Aberrant origin of left vertebral artery: a rare case

The Vertebral Artery (VA) is classically described as originating as the first branch of the ipsilateral subclavian artery. The VA origin is variable and has been identified at the aortic arch, Common Carotid Artery (CCA), and Internal Carotid Artery. The VA arising from the carotid artery is an extremely uncommon variant. Left VA origin from the left CCA has been reported only thrice. These rare anomalous origins of the VA usually are asymptomatic. We describe symptomatic aberrant origin of left vertebral artery from left common carotid artery, a rare case

Influence of smoking on gingival crevicular fluid cytokines in severe chronic periodontitis

The aim of this study was to compare the expression of 22 chemokines and cytokines in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) from smokers and non-smokers with periodontitis and periodontally healthy control subjects

Targeted antimicrobial activity of a specific IgG–SMAP28 conjugate against Porphyromonas gingivalis in a mixed culture

Antimicrobial peptides coupled to a ligand, receptor or antibody for a specific pathogenic bacteria could be used to develop narrow-spectrum pharmaceuticals with ‘targeted’ antimicrobial activity void of adverse reactions often associated with the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics. To assess the feasibility of this approach, in this study sheep myeloid antimicrobial peptide (SMAP) 28 was linked to affinity- and protein G-purified rabbit immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies specific to the outer surface of Porphyromonas gingivalis strain 381. The selective activity of the P. gingivalis IgG–SMAP28 conjugate was then assessed by adding it to an artificially generated microbial community containing P. gingivalis, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Peptostreptococcus micros. The specificity of the P. gingivalis IgG–SMAP28 conjugate in this mixed culture was concentration-dependent. The conjugate at 50 μg protein/mL lacked specificity and killed P. gingivalis, A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. micros. The conjugate at 20 μg protein/mL was more specific and killed P. gingivalis. This is an initial step to develop a selective antimicrobial agent that can eliminate a specific periodontal pathogen, such as P. gingivalis, from patients with periodontal disease without harming the normal commensal flora

Human Cardiac-Specific cDNA Array for Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy: Sex-Related Differences

Idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDCM) constitutes a large portion of patients with heart failure of unknown etiology. Up to 50% of all transplant recipients carry this clinical diagnosis. Female-specific gene expression in IDCM has not been explored. We report sex-related differences in the gene expression profile of ventricular myocardium from patients undergoing cardiac transplantation. We produced and sequenced subtractive cDNA libraries, using human left ventricular myocardium obtained from male transplant recipients with IDCM and nonfailing human heart donors. With the resulting sequence data, we generated a custom human heart failure microarray for IDCM containing 1,145 cardiac-specific oligonucleotide probes. This array was used to characterize RNA samples from female IDCM transplant recipients. We identified a female gene expression pattern that consists of 37 upregulated genes and 18 downregulated genes associated with IDCM. Upon functional analysis of the gene expression pattern, deregulated genes unique to female IDCM were those that are involved in energy metabolism and regulation of transcription and translation. For male patients we found deregulation of genes related to muscular contraction. These data suggest that 1) the gene expression pattern we have detected for IDCM may be specific for this disease and 2) there is a sex-specific profile to IDCM. Our observations further suggest for the first time ever novel targets for treatment of IDCM in women and men

Quantitation of SPLUNC1 in saliva with an xMAP particle-based antibody capture and detection immunoassay

The short palate lung and nasal epithelial clone 1 (SPLUNC1) protein may be differentially expressed in oral infections, oral inflammatory disorders, or oral malignancies and may be involved in innate immune responses in the oral cavity. However, the actual concentration of SPLUNC1 in saliva has not previously been determined. In this study, we determined the concentrations of SPLUNC1 in saliva using a particle-based antibody capture and detection immunoassay. A commercial goat anti-rhSPLUNC1 polyclonal antibody (AF1897) was linked to fluorescent polystyrene microspheres and used as the capture antibody. A commercial mouse IgG2b anti-rhSPLUNC1 monoclonal antibody (MAB1897) was biotinylated and used as the detection antibody. Western blot and 2-dimensional fluorescence difference gel electrophoresis (2-D DIGE) analysis of immunoprecipitated rhSPLUNC1 and SPLUNC1 from saliva were used to show that the capture AF1897 and detection MAB1897 antibodies both recognized SPLUNC1. Protein concentrations in saliva from 20 subjects ranged from 0.9 to 23.9 mg/ml; SPLUNC1 concentrations ranged from 34.7 ng/ml to 13.8 μg/ml; and SPLUNC concentrations normalized per mg of total salivary protein ranged from 4.7 ng/ml to 5.3 μg/ml. These results show that SPLUNC1 is detected in saliva in a variety of concentrations. This immunoassay may prove to be useful in determining the concentration of SPLUNC1 in saliva for assessing its role in the pathogenesis of oral infections, oral inflammatory disorders, or oral malignancies

Molecular and electronic structure of terminal and alkali metal-capped uranium(V) nitride complexes

Determining the electronic structure of actinide complexes is intrinsically challenging because inter-electronic repulsion, crystal field, and spin–orbit coupling effects can be of similar magnitude. Moreover, such efforts have been hampered by the lack of structurally analogous families of complexes to study. Here we report an improved method to U≡N triple bonds, and assemble a family of uranium(V) nitrides. Along with an isoelectronic oxo, we quantify the electronic structure of this 5f1 family by magnetometry, optical and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopies and modelling. Thus, we define the relative importance of the spin–orbit and crystal field interactions, and explain the experimentally observed different ground states. We find optical absorption linewidths give a potential tool to identify spin–orbit coupled states, and show measurement of UV···UV super-exchange coupling in dimers by EPR. We show that observed slow magnetic relaxation occurs via two-phonon processes, with no obvious correlation to the crystal field

