This contribution presents a brief summary of the recent past efforts to experimentally explore the QCD phase diagram at high baryon chemical potentials through heavy-ion collisions. A few ...measurements are highlighted to present the current status in the search for a first-order phase transition, for a possible critical endpoint, and for evidence of chiral symmetry restoration. Finally, the outlook for the ongoing beam energy scan II program and future experiments at the FAIR complex are discussed.
According to first-principle lattice QCD calculations, the transition from quark-gluon plasma to hadronic matter is a smooth crossover in the region μ_{B}≤T_{c}. In this range the ratio, C_{6}/C_{2}, ...of net-baryon distributions are predicted to be negative. In this Letter, we report the first measurement of the midrapidity net-proton C_{6}/C_{2} from 27, 54.4, and 200 GeV Au+Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The dependence on collision centrality and kinematic acceptance in (p_{T}, y) are analyzed. While for 27 and 54.4 GeV collisions the C_{6}/C_{2} values are close to zero within uncertainties, it is observed that for 200 GeV collisions, the C_{6}/C_{2} ratio becomes progressively negative from peripheral to central collisions. Transport model calculations without critical dynamics predict mostly positive values except for the most central collisions within uncertainties. These observations seem to favor a smooth crossover in the high-energy nuclear collisions at top RHIC energy.
Technological developments in radiation therapy result in smaller irradiated volumes of normal tissue. Because the risk of radiation therapy-induced toxicity generally depends on irradiated volume, ...changing volume could change the dose-limiting toxicity of a treatment. Recently, in our rat model, we found that early radiation-induced lung dysfunction (RILD) was closely related to irradiated volume dependent vascular remodeling besides inflammation. The exact relationship between early and late RILD is still unknown. Therefore, in this preclinical study we investigated the dose-volume relationship of late RILD, assessed its dependence on early and late pathologies and studied if decreasing irradiated volume changed the dose-limiting toxicity.
A volume of 25%, 32%, 50%, 63%, 88%, or 100% of the rat lung was irradiated using protons. Until 26 weeks after irradiation, respiratory rates were measured. Macrovascular remodeling, pulmonary inflammation, and fibrosis were assessed at 26 weeks after irradiation. For all endpoints dose-volume response curves were made. These results were compared to our previously published early lung effects.
Early vascular remodeling and inflammation correlated significantly with early RILD. Late RILD correlated with inflammation and fibrosis, but not with vascular remodeling. In contrast to the early effects, late vascular remodeling, inflammation and fibrosis showed a primarily dose but not volume dependence. Comparison of respiratory rate increases early and late after irradiation for the different dose-distributions indicated that with decreasing irradiated volumes, the dose-limiting toxicity changed from early to late RILD.
In our rat model, different pathologies underlie early and late RILD with different dose-volume dependencies. Consequently, the dose-limiting toxicity changed from early to late dysfunction when the irradiated volume was reduced. In patients, early and late RILD are also due to different pathologies. As such, new radiation techniques reducing irradiated volume might change the dose-limiting toxicity of the radiation therapy treatment.
The installation of the muon telescope detector opened new possibilities for studying dimuon production at STAR. However, backgrounds from hadron punch-through and weak decays of pions and kaons make ...the identification of primary muons challenging. In this paper we present a study of shallow and deep neural networks trained as classifiers for the purpose of muon identification using information from the muon telescope detector at STAR. The performance of shallow neural networks is presented as a function of the number of neurons in their hidden layer. A hyperparameter optimization for determining the optimal deep neural network classifier architecture is presented. The optimized deep neural network is compared with shallow neural networks, boosted decision trees, likelihood ratios, and traditional cut-based PID techniques. The superiority of the deep neural network based muon identification technique is demonstrated and compared with traditional PID through the measurement of the \(\phi\) meson and the \(\psi(2S)\) in p+p collisions at \(\sqrt{s}\) = 200 GeV. The deep neural network based PID simultaneously provides higher signal efficiency, signal-to-background ratio, and significance of the \(\phi\) peak compared to traditional PID techniques. Finally, a deep neural network assisted technique for measuring the muon purity in data is presented and discussed.
Background. The conventional method for C-reactive protein (CRP) measurement is an immunoturbidimetric assay (imCRP, detection limit ≥3 mg/l). However, high-sensitivity CRP (hsCRP, detection limit ...>0.1 mg/l) has been advocated as preferable biomarker for cardiovascular risk assessment. The aim of this study was to determine agreement between imCRP and hsCRP in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients, and to examine whether the association between CRP and mortality is comparable when using imCRP or hsCRP. Methods. Patients from a prospective follow-up study among incident ESRD patients (NECOSAD) with serum CRP available at 3 months of follow-up were included n = 840, 60% male, mean (SD) age 59 (15) years. Agreement between imCRP and hsCRP was determined by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and by Cohen's kappa (κ) for CRP dichotomized to the presence (CRP >10 mg/l) or absence of systemic inflammation. The association between CRP and mortality was determined by Cox regression analysis and c-statistic. Results. ICC between imCRP and hsCRP was 0.78, which improved to 0.86 after correction for systematic differences between measurement methods. Systemic inflammation was present in 28.2% and absent in 67.6% of patients according to both methods (discordant in 4.2%), resulting in good agreement between the two methods (κ = 0.90). Patients with systemic inflammation had a significantly increased mortality risk compared with patients without systemic inflammation HRim,adj = 1.49 (95%CI 1.14–1.93) and HRhs,adj = 1.53 (1.18–2.0). Predictive capacity of mortality was similar for both CRP methods c-statisticadj 0.83 (0.79–0.86). Conclusion. The agreement between imCRP and hsCRP in patients with ESRD is very good. Furthermore, the association between CRP and mortality in ESRD patients is similar when using imCRP and hsCRP. These data suggest that there is no need to use a high-sensitivity method for the determination of inflammatory status in ESRD patients.
