pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Contrast masking in strabismic amblyopia: Attenuation, noise, interocular suppression and binocular summation

AbstractTo investigate amblyopic contrast vision at threshold and above we performed pedestal-masking (contrast discrimination) experiments with a group of eight strabismic amblyopes using horizontal sinusoidal gratings (mainly 3c/deg) in monocular, binocular and dichoptic configurations balanced across eye (i.e. five conditions). With some exceptions in some observers, the four main results were as follows. (1) For the monocular and dichoptic conditions, sensitivity was less in the amblyopic eye than in the good eye at all mask contrasts. (2) Binocular and monocular dipper functions superimposed in the good eye. (3) Monocular masking functions had a normal dipper shape in the good eye, but facilitation was diminished in the amblyopic eye. (4) A less consistent result was normal facilitation in dichoptic masking when testing the good eye, but a loss of this when testing the amblyopic eye. This pattern of amblyopic results was replicated in a normal observer by placing a neutral density filter in front of one eye. The two-stage model of binocular contrast gain control [Meese, T.S., Georgeson, M.A. & Baker, D.H. (2006). Binocular contrast vision at and above threshold. Journal of Vision 6, 1224–1243.] was ‘lesioned’ in several ways to assess the form of the amblyopic deficit. The most successful model involves attenuation of signal and an increase in noise in the amblyopic eye, and intact stages of interocular suppression and binocular summation. This implies a behavioural influence from monocular noise in the amblyopic visual system as well as in normal observers with an ND filter over one eye
Search for diphoton events with large missing transverse momentum in 7 TeV proton–proton collision data with the ATLAS detector

AbstractA search for diphoton events with large missing transverse momentum has been performed using proton–proton collision data at s=7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.8 fb−1. No excess of events was observed above the Standard Model prediction and model-dependent 95% confidence level exclusion limits are set. In the context of a generalised model of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking with a bino-like lightest neutralino of mass above 50 GeV, gluinos (squarks) below 1.07 TeV (0.87 TeV) are excluded, while a breaking scale Λ below 196 TeV is excluded for a minimal model of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking. For a specific model with one universal extra dimension, compactification scales 1/R<1.40 TeV are excluded. These limits provide the most stringent tests of these models to date
Inclusive cross-sections for jet production in nucleus–nucleus collisions in the perturbative QCD pomeron model

AbstractInclusive cross-sections for gluon jet production are studied numerically in the perturbative QCD pomeron model for central collisions of identical nuclei at high energies. Two forms for the inclusive cross-sections, with and without emission from the triple pomeron vertex, are compared. The difference was found to reduce to a numerical factor 0.8–0.9 for momenta below the saturation momentum Qs. Above Qs no difference was found at all. The gluon spectrum was found to be ∼A at momenta k below Qs and ∼A1.1 above it. At large k the spectrum goes like 1/k2.7–3.3 flattening with energy. The multiplicities turned out to be proportional to A with a good precision. Their absolute values are high and grow rapidly with energy in accordance with the high value of the BFKL intercept
Using bisimulation proof techniques for the analysis of distributed abstract machines

AbstractWe illustrate the use of recently developed proof techniques for weak bisimulation by analysing a generic framework for the definition of distributed abstract machines based on a message-passing implementation. We first define this framework, and then focus on the algorithm which is used to route messages asynchronously to their destination.A first version of this algorithm can be analysed using the standard bisimulation up to expansion proof technique. We show that in a second, optimised version, rather complex behaviours appear, for which more sophisticated techniques, relying on termination arguments, are necessary to establish behavioural equivalence
T4 fibrations over Calabi–Yau two-folds and non-Kähler manifolds in string theory

AbstractWe construct a geometric model of eight-dimensional manifolds and realize them in the context of type II string theory. These eight-manifolds are constructed by non-trivial T4 fibrations over Calabi–Yau two-folds. These give rise to eight-dimensional non-Kähler Hermitian manifolds with SU(4) structure. The eight-manifold is also a circle fibration over a seven-dimensional G2 manifold with skew torsion. The eight-manifolds of this type appear as internal manifolds with SU(4) structure in type IIB string theory with F3 and F7 fluxes. These manifolds have generalized calibrated cycles in the presence of fluxes
Novel approaches in anti-arenaviral drug development

