Measurement of the partial widths of the Z into up- and down-type quarks

Using the entire OPAL LEP1 on-peak Z hadronic decay sample, Z -> qbarq gamma decays were selected by tagging hadronic final states with isolated photon candidates in the electromagnetic calorimeter. Combining the measured rates of Z -> qbarq gamma decays with the total rate of hadronic Z decays permits the simultaneous determination of the widths of the Z into up- and down-type quarks. The values obtained, with total errors, were Gamma u = 300 ^{+19}_{-18} MeV and Gamma d = 381 ^{+12}_{-12} MeV. The results are in good agreement with the Standard Model expectation.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, Submitted to Phys. Letts.

Time to Switch to Second-line Antiretroviral Therapy in Children With Human Immunodeficiency Virus in Europe and Thailand.

Background: Data on durability of first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) in children with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are limited. We assessed time to switch to second-line therapy in 16 European countries and Thailand. Methods: Children aged <18 years initiating combination ART (≥2 nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors [NRTIs] plus nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor [NNRTI] or boosted protease inhibitor [PI]) were included. Switch to second-line was defined as (i) change across drug class (PI to NNRTI or vice versa) or within PI class plus change of ≥1 NRTI; (ii) change from single to dual PI; or (iii) addition of a new drug class. Cumulative incidence of switch was calculated with death and loss to follow-up as competing risks. Results: Of 3668 children included, median age at ART initiation was 6.1 (interquartile range (IQR), 1.7-10.5) years. Initial regimens were 32% PI based, 34% nevirapine (NVP) based, and 33% efavirenz based. Median duration of follow-up was 5.4 (IQR, 2.9-8.3) years. Cumulative incidence of switch at 5 years was 21% (95% confidence interval, 20%-23%), with significant regional variations. Median time to switch was 30 (IQR, 16-58) months; two-thirds of switches were related to treatment failure. In multivariable analysis, older age, severe immunosuppression and higher viral load (VL) at ART start, and NVP-based initial regimens were associated with increased risk of switch. Conclusions: One in 5 children switched to a second-line regimen by 5 years of ART, with two-thirds failure related. Advanced HIV, older age, and NVP-based regimens were associated with increased risk of switch

Thigh-length compression stockings and DVT after stroke

Controversy exists as to whether neoadjuvant chemotherapy improves survival in patients with invasive bladder cancer, despite randomised controlled trials of more than 3000 patients. We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the effect of such treatment on survival in patients with this disease