The Forward Silicon Tracker (FST) is a pivotal component of the forward upgrade of the Solenoidal Tracker at RHIC (STAR), designed to discern hadron charge signs with a momentum resolution better ...than 30\% for \(0.2 < p_T < 2\) GeV/c in the \(2.5 < \eta < 4\) pseudorapidity range. Its compact design features three disks along the beam direction, minimized material budget and scattering effects. The FST uses Hamamatsu's p-in-n silicon strip sensors with a double metal layer for efficient signal processing. The flexible hybrid boards, essential for the readout system, are constructed with Kapton and copper layers to optimize signal handling and power distribution. These boards connect silicon strips to analogue pipeline ASIC APV25-S1 chips, which read up to 128 channels each. A cooling system with nonconducting, volatile NOVEC 7200 coolant at 22.2{\deg}C mitigates ASIC-generated heat. The FST enhances forward tracking performance at RHIC, showcasing unique design solutions to complex challenges.
Atmospheric pressure plasma jets have a long history of more than 50 years. During this time their design and plasma generation mechanism has been developed and adapted to various fields of ...applications. This review aims at giving an overview of jet devices by starting with a brief history of their development. This is followed by an overview of commonly used terms and definitions as well as a survey of different classification schemes (e.g. geometry, excition frequency or specific energy input) described in literature. A selective update of new designs and novel research achievments on atmospheric pressure plasma jets published in 2012 or later shows the impressive variety and rapid development of the field. Finally, a brief outlook on the future trends and directions is given.
Global polarization of Ξ and Ω hyperons has been measured for the first time in Au+Au collisions at sqrts_{NN}=200 GeV. The measurements of the Ξ^{-} and Ξover ¯^{+} hyperon polarization have been ...performed by two independent methods, via analysis of the angular distribution of the daughter particles in the parity violating weak decay Ξ→Λ+π, as well as by measuring the polarization of the daughter Λ hyperon, polarized via polarization transfer from its parent. The polarization, obtained by combining the results from the two methods and averaged over Ξ^{-} and Ξover ¯^{+}, is measured to be ⟨P_{Ξ}⟩=0.47±0.10(stat)±0.23(syst)% for the collision centrality 20%-80%. The ⟨P_{Ξ}⟩ is found to be slightly larger than the inclusive Λ polarization and in reasonable agreement with a multiphase transport model. The ⟨P_{Ξ}⟩ is found to follow the centrality dependence of the vorticity predicted in the model, increasing toward more peripheral collisions. The global polarization of Ω, ⟨P_{Ω}⟩=1.11±0.87(stat)±1.97(syst)% was obtained by measuring the polarization of daughter Λ in the decay Ω→Λ+K, assuming the polarization transfer factor C_{ΩΛ}=1.
Increasing evidence suggests that oxidative stress may play a key role in joint destruction due to rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim of this study was to elucidate the role of nuclear factor ...erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), a transcription factor that maintains the cellular defence against oxidative stress, in RA.
The activation status of Nrf2 was assessed in synovial tissue from patients with RA using immunohistochemistry. Antibody-induced arthritis (AIA) was induced in Nrf2-knockout and Nrf2-wild-type control mice. The severity of cartilage destruction was evaluated using a damage score. The extent of oxidative stress, the activation state of Nrf2 and the expression level of Nrf2 target genes were analysed by immunhistological staining. The expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A was examined on mRNA and protein using the Luminex technique. A Xenogen imaging system was used to measure Nrf2 activity in an antioxidant response element-luciferase transgenic mouse during AIA.
Nrf2 was activated in the joints of arthritic mice and of patients with RA. Nrf2-knockout mice had more severe cartilage injuries and more oxidative damage, and the expression of Nrf2 target genes was enhanced in Nrf2-wild-type but not in knockout mice during AIA. Both VEGF-A mRNA and protein expression was upregulated in Nrf2-knockout mice during AIA. An unexpected finding was the number of spontaneously fractured bones in Nrf2-knockout mice with AIA.
These results provide strong evidence that oxidative stress is significantly involved in cartilage degradation in experimental arthritis, and indicate that the presence of a functional Nrf2 gene is a major requirement for limiting cartilage destruction.
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