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- Aamodt, K., et al.
(författare)
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The ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC
- 2008
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Ingår i: Journal of Instrumentation. - 1748-0221. ; 3:S08002
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is a general-purpose, heavy-ion detector at the CERN LHC which focuses on QCD, the strong-interaction sector of the Standard Model. It is designed to address the physics of strongly interacting matter and the quark-gluon plasma at extreme values of energy density and temperature in nucleus-nucleus collisions. Besides running with Pb ions, the physics programme includes collisions with lighter ions, lower energy running and dedicated proton-nucleus runs. ALICE will also take data with proton beams at the top LHC energy to collect reference data for the heavy-ion programme and to address several QCD topics for which ALICE is complementary to the other LHC detectors. The ALICE detector has been built by a collaboration including currently over 1000 physicists and engineers from 105 Institutes in 30 countries, Its overall dimensions are 16 x 16 x 26 m(3) with a total weight of approximately 10 000 t. The experiment consists of 18 different detector systems each with its own specific technology choice and design constraints, driven both by the physics requirements and the experimental conditions expected at LHC. The most stringent design constraint is to cope with the extreme particle multiplicity anticipated in central Pb-Pb collisions. The different subsystems were optimized to provide high-momentum resolution as well as excellent Particle Identification (PID) over a broad range in momentum, up to the highest multiplicities predicted for LHC. This will allow for comprehensive studies of hadrons, electrons, muons, and photons produced in the collision of heavy nuclei. Most detector systems are scheduled to be installed and ready for data taking by mid-2008 when the LHC is scheduled to start operation, with the exception of parts of the Photon Spectrometer (PHOS), Transition Radiation Detector (TRD) and Electro Magnetic Calorimeter (EMCal). These detectors will be completed for the high-luminosity ion run expected in 2010. This paper describes in detail the detector components as installed for the first data taking in the summer of 2008.
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| 5. |
- Hu, Qing-Miao, et al.
(författare)
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Site occupancy, magnetic moments, and elastic constants of off-stoichiometric Ni2MnGa from first-principles calculations
- 2009
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Ingår i: Physical Review B. Condensed Matter and Materials Physics. - 1098-0121 .- 1550-235X. ; 79:14
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The site occupancy and elastic modulus of off-stoichiometric Ni2MnGa alloys are investigated by the use of the first-principles exact muffin-tin orbital method in combination with coherent-potential approximation. The stable site occupancy at 300 K is determined by comparing the free energies of the alloys with different site-occupation configurations. It is shown that, for most of the off-stoichiometric Ni2MnGa, the "normal" site occupation is favorable, i.e., the excess atoms of the rich component occupy the sublattice(s) of the deficient one(s). Nevertheless, for the Ga-rich alloys, the excess Ga atoms have strong tendency to take the Mn sublattice no matter if Mn is deficient or not. Based on the determined site occupancy, the elastic moduli of the off-stoichiometric Ni2MnGa are calculated. We find that, in general, the bulk modulus increases with increasing e/a ratio (i.e., the number of valence electrons per atom). The shear moduli C-' and C-44 change oppositely with e/a ratio: C-' decreases but C-44 increases with increasing e/a. However, the Mn-rich Ga-deficient alloys deviate significantly from this general trend. The correlation of calculated elastic moduli and available experimental martensitic transformation temperatures (T-M) demonstrates that the alloy with larger C-' than that of the perfect Ni2MnGa generally possesses lower T-M except for Ni2Mn1+xGa1-x.
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| 6. |
- Kim, Chan-Hee, et al.
(författare)
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A three-step proteolytic cascade mediates the activation of the peptidoglycan-induced toll pathway in an insect
- 2008
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Ingår i: Journal of Biological Chemistry. - 0021-9258 .- 1083-351X. ; 283:12, s. 7599-7607
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The recognition of lysine-type peptidoglycans (PG) by the PG recognition complex has been suggested to cause activation of the serine protease cascade leading to the processing of Spätzle and subsequent activation of the Toll signaling pathway. So far, two serine proteases involved in the lysine-type PG Toll signaling pathway have been identified. One is a modular serine protease functioning as an initial enzyme to be recruited into the lysine-type PG recognition complex. The other is the Drosophila Spätzle processing enzyme (SPE), a terminal enzyme that converts Spätzle pro-protein to its processed form capable of binding to the Toll receptor. However, it remains unclear how the initial PG recognition signal is transferred to Spätzle resulting in Toll pathway activation. Also, the biochemical characteristics and mechanism of action of a serine protease linking the modular serine protease and SPE have not been investigated. Here, we purified and cloned a novel upstream serine protease of SPE that we named SAE, SPE-activating enzyme, from the hemolymph of a large beetle, Tenebrio molitor larvae. This enzyme was activated by Tenebrio modular serine protease and in turn activated the Tenebrio SPE. The biochemical ordered functions of these three serine proteases were determined in vitro, suggesting that the activation of a three-step proteolytic cascade is necessary and sufficient for lysine-type PG recognition signaling. The processed Spätzle by this cascade induced antibacterial activity in vivo. These results demonstrate that the three-step proteolytic cascade linking the PG recognition complex and Spätzle processing is essential for the PG-dependent Toll signaling pathway.
