Myocardial ultrasonic tissue characterization in patients with thyroid dysfunction

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Structural myocardial abnormalities have been extensively documented in hypothyroidism. Experimental studies in animal models have also shown involvement of thyroid hormones in gene expression of myocardial collagen. This study was planned to investigate the ability of ultrasonic tissue characterization, as evaluated by integrated backscatter (IBS), to early identify myocardial involvement in thyroid dysfunction.</p> <p>Patients and Methods</p> <p>We studied 15 patients with hyperthyroidism (HYPER), 8 patients with hypothyroidism (HYPO), 14 patients with subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) and 19 normal (N) subjects, who had normal LV systolic function. After treatment, 10 HYPER, 6 HYPO, and 8 SCH patients were reevaluated. IBS images were obtained and analyzed in parasternal short axis (papillary muscle level) view, at left ventricular (LV) posterior wall. The following IBS variables were analyzed: 1) the corrected coefficient (CC) of IBS, obtained by dividing IBS intensity by IBS intensity measured in a rubber phantom, using the same equipment adjustments, at the same depth; 2) cardiac cyclic variation (CV) of IBS - peak-to-peak difference between maximal and minimal values of IBS during cardiac cycle; 3) cardiac cyclic variation index (CVI) of IBS - percentual relationship between the cyclic variation (CV) and the mean value of IBS intensity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>CC of IBS was significantly larger (p < 0.05) in HYPER (1.57 ± 0.6) and HYPO (1.53 ± 0.3) as compared to SCH (1.32 ± 0.3) or N (1.15 ± 0.27). The CV (dB) (HYPO: 7.5 ± 2.4; SCH: 8.2 ± 3.1; HYPER: 8.2 ± 2.0) and the CVI (HYPO: 35.6 ± 19.7%; SCH: 34.7 ± 17.5%; HYPER: 37.8 ± 11.6%) were not significantly different in patients with thyroid dysfunction as compared to N (7.0 ± 2.0 and 44.5 ± 15.1%).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>CC of IBS was able to differentiate cardiac involvement in patients with overt HYPO and HYPER who had normal LV systolic function. These early myocardial structural abnormalities were partially reversed by drug therapy in HYPER group. On the other hand, although mean IBS intensity tended to be slightly larger in patients with SCH as compared to N, this difference was not statistical significant.</p

Dysregulated apoptosis and NFκB expression in COPD subjects

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The abnormal regulation of neutrophil apoptosis may contribute to the ineffective resolution of inflammation in chronic lung diseases. Multiple signalling pathways are implicated in regulating granulocyte apoptosis, in particular, NFκB (nuclear factor-kappa B) signalling which delays constitutive neutrophil apoptosis. Although some studies have suggested a dysregulation in the apoptosis of airway cells in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), no studies to date have directly investigated if NFκB is associated with apoptosis of airway neutrophils from COPD patients. The objectives of this study were to examine spontaneous neutrophil apoptosis in stable COPD subjects (n = 13), healthy smoking controls (n = 9) and non-smoking controls (n = 9) and to investigate whether the neutrophil apoptotic process in inflammatory conditions is associated with NFκB activation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Analysis of apoptosis in induced sputum was carried out by 3 methods; light microscopy, Annexin V/Propidium iodide and the terminal transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) method. Activation of NFκB was assessed using a flow cytometric method and the phosphorylation state of IκBα was carried out using the Bio-Rad Bio-Plex phosphoprotein IκBα assay.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Flow cytometric analysis showed a significant reduction in the percentage of sputum neutrophils undergoing spontaneous apoptosis in healthy smokers and subjects with COPD compared to non-smokers (p < 0.001). Similar findings were demonstrated using the Tunel assay and in the morphological identification of apoptotic neutrophils. A significant increase was observed in the expression of both the p50 (p = 0.006) and p65 (p = 0.006) subunits of NFκB in neutrophils from COPD subjects compared to non-smokers.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results demonstrate that apoptosis is reduced in the sputum of COPD subjects and in healthy control smokers and may be regulated by an associated activation of NFκB.</p

Measurement of the tt¯tt¯ production cross section in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A measurement of four-top-quark production using proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1 is presented. Events are selected if they contain a single lepton (electron or muon) or an opposite-sign lepton pair, in association with multiple jets. The events are categorised according to the number of jets and how likely these are to contain b-hadrons. A multivariate technique is then used to discriminate between signal and background events. The measured four-top-quark production cross section is found to be 26+17−15 fb, with a corresponding observed (expected) significance of 1.9 (1.0) standard deviations over the background-only hypothesis. The result is combined with the previous measurement performed by the ATLAS Collaboration in the multilepton final state. The combined four-top-quark production cross section is measured to be 24+7−6 fb, with a corresponding observed (expected) signal significance of 4.7 (2.6) standard deviations over the background-only predictions. It is consistent within 2.0 standard deviations with the Standard Model expectation of 12.0 ± 2.4 fb

