Beta frequency (13-30 Hz) oscillatory activity in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) of Parkinson's disease (PD) has been shown to influence the temporal dynamics of high-frequency oscillations (HFOs; ...200-500 Hz) and single neurons, potentially compromising the functional flexibility of the motor circuit. We examined these interactions by simultaneously recording both local field potential and single-unit activity from the basal ganglia of 15 patients with PD during deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery of the bilateral STN. Phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) in the STN was specific to beta phase and HFO amplitude, and this coupling was strongest at the dorsal STN border. We found higher beta-HFO PAC near DBS lead contacts that were clinically effective compared with the remaining non-effective contacts, indicating that PAC may be predictive of response to STN DBS. Neuronal spiking was locked to the phase of 8-30 Hz oscillations, and the spatial topography of spike-phase locking (SPL) was similar to that of PAC. Comparisons of PAC and SPL showed a lack of spatiotemporal correlations. Beta-coupled HFOs and field-locked neurons had different preferred phase angles and did not co-occur within the same cycle of the modulating oscillation. Our findings provide additional support that beta-HFO PAC may be central to the pathophysiology of PD and suggest that field-locked neurons alone are not sufficient for the emergence of beta-coupled HFOs.
Glucocerebrosidase (GCase, deficient in Gaucher disease) enzymatic activity measured in dried blood spots of Parkinson's Disease (PD) cases is within healthy range but reduced compared to controls. ...It is not known whether activities of additional lysosomal enzymes are reduced in dried blood spots in PD. To test whether reduction in lysosomal enzymatic activity in PD is specific to GCase, we measured GCase, acid sphingomyelinase (deficient in Niemann–Pick disease types A and B), alpha galactosidase A (deficient in Fabry), acid alpha-glucosidase (deficient in Pompe) and galactosylceramidase (deficient in Krabbe) enzymatic activities in dried blood spots of PD patients (n = 648) and controls (n = 317) recruited from Columbia University. Full sequencing of glucocerebrosidase (GBA) and the LRRK2 G2019S mutation was performed. Enzymatic activities were compared between PD cases and controls using t-test and regression models adjusted for age, gender, and GBA and LRRK2 G2019S mutation status. Alpha galactosidase A activity was lower in PD cases compared to controls both when only non-carriers were included (excluding all GBA and LRRK2 G2019S carriers and PD cases with age-at-onset below 40) 2.85 μmol/l/h versus 3.12 μmol/l/h, p = 0.018; after controlling for batch effect, p = 0.006 (468 PD cases and 296 controls), and when including the entire cohort (2.89 μmol/l/h versus 3.10 μmol/l/h, p = 0.040; after controlling for batch effect, p = 0.011). Because the alpha galactosidase A gene is X-linked, we stratified the analyses by sex. Among women who were non-carriers of GBA and LRRK2 G2019S mutations (PD, n = 155; control, n = 194), alpha galactosidase A activity was lower in PD compared to controls (2.77 μmol/l/h versus 3.10 μmol/l/h, p = 0.044; after controlling for a batch effect, p = 0.001). The enzymatic activity of acid sphingomyelinase, acid alpha-glucosidase and galactosylceramidase was not significantly different between PD and controls. In non-carriers, most lysosomal enzyme activities were correlated, with the strongest association in GCase, acid alpha-glucosidase, and alpha galactosidase A (Pearson correlation coefficient between 0.382 and 0.532). In a regression model with all five enzymes among non-carriers (adjusted for sex and age), higher alpha galactosidase A activity was associated with lower odds of PD status (OR = 0.54; 95% CI:0.31–0.95; p = 0.032). When LRRK2 G2019S PD carriers (n = 37) were compared to non-carriers with PD, carriers had higher GCase, acid sphingomyelinase and alpha galactosidase A activity. We conclude that alpha galactosidase A may have a potential independent role in PD, in addition to GCase.
•Activity was measured for 5 lysosomal enzymes in blood spots of PD and controls.•Alpha galactosidase A (deficient in Fabry disease) activity is reduced in PD cases.•Alpha galactosidase A and acid sphingomylinase are elevated in LRRK2 carriers.