Variation in global chemical composition of PM2.5: emerging results from SPARTAN

The Surface PARTiculate mAtter Network (SPARTAN) is a long-term project that includes characterization of chemical and physical attributes of aerosols from filter samples collected worldwide. This paper discusses the ongoing efforts of SPARTAN to define and quantify major ions and trace metals found in fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Our methods infer the spatial and temporal variability of PM2.5 in a cost-effective manner. Gravimetrically weighed filters represent multi-day averages of PM2.5, with a collocated nephelometer sampling air continuously. SPARTAN instruments are paired with AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) sun photometers to better understand the relationship between ground-level PM2.5 and columnar aerosol optical depth (AOD). We have examined the chemical composition of PM2.5 at 12 globally dispersed, densely populated urban locations and a site at Mammoth Cave (US) National Park used as a background comparison. So far, each SPARTAN location has been active between the years 2013 and 2016 over periods of 2-26 months, with an average period of 12 months per site. These sites have collectively gathered over 10 years of quality aerosol data. The major PM2.5 constituents across all sites (relative contribution±SD) are ammoniated sulfate (20%±11%), crustal material (13.4%±9.9%), equivalent black carbon (11.9%±8.4%), ammonium nitrate (4.7%±3.0%), sea salt (2.3%±1.6%), trace element oxides (1.0%±1.1%), water (7.2%±3.3%) at 35% RH, and residual matter (40%±24%). Analysis of filter samples reveals that several PM2.5 chemical components varied by more than an order of magnitude between sites. Ammoniated sulfate ranges from 1.1μg m-3 (Buenos Aires, Argentina) to 17μg m-3 (Kanpur, India in the dry season). Ammonium nitrate ranged from 0.2μg m-3 (Mammoth Cave, in summer) to 6.8 μg m-3 (Kanpur, dry season). Equivalent black carbon ranged from 0.7μg m-3 (Mammoth Cave) to over 8μg m-3 (Dhaka, Bangladesh and Kanpur, India). Comparison of SPARTAN vs. coincident measurements from the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) network at Mammoth Cave yielded a high degree of consistency for daily PM2.5 (r2 = 0.76, slope = 1.12), daily sulfate (r2 = 0.86, slope = 1.03), and mean fractions of all major PM2.5 components (within 6%). Major ions generally agree well with previous studies at the same urban locations (e.g. sulfate fractions agree within 4% for 8 out of 11 collocation comparisons). Enhanced anthropogenic dust fractions in large urban areas (e.g. Singapore, Kanpur, Hanoi, and Dhaka) are apparent from high Zn:Al ratios. The expected water contribution to aerosols is calculated via the hygroscopicity parameter κv for each filter. Mean aggregate values ranged from 0.15 (Ilorin) to 0.28 (Rehovot). The all-site parameter mean is 0.20±0.04. Chemical composition and water retention in each filter measurement allows inference of hourly PM2.5 at 35% relative humidity by merging with nephelometer measurements. These hourly PM2.5 estimates compare favourably with a beta attenuation monitor (MetOne) at the nearby US embassy in Beijing, with a coefficient of variation r2 = 0.67 (n = 3167), compared to r2 = 0.62 when κv was not considered. SPARTAN continues to provide an open-access database of PM2.5 compositional filter information and hourly mass collected from a global federation of instruments.Fil: Snider, Graydon. Dalhousie University Halifax; CanadáFil: Weagle, Crystal L.. Dalhousie University Halifax; CanadáFil: Murdymootoo, Kalaivani K.. Dalhousie University Halifax; CanadáFil: Ring, Amanda. Dalhousie University Halifax; CanadáFil: Ritchie, Yvonne. Dalhousie University Halifax; CanadáFil: Stone, Emily. Dalhousie University Halifax; CanadáFil: Walsh, Ainsley. Dalhousie University Halifax; CanadáFil: Akoshile, Clement. University Of Ilorin; NigeriaFil: Anh, Nguyen Xuan. Vietnamese Academy Of Science And Technology; VietnamFil: Balasubramanian, Rajasekhar. National University Of Singapore; SingapurFil: Brook, Jeff. University of Toronto; CanadáFil: Qonitan, Fatimah D.. Institut Teknologi Bandung; IndonesiaFil: Dong, Jinlu. Tsinghua University; ChinaFil: Griffith, Derek. The Council For Scientific And Industrial Research; SudáfricaFil: He, Kebin. Tsinghua University; ChinaFil: Holben, Brent N.. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Goddart Institute for Space Studies; Estados UnidosFil: Kahn, Ralph. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Goddart Institute for Space Studies; Estados UnidosFil: Lagrosas, Nofel. Manila University; FilipinasFil: Lestari, Puji. Institut Teknologi Bandung; IndonesiaFil: Ma, Zongwei. Nanjing University; ChinaFil: Misra, Amit. Indian Institute Of Technology; IndiaFil: Norford, Leslie K.. Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Estados UnidosFil: Quel, Eduardo Jaime. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Salam, Abdus. University Of Dhaka; BangladeshFil: Schichtel, Bret. State University of Colorado - Fort Collins; Estados UnidosFil: Segev, Lior. Weizmann Institute Of Science Israel; IsraelFil: Tripathi, Sachchida. Indian Institute Of Technology; IndiaFil: Wang, Chien. Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Estados UnidosFil: Yu, Chao. University Of Emory. Rollins School Of Public Health; Estados UnidosFil: Zhang, Qiang. Tsinghua University; ChinaFil: Zhang, Yuxuan. Tsinghua University; ChinaFil: Brauer, Michael. University of British Columbia; CanadáFil: Cohen, Aaron. Health Effects Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Gibson, Mark D.. Dalhousie University Halifax; CanadáFil: Liu, Yang. University Of Emory. Rollins School Of Public Health; Estados UnidosFil: Martins, J. Vanderlei. University of Maryland; Estados UnidosFil: Rudich, Yinon. Weizmann Institute Of Science Israel; IsraelFil: Martin, Randall V.. Dalhousie University Halifax; Canadá. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; Estados Unido

L'île mouvante de Caliban : île théâtrale et île autochtone, deux mises en scène de La Tempête par Robert Lepage

Through two productions of Shakespeare's The Tempest by Canadian director Robert Lepage—a play in Wendake acted by Wendat actors, and an opera—Caliban's island moves from a natural forest in an Indian reserve to the Scala of Milano. Theatre in nature or play within the play, both productions appear as reappropriations of Shakespeare's play, in which Caliban and Ariel stand for all Aborigenes dispossessed by colonization represented by a complex Prospero who makes First Nations his slaves while appearing as their reflection

