Pharmacologic intervention for prevention of fractures in osteopenic and osteoporotic postmenopausal women: Systemic review and meta-analysis

Objectives Emerging evidence has indicated a role for pharmacologic agents in the primary prevention of osteoporotic fracture, but have not yet been systematically reviewed for meta-analysis. We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of pharmacologic interventions in reducing fracture risk and increasing bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women with osteopenia or osteoporosis but without prevalent fragility fracture. Method The Medline, EMBASE, and CENTRAL databases were searched from inception to September 30, 2019. Only randomized placebo-controlled trials evaluating postmenopausal women with −1.0 > bone mineral density (BMD) T-score > −2.5 (low bone mass) and those with BMD T-score ≤ −2.5 (osteoporosis) but without baseline fractures, who were receiving anti-osteoporotic agents, providing quantitative outcomes data and evaluating risk of vertebral and/or non-vertebral fragility fracture at follow-up. The PRISMA guidelines were followed, applying a random-effects model. The primary endpoint was the effect of anti-osteoporotic regimens in reducing the incidence of vertebral fractures. Secondary endpoints were percentage changes in baseline BMD at the lumbar spine and total hip at 1 and 2 years follow up. Results Full-text review of 144 articles yielded, 20 for meta-analysis. Bisphosphonates reduced the risk of vertebral fracture (pooled OR = 0.50, 95%CIs = 0.36–0.71) and significantly increased lumbar spine BMD after 1 year, by 4.42% vs placebo (95%CIs = 3.70%–5.14%). At the hip, this value was 2.94% (95%CIs = 2.13%–3.75%). Overall results of limited studies for non-bisphosphonate drugs showed increased BMD and raloxifene significantly decreases the risk of subsequent clinical vertebral fractures. Conclusion The bisphosphonates are efficacious and most evident for the primary prevention of osteoporotic vertebral fractures, reducing their incidence and improving BMD in postmenopausal women with osteopenia or osteoporosis

Belle II Technical Design Report

The Belle detector at the KEKB electron-positron collider has collected almost 1 billion Y(4S) events in its decade of operation. Super-KEKB, an upgrade of KEKB is under construction, to increase the luminosity by two orders of magnitude during a three-year shutdown, with an ultimate goal of 8E35 /cm^2 /s luminosity. To exploit the increased luminosity, an upgrade of the Belle detector has been proposed. A new international collaboration Belle-II, is being formed. The Technical Design Report presents physics motivation, basic methods of the accelerator upgrade, as well as key improvements of the detector.Comment: Edited by: Z. Dole\v{z}al and S. Un

Search for Pair Production of Scalar Top Quarks Decaying to a tau Lepton and a b Quark in ppbar Collisions at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV

We search for pair production of supersymmetric top quarks (~t_1), followed by R-parity violating decay ~t_1 -> tau b with a branching ratio beta, using 322 pb^-1 of ppbar collisions at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV collected by the CDF II detector at Fermilab. Two candidate events pass our final selection criteria, consistent with the standard model expectation. We set upper limits on the cross section sigma(~t_1 ~tbar_1)*beta^2 as a function of the stop mass m(~t_1). Assuming beta=1, we set a 95% confidence level limit m(~t_1)>153 GeV/c^2. The limits are also applicable to the case of a third generation scalar leptoquark (LQ_3) decaying LQ_3 -> tau b.Comment: 7 pages, 2 eps figure

Forward-Backward Asymmetry in Top Quark Production in ppbar Collisions at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV

Reconstructable final state kinematics and charge assignment in the reaction ppbar->ttbar allows tests of discrete strong interaction symmetries at high energy. We define frame dependent forward-backward asymmetries for the outgoing top quark in both the ppbar and ttbar rest frames, correct for experimental distortions, and derive values at the parton-level. Using 1.9/fb of ppbar collisions at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV recorded with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron, we measure forward-backward top quark production asymmetries in the ppbar and ttbar rest frames of A_{FB,pp} = 0.17 +- 0.08 and A_{FB,tt} = 0.24 +- 0.14.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys.Rev.Lett, corrected references and change of tex

ASCOT: a text mining-based web-service for efficient search and assisted creation of clinical trials

