Influence of Pretransplant Restrictive Lung Disease on Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Outcomes

We conducted a 15-year retrospective cohort study to determine the prevalence of restrictive lung disease prior to allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT), and to assess whether this was a risk factor for poor outcomes. 2545 patients were eligible for the analysis. Restrictive lung disease was defined as a total lung capacity (TLC) <80% of predicted normal. Chest x-rays and /or computed tomography scans were reviewed for all restricted patients to determine whether lung parenchymal abnormalities were unlikely or highly likely to cause restriction. Multivariate Cox-proportional hazard and sensitivity analyses were performed to assess the relationship between restriction and early respiratory failure and nonrelapse mortality. Restrictive lung disease was present in 194 subjects (7.6%) prior to transplantation. Among these cases, radiographically apparent abnormalities were unlikely to be the cause of the restriction in 149 (77%) subjects. In unadjusted and adjusted analyses, the presence of pulmonary restriction was significantly associated with a 2-fold increase in risk for early respiratory failure and nonrelapse mortality, suggesting that these outcomes occurring in the absence of radiographically apparent abnormalities may be related to respiratory muscle weakness. These findings suggest that pulmonary restriction should be considered as a risk factor for poor outcomes after transplant

The PLASMONX Project for advanced beam physics experiments

The Project PLASMONX is well progressing into its design phase and has entered as well its second phase of procurements for main components. The project foresees the installation at LNF of a Ti:Sa laser system (peak power > 170 TW), synchronized to the high brightness electron beam produced by the SPARC photo-injector. The advancement of the procurement of such a laser system is reported, as well as the construction plans of a new building at LNF to host a dedicated laboratory for high intensity photon beam experiments (High Intensity Laser Laboratory). Several experiments are foreseen using this complex facility, mainly in the high gradient plasma acceleration field and in the field of mono- chromatic ultra-fast X-ray pulse generation via Thomson back-scattering. Detailed numerical simulations have been carried out to study the generation of tightly focused electron bunches to collide with laser pulses in the Thomson source: results on the emitted spectra of X-rays are presented

Leading Neutron Production in e\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3e p Collisions at HERA

The production of neutrons carrying at least 20% of the proton beam energy (xL \u3e 0.2) in e+ p collisions has been studied with the ZEUS detector at HERA for a wide range of Q2, the photon virtuality, from photoproduction to deep inelastic scattering. The neutron-tagged cross section, ep → e′ Xn, is measured relative to the inclusive cross section, ep → e′ X, thereby reducing the systematic uncertainties. For xL \u3e 0.3, the rate of neutrons in photoproduction is about half of that measured in hadroproduction, which constitutes a clear breaking of factorisation. There is about a 20% rise in the neutron rate between photoproduction and deep inelastic scattering, which may be attributed to absorptive rescattering in the γ p system. For 0.64 \u3c xL \u3c 0.82, the rate of neutrons is almost independent of the Bjorken scaling variable x and Q2. However, at lower and higher xL values, there is a clear but weak dependence on these variables, thus demonstrating the breaking of limiting fragmentation. The neutron-tagged structure function, F2LN(3) (x, Q2, xL), rises at low values of x in a way similar to that of the inclusive F2(x, Q2) of the proton. The total γπ cross section and the structure function of the pion, F2π (xπ, Q2) where xπ = x/(1 - xL), have been determined using a one-pion-exchange model, up to uncertainties in the normalisation due to the poorly understood pion flux. At fixed Q2, F2π has approximately the same x dependence as F2 of the proton. © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V

Measurement of the Neutral Current Cross Section and F\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e Structure Function for Deep Inelastic e\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3ep Scattering at HERA

The cross section and the proton structure function F2 for neutral current deep inelastic e+p scattering have been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 30 pb-1. The data were collected in 1996 and 1997 at a centre-of-mass energy of 300 GeV. They cover the kinematic range 2.7 \u3c Q2 \u3c 30000 GeV2 and 6-10-5 \u3c cursive Greek chi \u3c 0.65. The variation of F2 with cursive Greek chi and Q2 is well described by next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD as implemented in the DGLAP evolution equations

Measurement of Dijet Cross Sections for Events with a Leading Neutron in Photoproduction at HERA

