Event-by-event fluctuations in the elliptic-flow coefficient v2 are studied in PbPb collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV using the CMS detector at the CERN LHC. Elliptic-flow probability distributions p(v2) ...for charged particles with transverse momentum 0.3<pT<3.0GeV/c and pseudorapidity |η|<1.0 are determined for different collision centrality classes. The moments of the p(v2) distributions are used to calculate the v2 coefficients based on cumulant orders 2, 4, 6, and 8. A rank ordering of the higher-order cumulant results and nonzero standardized skewness values obtained for the p(v2) distributions indicate non-Gaussian initial-state fluctuations. Bessel–Gaussian and elliptic power fits to the flow distributions are studied to characterize the initial-state spatial anisotropy.
Patients with liver disease or systemic pathology are more prone to develop portal vein thrombosis. Non-neoplastic thrombosis is characterised by absence of intrathrombotic perfusion, corresponding ...to marked hypoechogenicity at contrast-enhanced ultrasound. We report two cases of portal vein thrombosis in which contrast-enhanced ultrasound showed marked hypoechogenicity in the late phase. This late phase perfusional contrast pattern is consistent with non-neoplastic thrombosis, but is actually similar to that of metastatic liver lesions. Echo-guided needle biopsy indeed yielded histological results consistent with carcinoma. Repeated contrast-enhanced ultrasound showed presence of intratumoural perfusion in the arterial phase, suggestive of the neoplastic nature of the thrombus. Our cases suggest that CEUS with second generation contrast agents in patients with portal thrombosis should include the evaluation of both arterial and portal phases in order to provide accurate non-invasive diagnosis of metastatic portal vein thrombosis.
Differential production cross sections of prompt J/ψ and ψ(2S) charmonium and ϒ(nS) (n=1,2,3) bottomonium states are measured in proton–proton collisions at s=13TeV, with data collected by the CMS ...detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.3 fb−1 for the J/ψ and 2.7 fb−1 for the other mesons. The five quarkonium states are reconstructed in the dimuon decay channel, for dimuon rapidity |y|<1.2. The double-differential cross sections for each state are measured as a function of y and transverse momentum, and compared to theoretical expectations. In addition, ratios are presented of cross sections for prompt ψ(2S) to J/ψ, ϒ(2S) to ϒ(1S), and ϒ(3S) to ϒ(1S) production.
Background & Aims: Pouchitis is the major long-term complication after ileal pouch–anal anastomosis for ulcerative colitis. Most patients have relapsing disease, and no maintenance treatment study ...has been performed. We evaluated the efficacy of a probiotic preparation (VSL#3) containing 5 × 1011 per gram of viable lyophilized bacteria of 4 strains of lactobacilli, 3 strains of bifidobacteria, and 1 strain of Streptococcus salivarius subsp. thermophilus compared with placebo in maintenance of remission of chronic pouchitis. Methods: Forty patients in clinical and endoscopic remission were randomized to receive either VSL#3, 6 g/day, or an identical placebo for 9 months. Patients were assessed clinically every month and endoscopically and histologically every 2 months or in the case of a relapse. Fecal samples were collected for stool culture before and after antibiotic treatment and each month during maintenance treatment. Results: Three patients (15%) in the VSL#3 group had relapses within the 9-month follow-up period, compared with 20 (100%) in the placebo group (P < 0.001). Fecal concentration of lactobacilli, bifidobacteria, and S. thermophilus increased significantly from baseline levels only in the VSL#3-treated group (P < 0.01). Conclusions: These results suggest that oral administration of this new probiotic preparation is effective in preventing flare-ups of chronic pouchitis.
GASTROENTEROLOGY 2000;119:305-309
The production of W± bosons is studied in proton-lead (pPb) collisions at a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy of sNN=8.16TeV. Measurements are performed in the W±→μ±νμ channel using a data sample ...corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 173.4±6.1nb−1, collected by the CMS Collaboration at the LHC. The number of positively and negatively charged W bosons is determined separately in the muon pseudorapidity region in the laboratory frame |ηlabμ|<2.4 and transverse momentum pTμ>25GeV/c. The W± boson differential cross sections, muon charge asymmetry, and the ratios of W± boson yields for the proton-going over the Pb-going beam directions are reported as a function of the muon pseudorapidity in the nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass frame. The measurements are compared to the predictions from theoretical calculations based on parton distribution functions (PDFs) at next-to-leading-order. The results favour PDF calculations that include nuclear modifications and provide constraints on the nuclear PDF global fits.
