Kinin-B1 receptors in ischaemia-induced pancreatitis: Functional importance and cellular localisation

In this study we compare the role of kininB1 and B2 receptors during ischaemia/reperfusion of rat pancreas. Our investigations were prompted by the observation that infusion of a kininB2 receptor antagonist produced significant improvement in acute experimental pancreatitis. In an acute model with two hours of ischaemia/two hours of reperfusion, application of the kininB1 receptor antagonist (CP-0298) alone, or in combination with kininB2 receptor antagonist (CP-0597), significantly reduced the number of adherent leukocytes in postcapillary venules. In a chronic model with five days of reperfusion, the continuous application of kininB1 receptor antagonist or a combination of kininB1 and B2 receptor antagonists markedly reduced the survival rate. In kininreceptor binding studies kininB1 receptor showed a 22-fold increase in expression during the time of ischaemia/ reperfusion. Carboxypeptidase M activity was upregulated 10-fold following two hours of ischaemia and two hours of reperfusion, provided the appropriate specific ligand, desArg10-kallidin and/or desArg9-bradykinin, was used. The occurrence of kininB1 receptor binding sites on acinar cell membranes was demonstrated by microautoradiography. With a specific antibody, the localisation of kininB1 receptor protein was confirmed at the same sites. In conclusion, we have demonstrated the upregulation of the pancreatic acinar cell kininB1 receptors during ischaemia/reperfusion. The novel functional finding was that antagonism of the kininB1 receptors decreased the survival rate in an experimental model of pancreatitis

Calibration of Plastic Phoswich Detectors for Charged Particle Detection

The response of an array of plastic phoswich detectors to ions of $1\le Z\le 18$ has been measured from $E/A$=12 to 72 MeV. The detector response has been parameterized by a three parameter fit which includes both quenching and high energy delta-ray effects. The fits have a mean variation of $\le 4\%$ with respect to the data.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure

Measurement of Pion Enhancement at Low Transverse Momentum and of the Delta-Resonance Abundance in Si-Nucleus Collisions at AGS Energy

We present measurements of the pion transverse momentum (p_t) spectra in central Si-nucleus collisions in the rapidity range 2.0<y<5.0 for p_t down to and including p_t=0. The data exhibit an enhanced pion yield at low p_t compared to what is expected for a purely thermal spectral shape. This enhancement is used to determine the Delta-resonance abundance at freeze-out. The results are consistent with a direct measurement of the Delta-resonance yield by reconstruction of proton-pion pairs and imply a temperature of the system at freeze-out close to 140 MeV.Comment: 12 pages + 4 figures (uuencoded at end-of-file

Mach Cones in Quark Gluon Plasma

The experimental azimuthal dihadron distributions at RHIC show a double peak structure in the away side ($\Delta \phi = \pi \pm 1.2$ rad.) for intermediate $p_t$ particles. A variety of models have appeared trying to describe this modification. We will review most of them, with special emphasis in the Conical Flow scenario in which the observed shape is a consequence of the emission of sound by a supersonic high momentum particle propagating in the Quark Gluon Plasma.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, Invited plenary talk given at the 19th International Conference on Ultrarelativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions: Quark Matter 2006 (QM 2006), Shanghai, China, 14-20 Nov 200

Antiproton Production in 11.5 A GeV/c Au+Pb Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions

We present the first results from the E864 collaboration on the production of antiprotons in 10% central 11.5 A GeV/c Au+Pb nucleus collisions at the Brookhaven AGS. We report invariant multiplicities for antiproton production in the kinematic region 1.4<y<2.2 and 50<p_T<300 MeV/c, and compare our data with a first collision scaling model and previously published results from the E878 collaboration. The differences between the E864 and E878 antiproton measurements and the implications for antihyperon production are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures; accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter

Covariance of Antiproton Yield and Source Size in Nuclear Collisions

We confront for the first time the widely-held belief that combined event-by-event information from quark gluon plasma signals can reduce the ambiguity of the individual signals. We illustrate specifically how the measured antiproton yield combined with the information from pion-pion HBT correlations can be used to identify novel event classes.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, improved title, references and readability; results unchange

Two-pion correlations in Au+Au collisions at 10.8 GeV/c per nucleon

Two-particle correlation functions for positive and negative pions have been measured in Au+Au collisions at 10.8~GeV/c per nucleon. The data were analyzed using one- and three-dimensional correlation functions. From the results of the three-dimensional fit the phase space density of pions was calculated. It is consistent with local thermal equilibrium.Comment: 5 pages RevTeX (including 3 Figures

Mass dependence of light nucleus production in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions

Light nuclei can be produced in the central reaction zone via coalescence in relativistic heavy ion collisions. E864 at BNL has measured the production of ten light nuclei with nuclear number of A=1 to A=7 at rapidity $y\simeq1.9$ and $p_{T}/A\leq300MeV/c$. Data were taken with a Au beam of momentum of 11.5 A $GeV/c$ on a Pb or Pt target with different experimental settings. The invariant yields show a striking exponential dependence on nuclear number with a penalty factor of about 50 per additional nucleon. Detailed analysis reveals that the production may depend on the spin factor of the nucleus and the nuclear binding energy as well.Comment: (6 pages, 3 figures), some changes on text, references and figures' lettering. To be published in PRL (13Dec1999