First narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves from known pulsars in advanced detector data

Spinning neutron stars asymmetric with respect to their rotation axis are potential sources of continuous gravitational waves for ground-based interferometric detectors. In the case of known pulsars a fully coherent search, based on matched filtering, which uses the position and rotational parameters obtained from electromagnetic observations, can be carried out. Matched filtering maximizes the signalto- noise (SNR) ratio, but a large sensitivity loss is expected in case of even a very small mismatch between the assumed and the true signal parameters. For this reason, narrow-band analysis methods have been developed, allowing a fully coherent search for gravitational waves from known pulsars over a fraction of a hertz and several spin-down values. In this paper we describe a narrow-band search of 11 pulsars using data from Advanced LIGO’s first observing run. Although we have found several initial outliers, further studies show no significant evidence for the presence of a gravitational wave signal. Finally, we have placed upper limits on the signal strain amplitude lower than the spin-down limit for 5 of the 11 targets over the bands searched; in the case of J1813-1749 the spin-down limit has been beaten for the first time. For an additional 3 targets, the median upper limit across the search bands is below the spin-down limit. This is the most sensitive narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves carried out so far

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Search for the neutral Higgs bosons of the minimal supersymmetric standard model in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for neutral Higgs bosons of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) is reported. The analysis is based on a sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The data were recorded in 2011 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb-1 to 4.8 fb-1. Higgs boson decays into oppositely-charged muon or τ lepton pairs are considered for final states requiring either the presence or absence of b-jets. No statistically significant excess over the expected background is observed and exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level are derived. The exclusion limits are for the production cross-section of a generic neutral Higgs boson, φ, as a function of the Higgs boson mass and for h/A/H production in the MSSM as a function of the parameters mA and tan β in the mhmax scenario for mA in the range of 90GeV to 500 GeV. Copyright CERN

Cost-effectiveness of human papillomavirus vaccination for prevention of cervical cancer in Taiwan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection has been shown to be a major risk factor for cervical cancer. Vaccines against HPV-16 and HPV-18 are highly effective in preventing type-specific HPV infections and related cervical lesions. There is, however, limited data available describing the health and economic impacts of HPV vaccination in Taiwan. The objective of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of prophylactic HPV vaccination for the prevention of cervical cancer in Taiwan.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We developed a Markov model to compare the health and economic outcomes of vaccinating preadolescent girls (at the age of 12 years) for the prevention of cervical cancer with current practice, including cervical cytological screening. Data were synthesized from published papers or reports, and whenever possible, those specific to Taiwan were used. Sensitivity analyses were performed to account for important uncertainties and different vaccination scenarios.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Under the assumption that the HPV vaccine could provide lifelong protection, the massive vaccination among preadolescent girls in Taiwan would lead to reduction in 73.3% of the total incident cervical cancer cases and would result in a life expectancy gain of 4.9 days or 8.7 quality-adjusted life days at a cost of US$324 as compared to the current practice. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was US$23,939 per life year gained or US$13,674 per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained given the discount rate of 3$30,000 per QALY under most conditions, even when vaccine efficacy was suboptimal or when vaccine-induced immunity required booster shots every 13 years.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Although gains in life expectancy may be modest at the individual level, the results indicate that prophylactic HPV vaccination of preadolescent girls in Taiwan would result in substantial population benefits with a favorable cost-effectiveness ratio. Nevertheless, we should not overlook the urgency to improve the compliance rate of cervical screening, particularly for older individuals.</p

Functional identification of biological neural networks using reservoir adaptation for point processes

The complexity of biological neural networks does not allow to directly relate their biophysical properties to the dynamics of their electrical activity. We present a reservoir computing approach for functionally identifying a biological neural network, i.e. for building an artificial system that is functionally equivalent to the reference biological network. Employing feed-forward and recurrent networks with fading memory, i.e. reservoirs, we propose a point process based learning algorithm to train the internal parameters of the reservoir and the connectivity between the reservoir and the memoryless readout neurons. Specifically, the model is an Echo State Network (ESN) with leaky integrator neurons, whose individual leakage time constants are also adapted. The proposed ESN algorithm learns a predictive model of stimulus-response relations in in vitro and simulated networks, i.e. it models their response dynamics. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis indicates that these ESNs can imitate the response signal of a reference biological network. Reservoir adaptation improved the performance of an ESN over readout-only training methods in many cases. This also held for adaptive feed-forward reservoirs, which had no recurrent dynamics. We demonstrate the predictive power of these ESNs on various tasks with cultured and simulated biological neural networks

