CPT violation and B-meson oscillations

Recent evidence for anomalous CP violation in B-meson oscillations can be interpreted as resulting from CPT violation. This yields the first sensitivity to CPT violation in the B_s^0 system, with the relevant coefficient for CPT violation constrained at the level of parts in 10^{12}.Comment: 4 pages two-column REVTeX; Rapid Communications, Physical Review D, in pres

Епоха "пост": людина в перспективі "нової духовності"

Розглянуто основні проблеми сучасного суспільства, пов’язані із антропологічною кризою, кардинальними змінами у темпоральності, способі буття людини. Проаналізовано ситуацію заміни попередніх гуманістичних ціннісних систем на більш “технізовані”, що призводить до виникнення нового типу людини – “постлюдини”. Посилюється вплив на людей “світу віртуальної реальності”. Нове штучне середовище “сканує”, приймає лише інформаційний аспект людини, вводячи її як цілісну істоту в стан кризи. Доведено актуальність відповідей на смислові запитання епохи, пов’язані із світоглядом, духовністю та цінностями.The main problems of modern society, related to the anthropological crisis, fundamental changes in temporality, ways of human being are considered. There is an analysis of situation of replacing the previous humanistic value systems on a more “technicized”, which causes a new type of man – “posthuman”. The impact on “the world of virtual reality” people is growing. New artifi cial environment “scans”, takes only informational aspect of human, introducing it as complete being in a state of crisis. The urgency of responses to semantic question of the epoch, related to the outlook, spirituality and values is justifi ed

Molecular alterations and potential actionable mutations in peritoneal mesothelioma:a scoping review of high-throughput sequencing studies

Background: Peritoneal mesothelioma (PeM) is a rare malignancy with a poor prognosis. Currently there is a lack of effective systemic therapies. Due to the rarity of PeM, it is challenging to study new treatment options. Off-label use of targeted drugs could be an effective approach. This scoping review aims to explore the genomic landscape of PeM to identify potential therapeutic targets. Materials and methods: A systematic literature search of Embase, Medline, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar was carried out up to 1 November 2022. Studies that reported on molecular alterations in PeM detected by high-throughput sequencing techniques were included. Genes that were altered in ≥1% of PeMs were selected for the identification of potential targeted therapies. Results: Thirteen articles were included, comprising 824 PeM patients. In total, 142 genes were altered in ≥1% of patients, of which 7 genes were altered in ≥10%. BAP1 was the most commonly altered gene (50%). Other commonly altered genes were NF2 (25%), CDKN2A (23%), CDKN2B (17%), PBRM1 (15%), TP53 (14%), and SETD2 (13%). In total, 17% of PeM patients were carriers of a germline mutation, mainly in BAP1 (7%). Conclusions: This scoping review provides an overview of the mutational landscape of PeM. Germline mutations might be a larger contributor to the incidence of PeM than previously thought. Currently available targeted therapy options are limited, but several targeted agents [such as poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2), and cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6) inhibitors] were identified that might provide new targeted therapy options in the future.</p

Mitigating seafloor disturbance of bottom trawl fisheries for North Sea sole Solea solea by replacing mechanical with electrical stimulation

Funding: ADR, NTH, PM, HP, JJP, TvK: European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) through the Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture Nature and Food Quality (LNV) (Grand/Award Number: 1300021172); NO ADR, JD, ORE, NTH, AI, FO, HP, JJP, TvK: FP 7 project BENTHIS (grant no. 312088); NO.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Accepting higher morbidity in exchange for sacrificing fewer animals in studies developing novel infection-control strategies.

