Wounds that remain in the inflammatory phase for a prolonged period of time are likely to be colonised and infected by a range of commensal and pathogenic microorganisms. Treatment associated with these types of wounds mainly focuses on controlling infection and providing an optimum environment capable of facilitating re-epithelialisation, thus promoting wound healing. Hydrogels have attracted vast interest as moist wound-responsive dressing materials. In the current study, biosynthetic bacterial cellulose hydrogels synthesised by Gluconacetobacter xylinus and subsequently loaded with silver were characterised and investigated for their antimicrobial activity against two representative wound infecting pathogens, namely S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. Silver nitrate and silver zeolite provided the source of silver and loading parameters were optimised based on experimental findings. The results indicate that both AgNO3 and AgZ loaded biosynthetic hydrogels possess antimicrobial activity (p
The field of pharmaceutical technology is expanding rapidly because of the increasing number of drug delivery options. Successful drug delivery is influenced by multiple factors, one of which is the appropriate identification of materials for research and engineering of new drug delivery systems. Bacterial cellulose (BC) is one such biopolymer that fulfils the criteria for consideration as a drug delivery material.
The emerging problems posed by antibiotic resistance complicate the treatment regime required for wound infections and are driving the need to develop more effective methods of wound management. There is growing interest in the use of alternative, broad spectrum, pre-antibiotic antimicrobial agents such as essential oils (e.g., tea tree oil, TTO) and metal ions (e.g., silver, Ag⁺). Both TTO and Ag⁺ have broad spectrum antimicrobial activity and act on multiple target sites, hence reducing the likelihood of developing resistance. Combining such agents with responsive, controlled release delivery systems such as hydrogels may enhance microbiocidal activity and promote wound healing. The advantages of using chitosan to formulate the hydrogels include its biocompatible, mucoadhesive and controlled release properties. In this study, hydrogels loaded with TTO and Ag⁺ exhibited antimicrobial activity against P. aeruginosa, S. aureus and C. albicans. Combining TTO and Ag⁺ into the hydrogel further improved antimicrobial activity by lowering the effective concentrations required, respectively. This has obvious advantages for reducing the potential toxic effects on the healthy tissues surrounding the wound. These studies highlight the feasibility of delivering lower effective concentrations of antimicrobial agents such as TTO and Ag⁺ in ionically crosslinked chitosan hydrogels to treat common wound-infecting pathogens.
Wolbachia is an alpha-proteobacterial symbiont widely distributed in arthropods. Since the identification of Wolbachia in certain animal-parasitic nematodes (the Onchocercidae or filariae), the relationship between arthropod and nematode Wolbachia has attracted great interest. The obligate symbiosis in filariae, which renders infected species susceptible to antibiotic chemotherapy, was held to be distinct from the Wolbachia-arthropod relationship, typified by reproductive parasitism. While co-evolutionary signatures in Wolbachia-arthropod symbioses are generally weak, reflecting horizontal transmission events, strict co-evolution between filariae and Wolbachia has been reported previously. However, the absence of close outgroups for phylogenetic studies prevented the determination of which host group originally acquired Wolbachia. Here, we present the largest co-phylogenetic analysis of Wolbachia in filariae performed to date including: (i) a screening and an updated phylogeny of Wolbachia; (ii) a co-phylogenetic analysis; and (iii) a hypothesis on the acquisition of Wolbachia infection. First, our results show a general overestimation of Wolbachia occurrence and support the hypothesis of an ancestral absence of infection in the nematode phylum. The accuracy of supergroup J is also underlined. Second, although a global pattern of coevolution remains, the signal is derived predominantly from filarial clades associated with Wolbachia in supergroups C and J. In other filarial clades, harbouring Wolbachia supergroups D and F, horizontal acquisitions and secondary losses are common. Finally, our results suggest that supergroup C is the basal Wolbachia clade within the Ecdysozoa. This hypothesis on the origin of Wolbachia would change drastically our understanding of Wolbachia evolution.
