633 research outputs found
Vascular remodeling in experimental hypertension
The basic hemodynamic abnormality in hypertension is an increased peripheral resistance that is due mainly to a decreased vascular lumen derived from structural changes in the small arteries wall, named (as a whole) vascular remodeling. The vascular wall is an active, flexible, and integrated organ made up of cellular (endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, adventitia cells, and fibroblasts) and noncellular (extracellular matrix) components, which in a dynamic way change shape or number, or reorganize in response to physiological and pathological stimuli, maintaining the integrity of the vessel wall in physiological conditions or participating in the vascular changes in cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension. Research focused on new signaling pathways and molecules that can participate in the mechanisms of vascular remodeling has provided evidence showing that vascular structure is not only affected by blood pressure, but also by mechanisms that are independent of the increased pressure. This review will provide an overview of the evidence, explaining some of the pathophysiologic mechanisms participating in the development of the vascular remodeling, in experimental models of hypertension, with special reference to the findings in spontaneously hypertensive rats as a model of essential hypertension, and in fructose-fed rats as a model of secondary hypertension, in the context of the metabolic syndrome. The understanding of the mechanisms producing the vascular alterations will allow the development of novel pharmacological tools for vascular protection in hypertensive disease.Fil: Risler, Norma Raquel. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; ArgentinaFil: Cruzado, Montserrat C.. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; ArgentinaFil: Miatello, Roberto Miguel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; Argentin
Forces between clustered stereocilia minimize friction in the ear on a subnanometre scale
The detection of sound begins when energy derived from acoustic stimuli
deflects the hair bundles atop hair cells. As hair bundles move, the viscous
friction between stereocilia and the surrounding liquid poses a fundamental
challenge to the ear's high sensitivity and sharp frequency selectivity. Part
of the solution to this problem lies in the active process that uses energy for
frequency-selective sound amplification. Here we demonstrate that a
complementary part involves the fluid-structure interaction between the liquid
within the hair bundle and the stereocilia. Using force measurement on a
dynamically scaled model, finite-element analysis, analytical estimation of
hydrodynamic forces, stochastic simulation and high-resolution interferometric
measurement of hair bundles, we characterize the origin and magnitude of the
forces between individual stereocilia during small hair-bundle deflections. We
find that the close apposition of stereocilia effectively immobilizes the
liquid between them, which reduces the drag and suppresses the relative
squeezing but not the sliding mode of stereociliary motion. The obliquely
oriented tip links couple the mechanotransduction channels to this least
dissipative coherent mode, whereas the elastic horizontal top connectors
stabilize the structure, further reducing the drag. As measured from the
distortion products associated with channel gating at physiological stimulation
amplitudes of tens of nanometres, the balance of forces in a hair bundle
permits a relative mode of motion between adjacent stereocilia that encompasses
only a fraction of a nanometre. A combination of high-resolution experiments
and detailed numerical modelling of fluid-structure interactions reveals the
physical principles behind the basic structural features of hair bundles and
shows quantitatively how these organelles are adapted to the needs of sensitive
mechanotransduction.Comment: 21 pages, including 3 figures. For supplementary information, please
see the online version of the article at http://www.nature.com/natur
The ATLAS High Level Trigger Steering
The High Level Trigger (HLT) of the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider receives events which pass the LVL1 trigger at ~75 kHz and has to reduce the rate to ~200 Hz while retaining the most interesting physics. It is a software trigger and performs the reduction in two stages: the LVL2 trigger and the Event Filter (EF). At the heart of the HLT is the Steering software. To minimise processing time and data transfers it implements the novel event selection strategies of seeded, step-wise reconstruction and early rejection. The HLT is seeded by regions of interest identified at LVL1. These and the static configuration determine which algorithms are run to reconstruct event data and test the validity of trigger signatures. The decision to reject the event or continue is based on the valid signatures, taking into account pre-scale and pass-through. After the EF, event classification tags are assigned for streaming purposes. Several powerful new features for commissioning and operation have been added: comprehensive monitoring is now built in to the framework; for validation and debugging, reconstructed data can be written out; the steering is integrated with the new configuration (presented separately), and topological and global triggers have been added. This paper will present details of the final design and its implementation, the principles behind it, and the requirements and constraints it is subject to. The experience gained from technical runs with realistic trigger menus will be described
Universal critical behavior of noisy coupled oscillators: A renormalization group study
We show that the synchronization transition of a large number of noisy
coupled oscillators is an example for a dynamic critical point far from
thermodynamic equilibrium. The universal behaviors of such critical
oscillators, arranged on a lattice in a -dimensional space and coupled by
nearest neighbors interactions, can be studied using field theoretical methods.
The field theory associated with the critical point of a homogeneous
oscillatory instability (or Hopf bifurcation of coupled oscillators) is the
complex Ginzburg-Landau equation with additive noise. We perform a perturbative
renormalization group (RG) study in a dimensional space. We
develop an RG scheme that eliminates the phase and frequency of the
oscillations using a scale-dependent oscillating reference frame. Within a
Callan-Symanzik RG scheme to two-loop order in perturbation theory, we find
that the RG fixed point is formally related to the one of the model
dynamics of the real Ginzburg-Landau theory with an O(2) symmetry of the order
parameter. Therefore, the dominant critical exponents for coupled oscillators
are the same as for this equilibrium field theory. This formal connection with
an equilibrium critical point imposes a relation between the correlation and
response functions of coupled oscillators in the critical regime. Since the
system operates far from thermodynamic equilibrium, a strong violation of the
fluctuation-dissipation relation occurs and is characterized by a universal
divergence of an effective temperature. The formal relation between critical
oscillators and equilibrium critical points suggests that long-range phase
order exists in critical oscillators above two dimensions.Comment: 24 pages, published in 200
The Clicker Study
Purpose: A recent study in orthopedics showed that clicker-based learning was more effective than traditional feedback when teaching procedures. We sought to determine whether this principle is applicable to ultrasound skills.
Methods: Our prospective randomized control trial used a population of new ultrasound learners. Exclusion criteria included previous ultrasound experience of more than one hour. Students were shown an instructional video on the Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma (FAST) exam and randomized to receive clicker or scripted feedback. Each student performed the FAST exam once without feedback, then with either scripted or clicker-based feedback. They were timed and scored on 18 microskills.
Results and Conclusions: 45 students were enrolled in the study, with 6 excluded from analysis. This included 24 premedical and 15 medical students. No significant differences were observed between groups for time or accuracy on the FAST exam. Among medical students, there was a trend toward faster results in the clicker group (mean=83 seconds) than the script group (mean=103 seconds) (p=0.22). Among undergraduates, there was a trend toward higher accuracy in the script group (mean=100%) than the clicker group (mean=95%) (p=0.068) and towards faster performance (mean=103 seconds) than the clicker group (mean=121 seconds) (p=0.38). Although no significant differences were observed, there seemed to be a trend toward faster performance with clicker feedback among medical students and faster and more accurate performance with scripted feedback among premedical students. This may be an area for future study
Vergleich von Lisinopril und Captopril zur Behandlung der schweren Herzinsuffizienz (NYHA III-IV) bei Hochrisikopatienten. Vorläufige Studienergebnisse (=Comparison of lisinopril and captopril in treatment of severe heart failure (NYHA III-IV) in high risk patients. Preliminary results of the trial)
We present preliminary data of a study comparing captopril, a short acting, with lisinopril, a long acting ACE-inhibitor in 8 of 12 projected patients with severe chronic heart failure (NYHA III-IV) and one additional risk factor (e.g. diabetes mellitus, renal failure). The 8 patients were treated in a cross over design for 12 weeks with either drug. While lisinopril improved NYHA-class in all patients, captopril reached this goal in only 3. Renal function was stable in all patients. Captopril influenced hormones (renin, aldosterone, norepinephrine, epinephrine) and microalbuminuria less than lisinopril. The number of adverse reactions was smaller in lisinopril treated patients. These preliminary data demonstrate at least an equal efficacy of lisinopril compared to captopril in high risk patients with severe chronic heart failure
Searches at HERA for Squarks in R-Parity Violating Supersymmetry
A search for squarks in R-parity violating supersymmetry is performed in e^+p
