The Bactericidal Activity of Carbon Monoxide-Releasing Molecules against Helicobacter pylori

Helicobacter pylori is a pathogen that establishes long life infections responsible for chronic gastric ulcer diseases and a proved risk factor for gastric carcinoma. The therapeutic properties of carbon-monoxide releasing molecules (CORMs) led us to investigate their effect on H. pylori. We show that H. pylori 26695 is susceptible to two widely used CORMs, namely CORM-2 and CORM-3. Also, several H. pylori clinical isolates were killed by CORM-2, including those resistant to metronidazole. Moreover, sub-lethal doses of CORM-2 combined with metronidazole, amoxicillin and clarithromycin was found to potentiate the effect of the antibiotics. We further demonstrate that the mechanisms underpinning the antimicrobial effect of CORMs involve the inhibition of H. pylori respiration and urease activity. In vivo studies done in key cells of the innate immune system, such as macrophages, showed that CORM-2, either alone or when combined with metronidazole, strongly reduces the ability of H. pylori to infect animal cells. Hence, CORMs have the potential to kill antibiotic resistant strains of H. pylori

A hydrothermal karst-hosted U-P deposit related to Pangea break-up: Itataia deposit, Borborema Province, Northeastern Brazil - a review

The Itataia U-P deposit holds the second largest uranium reserve in Brazil. All of the uranium is contained within the microcrystalline structure of fluorapatite, which is the ore mineral of the collophanite bodies. The main lithology that hosts the mineralization is marble, and the collophanite occurs as massive bodies, stockwork vein, breccia, filling vugs in episyenites, and disseminated in host rocks. This review shows that five important episodes in the Northern Borborema Province, leading to the consolidation of the Itataia U-P deposit: i) deposition of a phosphate-rich Neoproterozoic supracrustal quartz-pelite-carbonate sequence, represented by the Itataia Group; ii) building of the Neoproterozoic Tamboril-Santa Quitéria continental magmatic arc, responsible for the partial melting of the phosphate-rich supracrustal sequence; iii) Na-metasomatism related to Neoproterozoic/Cambrian-Ordovician post-collisional to anorogenic granitoids, which generated uranium-rich albitite, as well as barren episyenite bodies; iv) Cretaceous hydrothermal karstic event related to the generalized fracturing of the continental crust caused by the Pangea break-up and making possible the deposition of collophanites in the karstic features and vugs in episyenites; v) reworking of the collophanites with the deposition of breccia in paleokarstic features in the marble

Relativistic transition wavelenghts and probabilities for spectral lines of Ne II

Transition wavelengths and probabilities for several 2p4 3p - 2p4 3s and 2p4 3d - 2p4 3p lines in fuorine-like neon ion (NeII) have been calculated within the multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock (MCDF) method with quantum electrodynamics (QED) corrections. The results are compared with all existing experimental and theoretical data

Evidence for a mixed mass composition at the `ankle' in the cosmic-ray spectrum

We report a first measurement for ultra-high energy cosmic rays of the correlation between the depth of shower maximum and the signal in the water Cherenkov stations of air-showers registered simultaneously by the fluorescence and the surface detectors of the Pierre Auger Observatory. Such a correlation measurement is a unique feature of a hybrid air-shower observatory with sensitivity to both the electromagnetic and muonic components. It allows an accurate determination of the spread of primary masses in the cosmic-ray flux. Up till now, constraints on the spread of primary masses have been dominated by systematic uncertainties. The present correlation measurement is not affected by systematics in the measurement of the depth of shower maximum or the signal in the water Cherenkov stations. The analysis relies on general characteristics of air showers and is thus robust also with respect to uncertainties in hadronic event generators. The observed correlation in the energy range around the `ankle' at $\lg(E/{\rm eV})=18.5-19.0$ differs significantly from expectations for pure primary cosmic-ray compositions. A light composition made up of proton and helium only is equally inconsistent with observations. The data are explained well by a mixed composition including nuclei with mass $A > 4$. Scenarios such as the proton dip model, with almost pure compositions, are thus disfavoured as the sole explanation of the ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray flux at Earth.Comment: Published version. Added journal reference and DOI. Added Report Numbe

