Fat and fiber consumption are associated with peripheral arterial disease in a cross-sectional study of a Japanese-Brazilian population

Background The Western diet plays a role for the epidemics of obesity and related diseases. This study examined a possible association between peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and the dietary components of Japanese immigrants living in Brazil. Methods and Results In this cross-sectional study, 1,267 subjects (aged 30 years) with complete dietary, clinical and laboratory data were studied according to a standardized protocol. Ankle-to-brachial index was used to identify subjects with PAD. The overall prevalence of PAD was 14.6%. Subjects with PAD were older, had lower education and higher mean values of blood pressure, triglycerides, and fasting and 2-h plasma glucose levels compared with those without the disease. Among the subjects with PAD, the consumption of fiber from whole grains (3.0 vs 3.4g, p=0.001) and linoleic acids (11.0 vs 11.7g, p=0.017) were lower and intake of total (72.8 vs 69.1 a, p=0.016) and saturated fatty acids (17.4 vs 16.3g, p=0.012) were higher than those without PAD. Results of multiple logistic regression analysis showed a significant association between PAD with high total fat intake, low intake of fiber from fruit and oleic acid, independently of other variables. Conclusions Despite limitations in examining the cause-effect relationship, the data support the notion that diet could be important in reducing the occurrence of PAD.

Rest energy expenditure is decreased during the acute as compared to the recovery phase of sepsis in newborns

Background: Little is known with respect to the metabolic response and the requirements of infected newborns. Moreover, the nutritional needs and particularly the energy metabolism of newborns with sepsis are controversial matter. In this investigation we aimed to evaluate the rest energy expenditure (REE) of newborns with bacterial sepsis during the acute and the recovery phases. Methods: We studied nineteen neonates (27.3 +/- 17.2 days old) with bacterial sepsis during the acute phase and recovery of their illness. REE was determined by indirect calorimetry and VO(2) and VCO(2) measured by gas chromatography. Results: REE significantly increased from 49.4 +/- 13.1 kcal/kg/day during the acute to 68.3 +/- 10.9 kcal/kg/day during recovery phase of sepsis (P < 0.01). Similarly, VO(2) (7.4 +/- 1.9 vs 10 +/- 1.5 ml/kg/min) and VCO(2) (5.1 +/- 1.7 vs 7.4 +/- 1.5 ml/kg/min) were also increased during the course of the disease (P < 0.01). Conclusion: REE was increased during recovery compared to the sepsis phase. REE of septic newborns should be calculated on individualized basis, bearing in mind their metabolic capabilities.

Cold Nuclear Matter Effects on J/psi Yields as a Function of Rapidity and Nuclear Geometry in d plus A Collisions at root S(NN)=200 GeV

We present measurements of J/psi yields in d + Au collisions at root S(NN) = 200 GeV recorded by the PHENIX experiment and compare them with yields in p + p collisions at the same energy per nucleon-nucleon collision. The measurements cover a large kinematic range in J/psi rapidity (-2.2 < y < 2.4) with high statistical precision and are compared with two theoretical models: one with nuclear shadowing combined with final state breakup and one with coherent gluon saturation effects. In order to remove model dependent systematic uncertainties we also compare the data to a simple geometric model. The forward rapidity data are inconsistent with nuclear modifications that are linear or exponential in the density weighted longitudinal thickness, such as those from the final state breakup of the bound state.

Azimuthal correlations of electrons from heavy-flavor decay with hadrons in p plus p and Au plus Au collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV

Measurements of electrons from the decay of open-heavy-flavor mesons have shown that the yields are suppressed in Au+Au collisions compared to expectations from binary-scaled p+p collisions. These measurements indicate that charm and bottom quarks interact with the hot dense matter produced in heavy-ion collisions much more than expected. Here we extend these studies to two-particle correlations where one particle is an electron from the decay of a heavy-flavor meson and the other is a charged hadron from either the decay of the heavy meson or from jet fragmentation. These measurements provide more detailed information about the interactions between heavy quarks and the matter, such as whether the modification of the away-side-jet shape seen in hadron-hadron correlations is present when the trigger particle is from heavy-meson decay and whether the overall level of away-side-jet suppression is consistent. We statistically subtract correlations of electrons arising from background sources from the inclusive electron-hadron correlations and obtain two-particle azimuthal correlations at root s(NN) = 200 GeV between electrons from heavy-flavor decay with charged hadrons in p+p and also first results in Au+Au collisions. We find the away-side-jet shape and yield to be modified in Au+Au collisions compared to p+p collisions.

