Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men, accounting for more than 30,000 deaths annually. The purpose of this study was to test whether variation in selected ...candidate genes in biological pathways of interest for prostate cancer progression could help distinguish patients at higher risk for fatal prostate cancer.
In this hypothesis-driven study, we genotyped 937 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 156 candidate genes in a population-based cohort of 1,309 prostate cancer patients. We identified 22 top-ranking SNPs (P ≤ 0.01, FDR ≤ 0.70) associated with prostate cancer-specific mortality (PCSM). A subsequent validation study was completed in an independent population-based cohort of 2,875 prostate cancer patients.
Five SNPs were validated (P ≤ 0.05) as being significantly associated with PCSM, one each in the LEPR, CRY1, RNASEL, IL4, and ARVCF genes. Compared with patients with 0 to 2 of the at-risk genotypes those with 4 to 5 at-risk genotypes had a 50% (95% CI, 1.2-1.9) higher risk of PCSM and risk increased with the number of at-risk genotypes carried (P(trend) = 0.001), adjusting for clinicopathologic factors known to influence prognosis.
Five genetic markers were validated to be associated with lethal prostate cancer.
This is the first population-based study to show that germline genetic variants provide prognostic information for prostate cancer-specific survival. The clinical utility of this five-SNP panel to stratify patients at higher risk for adverse outcomes should be evaluated.
In many parts of the developing world and economies in transition, small-scale traditional brick kilns are a notorious source of urban air pollution. Many are both energy inefficient and burn highly ...polluting fuels that emit significant levels of black carbon (BC), organic carbon (OC) and other atmospheric pollutants into local communities, resulting in severe health and environmental impacts. However, only a very limited number of studies are available on the emission characteristics of brick kilns; thus, there is a need to characterize their gaseous and particulate matter (PM) emission factors to better assess their overall contribution to emissions inventories and to quantify their ecological, human health, and climate impacts. In this study, the fuel-, energy-, and brick-based emissions factors and time-based emission ratios of BC, OC, inorganic PM components, CO, SO2, CH4, NOx, and selected volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from three artisanal brick kilns with different designs in Mexico were quantified using the tracer ratio sampling technique. Simultaneous measurements of PM components, CO, and CO2 were also obtained using a sampling probe technique. Additional measurements included the internal temperature of the brick kilns, mechanical resistance of bricks produced, and characteristics of fuels employed. Average fuel-based BC emission factors ranged from 0.15 to 0.58 g (kg fuel)−1, whereas BC∕OC mass ratios ranged from 0.9 to 5.2, depending on the kiln type. The results show that both techniques capture similar temporal profiles of the brick kiln emissions and produce comparable emission factors. A more integrated inter-comparison of the brick kilns' performances was obtained by simultaneously assessing emissions factors, energy efficiency, fuel consumption, and the quality of the bricks produced.
We present results on dielectron production in {sup 40}Ar+KCl collisions at 1.76A GeV. For the first time {omega} mesons could be reconstructed in a heavy-ion reaction at a bombarding energy which is ...well below the production threshold in free nucleon-nucleon collisions. The {omega} multiplicity has been extracted and compared to the yields of other particles, in particular of the {phi} meson. At intermediate e{sup +}e{sup -} invariant masses, we find a strong enhancement of the pair yield over a reference spectrum from elementary nucleon-nucleon reactions, suggesting the onset of nontrivial effects of the nuclear medium. Transverse-mass spectra and angular distributions have been reconstructed in three invariant mass bins. In the former unexpectedly large slopes are found for high-mass pairs. The latter, in particular the helicity-angle distributions, are largely consistent with expectations for a pair cocktail dominated at intermediate masses by {Delta} Dalitz decays.