AbstractHemorrhagic fevers caused by arenaviruses are among the most devastating emerging human diseases. Considering the number of individuals affected, the current lack of a licensed vaccine, and the limited therapeutic options, arenaviruses are arguably among the most neglected tropical pathogens and the development of efficacious anti-arenaviral drugs is of high priority. Over the past years significant efforts have been undertaken to identify novel potent inhibitors of arenavirus infection. High throughput screening of small molecule libraries employing pseudotype platforms led to the discovery of several potent and broadly active inhibitors of arenavirus cell entry that are effective against the major hemorrhagic arenaviruses. Mechanistic studies revealed that these novel entry inhibitors block arenavirus membrane fusion and provided novel insights into the unusual mechanism of this process. The success of these approaches highlights the power of small molecule screens in antiviral drug discovery and establishes arenavirus membrane fusion as a robust drug target. These broad screenings have been complemented by strategies targeting cellular factors involved in productive arenavirus infection. Approaches targeting the cellular protease implicated in maturation of the fusion-active viral envelope glycoprotein identified the proteolytic processing of the arenavirus glycoprotein precursor as a novel and promising target for anti-arenaviral strategies
BCL9/9L-β-catenin Signaling is Associated With Poor Outcome in Colorectal Cancer

AbstractBCL9/9L proteins enhance the transcriptional output of the β-catenin/TCF transcriptional complex and contribute critically to upholding the high WNT signaling level required for stemness maintenance in the intestinal epithelium. Here we show that a BCL9/9L-dependent gene signature derived from independent mouse colorectal cancer (CRC) models unprecedentedly separates patient subgroups with regard to progression free and overall survival. We found that this effect was by and large attributable to stemness related gene sets. Remarkably, this signature proved associated with recently described poor prognosis CRC subtypes exhibiting high stemness and/or epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) traits. Consistent with the notion that high WNT signaling is required for stemness maintenance, ablating Bcl9/9l-β-catenin in murine oncogenic intestinal organoids provoked their differentiation and completely abrogated their tumorigenicity, while not affecting their proliferation. Therapeutic strategies aimed at targeting WNT responses may be limited by intestinal toxicity. Our findings suggest that attenuating WNT signaling to an extent that affects stemness maintenance without disturbing intestinal renewal might be well tolerated and prove sufficient to reduce CRC recurrence and dramatically improve disease outcome
Excitation energy dependence of fragment-mass distributions from fission of 180,190Hg formed in fusion reactions of 36Ar + 144,154Sm

AbstractMass distributions of fission fragments from the compound nuclei 180Hg and 190Hg formed in fusion reactions 36Ar + 144Sm and 36Ar + 154Sm, respectively, were measured at initial excitation energies of E⁎(Hg180)=33–66 MeV and E⁎(Hg190)=48–71 MeV. In the fission of 180Hg, the mass spectra were well reproduced by assuming only an asymmetric-mass division, with most probable light and heavy fragment masses A¯L/A¯H=79/101. The mass asymmetry for 180Hg agrees well with that obtained in the low-energy β+/EC-delayed fission of 180Tl, from our earlier ISOLDE(CERN) experiment. Fission of 190Hg is found to proceed in a similar way, delivering the mass asymmetry of A¯L/A¯H=83/107, throughout the measured excitation energy range. The persistence as a function of excitation energy of the mass-asymmetric fission for both proton-rich Hg isotopes gives strong evidence for the survival of microscopic effects up to effective excitation energies of compound nuclei as high as 40 MeV. This behavior is different from fission of actinide nuclei and heavier mercury isotope 198Hg
Kv2 dysfunction after peripheral axotomy enhances sensory neuron responsiveness to sustained input

