Observation of pi(+)pi(-)pi(+)pi(-) photoproduction in ultraperipheral heavy-ion collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV at the STAR detector

We present a measurement of pi(+)pi(-)pi(+)pi(-) photonuclear production in ultraperipheral Au-Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV from the STAR experiment. The pi(+)pi(-)pi(+)pi(-) final states are observed at low transverse momentum and are accompanied by mutual nuclear excitation of the beam particles. The strong enhancement of the production cross section at low transverse momentum is consistent with coherent photoproduction. The pi(+)pi(-)pi(+)pi(-) invariant mass spectrum of the coherent events exhibits a broad peak around 1540 +/- 40 MeV/c(2) with a width of 570 +/- 60 MeV/c(2), in agreement with the photoproduction data for the rho(0)(1700). We do not observe a corresponding peak in the pi(+)pi(-) final state and measure an upper limit for the ratio of the branching fractions of the rho(0)(1700) to pi(+)pi(-) and pi(+)pi(-)pi(+)pi(-) of 2.5% at 90% confidence level. The ratio of rho(0)(1700) and rho(0)(770) coherent production cross sections is measured to be 13.4 +/- 0.8(stat.) +/- 4.4(syst.)%.

Identified particle production, azimuthal anisotropy, and interferometry measurements in Au plus Au collisions at root s(NN)=9.2 GeV

We present the first measurements of identified hadron production, azimuthal anisotropy, and pion interferometry from Au + Au collisions below the nominal injection energy at the BNL Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) facility. The data were collected using the large acceptance solenoidal tracker at RHIC (STAR) detector at root s(NN) = 9.2 GeV from a test run of the collider in the year 2008. Midrapidity results on multiplicity density dN/dy in rapidity y, average transverse momentum < p(T)>, particle ratios, elliptic flow, and Hanbury-Brown-Twiss (HBT) radii are consistent with the corresponding results at similar root s(NN) from fixed-target experiments. Directed flow measurements are presented for both midrapidity and forward-rapidity regions. Furthermore the collision centrality dependence of identified particle dN/dy, < p(T)>, and particle ratios are discussed. These results also demonstrate that the capabilities of the STAR detector, although optimized for root s(NN) = 200 GeV, are suitable for the proposed QCD critical-point search and exploration of the QCD phase diagram at RHIC.

Observation of an Antimatter Hypernucleus

Nuclear collisions recreate conditions in the universe microseconds after the Big Bang. Only a very small fraction of the emitted fragments are light nuclei, but these states are of fundamental interest. We report the observation of antihypertritons-comprising an antiproton, an antineutron, and an antilambda hyperon-produced by colliding gold nuclei at high energy. Our analysis yields 70 +/- 17 antihypertritons (3/Lambda(H) over bar) and 157 +/- 30 hypertritons (H-3(Lambda)). The measured yields of H-3(Lambda) (3/Lambda(H) over bar) and He-3 ((3)(He) over bar) are similar, suggesting an equilibrium in coordinate and momentum space populations of up, down, and strange quarks and antiquarks, unlike the pattern observed at lower collision energies. The production and properties of antinuclei, and of nuclei containing strange quarks, have implications spanning nuclear and particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology.

Longitudinal scaling property of the charge balance function in Au plus Au collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV

We present measurements of the charge balance function, from the charged particles, for diverse pseudorapidity and transverse momentum ranges in Au + Au collisions at root S-NN = 200 GeV using the STAR detector at RHIC. We observe that the balance function is boost-invariant within the pseudorapidity coverage vertical bar-1.3, 1.3 vertical bar. The balance function properly scaled by the width of the observed pseudorapidity window does not depend on the position or size of the pseudorapidity window. This scaling property also holds for particles in different transverse momentum ranges. In addition, we find that the width of the balance function decreases monotonically with increasing transverse momentum for all centrality classes. (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Center of mass energy and system-size dependence of photon production at forward rapidity at RHIC

We present the multiplicity and pseudorapidity distributions of photons produced in Au + Au and Cu + Cu collisions at root(NN)-N-s = 62.4 and 200 GeV. The photons are measured in the region -3.7 < eta < -2.3 using the photon Multiplicity detector in the STAR experiment at RHIC. The number of photons produced per average number of participating nucleon pairs increases with the beam energy and is independent of (lie collision centrality. For collisions with similar average numbers of participating nucleons the photon multiplicities are observed to be similar for An + Au and Cu + Cu collisions at a given beam energy. The ratios of the number of charged particles to photons in the measured pseudorapidity range are found to be 1.4 +/- 0.1 and 1.2 +/- 0.1 for root(NN)-N-s = 62.4 and 200 GeV, respectively. The energy dependence of this ratio could reflect varying contributions from baryons to charged particles, while mesons are the dominant contributors to photon production in the given kinematic region. The photon pseudorapidity distributions normalized by average number of participating nucleon pairs, when plotted as a function of eta-Y-beam, are found to follow a longitudinal scaling independent of centrality and colliding ion species at both beam energies. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Flavian laws, the railway, the newspaper and Loring’s breads

