Indications of early thermalization in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

The directed flow of particles emitted from the fireball created in a heavy-ion collision is shown to be a very sensitive measure of the pressure equilibration in the first 1 fm/c of the evolution. Performing a 3+1 dimensional relativistic hydrodynamic calculation with nonequilibrated longitudinal and transverse pressures, we show that the directed flow is strongly reduced if the pressure imbalance survives for even a short time. Transverse momentum spectra, elliptic flow and interferometry correlation radii are not very sensitive to this early pressure anisotropy. Comparison with the data points toward a short equilibration time of the order of $0.25$fm/c or less

Directed flow in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions

We study the generation of directed flow in the hydrodynamic expansion of the hot matter formed in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions at 200GeV. The experimentally observed negative directed flow in a wide range of central pseudorapidities isreproduced assuming that the fireball is tilted away from the collision axis. The tilt of the source is consistent with a preferential emission in the forward/backward hemisphere from forward/backward participating nucleons. The model reproduces the experimentally observed scaling of the directed flow when going from Au-Au to Cu-Cu systems.Comment: figure adde

Rapid hydrodynamic expansion in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Hydrodynamic expansion of the hot fireball created in relativistic Au-Au collisions at 200GeV in 3+1-dimensions is studied. We obtain a simultaneous, satisfactory description of the transverse momentum spectra, elliptic flow and pion correlation radii for different collision centralities and different rapidities. Early initial time of the evolution is required to reproduce the interferometry data, which provides a strong indication of the early onset of collectivity. We can also constraint the shape of the initial energy density in the beam direction, with a relatively high initial energy density at the center of the fireball.Comment: 10 pages, 13 fig

Sprawność funkcjonalna pacjentów w starszym wieku po przebytym zabiegu kardiochirurgicznym

Wstęp. Starzenie się jest fizjologicznym etapem przemian biologicznych, psychologicznych i społecznych. Zaspokojenie potrzeb i wspieranie samodzielności osób w starszym wieku poprawia jego codzienne funkcjonowanie oraz jakość życia. Choroby układu sercowo-naczyniowego i metody ich leczenia zaburzają normalne funkcjonowanie człowieka we wszystkich sferach. Cel pracy. Celem pracy była ocena potrzeb, sprawności funkcjonalnej oraz związku między zmiennymi demograficzno-społecznymi wśród pacjentów w starszym wieku po przebytym zabiegu pomostowania aortalnowieńcowego. Materiał i metody. Badaniem objęto grupę 130 pacjentów leczonych w oddziale Chirurgii Serca, Naczyń i Transplantologii Krakowskiego Szpitala Specjalistycznego im. Jana Pawła w Krakowie. W badaniu wykorzystano: Kwestionariusz Care Depend-ency Scale (CDS), Skalę Aktywności Dnia Codziennego wg Katza (ADL), Skalę Czynności Złożonych wg Lawtona (IADL), Test Upośledzenia Funkcji Poznawczych (MMSE) oraz kwestionariusz autorski. Uzyskane dane poddano analizie statystycznej wykorzystując pakiet statystyczny PQStat. Wyniki. Sprawność funkcjonalna pacjentów po zabiegu pomostowania aortalnowieńcowego określony był jako umiarkowanie niesamodzielny. Średnia długość choroby wyniosła 9 lat. W przypadku 55 pacjentów (58%), potwierdziło się występowanie choroby w rodzinie. Średni wynik uzyskany przez ankietowanych w skali CDS wynosił 47 punktów, co oznacza, że większość badanych to osoby o średnim poziomie zależności od opieki i możliwości realizacji potrzeb. Badania wykazały, że mężczyźni z chorobą niedokrwienną serca po zabiegu CABG wymagają opieki opiekunów w zdecydowanie większym stopniu niż kobiety. Wniosk. Choroba niedokrwienna serca w znacznym stopniu uniemożliwiała pacjentom codzienne funkcjonowanie. Badania wykazały, że na sprawność funkcjonalną w zakresie pod-stawowych i złożonych czynności dnia codziennego i poziom zależności od osób trzecich w realizacji potrzeb własnych ma wpływ wiek, płeć oraz współwystępowanie innych chorób. Zależność od pomocy innych w realizacji potrzeb zwiększała się wraz z wiekiem.Introduction. Aging is a physiological stage of biolog-ical, psychological, and social change. Meeting the needs and supporting the independence of older people improves their daily functioning and quality of life. Cardiovascular diseases and their treatment methods disturb normal human functioning in all spheres. Aim of the study. The aim of the study was to assess the functional needs, performance and the relationship between socio-demographic factors of elderly patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting. Materials and methods. The study included a group of 130 patients treated in the Department of Cardiac, Vascular and Transplantation at the John Paul II Specialist Hospital in Krakow. The study used the Care Dependency Scale (CDS) Questionnaire, the Aged Daily Activity Scale (ADL), the Lawton Aggregate Action Scale (IADL), the Cognitive Functional Impairment Test (MMSE), and the authors’ own questionnaire. The data obtained was subjected to statistical analysis using the PQStat statistical package. Results. Functional efficacy of patients after coronary artery by-pass graft was defined as moderately dependent. The average length of illness was 9 years. In 55 patients (58%), the presence of the disease in the family was confirmed. The average score obtained by CDS respondents was 47 points, which means that the majority of respondents are people with an average level of dependency on care and ability to meet needs. Studies have shown that men with coronary heart disease after CABG require caregivers to a much greater extent than women. Conclusions. Ischemic heart disease largely prevented patients from daily activities. Studies have shown that age, sex and cooccurrence of other diseases are affected by the functional efficiency of basic and complex daily activities and the level of dependence on others to meet their own needs. Dependence on helping others in meeting their needs increased with age