AbstractPeripheral nerve injuries caused by trauma are associated with increased sensory neuron excitability and debilitating chronic pain symptoms. Axotomy-induced alterations in the function of ion channels are thought to largely underlie the pathophysiology of these phenotypes. Here, we characterise the mRNA distribution of Kv2 family members in rat dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and describe a link between Kv2 function and modulation of sensory neuron excitability. Kv2.1 and Kv2.2 were amply expressed in cells of all sizes, being particularly abundant in medium-large neurons also immunoreactive for neurofilament-200. Peripheral axotomy led to a rapid, robust and long-lasting transcriptional Kv2 downregulation in the DRG, correlated with the onset of mechanical and thermal hypersensitivity. The consequences of Kv2 loss-of-function were subsequently investigated in myelinated neurons using intracellular recordings on ex vivo DRG preparations. In naïve neurons, pharmacological Kv2.1/Kv2.2 inhibition by stromatoxin-1 (ScTx) resulted in shortening of action potential (AP) after-hyperpolarization (AHP). In contrast, ScTx application on axotomized neurons did not alter AHP duration, consistent with the injury-induced Kv2 downregulation. In accordance with a shortened AHP, ScTx treatment also reduced the refractory period and improved AP conduction to the cell soma during high frequency stimulation. These results suggest that Kv2 downregulation following traumatic nerve lesion facilitates greater fidelity of repetitive firing during prolonged input and thus normal Kv2 function is postulated to limit neuronal excitability. In summary, we have profiled Kv2 expression in sensory neurons and provide evidence for the contribution of Kv2 dysfunction in the generation of hyperexcitable phenotypes encountered in chronic pain states
Health and economic outcomes of the detection of Klebsiella pneumoniae-produced extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) in a hospital with high prevalence of this infection

SummaryIntroductionKlebsiella pneumoniae is of high prevalence in hospital infections, mainly in bloodstream infections (BSI), and some produce extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL). For hospitals with a high prevalence of strains producing this enzyme, there is no reference material to show whether the use of the E-test method for their detection, which can be quite expensive, is actually required.ObjectiveTo evaluate the cost-benefit of the disk diffusion and E-test methods for the detection of ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae strains in hospitals where a high prevalence of this resistance mechanism in BSI is found.MethodsOne hundred and eight patients with K. pneumoniae BSI were evaluated retrospectively. ESBL-producing strains were identified by the disk diffusion method and by the E-test method. We estimated the costs of both diagnostic methods based on antimicrobial therapy adequacy.ResultsFifty-two percent of K. pneumoniae infections were due to ESBL-producing strains. The disk diffusion method yielded a positive predictive value (PPV) of 94.7% (95% CI: 88.9–100%) and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 96.1% (CI 95%: 90.8–101.4%) in relation to the E-test. We evaluated cost-effectiveness, i.e., we analyzed the cost of both E-test and disk diffusion methods with carbapenem and cephalosporins, and found that the use of the disk diffusion method accounts for approximately US$3300.ConclusionsIn hospitals with a high prevalence of ESBL-producing strains, the disk diffusion method can be used to detect ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae without compromising the clinical progression of patients with BSI. The E-test showed higher accuracy but this method was more expensive than the disk diffusion method. However, the use of the E-test method was demonstrated to be more cost-effective, as we evaluated cost based on antimicrobial therapy adequacy
Tamoxifen for prevention of breast cancer: extended long-term follow-up of the IBIS-I breast cancer prevention trial