Clinical trials are mandatory protocols describing medical research on humans and among the most valuable sources of medical practice evidence. Searching for trials relevant to some query is laborious due to the immense number of existing protocols. Apart from search, writing new trials includes composing detailed eligibility criteria, which might be time-consuming, especially for new researchers. In this paper we present ASCOT, an efficient search application customised for clinical trials. ASCOT uses text mining and data mining methods to enrich clinical trials with metadata, that in turn serve as effective tools to narrow down search. In addition, ASCOT integrates a component for recommending eligibility criteria based on a set of selected protocols

Neutrophils in cancer: neutral no more

Neutrophils are indispensable antagonists of microbial infection and facilitators of wound healing. In the cancer setting, a newfound appreciation for neutrophils has come into view. The traditionally held belief that neutrophils are inert bystanders is being challenged by the recent literature. Emerging evidence indicates that tumours manipulate neutrophils, sometimes early in their differentiation process, to create diverse phenotypic and functional polarization states able to alter tumour behaviour. In this Review, we discuss the involvement of neutrophils in cancer initiation and progression, and their potential as clinical biomarkers and therapeutic targets

Search for the Higgs boson in events with missing transverse energy and b quark jets produced in proton-antiproton collisions at s**(1/2)=1.96 TeV

We search for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with an electroweak vector boson in events with no identified charged leptons, large imbalance in transverse momentum, and two jets where at least one contains a secondary vertex consistent with the decay of b hadrons. We use ~1 fb-1 integrated luminosity of proton-antiproton collisions at s**(1/2)=1.96 TeV recorded by the CDF II experiment at the Tevatron. We find 268 (16) single (double) b-tagged candidate events, where 248 +/- 43 (14.4 +/- 2.7) are expected from standard model background processes. We place 95% confidence level upper limits on the Higgs boson production cross section for several Higgs boson masses ranging from 110 GeV/c2 to 140 GeV/c2. For a mass of 115 GeV/c2 the observed (expected) limit is 20.4 (14.2) times the standard model prediction.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

First Measurement of the W Boson Mass in Run II of the Tevatron

We present a measurement of the W boson mass using 200/pb of data collected in pbar p collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV by the CDF II detector at Run II of the Fermilab Tevatron. With a sample of 63964 W -> e nu candidates and 51128 W -> mu nu candidates, we measure M_W = (80413 +- 34 (stat) +- 34 (syst) = 80413 +- 48) MeV/c^2. This is the most precise single measurement of the W boson mass to date.Comment: published version in PR

Search for New Particles Leading to Z+jets Final States in ppˉp\bar{p} Collisions at s=1.96\sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV

We present the results of a search for new particles that lead to a \Z boson plus jets in $p\bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=1.96$ TeV using the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF II). A data sample with a luminosity of 1.06 \ifb\ collected using \Z boson decays to $ee$ and $\mu\mu$ is used. We describe a completely data-based method to predict the dominant background from standard-model \Z+jet events. This method can be similarly applied to other analyses requiring background predictions in multi-jet environments, as shown when validating the method by predicting the background from $W$+jets in \ttbar production. No significant excess above the background prediction is observed, and a limit is set using a fourth generation quark model to quantify the acceptance. Assuming $BR(b' \to b\Z) = 100$ and using a leading-order calculation of the $b'$ cross section, $b'$ quark masses below 268 \gev/c^2 are excluded at 95% confidence level.Comment: To be submitted to PR

Observation and Mass Measurement of the Baryon Ξb−\Xi^-_b

We report the observation and measurement of the mass of the bottom, strange baryon $\Xi^-_b$ through the decay chain $\Xi^-_b \to J/\psi \Xi^-$, where $J/\psi \to \mu^+ \mu^-$, $\Xi^- \to \Lambda \pi^-$, and $\Lambda \to p \pi^-$. Evidence for observation is based on a signal whose probability of arising from the estimated background is 6.6 x 10^{-15}, or 7.7 Gaussian standard deviations. The $\Xi^-_b$ mass is measured to be $5792.9\pm 2.5$ (stat.) $\pm 1.7$ (syst.) MeV/$c^2$.Comment: Minor text changes for the second version. Accepted by Phys. Rev. Let