collisions at HERA at a centre of mass energy of 300 GeV, using H1 data
corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 37 pb^(-1). The direct production
of single squarks of any generation in positron-quark fusion via a Yukawa
coupling lambda' is considered, taking into account R-parity violating and
conserving decays of the squarks. No significant deviation from the Standard
Model expectation is found. The results are interpreted in terms of constraints
within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM), the constrained MSSM
and the minimal Supergravity model, and their sensitivity to the model
parameters is studied in detail. For a Yukawa coupling of electromagnetic
strength, squark masses below 260 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level in a
large part of the parameter space. For a 100 times smaller coupling strength
masses up to 182 GeV are excluded.Comment: 32 pages, 14 figures, 3 table
Deep-Inelastic Inclusive ep Scattering at Low x and a Determination of alpha_s
A precise measurement of the inclusive deep-inelastic e^+p scattering cross
section is reported in the kinematic range 1.5<= Q^2 <=150 GeV^2 and
3*10^(-5)<= x <=0.2. The data were recorded with the H1 detector at HERA in
1996 and 1997, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 20 pb^(-1). The
double differential cross section, from which the proton structure function
F_2(x,Q^2) and the longitudinal structure function F_L(x,Q^2) are extracted, is
measured with typically 1% statistical and 3% systematic uncertainties. The
measured partial derivative (dF_2(x,Q^2)/dln Q^2)_x is observed to rise
continuously towards small x for fixed Q^2. The cross section data are combined
with published H1 measurements at high Q^2 for a next-to-leading order DGLAP
QCD analysis.The H1 data determine the gluon momentum distribution in the range
3*10^(-4)<= x <=0.1 to within an experimental accuracy of about 3% for Q^2 =20
GeV^2. A fit of the H1 measurements and the mu p data of the BCDMS
collaboration allows the strong coupling constant alpha_s and the gluon
distribution to be simultaneously determined. A value of alpha
_s(M_Z^2)=0.1150+-0.0017 (exp) +0.0009-0.0005 (model) is obtained in NLO, with
an additional theoretical uncertainty of about +-0.005, mainly due to the
uncertainty of the renormalisation scale.Comment: 68 pages, 24 figures and 18 table
Forward pi^0 Production and Associated Transverse Energy Flow in Deep-Inelastic Scattering at HERA
Deep-inelastic positron-proton interactions at low values of Bjorken-x down
to x \approx 4.10^-5 which give rise to high transverse momentum pi^0 mesons
are studied with the H1 experiment at HERA. The inclusive cross section for
pi^0 mesons produced at small angles with respect to the proton remnant (the
forward region) is presented as a function of the transverse momentum and
energy of the pi^0 and of the four-momentum transfer Q^2 and Bjorken-x.
Measurements are also presented of the transverse energy flow in events
containing a forward pi^0 meson. Hadronic final state calculations based on QCD
models implementing different parton evolution schemes are confronted with the
data.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures and 3 table
Search for Doubly-Charged Higgs Boson Production at HERA
A search for the single production of doubly-charged Higgs bosons H^{\pm \pm}
in ep collisions is presented. The signal is searched for via the Higgs decays
into a high mass pair of same charge leptons, one of them being an electron.
The analysis uses up to 118 pb^{-1} of ep data collected by the H1 experiment
at HERA. No evidence for doubly-charged Higgs production is observed and mass
dependent upper limits are derived on the Yukawa couplings h_{el} of the Higgs
boson to an electron-lepton pair. Assuming that the doubly-charged Higgs only
decays into an electron and a muon via a coupling of electromagnetic strength
h_{e \mu} = \sqrt{4 \pi \alpha_{em}} = 0.3, a lower limit of 141 GeV on the
H^{\pm\pm} mass is obtained at the 95% confidence level. For a doubly-charged
Higgs decaying only into an electron and a tau and a coupling h_{e\tau} = 0.3,
masses below 112 GeV are ruled out.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl
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