The ATLAS Data Acquisition and High-Level Trigger: Concept, Design and Status

The Trigger and Data Acquisition system (TDAQ) of the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider is based on a multi-level selection process and a hierarchical acquisition tree. The system, consisting of a combination of custom electronics and commercial products from the computing and telecommunication industry, is required to provide an online selection power of 105 and a total throughput in the range of Terabit/sec. This paper introduces the basic system requirements and concepts, describes the architecture of the system, discusses the basic measurements supporting the validity of the design and reports on the actual status of construction and installation

Successful medical management of intracardiac thrombus in a young man with Behcet's disease

[No abstract available

Thyrotoxic hypokalemic periodic paralysis in a Caucasian population: Not too much, not too low - Three new case reports and meta-analysis of 38 Turkish cases

WOS: 000251617800183

Thyrotoxic hypokalaemic periodic paralysis in a Turkish population: Three new case reports and analysis of the case series

PubMedID: 17897330Objective: Thyrotoxic hypokalaemic periodic paralysis (THPP) is an uncommon condition with intermittent episodes of muscle weakness and occasionally severe paralysis. THPP is a common complication of hyperthyroidism in Asian populations, and has also been reported in other ethnic groups including Caucasians. This study aimed to conduct an analysis of THPP in a Turkish population, and is to our knowledge the first analysis of a homogeneous Caucasian group. Subjects: Forty cases with THPP were identified in the Turkish population. Three out of the 40 were new cases and were assigned as index cases. Two cases were not included in the analysis because of lack of data. Results: THPP was diagnosed in 10 cases during the first attack and was observed to have a significant shorter complete recovery time statistically in this group (P < 0.01). The majority of cases were hypokalaemic, while there were two normokalaemic cases. Classification of the cases according to their potassium (K) levels revealed that the group with K levels < 2.5 mEq/l had a statistically longer amelioration time than the group with K levels ? 2.5 mEq/l. When the cases were classified according to intravenous or oral application of K, the mean amelioration time was 6.8 ± 3.6 h for the intravenous group and 13.1 ± 7.6 for the oral group. Mean complete recovery times of the groups were 29.4 ± 16.2 h and 52.8 ± 18.0 h, respectively. The intravenous group had a shorter amelioration time and complete recovery time, and both were statistically significant (P < 0.05 for each). Conclusions: THPP may be seen among Caucasians. Diagnosing THPP during the first attack might decrease the recovery time. The level of hypokalaemia seems to affect the recovery time and initial low K levels may lead to more deterioration in a patient's health compared with mild or near-normal levels. Intravenous, rather than oral, application of K may be advantageous for shortening both the amelioration and complete recovery times. © 2007 The Authors

Silent coronary artery disease in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

PubMedID: 14740277The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence and risk factors of silent CAD in asymptomatic type 2 diabetic patients aged over 40 years. A total of 172 asymptomatic type 2 diabetic patients, mean age 54.42 years, with normal resting electrocardiogram were included in the study. Technetium-99m (Tc-99m) tetrofosmin cardiac single photon emission computed tomography myocardial scintigraphy with exercise testing or dipyridamole injection was performed on all patients. If this test was positive, coronary angiography was carried out and was considered to be positive with a stenosis of ?70%. Abnormal perfusion pattern was found in 14 patients (8.14%). Significant coronary artery stenosis was found in 13 subjects (7.56%), confirming a high positive predictive value (92.86%) of this diagnostic procedure. A significant correlation was observed between silent CAD and male sex, retinopathy, hypertension, post-prandial blood glucose level, and low HDL-cholesterol level. Sex (OR=4.026; 95% CI, 1.187-13.659), hypertension (OR=5.564; 95% CI, 1.446-21.400) and retinopathy (OR=3.766; 95% CI, 1.096-12.948) were risk factors for CAD. Overall, 14.06% of asymptomatic male patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus presented silent CAD with significant angiographically documented coronary stenosis. This finding, along with the high positive predictive value of a noninvasive technique, indicates that routine screening for silent CAD would be useful in this patient subgroup especially when they have retinopathy or hypertension

