237 research outputs found
Analysis of HIF-1α expression and genetic polymorphisms in human clear cell renal cell carcinoma
Introduction: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is mostly diagnosed incidentally and has relatively high recurrence rates. Alterations in VHL/HIF and mTOR pathways are commonly present in ccRCC. The present study attempted to identify potential diagnostic markers at the biochemical and molecular level.Methods: In total, 54 subjects (36 patients with ccRCC and 18 cancer-free controls) were enrolled. ELISA was used to measure the levels of HIF-1α in the tumor and healthy kidney tissue. The association between five selected SNPs (rs779805, rs11549465, rs2057482, rs2295080 and rs701848) located in genes of pathologically relevant pathways (VHL/HIF and mTOR) and the risk of ccRCC in the Slovak cohort was studied using real-time PCR.Results: Significant differences in HIF-1α tissue levels were observed between the tumor and healthy kidney tissue (p < 0.001). In the majority (69%) of cases, the levels of HIF-1α were higher in the kidney than in the tumor. Furthermore, the concentration of HIF-1α in the tumor showed a significant positive correlation with CCL3 and IL-1β (p (R2) 0.007 (0.47); p (R2) 0.011 (0.38). No relationship between intratumoral levels of HIF-1α and clinical tumor characteristics was observed. Rs11549465, rs2057482 in the HIF1A gene did not correlate with the expression of HIF-1α either in the tumor or in the normal kidney. None of the selected SNPs has influenced the susceptibility to ccRCC.Conclusion: More research is neccesary to elucidate the role of HIF-1α in the pathogenesis of ccRCC and the association between selected SNPs and susceptibility to this cancer
Costs analysis of the treatment of imported malaria
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To document the status of imported malaria infections and estimate the costs of treating of patients hospitalized with the diagnosis of imported malaria in the Slovak Republic during 2003 to 2008.</p> <p>Case study</p> <p>Calculating and comparing the direct and indirect costs of treatment of patients diagnosed with imported malaria (ICD-10: B50 - B54) who used and not used chemoprophylaxis. The target sample included 19 patients diagnosed with imported malaria from 2003 to 2008, with 11 whose treatment did not include chemoprophylaxis and eight whose treatment did.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean direct cost of malaria treatment for patients without chemoprophylaxis was 1,776.0 EUR, and the mean indirect cost 524.2 EUR. In patients with chemoprophylaxis the mean direct cost was 405.6 EUR, and the mean indirect cost 257.4 EUR.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The analysis confirmed statistically-significant differences between the direct and indirect costs of treatment with and without chemoprophylaxis for patients with imported malaria.</p
Digital Pixel Test Structures implemented in a 65 nm CMOS process
The ALICE ITS3 (Inner Tracking System 3) upgrade project and the CERN EP R&D
on monolithic pixel sensors are investigating the feasibility of the Tower
Partners Semiconductor Co. 65 nm process for use in the next generation of
vertex detectors. The ITS3 aims to employ wafer-scale Monolithic Active Pixel
Sensors thinned down to 20 to 40 um and bent to form truly cylindrical half
barrels. Among the first critical steps towards the realisation of this
detector is to validate the sensor technology through extensive
characterisation both in the laboratory and with in-beam measurements. The
Digital Pixel Test Structure (DPTS) is one of the prototypes produced in the
first sensor submission in this technology and has undergone a systematic
measurement campaign whose details are presented in this article.
The results confirm the goals of detection efficiency and non-ionising and
ionising radiation hardness up to the expected levels for ALICE ITS3 and also
demonstrate operation at +20 C and a detection efficiency of 99% for a DPTS
irradiated with a dose of 1 MeV ncm.
