A review of the pharmacological and therapeutic effects of auraptene

There is a growing awareness in herbal medications as they are usually safe and devoid of significant adverse effects. Auraptene is a natural bioactive monoterpene coumarin ether and is consumed all over the world. There is growing evidence of the therapeutic benefits of auraptene. Auraptene, also known as auraptene and 7‐geranyloxycoumarin, is a bioactive monoterpene coumarin from Rutaceae family, which is isolated from Citrus aurantium (Seville orange) and Aegle marmelos (bael fruit). Auraptene is a highly pleiotropic molecule, which can modulate intracellular signaling pathways that control inflammation, cell growth, and apoptosis. It has a potential therapeutic role in the prevention and treatment of various diseases due to its anti‐inflammatory and antioxidant activities as well as its excellent safety profile. In the present article, various pharmacological and therapeutic effects of auraptene were reviewed. Different online databases using keywords such as auraptene, therapeutic effects and pharmacological effects were searched until the end of September 2018, for this purpose. Auraptene has been suggested to be effective in the treatment of a broad range of disorders including inflammatory disorders, dysentery, wounds, scars, keloids, and pain. In addition, different studies have demonstrated that auraptene possesses numerous pharmacological properties including anti‐inflammatory, anti‐oxidative, anti‐diabetic, anti‐hypertensive and anti‐cancer as well as neuroprotective effects. The present review provides a detailed survey of scientific researches regarding pharmacological properties and therapeutic effects of auraptene

Learning curves of open and endoscopic fetal spina bifida closure: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES: The Management Of Myelomeningocele Study (MOMS) trial demonstrated the safety and efficacy of open fetal surgery for spina bifida (SB). Recently developed alternative techniques may reduce maternal risks yet should do without compromising on fetal neuroprotective effects. We aimed to assess the learning curve of different fetal SB closure techniques. METHODS: We searched Medline, Web of Science, Embase, Scopus and Cochrane databases and the grey literature to identify relevant articles without language restriction from January 1980 until October 2018. We systematically reviewed and selected studies reporting all consecutive procedures and with a postnatal follow-up ≥12 months. They also had to report outcome variables necessary to measure the learning curve defined by fetal safety and efficacy. Two independent authors retrieved the data, assessed the quality of the studies and categorized observations into blocks of 30 patients. For meta-analysis, data were pooled using a random-effect model when heterogeneous. To measure the learning curve, we used two complementary methods. With the group splitting method, competency was defined when the procedure provided comparable results to the MOMS trial for 12 outcome variables representative for (1) the immediate surgical outcome, (2) short-term neonatal neuroprotection and (3) long-term neuroprotection at ≥12 months. Then, when the patients' raw data were available, we performed cumulative sum (CUSUM) analysis based on a composite binary outcome defining a successful surgery. It combined four clinically relevant variables for safety (fetal death within 7 days) and for efficacy (neuroprotection at birth). RESULTS: We included 17/6024 (0.3%) studies with low and moderate risks of bias. Fetal SB closure was performed via standard-hysterotomy (n=11), mini-hysterotomy (n=1) or fetoscopy [exteriorized-uterus single-layer (n=1), percutaneous single-layer (n=3) or percutaneous two-layer closure (n=1)]. Only outcomes for the standard-hysterotomy could be meta-analyzed. Overall, outcomes significantly improved with experience. Competency was reached after 35 consecutive cases for standard-hysterotomy and was predicted to be achieved after ≥57 cases for mini-hysterotomy and ≥56 for percutaneous two-layer fetoscopy. For percutaneous and uterus-exteriorized single-layer fetoscopy, competency was not respectively reached by cases 81 and 28 available for analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The number of cases operated correlates with the outcome of SB fetal closure and ranges from 35 cases for standard-hysterotomy to ≥56-57 cases for minimally invasive modifications. Our observations provide important information for institutions eager to establish a new fetal center, develop a new technique or train their team, and inform referring clinicians, potential patients and third-parties

Local Signal Time-Series during Rest Used for Areal Boundary Mapping in Individual Human Brains

It is widely thought that resting state functional connectivity likely reflects functional interaction among brain areas and that different functional areas interact with different sets of brain areas. A method for mapping areal boundaries has been formulated based on the large-scale spatial characteristics of regional interaction revealed by resting state functional connectivity. In the present study, we present a novel analysis for areal boundary mapping that requires only the signal timecourses within a region of interest, without reference to the information from outside the region. The areal boundaries were generated by the novel analysis and were compared with those generated by the previously-established standard analysis. The boundaries were robust and reproducible across the two analyses, in two regions of interest tested. These results suggest that the information for areal boundaries is readily available inside the region of interest

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV

The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pT≥20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60≤pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2≤{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Measurement of the cross-section of high transverse momentum vector bosons reconstructed as single jets and studies of jet substructure in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents a measurement of the cross-section for high transverse momentum W and Z bosons produced in pp collisions and decaying to all-hadronic final states. The data used in the analysis were recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7 TeV;{\rm Te}{\rm V}$and correspond to an integrated luminosity of$4.6\;{\rm f}{{{\rm b}}^{-1}}$. The measurement is performed by reconstructing the boosted W or Z bosons in single jets. The reconstructed jet mass is used to identify the W and Z bosons, and a jet substructure method based on energy cluster information in the jet centre-of-mass frame is used to suppress the large multi-jet background. The cross-section for events with a hadronically decaying W or Z boson, with transverse momentum${{p}_{{\rm T}}}\gt 320\;{\rm Ge}{\rm V}$and pseudorapidity$|\eta |\lt 1.9$, is measured to be${{\sigma }_{W+Z}}=8.5\pm 1.7$ pb and is compared to next-to-leading-order calculations. The selected events are further used to study jet grooming techniques

Search for R-parity-violating supersymmetry in events with four or more leptons in sqrt(s) =7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for new phenomena in final states with four or more leptons (electrons or muons) is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of $\sqrt{s}=7\;\mathrm{TeV}$ proton-proton collisions delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in two signal regions: one that requires moderate values of missing transverse momentum and another that requires large effective mass. The results are interpreted in a simplified model of R-parity-violating supersymmetry in which a 95% CL exclusion region is set for charged wino masses up to 540 GeV. In an R-parity-violating MSUGRA/CMSSM model, values of m 1/2 up to 820 GeV are excluded for 10 < tan β < 40