7,635 research outputs found

    Significance of Medicinal Mushrooms in Integrative Oncology: A Narrative Review

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    Medicinal mushrooms are widely used in East Asia for the treatment of various diseases, especially in complementary cancer care. While there is a growing interest in medicinal mushrooms in Western countries and an increasing number of pre-clinical studies indicate distinct anti-cancer and regenerative properties, little is known about their potential relevance for clinical practice. This review aims to provide an overview of the clinical evidence, significance and potential role of medicinal mushrooms in complementary cancer care. Scientific databases for (randomized) controlled clinical trials evaluating whole spectrum formulations of medicinal mushrooms (mushroom powder and mushroom extracts) in cancer patients during and/or after conventional oncological treatment were searched. Eight studies met our inclusion criteria (eight randomized controlled trials, one controlled clinical trial). The medicinal mushrooms investigated were Agaricus sylvaticus (two trials), Agaricus blazei murill (two trials), Antrodia cinnamomea (one trial), Coriolus versicolor (one trial) and Ganoderma lucidum (three trials); all were compared to placebo and administered orally. A variety of cancer entities, outcomes and treatment durations were observed. Study results suggested beneficial effects of medicinal mushrooms, particularly quality of life and reduction of adverse effects of conventional therapies. Also, positive effects on antitumor activity and immunomodulation were reported, e.g., an increased activity of natural killer cells. In addition, results might suggest a longer survival of cancer patients receiving mushroom preparations, although in most studies this was not significant when compared to placebo. Adverse events of treatment with medicinal mushrooms were poorly reported; gastrointestinal reactions and a decrease in platelet cell count occurred in some cases. The methodological quality of most studies was generally unsatisfying and most results were insufficiently reported in several respects. Medicinal mushrooms may have a therapeutic potential for cancer patients during and after conventional oncological care with regards to quality of life, reduction of adverse effects of conventional care and possibly other surrogate parameters like immune function. There is an urgent need to investigate the safety and possible interactions of medicinal mushrooms. High-quality clinical research is warranted in order to clarify the potential of medicinal mushrooms in cancer therapy

    Commissioning of the CMS High Level Trigger

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    The CMS experiment will collect data from the proton-proton collisions delivered by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at a centre-of-mass energy up to 14 TeV. The CMS trigger system is designed to cope with unprecedented luminosities and LHC bunch-crossing rates up to 40 MHz. The unique CMS trigger architecture only employs two trigger levels. The Level-1 trigger is implemented using custom electronics, while the High Level Trigger (HLT) is based on software algorithms running on a large cluster of commercial processors, the Event Filter Farm. We present the major functionalities of the CMS High Level Trigger system as of the starting of LHC beams operations in September 2008. The validation of the HLT system in the online environment with Monte Carlo simulated data and its commissioning during cosmic rays data taking campaigns are discussed in detail. We conclude with the description of the HLT operations with the first circulating LHC beams before the incident occurred the 19th September 2008

    X-ray emission during the muonic cascade in hydrogen

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    We report our investigations of X rays emitted during the muonic cascade in hydrogen employing charge coupled devices as X-ray detectors. The density dependence of the relative X-ray yields for the muonic hydrogen lines (K_alpha, K_beta, K_gamma) has been measured at densities between 0.00115 and 0.97 of liquid hydrogen density. In this density region collisional processes dominate the cascade down to low energy levels. A comparison with recent calculations is given in order to demonstrate the influence of Coulomb deexcitation.Comment: 5 pages, Tex, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter

    Resonant Formation of dμtd\mu t Molecules in Deuterium: An Atomic Beam Measurement of Muon Catalyzed dt Fusion

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    Resonant formation of dμtd\mu t molecules in collisions of muonic tritium (μt\mu t) on D2_2 was investigated using a beam of μt\mu t atoms, demonstrating a new direct approach in muon catalyzed fusion studies. Strong epithermal resonances in dμtd\mu t formation were directly revealed for the first time. From the time-of-flight analysis of 2036±1162036\pm 116 dtdt fusion events, a formation rate consistent with 0.73±(0.16)meas±(0.09)model0.73\pm (0.16)_{meas} \pm (0.09)_{model} times the theoretical prediction was obtained. For the largest peak at a resonance energy of 0.423±0.0370.423 \pm 0.037 eV, this corresponds to a rate of (7.1±1.8)×109(7.1 \pm 1.8) \times 10^9 s1^{-1}, more than an order of magnitude larger than those at low energies.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. Let

    Measurement of the branching ratio of the decay Ξ0Σ+μνˉμ\Xi^{0}\rightarrow \Sigma^{+} \mu^{-} \bar{\nu}_{\mu}

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    From the 2002 data taking with a neutral kaon beam extracted from the CERN-SPS, the NA48/1 experiment observed 97 Ξ0Σ+μνˉμ\Xi^{0}\rightarrow \Sigma^{+} \mu^{-} \bar{\nu}_{\mu} candidates with a background contamination of 30.8±4.230.8 \pm 4.2 events. From this sample, the BR(Ξ0Σ+μνˉμ\Xi^{0}\rightarrow \Sigma^{+} \mu^{-} \bar{\nu}_{\mu}) is measured to be (2.17±0.32stat±0.17syst)×106(2.17 \pm 0.32_{\mathrm{stat}}\pm 0.17_{\mathrm{syst}})\times10^{-6}

    Measurement of the Ratio Gamma(KL -> pi+ pi-)/Gamma(KL -> pi e nu) and Extraction of the CP Violation Parameter |eta+-|

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    We present a measurement of the ratio of the decay rates Gamma(KL -> pi+ pi-)/Gamma(KL -> pi e nu), denoted as Gamma(K2pi)/Gamma(Ke3). The analysis is based on data taken during a dedicated run in 1999 by the NA48 experiment at the CERN SPS. Using a sample of 47000 K2pi and five million Ke3 decays, we find Gamma(K2pi)/Gamma(Ke3) = (4.835 +- 0.022(stat) +- 0.016(syst)) x 10^-3. From this we derive the branching ratio of the CP violating decay KL -> pi+ pi- and the CP violation parameter |eta+-|. Excluding the CP conserving direct photon emission component KL -> pi+ pi- gamma, we obtain the results BR(KL -> pi+ pi-) = (1.941 +- 0.019) x 10^-3 and |eta+-| = (2.223 +- 0.012) x 10^-3.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, accepted by Phys. Lett.
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