Flow correlations from a hydrodynamics model with dynamical freeze-out and initial conditions based on perturbative QCD and saturation

We extend the applicability of the hydrodynamics, perturbative QCD and saturation -based EKRT (Eskola-Kajantie-Ruuskanen-Tuominen) framework for ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions to peripheral collisions by introducing dynamical freeze-out conditions. As a new ingredient compared to the previous EKRT computations we also introduce a nonzero bulk viscosity. We compute various hadronic observables and flow correlations, including normalized symmetric cumulants, mixed harmonic cumulants, and flow–transverse-momentum correlations, and compare them against measurements from the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) . We demonstrate that the inclusion of the dynamical freeze-out and bulk viscosity allows a better description of the measured flow coefficients in peripheral collisions and enables the use of an extended centrality range when constraining the properties of QCD matter in the future.Peer reviewe

Optimal Pacing for Running 400 m and 800 m Track Races

Physicists seeking to understand complex biological systems often find it rewarding to create simple "toy models" that reproduce system behavior. Here a toy model is used to understand a puzzling phenomenon from the sport of track and field. Races are almost always won, and records set, in 400 m and 800 m running events by people who run the first half of the race faster than the second half, which is not true of shorter races, nor of longer. There is general agreement that performance in the 400 m and 800 m is limited somehow by the amount of anaerobic metabolism that can be tolerated in the working muscles in the legs. A toy model of anaerobic metabolism is presented, from which an optimal pacing strategy is analytically calculated via the Euler-Lagrange equation. This optimal strategy is then modified to account for the fact that the runner starts the race from rest; this modification is shown to result in the best possible outcome by use of an elementary variational technique that supplements what is found in undergraduate textbooks. The toy model reproduces the pacing strategies of elite 400 m and 800 m runners better than existing models do. The toy model also gives some insight into training strategies that improve performance.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, submitted to the American Journal of Physic

End-of-life decisions guiding the palliative care of cancer patients visiting emergency department in South Western Finland: A retrospective cohort study

BackgroundUntil recently, palliative care (PC) resources in Finland have been sparse. To meet the increasing need for PC an end-of-life (EOL) care project has been ongoing in South Western Finland since 2012, and in 2015, a weekday palliative outpatient clinic was established in Turku University Hospital (TUH). The aim of this study was to explore the effect of the project and the PC clinic on the management practices of EOL cancer patients attending the Emergency Department (ED) of TUH from 2013 to 2016.MethodsThe medical records of all cancer patients (ICD-10 codes C00–97) admitted to the ED of TUH between August 1–December 31, in 2013 and 2016, were analyzed: n = 529, n = 432 respectively (2013 and 2016). The analysis focused on those patients in EOL care; n = 77, n = 63, respectively. The late palliative patients were defined by PC decision, thus termination of life-prolonging cancer-specific treatments. The EOL patients were in the imminently dying phase of their illness. The site of referral after an ED visit was also verified together with the documentation on advance care plans (ACP), and the impact of palliative outpatient visits.ResultsIn 2016, the number of late palliative and EOL patients admitted to the ED has shown a tendency to decrease. The quality of the documentation for treatment goals, do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders, living wills and connections to primary care providers has improved since 2013. Prior visits to palliative outpatient clinic correlated well with the more comprehensive ACP information: i) DNR order (p = 0.0001); ii) connection to primary care (p = 0.003); iii) documented ICD-10 code Z51.5 (p = 0.0001).ConclusionsEven modest investments in resources for PC can induce an objective change in the allocation of health care resources, and improve the ACP for the cancer patients at their EOL. A visit to a palliative outpatient clinic may offer one approach for improving the quality and completion of ACP documentation.</div

Targeted Reinforcement of Macrophage Reprogramming Toward M2 Polarization by IL-4-Loaded Hyaluronic Acid Particles

Alteration of macrophage polarization from inflammatory (M1) to anti-inflammatory (M2) phenotype can have striking implications for the regeneration of injured tissues, treatment of inflammatory diseases, and relief of autoimmune disorders. Although certain cytokines like interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-13 are capable of inducing M2 macrophage polarization, their therapeutic potential in vivo is suffering from low efficacy due to their instability and poor access to target cells. Here, we report the synthesis of IL-4-loaded hyaluronic acid (HA) particle for the targeted delivery of cytokines through the high affinity of HA to CD44 receptors of macrophages. HA carriers composed of low, middle, and high molecular weight (MW) polymers were synthesized using divinyl sulfone (DVS) cross-linking. The MW of HA had a negligible effect on the physicochemical properties and biocompatibility of the macrophages, but as an indicative of M2 polarization, a significant change in the arginase-1 (Arg-1) activity, TNF-a release, and IL-10 secretion was observed for the HA particles prepared with high MW polymers. Therefore, these particles were loaded with IL-4 for simultaneous macrophage targeting and M1 to M2 reprogramming, evidenced by a remarkable increase in the Arg-1 to iNOS ratio, as well as CD163 and CD206 upregulation in the M1 macrophages, which were initially triggered by lipopolysaccharide and interferon-y.M.-A.S. acknowledges financial support from Academy of Finland (Decision no. 317316), Iran’s National Elites Foundation and Iran Nanotechnology Initiative Council. T.B.-R. acknowledges financial support from the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Grant no. SFRH/BD/110859/2015). Financial support from the FEDER - Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional funds through the COMPETE 2020 Operacional Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), Portugal 2020, and by Portuguese funds through the FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação in the framework of the project “Institute for Research and Innovation in Health Sciences” (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007274) is acknowledged. H.A.S. acknowledges financial support from the Sigrid Jusélius Foundation (Decision no. 4704580), the Helsinki Institute of Life Science, and the Academy of Finland (Decision no. 1317042)

