Use of the caffeine-halothane contracture test for the diagnosis of malignant hyperthermia in Brazil

Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a pharmacogenetic disease triggered by volatile anesthetics and succinylcholine. Deaths due to MH have been reported in Brazil. The first Malignant Hyperthermia Diagnostic and Research Center in Latin America was inaugurated in 1993 at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The center followed the diagnostic protocols of the North America MH Group, in which the contractures of biopsies from the vastus lateralis muscle are analyzed after exposure to caffeine and halothane (CHCT). CHCT was performed in individuals who survived, their relatives and those with signs/symptoms somewhat related to MH susceptibility (MHS). Here, we report data from 194 patients collected over 16 years. The Southeast (N = 110) and South (N = 71) represented the majority of patients. Median age was 25 (4-70) years, with similar numbers of males (104) and females (90). MHS was found in 90 patients and 104 patients were normal. Abnormal responses to both caffeine and halothane were observed in 59 patients and to caffeine or halothane in 20 and 11 patients, respectively. The contracture of biopsies from MHS exposed to caffeine and halothane was 1.027 ± 0.075 g (N = 285) and 4.021 ± 0.255 g (N = 226), respectively. MHS was found in patients with either low or high blood creatine kinase and also, with a low score on the clinical grading scale. Thus, these parameters cannot be used with certainty to predict MHS. We conclude that the CHCT protocol described by the North America MH Group contributed to identification of MHS in suspected individuals at an MH center in Brazil with 100% sensitivity and 65.7% specificity

Simulation science for fusion plasmas

"The world fusion effort has embarked into a new age with the construction of ITER in Cadarache, France, which will be the first magnetic confinement fusion plasma experiment dominated by the self-heating of fusion reactions. In order to operate and control burning plasmas and next generation demo fusion reactors, an advanced capability for comprehensive integrated computer simulations that are fully verified and validated against experimental data will be necessary. The ultimate goal is to predict reliably the behaviour of plasmas in toroidal magnetic confinement devices on all relevant scales, both in time and space. In addition to developing a sophisticated integrated simulation codes, directed advanced research in fusion physics, applied mathematics, computer science and software is envisaged. In this paper we review the basic strategy and main research efforts at the Department of Simulation Science of the National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS)- which is the Inter University Institute and the coordinating Center of Excellence for academic fusion research in Japan. We overview a simulation research at NIFS, in particular relation to experiments in the Large Helical Device (LHD), the world\u27s largest superconducting heliotron device, as a National Users\u27 facility (see Motojima et al. [1]). Our main goal is understanding and systemizing the rich hierarchy of physical mechanisms in fusion plasmas, supported by exploring a basic science of complexity of plasma as a highly nonlinear, non-equilibrium, open system. The aim is to establish a simulation science as a new interdisciplinary field by fostering collaborative research in utilizing the large-scale supercomputer simulators. A concept of the hierarchy-renormalized simulation modelling will be invoked en route toward the LHD numerical test reactor.

Higgs Boson Studies at the Tevatron

We combine searches by the CDF and D0 Collaborations for the standard model Higgs boson with mass in the range 90--200 GeV$/c^2$ produced in the gluon-gluon fusion, $WH$, $ZH$, $t{\bar{t}}H$, and vector boson fusion processes, and decaying in the $H\rightarrow b{\bar{b}}$, $H\rightarrow W^+W^-$, $H\rightarrow ZZ$, $H\rightarrow\tau^+\tau^-$, and $H\rightarrow \gamma\gamma$ modes. The data correspond to integrated luminosities of up to 10 fb$^{-1}$ and were collected at the Fermilab Tevatron in $p{\bar{p}}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=1.96$ TeV. The searches are also interpreted in the context of fermiophobic and fourth generation models. We observe a significant excess of events in the mass range between 115 and 140 GeV/$c^2$. The local significance corresponds to 3.0 standard deviations at $m_H=125$ GeV/$c^2$, consistent with the mass of the Higgs boson observed at the LHC, and we expect a local significance of 1.9 standard deviations. We separately combine searches for $H \to b\bar{b}$, $H \to W^+W^-$, $H\rightarrow\tau^+\tau^-$, and $H\rightarrow\gamma\gamma$. The observed signal strengths in all channels are consistent with the presence of a standard model Higgs boson with a mass of 125 GeV/$c^2$