Connective tissue disease related interstitial lung diseases and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: provisional core sets of domains and instruments for use in clinical trials

Rationale Clinical trial design in interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) has been hampered by lack of consensus on appropriate outcome measures for reliably assessing treatment response. In the setting of connective tissue diseases (CTDs), some measures of ILD disease activity and severity may be confounded by non-pulmonary comorbidities. Methods The Connective Tissue Disease associated Interstitial Lung Disease (CTD-ILD) working group of Outcome Measures in Rheumatology—a non-profit international organisation dedicated to consensus methodology in identification of outcome measures—conducted a series of investigations which included a Delphi process including >248 ILD medical experts as well as patient focus groups culminating in a nominal group panel of ILD experts and patients. The goal was to define and develop a consensus on the status of outcome measure candidates for use in randomised controlled trials in CTD-ILD and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Results A core set comprising specific measures in the domains of lung physiology, lung imaging, survival, dyspnoea, cough and health-related quality of life is proposed as appropriate for consideration for use in a hypothetical 1-year multicentre clinical trial for either CTD-ILD or IPF. As many widely used instruments were found to lack full validation, an agenda for future research is proposed. Conclusion Identification of consensus preliminary domains and instruments to measure them was attained and is a major advance anticipated to facilitate multicentre RCTs in the field

Search for the Weak Decay of an H Dibaryon

We have searched for a neutral $H$ dibaryon decaying via $H\to\Lambda n$ and $H\to\Sigma^0 n$. Our search has yielded two candidate events from which we set an upper limit on the $H$ production cross section. Normalizing to the inclusive $\Lambda$ production cross section, we find $(d\sigma_H/d\Omega) / (d\sigma_\Lambda/d\Omega) < 6.3\times 10^{-6}$ at 90% C.L., for an $H$ of mass $\approx$ 2.15 GeV/$c^2$.Comment: 11 pages, 6 postscript figures, epsfig, aps, preprint, revte

The CERES/NA45 Radial Drift Time Projection Chamber

The design, calibration, and performance of the first radial drift Time Projection Chamber (TPC) are presented. The TPC was built and installed at the CERES/NA45 experiment at the CERN SPS in the late nineties, with the objective to improve the momentum resolution of the spectrometer. The upgraded experiment took data twice, in 1999 and in 2000. After a detailed study of residual distortions a spatial resolution of 340 um in the azimuthal and 640 um in the radial direction was achieved, corresponding to a momentum resolution of Dp/p = sqrt{(1% * p/GeV)^2 + (2%)^2}.Comment: 57 pages, 59 figure

Refining the accuracy of validated target identification through coding variant fine-mapping in type 2 diabetes.

We aggregated coding variant data for 81,412 type 2 diabetes cases and 370,832 controls of diverse ancestry, identifying 40 coding variant association signals (P &lt; 2.2 × 10-7); of these, 16 map outside known risk-associated loci. We make two important observations. First, only five of these signals are driven by low-frequency variants: even for these, effect sizes are modest (odds ratio ≤1.29). Second, when we used large-scale genome-wide association data to fine-map the associated variants in their regional context, accounting for the global enrichment of complex trait associations in coding sequence, compelling evidence for coding variant causality was obtained for only 16 signals. At 13 others, the associated coding variants clearly represent 'false leads' with potential to generate erroneous mechanistic inference. Coding variant associations offer a direct route to biological insight for complex diseases and identification of validated therapeutic targets; however, appropriate mechanistic inference requires careful specification of their causal contribution to disease predisposition

Bud Necrosis: A Disease of Groundnut Caused by Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus

This is the first ICRISAT Information Bulletin that deals with a virus disease of groundnut. Attention is focused on bud necrosis disease, caused by tomato spotted wilt virus, because of its economic significance on three continents. Epidemics build up rapidly with little warning and cause serious losses to growers. Protocols for purification and identification of the virus are given in detail. The symptoms of the disease in groundnut are illustrated. Procedures for a simple enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detection of the virus are given. The identification of the vector insects—species of Thysanoptera (thrips)—is difficult, and is still to be fully resolved. But a key is provided as an aid in identifying seven thrips species that have been implicated as vectors of tomato spotted wilt virus on groundnut. The current situation concerning management of bud necrosis disease is outlined. Suitable insecticides, cultural practices, biological control, and host-plant resistance are discussed to assist crop protection and extension workers in formulating integrated management systems appropriate to their particular situations

The liquid scintillator neutrino detector and LAMPF neutrino source

A search for neutrino oscillations of the type ν̄μ → ν̄c has been conducted at the Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility using ν̄μ from muon decay at rest. Evidence for this transition has been reported previously. This paper discusses in detail the experimental setup, detector operation and neutrino source, including aspects relevant to oscillation searches in the muon decay-at-rest and pion decay in flight channels

Erratum: Sequence data and association statistics from 12,940 type 2 diabetes cases and controls.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/sdata.2017.179