We report on a precision measurement of low-mass muon pairs in 158 AGeV indium-indium collisions at the CERN SPS. A significant excess of pairs is observed above the yield expected from neutral meson ...decays. The unprecedented sample size of 360,000 dimuons and the good mass resolution of about 2% allow us to isolate the excess by subtraction of the decay sources. The shape of the resulting mass spectrum is consistent with a dominant contribution from pi+pi- -->rho -->mu+mu- annihilation. The associated space-time averaged spectral function shows a strong broadening, but essentially no shift in mass. This may rule out theoretical models linking hadron masses directly to the chiral condensate.
The long-term thermal stability of advanced ceramic breeder pebbles consisting of lithium orthosilicate (Li4SiO4) and additions of lithium metatitanate (Li2TiO3) was tested in an annealing experiment ...at 900 °C for up to 128 days. Different gas atmospheres were used to test the influence of moisture in the purge gas. Li4SiO4 pebbles including nominally 25, 30, and 35 mol% Li2TiO3 were investigated with regard to their chemical composition, microstructure, porosity, and mechanical properties after predetermined time intervals and at the end of the experiment. No lithium loss and no secondary phases were detected. The microstructures, porosities and mechanical stabilities did not show significant changes over time. Moreover, moisture in the purge gas atmosphere has no negative influence on the material properties.
We evaluated the frequency, genetic architecture, clinico-pathologic features and prognostic impact of RUNX1 mutations in 2439 adult patients with newly-diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML). RUNX1 ...mutations were found in 245 of 2439 (10%) patients; were almost mutually exclusive of AML with recurrent genetic abnormalities; and they co-occurred with a complex pattern of gene mutations, frequently involving mutations in epigenetic modifiers (ASXL1, IDH2, KMT2A, EZH2), components of the spliceosome complex (SRSF2, SF3B1) and STAG2, PHF6, BCOR. RUNX1 mutations were associated with older age (16-59 years: 8.5%; ⩾60 years: 15.1%), male gender, more immature morphology and secondary AML evolving from myelodysplastic syndrome. In univariable analyses, RUNX1 mutations were associated with inferior event-free (EFS, P<0.0001), relapse-free (RFS, P=0.0007) and overall survival (OS, P<0.0001) in all patients, remaining significant when age was considered. In multivariable analysis, RUNX1 mutations predicted for inferior EFS (P=0.01). The effect of co-mutation varied by partner gene, where patients with the secondary genotypes RUNX1
/ASXL1
(OS, P=0.004), RUNX1
/SRSF2
(OS, P=0.007) and RUNX1
/PHF6
(OS, P=0.03) did significantly worse, whereas patients with the genotype RUNX1
/IDH2
(OS, P=0.04) had a better outcome. In conclusion, RUNX1-mutated AML is associated with a complex mutation cluster and is correlated with distinct clinico-pathologic features and inferior prognosis.
In this report, we present the results of a multicenter study to test analytic and diagnostic performance of soluble forms of amyloid precursor proteins alpha and beta (sAPP alpha and sAPP beta) in ...the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with different forms of dementing conditions. CSF samples were collected from 188 patients with early dementia (mini-mental state examination >or=20 in majority of cases) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in 12 gerontopsychiatric centers, and the clinical diagnoses were supported by neurochemical dementia diagnostic (NDD) tools: CSF amyloid beta peptides, Tau and phospho-Tau. sAPP alpha and sAPP beta were measured with multiplexing method based on electrochemiluminescence. sAPP alpha and sAPP beta CSF concentrations correlated with each other with very high correlation ratio (R=0.96, P<0.001). We observed highly significantly increased sAPP alpha and sAPP beta CSF concentrations in patients with NDD characteristic for Alzheimer's disease (AD) compared to those with NDD negative results. sAPP alpha and sAPP beta highly significantly separated patients with AD, whose diagnosis was supported by NDD findings (sAPP alpha: cutoff, 117.4 ng ml(-1), sensitivity, 68%, specificity, 85%, P<0.001; sAPP beta: cutoff, 181.8 ng ml(-1), sensitivity, 75%, specificity, 85%, P<0.001), from the patients clinically assessed as having other dementias and supported by NDD untypical for AD. We conclude sAPP alpha and sAPP beta might be regarded as novel promising biomarkers supporting the clinical diagnosis of AD.
To assess the effects of exposure to complex mixtures of pesticides in farm workers from two communities from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, we evaluated the activities of butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) ...and δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALA-D) enzymes, hematological, lipid parameters, and genotoxicity using two tests to detect DNA damage, the Comet assay in peripheral blood leukocytes and the micronucleus (MN) test in oral mucosa cells. The use of personal protective equipment (PPE), age and smoke habits were considered in the analysis. There was a significant decrease in the BChE and ALA-D activities in farm workers (
n
=
37) relative to the control group (
n
=
20) (P
≤
0.05 and P
≤
0.001, respectively). The Comet assay in peripheral blood leukocytes showed that the Damage index and Damage frequency observed in the exposed group were significantly higher in relation to the controls (
P
≤
0.001, and
P
≤
0.05, respectively). No differences were detected regarding the hematological parameters, lipids profile, and MN frequencies. In addition, no significant differences were observed between younger (≤
38 years) and older subjects (>
38 years), or between smokers and non-smokers within the groups, either by Comet assay or MN test. However, the use of PPE seems to be important in the prevention of contamination, as suggested by BChE levels and Comet assay results.