High Prevalence of Diabetes in Adana, a Southern Province of Turkey

PubMedID: 14578235OBJECTIVE - To determine the prevalence of diabetes and glucose intolerance and their relationship with risk factors in Adana, a southern province of Turkey, where risk factors are more prominent, probably because of social and economic reasons. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - The study population included 1,637 randomly selected adults aged 20-79 years. Diagnosis of diabetes was based on plasma glucose values using the 1999 diagnostic criteria recommended by the World Health Organization. RESULTS - The crude prevalence of diabetes was 12.9% in men and 10.9% in women (P = 0.207). Total prevalence of diabetes was 11.6%. The screening process identified previously undiagnosed diabetes in 4.2% of individuals and impaired glucose homeostasis (consisting of impaired glucose tolerance and impaired fasting glucose) in an additional 4.3% of subjects. The prevalence of hypertension was 26.4% among men and 36.6% among women (P < 0.0001). Total prevalence of hypertension was 32.9%, and prevalence of obesity was 43.4%. Age, sex, BMI, waist circumference, hypertension, family history of diabetes, and triglycerides were independently associated with diabetes. CONCLUSIONS - The prevalence of diabetes in Adana is higher than expected in both urban and rural areas. Obesity and hypertension also seem to be common metabolic disorders in this area. Age, hypertension, obesity, high triglyceride level, and family history of diabetes are independently associated with diabetes. Therefore, primary prevention through lifestyle modifications may have a critical role in the control of diabetes

Body Mass Index below Obesity Threshold Implies Similar Cardiovascular Risk among Various Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Phenotypes

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the cardiometabolic risk factors in different polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) phenotypes. Subjects and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed between 2010 and 2011. Eighty-nine patients with PCOS and 25 age- and weight-matched healthy controls were included in the study. Patients were grouped using the Rotterdam 2003 criteria as: group 1, oligomenorrhea and/or anovulation (ANOV) and hyperandrogenemia (HA) and/or hyperandrogenism (n = 23); group 2, ANOV and polycystic ovaries (PCO; n = 22); group 3, HA and PCO (n = 22); group 4, ANOV, HA and PCO (n = 22); group 5, controls (n = 25). Laboratory blood tests for diagnosis and cardiometabolic risk assessments were performed. Insulin resistance (IR) was calculated in all patients with the homeostasis model assessment of IR (HOMA-IR) formula. An euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp test was performed on 5 randomly selected cases in each subgroup, making 25 cases in total, and indicated as the 'M' value (mg/kg/min), which is the total body glucose disposal rate. Results: The mean BMl values of the groups were: group 1, 26.1 +/- 5.3; group 2, 27.9 +/- 5.2; group 3, 24.3 +/- 4.2; group 4, 27.9 +/- 7.5; group 5, 24.7 +/- 5.2 (p > 0.05). There were no differences in the lipid profile, plasma glucose, HOMA-IR, insulin and M values between the groups (p > 0.05). Phenotypes with oligomenorrhea/anovulation (groups 1, 2 and 4) were more obese than group 3 (p = 0.039). Conclusions: The cardiometabolic risk profile was similar among the PCOS subgroups. This finding could be attributed to the mean BMl values, which, being below 30, were not within the obesity range. Obesity appeared to be an important determinant of high cardiovascular risk in PCOS. (C) 2015 S. Karger AG, Base

The Architecture and Administration of the ATLAS Online Computing System

The needs of ATLAS experiment at the upcoming LHC accelerator, CERN, in terms of data transmission rates and processing power require a large cluster of computers (of the order of thousands) administrated and exploited in a coherent and optimal manner. Requirements like stability, robustness and fast recovery in case of failure impose a server-client system architecture with servers distributed in a tree like structure and clients booted from the network. For security reasons, the system should be accessible only through an application gateway and, also to ensure the autonomy of the system, the network services should be provided internally by dedicated machines in synchronization with CERN IT department's central services. The paper describes a small scale implementation of the system architecture that fits the given requirements and constraints. Emphasis will be put on the mechanisms and tools used to net boot the clients via the "Boot With Me" project and to synchronize information within the cluster via the "Nile" tool