The Effect of Pravastatin on Intima Media Thickness of the Carotid Artery in Patients with Normal Cholesterol

AbstractObjectiveCarotid intima media thickness (IMT) is a good indicator of the severity of atherosclerotic disease. Statins have been found to reduce carotid IMT in patients with hypercholesterolaemia. The aim of this study was to investigate if pravastatin is effective in reducing IMT in normocholesterolaemic patients with carotid artery disease.MethodsPatients with carotid artery stenosis and normal cholesterol levels who were not on a statin, were recruited. Patients were randomised to receive pravastatin or placebo daily. Serum concentration of cholesterol and IMT of common carotid arteries were measured before randomisation and at 3 monthly intervals thereafter, for 9 months. IMT was analysed to give the mean of a standardised 2cm of the common carotid artery (CCA). Results are expressed as median (IQR) and comparison made using the Wilcoxon signed ranks test.ResultsFifty-four patients were examined. Twenty-eight patients were randomised to active treatment. There was no difference in demographic details and co-morbid states between the two groups. A significant reduction in cholesterol concentration was observed from 3 months in patients randomised to the pravastatin group [5.14(4.72–5.88) vs. 4.11(3.44–5.33), p<0.05], while there was also a significant decrease in combined IMT form 6 months [1.53(1.36–1.87) vs. 1.41 (1.33–1.78), p<0.05].ConclusionsThe results demonstrate that pravastatin reduces intima media thickness of the common carotid artery in normocholesterolaemic patients with moderate carotid stenosis

The mitochondrial genome of the thermal dimorphic fungus Penicillium marneffei is more closely related to those of molds than yeasts

AbstractWe report the complete sequence of the mitochondrial genome of Penicillium marneffei, the first complete mitochondrial DNA sequence of a thermal dimorphic fungus. This 35 kb mitochondrial genome contains the genes encoding ATP synthase subunits 6, 8, and 9 (atp6, atp8, and atp9), cytochrome oxidase subunits I, II, and III (cox1, cox2, and cox3), apocytochrome b (cob), reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide ubiquinone oxireductase subunits (nad1, nad2, nad3, nad4, nad4L, nad5, and nad6), ribosomal protein of the small ribosomal subunit (rps), 28 tRNAs, and small and large ribosomal RNAs. Analysis of gene contents, gene orders, and gene sequences revealed that the mitochondrial genome of P. marneffei is more closely related to those of molds than yeasts

A possible rheological model of gum candies

An appropriate rheological model can be used in production of good quality gum candy required by consumers. For this purpose Creep-Recovery Test (CRT) curves were recorded with a Stable Micro System TA.XT-2 precision texture analyser with 75 mm diameter cylinder probe on gum candies purchased from the local market. The deformation speed was 0.2 mm s−1, the creeping- and recovering time was 60 s, while the loading force was set to 1 N, 2 N, 5 N, 7 N, and 10 N. The two-element Kelvin-Voigt-model, a three-element model, and the four-element Burgers-model were fitted on the recorded creep data, and then the parameters of the models were evaluated. The best fitting from the used models was given by the Burgers model

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio

Observation of a new chi_b state in radiative transitions to Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) at ATLAS

The chi_b(nP) quarkonium states are produced in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4 fb^-1, these states are reconstructed through their radiative decays to Upsilon(1S,2S) with Upsilon->mu+mu-. In addition to the mass peaks corresponding to the decay modes chi_b(1P,2P)->Upsilon(1S)gamma, a new structure centered at a mass of 10.530+/-0.005 (stat.)+/-0.009 (syst.) GeV is also observed, in both the Upsilon(1S)gamma and Upsilon(2S)gamma decay modes. This is interpreted as the chi_b(3P) system.Comment: 5 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 1 table, corrected author list, matches final version in Physical Review Letter

Search for displaced vertices arising from decays of new heavy particles in 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

We present the results of a search for new, heavy particles that decay at a significant distance from their production point into a final state containing charged hadrons in association with a high-momentum muon. The search is conducted in a pp-collision data sample with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 33 pb^-1 collected in 2010 by the ATLAS detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. Production of such particles is expected in various scenarios of physics beyond the standard model. We observe no signal and place limits on the production cross-section of supersymmetric particles in an R-parity-violating scenario as a function of the neutralino lifetime. Limits are presented for different squark and neutralino masses, enabling extension of the limits to a variety of other models.Comment: 8 pages plus author list (20 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version to appear in Physics Letters

Measurement of the inclusive isolated prompt photon cross-section in pp collisions at sqrt(s)= 7 TeV using 35 pb-1 of ATLAS data

A measurement of the differential cross-section for the inclusive production of isolated prompt photons in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 7 TeV is presented. The measurement covers the pseudorapidity ranges |eta|<1.37 and 1.52<=|eta|<2.37 in the transverse energy range 45<=E_T<400GeV. The results are based on an integrated luminosity of 35 pb-1, collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The yields of the signal photons are measured using a data-driven technique, based on the observed distribution of the hadronic energy in a narrow cone around the photon candidate and the photon selection criteria. The results are compared with next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations and found to be in good agreement over four orders of magnitude in cross-section.Comment: 7 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 4 tables, final version published in Physics Letters