Furthermore, spatial, timing and energy resolutions were measured at various
settings and irradiation levels.Comment: Updated threshold calibration method. Implemented colorblind friendly
color palette in all figures. Updated reference
Microchannel cooling for the LHCb VELO Upgrade I
The LHCb VELO Upgrade I, currently being installed for the 2022 start of LHC
Run 3, uses silicon microchannel coolers with internally circulating bi-phase
\cotwo for thermal control of hybrid pixel modules operating in vacuum. This is
the largest scale application of this technology to date. Production of the
microchannel coolers was completed in July 2019 and the assembly into cooling
structures was completed in September 2021. This paper describes the R\&D path
supporting the microchannel production and assembly and the motivation for the
design choices. The microchannel coolers have excellent thermal peformance, low
and uniform mass, no thermal expansion mismatch with the ASICs and are
radiation hard. The fluidic and thermal performance is presented.Comment: 31 pages, 27 figure
Measurement of the ratios of branching fractions and
The ratios of branching fractions
and are measured, assuming isospin symmetry, using a
sample of proton-proton collision data corresponding to 3.0 fb of
integrated luminosity recorded by the LHCb experiment during 2011 and 2012. The
tau lepton is identified in the decay mode
. The measured values are
and
, where the first uncertainty is
statistical and the second is systematic. The correlation between these
measurements is . Results are consistent with the current average
of these quantities and are at a combined 1.9 standard deviations from the
predictions based on lepton flavor universality in the Standard Model.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and
additional information, are available at
https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-039.html (LHCb
public pages
Multidifferential study of identified charged hadron distributions in -tagged jets in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV
Jet fragmentation functions are measured for the first time in proton-proton
collisions for charged pions, kaons, and protons within jets recoiling against
a boson. The charged-hadron distributions are studied longitudinally and
transversely to the jet direction for jets with transverse momentum 20 GeV and in the pseudorapidity range . The
data sample was collected with the LHCb experiment at a center-of-mass energy
of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.64 fb. Triple
differential distributions as a function of the hadron longitudinal momentum
fraction, hadron transverse momentum, and jet transverse momentum are also
measured for the first time. This helps constrain transverse-momentum-dependent
fragmentation functions. Differences in the shapes and magnitudes of the
measured distributions for the different hadron species provide insights into
the hadronization process for jets predominantly initiated by light quarks.Comment: All figures and tables, along with machine-readable versions and any
supplementary material and additional information, are available at
https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-013.html (LHCb
public pages
Study of the decay
The decay is studied
in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of TeV
using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5
collected by the LHCb experiment. In the system, the
state observed at the BaBar and Belle experiments is
resolved into two narrower states, and ,
whose masses and widths are measured to be where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second
systematic. The results are consistent with a previous LHCb measurement using a
prompt sample. Evidence of a new
state is found with a local significance of , whose mass and width
are measured to be and , respectively. In addition, evidence of a new decay mode
is found with a significance of
. The relative branching fraction of with respect to the
decay is measured to be , where the first
uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third originates from
the branching fractions of charm hadron decays.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and
additional information, are available at
https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-028.html (LHCb
public pages
Evaluation of Silodosin and Pelvic Floor Muscle Training in Men with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia and Overactive Bladder (Silodosing) Study Protocol (Spirit Compliant)
The aim of our study will be to evaluate the effect of combining pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) with the urgency-suppression technique and silodosin in comparison with silodosin alone in men with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) and Overactive Bladder (OAB) after 12 weeks of treatment. The primary outcome will be a change in the number of voidings and intensity of urgencies over 24 h using a micturition diary, and the secondary outcomes will be a change in lower urinary tract symptoms, a change in incontinence quality of life, a change in patients’ global impression of improvement, and a lower incidence of adverse events. A randomized intervention parallel multicenter study will be conducted in collaboration with 45 urological clinics at the national level. Patients will be assigned at a 1:1 ratio to the experimental and control groups using simple randomization according to odd and even patient sequence numbers in each ambulatory clinic. The experimental group will receive oral silodosin at a daily dose of 8 mg once daily and pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) 5 times a week for 20–30 min a day, for 12 weeks. The control group will receive oral treatment with silodosin at a daily dose of 8 mg once daily for 12 weeks. The study protocol presents the starting points and design of a randomized, interventional, parallel, multicenter study looking at the effect of a combination of silodosin and PFMT versus silodosin treatment in men with BPH and OAB
Prevalence of COVID-19 Vaccination among Medical Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the prevalence of COVID-19 vaccination among medical students worldwide. Three electronic databases, i.e., PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science (WoS), were used to collect the related studies according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The study population included undergraduate medical students who had already been vaccinated reported in original articles published between January 2020 and December 2021. The heterogeneity of results among studies was quantified using the inconsistency index I2. Publication bias was assessed by using Egger’s test. Six cross-sectional studies with 4118 respondents were included in this study. The prevalence of COVID-19 vaccination was 61.9% (95% CI, 39.7–80.1%). There were no statistical differences between gender and vaccination acceptance, 1.038 (95% CI 0.874–1.223), and year of study and vaccination acceptance, 2.414 (95% CI, 0.754–7.729). The attitudes towards compulsory vaccination among healthcare workers can be determined by a prevalence of 71.4% (95% CI, 67.0–75.4%). The prevalence of COVID-19 vaccination among medical students was at a moderate level. Placing a greater emphasis on prevention seems essential in the medical curriculum
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