The ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC

ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is a general-purpose, heavy-ion detector at the CERN LHC which focuses on QCD, the strong-interaction sector of the Standard Model. It is designed to address the physics of strongly interacting matter and the quark-gluon plasma at extreme values of energy density and temperature in nucleus-nucleus collisions. Besides running with Pb ions, the physics programme includes collisions with lighter ions, lower energy running and dedicated proton-nucleus runs. ALICE will also take data with proton beams at the top LHC energy to collect reference data for the heavy-ion programme and to address several QCD topics for which ALICE is complementary to the other LHC detectors. The ALICE detector has been built by a collaboration including currently over 1000 physicists and engineers from 105 Institutes in 30 countries. Its overall dimensions are 161626 m3 with a total weight of approximately 10 000 t. The experiment consists of 18 different detector systems each with its own specific technology choice and design constraints, driven both by the physics requirements and the experimental conditions expected at LHC. The most stringent design constraint is to cope with the extreme particle multiplicity anticipated in central Pb-Pb collisions. The different subsystems were optimized to provide high-momentum resolution as well as excellent Particle Identification (PID) over a broad range in momentum, up to the highest multiplicities predicted for LHC. This will allow for comprehensive studies of hadrons, electrons, muons, and photons produced in the collision of heavy nuclei. Most detector systems are scheduled to be installed and ready for data taking by mid-2008 when the LHC is scheduled to start operation, with the exception of parts of the Photon Spectrometer (PHOS), Transition Radiation Detector (TRD) and Electro Magnetic Calorimeter (EMCal). These detectors will be completed for the high-luminosity ion run expected in 2010. This paper describes in detail the detector components as installed for the first data taking in the summer of 2008

Estimation of Impact Loads in a Hydraulic Breaker by Transfer Path Analysis

The aim of this study is to estimate the impact loads delivered to the housing of a hydraulic breaker quantitatively. Striking forces caused vibrations in the equipment housing, which were experimentally measured, and frequency response functions were also found through modal impact experiments. Transfer path analysis (TPA) method of the data quantified the impact loads delivered to the housing. TPA method can analyze the relationship between the vibration energy and the transfer path of an excitation source and so explore the way in which vibrations on each path contribute to the entire vibration profile. The impact loads of each part derived by TPA method were compared with the impact loads in the chisel derived from strain gauge measurements of the striking energy. This comparison validated the TPA approach. This study describes the basic concepts and components of TPA method and also reviews its applicability to mechanical equipment that experiences impact vibrations and impact loads

Inhibition of complement activation by recombinant Sh-CRIT-ed1 analogues

Sh-CRIT-ed1 is a potent anti-complement peptide that inhibits the classical complement-activation pathway by interfering with the formation of the C3-convertase complex, C4b2a. C2 is an essential serum glycoprotein that provides the catalytic subunit of the C3 and C5 convertases of the classical pathways of complement activation. Because only in its C4-bound state is C2a capable of cleaving its physiological protein substrates C3 and C5, the interaction of Sh-CRIT-ed1 with C2 plays a decisive role of inhibition in the classical complement-activation process. However, the role of individual Sh-CRIT-ed1 amino acid residues in C2 binding is not fully understood. We constructed nine recombinant Sh-CRIT-ed1 (rSh1) analogues, substituted at conserved residues, and evaluated their anti-complement and C2-binding activities. Results from glutathione S-transferase (GST) pull-down and haemolytic assays suggested that residues (10)K, (17)E, (19)K and (26)Y are critical for the interaction of rSh1 with C2. We then constructed an improved anti-complement peptide by duplicating Sh-CRIT-ed1 C-terminal motifs ((17)H–(26)Y). This linear homodimer (rH17d) was more potent than rSh1 with respect to binding to C2 and anti-complement activity (the 50% inhibitory concentration value was ≈1·2 µm versus ≈6·02 µm for rSh1). Furthermore, rH17d showed higher anti-complement activity in vivo, providing additional evidence that this duplication is a more effective inhibitor of complement activation than rSh1. Taken together, these results identify four key residues in rSh1 and strongly suggest that rH17d is a potent inhibitor of complement activation that may have therapeutic applications

Mechanisms of clonal evolution in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia can often be retraced to a pre-leukemic clone carrying a prenatal genetic lesion. Postnatally acquired mutations then drive clonal evolution towards overt leukemia. RAG1-RAG2 and AID enzymes, the diversifiers of immunoglobulin genes, are strictly segregated to early and late stages of B-lymphopoiesis, respectively. Here, we identified small pre-BII cells as a natural subset of increased genetic vulnerability owing to concurrent activation of these enzymes. Consistent with epidemiological findings on childhood ALL etiology, susceptibility to genetic lesions during B-lymphopoiesis at the large to small pre-BII transition is exacerbated by abnormal cytokine signaling and repetitive inflammatory stimuli. We demonstrate that AID and RAG1-RAG2 drive leukemic clonal evolution with repeated exposure to inflammatory stimuli, paralleling chronic infections in childhood