| 1. |
- 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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| 2. |
- Aaron, F. D., et al.
(författare)
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Multi-leptons with high transverse momentum at HERA
- 2009
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Ingår i: Journal of High Energy Physics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1029-8479. ; :10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Events with at least two high transverse momentum leptons (electrons or muons) are studied using the H1 and ZEUS detectors at HERA with an integrated luminosity of 0.94 fb(-1). The observed numbers of events are in general agreement with the Standard Model predictions. Seven di- and tri-lepton events are observed in e(+)p collision data with a scalar sum of the lepton transverse momenta above 100 GeV while 1.94 +/- 0.17 events are expected. Such events are not observed in e(-)p collisions for which 1.19 +/- 0.12 are predicted. Total visible and differential di-electron and di-muon photoproduction cross sections are extracted in a restricted phase space dominated by photon-photon collisions.
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| 3. |
- Ibsen, H., et al.
(författare)
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Does albuminuria predict cardiovascular outcomes on treatment with losartan versus atenolol in patients with diabetes, hypertension, and left ventricular hypertrophy? The LIFE study
- 2006
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Ingår i: Diabetes Care. - 0149-5992. ; 29:3, s. 595-600
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: Our current aims were to investigate whether 1) baseline urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) predicted cardiovascular outcomes, 2) changes in UACR differed between treatments, 3) benefits of losartan were related to its influence on UACR, and 4) reduction in albuminuria reduced cardiovascular events. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: In 1,063 patients with diabetes, hypertension, and left ventricular hypertrophy, UACR was measured for a mean of 4.7 years. The primary composite end point included cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, and stroke. Cox models were run including and excluding baseline and time-varying UACR. RESULTS: Increasing baseline albuminuria related to increased risk for cardiovascular events. Reductions in UACR at years 1 and 2 were approximately 33% for losartan vs. 15% for atenolol (P < 0.001). Benefits of losartan seem to be most prominent in patients with the highest level of baseline UACR, although treatment by albuminuria interaction was only significant for total mortality. Approximately one-fifth of the superiority of losartan was explained by the greater reduction of albuminuria. Risk of the primary end point was related to the in-treatment UACR. CONCLUSIONS: Lowering of albuminuria in patients with hypertension and diabetes appears to be beneficial and should be the subject of additional study in future clinical trials.
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| 4. |
- Ibsen, H., et al.
(författare)
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Reduction in albuminuria translates to reduction in cardiovascular events in hypertensive patients: losartan intervention for endpoint reduction in hypertension study
- 2005
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Ingår i: Hypertension. - 1524-4563. ; 45:2, s. 198-202
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Few data are available to clarify whether changes in albuminuria over time translate to changes in cardiovascular risk. The aim of the present study was to examine whether changes in albuminuria during 4.8 years of antihypertensive treatment were related to changes in risk in 8206 patients with hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy in the Losartan Intervention For Endpoint reduction in hypertension (LIFE) study. Urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (UACR) was measured at baseline and annually. Time-varying albuminuria was closely related to risk for the primary composite end point (ie, when UACR decreased during treatment, risk was reduced accordingly). When the population was divided according to median baseline value (1.21 mg/mmol) and median year 1 UACR (0.67 mg/mmol), risk increased stepwise and significantly for the primary composite end point from those with low baseline/low year 1 (5.5%), to low baseline/high year 1 (8.6%), to high baseline/low year 1 (9.4%), and to high baseline/high year 1 (13.5%) values. Similar significant, stepwise increases in risk were seen for the components of the primary composite end point (cardiovascular mortality, stroke, and myocardial infarction). The observation that changes in UACR during antihypertensive treatment over time translated to changes in risk for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality was not explained by in-treatment level of blood pressure. We propose that monitoring of albuminuria should be an integrated part of the management of hypertension. If albuminuria is not decreased by the patient's current antihypertensive and other treatment, further intervention directed toward blood pressure control and other modifiable risks should be considered.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Reeves, Gillian K., et al.