A low-cost HPV immunochromatographic assay to detect high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

Objective To evaluate the reproducibility and accuracy of the HPV16/18-E6 test. Methods The study population was comprised of 448 women with a previously abnormal Pap who were referred to the Barretos Cancer Hospital (Brazil) for diagnosis and treatment. Two cervical samples were collected immediately before colposcopy, one for the hr-HPV-DNA test and cytology and the other for the HPV16/18-E6 test using high-affinity monoclonal antibodies (mAb). Women with a histologic diagnosis of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or 3 were considered to be positive cases. Different strategies using a combination of screening methods (HPV-DNA) and triage tests (cytology and HPV16/18-E6) were also examined and compared. Results The HPV16/18-E6 test exhibited a lower positivity rate compared with the HPV-DNA test (19.0% vs. 29.3%, p<0.001) and a moderate/high agreement (kappa = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.60-0.75). It also exhibited a significantly lower sensitivity for CIN2+ and CIN3+ detection compared to the HPV-DNA test and a significantly higher specificity. The HPV16/18-E6 test was no different from cytology in terms of sensitivity, but it exhibited a significantly higher specificity in comparison to ASCH+. A triage test after HPV-DNA detection using the HPV16/18-E6 test exhibited a significantly higher specificity compared with a triage test of ASCH+ to CIN2+ (91.8% vs. 87.4%, p = 0.04) and CIN3+ (88.6% vs. 84.0%, p = 0.05). Conclusion The HPV16/18-E6 test exhibited moderate/high agreement with the HPV-DNA test but lower sensitivity and higher specificity for the detection of CIN2+ and CIN3+. In addition, its performance was quite similar to cytology, but because of the structural design addressed for the detection of HPV16/18-E6 protein, the test can miss some CIN2/3+ lesions caused by other high-risk HPV types.Cancer Prevention Department, Center for the Researcher Support and Pathology Department of the Barretos Cancer Hospital. This study was supported by CNPq 573799/2008-3 and FAPESP 2008/57889-1info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Adherence to treatment to help quit smoking: effects of task performance and coping with withdrawal symptoms

Background: Currently the combined cognitive-behavioral and pharmacological treatment is the best option to quit smoking, although success rates remain moderate. This study aimed to identify predictors of continuous abstinence in an assisted smoking cessation program using combined treatment. In particular, we analyzed the effects of socio-demographic, smoking-, and treatment-related variables. In addition, we analyzed the effect of several risk factors on abstinence, and estimated a model of risk for smoking relapse.Methods: Participants were 125 workers at the University of Granada (50 males), with an average age of 46.91 years (SD = 8.15). They were recruited between 2009 and 2013 at an occupational health clinic providing smoking cessation treatment. Baseline measures included socio-demographic data, preferred brand of cigarettes, number of years smoking, use of alcohol and/or tranquilizers, past attempts to quit, Fargerström Test for Nicotine Dependence, Smoking Processes of Change Scale, and Coping with Withdrawal Symptoms Interview. Participants were invited to a face-to-face assessment of smoking abstinence using self-report and cooximetry hemoglobin measures at 3, 6, and 12 months follow-up. The main outcome was smoking status coded as “relapse” versus “abstinence” at each follow-up. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed to estimate the probability of continued abstinence during 12 months and log-rank tests were used to analyze differences in continued abstinence as a function of socio-demographic, smoking-, and treatment-related variables. Cox regression was used to analyze the simultaneous effect of several risk factors on abstinence.Results: Using alcohol and/or tranquilizers was related to shorter abstinence. Physical exercise, the number of treatment sessions, performance of treatment tasks, and coping with withdrawal symptoms were related to prolonged abstinence. In particular, failure to perform the treatment tasks tripled the risk of relapse, while lack of coping doubled it.Conclusions: Our results show that physical exercise, performance of treatment-related tasks, and effective coping with withdrawal symptoms can prolong abstinence from smoking. Programs designed to help quit smoking can benefit from the inclusion of these factors.This research was supported by the Occupational Medicine Area (Prevention Service) of the University of Granada

