Cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers in Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia and ischemic stroke patients: a critical analysis

Vascular factors are thought to contribute to the development of disease pathology in neurodegenerative dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Another entity, called vascular dementia (VaD), comprises a less defined group of dementia patients having various vascular diseases that especially emerge in the elderly population and require valid options for examination and differential diagnosis. In the context of a retrospective study, we analyzed the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers t-tau, p-tau and Aß42 of a total of 131 patients with AD (n = 47), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) (n = 22), VaD (n = 44) and stroke (n = 18). We found a remarkable alteration in CSF biomarker profile in AD, VaD and in acute ischemic events. CSF profile in AD patients was altered in a very similar way as in stroke patients, without statistical differences. In stroke, increase depend largely on size and duration after the initial event. Total tau levels were useful to differ between VaD and stroke. Aß42 decreased in a similar way in AD, VaD and stroke and had a trend to lower levels in MCI but not in controls

Four-Fermion Production in Electron-Positron Collisions

This report summarises the results of the four-fermion working group of the LEP2-MC workshop, held at CERN from 1999 to 2000. Recent developments in the calculation of four-fermion processes in electron-positron collisions at LEP-2 centre-of-mass energies are presented, concentrating on predictions for four main reactions: W-pair production, visible photons in four-fermion events, single-W production and Z-pair production. Based on a comparison of results derived within different approaches, theoretical uncertainties on these predictions are established.Comment: 150 pages, 73 figures, 45 table

Bose-Einstein Correlations of Neutral and Charged Pions in Hadronic Z Decays

Bose-Einstein correlations of both neutral and like-sign charged pion pairs are measured in a sample of 2 million hadronic Z decays collected with the L3 detector at LEP. The analysis is performed in the four-momentum difference range 300 MeV < Q < 2 GeV. The radius of the neutral pion source is found to be smaller than that of charged pions. This result is in qualitative agreement with the string fragmentation model

Measurement of the W+W-gamma Cross Section and Direct Limits on Anomalous Quartic Gauge Boson Couplings at LEP

The process e+e- -> W+W-gamma is analysed using the data collected with the L3 detector at LEP at a centre-of-mass energy of 188.6GeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 176.8pb^-1. Based on a sample of 42 selected W+W- candidates containing an isolated hard photon, the W+W-gamma cross section, defined within phase-space cuts, is measured to be: sigma_WWgamma = 290 +/- 80 +/- 16 fb, consistent with the Standard Model expectation. Including the process e+e- -> nu nu gamma gamma, limits are derived on anomalous contributions to the Standard Model quartic vertices W+W- gamma gamma and W+W-Z gamma at 95% CL: -0.043 GeV^-2 < a_0/Lambda^2 < 0.043 GeV^-2 0.08 GeV^-2 < a_c/Lambda^2 < 0.13 GeV^-2 0.41 GeV^-2 < a_n/Lambda^2 < 0.37 GeV^-2

Production of Single W Bosons at \sqrt{s}=189 GeV and Measurement of WWgamma Gauge Couplings

Single W boson production in electron-positron collisions is studied with the L3 detector at LEP. The data sample collected at a centre-of-mass energy of \sqrt{s} = 188.7GeV corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 176.4pb^-1. Events with a single energetic lepton or two acoplanar hadronic jets are selected. Within phase-space cuts, the total cross-section is measured to be 0.53 +/- 0.12 +/- 0.03 pb, consistent with the Standard Model expectation. Including our single W boson results obtained at lower \sqrt{s}, the WWgamma gauge couplings kappa_gamma and lambda_gamma are determined to be kappa_gamma = 0.93 +/- 0.16 +/- 0.09 and lambda_gamma = -0.31 +0.68 -0.19 +/- 0.13

Lambda and Sigma0 Pair Production in Two-Photon Collisions at LEP

Strange baryon pair production in two-photon collisions is studied with the L3 detector at LEP. The analysis is based on data collected at e+e- centre-of-mass energies from 91 GeV to 208 GeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 844 pb-1. The processes gamma gamma -> Lambda Anti-lambda and gamma gamma -> Sigma0 Anti-sigma0 are identified. Their cross sections as a function of the gamma gamma centre-of-mass energy are measured and results are compared to predictions of the quark-diquark model

Measurement of charged-particle multiplicity distributions and their H_q moments in hadronic Z decays at LEP

The charged-particle multiplicity distribution is measured for all hadronic events as well as for light-quark and b-quark events produced in e+e- collisions at the Z pole. Moments of the charged-particle multiplicity distributions are calculated. The H moments of the multiplicity distributions are studied, and their quasi-oscillations as a function of the rank of the moment are investigated.Comment: Matches published versio

Search for Neutral Higgs Bosons of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model in e+e- Interactions at \sqrt{s} = 189 GeV

A search for the lightest neutral scalar and neutral pseudoscalar Higgs bosons in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model is performed using 176.4 pb^-1 of integrated luminosity collected by L3 at a center-of-mass energy of 189 GeV. No signal is observed, and the data are consistent with the expected Standard Model background. Lower limits on the masses of the lightest neutral scalar and pseudoscalar Higgs bosons are given as a function of tan(beta). Lower mass limits for tan(beta)>1 are set at the 95% confidence level to be m_h > 77.1 GeV and m_A > 77.1 GeV

Measurement of Bose-Einstein Correlations in e+e- -> W+W- at root(s)=189GeV

We investigate Bose-Einstein correlations (BEC) in W-pair production at root(s)=189GeV using the L3 detector at LEP. We observe BEC between particles from a single W decay in good agreement with those from a light-quark Z decay sample. We investigate their possible existence between particles coming from different W's. No evidence for such inter-W BEC is found