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| 9. |
- Yang, Rui, et al.
(författare)
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Antigen and epitope specificity of anti-glomerular basement membrane antibodies in patients with Goodpasture disease with or without anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies
- 2007
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Ingår i: Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. - 1046-6673. ; 18:4, s. 1338-1343
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Goodpasture disease (GP) is defined by the presence of anti-glomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) antibodies and rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis. Besides anti-GBM, many patients with GP produce anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA). For elucidation of the pathophysiologic significance of ANCA in this setting, epitope and antigen specificity of the anti-GBM antibodies and antigen specificity of ANCA were studied. Bovine testis a(IV)NC1 (tNC1); recombinant human alpha 1, alpha 3, alpha 4, and alpha 5(IV)NC1 (r alpha 1 through r alpha 5); and three chimeric proteins that contain previously defined epitope regions designated E-A, E-B, and S2 were used to examine the anti-GBM antibodies by ELISA in 205 Chinese patients with GP with or without ANCA. In the 205 anti-GBM antibody-positive sera, 63 (30.7%) were also ANCA positive (61 myeloperoxidase-ANCA and six proteinase 3-ANCA, four being triple positive). All 205 sera recognized tNC1 and r alpha 3(IV)NC1. In the double-positive group, 54.0, 66.7, 71.4% of the sera could recognize r alpha 1, r alpha 4, and r alpha 5, respectively, compared with 49.3, 60.6, and 55.6% for patients with anti-GBM antibodies alone. The levels of the antibodies to r alpha 3, tNC1, and the alpha 3/alpha 1 ratio were lower in the double-positive group than that in patients with anti-GBM antibody alone (P < 0.05). Most of the sera could recognize the epitope regions E-A,E-B, and S2, but the absorbance values to EA, EB, and S2 were lower in double-positive group (P < 0.05). Double-positive patients had a broader spectrum of anti-GBM antibodies and lower levels of antibodies against alpha 3(IV)NC1 compared with that of patients with anti-GBM antibodies alone.
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| 10. |
- Yang, Rui, et al.
(författare)
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Brain and peripheral angiotensin II type 1 receptors mediate renal vasoconstrictor and blood pressure responses to angiotensin IV in the rat
- 2008
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Ingår i: Journal of Hypertension. - 0263-6352 .- 1473-5598. ; 26:5, s. 998-1007
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVES: Angiotensin (Ang) IV was reported to increase renal cortical blood flow (CBF) via putative angiotensin IV receptor (AT4) stimulation but reduce total renal blood flow (RBF) via angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptors. We investigated the effect of Ang IV on simultaneously measured mean arterial pressure (MAP), RBF, and CBF. The possible involvement of AT1 or AT4 receptors, the possible natriuretic effect, and responses to central administration were also explored. METHODS AND RESULTS: Intravenous injections of Ang IV dose dependently increased MAP and decreased CBF and RBF; these effects were abolished by AT1 receptor blockade. These reductions in CBF and RBF highly correlated as did renal vascular responses to Ang II and fenoldopam. Ang IV did not induce renal vasodilation even following AT1 receptor blockade. Intrarenal Ang IV infusion reduced CBF and RBF but had no natriuretic effect. Central Ang IV administration induced an AT1-mediated immediate increase in MAP and renal vascular resistance and a secondary increase in RBF. AT4 selective ligands, LVV-hemorphin-7 and AT4-16 (intravenous, intrarenal or intracerebroventricular), had no effects on MAP, RBF or urinary sodium excretion. Additional in-vitro experiments indicated that the majority of the Ang IV-sensitive aminopeptidase activity in kidney membranes is attributed to aminopeptidase-N. CONCLUSION: Insulin-regulated aminopeptidase (IRAP)/AT4 receptors are involved in neither the regulation of RBF or CBF nor in the handling of renal sodium. Ang IV increases MAP and induces renal vasoconstriction via stimulation of brain and peripheral AT1 receptors and may be involved in the regulation of renal blood flow and blood pressure.
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