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Elliptic flow holds much promise for studying the early-time thermalization attained in ultrarelativistic nuclear collisions. Flow measurements also provide a means of distinguishing between hydrodynamic models and calculations which approach the low density (dilute gas) limit. Among the effects that can complicate the interpretation of elliptic flow measurements are azimuthal correlations that are unrelated to the reaction plane (nonflow correlations). Using data for Au + Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=130 GeV from the STAR time projection chamber, it is found that four-particle correlation analyses can reliably separate flow and nonflow correlation signals. The latter account for on average about 15% of the observed second-harmonic azimuthal correlation, with the largest relative contribution for the most peripheral and the most central collisions. The results are also corrected for the effect of flow variations within centrality bins. This effect is negligible for all but the most central bin, where the correction to the elliptic flow is about a factor of 2. A simple new method for two-particle flow analysis based on scalar products is described. An analysis based on the distribution of the magnitude of the flow vector is also described.
We report the first observation of K*(892)0--> pi K in relativistic heavy ion collisions. The transverse momentum spectrum of (K*0+K*0)/2 from central Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=130 GeV is presented. The ratios of the K*0 yield derived from these data to the yields of negative hadrons, charged kaons, and phi mesons have been measured in central and minimum bias collisions and compared with model predictions and comparable e+e-, pp, and p-barp results. The data indicate no dramatic reduction of K*0 production in relativistic heavy ion collisions despite expected losses due to rescattering effects.
The STAR Collaboration reports the first observation of exclusive rho 0 photoproduction, AuAu-->AuAu rho 0, and rho 0 production accompanied by mutual nuclear Coulomb excitation, AuAu-->Au [star] Au [star] rho 0, in ultraperipheral heavy-ion collisions. The rho 0 have low transverse momenta, consistent with coherent coupling to both nuclei. The cross sections at sqrt[sNN]=130 GeV agree with theoretical predictions treating rho 0 production and Coulomb excitation as independent processes.
We report STAR results on the azimuthal anisotropy parameter v2 for strange particles K0S, Lambda , and Lambda -bar at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=130 GeV at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The value of v2 as a function of transverse momentum, pt, of the produced particle and collision centrality is presented for both particles up to pt~3.0 GeV/c. A strong pt dependence in v2 is observed up to 2.0 GeV/c. The v2 measurement is compared with hydrodynamic model calculations. The physics implications of the pt integrated v2 magnitude as a function of particle mass are also discussed.
Inclusive transverse momentum distributions of charged hadrons within 0.2<pT<6.0 GeV/c have been measured over a broad range of centrality for Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=130 GeV. Hadron yields are suppressed at high pT in central collisions relative to peripheral collisions and to a nucleon-nucleon reference scaled for collision geometry. Peripheral collisions are not suppressed relative to the nucleon-nucleon reference. The suppression varies continuously at intermediate centralities. The results indicate significant nuclear medium effects on high-pT hadron production in heavy-ion collisions at high energy.
We report the first measurement of strange ( Lambda ) and antistrange ( Lambda -bar) baryon production from sqrt[sNN]=130 GeV Au+Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). Rapidity density and transverse mass distributions at midrapidity are presented as a function of centrality. The yield of Lambda and Lambda -bar hyperons is found to be approximately proportional to the number of negative hadrons. The production of Lambda -bar hyperons relative to negative hadrons increases very rapidly with transverse momentum. The magnitude of the increase cannot be described by existing hadronic string fragmentation models alone.
Two-pion correlation functions in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN] = 130 GeV have been measured by the STAR (solenoidal tracker at RHIC) detector. The source size extracted by fitting the correlations grows with event multiplicity and decreases with transverse momentum. Anomalously large sizes or emission durations, which have been suggested as signals of quark-gluon plasma formation and rehadronization, are not observed. The Hanbury Brown-Twiss parameters display a weak energy dependence over a broad range in sqrt[sNN].
The first measurements of light antinucleus production in Au+Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider are reported. The observed production rates for d-bar and 3He-bar are much larger than in lower energy nucleus-nucleus collisions. A coalescence model analysis of the yields indicates that there is little or no increase in the antinucleon freeze-out volume compared to collisions at CERN SPS energy. These analyses also indicate that the 3He-bar freeze-out volume is smaller than the d-bar freeze-out volume.
We present the first measurement of midrapidity vector meson phi production in Au+Au collisions at RHIC (sqrt[sNN]=130 GeV) from the STAR detector. For the 11% highest multiplicity collisions, the slope parameter from an exponential fit to the transverse mass distribution is T=379±50(stat)±45(syst) MeV, the yield dN/dy=5.73±0.37(stat)±0.69(syst) per event, and the ratio N phi /Nh- is found to be 0.021±0.001(stat)±0.004(syst). The measured ratio N phi /Nh- and T for the phi meson at midrapidity do not change for the selected multiplicity bins.
Elliptic flow from nuclear collisions is a hadronic observable sensitive to the early stages of system evolution. We report first results on elliptic flow of charged particles at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN] = 130 GeV using the STAR Time Projection Chamber at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The elliptic flow signal, v2, averaged over transverse momentum, reaches values of about 6% for relatively peripheral collisions and decreases for the more central collisions. This can be interpreted as the observation of a higher degree of thermalization than at lower collision energies. Pseudorapidity and transverse momentum dependence of elliptic flow are also presented.
Die enorme genetische Variabilität von HIV-1[14],[50] und die mangelnde Korrelation zwischen genetisch definierten Subtypen einerseits und antigener Variation[51]-[56] andererseits verhindern bisher die Entwicklung eines effizienten, breit neutralisierenden Impfstoffes. Neueren Ansätzen liegt daher das Konzept einer serologischen Klassifikation zu Grunde[61],[62], die verschiedene HIV-Subtypen nach ihrer serologischen Reaktivität und nicht nach ihrem genetischen Ursprung klassifiziert. Diese Ansätzen beruhten allerdings auf der Verwendung ausgewählter Consensus-Modellpeptide der immunodominanten V3-Region des viralen Hüllproteins gp120 und monoklonaler Antikörper weniger HIV-1-Subtypen[61]. Somit ist nicht auszuschließen, dass aus dem Einsatz weiterer Peptide und anderer Antikörper bislang unidentifizierte Serotypen resultieren. Es lag nahe, den ursprünglichen Ansatz auf eine wesentlich breitere Basis von Antikörpern und Peptiden zu stellen. Als Antikörperquelle kamen hierbei die polyklonalen Seren HIV-1-positiver Patienten in Betracht; man machte sich dabei das native HIV-spezifische Antikörperreservoir zu Nutze. Seitens der Peptide als Zielmoleküle einer Ermittlung serologischer Reaktivität bot sich ein kombinatorischer Zugang an. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war demnach die Entwicklung eines immunologischen Testsystems für das Screening humaner HIV-positiver Seren gegen kombinatorisch erzeugte Peptide mit dem Hintergrund, einen minimalen Satz reaktiver Peptide zu identifizieren, die eine serologisch basierte Charakterisierung der Reaktivität verschiedener HIV-1-Subtypen erlaubt. Um Reaktivitätsmuster zwischen Seren verschiedener Subtypen ermitteln und ausschließlich signifikante, hochreaktive Sequenzen finden zu können, sollte dieses Assay zudem die Möglichkeit der mehrfachen Wiederholbarkeit mit derselben Peptidbibliothek bieten. Diese im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit umgesetzten Ziele lassen sich somit wie folgt zusammenfassen: Entwicklung eines Verfahrens zur schnellen und eindeutigen massenspektrometrischen Sequenzierung von Peptiden aus kombinatorischen Bibliotheken, Entwicklung eines immunologischen Testsystems für das iterative Screening HIV-positiver Seren gegen festphasengebundene Peptide, Screening von Serenpools verschiedener genetisch bestimmter Subtypen von HIV-1 gegen eine kombinatorische Peptidbibliothek, die die genetische Variation der V3-Region von gp120 reflektiert, und Multivariate Analyse der gefundenen Peptidsequenzen mit dem Ziel einer serologischen Interpretation derselben. Das Verfahren zur schnellen und im Vergleich zum herkömmlichen Kettenabbauverfahren nach Edman weniger aufwändigen massenspektrometrischen Sequenzierung als reaktiv bestimmter Peptide basiert auf der adaptiven Einführung Kettenabbruch erzeugender Sequenzen während der Synthese der kombinatorischen Peptidbibliothek nach einer modifizierten One Bead One Peptide"-Synthese[118],[119]. Diese Codierung wird sequenztreu durch den Einsatz von Mischungen aus der Fmoc-geschützten Aminosäure, die für diese Sequenzposition vorgesehen ist, und ihres N-terminal permanent blockierten Derivats eingeführt. Das Programm Biblio optimiert das Codierungsmuster hinsichtlich minimaler Einführung von Terminationssequenzen und minimalem Einsatz Kettenabbruch erzeugender Reagenzien, um den Anteil des Hauptpeptids pro Bead nur so gering wie möglich zu vermindern. Eine MALDI-massenspektrometrische Analyse der Peptide eines betreffenden Beads liefert somit neben dem Signal des Hauptpeptids auch die Sequenz des Peptide codierenden Signale. Diese werden von Biblio zur gesuchten Peptidsequenz decodiert. Des weiteren konnte ein immunologisches Testsystem für das iterative Screening festphasengebundener Peptide entwickelt werden. Dieses beruht auf der Detektion der Bindung des Serumantikörpers an das Peptid durch einen Sekundärantikörper, der an den Primärantikörper bindet und mit einem fluoreszenten Farbstoff markiert ist. Eine Bindung ließ sich somit fluoreszenzmikroskopisch nachweisen. Um eine Wiederholbarkeit des Screenings zu gewährleisten, wurde die Peptidbibliothek mittels eines Epoxidharzklebstoffs auf der Probenunterlage fixiert. Eine Entfernung des Immunkomplexes gelingt durch mehrfache Behandlung mit pH 1. Eine 80640 Spezies umfassende Decapeptidbibliothek, die die genetische Variabilität der immunodominanten V3-Schleife der viralen Hüllproteins gp120 von HIV-1 wiedergibt, wurde gegen Serenpools verschiedener HIV-1-Subtypen gemäß diesem Verfahren iterativ gescreent. Insgesamt 36 Peptide konnten aufgrund ihrer intensiven Fluoreszenz als hochreaktiv erkannt werden; sie wurden mit MALDI-Massenspektroskopie und anschließender Decodierung durch Biblio sequenziert. Eine Auswahl von vier der 36 ermittelten Sequenzen erwies sich als ausreichend für eine Differenzierung der zugrunde liegenden HIV-1-Subtypen. Eine anschließende multivariate Analyse der gefundenen Sequenzen in bezug auf ihr Seroreaktivitätsmuster ermöglichte die Bestimmung neuer, konservierter Epitope der Bindung polyklonaler Serenantikörper von HIV-1 und die Identifikation der für diese Bindung kritischen Aminosäurepositionen der betrachteten Decapeptide. Diese Epitope könnten in nachfolgenden Studien auf ihre Bedeutung hinsichtlich ihres Neutralisationspotentials bezüglich primärer HIV-Isolate getestet werden. Das hier entwickelte Verfahren zum iterativen Screening codierter Peptidbibliotheken jedoch ist nicht auf das HIV-System beschränkt, es bietet vielmehr einen universellen Zugang zur reaktivitätsbasierten Evaluation festphasengebundener Substanzbibliotheken, die die volle genetische Variabilität ihrer biologischen Zielregion abbilden. Eine dieser Regionen könnte beispielsweise der Antigenrezeptor von B-Lymphocyten darstellen, der die B-Zellen durch Kontakt mit einem Antigen aktiviert. Diese regen die B-Zelle zur Proliferation und deren Nachkommen zur Differenzierung zu antikörpersezernierenden Zellen gegen diese Antigene an. Sie bilden damit ein interessantes Ziel, auf diesem Wege eine effektive Immunantwort hervorzurufen[146],[150].