Measurement and interpretation of same-sign W boson pair production in association with two jets in pp collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents the measurement of fducial and diferential cross sections for both the inclusive and electroweak production of a same-sign W-boson pair in association with two jets (W±W±jj) using 139 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data recorded at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 13 TeV by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis is performed by selecting two same-charge leptons, electron or muon, and at least two jets with large invariant mass and a large rapidity diference. The measured fducial cross sections for electroweak and inclusive W±W±jj production are 2.92 ± 0.22 (stat.) ± 0.19 (syst.)fb and 3.38±0.22 (stat.)±0.19 (syst.)fb, respectively, in agreement with Standard Model predictions. The measurements are used to constrain anomalous quartic gauge couplings by extracting 95% confdence level intervals on dimension-8 operators. A search for doubly charged Higgs bosons H±± that are produced in vector-boson fusion processes and decay into a same-sign W boson pair is performed. The largest deviation from the Standard Model occurs for an H±± mass near 450 GeV, with a global signifcance of 2.5 standard deviations

Measurements of W+W−+ ≥ 1 jet production cross-sections in pp collisions at s \sqrt{s} = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Fiducial and differential cross-section measurements of W+W− production in association with at least one hadronic jet are presented. These measurements are sensitive to the properties of electroweak-boson self-interactions and provide a test of perturbative quantum chromodynamics and the electroweak theory. The analysis is performed using proton-proton collision data collected at p s = 13TeV with the ATLAS experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1. Events are selected with exactly one oppositely charged electron-muon pair and at least one hadronic jet with a transverse momentum of pT > 30 GeV and a pseudorapidity of |�| < 4.5. After subtracting the background contributions and correcting for detector effects, the jet-inclusive W+W−+ � 1 jet fiducial cross-section and W+W−+ jets differential cross-sections with respect to several kinematic variables are measured. These measurements include leptonic quantities, such as the lepton transverse momenta and the transverse mass of the W+W− system, as well as jet-related observables such as the leading jet transverse momentum and the jet multiplicity. Limits on anomalous triple-gauge-boson couplings are obtained in a phase space where interference between the Standard Model amplitude and the anomalous amplitude is enhanced

Measurements of differential cross-sections in top-quark pair events with a high transverse momentum top quark and limits on beyond the Standard Model contributions to top-quark pair production with the ATLAS detector at √s = 13 TeV

Cross-section measurements of top-quark pair production where the hadronically decaying top quark has transverse momentum greater than 355 GeV and the other top quark decays into ℓνb are presented using 139 fb−1 of data collected by the ATLAS experiment during proton-proton collisions at the LHC. The fiducial cross-section at s = 13 TeV is measured to be σ = 1.267 ± 0.005 ± 0.053 pb, where the uncertainties reflect the limited number of data events and the systematic uncertainties, giving a total uncertainty of 4.2%. The cross-section is measured differentially as a function of variables characterising the tt¯ system and additional radiation in the events. The results are compared with various Monte Carlo generators, including comparisons where the generators are reweighted to match a parton-level calculation at next-to-next-to-leading order. The reweighting improves the agreement between data and theory. The measured distribution of the top-quark transverse momentum is used to search for new physics in the context of the effective field theory framework. No significant deviation from the Standard Model is observed and limits are set on the Wilson coefficients of the dimension-six operators OtG and Otq(8), where the limits on the latter are the most stringent to date. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

Combination of searches for heavy spin-1 resonances using 139 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A combination of searches for new heavy spin-1 resonances decaying into different pairings of W, Z, or Higgs bosons, as well as directly into leptons or quarks, is presented. The data sample used corresponds to 139 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at = 13 TeV collected during 2015–2018 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Analyses selecting quark pairs (qq, bb, , and tb) or third-generation leptons (τν and ττ) are included in this kind of combination for the first time. A simplified model predicting a spin-1 heavy vector-boson triplet is used. Cross-section limits are set at the 95% confidence level and are compared with predictions for the benchmark model. These limits are also expressed in terms of constraints on couplings of the heavy vector-boson triplet to quarks, leptons, and the Higgs boson. The complementarity of the various analyses increases the sensitivity to new physics, and the resulting constraints are stronger than those from any individual analysis considered. The data exclude a heavy vector-boson triplet with mass below 5.8 TeV in a weakly coupled scenario, below 4.4 TeV in a strongly coupled scenario, and up to 1.5 TeV in the case of production via vector-boson fusion

Determination of the parton distribution functions of the proton using diverse ATLAS data from pp collisions at √s = 7, 8 and 13 TeV

This paper presents an analysis at next-to-next-to-leading order in the theory of quantum chromodynamics for the determination of a new set of proton parton distribution functions using diverse measurements in pp collisions at \sqrt{s} = 7, 8 and 13 TeV, performed by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, together with deep inelastic scattering data from ep collisions at the HERA collider. The ATLAS data sets considered are differential cross-section measurements of inclusive W^{±} and Z/gamma^{*} boson production, W^{±} and Z boson production in association with jets, t\bar{t} production, inclusive jet production and direct photon production. In the analysis, particular attention is paid to the correlation of systematic uncertainties within and between the various ATLAS data sets and to the impact of model, theoretical and parameterisation uncertainties. The resulting set of parton distribution functions is called ATLASpdf21