212 research outputs found
Occurrence of Legionella in beach shower facilities
It has been analyzed 36 samples of water proceeding from beach
shower facilities: 7 of these were found to be contaminated with
Legionella (19.44%). In three showers, L. pneumophila 1 was
reported, in two L. pneumophila 2-14; in another two cases L.
pneumophila 2-14 was found together with Legionella sp. and L.
pneumophila 1 together with L. pneumophila 2-14.
This study, which confirms the circulation of Legionella in our
region of southern Italy, extends the list of the possible sources
of infection, including also public and private beaches among
the contaminated sites.
It is the Authors opinion that when evaluating the risk in these
cases we should take into account that the crowding of the
beaches in the summer months and the communal nature of
shower use in these periods increases the frequency of exposure
of children and old people. These vulnerable categories are significantly
more likely to develop the disease once infected
Post-Mortem Immunohistochemical Evidence of β2-Adrenergic Receptor Expression in the Adrenal Gland
The evidence from post-mortem biochemical studies conducted on cortisol and catecholamines suggest that analysis of the adrenal gland could provide useful information about its role in human pathophysiology and the stress response. Authors designed an immunohistochemical study on the expression of the adrenal β2-adrenergic receptor (β2-AR), a receptor with high-affinity for catecholamines, with the aim to show which zones it is expressed in and how its expression differs in relation to the cause of death. The immunohistochemical study was performed on adrenal glands obtained from 48 forensic autopsies of subjects that died as a result of different pathogenic mechanisms using a mouse monoclonal β2-AR antibody. The results show that immunoreactivity for β2-AR was observed in all adrenal zones. Furthermore, immunoreactivity for β2-AR has shown variation in the localization and intensity of different patterns in relation to the original cause of death. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that demonstrates β2-AR expression in the human cortex and provides suggestions on the possible involvement of β2-AR in human cortex hormonal stimulation. In conclusion, the authors provide a possible explanation for the observed differences in expression in relation to the cause of death
Caspase 9 and caspase 3 immunohistochemical pattern in skeletal and cardiac muscles at different times after death: An experimental study on pmi estimation
(1) Background: The estimation of the post mortem interval (PMI) is a challenge for forensic pathologists because data emerging from methods commonly applied are not always conclusive, since several conditions exist that may affect the reliability of these parameters. Thus, new approaches have been proposed to overcome such a limit. In recent years, several studies have been performed on proteins analyzing their expression/degradation patterns in relation to the progressing of the post mortem interval. (2) Methods: The immunoreactivity patterns of two apoptosis mediators— Caspase 9 and Caspase 3—have been tested in order to evaluate their potential role as markers of the post mortem interval. The immunohistochemical analysis was performed on samples of skeletal and cardiac muscles obtained from rats at 0, 4, 8, 12, 24 and 72 h after death. (3) Results: The observed immunoreactivity patterns of both Caspase 9 and Caspase 3 showed a significant correlation with increasing post mortem interval either in skeletal or cardiac muscles, while the comparison of the immunoreactivity patterns of the two apoptotic mediators within each tissue appeared consistent with a preliminary activation of the “initiator” Caspase 9, which, in turn, subsequently activates the “executioner” Caspase 3. (4) Conclusion: The different expressions and decrease immunohistochemically observed on both caspases with progressing PMI support the usefulness of the combined analysis for post mortem interval estimation
Elastic Scattering and Total Cross-Section in p+p reactions measured by the LHC Experiment TOTEM at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
Proton-proton elastic scattering has been measured by the TOTEM experiment at
the CERN Large Hadron Collider at TeV in special runs with the
Roman Pot detectors placed as close to the outgoing beam as seven times the
transverse beam size. The differential cross-section measurements are reported
in the |t|-range of 0.36 to 2.5 GeV^2. Extending the range of data to low t