The former EU reference lithium orthosilicate based breeder pebbles were exposed to neutron irradiation in the HICU (High neutron fluence Irradiation of pebble staCks for fUsion) experiment to test ...their stability and tritium release properties under DEMO relevant conditions. The samples, varying by three different Li-6 contents, were exposed to irradiation at two different temperatures and the pebbles were either pre-compacted or not. This second part of the post-irradiation examination is focussing on the tritium release behaviour of the ceramic breeder pebbles.
The irradiation temperature has the strongest influence on the tritium release behaviour. The tritium inventory is significantly higher for samples that were irradiated at low temperatures. A clear trend regarding higher release rates with increasing Li-6 content was not observed. Tritium is released in a multi-staged process as HTO, HT or corresponding fragments. Fits based on the Wigner-Polanyi equation suggest that recombination reactions of tritium with adsorbed species on the pebble’s surface play the dominant role in the release process. However, the probability for the recombination of two adsorbed T-species on the surface seems to be too low, as no reliable signal for T2 was detected.
•HICU PIE of neutron irradiated Li4SiO4-based ceramic breeder pebbles.•The tritium release behaviour is strongly influenced by the irradiation temperature.•Tritium is released in a multi-staged process as HTO, HT or corresponding fragments.
The HICU (High neutron fluence Irradiation of pebble staCks for fUsion) experiment was performed in the High Flux Reactor (HFR) in Petten, NL, in order to irradiate candidate tritium breeder ...materials in a fusion relevant environment. The presented work focuses on the post-irradiation examination of the irradiated lithium orthosilicate based breeder pebbles. The pebble samples showed three different contents of Li-6 and were irradiated at two different temperatures and in mechanically constrained and unconstrained state. In this particular publication, the influences of the irradiation conditions on the pebble morphology, microstructure, porosity, and mechanical strength are addressed.
The results indicate that in general a high irradiation temperature seems to be advantageous for maintaining the mechanical strength of the irradiated pebbles. A higher mechanical strength and a significantly lower closer porosity is observed for samples that were irradiated at high temperatures in comparison to pebbles that were irradiated at low temperatures. The effects on the pebble properties with respect to the Li-6 content are small in contrast to effects of the irradiation temperature. With an increased Li-6 content, no deterioration of the material properties was observed, especially for samples irradiated at high temperatures.
•HICU PIE of neutron irradiated Li4SiO4-based ceramic breeder pebbles.•The material properties significantly depend on the irradiation temperature.•An enrichment in 6Li does not deteriorate the pebbles’ properties.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created enormous challenges for the clinical management of patients with hematological malignancies (HMs), raising questions about the optimal care of this patient group.
...This consensus manuscript aims at discussing clinical evidence and providing expert advice on statements related to the management of HMs in the COVID-19 pandemic. For this purpose, an international consortium was established including a steering committee, which prepared six working packages addressing significant clinical questions from the COVID-19 diagnosis, treatment, and mitigation strategies to specific HMs management in the pandemic. During a virtual consensus meeting, including global experts and lead by the European Society for Medical Oncology and the European Hematology Association, statements were discussed and voted upon. When a consensus could not be reached, the panel revised statements to develop consensual clinical guidance.
The expert panel agreed on 33 statements, reflecting a consensus, which will guide clinical decision making for patients with hematological neoplasms during the COVID-19 pandemic.
•An expert consensus manuscript provided on optimal care of patients with hematological neoplasms in the COVID-19 pandemic.•Expert advice is given on COVID-19 diagnosis, treatment, and mitigation strategies in patients with hematological cancers.•This manuscript will guide clinical decisions for patients with hematological neoplasms in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NA60 experiment has studied J/ψ production in p–A collisions at 158 and 400 GeV, at the CERN SPS. Nuclear effects on the J/ψ yield have been estimated from the A-dependence of the production ...cross section ratios σJ/ψA/σJ/ψBe (A=Al, Cu, In, W, Pb, U). We observe a significant nuclear suppression of the J/ψ yield per nucleon–nucleon collision, with a larger effect at lower incident energy, and we compare this result with previous observations by other fixed-target experiments. An attempt to disentangle the different contributions to the observed suppression has been carried out by studying the dependence of nuclear effects on x2, the fraction of the nucleon momentum carried by the interacting parton in the target nucleus.
Risk stratification is critical in the care of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Approximately 10% have a complex karyotype (CK), defined as more than two cytogenetic abnormalities, ...which is a highly adverse prognostic marker. However, CK-MDS can carry a wide range of chromosomal abnormalities and somatic mutations. To refine risk stratification of CK-MDS patients, we examined data from 359 CK-MDS patients shared by the International Working Group for MDS. Mutations were underrepresented with the exception of TP53 mutations, identified in 55% of patients. TP53 mutated patients had even fewer co-mutated genes but were enriched for the del(5q) chromosomal abnormality (p < 0.005), monosomal karyotype (p < 0.001), and high complexity, defined as more than 4 cytogenetic abnormalities (p < 0.001). Monosomal karyotype, high complexity, and TP53 mutation were individually associated with shorter overall survival, but monosomal status was not significant in a multivariable model. Multivariable survival modeling identified severe anemia (hemoglobin < 8.0 g/dL), NRAS mutation, SF3B1 mutation, TP53 mutation, elevated blast percentage (>10%), abnormal 3q, abnormal 9, and monosomy 7 as having the greatest survival risk. The poor risk associated with CK-MDS is driven by its association with prognostically adverse TP53 mutations and can be refined by considering clinical and karyotype features.
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