Pentoxifylline Plus Prednisolone versus Pentoxifylline Only for Severe Alcoholic Hepatitis: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Background: Prednisolone and pentoxifylline (PTX) have been shown to be individually useful in severe alcoholic hepatitis with Maddrey discriminant function (MDF) score .32. Previous report suggests that PTX is probably superior to prednisolone alone. However the efficacy of PTX and prednisolone combination over PTX alone in the management of acute alcoholic hepatitis (MDF score ≥32) is yet unrevealed.Aim: The present study was initiated to find out the efficacy of combined pentoxifylline and prednisolone versus PTX alone in acute alcoholic  hepatitis in respect of short and intermediate term outcomes.Subjects and Methods: A total of 124 patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis (MDF score ≥32) initially were evaluated. 62 patients who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria were randomized and divided into 2 groups. Group 1 received PTX only, whereas Group 2 received PTX plus Prednisolone. The total duration of follow-up was 12 months. Studentfs t-test, Chi-square test, the Kaplan-Meier methods were used forstatistical analysis. Results: A total of 60 patients, 30 in each group were available for finalanalysis. In Group-1, 6 patients expired at the end of 1 year (5 within 3 months and another after 3 months). In Group 2, 10 patients expired at the end of 1 year (9 within 3 months and another after 3 months). Though survival probability is higher among Group 1 patients but the difference is not statistically significant.Conclusion: The combination of PTX plus Prednisolone yields no additional benefit in terms of mortality and morbidity from that of PTX monotherapy.Keywords: Alcoholic hepatitis, Maddrey discriminant function score,  Pentoxifylline, Prednisolon

Vanadium

International audienceVanadium (chemical symbol, V) is a d-block transition metal,silver in color, appearing in the first long period of the peri-odic table between titanium and chromium. Vanadium hastwo stable isotopes: 50V and 51V, with atomic abundance of0.25 % and 99.75 %, respectively. Vanadium has several oxidation forms (between 2+ and 5+). In the lithosphere, Voccurs as reducing V(III) form, whereas in oxidizing con- ditions V prevails under V(IV) form. Vanadium(II) is partic- ularly unstable in the environment. Vanadium(III) is more stable than V(II), but it is also gradually oxidized by the air or dissolved oxygen. Vanadium(V) is expected to be the prevailing form in waters exposed to atmospheric oxygen, whereas V(IV) may be present in reducing environments. Depending upon geometry and environment, V ionic radii vary between 36 pm and 79 pm. Vanadium has a high melting point of 1910 42 C and is a mildly incompatible, refractory,lithophile (siderophile in the iron core and chondrites) ele- ment. Vanadium has an electronegativity of 1.63 on the Pau- ling scale and displays a first ionization potential of 6.74 eV. More details can be found in Richards (2006) and Haynes (2015)

A study on wear failure analysis of tungsten carbide hardfacing on carbon steel blade in a digester tank

This paper addresses wear failure analysis of tungsten carbide (WC) hardfacing on a carbon steel blade known as the continuous digester blade (CD blade). The CD blade was placed in a digester tank to mix ilmenite ore with sulphuric acid as part of a production process. Tungsten carbide hardfacing was applied on the CD blade to improve its wear resistance while the CD blade was exposed to an abrasive and acidic environment. Failure analysis was car-ried out on the hardfaced CD blade in order to improve its wear resistance and lifetime. A thickness and hardness comparison study was conducted on worn and unworn specimens from the CD blades. The carbide distribution along with elemental composition analysis of the hardfaced CD blade specimens was examined using scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectroscopy. The investigation revealed that an inconsistent hardfacing thickness was welded around the CD blade. Minimum coating thickness was found at the edges of the blade surfaces causing failure to the blades as the bare carbon steel blades were exposed to the mixed environment. The wear resistance of the CD blade can be improved by distributing the carbide uniformly on the hardfaced coating. Applying extra coating coverage at the critical edge will prevent the exposure of bare carbon steel blade, thus increasing the CD blade lifetime

Measurements of the transverse-momentum-dependent cross sections of J /ψ production at mid-rapidity in proton+proton collisions at s =510 and 500 GeV with the STAR detector

We present measurements of the differential cross sections of inclusive J/ψ meson production as a function of transverse momentum (pTJ/ψ) using the μ+μ- and e+e- decay channels in proton+proton collisions at center-of-mass energies of 510 and 500 GeV, respectively, recorded by the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The measurement from the μ+μ- channel is for