Precision medicine is part of the logical evolution of contemporary evidence-based medicine that seeks to reduce errors and optimize outcomes when making medical decisions and health recommendations. Diabetes affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide, many of whom will develop life-threatening complications and die prematurely. Precision medicine can potentially address this enormous problem by accounting for heterogeneity in the etiology, clinical presentation and pathogenesis of common forms of diabetes and risks of complications. This second international consensus report on precision diabetes medicine summarizes the findings from a systematic evidence review across the key pillars of precision medicine (prevention, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis) in four recognized forms of diabetes (monogenic, gestational, type 1, type 2). These reviews address key questions about the translation of precision medicine research into practice. Although not complete, owing to the vast literature on this topic, they revealed opportunities for the immediate or near-term clinical implementation of precision diabetes medicine; furthermore, we expose important gaps in knowledge, focusing on the need to obtain new clinically relevant evidence. Gaps include the need for common standards for clinical readiness, including consideration of cost-effectiveness, health equity, predictive accuracy, liability and accessibility. Key milestones are outlined for the broad clinical implementation of precision diabetes medicine.
Measurements of the [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] production cross sections in proton-proton collisions at center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8[Formula: see text] are presented. Candidate events for the leptonic decay mode [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] denotes an electron or a muon, are reconstructed and selected from data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.1 (19.6)[Formula: see text] at 7 (8)[Formula: see text] collected with the CMS experiment. The measured cross sections, [Formula: see text] at 7[Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text] at 8[Formula: see text], are in good agreement with the standard model predictions with next-to-leading-order accuracy. The selected data are analyzed to search for anomalous triple gauge couplings involving the [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] final state. In the absence of any deviation from the standard model predictions, limits are set on the relevant parameters. These limits are then combined with the previously published CMS results for [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] in 4[Formula: see text] final states, yielding the most stringent constraints on the anomalous couplings.
Results are reported from a search for the pair production of top squarks, the supersymmetric partners of top quarks, in final states with jets and missing transverse momentum. The data sample used in this search was collected by the CMS detector and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 18.9[Formula: see text] of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8[Formula: see text] produced by the LHC. The search features novel background suppression and prediction methods, including a dedicated top quark pair reconstruction algorithm. The data are found to be in agreement with the predicted backgrounds. Exclusion limits are set in simplified supersymmetry models with the top squark decaying to jets and an undetected neutralino, either through a top quark or through a bottom quark and chargino. Models with the top squark decaying via a top quark are excluded for top squark masses up to 755[Formula: see text] in the case of neutralino masses below 200[Formula: see text]. For decays via a chargino, top squark masses up to 620[Formula: see text] are excluded, depending on the masses of the chargino and neutralino.
A measurement of the forward-backward asymmetry [Formula: see text] of oppositely charged lepton pairs ([Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]) produced via [Formula: see text] boson exchange in pp collisions at [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] is presented. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 19.7[Formula: see text] collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. The measurement of [Formula: see text] is performed for dilepton masses between 40[Formula: see text] and 2[Formula: see text] and for dilepton rapidity up to 5. The [Formula: see text] measurements as a function of dilepton mass and rapidity are compared with the standard model predictions.
A measurement of the W boson pair production cross section in proton-proton collisions at [Formula: see text] TeV is presented. The data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.4[Formula: see text]. The [Formula: see text] candidates are selected from events with two charged leptons, electrons or muons, and large missing transverse energy. The measured [Formula: see text] cross section is [Formula: see text], consistent with the standard model prediction. The [Formula: see text] cross sections are also measured in two different fiducial phase space regions. The normalized differential cross section is measured as a function of kinematic variables of the final-state charged leptons and compared with several perturbative QCD predictions. Limits on anomalous gauge couplings associated with dimension-six operators are also given in the framework of an effective field theory. The corresponding 95 % confidence level intervals are [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], in the HISZ basis.
