252 research outputs found
Comparative metal oxide nanoparticle toxicity using embryonic zebrafish
AbstractEngineered metal oxide nanoparticles (MO NPs) are finding increasing utility in the medical field as anticancer agents. Before validation of in vivo anticancer efficacy can occur, a better understanding of whole-animal toxicity is required. We compared the toxicity of seven widely used semiconductor MO NPs made from zinc oxide (ZnO), titanium dioxide, cerium dioxide and tin dioxide prepared in pure water and in synthetic seawater using a five-day embryonic zebrafish assay. We hypothesized that the toxicity of these engineered MO NPs would depend on physicochemical properties. Significant agglomeration of MO NPs in aqueous solutions is common making it challenging to associate NP characteristics such as size and charge with toxicity. However, data from our agglomerated MO NPs suggests that the elemental composition and dissolution potential are major drivers of toxicity. Only ZnO caused significant adverse effects of all MO particles tested, and only when prepared in pure water (point estimate median lethal concentration=3.5â9.1mg/L). This toxicity was life stage dependent. The 24h toxicity increased greatly (âŒ22.7 fold) when zebrafish exposures started at the larval life stage compared to the 24h toxicity following embryonic exposure. Investigation into whether dissolution could account for ZnO toxicity revealed high levels of zinc ion (40â89% of total sample) were generated. Exposure to zinc ion equivalents revealed dissolved Zn2+ may be a major contributor to ZnO toxicity
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as skin carcinogens:Comparison of benzo [a]pyrene, dibenzo[def,p]chrysene and three environmental mixtures in the FVB/N mouse
The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), was compared to dibenzo[def,p]chrysene (DBC) and combinations of three environmental PAH mixtures (coal tar, diesel particulate and cigarette smoke condensate) using a two stage, FVB/N mouse skin tumor model. DBC (4 nmol) was most potent, reaching 100% tumor incidence with a shorter latency to tumor formation, less than 20 weeks of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) promotion compared to all other treatments. Multiplicity was 4 times greater than BaP (400 nmol). Both PAHs produced primarily papillomas followed by squamous cell carcinoma and carcinoma in situ. Diesel particulate extract (1 mg SRM 1650b; mix 1) did not differ from toluene controls and failed to elicit a carcinogenic response. Addition of coal tar extract (1 mg SRM 1597a; mix 2) produced a response similar to BaP. Further addition of 2 mg of cigarette smoke condensate (mix 3) did not alter the response with mix 2. PAH-DNA adducts measured in epidermis 12 h post initiation and analyzed by (32)P post- labeling, did not correlate with tumor incidence. PAH- dependent alteration in transcriptome of skin 12 h post initiation was assessed by microarray. Principal component analysis (sum of all treatments) of the 922 significantly altered genes (p<0.05), showed DBC and BaP to cluster distinct from PAH mixtures and each other. BaP and mixtures up-regulated phase 1 and 2 metabolizing enzymes while DBC did not. The carcinogenicity with DBC and two of the mixtures was much greater than would be predicted based on published Relative Potency Factors (RPFs)
Measurement of the CP-violating phase \phi s in Bs->J/\psi\pi+\pi- decays
Measurement of the mixing-induced CP-violating phase phi_s in Bs decays is of
prime importance in probing new physics. Here 7421 +/- 105 signal events from
the dominantly CP-odd final state J/\psi pi+ pi- are selected in 1/fb of pp
collision data collected at sqrt{s} = 7 TeV with the LHCb detector. A
time-dependent fit to the data yields a value of
phi_s=-0.019^{+0.173+0.004}_{-0.174-0.003} rad, consistent with the Standard
Model expectation. No evidence of direct CP violation is found.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures; minor revisions on May 23, 201
Measurement of the branching fraction
The branching fraction is measured in a data sample
corresponding to 0.41 of integrated luminosity collected with the LHCb
detector at the LHC. This channel is sensitive to the penguin contributions
affecting the sin2 measurement from The
time-integrated branching fraction is measured to be . This is the most precise measurement to
date
Search for CP violation in decays
A model-independent search for direct CP violation in the Cabibbo suppressed
decay in a sample of approximately 370,000 decays is
carried out. The data were collected by the LHCb experiment in 2010 and
correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35 pb. The normalized Dalitz
plot distributions for and are compared using four different
binning schemes that are sensitive to different manifestations of CP violation.
