Normal kidney size and its influencing factors - a 64-slice MDCT study of 1.040 asymptomatic patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Normal ultrasound values for pole-to-pole kidney length (LPP) are well established for children, but very little is known about normal kidney size and its influencing factors in adults. The objectives of this study were thus to establish normal CT values for kidney dimensions from a group of unselected patients, identify potential influencing factors, and to estimate their significance.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In multiphase thin-slice MDCTs of 2.068 kidneys in 1.040 adults, the kidney length pole to pole (LPP), parenchymal (PW) and cortical width (CW), position and rotation status of the kidneys, number of renal arteries, pyelon width and possible influencing factors that can be visualized, were recorded from a volume data set. For length measurements, axes were adjusted individually in double oblique planes using a 3D-software. Analyses of distribution, T-tests, ANOVA, correlation and multivariate regression analyses were performed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>LPP was 108.5 ± 12.2 mm for the right, and 111.3 ± 12.6 mm for the left kidney (p < 0.0001 each). PW on the right side was 15.4 ± 2.8 mm, slightly less than 15.9 ± 2.7 mm on the left side (p < 0.0001), the CW was the same (6.6 ± 1.9 mm). The most significant independent predictors for LPP, CW, and PW were body size, BMI, age, and gender (p < 0.001 each). In men, the LPP increases up to the fifth decade of life (p < 0.01). It is also influenced by the position of the kidneys, stenoses and number of renal arteries (SRA/NRA), infarctions suffered, parapelvic cysts, and absence of the contralateral kidney; CW is influenced by age, position, parapelvic cysts, NRA and SRA, and the PW is influenced in addition by rotation status (p < 0.05 each). Depending on the most important factors, gender-specific normal values were indicated for these dimensions, the length and width in cross section, width of the renal pelvis, and parenchyma-renal pyelon ratio.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Due to the complex influences on kidney size, assessment should be made individually. The most important influencing factors are BMI, height, gender, age, position of the kidneys, stenoses and number of renal arteries.</p

A computational evaluation of over-representation of regulatory motifs in the promoter regions of differentially expressed genes

BACKGROUND: Observed co-expression of a group of genes is frequently attributed to co-regulation by shared transcription factors. This assumption has led to the hypothesis that promoters of co-expressed genes should share common regulatory motifs, which forms the basis for numerous computational tools that search for these motifs. While frequently explored for yeast, the validity of the underlying hypothesis has not been assessed systematically in mammals. This demonstrates the need for a systematic and quantitative evaluation to what degree co-expressed genes share over-represented motifs for mammals. RESULTS: We identified 33 experiments for human and mouse in the ArrayExpress Database where transcription factors were manipulated and which exhibited a significant number of differentially expressed genes. We checked for over-representation of transcription factor binding sites in up- or down-regulated genes using the over-representation analysis tool oPOSSUM. In 25 out of 33 experiments, this procedure identified the binding matrices of the affected transcription factors. We also carried out de novo prediction of regulatory motifs shared by differentially expressed genes. Again, the detected motifs shared significant similarity with the matrices of the affected transcription factors. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the claim that functional regulatory motifs are over-represented in sets of differentially expressed genes and that they can be detected with computational methods

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)1.

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field

Search for dark matter produced in association with a Higgs boson decaying to a pair of bottom quarks in proton-proton collisions at root s=13TeV

A search for dark matter produced in association with a Higgs boson decaying to a pair of bottom quarks is performed in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. The analyzed data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1). The signal is characterized by a large missing transverse momentum recoiling against a bottom quark-antiquark system that has a large Lorentz boost. The number of events observed in the data is consistent with the standard model background prediction. Results are interpreted in terms of limits both on parameters of the type-2 two-Higgs doublet model extended by an additional light pseudoscalar boson a (2HDM+a) and on parameters of a baryonic Z simplified model. The 2HDM+a model is tested experimentally for the first time. For the baryonic Z model, the presented results constitute the most stringent constraints to date.Peer reviewe

Search for strongly interacting massive particles generating trackless jets in proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV

A search for dark matter in the form of strongly interacting massive particles (SIMPs) using the CMS detector at the LHC is presented. The SIMPs would be produced in pairs that manifest themselves as pairs of jets without tracks. The energy fraction of jets carried by charged particles is used as a key discriminator to suppress efficiently the large multijet background, and the remaining background is estimated directly from data. The search is performed using proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 16.1 fb - 1 , collected with the CMS detector in 2016. No significant excess of events is observed above the expected background. For the simplified dark matter model under consideration, SIMPs with masses up to 100 GeV are excluded and further sensitivity is explored towards higher masses

Evidence for Top Quark Production in Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions

Peer reviewe

Observation of the B-s(0) -> X(3872)phi Decay

Using a data sample of proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb(-1) collected by the CMS experiment in 2016-2018, the B-s(0) -> X(3872)phi decay is observed. Decays into J/psi pi(+)pi(-) and K+K- are used to reconstruct, respectively, the X(3872) and phi. The ratio of the product of branching fractions B[B-s(0) -> X(3872)phi]B[X(3872) -> J/psi pi(+)pi(-)] to the product B[B-s(0) ->psi(2S)phi]B[psi(2S) -> J/psi pi(+)pi(-)] is measured to be [2.21 +/- 0.29(stat) +/- 0.17(syst)]%. The ratio B[B-s(0) -> X(3872)phi]/B[B-0 -> X(3872)K-0] is found to be consistent with one, while the ratio B[B-s(0) -> X(3872)phi]/B[B+-> X(3872)K+] is two times smaller. This suggests a difference in the production dynamics of the X(3872) in B-0 and B(0)s meson decays compared to B+. The reported observation may shed new light on the nature of the X(3872) particle.Peer reviewe

Observation of a New Excited Beauty Strange Baryon Decaying to Ξb- π+π-

The Ξb-π+π- invariant mass spectrum is investigated with an event sample of proton-proton collisions at s=13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2016-2018 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb-1. The ground state Ξb- is reconstructed via its decays to J/ψΞ- and J/ψΛK-. A narrow resonance, labeled Ξb(6100)-, is observed at a Ξb-π+π- invariant mass of 6100.3±0.2(stat)±0.1(syst)±0.6(Ξb-) MeV, where the last uncertainty reflects the precision of the Ξb- baryon mass. The upper limit on the Ξb(6100)- natural width is determined to be 1.9 MeV at 95% confidence level. The low Ξb(6100)- signal yield observed in data does not allow a measurement of the quantum numbers of the new state. However, following analogies with the established excited Ξc baryon states, the new Ξb(6100)- resonance and its decay sequence are consistent with the orbitally excited Ξb- baryon, with spin and parity quantum numbers JP=3/2-

Measurement of the inclusive and differential Higgs boson production cross sections in the decay mode to a pair of τ Leptons in pp collisions at sqrt[s]=13 TeV

Measurements of the inclusive and differential fiducial cross sections of the Higgs boson are presented, using the τ lepton decay channel. The differential cross sections are measured as functions of the Higgs boson transverse momentum, jet multiplicity, and transverse momentum of the leading jet in the event, if any. The analysis is performed using proton-proton collision data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13  TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138  fb^{-1}. These are the first differential measurements of the Higgs boson cross section in the final state of two τ leptons. In final states with a large jet multiplicity or with a Lorentz-boosted Higgs boson, these measurements constitute a significant improvement over measurements performed in other final states