Theophylline is able to partially revert cachexia in tumour-bearing rats

Abstract Background and aims The aim of the present investigation was to examine the anti-wasting effects of theophylline (a methylxantine present in tea leaves) on a rat model of cancer cachexia. Methods The in vitro effects of the nutraceuticals on proteolysis were examined on muscle cell cultures submitted to hyperthermia. Individual muscle weights, muscle gene expression, body composition and cardiac function were measured in rats bearing the Yoshida AH-130 ascites hepatoma, following theophylline treatment. Results Theophylline treatment inhibited proteolysis in C2C12 cell line and resulted in an anti-proteolytic effect on muscle tissue (soleus and heart), which was associated with a decrease in circulating TNF-alpha levels and with a decreased proteolytic systems gene expression. Treatment with the nutraceutical also resulted in an improvement in body composition and cardiac function. Conclusion Theophylline - alone or in combination with drugs - may be a candidate molecule for the treatment of cancer cachexia.

Transverse sphericity of primary charged particles in minimum bias proton-proton collisions at root s=0.9, 2.76 and 7 TeV

Measurements of the sphericity of primary charged particles in minimum bias proton-proton collisions at root s = 0.9, 2.76 and 7 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC are presented. The observable is measured in the plane perpendicular to the beam direction using primary charged tracks with p(T) > 0.5 GeV/c in vertical bar eta vertical bar < 0.8. The mean sphericity as a function of the charged particle multiplicity at mid-rapidity (N-ch) is reported for events with different p(T) scales ("soft" and "hard") defined by the transverse momentum of the leading particle. In addition, the mean charged particle transverse momentum versus multiplicity is presented for the different event classes, and the sphericity distributions in bins of multiplicity are presented. The data are compared with calculations of standard Monte Carlo event generators. The transverse sphericity is found to grow with multiplicity at all collision energies, with a steeper rise at low N-ch, whereas the event generators show an opposite tendency. The combined study of the sphericity and the mean p(T) with multiplicity indicates that most of the tested event generators produce events with higher multiplicity by generating more back-to-back jets resulting in decreased sphericity (and isotropy). The PYTHIA6 generator with tune PERUGIA-2011 exhibits a noticeable improvement in describing the data, compared to the other tested generators.

Inclusive J/psi production in pp collisions at root s=2.76 TeV

The ALICE Collaboration has measured inclusive J/psi production in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy root s = 2.76 TeV at the LHC. The results presented in this Letter refer to the rapidity ranges vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.9 and 2.5 < y <4 and have been obtained by measuring the electron and muon pair decay channels, respectively. The integrated luminosities for the two channels are L-int(e) = 1.1 nb(-1) and L-int(mu) = 19.9 nb(-1), and the corresponding signal statistics are N-J/psi(e+e-) = 59 +/- 14 and N-J/psi(mu+mu-) = 1364 +/- 53. We present d sigma(J/psi)/dy for the two rapidity regions under study and, for the forward-y range, d(2)sigma(J/psi)/dydp(t) in the transverse momentum domain 0 < p(t) < 8 GeV/c. The results are compared with previously published results at root s = 7 TeV and with theoretical calculations. (C) 2012 CERN. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Li-8(p, alpha)He-5 reaction at low energies, and Be-9 spectroscopy around the proton threshold

We present a direct measurement of the low-energy Li-8(p, alpha)He-5 cross section, using a radioactive Li-8 beam impinging on a thick target. With four beam energies, we cover the energy range between E-c.m. = 0.2 and 2.1 MeV. An R-matrix analysis of the data is performed and suggests the existence of two broad overlapping resonances (5/2(+) at E-c.m. = 1.69 MeV and 7/2(+) at E-c.m. = 1.76 MeV). At low energies our data are sensitive to the properties of a subthreshold state (E-x = 16.67 MeV) and of two resonances above threshold. These resonances were observed in previous experiments. The R-matrix fit confirms spin assignments, and provides partial widths. We propose a new Li-8(p, alpha)He-5 reaction rate and briefly discuss its influence in nuclear astrophysics. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevC.86.064321

Suppression of high transverse momentum D mesons in central Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV

The production of the prompt charm mesons D-0, D+, D*(+), and their antiparticles, was measured with the ALICE detector in Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC, at a centre-of-mass energy root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV per nucleon-nucleon collision. The p(t)-differential production yields in the range 2 < p(t) < 16 GeV/c at central rapidity, vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.5, were used to calculate the nuclear modification factor R-AA with respect to a proton-proton reference obtained from the cross section measured at root s = 7 TeV and scaled to root s = 2.76 TeV. For the three meson species, R-AA shows a suppression by a factor 3-4, for transverse momenta larger than 5 GeV/c in the 20% most central collisions. The suppression is reduced for peripheral collisions.