118 research outputs found
Pathogen burden, inflammation, proliferation and apoptosis in human in-stent restenosis - Tissue characteristics compared to primary atherosclerosis
Pathogenic events leading to in-stent restenosis (ISR) are still incompletely understood. Among others, inflammation, immune reactions, deregulated cell death and growth have been suggested. Therefore, atherectomy probes from 21 patients with symptomatic ISR were analyzed by immunohistochemistry for pathogen burden and compared to primary target lesions from 20 stable angina patients. While cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus, Epstein-Barr virus and Helicobacter pylori were not found in ISR, acute and/or persistent chlamydial infection were present in 6/21 of these lesions (29%). Expression of human heat shock protein 60 was found in 8/21 of probes (38%). Indicated by distinct signals of CD68, CD40 and CRP, inflammation was present in 5/21 (24%), 3/21 (14%) and 2/21 (10%) of ISR cases. Cell density of ISR was significantly higher than that of primary lesions ( 977 +/- 315 vs. 431 +/- 148 cells/mm(2); p < 0.001). There was no replicating cell as shown by Ki67 or PCNA. TUNEL+ cells indicating apoptosis were seen in 6/21 of ISR specimens (29%). Quantitative analysis revealed lower expression levels for each intimal determinant in ISR compared to primary atheroma (all p < 0.05). In summary, human ISR at the time of clinical presentation is characterized by low frequency of pathogen burden and inflammation, but pronounced hypercellularity, low apoptosis and absence of proliferation. Copyright (C) 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel
Measurement of the charged-pion polarisability
The COMPASS collaboration at CERN has investigated pion Compton scattering,
, at centre-of-mass energy below 3.5 pion
masses. The process is embedded in the reaction
, which is initiated by
190\,GeV pions impinging on a nickel target. The exchange of quasi-real photons
is selected by isolating the sharp Coulomb peak observed at smallest momentum
transfers, \,(GeV/). From a sample of 63\,000 events the
pion electric polarisability is determined to be $\alpha_\pi\ =\ (\,2.0\ \pm\
0.6_{\mbox{\scriptsize stat}}\ \pm\ 0.7_{\mbox{\scriptsize syst}}\,) \times
10^{-4}\,\mbox{fm}^3\alpha_\pi=-\beta_\pi$, which
relates the electric and magnetic dipole polarisabilities. It is the most
precise measurement of this fundamental low-energy parameter of strong
interaction, that has been addressed since long by various methods with
conflicting outcomes. While this result is in tension with previous dedicated
measurements, it is found in agreement with the expectation from chiral
perturbation theory. An additional measurement replacing pions by muons, for
which the cross-section behavior is unambigiously known, was performed for an
independent estimate of the systematic uncertainty.Comment: Published version: 9 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl
Measurement of the Longitudinal Spin Transfer to Lambda and Anti-Lambda Hyperons in Polarised Muon DIS
The longitudinal polarisation transfer from muons to lambda and anti-lambda
hyperons, D_LL, has been studied in deep inelastic scattering off an
unpolarised isoscalar target at the COMPASS experiment at CERN. The spin
transfers to lambda and anti-lambda produced in the current fragmentation
region exhibit different behaviours as a function of x and xF . The measured x
and xF dependences of D^lambda_LL are compatible with zero, while
D^anti-lambda_LL tends to increase with xF, reaching values of 0.4 - 0.5. The
resulting average values are D^lambda_LL = -0.012 +- 0.047 +- 0.024 and
D^anti-lambda_LL = 0.249 +- 0.056 +- 0.049. These results are discussed in the
frame of recent model calculations.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure
The Polarised Valence Quark Distribution from semi-inclusive DIS
The semi-inclusive difference asymmetry A^{h^{+}-h^{-}} for hadrons of
opposite charge has been measured by the COMPASS experiment at CERN. The data
were collected in the years 2002-2004 using a 160 GeV polarised muon beam
scattered off a large polarised ^6LiD target and cover the range 0.006 < x <
0.7 and 1 < Q^2 < 100 (GeV/c)^2. In leading order QCD (LO) the asymmetry
A_d^{h^{+}-h^{-}} measures the valence quark polarisation and provides an
evaluation of the first moment of Delta u_v + Delta d_v which is found to be
equal to 0.40 +- 0.07 (stat.) +- 0.05 (syst.) over the measured range of x at
Q^2 = 10 (GeV/c)^2. When combined with the first moment of g_1^d previously
measured on the same data, this result favours a non-symmetric polarisation of
light quarks Delta u-bar = - Delta d-bar at a confidence level of two standard
deviations, in contrast to the often assumed symmetric scenario Delta u-bar =
Delta d-bar = Delta s-bar = Delta s.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, COMPASS, revised: details added, author list
update
Observation of a J^PC = 1-+ exotic resonance in diffractive dissociation of 190 GeV/c pi- into pi- pi- pi+
The COMPASS experiment at the CERN SPS has studied the diffractive
dissociation of negative pions into the pi- pi- pi+ final state using a 190
GeV/c pion beam hitting a lead target. A partial wave analysis has been
performed on a sample of 420000 events taken at values of the squared
4-momentum transfer t' between 0.1 and 1 GeV^2/c^2. The well-known resonances
a1(1260), a2(1320), and pi2(1670) are clearly observed. In addition, the data
show a significant natural parity exchange production of a resonance with
spin-exotic quantum numbers J^PC = 1-+ at 1.66 GeV/c^2 decaying to rho pi. The
resonant nature of this wave is evident from the mass-dependent phase
differences to the J^PC = 2-+ and 1++ waves. From a mass-dependent fit a
resonance mass of 1660 +- 10+0-64 MeV/c^2 and a width of 269+-21+42-64 MeV/c^2
is deduced.Comment: 7 page, 3 figures; version 2 gives some more details, data unchanged;
version 3 updated authors, text shortened, data unchange
Dinkelbach Approach to Solving a Class of Fractional Optimal Control Problems
We consider optimal control problems with functional given by the ratio of
two integrals (fractional optimal control problems). In particular, we focus on a special
case with affine integrands and linear dynamics with respect to state and control.
Since the standard optimal control theory cannot be used directly to solve a problem
of this kind, we apply Dinkelbach’s approach to linearize it. Indeed, the fractional optimal
control problem can be transformed into an equivalent monoparametric family
{ P q } of linear optimal control problems. The special structure of the class of problems
considered allows solving the fractional problem either explicitly or requiring
straightforward classical numerical techniques to solve a single equation. An application
to advertising efficiency maximization is presented
Gluon polarization in the nucleon from quasi-real photoproduction of high-pT hadron pairs
We present a determination of the gluon polarization Delta G/G in the
nucleon, based on the helicity asymmetry of quasi-real photoproduction events,
Q^2<1(GeV/c)^2, with a pair of large transverse-momentum hadrons in the final
state. The data were obtained by the COMPASS experiment at CERN using a 160 GeV
polarized muon beam scattered on a polarized 6-LiD target. The helicity
asymmetry for the selected events is = 0.002 +- 0.019(stat.) +-
0.003(syst.). From this value, we obtain in a leading-order QCD analysis Delta
G/G=0.024 +- 0.089(stat.) +- 0.057(syst.) at x_g = 0.095 and mu^2 =~ 3
(GeV}/c)^2.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
Spin asymmetry A_1^d and the spin-dependent structure function g_1^d of the deuteron at low values of x and Q^2
We present a precise measurement of the deuteron longitudinal spin asymmetry
A_1^d and of the deuteron spin-dependent structure function g_1^d at Q^2 < 1
GeV^2 and 4*10^-5 < x < 2.5*10^-2 based on the data collected by the COMPASS
experiment at CERN during the years 2002 and 2003. The statistical precision is
tenfold better than that of the previous measurement in this region. The
measured A_1^d and g_1^d are found to be consistent with zero in the whole
range of x.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figure
The Deuteron Spin-dependent Structure Function g1d and its First Moment
We present a measurement of the deuteron spin-dependent structure function
g1d based on the data collected by the COMPASS experiment at CERN during the
years 2002-2004. The data provide an accurate evaluation for Gamma_1^d, the
first moment of g1d(x), and for the matrix element of the singlet axial
current, a0. The results of QCD fits in the next to leading order (NLO) on all
g1 deep inelastic scattering data are also presented. They provide two
solutions with the gluon spin distribution function Delta G positive or
negative, which describe the data equally well. In both cases, at Q^2 = 3
(GeV/c)^2 the first moment of Delta G is found to be of the order of 0.2 - 0.3
in absolute value.Comment: fits redone using MRST2004 instead of MRSV1998 for G(x), correlation
matrix adde
The COMPASS Experiment at CERN
The COMPASS experiment makes use of the CERN SPS high-intensitymuon and
hadron beams for the investigation of the nucleon spin structure and the
spectroscopy of hadrons. One or more outgoing particles are detected in
coincidence with the incoming muon or hadron. A large polarized target inside a
superconducting solenoid is used for the measurements with the muon beam.
Outgoing particles are detected by a two-stage, large angle and large momentum
range spectrometer. The setup is built using several types of tracking
detectors, according to the expected incident rate, required space resolution
and the solid angle to be covered. Particle identification is achieved using a
RICH counter and both hadron and electromagnetic calorimeters. The setup has
been successfully operated from 2002 onwards using a muon beam. Data with a
hadron beam were also collected in 2004. This article describes the main
features and performances of the spectrometer in 2004; a short summary of the
2006 upgrade is also given.Comment: 84 papes, 74 figure
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