Epigenetic Analysis of KSHV Latent and Lytic Genomes

Epigenetic modifications of the herpesviral genome play a key role in the transcriptional control of latent and lytic genes during a productive viral lifecycle. In this study, we describe for the first time a comprehensive genome-wide ChIP-on-Chip analysis of the chromatin associated with the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) genome during latency and lytic reactivation. Depending on the gene expression class, different combinations of activating [acetylated H3 (AcH3) and H3K4me3] and repressive [H3K9me3 and H3K27me3] histone modifications are associated with the viral latent genome, which changes upon reactivation in a manner that is correlated with their expression. Specifically, both the activating marks co-localize on the KSHV latent genome, as do the repressive marks. However, the activating and repressive histone modifications are mutually exclusive of each other on the bulk of the latent KSHV genome. The genomic region encoding the IE genes ORF50 and ORF48 possesses the features of a bivalent chromatin structure characterized by the concomitant presence of the activating H3K4me3 and the repressive H3K27me3 marks during latency, which rapidly changes upon reactivation with increasing AcH3 and H3K4me3 marks and decreasing H3K27me3. Furthermore, EZH2, the H3K27me3 histone methyltransferase of the Polycomb group proteins (PcG), colocalizes with the H3K27me3 mark on the entire KSHV genome during latency, whereas RTA-mediated reactivation induces EZH2 dissociation from the genomic regions encoding IE and E genes concurrent with decreasing H3K27me3 level and increasing IE/E lytic gene expression. Moreover, either the inhibition of EZH2 expression by a small molecule inhibitor DZNep and RNAi knockdown, or the expression of H3K27me3-specific histone demethylases apparently induced the KSHV lytic gene expression cascade. These data indicate that histone modifications associated with the KSHV latent genome are involved in the regulation of latency and ultimately in the control of the temporal and sequential expression of the lytic gene cascade. In addition, the PcG proteins play a critical role in the control of KSHV latency by maintaining a reversible heterochromatin on the KSHV lytic genes. Thus, the regulation of the spatial and temporal association of the PcG proteins with the KSHV genome may be crucial for propagating the KSHV lifecycle

Cardiac regeneration: different cells same goal

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality, morbidity, hospitalization and impaired quality of life. In most, if not all, pathologic cardiac ischemia ensues triggering a succession of events leading to massive death of cardiomyocytes, fibroblast and extracellular matrix accumulation, cardiomyocyte hypertrophy which culminates in heart failure and eventually death. Though current pharmacological treatment is able to delay the succession of events and as a consequence the development of heart failure, the only currently available and effective treatment of end-stage heart failure is heart transplantation. However, donor heart availability and immunorejection upon transplantation seriously limit the applicability. Cardiac regeneration could provide a solution, making real a dream of both scientist and clinician in the previous century and ending an ongoing challenge for this century. In this review, we present a basic overview of the various cell types that have been used in both the clinical and research setting with respect to myocardial differentiation

Remote detection of invasive alien species

The spread of invasive alien species (IAS) is recognized as the most severe threat to biodiversity outside of climate change and anthropogenic habitat destruction. IAS negatively impact ecosystems, local economies, and residents. They are especially problematic because once established, they give rise to positive feedbacks, increasing the likelihood of further invasions and spread. The integration of remote sensing (RS) to the study of invasion, in addition to contributing to our understanding of invasion processes and impacts to biodiversity, has enabled managers to monitor invasions and predict the spread of IAS, thus supporting biodiversity conservation and management action. This chapter focuses on RS capabilities to detect and monitor invasive plant species across terrestrial, riparian, aquatic, and human-modified ecosystems. All of these environments have unique species assemblages and their own optimal methodology for effective detection and mapping, which we discuss in detail