Bulk properties of the system formed in Au+Au collisions at sNN =14.5 GeV at the BNL STAR detector

We report systematic measurements of bulk properties of the system created in Au+Au collisions at sNN=14.5 GeV recorded by the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The transverse momentum spectra of π±, K±, and p(p) are studied at midrapidity (|y|<0.1) for nine centrality intervals. The centrality, transverse momentum (pT), and pseudorapidity (η) dependence of inclusive charged particle elliptic flow (v2), and rapidity-odd charged particles directed flow (v1) results near midrapidity are also presented. These measurements are compared with the published results from Au+Au collisions at other energies, and from Pb+Pb collisions at sNN=2.76 TeV. The results at sNN=14.5 GeV show similar behavior as established at other energies and fit well in the energy dependence trend. These results are important as the 14.5-GeV energy fills the gap in μB, which is of the order of 100 MeV, between sNN=11.5 and 19.6 GeV. Comparisons of the data with UrQMD and AMPT models show poor agreement in general

Charge-dependent pair correlations relative to a third particle in p + Au and d + Au collisions at RHIC

Quark interactions with topological gluon configurations can induce chirality imbalance and local parity violation in quantum chromodynamics. This can lead to electric charge separation along the strong magnetic field in relativistic heavy-ion collisions – the chiral magnetic effect (CME). We report measurements by the STAR collaboration of a CME-sensitive observable in p+Au and d+Au collisions at 200 GeV, where the CME is not expected, using charge-dependent pair correlations relative to a third particle. We observe strong charge-dependent correlations similar to those measured in heavy-ion collisions. This bears important implications for the interpretation of the heavy-ion data

Measurement of inclusive J/ψ suppression in Au+Au collisions at sNN=200 GeV through the dimuon channel at STAR

J/ψ suppression has long been considered a sensitive signature of the formation of the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. In this letter, we present the first measurement of inclusive J/ψ production at mid-rapidity through the dimuon decay channel in Au+Au collisions at sNN=200 GeV with the STAR experiment. These measurements became possible after the installation of the Muon Telescope Detector was completed in 2014. The J/ψ yields are measured in a wide transverse momentum (pT) range of 0.15 GeV/c to 12 GeV/c from central to peripheral collisions. They extend the kinematic reach of previous measurements at RHIC with improved precision. In the 0-10% most central collisions, the J/ψ yield is suppressed by a factor of approximately 3 for pT>5 GeV/c relative to that in p+p collisions scaled by the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions. The J/ψ nuclear modification factor displays little dependence on pT in all centrality bins. Model calculations can qualitatively describe the data, providing further evidence for the color-screening effect experienced by J/ψ mesons in the QGP

Observation of Excess J/ψ Yield at Very Low Transverse Momenta in Au+Au Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV and U+U Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=193 GeV.

We report on the first measurements of J/ψ production at very low transverse momentum (p_{T}<0.2  GeV/c) in hadronic Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV and U+U collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=193  GeV. Remarkably, the inferred nuclear modification factor of J/ψ at midrapidity in Au+Au (U+U) collisions reaches about 24 (52) for p_{T}<0.05  GeV/c in the 60%-80% collision centrality class. This noteworthy enhancement cannot be explained by hadronic production accompanied by cold and hot medium effects. In addition, the dN/dt distribution of J/ψ for the very low p_{T} range is presented for the first time. The distribution is consistent with that expected from the Au nucleus and shows a hint of interference. Comparison of the measurements to theoretical calculations of coherent production shows that the excess yield can be described reasonably well and reveals a partial disruption of coherent production in semicentral collisions, perhaps due to the violent hadronic interactions. Incorporating theoretical calculations, the results strongly suggest that the dramatic enhancement of J/ψ yield observed at extremely low p_{T} originates from coherent photon-nucleus interactions. In particular, coherently produced J/ψ's in violent hadronic collisions may provide a novel probe of the quark-gluon plasma

Longitudinal double-spin asymmetry for inclusive jet and dijet production in pp collisions at s =510 GeV

We report the first measurement of the inclusive jet and the dijet longitudinal double-spin asymmetries, ALL, at midrapidity in polarized pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy s=510 GeV. The inclusive jet ALL measurement is sensitive to the gluon helicity distribution down to a gluon momentum fraction of x≈0.015, while the dijet measurements, separated into four jet-pair topologies, provide constraints on the x dependence of the gluon polarization. Both results are consistent with previous measurements made at s=200 GeV in the overlapping kinematic region, x>0.05, and show good agreement with predictions from recent next-to-leading order global analyses