SummaryBackgroundFour previously published randomised clinical trials have shown that tamoxifen can reduce the risk of breast cancer in healthy women at increased risk of breast cancer in the first 10 years of follow-up. We report the long-term follow-up of the IBIS-I trial, in which the participants and investigators remain largely masked to treatment allocation.MethodsIn the IBIS-I randomised controlled trial, premenopausal and postmenopausal women 35–70 years of age deemed to be at an increased risk of developing breast cancer were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive oral tamoxifen 20 mg daily or matching placebo for 5 years. Patients were randomly assigned to the two treatment groups by telephone or fax according to a block randomisation schedule (permuted block sizes of six or ten). Patients and investigators were masked to treatment assignment by use of central randomisation and coded drug supply. The primary endpoint was the occurrence of breast cancer (invasive breast cancer and ductal carcinoma in situ), analysed by intention to treat. Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess breast cancer occurrence and mortality. The trial is closed to recruitment and active treatment is completed, but long-term follow-up is ongoing. This trial is registered with controlledtrials.com, number ISRCTN91879928.FindingsBetween April 14, 1992, and March 30, 2001, 7154 eligible women recruited from genetics clinics and breast care clinics in eight countries were enrolled into the IBIS-I trial and were randomly allocated to the two treatment groups: 3579 to tamoxifen and 3575 to placebo. After a median follow up of 16·0 years (IQR 14·1–17·6), 601 breast cancers have been reported (251 [7·0%] in 3579 patients in the tamoxifen group vs 350 [9·8%] in 3575 women in the placebo group; hazard ratio [HR] 0·71 [95% CI 0·60–0·83], p<0·0001). The risk of developing breast cancer was similar between years 0–10 (226 [6·3%] in 3575 women in the placebo group vs 163 [4·6%] in 3579 women in the tamoxifen group; hazard ratio [HR] 0·72 [95% CI 0·59–0·88], p=0·001) and after 10 years (124 [3·8%] in 3295 women vs 88 [2·6%] in 3343, respectively; HR 0·69 [0·53–0·91], p=0·009). The greatest reduction in risk was seen in invasive oestrogen receptor-positive breast cancer (HR 0·66 [95% CI 0·54–0·81], p<0·0001) and ductal carcinoma in situ (0·65 [0·43–1·00], p=0·05), but no effect was noted for invasive oestrogen receptor-negative breast cancer (HR 1·05 [95% CI 0·71–1·57], p=0·8).InterpretationThese results show that tamoxifen offers a very long period of protection after treatment cessation, and thus substantially improves the benefit-to-harm ratio of the drug for breast cancer prevention.FundingCancer Research UK (UK) and the National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia)
Construction of a map-based reference genome sequence for barley, Hordeum vulgare L.

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is a cereal grass mainly used as animal fodder and raw material for the malting industry. The map-based reference genome sequence of barley cv. ‘Morex’ was constructed by the International Barley Genome Sequencing Consortium (IBSC) using hierarchical shotgun sequencing. Here, we report the experimental and computational procedures to (i) sequence and assemble more than 80,000 bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones along the minimum tiling path of a genome-wide physical map, (ii) find and validate overlaps between adjacent BACs, (iii) construct 4,265 non-redundant sequence scaffolds representing clusters of overlapping BACs, and (iv) order and orient these BAC clusters along the seven barley chromosomes using positional information provided by dense genetic maps, an optical map and chromosome conformation capture sequencing (Hi-C). Integrative access to these sequence and mapping resources is provided by the barley genome explorer (BARLEX)
Promising role of preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in patients treated with radical nephroureterectomy.

Several retrospective studies with small cohorts reported neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) as a prognostic marker in upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) following radical nephroureterectomy (RNU). We aimed at validating the predictive and prognostic role of NLR in a large multi-institutional cohort.
Preoperative NLR was assessed in a multi-institutional cohort of 2477 patients with UTUC treated with RNU. Altered NLR was defined by a ratio &gt;2.7. Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the association between NLR and lymph node metastasis, muscle-invasive and non-organ-confined disease. The association of altered NLR with recurrence-free survival (RFS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) was evaluated using Cox proportional hazards regression models.
Altered NLR was observed in 1428 (62.8 %) patients and associated with more advanced pathological tumor stage, lymph node metastasis, lymphovascular invasion, tumor necrosis and sessile tumor architecture. In a preoperative model that included age, gender, tumor location and architecture, NLR was an independent predictive factor for the presence of lymph node metastasis, muscle-invasive and non-organ-confined disease (p &lt; 0.001). Within a median follow-up of 40 months (IQR 20-76 months), 548 (24.1 %) patients experienced disease recurrence and 453 patients (19.9 %) died from their cancer. Compared to patients with normal NLR, those with altered NLR had worse RFS (0.003) and CSS (p = 0.002). In multivariable analyses that adjusted for the effects of standard clinicopathologic features, altered NLR did not retain an independent value. In the subgroup of patients treated with lymphadenectomy in addition to RNU, NLR was independently associated with CSS (p = 0.03).
In UTUC, preoperative NLR is associated with adverse clinicopathologic features and independently predicts features of biologically and clinically aggressive UTUC such as lymph node metastasis, muscle-invasive or non-organ-confined status. NLR may help better risk stratify patients with regard to lymphadenectomy and conservative therapy
Observation of two types of anyons in the Kitaev honeycomb magnet

Quantum spin liquid is a disordered magnetic state with fractional spin
excitations. Its clearest example is found in an exactly solved Kitaev
honeycomb model where a spin flip fractionalizes into two types of anyons,
quasiparticles that are neither fermions nor bosons: a pair of gauge fluxes and
a Majorana fermion. Here we demonstrate this kind of fractionalization in the
Kitaev paramagnetic state of the honeycomb magnet $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$. The
spin-excitation gap measured by nuclear magnetic resonance consists of the
predicted Majorana fermion contribution following the cube of the applied
magnetic field, and a finite zero-field contribution matching the predicted
size of the gauge-flux gap. The observed fractionalization into gapped anyons
survives in a broad range of temperatures and magnetic fields despite
inevitable non-Kitaev interactions between the spins, which are predicted to
drive the system towards a gapless ground state. The gapped character of both
anyons is crucial for their potential application in topological quantum
computing.Comment: changed title, updated figures with added data points, updated
  supplemental materia
Sivers asymmetry extracted in SIDIS at the hard scales of the Drell–Yan process at COMPASS

Eight proton transverse-spin-dependent azimuthal asymmetries are extracted in four regions of the photon virtuality Q2 from the COMPASS 2010 semi-inclusive hadron measurements in deep inelastic muon–nucleon scattering. These Q2 regions correspond to the four regions of the di-muon mass View the MathML source used in the ongoing analyses of the COMPASS Drell–Yan measurements, which allows for a future direct comparison of the nucleon transverse-momentum-dependent parton distribution functions extracted from these two alternative measurements. In addition, for the azimuthal asymmetries induced by the Sivers transverse-momentum-dependent parton distribution function various two-dimensional kinematic dependences are presented. The integrated Sivers asymmetries are found to be positive with an accuracy that appears to be sufficient to test the sign change of the Sivers function predicted by Quantum Chromodynamics
Radio-loud active calactic nucleus: is there a link between luminosity and cluster environment?

We present here the first results from the Chandra ERA (Environments of Radio-loud AGN) Large Project,
characterizing the cluster environments of a sample of 26 radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at z ∼ 0.5
that covers three decades of radio luminosity. This is the first systematic X-ray environmental study at a single
epoch, and has allowed us to examine the relationship between radio luminosity and cluster environment without
the problems ofMalmquist bias.We have found a weak correlation between radio luminosity and host cluster X-ray
luminosity, as well as tentative evidence that this correlation is driven by the subpopulation of low-excitation radio
galaxies, with high-excitation radio galaxies showing no significant correlation. The considerable scatter in the
environments may be indicative of complex relationships not currently included in feedback models.Web of Scienc
Search for physics beyond the standard model in dilepton mass spectra in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV

Dimuon and dielectron mass spectra, obtained from data resulting from proton-proton collisions at 8 TeV and recorded by the CMS experiment, are used to search for both narrow resonances and broad deviations from standard model predictions. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 20.6 (19.7) inverse femtobarns for the dimuon (dielectron) channel. No evidence for non-standard-model physics is observed and 95% confidence level limits are set on parameters from a number of new physics models. The narrow resonance analyses exclude a Sequential Standard Model Z'[SSM] resonance lighter than 2.90 TeV, a superstring-inspired Z'[psi] lighter than 2.57 TeV, and Randall-Sundrum Kaluza-Klein gravitons with masses below 2.73, 2.35, and 1.27 TeV for couplings of 0.10, 0.05, and 0.01, respectively. A notable feature is that the limits have been calculated in a model-independent way to enable straightforward reinterpretation in any model predicting a resonance structure. The observed events are also interpreted within the framework of two based on a quark and lepton compositeness model with a left-left isoscalar contact interaction. Lower limits are established on M[S], the scale characterizing the onset of quantum gravity, which range from 4.9 to 3.3 TeV, where the number of additional spatial dimensions varies from 3 to 7. Similarly, lower limits on Lambda, the energy scale parameter for the contact interaction, are found to be 12.0 (15.2) TeV for destructive (constructive) interference in the dimuon channel and 13.5 (18.3) TeV in the dielectron channel