Transverse momentum dependence of J/psi polarization at midrapidity in p plus p collisions at root s=200 GeV

We report the measurement of the transverse momentum dependence of inclusive J/psi polarization in p + p collisions at root s = 200 GeV performed by the PHENIX Experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The J/psi polarization is studied in the helicity, Gottfried-Jackson, and Collins-Soper frames for p(T) < 5 GeV/c and vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.35. The polarization in the helicity and Gottfried-Jackson frames is consistent with zero for all transverse momenta, with a slight (1.8 sigma) trend towards longitudinal polarization for transverse momenta above 2 GeV/c. No conclusion is allowed due to the limited acceptance in the Collins-Soper frame and the uncertainties of the current data. The results are compared to observations for other collision systems and center of mass energies and to different quarkonia production models.

Detailed measurement of the e(+)e(-) pair continuum in p plus p and Au plus Au collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV and implications for direct photon production

PHENIX has measured the e(+)e(-) pair continuum in root s(NN) = 200 GeV Au+Au and p+p collisions over a wide range of mass and transverse momenta. The e(+)e(-) yield is compared to the expectations from hadronic sources, based on PHENIX measurements. In the intermediate-mass region, between the masses of the phi and the J/psi meson, the yield is consistent with expectations from correlated c (c) over bar production, although other mechanisms are not ruled out. In the low-mass region, below the phi, the p+p inclusive mass spectrum is well described by known contributions from light meson decays. In contrast, the Au+Au minimum bias inclusive mass spectrum in this region shows an enhancement by a factor of 4.7 +/- 0.4(stat) +/- 1.5(syst) +/- 0.9(model). At low mass (m(ee) < 0.3 GeV/c(2)) and high p(T) (1 < p(T) < 5 GeV/c) an enhanced e(+)e(-) pair yield is observed that is consistent with production of virtual direct photons. This excess is used to infer the yield of real direct photons. In central Au+Au collisions, the excess of the direct photon yield over the p+p is exponential in p(T), with inverse slope T = 221 +/- 19(stat) +/- 19(syst) MeV. Hydrodynamical models with initial temperatures ranging from T(init) similar or equal to 300-600 MeV at times of 0.6-0.15 fm/c after the collision are in qualitative agreement with the direct photon data in Au+Au. For low p(T) < 1 GeV/c the low-mass region shows a further significant enhancement that increases with centrality and has an inverse slope of T similar or equal to 100 MeV. Theoretical models underpredict the low-mass, low-p(T) enhancement.

Charged Kaon Interferometric Probes of Space-Time Evolution in Au plus Au Collisions at s(NN)=200 GeV

Bose-Einstein correlations of charged kaons are used to probe Au+Au collisions at s(NN)=200 GeV and are compared to charged pion probes, which have a larger hadronic scattering cross section. Three-dimensional Gaussian source radii are extracted, along with a one-dimensional kaon emission source function. The centrality dependences of the three Gaussian radii are well described by a single linear function of N(part)(1/3) with a zero intercept. Imaging analysis shows a deviation from a Gaussian tail at r greater than or similar to 10 fm, although the bulk emission at lower radius is well described by a Gaussian. The presence of a non-Gaussian tail in the kaon source reaffirms that the particle emission region in a heavy-ion collision is extended, and that similar measurements with pions are not solely due to the decay of long-lived resonances.

Inclusive cross section and double helicity asymmetry for pi(0) production in p plus p collisions at root s=62.4 GeV

The PHENIX experiment presents results from the RHIC 2006 run with polarized p + p collisions at root s = 62.4 GeV, for inclusive pi(0) production at midrapidity. Unpolarized cross section results are measured for transverse momenta p(T) = 0.5 to 7 GeV/c. Next-to-leading order perturbative quantum chromodynamics calculations are compared with the data, and while the calculations are consistent with the measurements, next-to-leading logarithmic corrections improve the agreement. Double helicity asymmetries A(LL) are presented for p(T) = 1 to 4 GeV/c and probe the higher range of Bjorken x of the gluon (x(g)) with better statistical precision than our previous measurements at root s = 200 GeV. These measurements are sensitive to the gluon polarization in the proton for 0.06 < x(g) < 0.4.

