SmartTools: a generator of interactive environments tools

SmartTools is a development environment generator that provides a structure editor and semantic tools as main features. The well-known visitor pattern technique is commonly used for designing semantic analysis, it has been automated and extended. SmartTools is easy to use thanks to its graphical user interface designed with the Java Swing APIs. It is built with an open architecture convinient for a partial or total integration of SmartTools in other environments. It makes the addition of new software components in SmartTools easy. As a result of the modular architecture, we built a distributed instance of SmartTools which required minimal effort. Being open to the XML technologies offers all the features of Smart Tools to any language defined with those technologies. But most of all, with its open architecture, SmartTools takes advantage of all the developments made around those technologies, like DOM, through the XML APIs. The fast development of SmartTools (which is a young project, one year old) validates our choices of being open and generic. The main goal of this tool is to provide help and support for designing software development environments for programming languages as well as application languages defined with XML technologies

SerpinB3 as hepatic marker of post-resective shear stress

Post-resective liver failure is a frequent complication of liver surgery and it is due to portal hyperperfusion of the remnant liver and to arterial vasoconstriction, as buffer response of the hepatic artery. In this context, splenectomy allows a reduction of portal flow and increases the survival chance in preclinical models. SerpinB3 is over-expressed in the liver in oxidative stress conditions, as a mechanism of cell defense to provide survival by apoptosis inhibition and cell proliferation. In this study, the expression of SerpinB3 was assessed as predictor of liver damage in in vivo models of major hepatic resection with or without splenectomy. Wistar male rats were divided into 4 groups: group A received 30% hepatic resection, group B > 60% resection, group C > 60% resection with splenectomy and group D sham-operated. Before and after surgery liver function tests, echo Doppler ultrasound and gene expression were assessed. Transaminase values and ammonium were significantly higher in groups that underwent major hepatic resection. Echo Doppler ultrasound showed the highest portal flow and resistance of the hepatic artery in the group with > 60% hepatectomy without splenectomy, while the association of splenectomy determined no increase in portal flow and hepatic artery resistance. Only the group of rats without splenectomy showed higher shear-stress conditions, reflected by higher levels of HO-1, Nox1 and of Serpinb3, the latter associated with an increase of IL-6. In conclusion, splenectomy controls inflammation and oxidative damage, preventing the expression of Serpinb3. Therefore, SerpinB3 can be considered as a marker of post-resective shear stress

A Pig Model of Hemivascular Liver Occlusion for The Study of Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury: Use of an Infrared System for Detecting Ischemic Areas

Aim: Different animals are used as experimental models for the hepatic Ischemia- Reperfusion (IR) injury investigations and for each one of these animal models, many different surgical approaches have been performed. The aim of our study was to establish a new surgical pig model in which a hemi-liver is used to study the pathophysiology of hepatic IR injury. Contro-lateral hemi- liver is used as an internal control in the same animal. Methods: Liver ischemia was performed in six pigs by clamping the hepatic artery and vein and the portal vein to isolate the left hepatic lobe. Four hours of warm ischemia were followed by 4-hourrs of reperfusion. Biochemical and hematological analyses were performed throughout the experiments. Needle biopsies were obtained prior to ischemia and then hourly during the reperfusion for evaluation of tissue damage. To assess local temperature gradients on the liver surface a focal plane array detector camera was used. Results: Four hours ischemia induced mild signs of hepatic damage on the left ischemic lobe while more dramatic changes were evidenced after 2-hours reperfusion. Absence of tissue damage was detected on the right lobe. The liver functional test reached their maximum value at 2-4 hours after reperfusion. Conclusion: Our model is easy to perform, feasible and reproducible. This surgical model minimizes biases dependent on the individual response of different animals under the same conditions. In this IR model the new technology of an infrared thermocamera was used to control temperature changes and provide clinically important real-time information during surgery

AEGIS at CERN: Measuring Antihydrogen Fall

The main goal of the AEGIS experiment at the CERN Antiproton Decelerator is the test of fundamental laws such as the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) and CPT symmetry. In the first phase of AEGIS, a beam of antihydrogen will be formed whose fall in the gravitational field is measured in a Moire' deflectometer; this will constitute the first test of the WEP with antimatter.Comment: Presented at the Fifth Meeting on CPT and Lorentz Symmetry, Bloomington, Indiana, June 28-July 2, 201

Subclinical and clinical atherosclerosis in Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease is associated with the presence of hypertension

