Observation of strong final-state effects in pi+ production in pp collisions at 400 MeV

Differential cross sections of the reactions $pp \to d\pi^+$ and $pp \to pn\pi^+$ have been measured at $T_p = 400$ MeV by detecting the charged ejectiles in the angular range $4^0 \leq \Theta_{Lab} \leq 21^\circ$. The deduced total cross sections agree well with those published previously for neighbouring energies. The invariant mass spectra are observed to be strongly affected by $\Delta$ production and $NN$ final-state interaction. The data are well described by Monte Carlo simulations including both these effects. The ratio of $pp \to pn\pi^+$ and $pp \to d\pi^+$ cross sections also compares favourably to a recent theoretical prediction which suggests a dominance of $np$-production in the relative $^3S_1$-state.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure

The Queensland liver transplant programme: The first two years

Orthotopic liver transplantation began in Brisbane in January 1985. During the first two years of the programme an assessment committee evaluated 55 patients (38 adults, 17 children). Patients were either accepted for transplantation, rejected as unsuitable or deferred for elective reassessment. All of the 10 adults who were rejected for transplantation because they had 'too advanced' disease died within four months of assessment. Six children who were accepted for transplantation died before a suitable donor liver could be found. In the first two years, 21 orthotopic liver transplantations were performed on 18 patients (adults, 13 patients; children, five patients). Fifteen of 21 grafts were procured from within Queensland. Twelve (67%) patients are alive at three to 23 months and all have been discharged from hospital. Deaths in adults were due to sepsis (three patients), aspiration pneumonitis (one patient), rejection and hepatic artery thrombosis (one patient) and the recurrence of a hepatocellular carcinoma five months after discharge from hospital (one patient). Two patients underwent a second transplantation procedure because of chronic rejection at four months and at 11 months, respectively, after the initial operation. One patient received a second transplant for primary graft failure at four days after the operation. A scoring system which considered the presence of pre-operative patient factors, such as coma, ascites, malnutrition and previous abdominal surgery, partly predicted the operative blood loss and patient survival. In conclusion, orthotopic liver transplantation is being performed in Australia with survival rates that are comparable with those of established overseas units

Variable style of transition between Palaeogene fluvial fan and lacustrine systems, southern Pyrenean foreland, NE Spain

Two Palaeogene fluvial fan systems linked to the south-Pyrenean margin are recognized in the eastern Ebro Basin: the Cardona–Su´ ria and Solsona–Sanau¨ ja fans. These had radii of 40 and 35 km and were 800 and 600 km2 in area respectively. During the Priabonian to the Middle Rupelian, the fluvial fans built into a hydrologically closed foreland basin, and shallow lacustrine systems persisted in the basin centre. In the studied area, both fans are part of the same upward-coarsening megasequence (up to 800 m thick), driven by hinterland drainage expansion and foreland propagation of Pyrenean thrusts. Fourteen sedimentary facies have been grouped into seven facies associations corresponding to medial fluvial fan, channelized terminal lobe, nonchannelized terminal lobe, mudflat, deltaic, evaporitic playa-lake and carbonate-rich, shallow lacustrine environments. Lateral correlations define two styles of alluvial-lacustrine transition. During low lake-level stages, terminal lobes developed, whereas during lake highstands, fluvial-dominated deltas and interdistributary bays were formed. Terminal lobe deposits are characterized by extensive (100–600 m wide) sheet-like fine sandstone beds formed by sub-aqueous, quasi-steady, hyperpycnal turbidity currents. Sedimentary structures and trace fossils indicate rapid desiccation and subaerial exposure of the lobe deposits. These deposits are arranged in coarsening–fining sequences (metres to tens of metres in thickness) controlled by a combination of tectonics, climatic oscillations and autocyclic sedimentary processes. The presence of anomalously deeply incised distributary channels associated with distal terminal lobe or mudflat deposits indicates rapid lake-level falls. Deltaic deposits form progradational coarsening-upward sequences (several metres thick) characterized by channel and friction-dominated mouth-bar facies overlying white-grey offshore lacustrine facies. Deltaic bar deposits are less extensive (50–300 m wide) than the terminal lobes and were also deposited by hyperpycnal currents, although they lack evidence of emergence. Sandy deltaic deposits accumulated locally at the mouths of main feeder distal fan streams and were separated by muddy interdistributary bays; whereas the terminal lobe sheets expand from a series of mid-fan intersection points and coalesced to form a more continuous sandy fan fringe

Influence of speed of sample processing on placental energetics and signalling pathways: Implications for tissue collection

INTRODUCTION: The placenta is metabolically highly active due to extensive endocrine and active transport functions. Hence, placental tissues soon become ischaemic after separation from the maternal blood supply. Ischaemia rapidly depletes intracellular ATP, and leads to activation of stress-response pathways aimed at reducing metabolic demands and conserving energy resources for vital functions. Therefore, this study aimed to elucidate the effects of ischaemia ex vivo as may occur during tissue collection on phosphorylation of placental proteins and kinases involved in growth and cell survival, and on mitochondrial complexes. METHODS: Eight term placentas obtained from normotensive non-laboured elective caesarean sections were kept at room-temperature and sampled at 10, 20, 30 and 45 min after delivery. Samples were analyzed by Western blotting. RESULTS: Between 10 and 45 min the survival signalling pathway intermediates, P-AKT, P-GSK3α and β, P-4E-BP1 and P-p70S6K were reduced by 30–65%. Stress signalling intermediates, P-eIF2α increased almost 3 fold after 45 min. However, other endoplasmic reticulum stress markers and the Heat Shock Proteins, HSP27, HSP70 and HSP90, did not change. Phosphorylation of AMPK, an energy sensor, was elevated 2 fold after 45 min. Contemporaneously, there was an ∼25% reduction in mitochondrial complex IV subunit I. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that for placental signalling studies, samples should be taken and processed within 10 min of caesarean delivery to minimize the impact of ischaemia on protein phosphorylation