Event structure and double helicity asymmetry in jet production from polarized p plus p collisions at root s=200 GeV

We report on the event structure and double helicity asymmetry (A(LL)) of jet production in longitudinally polarized p + p collisions at root s = 200 GeV. Photons and charged particles were measured by the PHENIX experiment at midrapidity vertical bar eta vertical bar < 0.35 with the requirement of a high-momentum (> 2 GeV/c) photon in the event. Event structure, such as multiplicity, p(T) density and thrust in the PHENIX acceptance, were measured and compared with the results from the PYTHIA event generator and the GEANT detector simulation. The shape of jets and the underlying event were well reproduced at this collision energy. For the measurement of jet A(LL), photons and charged particles were clustered with a seed-cone algorithm to obtain the cluster pT sum (p(T)(reco)). The effect of detector response and the underlying events on p(T)(reco) was evaluated with the simulation. The production rate of reconstructed jets is satisfactorily reproduced with the next-to-leading-order and perturbative quantum chromodynamics jet production cross section. For 4< p(T)(reco) < 12 GeV/c with an average beam polarization of < P > = 49% we measured Lambda(LL) = -0.0014 +/- 0.0037(stat) at the lowest p(T)(reco) bin (4-5 GeV= c) and -0.0181 +/- 0.0282(stat) at the highest p(T)(reco) bin (10-12 GeV= c) with a beam polarization scale error of 9.4% and a pT scale error of 10%. Jets in the measured p(T)(reco) range arise primarily from hard-scattered gluons with momentum fraction 0: 02 < x < 0: 3 according to PYTHIA. The measured A(LL) is compared with predictions that assume various Delta G(x) distributions based on the Gluck-Reya-Stratmann-Vogelsang parameterization. The present result imposes the limit -a.1 < integral(0.3)(0.02) dx Delta G(x, mu(2) = GeV2) < 0.4 at 95% confidence level or integral(0.3)(0.002) dx Delta G(x, mu(2) = 1 GeV2) < 0.5 at 99% confidence level.

Identified charged hadron production in p plus p collisions at root s=200 and 62.4 GeV

Transverse momentum distributions and yields for pi(+/-), K(+/-), p, and (p) over bar in p + p collisions at root s = 200 and 62.4 GeV at midrapidity are measured by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). These data provide important baseline spectra for comparisons with identified particle spectra in heavy ion collisions at RHIC. We present the inverse slope parameter T(inv), mean transverse momentum < p(T)>, and yield per unit rapidity dN/dy at each energy, and compare them to other measurements at different root s in p + p and p + (p) over bar collisions. We also present the scaling properties such as m(T) scaling and x(T) scaling on the p(T) spectra between different energies. To discuss the mechanism of the particle production in p + p collisions, the measured spectra are compared to next-to-leading-order or next-to-leading-logarithmic perturbative quantum chromodynamics calculations.

Parton energy loss in heavy-ion collisions via direct-photon and charged-particle azimuthal correlations

Charged-particle spectra associated with direct photon (gamma(dir)) and pi(0) are measured in p + p and Au + Au collisions at center-of-mass energy root(S)(NN) = 200 GeV with the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. A shower-shape analysis is used to partially discriminate between gamma(dir) and pi(0). Assuming no associated charged particles in the gamma(dir) direction ( near side) and small contribution from fragmentation photons (gamma(frag)), the associated charged-particle yields opposite to gamma(dir) (away side) are extracted. In central Au + Au collisions, the charged-particle yields at midrapidity (vertical bar eta vertical bar < 1) and high transverse momentum (3 < (assoc)(PT) < 16 GeV/c) associated with gamma(dir) and pi(0) (vertical bar eta vertical bar < 0.9, 8 < (trig)(PT) < 16 GeV/c) are suppressed by a factor of 3-5 compared with p + p collisions. The observed suppression of the associated charged particles is similar for gamma(dir) and pi(0) and independent of the gamma(dir) energy within uncertainties. These measurements indicate that, in the kinematic range covered and within our current experimental uncertainties, the parton energy loss shows no sensitivity to the parton initial energy, path length, or color charge.