A tumor focused approach to resolving the etiology of DNA mismatch repair deficient tumors classified as suspected Lynch syndrome

Abstract Routine screening of tumors for DNA mismatch repair (MMR) deficiency (dMMR) in colorectal (CRC), endometrial (EC) and sebaceous skin (SST) tumors leads to a significant proportion of unresolved cases classified as suspected Lynch syndrome (SLS). SLS cases (n = 135) were recruited from Family Cancer Clinics across Australia and New Zealand. Targeted panel sequencing was performed on tumor (n = 137; 80×CRCs, 33×ECs and 24xSSTs) and matched blood-derived DNA to assess for microsatellite instability status, tumor mutation burden, COSMIC tumor mutational signatures and to identify germline and somatic MMR gene variants. MMR immunohistochemistry (IHC) and MLH1 promoter methylation were repeated. In total, 86.9% of the 137 SLS tumors could be resolved into established subtypes. For 22.6% of these resolved SLS cases, primary MLH1 epimutations (2.2%) as well as previously undetected germline MMR pathogenic variants (1.5%), tumor MLH1 methylation (13.1%) or false positive dMMR IHC (5.8%) results were identified. Double somatic MMR gene mutations were the major cause of dMMR identified across each tumor type (73.9% of resolved cases, 64.2% overall, 70% of CRC, 45.5% of ECs and 70.8% of SSTs). The unresolved SLS tumors (13.1%) comprised tumors with only a single somatic (7.3%) or no somatic (5.8%) MMR gene mutations. A tumor-focused testing approach reclassified 86.9% of SLS into Lynch syndrome, sporadic dMMR or MMR-proficient cases. These findings support the incorporation of tumor sequencing and alternate MLH1 methylation assays into clinical diagnostics to reduce the number of SLS patients and provide more appropriate surveillance and screening recommendations

Additional file 1 of A tumor focused approach to resolving the etiology of DNA mismatch repair deficient tumors classified as suspected Lynch syndrome

Additional file 1: Table S1. Table displaying optimal cut-offs for the six tumor features determined previously (Walker et al. 2023) in the additive feature combination approach. Table S2. SLS tumors (n=13) that showed discordant MMR IHC findings between clinical diagnostic testing before study entry and testing completed internally during this study and the change in their MMR status and/or pattern of MMR protein loss. Table S3. The concordance between the final MMR IHC result and the predicted dMMR status from the additive feature combination approach overall and by tumor type. Table S4. The tumor MLH1 methylation testing completed for SLS tumors prior to entering the study showing either negative, inconclusive, or not tested results and the subsequent MLH1 methylation testing results from internal testing using MethyLight and MS-HRM assays highlighting the positive MLH1 methylation results found by this study. Table S5. Presentation of germline pathogenic variants and variants of uncertain clinical significance (VUS) identified in the MMR, MUTYH and POLE genes. Table S6. Summary of the clinicopathological features for the double somatic MMR mutation (dMMR-DS) tumors overall and by tumor type. Figure S1. Bar plots presenting the results from the additive tumor feature combination approach to assess the MMR status in the double somatic mutation cohort for A) all tumors combined and separated by B) CRC, C) EC and D) SST tissue types. Figure S2. Bar plot presenting the prevalence of pathogenic/likely pathogenic somatic mutations (including loss of heterozygosity, LOH) by subtype for the study cohort. Figure S3. Pie graphs displaying the frequency of the mutation combination type (two single somatic mutations versus a single somatic mutation with loss of heterozygosity (LOH)) as well as the type of mutation A) overall and B) separated by tissue type. Figure S4. Bar graphs presenting the site distribution in the double somatic mutation cohort across all CRCs and SSTs. Figure S5. Boxplots presenting the site distribution in the double somatic mutation cohort across all A) CRCs and B) SSTs. Significant (< 0.05) p-values are indicated for pairwise (t-test) and multigroup comparisons (Anova). Figure S6. Scatter plots presenting the PREMM5 score distribution in the test cohort for A) all tumors combined and separated by B) CRC, C) EC and D) SST tissue types. Figure S7. The distribution of tumor values for each of the six features that are included in the additive feature combination approach for determining tumor dMMR status grouped by molecular subtype and by combining sporadic dMMR groups dMMR-DS and dMMR-MLH1me into a “sporadic combined” group