A next generation B-factory experiment, Belle II, is now being constructed at KEK in Japan. The upgraded accelerator SuperKEKB is designed to have the maximum luminosity of 8 × 1035 cm−2s−1 that is a ...factor 40 higher than the current world record. As a consequence, the Belle II detector yields a data stream of the event size ~1 MB at a Level 1 rate of 30 kHz. The Belle II High Level Trigger (HLT) is designed to reduce the Level 1 rate to 1/5 by performing the real time full event reconstruction and by applying the physics level event selection as the software trigger. In this paper, the development of the high level trigger system for Belle II and its performance is discussed.
A
bstract
We report a new measurement of the
e
+
e
−
→
ϒ(
nS
)
π
+
π
−
(
n
= 1
,
2
,
3) cross sections at energies from 10
.
52 to 11
.
02 GeV using data collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB ...asymmetric-energy
e
+
e
−
collider. We observe a new structure in the energy dependence of the cross sections; if described by a Breit-Wigner function its mass and width are found to be
M
=
10752.7
±
5.9
−
1.1
+
0.7
MeV
/
c
2
and
Γ
=
35.5
−
11.3
−
3.3
+
17.6
+
3.9
MeV, where the first error is statistical and the second is systematic. The global significance of the new structure including systematic uncertainty is 5.2 standard deviations. We also find evidence for the
e
+
e
−
→
ϒ (1
S
)
π
+
π
−
process at the energy 10
.
52 GeV, which is below the
B
B
¯
threshold.
MicroRNAs (miRs) serve either as oncogenes or tumor-suppressor genes in tumor progression. MicroRNA-20b (miR‑20b) is known to be involved with the oncomirs of several types of cancers. However, in ...the present study we describe how miR-20b inhibits the proliferation, migration and invasion of bladder cancer EJ cells. In the present study, miR-20b was downregulated in bladder cancer cell lines, and its overexpression resulted in a significant reduction in the proliferation of EJ cells. In addition, via a bioinformatics approach, we identified cell cycle-regulated genes that are the putative targets of miR-20b. The transfection of miR-20b into EJ cells induced G1 phase cell cycle arrest via the decreased expression of cyclin D1, CDK2 and CDK6 without affecting another G1 phase cell cycle regulator, cyclin E. The cell cycle inhibitor p21WAF1 was upregulated in the miR-20b transfected cells. Moreover, the enforced expression of miR-20b resulted in impaired wound-healing migration and invasion in the EJ cells. Based on our target prediction analysis of miRs, we confirmed that miR-20b overexpression strongly impedes MMP-2 expression via suppressive activation of the Sp-1 binding motif, an important transcription factor present in the MMP-2 promoter. Herein, we report the novel concept that miR-20b exerts a suppressive effect on both cell cycle-modulated proliferation and MMP-2-mediated migration and invasion in bladder cancer EJ cells.
Breast cancer is heterogeneous and often hormone-dependent. There are many breast cancer treatment options, including endocrine therapy, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and targeted therapy. ...Unfortunately, not all patients respond to first-line treatments, and others will eventually relapse despite an initial response. Therapeutic options for these patients are limited. In the past decade, several studies have demonstrated the antitumor effect of celecoxib and luteolin in breast cancer as single treatment. The effect of combination treatment of celecoxib and luteolin in human breast cancer cells has not been well characterized. The present study examined the synergistic effect of celecoxib and luteolin on the human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231. We analyzed cell proliferation, cell death, apoptosis and changes in protein expression by performing cell survival assays, apoptosis assays and western blotting. The combination treatment significantly decreased cancer cell viability, and it had a greater efficiency in killing tumor cells after 72 h of treatment, compared to treatment with either agent alone or the control in a concentration- and time-dependent manner (P=0.01). The combination treatment demonstrated a greater than additive increase in breast cancer cell apoptosis (P=0.01). Decreased levels of Akt phosphorylation (pAkt) were noted after celecoxib and luteolin combination treatment. The combination of celecoxib and luteolin provided superior inhibition of breast cancer cell growth than either celecoxib or luteolin treatment alone. These results suggest that celecoxib and luteolin combination may be a new possible treatment option for breast cancer.
A search for particle cold dark matter with CsI(Tℓ) crystal is being prepared at the Cheong-Pyeong underground laboratory in Korea. The background spectra of CsI(Tℓ) crystal detectors in a prototype ...shield were obtained. The lowest background count rate of the test sample of crystals is measured to be
64.7±5.1
counts
/keV/kg/day in the energy range of 5–
20
keV
. Quantitative estimation of residual radioactive isotope in CsI(Tℓ) was made using the GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulation. Analysis results show that CsI(Tℓ) crystal could be a good candidate for direct detection of WIMPs when the contamination level of cesium radioisotopes is reduced to under a few mBq/kg.
