BACKGROUND
Hypertension and metabolic syndrome (MetS) are associated with increased sympathetic activation possibly contributing to the progression of renal damage and cardiac remodeling. Renal ...sympathetic denervation (RDN) decreases sympathetic renal efferent and afferent nerve activity.
METHODS
Obese spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs-ob) were subjected to RDN at the age of 34 weeks (SHRs-ob + RDN) and were compared with sham-operated SHRs-ob and their normotensive lean controls (Ctrs). Blood pressure was measured by telemetry. Kidney and heart function were determined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Renal and cardiac remodeling were characterized by immunohistochemical analyses. Animals were killed at the age of 48 weeks.
RESULTS
In SHRs-ob, RDN attenuated the progressive increase in blood pressure and preserved a mean blood pressure of 156±7mm Hg compared with 220±8mm Hg in sham-operated SHRs-ob at 100 days after RDN, whereas heart rate, body weight, and metabolic parameters remained unchanged. Renal catecholamine and tyrosine hydroxylase levels were significantly reduced after RDN, suggesting effective renal denervation. Progression of renal dysfunction as characterized by increased urinary albumin/creatinine ratio and reduced glomerular filtration rate were attenuated by RDN. In SHRs-ob, renal perfusion was significantly reduced and normalized by RDN. Cardiac fibrosis and cardiac diastolic dysfunction measured by MRI and invasive pressure measurements were significantly attenuated by RDN.
CONCLUSIONS
In SHRs-ob, progressive increase in blood pressure and progression of renal injury and cardiac remodelling are mediated by renal sympathetic activation as they were attenuated by RDN.
The CMS experiment at the (LHC) includes a hybrid silicon pixel detector for the reconstruction of charged tracks and of the interaction vertices. The barrel region consists of n-in-n sensors with
...100
×
150
μ
m
2
cell size processed on diffusion oxygenated float zone silicon. A biasing grid is implemented and pixel isolation is achieved with the moderated p-spray technique. An extensive test program was carried out on the H
2 beam line of the CERN-SPS. In this paper we describe the sensor layout, the beam test setup and the results obtained with both irradiated and non-irradiated prototype devices. Measurements of charge collection, hit detection efficiency, Lorentz angle and spatial resolution are presented.
Each year 16-17 million determinations of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) are conducted and interpreted in Germany. Recently acquired data have led to a fundamental reassessment of the ...clinical significance of HDL-C.
This review article is based on a selective literature search.
Low HDL‑C levels usually indicate an increased cardiovascular risk, particularly in primary prevention but the epidemiological relationship between HDL‑C and the risk is complex. The HDL plays a role in the back transport and excretion of cholesterol; however, the biological functions of HDL are dependent on the protein and lipid composition, which is not reflected by the HDL‑C concentration. If the composition of HDL is pathologically altered it can also exert negative vascular effects.
Compared with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), HDL‑C is of secondary importance for cardiovascular risk stratification and the calculation of the LDL-C:HDL‑C ratio is not useful for all patients. Low HDL‑C levels should prompt a search for additional metabolic and inflammatory pathologies. An increase in HDL‑C through lifestyle changes (e.g. smoking cessation and physical exercise) has positive effects and is recommended; however, HDL‑C is currently not a valid target for drug therapy.
The CDF Silicon Vertex Trigger Ashmanskas, Bill; Barchiesi, A.; Bardi, A. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
02/2004, Letnik:
518, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) experiment's Silicon Vertex Trigger (SVT) is a system of 150 custom 9U VME boards that reconstructs axial tracks in the CDF silicon strip detector in a
15
μs
...pipeline. SVT's
35
μm
impact parameter resolution enables CDF's Level 2 trigger to distinguish primary and secondary particles, and hence to collect large samples of hadronic bottom and charm decays. We review some of SVT's key design features. Speed is achieved with custom VLSI pattern recognition, linearized track fitting, pipelining, and parallel processing. Testing and reliability are aided by built-in logic state analysis and test-data sourcing at each board's input and output, a common interboard data link, and a universal “Merger” board for data fan-in/fan-out. Speed and adaptability are enhanced by use of modern FPGAs.
A vertex reconstruction algorithm that is based on the Gaussian-sum filter (GSF) was developed and implemented in the framework of the CMS reconstruction program. While linear least-square estimators ...are optimal in case all observation errors are Gaussian distributed, the GSF offers a better treatment of non-Gaussian distributions of track parameter errors when these are modeled by Gaussian mixtures. The algorithm has been verified and evaluated with simulated data. The results are compared to the Kalman filter and to an adaptive vertex estimator.
A Gaussian-sum filter for vertex reconstruction Frühwirth, R.; Speer, T.
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
11/2004, Letnik:
534, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
A vertex reconstruction algorithm was developed based on the Gaussian-sum filter and implemented in the framework of the CMS reconstruction program. While linear least-squares estimators are optimal ...in case all observation errors are Gaussian-distributed, a GSF offers a better treatment of non-Gaussian distributions of track parameter errors when these are modeled by Gaussian mixtures. Results are compared to the Kalman filter.
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