It is abound the research on the formation, rise and failure of the financial and industrial network undertaken by the Loring-Heredia-Larios triangle, bourgeois families who introduced the Industrial Revolution in the south of Andalusia. On the contrary, there are almost nonexistent studies from the perspective of the mentality that sustained their business, social and ethical model in the algid decades of their action (1850-1860). In this paper we propose some hypotheses about the ideological structures of bourgeois group and point out some keys, clues and signs for a future reconstruction of this kind, which so far has not been incardinated that early and failed malaguenan industrial revolution in streams thinking of that time.

Glucose-induced oxidative stress in mesangial cells.

Background: Hyperglycaemia is a well recognized pathogenic factor of long term complications in diabetes mellitus. Hyperglycaemia not only generates reactive oxygen species but also attenuates antioxidant mechanisms creating a state of oxidative stress. Methods: Porcine mesangial cells were cultured in high glucose (HG) for ten days to investigate the effects on the antioxidant defences of the cell. Results: Mesangial cells cultured in HG conditions had significantly reduced levels of glutathione (GSH) compared with those grown in normal glucose (NG). The reduced GSH levels were accompanied by decreased gene expression of both subunits of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase (gamma-GCS), the rate-limiting enzyme in de novo synthesis of GSH. Elevated levels of intracellular malondialdehyde (MDA) were found in cells exposed to HG conditions. HG also caused elevated mRNA levels of the antioxidant enzymes CuZn superoxide dismutase (SOD) and MnSOD. These changes were accompanied by increased mRNA levels of extracellular matrix proteins (ECM), fibronectin (FN) and collagen IV (CIV). Addition of antioxidants to high glucose caused a significant reversal of FN and CIV gene expression; alpha-lipoic acid also upregulated gamma-GCS gene expression and restored intracellular GSH and MDA levels. Conclusions: We have demonstrated the existence of glucose induced-oxidative stress in mesangial cells as evidenced by elevated MDA and decreased GSH levels. The decreased levels of GSH are as a result of decreased mRNA expression of gamma-GCS within the cell. Antioxidants caused a significant reversal of FN and CIV gene expression suggesting an aetiological link between oxidative stress and increased ECM protein synthesis.

Celecoxib plus hormone therapy versus hormone therapy alone for hormone-sensitive prostate cancer: first results from the STAMPEDE multiarm, multistage, randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND:
Long-term hormone therapy alone is standard care for metastatic or high-risk, non-metastatic prostate cancer. STAMPEDE--an international, open-label, randomised controlled trial--uses a novel multiarm, multistage design to assess whether the early additional use of one or two drugs (docetaxel, zoledronic acid, celecoxib, zoledronic acid and docetaxel, or zoledronic acid and celecoxib) improves survival in men starting first-line, long-term hormone therapy. Here, we report the preplanned, second intermediate analysis comparing hormone therapy plus celecoxib (arm D) with hormone therapy alone (control arm A).
METHODS:
Eligible patients were men with newly diagnosed or rapidly relapsing prostate cancer who were starting long-term hormone therapy for the first time. Hormone therapy was given as standard care in all trial arms, with local radiotherapy encouraged for newly diagnosed patients without distant metastasis. Randomisation was done using minimisation with a random element across seven stratification factors. Patients randomly allocated to arm D received celecoxib 400 mg twice daily, given orally, until 1 year or disease progression (including prostate-specific antigen [PSA] failure). The intermediate outcome was failure-free survival (FFS) in three activity stages; the primary outcome was overall survival in a subsequent efficacy stage. Research arms were compared pairwise against the control arm on an intention-to-treat basis. Accrual of further patients was discontinued in any research arm showing safety concerns or insufficient evidence of activity (lack of benefit) compared with the control arm. The minimum targeted activity at the second intermediate activity stage was a hazard ratio (HR) of 0·92. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00268476, and with Current Controlled Trials, number ISRCTN78818544.
FINDINGS:
2043 patients were enrolled in the trial from Oct 17, 2005, to Jan 31, 2011, of whom 584 were randomly allocated to receive hormone therapy alone (control group; arm A) and 291 to receive hormone therapy plus celecoxib (arm D). At the preplanned analysis of the second intermediate activity stage, with 305 FFS events (209 in arm A, 96 in arm D), there was no evidence of an advantage for hormone therapy plus celecoxib over hormone therapy alone: HR 0·94 (95% CI 0·74-1·20). [corrected]. 2-year FFS was 51% (95% CI 46-56) in arm A and 51% (95% CI 43-58) in arm D. There was no evidence of differences in the incidence of adverse events between groups (events of grade 3 or higher were noted at any time in 123 [23%, 95% CI 20-27] patients in arm A and 64 [25%, 19-30] in arm D). The most common grade 3-5 events adverse effects in both groups were endocrine disorders (55 [11%] of patients in arm A vs 19 [7%] in arm D) and musculoskeletal disorders (30 [6%] of patients in arm A vs 15 [6%] in arm D). The independent data monitoring committee recommended stopping accrual to both celecoxib-containing arms on grounds of lack of benefit and discontinuing celecoxib for patients currently on treatment, which was endorsed by the trial steering committee.
INTERPRETATION:
Celecoxib 400 mg twice daily for up to 1 year is insufficiently active in patients starting hormone therapy for high-risk prostate cancer, and we do not recommend its use in this setting. Accrual continues seamlessly to the other research arms and follow-up of all arms will continue to assess effects on overall survival.

Altered endothelin-1 induced contraction and second messenger generation in bovine retinal microvascular pericytes cultured in high glucose medium.

The effect of simulated hyperglycaemia on bovine retinal pericytes was studied following culture of these cells for 10 days under normal (5 mmol/l) and elevated (25 mmol/l) glucose conditions in the absence of endothelial cells. Pericytes cultured under high ambient glucose exhibited both a delayed and reduced contractile response following stimulation with endothelin-1. Stimulation with 10(-7) mol/l endothelin-1 for 30 s caused significant contraction in cells grown in both 5 mmol/l and 25 mmol/l glucose. The former also contracted significantly with 10(-8) mol/l endothelin-1. Further, at all concentrations tested, statistical comparison of the time course of contraction showed a significant difference (p 0.1) between bovine retinal pericytes grown for 10 days under normo- or hyperglycaemic conditions, it became apparent that the altered contractility in bovine retinal pericytes following culture in high glucose must be due to post-binding intracellular disturbance(s). Indeed, both basal and 15 s post-stimulation with 10(-8) mol/l endothelin-1, levels of inositol trisphosphate were significantly reduced (p

Selective loss of vascular smooth muscle cells in the retinal microcirculation of diabetic dogs

This study was undertaken to further characterise the fine structural changes occurring in the retinal circulation in early diabetes. The eyes of eight alloxan/streptozotocin and three spontaneously diabetic dogs were examined by trypsin digest and electron microscopy after durations of diabetes of between 1 and 7 years. Basement membrane (BM) thickening in the retinal capillaries was the only obvious fine structural change identified during the first 3 years of diabetes and was established within 1 year of induction. Widespread pericyte loss was noted after 4 years of diabetes and was paralleled by loss of smooth muscle (SM) cells, in the retinal arterioles. SM cell loss was most obvious in the smaller arterioles of the central retina. No microaneurysms were noted in the experimental diabetic dogs with up to 5 years' duration of diabetes but were widespread in a spontaneously diabetic animal at 7 years. This study has shown that SM cell loss, a hitherto unrecognised feature of diabetic microangiopathy, accompanies pericyte loss in the retinal circulation of diabetic dogs.

The effect of endothelin 1 on the retinal microvascular pericyte

The effect of the highly vasoactive peptide endothelin 1 (ET1) was tested on bovine retinal microvascular pericytes propagated in vitro. Specific binding of 125I-ET1 to retinal pericytes was documented by autoradiography. ET1 caused contraction of pericytes at a concentration of 0.1 nM which was accompanied by increases in inositol phosphates. Exposure of pericytes to 10 nM ET1 resulted in the aggregation and realignment of muscle-specific actins into bundles which were oriented parallel to the long axis of the cell, and ET1 was also mitogenic to pericytes in the presence of low levels of fetal calf serum. These observations suggest that ET1 may play an important role in endothelial cell-pericyte interactions within the microvasculature of the retina and that it may be involved in the autoregulation of retinal blood flow.