Measurement of jet radial profiles in Pb\u2013Pb collisions at 1asNN = 2.76 TeV

The jet radial structure and particle transverse momentum (pT) composition within jets are presented in centrality-selected Pb\u2013Pb collisions at 1asNN = 2.76 TeV. Track-based jets, which are also called charged jets, were reconstructed with a resolution parameter of R = 0.3 at midrapidity |\u3b7ch jet| < 0.6 for transverse momenta pT, ch jet = 30\u2013120 GeV/c. Jet\u2013hadron correlations in relative azimuth and pseudorapidity space (\u3c6,\u3b7) are measured to study the distribution of the associated particles around the jet axis for different pT,assoc-ranges between 1 and 20 GeV/c. The data in Pb\u2013Pb collisions are compared to reference distributions for pp collisions, obtained using embedded PYTHIA simulations. The number of high-pT associate particles (4 < pT,assoc < 20 GeV/c) in Pb\u2013Pb collisions is found to be suppressed compared to the reference by 30 to 10%, depending on centrality. The radial particle distribution relative to the jet axis shows a moderate modification in Pb\u2013Pb collisions with respect to PYTHIA. High-pT associate particles are slightly more collimated in Pb\u2013Pb collisions compared to the reference, while low-pT associate particles tend to be broadened. The results, which are presented for the first time down to pT, ch jet = 30 GeV/c in Pb\u2013Pb collisions, are compatible with both previous jet\u2013hadron-related measurements from the CMS Collaboration and jet shape measurements from the ALICE Collaboration at higher pT, and add further support for the established picture of in-medium parton energy loss

Unveiling the strong interaction among hadrons at the LHC

ALICE Collaboration., Acharya, S., Adamová, D. et al. Publisher Correction: Unveiling the strong interaction among hadrons at the LHC. Nature 590, E13 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-03142-2The study of (anti-)deuteron production in pp collisions has proven to be a powerful tool to investigate the formation mechanism of loosely bound states in high-energy hadronic collisions. In this paper the production of (anti-)deuterons is studied as a function of the charged particle multiplicity in inelastic pp collisions at root s = 13 TeV using the ALICE experiment. Thanks to the large number of accumulated minimum bias events, it has been possible to measure (anti-)deuteron production in pp collisions up to the same charged particle multiplicity (dN(ch)/d eta similar to 26) as measured in p-Pb collisions at similar centre-of-mass energies. Within the uncertainties, the deuteron yield in pp collisions resembles the one in p-Pb interactions, suggesting a common formation mechanism behind the production of light nuclei in hadronic interactions. In this context the measurements are compared with the expectations of coalescence and statistical hadronisation models (SHM).Peer reviewe

Study of the \u39b\u2013\u39b interaction with femtoscopy correlations in pp and p\u2013Pb collisions at the LHC

This work presents new constraints on the existence and the binding energy of a possible \u39b\u2013\u39b bound state, the H-dibaryon, derived from \u39b\u2013\u39b femtoscopic measurements by the ALICE collaboration. The results are obtained from a new measurement using the femtoscopy technique in (Figure presented.) collisions at s=13 TeV and p\u2013Pb collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV, combined with previously published results from (Figure presented.) collisions at s=7 TeV. The \u39b\u2013\u39b scattering parameter space, spanned by the inverse scattering length f0 121 and the effective range d0, is constrained by comparing the measured \u39b\u2013\u39b correlation function with calculations obtained within the Lednick\ufd model. The data are compatible with hypernuclei results and lattice computations, both predicting a shallow attractive interaction, and permit to test different theoretical approaches describing the \u39b\u2013\u39b interaction. The region in the (f0 121,d0) plane which would accommodate a \u39b\u2013\u39b bound state is substantially restricted compared to previous studies. The binding energy of the possible \u39b\u2013\u39b bound state is estimated within an effective-range expansion approach and is found to be B\u39b\u39b=3.2 122.4+1.6(stat) 121.0+1.8(syst) MeV

Search for collectivity with azimuthal J/psi-hadron correlations in high multiplicity p-Pb collisions at ,root s(NN)=5.02 and 8.16 TeV

We present a measurement of azimuthal correlations between inclusive J/psi and charged hadrons in p-Pb collisions recorded with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC. The J/psi are reconstructed at forward (p-going, 2.03 <y <3.53) and backward (Pb-going, -4.46 <y <-2.96) rapidity via their mu(+)mu(-) decay channel, while the charged hadrons are reconstructed at mid-rapidity (vertical bar eta vertical bar <1.8). The correlations are expressed in terms of associated charged-hadron yields per W . trigger. A rapidity gap of at least 1.5 units is required between the trigger J/psi and the associated charged hadrons. Possible correlations due to collective effects are assessed by subtracting the associated per-trigger yields in the low-multiplicity collisions from those in the high-multiplicity collisions. After the subtraction, we observe a strong indication of remaining symmetric structures at Delta phi approximate to 0 and Delta phi approximate to pi), similar to those previously found in two-particle correlations at middle and forward rapidity. The corresponding second-order Fourier coefficient (v(2) ) in the transverse momentum interval between 3 and 6 GeV/c is found to be positive with a significance of about 5 sigma. The obtained results are similar to the J/psi v(2) coefficients measured in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 5.02 TeV, suggesting a common mechanism at the origin of the J/psi v(2) . (C) 2018 The Author. Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe