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Heavy quark and charmonium production as well as their space-time evolution are studied in transport simulations of heavy-ion collisions at RHIC and LHC. In the partonic transport model Boltzmann Approach of MultiParton Scatterings (BAMPS) heavy quarks can be produced in initial hard parton scatterings or during the evolution of the quark-gluon plasma. Subsequently, they interact with the medium via binary scatterings with a running coupling and a more precise Debye screening which is derived from hard thermal loop calculations, participate in the flow and lose energy. We present results of the elliptic flow and nuclear modification factor of heavy quarks and compare them to available data. Furthermore, preliminary results on J/psi suppression at forward and mid-rapidity are reported for central and non-central collisions at RHIC. For this, we study cold nuclear matter effects and the dissociation as well as regeneration of J/psi in the quark-gluon plasma. XLIX International Winter Meeting on Nuclear Physics 24-28 January 2011 BORMIO, Italy
The chitinase-like protein YKL-40 was found to be increased in patients with severe asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), two disease conditions featuring neutrophilic infiltrates. Based on these studies and a previous report indicating that neutrophils secrete YKL-40, we hypothesized that YKL-40 plays a key role in cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease, a prototypic neutrophilic disease. The aim of this study was (i) to analyze YKL-40 levels in human and murine CF lung disease and (ii) to investigate whether YKL-40 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) modulate CF lung disease severity. YKL-40 protein levels were quantified in serum and sputum supernatants from CF patients and control individuals. Levels of the murine homologue BRP-39 were analyzed in airway fluids from CF-like βENaC-Tg mice. YKL-40SNPs were analyzed in CF patients. YKL-40 levels were increased in sputum supernatants and in serum from CF patients compared to healthy control individuals. Within CF patients, YKL-40 levels were higher in sputum than in serum. BRP-39 levels were increased in airways fluids from βENaC-Tg mice compared to wild-type littermates. In both CF patients and βENaC-Tg mice, YKL-40/BRP-39 airway levels correlated with the severity of pulmonary obstruction. Two YKL-40 SNPs (rs871799 and rs880633) were found to modulate age-adjusted lung function in CF patients. YKL-40/BRP-39 levelsare increased in human and murine CF airway fluids, correlate with pulmonary function and modulate CF lung disease severity genetically. These findings suggest YKL-40 as a potential biomarker in CF lung disease.