values from 0.02 to 0.33 GeV^2,and utilizing the luminosity measurements of
CMS, the total proton-proton cross section at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV is measured to be
(98.3 +- 0.2(stat) +- 2.8(syst)) mb.Comment: Proceedings of the XLI International Symposium on Multiparticle
Dynamics. Accepted for publication in Prog. Theor. Phy
First Results from the TOTEM Experiment
The first physics results from the TOTEM experiment are here reported,
concerning the measurements of the total, differential elastic, elastic and
inelastic pp cross-section at the LHC energy of = 7 TeV, obtained
using the luminosity measurement from CMS. A preliminary measurement of the
forward charged particle distribution is also shown.Comment: Conference Proceeding. MPI@LHC 2010: 2nd International Workshop on
Multiple Partonic Interactions at the LHC. Glasgow (UK), 29th of November to
the 3rd of December 201
LHC Optics Measurement with Proton Tracks Detected by the Roman Pots of the TOTEM Experiment
Precise knowledge of the beam optics at the LHC is crucial to fulfil the
physics goals of the TOTEM experiment, where the kinematics of the scattered
protons is reconstructed with the near-beam telescopes -- so-called Roman Pots
(RP). Before being detected, the protons' trajectories are influenced by the
magnetic fields of the accelerator lattice. Thus precise understanding of the
proton transport is of key importance for the experiment. A novel method of
optics evaluation is proposed which exploits kinematical distributions of
elastically scattered protons observed in the RPs. Theoretical predictions, as
well as Monte Carlo studies, show that the residual uncertainty of this optics
estimation method is smaller than 0.25 percent.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figures, 5 figures, to be submitted to New J. Phy
Double diffractive cross-section measurement in the forward region at LHC
The first double diffractive cross-section measurement in the very forward
region has been carried out by the TOTEM experiment at the LHC with
center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s)=7 TeV. By utilizing the very forward TOTEM
tracking detectors T1 and T2, which extend up to |eta|=6.5, a clean sample of
double diffractive pp events was extracted. From these events, we measured the
cross-section sigma_DD =(116 +- 25) mub for events where both diffractive
systems have 4.7 <|eta|_min < 6.5 .Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, submitted for publicatio
Proton-proton elastic scattering at the LHC energy of {\surd} = 7 TeV
Proton-proton elastic scattering has been measured by the TOTEM experiment at
the CERN Large Hadron Collider at {\surd}s = 7 TeV in dedicated runs with the
Roman Pot detectors placed as close as seven times the transverse beam size
(sbeam) from the outgoing beams. After careful study of the accelerator optics
and the detector alignment, |t|, the square of four-momentum transferred in the
elastic scattering process, has been determined with an uncertainty of d t =
0.1GeV p|t|. In this letter, first results of the differential cross section
are presented covering a |t|-range from 0.36 to 2.5GeV2. The differential
cross-section in the range 0.36 < |t| < 0.47 GeV2 is described by an
exponential with a slope parameter B = (23.6{\pm}0.5stat {\pm}0.4syst)GeV-2,
followed by a significant diffractive minimum at |t| =
(0.53{\pm}0.01stat{\pm}0.01syst)GeV2. For |t|-values larger than ~ 1.5GeV2, the
cross-section exhibits a power law behaviour with an exponent of -7.8_\pm}
0.3stat{\pm}0.1syst. When compared to predictions based on the different
available models, the data show a strong discriminative power despite the small
t-range covered.Comment: 12pages, 5 figures, CERN preprin
Performance of the TOTEM Detectors at the LHC
The TOTEM Experiment is designed to measure the total proton-proton
cross-section with the luminosity-independent method and to study elastic and
diffractive pp scattering at the LHC. To achieve optimum forward coverage for
charged particles emitted by the pp collisions in the interaction point IP5,
two tracking telescopes, T1 and T2, are installed on each side of the IP in the
pseudorapidity region 3.1 < = |eta | < = 6.5, and special movable beam-pipe
insertions - called Roman Pots (RP) - are placed at distances of +- 147 m and
+- 220 m from IP5. This article describes in detail the working of the TOTEM
detector to produce physics results in the first three years of operation and
data taking at the LHC.Comment: 40 pages, 31 figures, submitted to Int. J. Mod. Phys.
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