Differential cross sections for dijet photoproduction in association with a leading neutron using the reaction e+ + p → e+ + n + jet + jet + Xr have been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 6.4 pb-1. The fraction of dijet events with a leading neutron in the final state was studied as a function of the jet kinematic variables. The cross sections were measured for jet transverse energies EjetT \u3e 6 GeV, neutron energy En \u3e 400 GeV, and neutron production angle θn \u3c 0.8 mrad. The data are broadly consistent with factorization of the lepton and hadron vertices and with a simple one-pion-exchange model. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

Measurement of Open Beauty production in Photoproduction at HERA

The production and semi-leptonic decay of heavy quarks have been studied in the photoproduction process e+p → e+ + dijet + e- + X with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 38.5 pb-1. Events with photon-proton centre-of-mass energies, Wγp, between 134 and 269 GeV and a photon virtuality, Q2, less than 1 GeV2 were selected requiring at least two jets of transverse energy Ejet1(2)T \u3e 7(6) GeV and an electron in the final state. The electrons were identified by employing the ionisation energy loss measurement. The contribution of beauty quarks was determined using the transverse momentum of the electron relative to the axis of the closest jet, prelT. The data, after background subtraction, were fit with a Monte Carlo simulation including beauty and charm decays. The measured beauty cross section was extrapolated to the parton level with the b quark restricted to the region of transverse momentum pbT \u3e = 5 GeV and pseudorapidity |ηb| \u3c 2. The extrapolated cross section is 1.6 ± 0.4 (stat.)+0.3-0.5(syst.)+0.2-0.4(ext.) nb. The result is compared to a perturbative QCD calculation performed to next-to-leading order

Dijet Photoproduction at HERA and the Structure of the Photon

The dijet cross section in photoproduction has been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 38.6 pb-1. The events were required to have a virtuality of the incoming photon, Q2, of less than 1 GeV2 and a photon-proton centre-of-mass energy in the range 134 \u3c Wγp \u3c 277 GeV. Each event contains at least two jets satisfying transverse-energy requirements of ETjet1 \u3e 14 GeV and ETjet2 \u3e 11 GeV and pseudorapidity requirements of -1 \u3c ηjet1,2 \u3c 2.4. The measurements are compared to next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. The data show particular sensitivity to the density of partons in the photon, allowing the validity of the current parameterisations to be tested

Measurement of the Proton Structure Function F\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e at Very Low Q\u3csup\u3e2\u3c/sup\u3e at HERA

A measurement of the proton structure function F2(x, Q2) is presented in the kinematic range 0.045 GeV2 \u3c Q2 \u3c 0.65 GeV2 and 6 · 10-7 \u3c x \u3c 1 · 10-3. The results were obtained using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.9pb-1 in e+ p reactions recorded with the ZEUS detector at HERA. Information from a silicon-strip tracking detector, installed in front of the small electromagnetic calorimeter used to measure the energy of the final-state positron at small scattering angles, together with an enhanced simulation of the hadronic final state, has permitted the extension of the kinematic range beyond that of previous measurements. The uncertainties in F2 are typically less than 4%. At the low Q2 values of the present measurement, the rise of F2 at low x is slower than observed in HERA data at higher Q2 and can be described by Regge theory with a constant logarithmic slope δlnF2/δln(1/x). The dependence of F2 on Q2 is stronger than at higher Q2 values, approaching, at the lowest Q2 values of this measurement, a region where F2 becomes nearly proportional to Q2. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V

Study of the Effective Transverse Momentum of Partons in the Proton Using Prompt Photons in Photoproduction at HERA

The photoproduction of prompt photons, together with an accompanying jet, has been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 38.6 pb-1. A study of the effective transverse momentum, (kT), of partons in the proton, as modelled within the framework of the PYTHIA Monte Carlo, gives a value of (kT) = 1.69 ± 0.18 -0.20+0.18 GeV for the γp centre-of-mass energy range 134 \u3c W \u3c 251 GeV. This result is in agreement with the previously observed trend in hadron-hadron scattering for (kT) to rise with interaction energy. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V

Measurement of the Photon-proton Total Cross Section at a Center-of-mass Energy of 209 GeV at HERA

The photon-proton total cross section has been measured in the process e+ p → e+ γp → e+ X with the ZEUS detector at HERA. Events were collected with photon virtuality Q2 \u3c 0.02 GeV2 and average γp center-of-mass energy Wγp = 209 GeV in a dedicated run, designed to control systematic effects, with an integrated luminosity of 49 nb-1. The measured total cross section is σtotγp = 174 ± 1 (stat.) ± 13 (syst.) μb. The energy dependence of the cross section is compatible with parameterizations of high-energy pp and pap data. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved