Strangeness Production in pp,pA,AA Interactions at SPS Energies.HIJING Approach

In this report we have made a systematic study of strangeness production in proton-proton(pp),proton-nucleus(pA) and nucleus- nucleus(AA) collisions at CERN Super Proton Synchroton energies, using$\,\,\, HIJING\,\,\, MONTE \,\,\,CARLO \,\,\,MODEL$ \\ (version $HIJ.01$). Numerical results for mean multiplicities of neutral strange particles ,as well as their ratios to negatives hadrons($$) for p-p,nucleon-nucleon(N-N),\,\,p-S,\,\,p-Ag,\,\,p-Au('min. bias')collisions and p-Au,\,\,S-S,\,\,S-Ag,\,\,S-Au ('central')collisions are compared to experimental data available from CERN experiments and also with recent theoretical estimations given by others models. Neutral strange particle abundances are quite well described for p-p,N-N and p-A interactions ,but are underpredicted by a factor of two in A-A interactions for $\Lambda,\bar{\Lambda}, K^{0}_{S}$ in symmetric collisions(S-S,\,\,Pb-Pb)and for $\Lambda,\bar{\Lambda}\,\,$in asymmetric ones(S-Ag,\,\,S-Au,\,\,S-W). A qualitative prediction for rapidity, transverse kinetic energy and transverse momenta normalized distributions are performed at 200 GeV/Nucleon in p-S,S-S,S-Ag and S-Au collisions in comparison with recent experimental data. HIJING model predictions for coming experiments at CERN for S-Au, S-W and Pb-Pb interactions are given. The theoretical calculations are estimated in a full phase space.Comment: 33 pages(LATEX),18 figures not included,available in hard copy upon request , Dipartamento di Fisica Padova,report DFPD-94-NP-4

Chikungunya virus and its envelope protein E2 induce hyperalgesia in mice: Inhibition by anti-E2 monoclonal antibodies and by targeting TRPV1

Chikungunya virus is an arthropod-borne infectious agent that causes Chikungunya fever disease. About 90% of the infected patients experience intense polyarthralgia, affecting mainly the extremities but also the large joints such as the knees. Chronic disease symptoms persist for months, even after clearance of the virus from the blood. Envelope proteins stimulate the immune response against the Chikungunya virus, becoming an important therapeutic target. We inactivated the Chikungunya virus (iCHIKV) and produced recombinant E2 (rE2) protein and three different types of anti-rE2 monoclonal antibodies. Using these tools, we observed that iCHIKV and rE2 protein induced mechanical hyperalgesia (electronic aesthesiometer test) and thermal hyperalgesia (Hargreaves test) in mice. These behavioral results were accompanied by the activation of dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons in mice, as observed by calcium influx. Treatment with three different types of anti-rE2 monoclonal antibodies and absence or blockade (AMG-9810 treatment) of transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) channel diminished mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia in mice. iCHIKV and rE2 activated TRPV1+ mouse DRG neurons in vitro, demonstrating their ability to activate nociceptor sensory neurons directly. Therefore, our mouse data demonstrate that targeting E2 CHIKV protein with monoclonal antibodies and inhibiting TRPV1 channels are reasonable strategies to control CHIKV pain

1H NMR metabolic profile to discriminate pasture based alpine asiago PDO cheeses

The study was carried out in an alpine area of North-Eastern Italy to assess the reliability of proton nuclear magnetic resonance 1H NMR to fingerprint and discriminate Asiago PDO cheeses processed in the same dairy plant from upland pasture-based milk or from upland hay-based milk. Six experimental types of Asiago cheese were made from raw milk considering 2 cows’ feeding systems (pasture- vs. hay-based milk) and 3 ripening times (2 months, Pressato vs. 4 months, Allevo_4 vs. 6 months, Allevo_6). Samples (n = 55) were submitted to chemical analysis and to 1HNMRcoupled with multivariate canonical discriminant analysis. Choline, 2,3-butanediol, lysine, tyrosine, and some signals of sugar-like compounds were suggested as the main water-soluble metabolites useful to discriminate cheese according to cows’ feeding system. A wider pool of polar biomarkers explained the variation due to ripening time. The validation procedure based on a predictive set suggested that 1H NMR based metabolomics was an effective fingerprinting tool to identify pasture-based cheese samples with the shortest ripening period (Pressato). The classification to the actual feeding system of more aged cheese samples was less accurate likely due to their chemical and biochemical changes induced by a prolonged maturation process

Monitoring of the pre-equilibrium step in the alkyne hydration reaction catalyzed by au(Iii) complexes: A computational study based on experimental evidences

The coordination ability of the [(ppy)Au(IPr)]2+ fragment [ppy = 2-phenylpyridine, IPr = 1,3-bis(2,6-di-isopropylphenyl)-imidazol-2-ylidene] towards different anionic and neutral X ligands (X = Cl 12, BF4 12, OTf 12, H2 O, 2-butyne, 3-hexyne) commonly involved in the crucial pre-equilibrium step of the alkyne hydration reaction is computationally investigated to shed light on unexpected experimental observations on its catalytic activity. Experiment reveals that BF4 12 and OTf 12 have very similar coordination ability towards [(ppy)Au(IPr)]2+ and slightly less than water, whereas the alkyne complex could not be observed in solution at least at the NMR sensitivity. Due to the steric hindrance/dispersion interaction balance between X and IPr, the [(ppy)Au(IPr)]2+ fragment is computationally found to be much less selective than a model [(ppy)Au(NHC)]2+ (NHC = 1,3-dimethylimidazol-2-ylidene) fragment towards the different ligands, in particular OTf 12 and BF4 12, in agreement with experiment. Effect of the ancillary ligand substitution demonstrates that the coordination ability of Au(III) is quantitatively strongly affected by the nature of the ligands (even more than the net charge of the complex) and that all the investigated gold fragments coordinate to alkynes more strongly than H2 O. Remarkably, a stabilization of the water-coordinating species with respect to the alkyne-coordinating one can only be achieved within a microsolvation model, which reconciles theory with experiment. All the results reported here suggest that both the Au(III) fragment coordination ability and its proper computational modelling in the experimental conditions are fundamental issues for the design of efficient catalysts

Effect of period of milk production and ripening on quality traits of Asiago cheese

After 6 and 12 months of ripening, samples of Asiago d'Allevo were analyzed for quality traits. Cheeses were produced during 3 periods using milk from cows fed a total mixed ration (TMR, May) or grazing on alpine pasture (AG) in early (July) and late (Sept.) summer. Data were submitted to ANOVA considering ripening, milk production period and farm as main effects, and whole cheese weight as covariate. During ripening, pH of AGcheese was significantly lower than that of TMR-cheese; crude fat and protein significantly increased. According to period, July-samples showed the significantly lowest value of dry matter (DM), maybe due to a lower crude fat content; however, variability in skimming method could have altered proximate composition. No texture differences were found, although increasing weight of whole cheese significantly reduced max shear force as result of a lower DM content. Lightness (L*) and yellowness (b*) significantly decreased during ripening. AG feeding system caused a lower L* and higher b* than TMR one, probably as a consequence of a different amount of milk pigments. Cheese varied also within AG season: Sept.-samples showed the lowest L* value and the highest b*

The Role of Spleen and Liver Elastography and Color-Doppler Ultrasound in the Assessment of Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt Function

The reference standard for assessing transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) function is venography with portosystemic pressure gradient (PPG) measurement. This procedure is invasive and expensive; thus, we assessed the feasibility, reproducibility and diagnostic accuracy of color-Doppler ultrasound (CDUS) and spleen and liver stiffness (LS) measurements for identifying TIPS dysfunction. Twenty-four patients (15 undergoing TIPS placement and nine undergoing TIPS revision) consecutively underwent CDUS examination and LS and spleen stiffness (SS) determination by transient elastography (TE) and point shear-wave elastography (pSWE). All parameters were taken before TIPS placement/revision (1\u201315 d before) and 24 h after, just before revision by venography. pSWE inter-observer agreement was assessed by intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). CDUS and elastographic data were correlated (Pearson coefficient) with pressure gradients (hepatic venous pressure gradient [HVPG], PPG). Main determinants of TIPS dysfunction were investigated by linear regression. Forty-nine paired examinations were performed in total: 49 (100%) SS reliable measurements by pSWE and 38 (88%) by TE. The ICC for pSWE values was 0.90 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.81\u20120.94). SS values significantly correlated with HVPG and PPG (R = 0.51, p = 0.01). The area under the Receiver-Operating Characteristic (AUROC) curve of SS for diagnosing TIPS dysfunction was 0.86 (95% CI 0.70\u20120.96) using a 25 kPa cutoff. At multivariate analysis, the flow direction of the intrahepatic portal vein branches and SS values were independently associated to TIPS dysfunction. The intrahepatic portal vein branches flow direction and SS value are two simple, highly sensitive parameters accurately excluding TIPS dysfunction. SS measurement by pSWE is feasible, reproducible and both positively and significantly correlates with HVPG and PPG values

Beam Test Performance and Simulation of Prototypes for the ALICE Silicon Pixel Detector

The silicon pixel detector (SPD) of the ALICE experiment in preparation at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN is designed to provide the precise vertex reconstruction needed for measuring heavy flavor production in heavy ion collisions at very high energies and high multiplicity. The SPD forms the innermost part of the Inner Tracking System (ITS) which also includes silicon drift and silicon strip detectors. Single assembly prototypes of the ALICE SPD have been tested at the CERN SPS using high energy proton/pion beams in 2002 and 2003. We report on the experimental determination of the spatial precision. We also report on the first combined beam test with prototypes of the other ITS silicon detector technologies at the CERN SPS in November 2004. The issue of SPD simulation is briefly discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, prepared for proceedings of 7th International Position Sensitive Detectors Conference, Liverpool, Sept. 200

Performance of ALICE pixel prototypes in high energy beams

The two innermost layers of the ALICE inner tracking system are instrumented with silicon pixel detectors. Single chip assembly prototypes of the ALICE pixels have been tested in high energy particle beams at the CERN SPS. Detection efficiency and spatial precision have been studied as a function of the threshold and the track incidence angle. The experimental method, data analysis and main results are presented.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, contribution to PIX2005 Workshop, Bonn (Germany), 5-8 September 200