Preventing bacterial infections from becoming the leading cause of death by the year 2050 requires the development of novel, infection-control strategies, building heavily on biomaterials science, including nanotechnology. Pre-clinical (animal) studies are indispensable for this development. Often, animal infection outcomes bear little relation to human clinical outcome. Here, we review conclusions from pathogen-inoculum dose-finding pilot studies for evaluation of novel infection-control strategies in murine models. Pathogen-inoculum doses are generally preferred that produce the largest differences in quantitative infection outcome parameters between a control and an experimental group, without death or termination of animals due to having reached an inhumane end-point during the study. However, animal death may represent a better end-point for evaluation than large differences in outcome parameters or number of days over which infection persists. The clinical relevance of lower pre-clinical outcomes, such as bioluminescence, colony forming units (CFUs) retrieved or more rapid clearance of infection is unknown, as most animals cure infection without intervention, depending on pathogen-species and pathogen-inoculum dose administered. In human clinical practice, patients suffering from infection present to hospital emergency wards, frequently in life-threatening conditions. Animal infection-models should therefore use prevention of death and recurrence of infection as primary efficacy targets to be addressed by novel strategies. To compensate for increased animal morbidity and mortality, animal experiments should solely be conducted for pre-clinical proof of principle and safety. With the advent of sophisticated in vitro models, we advocate limiting use of animal models when exploring pathogenesis or infection mechanisms

Weakly-Coupled Higgs Bosons and Precision Electroweak Physics

We examine the prospects for discovering and elucidating the weakly-coupled Higgs sector at future collider experiments. The Higgs search consists of three phases: (i) discovery of a Higgs candidate, (ii) verification of the Higgs interpretation of the signal, and (iii) precision measurements of Higgs sector properties. The discovery of one Higgs boson with Standard Model properties is not sufficient to expose the underlying structure of the electroweak symmetry breaking dynamics. It is critical to search for evidence for a non-minimal Higgs sector and/or new physics associated with electroweak symmetry breaking dynamics. An improvement in precision electroweak data at future colliders can play a useful role in confirming the theoretical interpretation of the Higgs search results

Different bottom trawl fisheries have a differential impact on the status of the North Sea seafloor habitats

Fisheries using bottom trawls are the most widespread source of anthropogenic physical disturbance to seafloor habitats. To mitigate such disturbances, the development of fisheries-, conservation-, and ecosystem-based management strategies requires the assessment of the impact of bottom trawling on the state of benthic biota. We explore a quantitative and mechanistic framework to assess trawling impact. Pressure and impact indicators that provide a continuous pressure–response curve are estimated at a spatial resolution of 1 χ 1 min latitude and longitude (~2 km2) using three methods: L1 estimates the proportion of the community with a life span exceeding the time interval between trawling events; L2 estimates the decrease in median longevity in response to trawling; and population dynamic (PD) estimates the decrease in biomass in response to trawling and the recovery time. Although impact scores are correlated, PD has the best performance over a broad range of trawling intensities. Using the framework in a trawling impact assessment of ten métiers in the North Sea shows that muddy habitats are impacted the most and coarse habitats are impacted the least. Otter trawling for crustaceans has the highest impact, followed by otter trawling for demersal fish and beam trawling for flatfish and flyshooting. Beam trawling for brown shrimps, otter trawling for industrial fish, and dredging for molluscs have the lowest impact. Trawling is highly aggregated in core fishing grounds where the status of the seafloor is low but the catch per unit of effort (CPUE) per unit of impact is high, in contrast to peripheral grounds, where CPUE per unit of impact is low.</p

Initial properdin binding contributes to alternative pathway activation at the surface of viable and necrotic cells

Properdin, the only known positive regulator of the complement system, stabilizes the C3 convertase, thereby increasing its half-life. In contrast to most other complement factors, properdin is mainly produced extrahepatically by myeloid cells. Recent data suggest a role for properdin as a pattern recognition molecule. Here, we confirmed previous findings of properdin binding to different necrotic cells including Jurkat T cells. Binding can occur independent of C3, as demonstrated by HAP-1 C3 KO cells, excluding a role for endogenous C3. In view of the cellular source of properdin, interaction with myeloid cells was examined. Properdin bound to the surface of viable monocyte-derived pro- and anti-inflammatory macrophages, but not to DCs. Binding was demonstrated for purified properdin as well as fractionated P2, P3, and P4 properdin oligomers. Binding contributed to local complement activation as determined by C3 and C5b-9 deposition on the cell surfaces and seems a prerequisite for alternative pathway activation. Interaction of properdin with cell surfaces could be inhibited with the tick protein Salp20 and by different polysaccharides, depending on sulfation and chain length. These data identify properdin as a factor interacting with different cell surfaces, being either dead or alive, contributing to the local stimulation of complement activation.</p