The exposure of the hybrid detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory is a detector for ultra-high energy cosmic rays. It consists of a surface array to measure secondary particles at ground level and a fluorescence detector to measure the development of air showers in the atmosphere above the array. The "hybrid" detection mode combines the information from the two subsystems. We describe the determination of the hybrid exposure for events observed by the fluorescence telescopes in coincidence with at least one water-Cherenkov detector of the surface array. A detailed knowledge of the time dependence of the detection operations is crucial for an accurate evaluation of the exposure. We discuss the relevance of monitoring data collected during operations, such as the status of the fluorescence detector, background light and atmospheric conditions, that are used in both simulation and reconstruction.Comment: Paper accepted by Astroparticle Physic

Advanced functionality for radio analysis in the Offline software framework of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The advent of the Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) necessitates the development of a powerful framework for the analysis of radio measurements of cosmic ray air showers. As AERA performs "radio-hybrid" measurements of air shower radio emission in coincidence with the surface particle detectors and fluorescence telescopes of the Pierre Auger Observatory, the radio analysis functionality had to be incorporated in the existing hybrid analysis solutions for fluoresence and surface detector data. This goal has been achieved in a natural way by extending the existing Auger Offline software framework with radio functionality. In this article, we lay out the design, highlights and features of the radio extension implemented in the Auger Offline framework. Its functionality has achieved a high degree of sophistication and offers advanced features such as vectorial reconstruction of the electric field, advanced signal processing algorithms, a transparent and efficient handling of FFTs, a very detailed simulation of detector effects, and the read-in of multiple data formats including data from various radio simulation codes. The source code of this radio functionality can be made available to interested parties on request.Comment: accepted for publication in NIM A, 13 pages, minor corrections to author list and references in v

Search for First Harmonic Modulation in the Right Ascension Distribution of Cosmic Rays Detected at the Pierre Auger Observatory

We present the results of searches for dipolar-type anisotropies in different energy ranges above $2.5\times 10^{17}$ eV with the surface detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory, reporting on both the phase and the amplitude measurements of the first harmonic modulation in the right-ascension distribution. Upper limits on the amplitudes are obtained, which provide the most stringent bounds at present, being below 2% at 99% $C.L.$ for EeV energies. We also compare our results to those of previous experiments as well as with some theoretical expectations.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figure

Severe asthma: One disease and multiple definitions

Introduction: There is, so far, no universal definition of severe asthma. This definition usually relies on: number of exacerbations, inhaled therapy, need for oral corticosteroids, and respiratory function. The use of such parameters varies in the different definitions used. Thus, according to the parameters chosen, each patient may result in having severe asthma or not. The aim of this study was to evaluate how the choice of a specific definition of severe asthma can change the allocation of patients. Methods: Data collected from the Severe Asthma Network Italy (SANI) registry were analyzed. All the patients included were then reclassified according to the definitions of U-BIOPRED, NICE, WHO, ATS/ERS, GINA, ENFUMOSA, and TENOR. Results: 540 patients, were extracted from the SANI database. We observed that 462 (86%) met the ATS/ERS criteria as well as the GINA criteria, 259 (48%) the U-Biopred, 222 (41%) the NICE, 125 (23%) the WHO, 313 (58%) the Enfumosa, and 251 (46%) the TENOR criteria. The mean eosinophil value were similar in the ATS/ERS, U-Biopred, and Enfumosa (528, 532 and 516 cells/mcl), higher in WHO and Tenor (567 and 570 cells/mcl) and much higher in the NICE classification (624 cells/mcl). Lung function tests resulted similarly in all groups, with WHO (67%) and ATS/ERS-GINA (73%), respectively, showing the lower and upper mean FEV1 values. Conclusions: The present observations clearly evidence the heterogeneity in the distribution of patients when different definitions of severe asthma are used. However, the recent definition of severe asthma, provided by the GINA document, is similar to that indicated in 2014 by ATS/ERS, allowing mirror reclassification of the patients examined. This lack of homogeneity could complicate the access to biological therapies. The definition provided by the GINA document, which reflects what suggested by ATS/ERS, could partially overcome the problem

The energy spectrum of cosmic rays beyond the turn-down around 10^17 eV as measured with the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

We present a measurement of the cosmic-ray spectrum above 100 PeV using the part of the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory that has a spacing of 750 m. An inflection of the spectrum is observed, confirming the presence of the so-called second-knee feature. The spectrum is then combined with that of the 1500 m array to produce a single measurement of the flux, linking this spectral feature with the three additional breaks at the highest energies. The combined spectrum, with an energy scale set calorimetrically via fluorescence telescopes and using a single detector type, results in the most statistically and systematically precise measurement of spectral breaks yet obtained. These measurements are critical for furthering our understanding of the highest energy cosmic rays