Neutron beam test of CsI crystal for dark matter search Park, H.; Choi, D.H.; Choi, J.M. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
10/2002, Volume:
491, Issue:
3
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
We have studied the response of Tl- and Na-doped CsI crystals to nuclear recoils and γ's below
10
keV
. The response of CsI crystals to nuclear recoil was studied with mono-energetic neutrons ...produced by the
3
H(
p,
n)
3
He
reaction. This was compared to the response to Compton electrons scattered by
662
keV
γ-ray. Pulse shape discrimination between the response to these γ's and nuclear recoils was studied, and quality factors were estimated. The quenching factors for nuclear recoils were derived for both CsI(Na) and CsI(Tl) crystals.
Summary
Objective
Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that excess weight increases the risk of thyroid cancer. However, the associations between excess weight and prognostic factors for thyroid ...cancer are uncertain. We evaluated the relationships between body mass index (BMI) and clinico‐pathological features and outcomes of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC).
Patients and Methods
Retrospective analysis of 2057 patients with PTC was performed. Patients were grouped according to BMI (underweight, normal weight, overweight and obesity)‐based World Health Organization standardized categories. Logistic regression models were used to assess the relationships between BMI and clinico‐pathological features of PTC. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to examine the association between BMI and disease recurrence.
Results
A 5‐kg/m2 increase in BMI was associated with PTC tumours larger than 1 cm odds ratio (OR) 1·31, P < 0·001, with microscopic extrathyroidal invasion (OR 1·23, P = 0·006), and with advanced tumour‐node‐metastasis (TNM) stage (OR, 1·30, P = 0·003), which is independent of confounding variables such as gender, age, serum TSH, total cholesterol and fasting glucose level. The multivariate‐adjusted OR 95% confidence intervals (CI) in the overweight (25·0–29·9 kg/m2) and obese (BMI ≥ 30) groups for tumours larger than 1 cm were 1·41 (1·10–1·81) and 2·17 (1·23–3·82), respectively, compared to the normal weight group (BMI 18·5–24·9). The multivariate‐adjusted OR (95% CI) for microscopic extrathyroidal extension in the obesity group was 1·88 (1·06–3·32), and the OR for advanced TNM stage in the overweight group was 1·35 (1·02–1·79) compared to the normal weight group. During follow‐up (median, 84 month; range, 1–185), 43 patients (2·1%) experienced recurrence. There were no significant differences in recurrence of PTCs among BMI groups.
Conclusions
Higher BMI was strongly associated with larger tumour size, extrathyroidal invasion and advanced TNM stage of PTCs. However, there was no difference in recurrence rate among BMI groups. This study suggests that excess weight is associated with aggressive features of PTCs. Further studies with long‐term follow‐up are needed to confirm this finding.
The dark photon A^{'} and the dark Higgs boson h^{'} are hypothetical constituents featured in a number of recently proposed dark sector models. Assuming prompt decays of both dark particles, we ...search for their production in the so-called Higgstrahlung channel e^{+}e^{-}→A^{'}h^{'}, with h^{'}→A^{'}A^{'}. We investigate ten exclusive final states with A^{'}→e^{+}e^{-}, μ^{+}μ^{-}, or π^{+}π^{-} in the mass ranges 0.1 GeV/c^{2} <m_{A^{'}}<3.5 GeV/c^{2} and 0.2 GeV/c^{2} <m_{h^{'}}<10.5 GeV/c^{2}. We also investigate three inclusive final states 2(e^{+}e^{-})X, 2(μ^{+}μ^{-})X, and (e^{+}e^{-})(μ^{+}μ^{-})X, where X denotes a dark photon candidate detected via missing mass, in the mass ranges 1.1 GeV/c^{2} <m_{A^{'}}<3.5 GeV/c^{2} and 2.2 GeV/c^{2} <m_{h^{'}}<10.5 GeV/c^{2}. Using the entire 977 fb^{-1} data set collected by Belle, we observe no significant signal. We obtain individual and combined 90% credibility level upper limits on the branching fraction times the Born cross section, B×σ_{Born}, on the Born cross section σ_{Born}, and on the dark photon coupling to the dark Higgs boson times the kinetic mixing between the standard model photon and the dark photon, α_{D}×ε^{2}. These limits improve upon and cover wider mass ranges than previous experiments. The limits from the final states 3(π^{+}π^{-}) and 2(e^{+}e^{-})X are the first placed by any experiment. For α_{D} equal to 1/137, m_{h^{'}}< 8 GeV/c^{2}, and m_{A^{'}}<1 GeV/c^{2}, we exclude values of the mixing parameter ε above ∼8×10^{-4}.
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