Balance functions from Au+Au, d+Au, and p+p collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV

Balance functions have been measured for charged-particle pairs, identified charged-pion pairs, and identified charged-kaon pairs in Au + Au, d + Au, and p + p collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider using the STAR detector. These balance functions are presented in terms of relative pseudorapidity, Delta eta, relative rapidity, Delta y, relative azimuthal angle, Delta phi, and invariant relative momentum, q(inv). For charged-particle pairs, the width of the balance function in terms of Delta eta scales smoothly with the number of participating nucleons, while HIJING and UrQMD model calculations show no dependence on centrality or system size. For charged-particle and charged-pion pairs, the balance functions widths in terms of Delta eta and Delta y are narrower in central Au + Au collisions than in peripheral collisions. The width for central collisions is consistent with thermal blast-wave models where the balancing charges are highly correlated in coordinate space at breakup. This strong correlation might be explained by either delayed hadronization or limited diffusion during the reaction. Furthermore, the narrowing trend is consistent with the lower kinetic temperatures inherent to more central collisions. In contrast, the width of the balance function for charged-kaon pairs in terms of Delta y shows little centrality dependence, which may signal a different production mechanism for kaons. The widths of the balance functions for charged pions and kaons in terms of q(inv) narrow in central collisions compared to peripheral collisions, which may be driven by the change in the kinetic temperature.

Neutral pion production in Au plus Au collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV

The results of midrapidity (0 < y < 0.8) neutral pion spectra over an extended transverse momentum range (1 < p(T) < 12 GeV/c) in root s(NN) = 200 GeV Au + Au collisions, measured by the STAR experiment, are presented. The neutral pions are reconstructed from photons measured either by the STAR Barrel Electro-Magnetic Calorimeter or by the Time Projection Chamber via tracking of conversion electron-positron pairs. Our measurements are compared to previously published pi(+/-) and pi(0) results. The nuclear modification factors R(CP) and R(AA) of pi(0) are also presented as a function of p(T). In the most central Au + Au collisions, the binary collision scaled pi(0) yield at high p(T) is suppressed by a factor of about 5 compared to the expectation from the yield of p + p collisions. Such a large suppression is in agreement with previous observations for light quark mesons and is consistent with the scenario that partons suffer considerable energy loss in the dense medium formed in central nucleus-nucleus collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider.

Hadronic resonance production in d+Au collisions at root S(NN) = 200 GeV measured at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider

We present the first measurements of the rho(770)(0),K(*)(892),Delta(1232)(++),Sigma(1385), and Lambda(1520) resonances in d+Au collisions at s(NN)=200 GeV, reconstructed via their hadronic decay channels using the STAR detector (the solenoidal tracker at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider). The masses and widths of these resonances are studied as a function of transverse momentum p(T). We observe that the resonance spectra follow a generalized scaling law with the transverse mass m(T). The < p(T)> of resonances in minimum bias collisions are compared with the < p(T)> of pi,K, and p. The rho(0)/pi(-),K(*)/K(-),Delta(++)/p,Sigma(1385)/Lambda, and Lambda(1520)/Lambda ratios in d+Au collisions are compared with the measurements in minimum bias p+p interactions, where we observe that both measurements are comparable. The nuclear modification factors (R(dAu)) of the rho(0),K(*), and Sigma(*) scale with the number of binary collisions (N(bin)) for p(T)> 1.2 GeV/c.

Sedimentary Organic Matter in Cores of the Cananeia-Iguape Lagoonal-Estuarine System, Sao Paulo State, Brazil

Sedimentary organic matter is a good tool for environmental evaluation where the sediments are deposited. We determined the elemental and C- and N-isotopic compositions of 211 sub-surface sediment samples from 13 cores (ranging from 18 to 46cm), collected in the Cananeia-Iguape estuarine-lagoonal system. The aim of this research is to evaluate the environmental variations of this tropical coastal micro-tidal system over the last decades, through SOM distribution. The studied parameters show differences between the cores located in the northern (sandy-silt sediments) and southern (sand and silty-sand) portions. The whole area presents a mixed organic matter origin signature (local mangrove plants: < -25.6 parts per thousand PDB/ phytoplancton delta(13)C values: -19.4 parts per thousand PDB). The northern cores, which submitted higher sedimentation deposition (1.46cm year(-1)), are more homogenous, presenting lower delta(13)C (< -25.2 parts per thousand PDB) and higher C/N values (in general >14), directly related to the terrestrial input from Ribeira de Iguape River (24,000 km(2) basin). The southern portion presents lower sedimentation rates (0.38cm year(-1)) and is associated to a small river basin (1,340 km(2)), presenting values Of delta(13)C: -25.0 to 23.0 parts per thousand PDB and of C/N ratio: 11 to 15. In general, the elemental contents in the 15 cores may be considered from low to medium (< 2.0% C - < 0.1% N), compared to similar environments. Although a greater marine influence is observed in the southern system portion, the majority of the cores present an elevated increase of continental deposition, most likely related to the strong silting process that the area has been subjected to since the 1850s, when an artificial channel was built linking, directly, the Ribeira River to the estuarine-lagoonal system.