Reactive oxygen species induce virus-independent MAVS-oligomerization in systemic lupus erythematosus

The increased expression of genes induced by type I interferon (IFN) is characteristic of viral infections and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We showed that mitochondrial antiviral signaling (MAVS) protein, which normally forms a complex with retinoic acid gene I (RIG-I)–like helicases during viral infection, was activated by oxidative stress independently of RIG-I helicases. We found that chemically generated oxidative stress stimulated the formation of MAVS oligomers, which led to mitochondrial hyperpolarization and decreased adenosine triphosphate production and spare respiratory capacity, responses that were not observed in similarly treated cells lacking MAVS. Peripheral blood lymphocytes of SLE patients also showed spontaneous MAVS oligomerization that correlated with the increased secretion of type I IFN and mitochondrial oxidative stress. Furthermore, inhibition of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) by the mitochondria-targeted antioxidant MitoQ prevented MAVS oligomerization and type I IFN production. ROS-dependent MAVS oligomerization and type I IFN production were reduced in cells expressing the MAVS-C79F variant, which occurs in 30% of sub-Saharan Africans and is linked with reduced type I IFN secretion and milder disease in SLE patients. Patients expressing the MAVS-C79F variant also had reduced amounts of oligomerized MAVS in their plasma compared to healthy controls. Together, our findings suggest that oxidative stress–induced MAVS oligomerization in SLE patients may contribute to the type I IFN signature that is characteristic of this syndrome

Noninfectious complications of acute stroke and their impact on hospital mortality in patients admitted to a stroke unit in Warsaw from 1995 to 2015

Background Medical complications often worsen the prognosis after stroke. Our aim was to investigate the association between particular noninfectious complications and hospital mortality of acute stroke patients admitted to an urban Polish stroke center, and changes in their occurrence from 1995 to 2015. Methods This is a retrospective analysis of 5174 consecutive patients admitted for acute ischemic stroke or cerebral hemorrhage to a Polish urban stroke center between 1995 and 2015. The occurrence of complications was reported for years 1995–2000 (n=883), 2001–2006 (n=1567), 2006–2010 (n=1539) and 2011–2015 (n=1183). Odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) for stroke unit death were calculated after adjustment for age, congestive heart failure (CHF), pre-existing disability, stroke type and baseline neurological deficit in three different time periods. Results Over time there was a significant decrease in the occurrence of myocardial infarction (MI) (2.2%, 1.4%, 1.0% and 0.3%, respectively), exacerbated CHF (4.6%, 5.1%, 2.6% and 2.0%) and deep vein thrombosis (DVT) (4.6%, 2.7%, 1.2% and 1.1%). Adjusted odds for stroke unit death were increased by myocardial infarction (MI) (OR 17.5, 95% CI: 8.5–35.7), exacerbated CHF (OR 15.0, 95% CI: 9.8–23.0), pulmonary embolism (PE) (OR 11.5, 95% CI: 6.1–21.6), gastrointestinal bleeding (OR 9.2, 95% CI: 4.4–18.9) and recurrent stroke (OR 5.4, 95% CI: 3.1–9.3). Conclusions Over the last two decades Polish urban stroke units may have achieved a significant reduction of the occurrence of some noninfectious complications (i.e. MI, exacerbated CHF and DVT). However, the list of conditions associated with stroke unit mortality includes not only MI and exacerbated CHF but also PE, gastrointestinal bleeding and recurrent stroke

Do concentrations of ethinylestradiol, estradiol and diclofenac in European rivers exceed proposed EU environmental quality standards?