(författare)
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Breast cancer risk in relation to abortion: Results from the EPIC study
- 2006
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Ingår i: International Journal of Cancer. - : Wiley. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 119:7, s. 1741-1745
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The role of spontaneous and induced abortion on breast cancer risk is examined among 267,361 women recruited into the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and nutrition between 1992 and 2000. The data were collected from 20 centers, across 9 countries, and included information on a total of 4,805 women with breast cancer, of whom 1,657 reported having ever had any type of abortion. Overall, the relative risk of breast cancer in women who reported ever having had a spontaneous abortion was not significantly elevated when compared with women who reported never having had such an abortion (RR = 1.07, 95 % CI = 0.99-1.14). However, there was some evidence of a slight increase in the risk of breast cancer among women who reported having had 2 or more spontaneous abortions (1.20,1.07-1.35). The relative risk of breast cancer among women who reported ever having had an induced abortion when compared to women who reported never having had an induced abortion was 0.95 (0.87-1.03). Overall, the findings provide further unbiased evidence of the lack of an adverse effect of induced abortion on breast cancer risk. (c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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| 7. |
- Bergman, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Induction of the antimicrobial peptide CRAMP in the blood-brain barrier and meninges after meningococcal infection
- 2006
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Ingår i: Infection and Immunity. - 0019-9567 .- 1098-5522. ; 74:12, s. 6982-6991
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Antimicrobial peptides are present in most living species and constitute important effector molecules of innate immunity. Recently, we and others have detected antimicrobial peptides in the brain. This is an organ that is rarely infected, which has mainly been ascribed to the protective functions of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and meninges. Since the bactericidal properties of the BBB and meninges are not known, we hypothesized that antimicrobial peptides could play a role in these barriers. We addressed this hypothesis by infecting mice with the neuropathogenic bacterium Neisseria meningitidis. Brains were analyzed for expression of the antimicrobial peptide CRAMP by immunohistochemistry in combination with confocal microscopy. After infection, we observed induction of CRAMP in endothelial cells of the BBB and in cells of the meninges. To explore the functional role of CRAMP in meningococcal disease, we infected mice deficient of the CRAMP gene. Even though CRAMP did not appear to protect the brain from invasion of meningococci, CRAMP knockout mice were more susceptible to meningococcal infection than wild-type mice and exhibited increased meningococcal growth in blood, liver, and spleen. Moreover, we could demonstrate that carbonate, a compound that accumulates in the circulation during metabolic acidosis, makes meningococci more susceptible to CRAMP.
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| 10. |
- Qiu, H, et al.
(författare)
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Human CMV infection induces 5-lipoxygenase expression and leukotriene B4 production in vascular smooth muscle cells
- 2008
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Ingår i: The Journal of experimental medicine. - : Rockefeller University Press. - 1540-9538 .- 0022-1007. ; 205:1, s. 19-24
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Leukotrienes (LTs) are powerful proinflammatory lipid mediators that may play a central role in cardiovascular diseases, including arteriosclerosis, myocardial infarction, and stroke. Owing to restricted expression of 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO), the enzyme required for their synthesis, LTs are almost exclusively produced by myeloid cells. Here, we report that human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection of human vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) increases 5-LO mRNA levels by up to 170-fold in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Infected cells expressed 5-LO protein, as shown by immunohistochemistry, enabling them to synthesize bioactive LTB4. HCMV-infected vascular SMCs expressing 5-LO protein were readily detected in tissue samples from CMV-infected patients with inflammatory bowel disease or AIDS. Thus, pathogen-induced LT production in HCMV-infected tissues may contribute to local inflammation, consistent with the ability of HCMV to control cellular and immunological functions. HCMV-induced LT biosynthesis in SMCs offers a molecular mechanism to explain HCMV-induced pathogenesis in inflammatory diseases.
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