The aetiology of inflammatory bowel disease is still unclear. Whilst a specific pathogen agent associated with these diseases has not been found, the rationale for probiotic therapy in inflammatory ...bowel disease is based on convincing evidence involving intestinal bacteria in their pathogenesis. Encouraging results have been obtained with probiotic therapy in several animal models of experimental colitis. The administration of highly concentrated probiotic preparations represents a valid approach both for the prevention of pouchitis onset and relapses. The encouraging results obtained in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease need to be further assessed in large double-blind trials.
The W boson helicity fractions from top quark decays in tt‾ events are measured using data from proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8TeV. The data were collected in 2012 with the ...CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.8fb−1. Events are reconstructed with either one muon or one electron, along with four jets in the final state, with two of the jets being identified as originating from b quarks. The measured helicity fractions from both channels are combined, yielding F0=0.681±0.012(stat)±0.023(syst), FL=0.323±0.008(stat)±0.014(syst), and FR=−0.004±0.005(stat)±0.014(syst) for the longitudinal, left-, and right-handed components of the helicity, respectively. These measurements of the W boson helicity fractions are the most accurate to date and they agree with the predictions from the standard model.
A search for long-lived particles was performed with data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.6 fb−1 collected at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV by the CMS experiment in 2015. The ...analysis exploits two customized topological trigger algorithms, and uses the multiplicity of displaced jets to search for the presence of a signal decay occurring at distances between 1 and 1000 mm. The results can be interpreted in a variety of different models. For pair-produced long-lived particles decaying to two b quarks and two leptons with equal decay rates between lepton flavors, cross sections larger than 2.5 fb are excluded for proper decay lengths between 70–100 mm for a long-lived particle mass of 1130 GeV at 95% confidence. For a specific model of pair-produced, long-lived top squarks with R-parity violating decays to a b quark and a lepton, masses below 550–1130 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence for equal branching fractions between lepton flavors, depending on the squark decay length. This mass bound is the most stringent to date for top squark proper decay lengths greater than 3 mm.
The authors have hypothesized that dietary iodine (deficiency or excess) is associated with the development of some gastric and mammary cancers, as it is well-known for thyroid cancer. They report a ...short review of their own work and of the general literature on this correlation and on the antioxidant function of iodide in stomach, breast and thyroid. Thyroid cells phylogenetically derived from primitive iodide-concentrating gastroenteric cells which, during evolution, migrated and specialized in uptake and storage of iodine, also in order to adapt the organisms from iodine-rich sea to iodine-deficient land. Mammary cells also derived from primitive iodide-concentrating ectoderm. Stomach, breast and thyroid share an important iodide-concentrating ability and an efficient peroxidase activity, which transfers electrons from iodides to the oxygen of hydrogen peroxide and so protects the cells from damage caused by lipid peroxidation. The authors suggest that iodide might have an ancestral antioxidant function in all iodide-concentrating cells from primitive Algae to more recent Vertebrates. In Italy, gastric cancer is more frequent in farmers and in iodine-deficient populations, living in mountainous and hilly areas, than in fishermen. In the last two decades, Italian decrease of gastric cancer seems to be correlated more to the higher dietary consumption of iodine-rich fish rather than to consumption of fruit and vegetables, which indeed has decreased in Italy.
To determine the early biological changes occurring in intestinal ischemia in vivo.
We studied the effects of acute transient intestinal ischemia in 15 patients undergoing elective open surgery for ...the treatment of abdominal subrenal aortic aneurysm induced by clamping of the aorta at subrenal level and above the branching of the inferior mesenteric artery. Blocking the blood flow results in hypoperfusion of the inferior mesenteric artery and then to rectal mucosal ischemia.
With the introduction of a mucosal ischemic period the basal intestinal mucosal pH decreased during ischemia, and showed a rapid increase during reperfusion to the level preceding ischemia. Parameters were evaluated in blood taken from inferior mesenteric vein. A rectal dialysis was put into the rectum to evaluate eicosanoid concentrations in rectal fluid collected before and during clamping and after declamping. Significant enhancement in plasma level of xanthine, a marker for tissue damage, was observed during reperfusion. Interleukin-6 levels were significantly elevated from 11.28+/-3.4 pg/ml (preischemic) to 109+/-85.9 pg/ml (ischemic) and to 189.33+/-120.24 pg/ml (reperfusion); and tromboxane B(2) levels from 141.57+/-51.20 pg/ml preoperation to 473.01+/-319.01 pg/ml during the surgical procedure.
These observations indicate that even transient ischemia modifies the inflammatory pattern.
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