La concentración de iones cloruro y la presión parcial de CO2, tienen un papel importante en el proceso de degradación de los aceros de bajo carbono empleados en la construcción de líneas de ...transporte en industrias petroleras. Con el fin de evaluar la susceptibilidad del acero al carbono API 5L X42 a la corrosión por picado, se realizaron medidas de ruido electroquímico y resistencia a la polarización lineal en soluciones acuosas de iones cloruro con concentraciones entre 10.000 y 18.000 ppm, variando la presión parcial de CO2 entre 10 psi y 18 psi. Los resultados indican que la formación de una capa protectora, constituida principalmente por FeCO3, depende de la presión parcial de CO2 del sistema. No obstante, la estabilidad de dicha capa es afectada significativamente por el aumento de la concentración de iones cloruro, que producen fenómenos de corrosión localizada en algunas áreas de la superficie del acero API 5L X42, los cuales fueron detectados por la técnica de ruido electroquímico.
Objetivo Utilizar tecnicas de clustering para caracterizar a los proveedores de servicios de mantenimiento de una institucion de salud. Metodos El estudio analiza el inventario del equipamiento ...perteneciente a 7 areas pilotos (264 equipos medicos). Se aplican tecnicas de clustering usando 26 variables. Entre las mas significativas: el tiempo de respuesta (RT), la duracion de las intervenciones (DR), la disponibilidad y el tiempo de cambio de estado (TAT). Resultados La obsolescencia del equipo biomedico en promedio es de 0,78. Se identifican 4 grupos de proveedores de servicios. Grupos (1 y 3): Mejor desempeno, menores valores de TAT, RT y DR; cuyos proveedores son: O, L, C, B, I, S, H, F, G; representan el 56 % del total; con valores de TAT entre: 1,4 dias <TAT < 2,56 dias como promedio. Grupo (0): Desempeno medio, cuyos proveedores son: V, M, K, Z, T, Y; representan el 38 %; con valores de TAT iguales a 9,79 dias como promedio. Grupo (2): con bajos desempenos, por poseer valores altos de TAT (101 dias como promedio); con unico proveedor: J, representa el 6 % del total de la muestra analizada. Conclusiones La metodologia empleada permitio caracterizar el inventario de equipos medicos y a los proveedores de servicios de mantenimiento. La tecnica de conglomerados demostro ser efectiva para identificar los proveedores mas competitivos. Palabras Clave: Disponibilidad de servicios de salud, servicios contratados, analisis por conglomerados, servicio de mantenimiento e ingenieria en hospital, ingenieria biomedica (fuente: DeCS, BIREME). Objective Using clustering techniques for characterising companies providing health institutions with maintenance services. Methods The study analysed seven pilot areas' equipment inventory (264 medical devices). Clustering techniques were applied using 26 variables. Response time (RT), operation duration (OD), availability and turnaround time (TAT) were amongst the most significant ones. Results Average biomedical equipment obsolescence value was 0.78. Four service provider clusters were identified: clusters 1 and 3 had better performance, lower TAT, RT and DR values (56 % of the providers coded O, L, C, B, I, S, H, F and G, had 1 to 4 day TAT values: <TAT < 2.56 days on average). Cluster 0 had medium performance (38 % of providers coded V, M, K, Z, T and Y, having an average 9.79 TAT value). Cluster 2 (6 % - provider J) had low performance, having very a high TAT level (101 days on average). Conclusions The methodology allowed medical equipment inventory and maintenance service suppliers to be characterised. The cluster technique was effective in identifying the most competitive suppliers. Key Words: Health service accessibility, contract service, cluster analysis, maintenance and engineering, hospital, biomedical engineering (source: MeSH, NLM).
