12 research outputs found
Matrix metalloproteinases 2 and 9 (gelatinases A and B) expression in malignant mesothelioma and benign pleura
Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), in particular the gelatinases (MMP-2 and -9), play a significant role in tumour invasion and angiogenesis. The expression and activities of MMPs have not been characterised in malignant mesothelioma (MM) tumour samples. In a prospective study, gelatinase activity was evaluated in homogenised supernatants of snap frozen MM (n = 35), inflamed pleura (IP, n = 12) and uninflammed pleura (UP, n = 14) tissue specimens by semiquantitative gelatin zymography. Matrix metalloproteinases were correlated with clinicopathological factors and with survival using Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazard models. In MM, pro- and active MMP-2 levels were significantly greater than for MMP-9 (P = 0.006, P<0.001). Active MMP-2 was significantly greater in MM than in UP (P=0.04). MMP-2 activity was equivalent between IP and MM, but both pro- and active MMP-9 activities were greater in IP (P=0.02, P=0.009). While there were trends towards poor survival with increasing total and pro-MMP-2 activity (P=0.08) in univariate analysis, they were both independent poor prognostic factors in multivariate analysis in conjunction with weight loss (pro-MMP-2 P = 0.03, total MMP-2 P = 0.04). Total and pro-MMP-2 also contributed to the Cancer and Leukemia Group B prognostic groups. MMP-9 activities were not prognostic. Matrix metalloproteinases, and in particular MMP-2, the most abundant gelatinase, may play an important role in MM tumour growth and metastasis. Agents that reduce MMP synthesis and/or activity may have a role to play in the management of MM. © 2003 Cancer Research UK
Effective Rheology of Bubbles Moving in a Capillary Tube
We calculate the average volumetric flux versus pressure drop of bubbles
moving in a single capillary tube with varying diameter, finding a square-root
relation from mapping the flow equations onto that of a driven overdamped
pendulum. The calculation is based on a derivation of the equation of motion of
a bubble train from considering the capillary forces and the entropy production
associated with the viscous flow. We also calculate the configurational
probability of the positions of the bubbles.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
Search for dark photons produced in 13 TeV collisions
Searches are performed for both promptlike and long-lived dark photons,
A
0
, produced in proton-proton
collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, using
A
0
→
μ
þ
μ
−
decays and a data sample corresponding
to an integrated luminosity of
1
.
6
fb
−
1
collected with the LHCb detector. The promptlike
A
0
search covers
the mass range from near the dimuon threshold up to 70 GeV, while the long-lived
A
0
search is restricted to
the low-mass region
214
<m
ð
A
0
Þ
<
350
MeV. No evidence for a signal is found, and 90% confidence
level exclusion limits are placed on the
γ
–
A
0
kinetic-mixing strength. The constraints placed on promptlike
dark photons are the most stringent to date for the mass range
10
.
6
<m
ð
A
0
Þ
<
70
GeV, and are
comparable to the best existing limits for
m
ð
A
0
Þ
<
0
.
5
GeV. The search for long-lived dark photons is the
first to achieve sensitivity using a displaced-vertex signature
Measurement of the tensor structure function b(1) of the deuteron
The Hermes experiment has investigated the tensor spin structure of the deuteron using the 27.6 GeV/c positron beam of DESY HERA. The use of a tensor-polarized deuteron gas target with only a negligible residual vector polarization enabled the first measurement of the tensor asymmetry A(zz)(d) and the tensor structure function b(1)(d) for average values of the Bjorken variable 0.01 < 5 GeV2. The quantities A(zz)(d) and b(1)(d) are found to be nonzero. The rise of b(1)(d) for decreasing values of x can be interpreted to originate from the same mechanism that leads to nuclear shadowing in unpolarized scattering
Measurement of the CKM angle γ using B± → DK± with D → K S 0 π+π−, K S 0 K+K− decays
A binned Dalitz plot analysis of B ± → DK ± decays, with D→K0Sπ+π− and D→K0SK+K−, is performed to measure the CP-violating observables x ± and y ±, which are sensitive to the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa angle γ. The analysis exploits a sample of proton-proton collision data corresponding to 3.0 fb−1 collected by the LHCb experiment. Measurements from CLEO-c of the variation of the strong-interaction phase of the D decay over the Dalitz plot are used as inputs. The values of the parameters are found to be x + = (−7.7 ± 2.4 ± 1.0 ± 0.4) × 10− 2, x − = (2.5 ± 2.5 ± 1.0 ± 0.5) × 10− 2, y + = (−2.2 ± 2.5 ± 0.4 ± 1.0) × 10− 2 and y − = (7.5 ± 2.9 ± 0.5 ± 1.4) × 10− 2. The first, second, and third uncertainties are the statistical, the experimental systematic, and that associated with the precision of the strong-phase parameters. These are the most precise measurements of these observables and correspond to γ = (62 − 14 + 15) ° , with a second solution at γ → γ + 180°, and r B = 0.080 − 0.021 + 0.019, where r B is the ratio between the suppressed and favoured B decay amplitudes
Measurements of the branching fractions of Λ c + → pπ−π+, Λ c + → pK−K+, and Λ c + → pπ−K+
The ratios of the branching fractions of the decays , , and with respect to the Cabibbo-favoured decay are measured using proton-proton collision data collected with the LHCb experiment at a 7 TeV centre-of-mass energy and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb: \begin{align*} \frac{\mathcal{B}(\Lambda_{c}^{+} \rightarrow p \pi^{-} \pi^{+})}{\mathcal{B}(\Lambda_{c}^{+} \rightarrow p K^{-} \pi^{+})} & = (7.44 \pm 0.08 \pm 0.18)\,\%, \\ \frac{\mathcal{B}(\Lambda_{c}^{+} \rightarrow p K^{-} K^{+})}{\mathcal{B}(\Lambda_{c}^{+} \rightarrow p K^{-} \pi^{+})} &= (1.70 \pm 0.03 \pm 0.03)\,\%, \\ \frac{\mathcal{B}(\Lambda_{c}^{+} \rightarrow p \pi^{-} K^{+})}{\mathcal{B}(\Lambda_{c}^{+} \rightarrow p K^{-} \pi^{+})} & = (0.165 \pm 0.015 \pm 0.005 )\,\%, \end{align*} where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. These results are the most precise measurements of these quantities to date. When multiplied by the world-average value for , the corresponding branching fractions are \begin{align*} \mathcal{B}(\Lambda_{c}^{+} \rightarrow p \pi^{-} \pi^{+}) &= (4.72 \pm 0.05 \pm 0.11 \pm 0.25) \times 10^{-3}, \\ \mathcal{B}(\Lambda_{c}^{+} \rightarrow p K^{-} K^{+}) &= (1.08 \pm 0.02 \pm 0.02 \pm 0.06) \times 10^{-3}, \\ \mathcal{B}(\Lambda_{c}^{+} \rightarrow p \pi^{-} K^{+}) &= (1.04 \pm 0.09 \pm 0.03 \pm 0.05) \times 10^{-4}, \end{align*} where the final uncertainty is due to