We searched for evidence of a Higgsstrahlung process in a secluded sector, leading to a final state with a dark photon U and a dark Higgs boson h′, with the KLOE detector at DAΦNE. We investigated ...the case of h′ lighter than U, with U decaying into a muon pair and h′ producing a missing energy signature. We found no evidence of the process and set upper limits to its parameters in the range 2mμ<mU<1000 MeV, mh′<mU.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Aims
The aim of the study was to explore the suitability of matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionisation time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (MALDI‐TOF MS) for a rapid and correct identification of ...Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP) field isolates.
Methods and Results
MALDI‐TOF MS approach is becoming one of the most popular tests for the identification of intact bacterial cells which has been shown to be fast and reliable. For this purpose, 36 MAP field isolates were analysed through MALDI‐TOF MS and the spectra compared with two different databases: one provided by the vendor of the system employed (Biotyper ver. 3·0; Bruker Daltonics) and a homemade database containing spectra from both tuberculous and nontuberculous Mycobacteria. Moreover, principal component analysis procedure was employed to confirm the ability of MALDI‐TOF MS to discriminate between very closely related subspecies. Our results suggest MAP can be differentiated from other Mycobacterium species, both when the species are very close (M. intracellulare) and when belonging to different subspecies (M. avium ssp. avium and M. avium ssp. silvaticum).
Conclusions
The procedure applied is fast, easy to perform, and achieves an earlier accurate species identification of MAP and nontuberculous Mycobacteria in comparison to other procedures.
Significance and Impact of the Study
The gold standard test for the diagnosis of paratuberculosis is still isolation of MAP by cultural methods, but additional assays, such as qPCR and subculturing for determination of mycobactin dependency are required to confirm its identification. We have provided here evidence pertaining to the usefulness of MALDI‐TOF MS approach for a rapid identification of this mycobacterium among other members of M. avium complex.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Luminal breast cancer has a long natural history, with recurrences continuing beyond 10 years after diagnosis. We analyzed long-term follow-up (LTFU) of efficacy outcomes and adverse events in the ...Breast International Group (BIG) 1-98 study reported after a median follow-up of 12.6 years.
BIG 1-98 is a four-arm, phase III, double-blind, randomized trial comparing adjuvant letrozole versus tamoxifen (either treatment received for 5 years) and their sequences (2 years of one treatment plus 3 years of the other) for postmenopausal women with endocrine-responsive early breast cancer. When pharmaceutical company sponsorship ended at 8.4 years of median follow-up, academic partners initiated an observational, LTFU extension collecting annual data on survival, disease status, and adverse events. Information from Denmark was from the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group Registry. Intention-to-treat analyses are reported.
Of 8,010 enrolled patients, 4,433 were alive and not withdrawn at an LTFU participating center, and 3,833 (86%) had at least one LTFU report. For the monotherapy comparison of letrozole versus tamoxifen, we found a 9% relative reduction in the hazard of a disease-free survival event with letrozole (hazard ratio HR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.81 to 1.01). HRs for other efficacy end points were similar to those for disease-free survival. Efficacy of letrozole versus tamoxifen for contralateral breast cancer varied significantly over time (0- to 5-, 5- to 10-, and > 10-year HRs, 0.62, 0.47, and 1.35, respectively; treatment-by-time interaction P = .005), perhaps reflecting a longer carryover effect of tamoxifen. Reporting of specific long-term adverse events seemed more effective with national registry than with case-record reporting of clinical follow-up.
Efficacy end points continued to show trends favoring letrozole. Letrozole reduced contralateral breast cancer frequency in the first 10 years, but this reversed beyond 10 years. This study illustrates the value of extended follow-up in trials of luminal breast cancer.
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