A search for a standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a top-quark pair and decaying to bottom quarks is presented. Events with hadronic jets and one or two oppositely charged leptons are selected from a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.5[Formula: see text] collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in [Formula: see text] collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8[Formula: see text]. In order to separate the signal from the larger [Formula: see text] + jets background, this analysis uses a matrix element method that assigns a probability density value to each reconstructed event under signal or background hypotheses. The ratio between the two values is used in a maximum likelihood fit to extract the signal yield. The results are presented in terms of the measured signal strength modifier, [Formula: see text], relative to the standard model prediction for a Higgs boson mass of 125[Formula: see text]. The observed (expected) exclusion limit at a 95 % confidence level is [Formula: see text] (3.3), corresponding to a best fit value [Formula: see text].
This paper presents a measurement of the inclusive 3-jet production differential cross section at a proton-proton centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5[Formula: see text]collected with the CMS detector. The analysis is based on the three jets with the highest transverse momenta. The cross section is measured as a function of the invariant mass of the three jets in a range of 445-3270 GeV and in two bins of the maximum rapidity of the jets up to a value of 2. A comparison between the measurement and the prediction from perturbative QCD at next-to-leading order is performed. Within uncertainties, data and theory are in agreement. The sensitivity of the observable to the strong coupling constant [Formula: see text] is studied. A fit to all data points with 3-jet masses larger than 664 GeV gives a value of the strong coupling constant of [Formula: see text].
Jet multiplicity distributions in top quark pair ([Formula: see text]) events are measured in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC using a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7[Formula: see text]. The measurement is performed in the dilepton decay channels ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text]). The absolute and normalized differential cross sections for [Formula: see text] production are measured as a function of the jet multiplicity in the event for different jet transverse momentum thresholds and the kinematic properties of the leading additional jets. The differential [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] cross sections are presented for the first time as a function of the kinematic properties of the leading additional [Formula: see text] jets. Furthermore, the fraction of events without additional jets above a threshold is measured as a function of the transverse momenta of the leading additional jets and the scalar sum of the transverse momenta of all additional jets. The data are compared and found to be consistent with predictions from several perturbative quantum chromodynamics event generators and a next-to-leading order calculation.
A measurement of the cross section for the production of top quark-antiquark pairs ([Formula: see text]) in association with a vector boson V (W or Z) in proton-proton collisions at [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] is presented. The results are based on a dataset corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.5 fb[Formula: see text] recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC. The measurement is performed in three leptonic (e and [Formula: see text]) channels: a same-sign dilepton analysis targeting [Formula: see text] events, and trilepton and four-lepton analyses designed for [Formula: see text] events. In the same-sign dilepton channel, the [Formula: see text] cross section is measured as [Formula: see text], corresponding to a significance of 1.6 standard deviations over the background-only hypothesis. Combining the trilepton and four-lepton channels, a direct measurement of the [Formula: see text] cross section, [Formula: see text], is obtained with a significance of 3.1 standard deviations. The measured cross sections are compatible with standard model predictions within their experimental uncertainties. The inclusive [Formula: see text] process is observed with a significance of 3.7 standard deviations from the combination of all three leptonic channels.
A measurement is presented of differential cross sections for Higgs boson (H) production in pp collisions at [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]. The analysis exploits the [Formula: see text] decay in data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7[Formula: see text] collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The cross section is measured as a function of the kinematic properties of the diphoton system and of the associated jets. Results corrected for detector effects are compared with predictions at next-to-leading order and next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbative quantum chromodynamics, as well as with predictions beyond the standard model. For isolated photons with pseudorapidities [Formula: see text], and with the photon of largest and next-to-largest transverse momentum ([Formula: see text]) divided by the diphoton mass [Formula: see text] satisfying the respective conditions of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], the total fiducial cross section is [Formula: see text][Formula: see text].
The cross section for [Formula: see text] production in the all-jets final state is measured in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 [Formula: see text] at the LHC with the CMS detector, in data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 18.4 [Formula: see text]. The inclusive cross section is found to be [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text]. The normalized differential cross sections are measured as a function of the top quark transverse momenta, [Formula: see text], and compared to predictions from quantum chromodynamics. The results are reported at detector, parton, and particle levels. In all cases, the measured top quark [Formula: see text] spectra are significantly softer than theoretical predictions.
