Identifying participants with knee osteoarthritis likely to benefit from physical therapy education and exercise: A hypothesis-generating study

Background: The purpose of this investigation was to undertake a hypothesis generating study to identify candidate variables that characterize people with knee osteoarthritis who are most likely to experience a positive response to exercise. Methods: One hundred and fifty participants with knee osteoarthritis participated in this observational, longitudinal study. All participants received a standard exercise intervention that consisted of 20-min sessions two to three times a week for three months. The classification and regression tree methodology (CART) was used to develop prediction of positive clinical outcome. Positive pain and disability outcomes (dependent variables) were defined as an improvement in pain intensity by \u3e50% or an improvement of five or more on the Oxford knee score, respectively. The predictor variables considered included age, sex, body mass index, knee osteoarthritis severity (Kellgren/Lawrence grade), pain duration, use of medication, range of knee motion, pain catastrophizing, self-efficacy and knee self-perception. Results: Fifty-five participants (36.6%) were classified as responders for pain intensity and 36.6% were classified as responders for disability. The CART model identified impairments in knee self-perception and knee osteoarthritis severity as the discriminators for pain intensity reduction following exercise. No variables predicted reduction of disability level following exercise. Conclusions: Such findings suggest that both body perception and osteoarthritis severity may play a role in treatment outcome with exercise. It also raises the possibility that those with higher levels of disrupted body perception may need additional treatment targeted at restoring body perception prior to undertaking exercise. Significance: Regardless age, sex, body mass index, pain duration, use of medication, knee range of motion, pain catastrophizing and self-efficacy, participants with knee osteoarthritis who report low levels of body perception disruption (a FreKAQ score ≦ 17) and minimal structural changes (KL grade I) demonstrate significantly better outcomes from exercise therapy than other participants

Intratumoral Administration of Secondary Lymphoid Chemokine and Unmethylated Cytosine-phosphorothioate-guanine Oligodeoxynucleotide Synergistically Inhibits Tumor Growth in Vivo

Secondary lymphoid tissue chemokine (SLC), which is expressed in T cell zones of secondary lymphoid organs, including the spleen and lymph nodes, strongly recruits both T lymphocytes and mature dendritic cells. As appropriate interaction of tumor-specific T cells and mature dendritic cells, equipped with tumor antigens, is a prerequisite for effective T cell immunity against established tumors, we mobilized lymphocytes and dendritic cells to tumor sites by intratumoral injection of secondary lymphoid tissue chemokine-Fc (SLC-Fc) fusion protein using the B16F10 murine melanoma model. Activation of dendritic cells, another prerequisite for the effective activation of naïve tumor-specific T cells, was achieved by the addition of immunostimulatory cytosine-phosphorothioate-guanine oligodeoxynucleotide (CpG-ODN) into the tumor site. Intratumoral administration of SLC-Fc or CpG-ODN revealed antitumor effects against B16F10 murine melanoma grown in the subcutaneous space. Co-treatment of SLC-Fc and CpG-ODN displayed synergistic effects in reducing the tumor size. The synergistic antitumor effect in co-treatment group was correlated with the synergistic/additive increase in the infiltration of CD4+ T cells and CD11c+ dendritic cells in the tumor mass compared to the single treatment groups. These results suggest that the combined use of chemokines and adjuvant molecules may be a possible strategy in clinical tumor immunotherapy

The SARS-CoV-2 Lambda variant exhibits enhanced infectivity and immune resistance

SARS-CoV-2ラムダ株のウイルス学的・免疫学的性状の解明. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-12-23.SARS-CoV-2 Lambda, a variant of interest, has spread in some South American countries; however, its virological features and evolutionary traits remain unknown. In this study, we use pseudoviruses and reveal that the spike protein of the Lambda variant is more infectious than that of other variants due to the T76I and L452Q mutations. The RSYLTPGD246-253N mutation, a unique 7-amino-acid deletion in the N-terminal domain of the Lambda spike protein, is responsible for evasion from neutralizing antibodies and further augments antibody-mediated enhancement of infection. Although this mutation generates a nascent N-linked glycosylation site, the additional N-linked glycan is dispensable for the virological property conferred by this mutation. Since the Lambda variant has dominantly spread according to the increasing frequency of the isolates harboring the RSYLTPGD246-253N mutation, our data suggest that the RSYLTPGD246-253N mutation is closely associated with the substantial spread of the Lambda variant in South America

Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV

The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pT≥20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60≤pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2≤{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Measurement of the cross-section for b-jets produced in association with a Z boson at root s=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector ATLAS Collaboration

A measurement is presented of the inclusive cross-section for b-jet production in association with a Z boson in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of root s = 7 TeV. The analysis uses the data sample collected by the ATLAS experiment in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 36 pb(-1). The event selection requires a Z boson decaying into high P-T electrons or muons, and at least one b-jet, identified by its displaced vertex, with transverse momentum p(T) > 25 GeV and rapidity vertical bar y vertical bar < 2.1. After subtraction of background processes, the yield is extracted from the vertex mass distribution of the candidate b-jets. The ratio of this cross-section to the inclusive Z cross-section (the average number of b-jets per Z event) is also measured. Both results are found to be in good agreement with perturbative QCD predictions at next-to-leading order

SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617.2 Delta variant replication and immune evasion

Abstract: The B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was first identified in the state of Maharashtra in late 2020 and spread throughout India, outcompeting pre-existing lineages including B.1.617.1 (Kappa) and B.1.1.7 (Alpha)1. In vitro, B.1.617.2 is sixfold less sensitive to serum neutralizing antibodies from recovered individuals, and eightfold less sensitive to vaccine-elicited antibodies, compared with wild-type Wuhan-1 bearing D614G. Serum neutralizing titres against B.1.617.2 were lower in ChAdOx1 vaccinees than in BNT162b2 vaccinees. B.1.617.2 spike pseudotyped viruses exhibited compromised sensitivity to monoclonal antibodies to the receptor-binding domain and the amino-terminal domain. B.1.617.2 demonstrated higher replication efficiency than B.1.1.7 in both airway organoid and human airway epithelial systems, associated with B.1.617.2 spike being in a predominantly cleaved state compared with B.1.1.7 spike. The B.1.617.2 spike protein was able to mediate highly efficient syncytium formation that was less sensitive to inhibition by neutralizing antibody, compared with that of wild-type spike. We also observed that B.1.617.2 had higher replication and spike-mediated entry than B.1.617.1, potentially explaining the B.1.617.2 dominance. In an analysis of more than 130 SARS-CoV-2-infected health care workers across three centres in India during a period of mixed lineage circulation, we observed reduced ChAdOx1 vaccine effectiveness against B.1.617.2 relative to non-B.1.617.2, with the caveat of possible residual confounding. Compromised vaccine efficacy against the highly fit and immune-evasive B.1.617.2 Delta variant warrants continued infection control measures in the post-vaccination era

Search for the standard model Higgs boson in the diphoton decay channel with 4.9fb -1 of pp collision data at √s=7TeV with atlas

A search for the standard model Higgs boson is performed in the diphoton decay channel. The data used correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.9  fb-1 collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of √s=7  TeV. In the diphoton mass range 110–150 GeV, the largest excess with respect to the background-only hypothesis is observed at 126.5 GeV, with a local significance of 2.8 standard deviations. Taking the look-elsewhere effect into account in the range 110–150 GeV, this significance becomes 1.5 standard deviations. The standard model Higgs boson is excluded at 95% confidence level in the mass ranges of 113–115 GeV and 134.5–136 GeV

Search for the standard model Higgs boson in the diphoton decay channel with 4.9fb -1 of pp collision data at √s=7TeV with atlas

A search for the standard model Higgs boson is performed in the diphoton decay channel. The data used correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.9  fb-1 collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of √s=7  TeV. In the diphoton mass range 110–150 GeV, the largest excess with respect to the background-only hypothesis is observed at 126.5 GeV, with a local significance of 2.8 standard deviations. Taking the look-elsewhere effect into account in the range 110–150 GeV, this significance becomes 1.5 standard deviations. The standard model Higgs boson is excluded at 95% confidence level in the mass ranges of 113–115 GeV and 134.5–136 GeV