Search for rare quark-annihilation decays, B --> Ds(*) Phi

We report on searches for B- --> Ds- Phi and B- --> Ds*- Phi. In the context of the Standard Model, these decays are expected to be highly suppressed since they proceed through annihilation of the b and u-bar quarks in the B- meson. Our results are based on 234 million Upsilon(4S) --> B Bbar decays collected with the BABAR detector at SLAC. We find no evidence for these decays, and we set Bayesian 90% confidence level upper limits on the branching fractions BF(B- --> Ds- Phi) Ds*- Phi)<1.2x10^(-5). These results are consistent with Standard Model expectations.Comment: 8 pages, 3 postscript figues, submitted to Phys. Rev. D (Rapid Communications

Men's information-seeking behavior regarding cancer risk and screening: A meta-narrative systematic review

Objective: Preventive strategies are known to reduce cancer risk and incidence and improve prognosis. Men seldom seek medical information about cancer prevention and risk reduction. The aim of this meta‐narrative systematic review was to critically appraise evidence from qualitative, quantitative, and mixed‐methods studies that explored men's information‐seeking behaviors in relation to cancer prevention and risk reduction. // Methods: MEDLINE, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, Education Full Text, and ERIC were systematically searched for studies published in English between January 1, 2006 and May 30, 2016. A total of 4117 titles were identified; of which, 31 studies were included (21 qualitative studies, 9 quantitative studies, and 1 mixed‐methods study). The methodological quality of the studies was appraised by using different tools. // Results: Most studies focused on screening for prostate (n = 18) and colorectal cancer (n = 7). Most men were passive information‐gatherers rather than active information‐seekers. Key sources of information included the Internet for active information‐seekers and health care professionals for passive information‐gatherers. Barriers to information‐seeking included information overload, embarrassment, and fear. Low literacy and health literacy levels were addressed in 3 studies and were identified as impediments to active information‐seeking. Facilitators to information‐seeking included family support, media, celebrity endorsements, and targeted information. // Conclusions: Men's information‐seeking behavior regarding cancer risk reduction, prevention, and screening is influenced by several factors. This necessitates targeted interventions aimed at raising awareness of cancer prevention and screening, while accounting for men's informational needs, preferred learning strategies, and literacy levels

The disruption of proteostasis in neurodegenerative diseases

Cells count on surveillance systems to monitor and protect the cellular proteome which, besides being highly heterogeneous, is constantly being challenged by intrinsic and environmental factors. In this context, the proteostasis network (PN) is essential to achieve a stable and functional proteome. Disruption of the PN is associated with aging and can lead to and/or potentiate the occurrence of many neurodegenerative diseases (ND). This not only emphasizes the importance of the PN in health span and aging but also how its modulation can be a potential target for intervention and treatment of human diseases.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Protection against Tuberculosis in Eurasian Wild Boar Vaccinated with Heat-Inactivated Mycobacterium bovis

Tuberculosis (TB) caused by Mycobacterium bovis and closely related members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex continues to affect humans and animals worldwide and its control requires vaccination of wildlife reservoir species such as Eurasian wild boar (Sus scrofa). Vaccination efforts for TB control in wildlife have been based primarily on oral live BCG formulations. However, this is the first report of the use of oral inactivated vaccines for controlling TB in wildlife. In this study, four groups of 5 wild boar each were vaccinated with inactivated M. bovis by the oral and intramuscular routes, vaccinated with oral BCG or left unvaccinated as controls. All groups were later challenged with a field strain of M. bovis. The results of the IFN-gamma response, serum antibody levels, M. bovis culture, TB lesion scores, and the expression of C3 and MUT genes were compared between these four groups. The results suggested that vaccination with heat-inactivated M. bovis or BCG protect wild boar from TB. These results also encouraged testing combinations of BCG and inactivated M. bovis to vaccinate wild boar against TB. Vaccine formulations using heat-inactivated M. bovis for TB control in wildlife would have the advantage of being environmentally safe and more stable under field conditions when compared to live BCG vaccines. The antibody response and MUT expression levels can help differentiating between vaccinated and infected wild boar and as correlates of protective response in vaccinated animals. These results suggest that vaccine studies in free-living wild boar are now possible to reveal the full potential of protecting against TB using oral M. bovis inactivated and BCG vaccines

Function of SSA Subfamily of Hsp70 Within and Across Species Varies Widely in Complementing Saccharomyces cerevisiae Cell Growth and Prion Propagation

BACKGROUND:The cytosol of most eukaryotic cells contains multiple highly conserved Hsp70 orthologs that differ mainly by their spatio-temporal expression patterns. Hsp70s play essential roles in protein folding, transport or degradation, and are major players of cellular quality control processes. However, while several reports suggest that specialized functions of Hsp70 orthologs were selected through evolution, few studies addressed systematically this issue. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:We compared the ability of Ssa1p-Ssa4p from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Ssa5p-Ssa8p from the evolutionary distant yeast Yarrowia lipolytica to perform Hsp70-dependent tasks when expressed as the sole Hsp70 for S. cerevisiae in vivo. We show that Hsp70 isoforms (i) supported yeast viability yet with markedly different growth rates, (ii) influenced the propagation and stability of the [PSI(+)] and [URE3] prions, but iii) did not significantly affect the proteasomal degradation rate of CFTR. Additionally, we show that individual Hsp70 orthologs did not induce the formation of different prion strains, but rather influenced the aggregation properties of Sup35 in vivo. Finally, we show that [URE3] curing by the overexpression of Ydj1p is Hsp70-isoform dependent. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE:Despite very high homology and overlapping functions, the different Hsp70 orthologs have evolved to possess distinct activities that are required to cope with different types of substrates or stress situations. Yeast prions provide a very sensitive model to uncover this functional specialization and to explore the intricate network of chaperone/co-chaperone/substrates interactions

Measurement of branching fractions and resonance contributions for B-0 ->(D)over-bar(0)K(+)pi(-) and search for B-0 ->(DK+)-K-0 pi(-) decays

Using 226x10(6) Upsilon(4S)-> B (B) over bar events collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II e(+)e(-) storage ring at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, we measure the branching fraction for B-0->(D) over bar (0)K(+)pi(-), excluding B-0-> D*-K+, to be B(B-0->(0)K(+)pi(-))=(88 +/- 15 +/- 9)x10(-6). We observe B-0->(D) over bar K-0(*)(892)(0) and B-0-> D-2(*)(2460)K--(+) contributions. The ratio of branching fractions B(B-0-> D*-K+)/B(B-0-> D(*-)pi(+))=(7.76 +/- 0.34 +/- 0.29)% is measured separately. The branching fraction for the suppressed mode B-0-> D(0)K(+)pi(-) is B(B-0-> D(0)K(+)pi(-))< 19x10(-6) at the 90% confidence level

Observation of B-0 meson decay to a(1)(+/-)(1260)pi(-/+)

We present a measurement of the branching fraction of the decay B-0 -> a(1)(+/-)(1260)pi(-/+) with a(1)(+/-)(1260)->pi(-/+)pi(+/-)pi(+/-). The data sample corresponds to 218x10(6) B (B) over bar pairs produced in e(+)e(-) annihilation through the Upsilon(4S) resonance. We measure the branching fraction B(B-0 -> a(1)(+/-)(1260)pi(-/+))B(a(1)(+/-)(1260)->pi(-/+)pi(+/-)pi(+/-))=(16.6 +/- 1.9 +/- 1.5)x10(-6), where the first error quoted is statistical and the second is systematic

Search for the decay B0→a1±ρ

DOE and NSF (USA), NSERC (Canada), IHEP (China), CEA and CNRS-IN2P3 (France), BMBF and DFG (Germany), INFN (Italy), FOM (The Netherlands), NFR (Norway), MIST (Russia), and PPARC (United Kingdom). Individuals have received support from CONACyT (Mexico), Marie Curie EIF (European Union), the A. P. Sloan Foundation, the Research Corporation, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

Determinations of vertical bar V-ub vertical bar from inclusive semileptonic B decays with reduced model dependence

We report two novel determinations of vertical bar V-ub vertical bar with reduced model dependence, based on measurements of the mass distribution of the hadronic system in semileptonic B decays. Events are selected by fully reconstructing the decay of one B meson and identifying a charged lepton from the decay of the other B meson from Y(4S) -> B (B) over bar events. In one approach, we combine the inclusive (B) over bar -> X(u)l (v) over bar rate, integrated up to a maximum hadronic mass m(X) X-s gamma photon energy spectrum. We obtain vertical bar V-ub vertical bar = (4.43 +/- 0.38(stat) +/- 0.25(syst) +/- 0.29(theo)) x 10(-3). In another approach we measure the total (B) over bar -> X(u)l (v) over bar rate over the full phase space and find vertical bar V-ub vertical bar = 3.84 +/- 0.70(stat) +/- 0.30(syst) +/- 0.10(theo)) x 10(-3)

Anomaly detection in networks with application to financial transaction networks

This paper is motivated by the task of detecting anomalies in networks of financial transactions, with accounts as nodes and a directed weighted edge between two nodes denoting a money transfer. The weight of the edge is the transaction amount. Examples of anomalies in networks include long paths of large transaction amounts, rings of large payments, and cliques of accounts. There are many methods available which detect such specific structures in networks. Here we introduce a method which is able to detect previously unspecified anomalies in networks. The method is based on a combination of features from network comparison and spectral analysis as well as local statistics, yielding 140 main features. We then use a simple feature sum method, as well as a random forest method, in order to classify nodes as normal or anomalous. We test the method first on synthetic networks which we generated, and second on a set of synthetic networks which were generated without the methods team having access to the ground truth. The first set of synthetic networks was split in a training set of 70 percent of the networks, and a test set of 30 percent of the networks. The resulting classifier was then applied to the second set of synthetic networks. We compare our method with Oddball, a widely used method for anomaly detection in networks, as well as to random classification. While Oddball outperforms random classification, both our feature sum method and our random forest method outperform Oddball. On the test set, the random forest outperforms feature sum, whereas on the second synthetic data set, initially feature sum tends to pick up more anomalies than random forest, with this behaviour reversing for lower-scoring anomalies. In all cases, the top 2 percent of flagged anomalies contained on average over 90 percent of the planted anomalies