Abstract
High-precision measurements of flow coefficients
$$v_{n}$$
v
n
(
$$n = 1 - 4$$
n
=
1
-
4
) for protons, deuterons and tritons relative to the first-order spectator plane have been performed ...in Au+Au collisions at
$$\sqrt{s_{_{{\text {NN}}}= 2.4$$
s
NN
=
2.4
GeV with the High-Acceptance Di-Electron Spectrometer (HADES) at the SIS18/GSI. Flow coefficients are studied as a function of transverse momentum
$$p_{{\text {t}}}$$
p
t
and rapidity
$$y_{{\text {cm}}}$$
y
cm
over a large region of phase-space and for several classes of collision centrality. A clear mass hierarchy, as expected by relativistic hydrodynamics, is found for the slope of
$$v_{1}$$
v
1
,
$$d v_{1}/d y^{\prime }|_{y^{\prime } = 0}$$
d
v
1
/
d
y
′
|
y
′
=
0
where
$$y^{\prime }$$
y
′
is the scaled rapidity, and for
$$v_{2}$$
v
2
at mid-rapidity. Scaling with the number of nucleons is observed for the
$$p_{{\text {t}}}$$
p
t
dependence of
$$v_{2}$$
v
2
and
$$v_{4}$$
v
4
at mid-rapidity, which is indicative for nuclear coalescence as the main process responsible for light nuclei formation.
$$v_{2}$$
v
2
is found to scale with the initial eccentricity
$$\langle \epsilon _{2} \rangle $$
⟨
ϵ
2
⟩
, while
$$v_{4}$$
v
4
scales with
$$\langle \epsilon _{2} \rangle ^{2}$$
⟨
ϵ
2
⟩
2
and
$$\langle \epsilon _{4} \rangle $$
⟨
ϵ
4
⟩
. The multi-differential high-precision data on
$$v_{1}$$
v
1
,
$$v_{2}$$
v
2
,
$$v_{3}$$
v
3
, and
$$v_{4}$$
v
4
provides important constraints on the equation-of-state of compressed baryonic matter.
High-precision measurements of flow coefficients
v
n
(
n
=
1
-
4
) for protons, deuterons and tritons relative to the first-order spectator plane have been performed in Au+Au collisions at
s
NN
=
2.4
... GeV with the High-Acceptance Di-Electron Spectrometer (HADES) at the SIS18/GSI. Flow coefficients are studied as a function of transverse momentum
p
t
and rapidity
y
cm
over a large region of phase-space and for several classes of collision centrality. A clear mass hierarchy, as expected by relativistic hydrodynamics, is found for the slope of
v
1
,
d
v
1
/
d
y
′
|
y
′
=
0
where
y
′
is the scaled rapidity, and for
v
2
at mid-rapidity. Scaling with the number of nucleons is observed for the
p
t
dependence of
v
2
and
v
4
at mid-rapidity, which is indicative for nuclear coalescence as the main process responsible for light nuclei formation.
v
2
is found to scale with the initial eccentricity
⟨
ϵ
2
⟩
, while
v
4
scales with
⟨
ϵ
2
⟩
2
and
⟨
ϵ
4
⟩
. The multi-differential high-precision data on
v
1
,
v
2
,
v
3
, and
v
4
provides important constraints on the equation-of-state of compressed baryonic matter.
Results on the production of the double strange cascade hyperon Ξ^{-} are reported for collisions of p(3.5 GeV)+Nb, studied with the High Acceptance Di-Electron Spectrometer (HADES) at SIS18 at GSI ...Helmholtzzentrum for Heavy-Ion Research, Darmstadt. For the first time, subthreshold Ξ^{-} production is observed in proton-nucleus interactions. Assuming a Ξ^{-} phase-space distribution similar to that of Λ hyperons, the production probability amounts to P_{Ξ^{-}}=2.0±0.4(stat)±0.3(norm)±0.6(syst)×10^{-4} resulting in a Ξ^{-}/(Λ+Σ^{0}) ratio of P_{Ξ^{-}}/P_{Λ+Σ^{0}}=1.2±0.3(stat)±0.4(syst)×10^{-2}. Available model predictions are significantly lower than the measured Ξ^{-} yield.
The reaction p(@3.5 GeV)+p→p+Λ+K+ can be studied to search for the existence of kaonic bound states like ppK− leading to this final state. This effort has been motivated by the assumption that in p+p ...collisions the Λ(1405) resonance can act as a doorway to the formation of the kaonic bound states. The status of this analysis within the HADES Collaboration, with particular emphasis on the comparison to simulations, is shown in this work and the deviation method utilized by the DISTO Collaboration in a similar analysis is discussed. The outcome suggests the employment of a partial wave analysis do disentangle the different contributions to the measured pK+Λ final state.