demonstrated first on synthetic data in a gene filtering task and then for finding gene profiles on a recent prostate cancer dataset

Improved Measurements of Partial Rate Asymmetry in B -> h h Decays

We report improved measurements of the partial rate asymmetry (Acp) in B -> h h decays with 140fb^-1 of data collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB e+e- collider. Here h stands for a charged or neutral pion or kaon and in total five decay modes are included: K-+ pi+-, K0s pi-+, K-+ pi0, pi-+ pi0 and K0s pi0. The flavor of the last decay mode is determined from the accompanying B meson. Using a data sample 4.7 times larger than that of our previous measurement, we find Acp(K-+ pi+-) -0.088+-0.035+-0.013, 2.4 sigma from zero. Results for other decay modes are also presented.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur

Studies of the Decay B+- -> D_CP K+-

We report studies of the decay B+- -> D_CP K+-, where D_CP denotes neutral D mesons that decay to CP eigenstates. The analysis is based on a 29.1/fb data sample of collected at the \Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric e+ e- storage ring. Ratios of branching fractions of Cabibbo-suppressed to Cabibbo-favored processes involving D_CP are determined to be B(B- -> D_1 K-)/B(B- -> D_1 pi-)=0.125 +- 0.036 +- 0.010 and B(B- -> D_2 K-)/B(B- -> D_2 pi-)=0.119 +- 0.028 +- 0.006, where indices 1 and 2 represent the CP=+1 and CP=-1 eigenstates of the D0 - anti D0 system, respectively. We also extract the partial rate asymmetries for B+- -> D_CP K+-, finding A_1 = 0.29 +- 0.26 +- 0.05 and A_2 = -0.22 +- 0.24 +- 0.04.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Search for CP violation in the decay B0->D*+-D-+

We report a search for CP-violating asymmetry in B0 -> D*+- D-+ decays. The analysis employs two methods of B0 reconstruction: full and partial. In the full reconstruction method all daughter particles of the B0 are required to be detected; the partial reconstruction technique requires a fully reconstructed D- and only a slow pion from the D*+ -> D0 pi_slow+ decay. From a fit to the distribution of the time interval corresponding to the distance between two B meson decay points we calculate the CP-violating parameters and find the significance of nonzero CP asymmetry to be 2.7 standard deviations.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Measurement of CP-Violating Parameters in B→η′KB\to \eta^\prime K Decays

We present measurements of CP-violating parameters in $B^0(\bar{B}{}^0) \to \eta^\prime K_S^0$ and $B^{\pm} \to \eta' K^{\pm}$ decays based on a 41.8 fb$^{-1}$ data sample collected at the $\Upsilon(4S)$ resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy $e^{+} e^{-}$ collider. We fully reconstruct one neutral $B$ meson as a $B^0(\bar{B}{}^0) \to \eta^\prime K_S^0$ CP eigenstate and identify the flavor of the accompanying $B$ from its decay products. From the distribution of time intervals between pairs of $B$ meson decay points, we obtain the CP-violating asymmetry parameters ${\mathcal S}_{\eta^\prime K_S^0} = 0.28\pm0.55(stat)^{+0.07}_{-0.08}(syst)$, and ${\mathcal A}_{\eta^\prime K_S^0} = 0.13\pm0.32(stat)^{+0.09}_{-0.06}(syst)$. We also reconstruct charged $B^{\pm} \to \eta^\prime K^{\pm}$ decays and determine a direct-CP violating asymmetry value of ${\mathcal A}_{\eta^\prime K^\pm}=(-1.5\pm7.0(stat)\pm0.9(syst))$.Comment: Revised version: 16 pages, 3 figures, 1 table submitted to Phys. Lett.

Measurement of Br(Bbar -> D+l-nubar) and Determination of |Vcb|

We present a measurement of the branching fraction for the semileptonic B decay Bbar -> D+l-nubar, where l- can be either an electron or a muon. We find Gamma(Bbar -> D+l-nubar)= (13.79+/-0.76+/-2.51) ns^{-1}, and the resulting branching fraction Br(Bbar -> D+l-nubar)= (2.13 +/- 0.12 +/- 0.39)%, where the first error is statistical and the second systematic. We also investigate the Bbar -> D+l-nubar form factor and the implications of the result for |Vcb|. From a fit to the differential decay distribution we obtain the rate normalization |Vcb|F_D(1)= (4.11+/-0.44+/-0.52)x10^{-2}. Using a theoretical calculation of F_D(1), the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element |Vcb|=(4.19+/-0.45+/-0.53+/-0.30)x10^{-2} is obtained, where the last error comes from the theoretical uncertainty of F_D(1). The results are based on a data sample of 10.2 fb^{-1} recorded at the Upsilon(4S)$ resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB e+e- collider.Comment: 21pages, 5 figures, elsart.cls, to be published in PLB. In this version, the form factor comparison between B->Dlnu and D*lnu is include

Measurement of masses and branching ratios of Ξc+\Xi_c^+ and Ξc0\Xi_c^0 baryons

We report a measurement of the $\Xi_c^+$ and $\Xi_c^0$ baryon masses, and the branching ratios for various $\Xi_c$ decays, using $140 \mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ of data collected by the Belle experiment at the KEKB $e^+ e^-$ collider.The mass splitting $m_{\Xi_c^0} - m_{\Xi_c^+}$ is found to be $2.9\pm 0.5 \mathrm{MeV}/c^2$; this measurement is three times as precise as the current world average. We measure the branching ratios $\Gamma (\Xi_c^+\to \Lambda K\pi\pi)/\Gamma (\Xi_c^+\to\Xi\pi\pi) = 0.32\pm 0.03 \pm 0.02$ and $\Gamma (\Xi_c^0\to p KK\pi)/\Gamma (\Xi_c^0\to\Xi\pi) = 0.33\pm 0.03 \pm 0.03$, with improved precision, and measure $\Gamma (\Xi_c^+\to p K^0_S K^0_S)/\Gamma (\Xi_c^+\to\Xi\pi\pi) = 0.087\pm 0.016 \pm 0.014$, $\Gamma (\Xi_c^0\to \Lambda K\pi)/\Gamma (\Xi_c^0\to\Xi\pi) = 1.07\pm 0.12 \pm 0.07$ and $\Gamma (\Xi_c^0\to \Lambda K^0_S)/\Gamma (\Xi_c^0\to\Xi\pi) = 0.21\pm 0.02 \pm 0.02$ for the first time. In $\Xi_c^0$ decays to the $p K^- K^- \pi^+$ final state, we find evidence for the process $\Xi_c^0 \to p K^- \bar{K}{}^\ast(892)^0$ and measure the fraction of decays via this process to be $0.51\pm 0.03 \pm 0.01$.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, LaTeX, submitted to Phys. Lett.