We report first results on elliptic flow of identified particles at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN] = 130 GeV using the STAR TPC at RHIC. The elliptic flow as a function of transverse momentum and centrality differs significantly for particles of different masses. This dependence can be accounted for in hydrodynamic models, indicating that the system created shows a behavior consistent with collective hydrodynamical flow. The fit to the data with a simple model gives information on the temperature and flow velocities at freeze-out.
The minimum-bias multiplicity distribution and the transverse momentum and pseudorapidity distributions for central collisions have been measured for negative hadrons ( h-) in Au+Au interactions at sqrt[sNN] = 130 GeV. The multiplicity density at midrapidity for the 5% most central interactions is dNh-/d eta | eta = 0 = 280±1(stat)±20(syst), an increase per participant of 38% relative to pp-bar collisions at the same energy. The mean transverse momentum is 0.508±0.012 GeV/c and is larger than in central Pb+Pb collisions at lower energies. The scaling of the h- yield per participant is a strong function of pperp. The pseudorapidity distribution is almost constant within | eta |<1.
We report the first measurement of inclusive antiproton production at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN] = 130 GeV by the STAR experiment at RHIC. The antiproton transverse mass distributions in the measured transverse momentum range of 0.25<pperp<0.95 GeV/c are found to fall less steeply for more central collisions. The extrapolated antiproton rapidity density is found to scale approximately with the negative hadron multiplicity density.
We report results on the ratio of midrapidity antiproton-to-proton yields in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN] = 130 GeV per nucleon pair as measured by the STAR experiment at RHIC. Within the rapidity and transverse momentum range of | y|<0.5 and 0.4<pt<1.0 GeV/c, the ratio is essentially independent of either transverse momentum or rapidity, with an average of 0.65±0.01(stat)±0.07(syst) for minimum bias collisions. Within errors, no strong centrality dependence is observed. The results indicate that at this RHIC energy, although the p-p-bar pair production becomes important at midrapidity, a significant excess of baryons over antibaryons is still present.
Due to an increasing awareness of the potential hazardousness of air pollutants, new laws, rules and guidelines have recently been implemented globally. In this respect, numerous studies have addressed traffic-related exposure to particulate matter using stationary technology so far. By contrast, only few studies used the advanced technology of mobile exposure analysis. The Mobile Air Quality Study (MAQS) addresses the issue of air pollutant exposure by combining advanced high-granularity spatial-temporal analysis with vehicle-mounted, person-mounted and roadside sensors. The MAQS-platform will be used by international collaborators in order 1) to assess air pollutant exposure in relation to road structure, 2) to assess air pollutant exposure in relation to traffic density, 3) to assess air pollutant exposure in relation to weather conditions, 4) to compare exposure within vehicles between front and back seat (children) positions, and 5) to evaluate "traffic zone"- exposure in relation to non-"traffic zone"-exposure. Primarily, the MAQS-platform will focus on particulate matter. With the establishment of advanced mobile analysis tools, it is planed to extend the analysis to other pollutants including including NO2, SO2, nanoparticles, and ozone.