This study used a geographic based water model to predict the environmental concentrations of three pharmaceuticals, 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), 17β-estradiol (E2), and diclofenac throughout European rivers. The work was prompted by the proposal of the European Community (COM(2011)876) to consider these chemicals as candidates for future control via environmental quality standards (EQS). National drug consumption information, excretion, national water use, and sewage removal rates, were used to derive per capita sewage effluent values for the European countries . For E2, excretion rates of the natural hormone and national demographics were also included. Incorporating this information into the GWAVA model allowed water concentrations throughout Europe’s rivers to be predicted. The mean concentration from the expected sewage discharge scenario indicated that 12% by length of Europe’s rivers would reach concentrations greater than the proposed 0.035 ng/L EQS for EE2. For several countries, between a quarter and a third of their total river length would fail such an EE2 EQS. For E2, just over 1% by length of rivers would reach concentrations greater than the 0.4 ng/L proposed EQS, while just over 2% by length of rivers would reach concentrations greater than the proposed EQS of 100 ng/L for diclofenac

Identification of transplanted pancreatic islet cells by radioactive Dithizone-[131I]-Histamine conjugate. Preliminary report

Background: The unique mechanism of dithizone action in the interior of the viable pancreatic islet suggests the possible development of a specific radiopharmaceutical that may have a potential clinical application in the diagnosis of the pancreatic organ allografts or islets rejection. The radiodiagnostic properties of the newly developed radioactive analogue of dithizone, i.e. Dithizone-[131I]-Histamine conjugate have been evaluated in the present study. METHODS: The four islet cells transplantation models were chosen for this purpose. The most important feature of the Dithizone-[131I]-Histamine conjugate is its possessed ability of zinc chelation. As was presented in the recent study, the conjugate stains pink-reddish the isolated pancreatic islets in vitro. Among the studied transplantation models, only the islets grafting under testis capsule enabled determination of the pancreatic islets in rats by radioactive Dithizone-[131I]-Histamine conjugate. The level of the radioactivity in the recipient testis (right) was almost two times higher compared to the controls (0.24 vs. 0.13% ID/g, respectively). CONCLUSIONS:These preliminary data demonstrate the ability of the developed radioactive analogue of dithizone for in vivo identification of transplanted pancreatic islets, and suggests a potential clinical application of the radiodithizone in the diagnosis of the pancreatic islet rejection

Human CD4+ T Cell Epitopes from Vaccinia Virus Induced by Vaccination or Infection

Despite the importance of vaccinia virus in basic and applied immunology, our knowledge of the human immune response directed against this virus is very limited. CD4+ T cell responses are an important component of immunity induced by current vaccinia-based vaccines, and likely will be required for new subunit vaccine approaches, but to date vaccinia-specific CD4+ T cell responses have been poorly characterized, and CD4+ T cell epitopes have been reported only recently. Classical approaches used to identify T cell epitopes are not practical for large genomes like vaccinia. We developed and validated a highly efficient computational approach that combines prediction of class II MHC-peptide binding activity with prediction of antigen processing and presentation. Using this approach and screening only 36 peptides, we identified 25 epitopes recognized by T cells from vaccinia-immune individuals. Although the predictions were made for HLA-DR1, eight of the peptides were recognized by donors of multiple haplotypes. T cell responses were observed in samples of peripheral blood obtained many years after primary vaccination, and were amplified after booster immunization. Peptides recognized by multiple donors are highly conserved across the poxvirus family, including variola, the causative agent of smallpox, and may be useful in development of a new generation of smallpox vaccines and in the analysis of the immune response elicited to vaccinia virus. Moreover, the epitope identification approach developed here should find application to other large-genome pathogens

HERRING Governance Report Herring network institutions and governance

The Governance Report presents the research about the governance framework in which the various aspects and sectors that are relevant for spawning ground management are embedded.https://commons.wmu.se/herring/1002/thumbnail.jp