The series of upgrades to the Large Hadron Collider, culminating in the High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider, will enable a significant expansion of the physics program of the CMS experiment. ...However, the accelerator upgrades will also make the experimental conditions more challenging, with implications for detector operations, triggering, and data analysis. The luminosity of the proton–proton collisions is expected to exceed 2–3×1034 cm−2s−1 for Run 3 (starting in 2022), and it will be at least 5×1034 cm−2s−1 when the High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider is completed for Run 4. These conditions will affect muon triggering, identification, and measurement, which are critical capabilities of the experiment. To address these challenges, additional muon detectors are being installed in the CMS endcaps, based on Gas Electron Multiplier technology. For this purpose, 161 large triple-Gas Electron Multiplier detectors have been constructed and tested. Installation of these devices began in 2019 with the GE1/1 station and will be followed by two additional stations, GE2/1 and ME0, to be installed in 2023 and 2026, respectively. The assembly and quality control of the GE1/1 detectors were distributed across several production sites around the world. We motivate and discuss the quality control procedures that were developed to standardize the performance of the detectors, and we present the final results of the production. Out of 161 detectors produced, 156 detectors passed all tests, and 144 detectors are now installed in the CMS experiment. The various visual inspections, gas tightness tests, intrinsic noise rate characterizations, and effective gas gain and response uniformity tests allowed the project to achieve this high success rate.
The upgrade of the CMS detector for the high luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) will include gas electron multiplier (GEM) detectors in the end-cap muon spectrometer. Due to the limited supply of large area GEM ...detectors, the Korean CMS (KCMS) collaboration had formed a consortium with Mecaro Co., Ltd. to serve as a supplier of GEM foils with area of approximately 0.6m2. The consortium has developed a double-mask etching technique for production of these large-sized GEM foils. This article describes the production, quality control, and quality assessment (QA/QC) procedures and the mass production status for the GEM foils. Validation procedures indicate that the structure of the Korean foils are in the designed range. Detectors employing the Korean foils satisfy the requirements of the HL-LHC in terms of the effective gain, response uniformity, rate capability, discharge probability, and hardness against discharges. No aging phenomena were observed with a charge collection of 82mCcm−2. Mass production of KCMS GEM foils is currently in progress.
The high-luminosity phase of the Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) will result in ten times higher particle background than measured during the first phase of LHC operation. In order to fully exploit ...the highly-demanding operating conditions during HL-LHC, the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) Collaboration will use Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) detector technology. The technology will be integrated into the innermost region of the forward muon spectrometer of CMS as an additional muon station called GE1∕1. The primary purpose of this auxiliary station is to help in muon reconstruction and to control level-1 muon trigger rates in the pseudo-rapidity region 1.6≤|η|≤2.2. The new station will contain trapezoidal-shaped GEM detectors called GE1∕1 chambers. The design of these chambers is finalized, and the installation is in progress during the Long Shutdown phase two (LS-2) that started in 2019. Several full-size prototypes were built and operated successfully in various test beams at CERN. We describe performance measurements such as gain, efficiency, and time resolution of these prototype chambers, developed after years of R&D, and summarize their behavior in different gas compositions as a function of the applied voltage.
Abstract
The Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) detectors of the GE1/1 station of the CMS experiment have been operated in the CMS magnetic field for the first time on the 7
th
of October 2021. During the ...magnetic field ramps, several discharge phenomena were observed, leading to instability in the GEM High Voltage (HV) power system. In order to reproduce the behavior, it was decided to conduct a dedicated test at the CERN North Area with the Goliath magnet, using four GE1/1 spare chambers. The test consisted in studying the characteristics of discharge events that occurred in different detector configurations and external conditions. Multiple magnetic field ramps were performed in sequence: patterns in the evolution of the discharge rates were observed with these data. The goal of this test is the understanding of the experimental conditions inducing discharges and short circuits in a GEM foil.
The results of this test lead to the development of procedure for the optimal operation and performance of GEM detectors in the CMS experiment during the magnet ramps. Another important result is the estimation of the probability of short circuit generation, at 68 % confidence level,
p
short
HV OFF
= 0.42
-0.35
+0.94
% with detector HV OFF and
p
short
HV OFF
< 0.49% with the HV ON. These numbers are specific for the detectors used during this test, but they provide a first quantitative indication on the phenomenon, and a point of comparison for future studies adopting the same procedure.
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