In contrast to several smaller studies, which demonstrate that remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) reduces myocardial injury in patients that undergo cardiovascular surgery, the RIPHeart study failed to demonstrate beneficial effects of troponin release and clinical outcome in propofol-anesthetized cardiac surgery patients. Therefore, we addressed the potential biochemical mechanisms triggered by RIPC. This is a predefined prospective sub-analysis of the randomized and controlled RIPHeart study in cardiac surgery patients (n = 40) that was recently published. Blood samples were drawn from patients prior to surgery, after RIPC of four cycles of 5 min arm ischemia/5 min reperfusion (n = 19) and the sham (n = 21) procedure, after connection to cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), at the end of surgery, 24 h postoperatively, and 48 h postoperatively for the measurement of troponin T, macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), stromal cell-derived factor 1 (CXCL12), IL-6, CXCL8, and IL-10. After RIPC, right atrial tissue samples were taken for the measurement of extracellular-signal regulated kinase (ERK1/2), protein kinase B (AKT), Glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3β), protein kinase C (PKCε), and MIF content. RIPC did not significantly reduce the troponin release when compared with the sham procedure. MIF serum levels intraoperatively increased, peaking at intensive care unit (ICU) admission (with an increase of 48.04%, p = 0.164 in RIPC; and 69.64%, p = 0.023 over the baseline in the sham procedure), and decreased back to the baseline 24 h after surgery, with no differences between the groups. In the right atrial tissue, MIF content decreased after RIPC (1.040 ± 1.032 Arbitrary units [au] in RIPC vs. 2.028 ± 1.631 [au] in the sham procedure, p < 0.05). CXCL12 serum levels increased significantly over the baseline at the end of surgery, with no differences between the groups. ERK1/2, AKT, GSK-3β, and PKCɛ phosphorylation in the right atrial samples were no different between the groups. No difference was found in IL-6, CXCL8, and IL10 serum levels between the groups. In this cohort of cardiac surgery patients that received propofol anesthesia, we could not show a release of potential mediators of signaling, nor an effect on the inflammatory response, nor an activation of well-established protein kinases after RIPC. Based on these data, we cannot exclude that confounding factors, such as propofol, may have interfered with RIPC.
Background: In oldest-old patients (>80), few trials showed efficacy of treating hypertension and they included mostly the healthiest elderly. The resulting lack of knowledge has led to inconsistent guidelines, mainly based on systolic blood pressure (SBP), cardiovascular disease (CVD) but not on frailty despite the high prevalence in oldest-old. This may lead to variation how General Practitioners (GPs) treat hypertension. Our aim was to investigate treatment variation of GPs in oldest-olds across countries and to identify the role of frailty in that decision.
Methods: Using a survey, we compared treatment decisions in cases of oldest-old varying in SBP, CVD, and frailty. GPs were asked if they would start antihypertensive treatment in each case. In 2016, we invited GPs in Europe, Brazil, Israel, and New Zealand. We compared the percentage of cases that would be treated per countries. A logistic mixed-effects model was used to derive odds ratio (OR) for frailty with 95% confidence intervals (CI), adjusted for SBP, CVD, and GP characteristics (sex, location and prevalence of oldest-old per GP office, and years of experience). The mixed-effects model was used to account for the multiple assessments per GP.
Results: The 29 countries yielded 2543 participating GPs: 52% were female, 51% located in a city, 71% reported a high prevalence of oldest-old in their offices, 38% and had >20 years of experience. Across countries, considerable variation was found in the decision to start antihypertensive treatment in the oldest-old ranging from 34 to 88%. In 24/29 (83%) countries, frailty was associated with GPs’ decision not to start treatment even after adjustment for SBP, CVD, and GP characteristics (OR 0.53, 95%CI 0.48–0.59; ORs per country 0.11–1.78).
Conclusions: Across countries, we found considerable variation in starting antihypertensive medication in oldest-old. The frail oldest-old had an odds ratio of 0.53 of receiving antihypertensive treatment. Future hypertension trials should also include frail patients to acquire evidence on the efficacy of antihypertensive treatment in oldest-old patients with frailty, with the aim to get evidence-based data for clinical decision-making.
Elliptic flow from nuclear collisions is a hadronic observable sensitive to the early stages of system evolution. We report first results on elliptic flow of charged particles at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=130 GeV using the STAR TPC at RHIC. The elliptic flow signal, v_2, averaged over transverse momentum, reaches values of about 6% for relatively peripheral collisions and decreases for the more central collisions. This can be interpreted as the observation of a higher degree of thermalization than at lower collision energies. Pseudorapidity and transverse momentum dependence of elliptic flow are also presented.