Temperament, character and serotonin activity in the human brain: A positron emission tomography study based on a general population cohort

BackgroundThe psychobiological model of personality by Cloninger and colleagues originally hypothesized that interindividual variability in the temperament dimension ‘harm avoidance’ (HA) is explained by differences in the activity of the brain serotonin system. We assessed brain serotonin transporter (5-HTT) density in vivo with positron emission tomography (PET) in healthy individuals with high or low HA scores using an ‘oversampling’ study design.MethodSubjects consistently in either upper or lower quartiles for the HA trait were selected from a population-based cohort in Finland (n = 2075) with pre-existing Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) scores. A total of 22 subjects free of psychiatric and somatic disorders were included in the matched high- and low-HA groups. The main outcome measure was regional 5-HTT binding potential (BPND) in high- and low-HA groups estimated with PET and [11C]N,N-dimethyl-2-(2-amino-4-methylphenylthio)benzylamine ([11C]MADAM). In secondary analyses, 5-HTT BPND was correlated with other TCI dimensions.Results5-HTT BPND did not differ between high- and low-HA groups in the midbrain or any other brain region. This result remained the same even after adjusting for other relevant TCI dimensions. Higher 5-HTT BPND in the raphe nucleus predicted higher scores in ‘self-directedness’.ConclusionsThis study does not support an association between the temperament dimension HA and serotonin transporter density in healthy subjects. However, we found a link between high serotonin transporter density and high ‘self-directedness’ (ability to adapt and control one's behaviour to fit situations in accord with chosen goals and values). We suggest that biological factors are more important in explaining variability in character than previously thought.</jats:sec

Influence of 2 '-fucosyllactose and galacto-oligosaccharides on the growth and adhesion of Streptococcus mutans

Human milk oligosaccharides, such as 2 '-fucosyllactose (2 '-FL), and galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), a prebiotic carbohydrate mixture, are being increasingly added to infant formulas, necessitating the understanding of their impact on the oral microbiota. Here, for the first time, the effects of 2 '-FL and GOS on the planktonic growth and adhesion characteristics of the caries-associated oral pathogenStreptococcus mutanswere assessed, and the results were compared against the effects of xylitol, lactose and glucose. There were differences inS. mutansgrowth between 2 '-FL and GOS. None of the threeS. mutansstrains grew with 2 '-FL, while they all grew with GOS as well as lactose and glucose. Xylitol inhibitedS. mutansgrowth. The adhesion ofS. mutansCI 2366 to saliva-coated hydroxyapatite was reduced by 2 '-FL and GOS. Exopolysaccharide-mediated adhesion ofS. mutansDSM 20523 to a glass surface was decreased with 2 '-FL, GOS and lactose, and the adhesion of strain CI 2366 strain was reduced only by GOS. Unlike GOS, 2 '-FL did not support the growth of anyS. mutansstrain. Neither 2 '-FL nor GOS enhanced the adhesive properties of theS. mutansstrains, but they inhibited some of the tested strains. Thus, the cariogenic tendency may vary between infant formulas containing different types of oligosaccharides

Familial aggregation of early-onset cancers

This registry-linkage study evaluates familial aggregation of cancer among relatives of a population-based series of early-onset (Peer reviewe

Decoding brain basis of laughter and crying in natural scenes

Laughter and crying are universal signals of prosociality and distress, respectively. Here we investigated the functional brain basis of perceiving laughter and crying using naturalistic functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) approach. We measured haemodynamic brain activity evoked by laughter and crying in three experiments with 100 subjects in each. The subjects i) viewed a 20-minute medley of short video clips, and ii) 30 min of a full-length feature film, and iii) listened to 13.5 min of a radio play that all contained bursts of laughter and crying. Intensity of laughing and crying in the videos and radio play was annotated by independent observes, and the resulting time series were used to predict hemodynamic activity to laughter and crying episodes. Multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) was used to test for regional selectivity in laughter and crying evoked activations. Laughter induced widespread activity in ventral visual cortex and superior and middle temporal and motor cortices. Crying activated thalamus, cingulate cortex along the anterior-posterior axis, insula and orbitofrontal cortex. Both laughter and crying could be decoded accurately (66–77% depending on the experiment) from the BOLD signal, and the voxels contributing most significantly to classification were in superior temporal cortex. These results suggest that perceiving laughter and crying engage distinct neural networks, whose activity suppresses each other to manage appropriate behavioral responses to others’ bonding and distress signals