Background and aims Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. However, whether NAFLD contributes independently to the development of cardiovascular disease is not fully understood. Our study aimed at assessing the differences in several indices of atherosclerosis, arterial stiffness and cardiac morphology among patients with isolated NAFLD, isolated hypertension (HT) or with combination of the two conditions. Methods and results One hundred and sixty-nine participants (mean age=50.4±10.2 yrs; males=73.6 %) were divided according to the presence of NAFLD and HT in three groups: only-NAFLD (55 patients), only-HT (49 patients) and NAFLD+HT (65 patients). Exclusion criteria were BMI≥35Kg/m2 and presence of diabetes mellitus. Carotid ultrasonography was performed to measure markers of atherosclerosis and arterial stiffness. Cardiac remodeling was analyzed using echocardiography. Prevalence of subclinical and overt atherosclerosis was significantly higher in the NAFLD+HT patients as compared to the other two groups (atherosclerotic plaques: 43.1%, 10.9%, 22.4% (p<0.001), in NAFLD+HT, NAFLD and HT groups). No differences were found among indices of arterial stiffening and cardiac remodeling across the three groups. In multivariate regression analysis the coexistence of NAFLD and HT was an independent risk factor for overt atherosclerosis (OR=4.88; p=0.03), while no association was found when either NAFLD or HT was considered alone. Conclusion Overt atherosclerosis was significantly present only in NAFLD+HT patients, but not in patients presenting with isolated NAFLD. This implies that the impact of NAFLD on vascular structure and function could depend on the coexistence of other major cardiovascular risk factors, such as HT

Z boson production in p+Pb collisions at sNN√=5.02 TeV measured with the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS Collaboration has measured the inclusive production of Z bosons via their decays into electron and muon pairs in p+Pb collisions at √ sNN = 5.02 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider. The measurements are made using data corresponding to integrated luminosities of 29.4 nb−1 and 28.1 nb−1 for Z → ee and Z → µµ, respectively. The results from the two channels are consistent and combined to obtain a cross section times the Z → `` branching ratio, integrated over the rapidity region |y ∗ Z | < 3.5, of 139.8 ± 4.8 (stat.) ± 6.2 (syst.) ± 3.8 (lumi.) nb. Differential cross sections are presented as functions of the Z boson rapidity and transverse momentum, and compared with models based on parton distributions both with and without nuclear corrections. The centrality dependence of Z boson production in p+Pb collisions is measured and analyzed within the framework of a standard Glauber model and the model’s extension for fluctuations of the underlying nucleon-nucleon scattering cross sectionFil: Aad, G.. Aix-Marseille Université; FranciaFil: Abbott, B.. Oklahoma State University; Estados UnidosFil: Abdallah, J.. Academia Sinica; ChinaFil: Abdinov, O.. Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences; AzerbaiyánFil: Aben, R.. University of Amsterdam; Países BajosFil: Alconada Verzini, María Josefina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Física La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Física La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Alonso, Francisco. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Física La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Física La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Arduh, Francisco Anuar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Física La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Física La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Dova, Maria Teresa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Física La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Física La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Monticelli, Fernando Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Física La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Física La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Wahlberg, Hernan Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Física La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Física La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Otero y Garzon, Gustavo Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Piegaia, Ricardo Nestor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Reisin, Hernan Diego. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Sacerdoti, Sabrina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Zieminska, D.. Indiana University; Estados UnidosFil: Zimine, N. I.. Joint Institute for Nuclear Research ; RusiaFil: Zimmermann, C.. Universität Mainz; AlemaniaFil: Zimmermann, S.. Albert-Ludwigs-Universität; AlemaniaFil: Zinonos, Z.. Georg-August-Universität; AlemaniaFil: Zinser, M.. Universität Mainz; AlemaniaFil: Ziolkowski, M.. Universität Siegen ; AlemaniaFil: Živković, L.. University of Belgrade; SerbiaFil: Zobernig, G.. University of Wisconsin; Estados UnidosFil: Zoccoli, A.. Università di Bologna; ItaliaFil: Nedden, M. zur. Humboldt University; AlemaniaFil: Zurzolo, G.. Università di Napoli; ItaliaFil: Zwalinski, L.. Cern - European Organization For Nuclear Research; SuizaFil: The ATLAS Collaboration. No especifica

Measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry parameter αb and the helicity amplitudes for the decay Λ0b→J/ψ+Λ0 with the ATLAS detector

A measurement of the parity-violating decay asymmetry parameter, αb, and the helicity amplitudes for the decay Λb0→J/ψ(μ+μ-)Λ0(pπ-) is reported. The analysis is based on 1400 Λb0 and Λ¯b0 baryons selected in 4.6  fb-1 of proton-proton collision data with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. By combining the Λb0 and Λ¯b0 samples under the assumption of CP conservation, the value of αb is measured to be 0.30±0.16(stat)±0.06(syst). This measurement provides a test of theoretical models based on perturbative QCD or heavy-quark effective theory.Fil: F. Monticelli.Fil: Atlas Collaboration