Stringent limits are set on the long-lived lepton-like sector of the phenomenological minimal supersymmetric standard model (pMSSM) and the anomaly-mediated supersymmetry breaking (AMSB) model. The limits are derived from the results presented in a recent search for long-lived charged particles in proton-proton collisions, based on data collected by the CMS detector at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider. In the pMSSM parameter sub-space considered, 95.9 % of the points predicting charginos with a lifetime of at least 10 ns are excluded. These constraints on the pMSSM are the first obtained at the LHC. Charginos with a lifetime greater than 100 ns and masses up to about 800 GeV in the AMSB model are also excluded. The method described can also be used to set constraints on other models.
Measurements of the differential and double-differential Drell-Yan cross sections in the dielectron and dimuon channels are presented. They are based on proton-proton collision data at [Formula: see text] recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7[Formula: see text]. The measured inclusive cross section in the [Formula: see text] peak region (60-120[Formula: see text]), obtained from the combination of the dielectron and dimuon channels, is [Formula: see text], where the statistical uncertainty is negligible. The differential cross section [Formula: see text] in the dilepton mass range 15-2000[Formula: see text] is measured and corrected to the full phase space. The double-differential cross section [Formula: see text] is also measured over the mass range 20 to 1500[Formula: see text] and absolute dilepton rapidity from 0 to 2.4. In addition, the ratios of the normalized differential cross sections measured at [Formula: see text] and 8[Formula: see text] are presented. These measurements are compared to the predictions of perturbative QCD at next-to-leading and next-to-next-to-leading (NNLO) orders using various sets of parton distribution functions (PDFs). The results agree with the NNLO theoretical predictions computed with fewz 3.1 using the CT10 NNLO and NNPDF2.1 NNLO PDFs. The measured double-differential cross section and ratio of normalized differential cross sections are sufficiently precise to constrain the proton PDFs.
The normalized differential cross section for top quark pair ([Formula: see text]) production is measured in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8[Formula: see text] at the CERN LHC using the CMS detector in data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7[Formula: see text]. The measurements are performed in the lepton[Formula: see text]jets ([Formula: see text][Formula: see text]jets) and in the dilepton ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text]) decay channels. The [Formula: see text] cross section is measured as a function of the kinematic properties of the charged leptons, the jets associated to b quarks, the top quarks, and the [Formula: see text] system. The data are compared with several predictions from perturbative quantum chromodynamic up to approximate next-to-next-to-leading-order precision. No significant deviations are observed relative to the standard model predictions.
Results are presented from a search for particle dark matter (DM), extra dimensions, and unparticles using events containing a jet and an imbalance in transverse momentum. The data were collected by the CMS detector in proton-proton collisions at the LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.7[Formula: see text]at a centre-of-mass energy of 8[Formula: see text]. The number of observed events is found to be consistent with the standard model prediction. Limits are placed on the DM-nucleon scattering cross section as a function of the DM particle mass for spin-dependent and spin-independent interactions. Limits are also placed on the scale parameter [Formula: see text] in the Arkani-Hamed, Dimopoulos, and Dvali (ADD) model of large extra dimensions, and on the unparticle model parameter [Formula: see text]. The constraints on ADD models and unparticles are the most stringent limits in this channel and those on the DM-nucleon scattering cross section are an improvement over previous collider results.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) genotype 52 is commonly found in Asian cases of cervical cancer but is rare elsewhere. Analysis of 611 isolates collected worldwide revealed a remarkable geographical distribution, with lineage B predominating in Asia (89.0% vs 0%-5.5%; P(corrected) < .001), whereas lineage A predominated in Africa, the Americas, and Europe. We propose that the name "Asian lineage" be used to denote lineage B, to signify this feature. Preliminary analysis suggested a higher disease risk for lineage B, although ethnogeographical confounders could not be excluded. Further studies are warranted to verify whether the reported high attribution of disease to HPV52 in Asia is due to the high prevalence of lineage B.