No evidence for CP asymmetry is found.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Measurement of the ratio of branching fractions BR(B0 -> K*0 gamma)/BR(Bs0 -> phi gamma)
The ratio of branching fractions of the radiative B decays B0 -> K*0 gamma
and Bs0 -> phi gamma has been measured using 0.37 fb-1 of pp collisions at a
centre of mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, collected by the LHCb experiment. The
value obtained is BR(B0 -> K*0 gamma)/BR(Bs0 -> phi gamma) = 1.12 +/- 0.08
^{+0.06}_{-0.04} ^{+0.09}_{-0.08}, where the first uncertainty is statistical,
the second systematic and the third is associated to the ratio of fragmentation
fractions fs/fd. Using the world average for BR(B0 -> K*0 gamma) = (4.33 +/-
0.15) x 10^{-5}, the branching fraction BR(Bs0 -> phi gamma) is measured to be
(3.9 +/- 0.5) x 10^{-5}, which is the most precise measurement to date.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure, 2 table
Opposite-side flavour tagging of B mesons at the LHCb experiment
The calibration and performance of the oppositeside
flavour tagging algorithms used for the measurements
of time-dependent asymmetries at the LHCb experiment
are described. The algorithms have been developed using
simulated events and optimized and calibrated with
B
+ âJ/ÏK
+, B0 âJ/ÏK
â0 and B0 âD
ââ
Ό
+
ΜΌ decay
modes with 0.37 fbâ1 of data collected in pp collisions
at
â
s = 7 TeV during the 2011 physics run. The oppositeside
tagging power is determined in the B
+ â J/ÏK
+
channel to be (2.10 ± 0.08 ± 0.24) %, where the first uncertainty
is statistical and the second is systematic
Observation of excited Lambda_b0 baryons
Using pp collision data corresponding to 1.0 fb-1 integrated luminosity
collected by the LHCb detector, two narrow states are observed in the
Lambda_b0pi+pi- spectrum with masses 5911.97 +- 0.12(stat) +- 0.02(syst) +-
0.66(Lambda_b0 mass) MeV/c^2 and 5919.77 +- 0.08(stat) +- 0.02(syst) +-
0.66(Lambda_b0 mass) MeV/c^2. The significances of the observations are 5.2 and
10.2 standard deviations, respectively. These states are interpreted as the
orbitally-excited Lambda_b0 baryons, Lambda_b*0(5912) and Lambda_b*0(5920).Comment: Replaced by version published in Phys. Rev. Lett, modified fit with
better mass resolution treatmen
Measurements of the branching fractions of the decays B°s â Dâs K± and B°s â DÂŻsÏ+
The decay mode B°s â Dâs K± allows for one of the theoretically cleanest measurements of the CKM angle Îł through the study of time-dependent CP violation. This paper reports a measurement of its branching fraction relative to the Cabibbo-favoured mode B°s â DÂŻsÏ+ based on a data sample corresponding to 0.37 fbÂŻÂč of proton-proton collisions at âs = 7TeV collected in 2011 with the LHCb detector. In addition, the ratio of B meson production fractions fs/fd, determined from semileptonic decays, together with the known branching fraction of the control channel B°s â DÂŻsÏ+ is used to perform an absolute measurement of the branching fractions: B(B°s â DÂŻsÏ+) = (2.95 ± 0.05 ± 0.17 -0.22 +0.18) Ă 10ÂŻÂł ; B(B°s â Dâs K±) = (1.90 ± 0.12 ± 0.13 -0.14 +0.12) Ă 10ÂŻ4 ; where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second the experimental systematic uncertainty, and the third the uncertainty due to f s/f
First evidence of direct CP violation in charmless two-body decays of Bs mesons
Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.35
collected by LHCb in 2011, we report the first evidence of
CP violation in the decays of mesons to pairs,
, with a significance of 3.3. Furthermore, we
report the first observation of CP violation in decays at a hadron
collider, , with a significance exceeding 6.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables; v2 with minor changes after journal
revie
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