Design considerations of a dual mode X-band EPR resonator for rapid in-situ microwave heating

This paper describes the design considerations for a dual mode X-band continuous wave (CW) Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) cavity, for simultaneous EPR measurement and microwave heating of the same sample. An elliptical cavity geometry is chosen to split the degeneracy of the TM110 mode, allowing for a well resolved EPR signal with the TM110,a and TM110,b modes resonating at around 10 GHz and 9.5 GHz, respectively, the latter of which is used for EPR measurements. This geometry has the benefit that the TM010 mode used for microwave heating resonates at 6.1 GHz, below the cut off frequency of the X-band waveguide used for the EPR channel, providing effective isolation between the heating and EPR channels. The use of a pair of 9 µm thick copper clad laminates as the flat cavity walls allows for sufficient penetration of the modulation field (Bmod) into the cavity, as well as maintaining a high cavity Q factor (> 5700) for sensitive EPR measurements. Locating the heating port at an angle of 135° to the EPR port provides additional space for easier coupling adjustment and for larger sample access to be accommodated. The associated decrease of EPR signal strength is fully compensated for by using a 7.2 GHz low pass filter on the heating port. EPR spectra using 1.6 mm and 4.0 mm sample tubes are shown at room temperature (298 K) and 318 K for a standard Cu(acac)2 solution, demonstrating the effectiveness of this dual-mode EPR cavity for microwave heating during EPR detection

Association of High-Density Lipoprotein-Cholesterol Versus Apolipoprotein A-I With Risk of Coronary Heart Disease: The European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer-Norfolk Prospective Population Study, the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, and the Women's Health Study.

BACKGROUND: The contribution of apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) to coronary heart disease (CHD) risk stratification over and above high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) is unclear. We studied the associations between plasma levels of HDL-C and apoA-I, either alone or combined, with risk of CHD events and cardiovascular risk factors among apparently healthy men and women. METHODS AND RESULTS: HDL-C and apoA-I levels were measured among 17 661 participants of the EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer)-Norfolk prospective population study. Hazard ratios for CHD events and distributions of risk factors were calculated by quartiles of HDL-C and apoA-I. Results were validated using data from the ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) and WHS (Women's Health Study) cohorts, comprising 15 494 and 27 552 individuals, respectively. In EPIC-Norfolk, both HDL-C and apoA-I quartiles were strongly and inversely associated with CHD risk. Within HDL-C quartiles, higher apoA-I levels were not associated with lower CHD risk; in fact, CHD risk was higher within some HDL-C quartiles. ApoA-I levels were associated with higher levels of CHD risk factors: higher body mass index, HbA1c, non-HDL-C, triglycerides, apolipoprotein B, systolic blood pressure, and C-reactive protein, within fixed HDL-C quartiles. In contrast, HDL-C levels were consistently inversely associated with overall CHD risk and CHD risk factors within apoA-I quartiles (P<0.001). These findings were validated in the ARIC and WHS cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate that apoA-I levels do not offer predictive information over and above HDL-C. In fact, within some HDL-C quartiles, higher apoA-I levels were associated with higher risk of CHD events, possibly because of the unexpected higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in association with higher apoA-I levels. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00000479

Measurement of Upsilon production in pp collisions at \sqrt{s} = 7 TeV

The production of Upsilon(1S), Upsilon(2S) and Upsilon(3S) mesons in proton-proton collisions at the centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s)=7 TeV is studied with the LHCb detector. The analysis is based on a data sample of 25 pb-1 collected at the Large Hadron Collider. The Upsilon mesons are reconstructed in the decay mode Upsilon -> mu+ mu- and the signal yields are extracted from a fit to the mu+ mu- invariant mass distributions. The differential production cross-sections times dimuon branching fractions are measured as a function of the Upsilon transverse momentum pT and rapidity y, over the range pT < 15 GeV/c and 2.0 < y < 4.5. The cross-sections times branching fractions, integrated over these kinematic ranges, are measured to be sigma(pp -> Upsilon(1S) X) x B(Upsilon(1S)->mu+ mu-) = 2.29 {\pm} 0.01 {\pm} 0.10 -0.37 +0.19 nb, sigma(pp -> Upsilon(2S) X) x B(Upsilon(2S)->mu+ mu-) = 0.562 {\pm} 0.007 {\pm} 0.023 -0.092 +0.048 nb, sigma(pp -> Upsilon(3S) X) x B(Upsilon(3S)->mu+ mu-) = 0.283 {\pm} 0.005 {\pm} 0.012 -0.048 +0.025 nb, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third is due to the unknown polarisation of the three Upsilon states.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figure

Combining Metabolomics and Experimental Evolution Reveals Key Mechanisms Underlying Longevity Differences in Laboratory Evolved Drosophila melanogaster Populations

Experimental evolution with Drosophila melanogaster has been used extensively for decades to study aging and longevity. In recent years, the addition of DNA and RNA sequencing to this framework has allowed researchers to leverage the statistical power inherent to experimental evolution to study the genetic basis of longevity itself. Here, we incorporated metabolomic data into to this framework to generate even deeper insights into the physiological and genetic mechanisms underlying longevity differences in three groups of experimentally evolved D. melanogaster populations with different aging and longevity patterns. Our metabolomic analysis found that aging alters mitochondrial metabolism through increased consumption of NAD+ and increased usage of the TCA cycle. Combining our genomic and metabolomic data produced a list of biologically relevant candidate genes. Among these candidates, we found significant enrichment for genes and pathways associated with neurological development and function, and carbohydrate metabolism. While we do not explicitly find enrichment for aging canonical genes, neurological dysregulation and carbohydrate metabolism are both known to be associated with accelerated aging and reduced longevity. Taken together, our results provide plausible genetic mechanisms for what might be driving longevity differences in this experimental system. More broadly, our findings demonstrate the value of combining multiple types of omic data with experimental evolution when attempting to dissect mechanisms underlying complex and highly polygenic traits such as aging

Measurement of relative branching fractions of B decays to psi(2S) and J/psi mesons

The relative rates of B-meson decays into J/psi and psi(2S) mesons are measured for the three decay modes in pp collisions recorded with the LHCb detector. The ratios of branching fractions (B) are measured to be B(B+ -> psi(2S)K+)/B(B+ -> J/psi K+) = 0.594 +/- 0.006(stat) +/- 0.016(syst) +/- 0.015(R-psi), B(B-0 -> psi(2S)K*(0))/B(B-0 -> J/psi K*(0)) = 0.476 +/- 0.014(stat) +/- 0.010(syst) +/- 0.012(R-psi), B(B-s(0) -> psi(2S)phi)/B(B-s(0) -> J/psi phi) = 0.489 +/- 0.026(stat) +/- 0.021(syst) +/- 0.012(R-psi), where the third uncertainty is from the ratio of the psi(2S) and J/psi branching fractions to mu(+)mu(-). RI Galli, Domenico/A-1606-2012; Sarti, Alessio/I-2833-2012; Petrolini, Alessandro/H-3782-2011; Carbone, Angelo/C-8289-2012; de Paula, Leandro/I-9278-2012; manca, giulia/I-9264-2012; Patrignani, Claudia/C-5223-2009; Marconi, Umberto/J-2263-2012; de Simone, Patrizia/J-3549-2012; Cardini, Alessandro/J-5736-2012; Teodorescu, Eliza/K-3044-201