Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Renal Patients and Healthy Subjects

The first goal of this study was to measure the oxidative stress (OS) and relate it to lipoprotein variables in 35 renal patients before dialysis (CKD), 37 on hemodialysis (HD) and 63 healthy subjects. The method for OS was based on the ratio of cholesteryl esters (CE) containing C18/C16 fatty acids (R2) measured by gas chromatography (GC) which is a simple, direct, rapid and reliable procedure. The second goal was to investigate and identify a triacylglycerol peak on GC, referred to as TG48 (48 represents the sum of the three fatty acids carbon chain lengths) which was markedly increased in renal patients compared to healthy controls. We measured TG48 in patients and controls. Mass spectrometry (MS) and MS twice in tandem were used to analyze the fatty acid composition of TG48. MS showed that TG48 was abundant in saturated fatty acids (SFAs) that were known for their pro-inflammatory property. TG48 was significantly and inversely correlated with OS. Renal patients were characterized by higher OS and inflammation than healthy subjects. Inflammation correlated strongly with TG, VLDL-cholesterol, apolipoprotein (apo) C-III and apoC-III bound to apoB-containing lipoproteins, but not with either total cholesterol or LDL-cholesterol

Short-Lived Trace Gases in the Surface Ocean and the Atmosphere

The two-way exchange of trace gases between the ocean and the atmosphere is important for both the chemistry and physics of the atmosphere and the biogeochemistry of the oceans, including the global cycling of elements. Here we review these exchanges and their importance for a range of gases whose lifetimes are generally short compared to the main greenhouse gases and which are, in most cases, more reactive than them. Gases considered include sulphur and related compounds, organohalogens, non-methane hydrocarbons, ozone, ammonia and related compounds, hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Finally, we stress the interactivity of the system, the importance of process understanding for modeling, the need for more extensive field measurements and their better seasonal coverage, the importance of inter-calibration exercises and finally the need to show the importance of air-sea exchanges for global cycling and how the field fits into the broader context of Earth System Science

Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases

The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs) can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e. iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference

Measurements of differential cross-sections in top-quark pair events with a high transverse momentum top quark and limits on beyond the Standard Model contributions to top-quark pair production with the ATLAS detector at √s = 13 TeV

Cross-section measurements of top-quark pair production where the hadronically decaying top quark has transverse momentum greater than 355 GeV and the other top quark decays into ℓνb are presented using 139 fb−1 of data collected by the ATLAS experiment during proton-proton collisions at the LHC. The fiducial cross-section at s = 13 TeV is measured to be σ = 1.267 ± 0.005 ± 0.053 pb, where the uncertainties reflect the limited number of data events and the systematic uncertainties, giving a total uncertainty of 4.2%. The cross-section is measured differentially as a function of variables characterising the tt¯ system and additional radiation in the events. The results are compared with various Monte Carlo generators, including comparisons where the generators are reweighted to match a parton-level calculation at next-to-next-to-leading order. The reweighting improves the agreement between data and theory. The measured distribution of the top-quark transverse momentum is used to search for new physics in the context of the effective field theory framework. No significant deviation from the Standard Model is observed and limits are set on the Wilson coefficients of the dimension-six operators OtG and Otq(8), where the limits on the latter are the most stringent to date. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

Direct constraint on the Higgs–charm coupling from a search for Higgs boson decays into charm quarks with the ATLAS detector

A search for the Higgs boson decaying into a pair of charm quarks is presented. The analysis uses proton–proton collisions to target the production of a Higgs boson in association with a leptonically decaying W or Z boson. The dataset delivered by the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of and recorded by the ATLAS detector corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1. Flavour-tagging algorithms are used to identify jets originating from the hadronisation of charm quarks. The analysis method is validated with the simultaneous measurement of WW, WZ and ZZ production, with observed (expected) significances of 2.6 (2.2) standard deviations above the background-only prediction for the (W/Z)Z(→cc¯) process and 3.8 (4.6) standard deviations for the (W/Z)W(→cq) process. The (W/Z)H(→cc¯) search yields an observed (expected) upper limit of 26 (31) times the predicted Standard Model cross-section times branching fraction for a Higgs boson with a mass of , corresponding to an observed (expected) constraint on the charm Yukawa coupling modifier |κc|<8.5 (12.4), at the 95% confidence level. A combination with the ATLAS (W/Z)H,H→bb¯ analysis is performed, allowing the ratio κc/κb to be constrained to less than 4.5 at the 95% confidence level, smaller than the ratio of the b- and c-quark masses, and therefore determines the Higgs-charm coupling to be weaker than the Higgs-bottom coupling at the 95% confidence level

Observation of electroweak production of two jets in association with an isolated photon and missing transverse momentum, and search for a Higgs boson decaying into invisible particles at 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents the measurement of the electroweak production of two jets in association with a $Z\gamma$ pair with the $Z$ boson decaying into two neutrinos. It also presents the search for invisible or partially invisible decays of a Higgs boson with a mass of 125 GeV produced through vector-boson fusion with a photon in the final state. These results use data from LHC proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. The event signature, shared by all benchmark processes considered for measurements and searches, is characterized by a significant amount of unbalanced transverse momentum and a photon in the final state, in addition to a pair of forward jets. For electroweak production of $Z\gamma$ in association with two jets, the background-only hypothesis is rejected with an observed (expected) significance of 5.2 (5.1) standard deviations. The measured fiducial cross-section for this process is 1.31$\pm$0.29 fb. Observed (expected) upper limit of 0.37 (0.34) at 95% confidence level is set on the branching ratio of a 125 GeV Higgs boson to invisible particles, assuming the Standard Model production cross-section. The signature is also interpreted in the context of decays of a Higgs boson to a photon and a dark photon. An observed (expected) 95% CL upper limit on the branching ratio for this decay is set at 0.018 (0.017), assuming the 125 GeV Standard Model Higgs boson production cross-section

Primary aldosteronism - actual epidemics or false alarm?

The prevalence of "primary aldosteronism" (PAL) cannot be precisely determined at this time, given 1) lack of a universally accepted definition, and 2) normotensive as well as normokalemic phases in the evolutionary development of a disease eventually characterized by hypertension and hypokalemia. The exception is fully genetically characterised forms such as glucocorticoid-suppressible hyperaldosteronism, the true prevalence of which could be proven today by universal screening using a single blood sample, but this is neither practical nor appropriate. Controversy has arisen regarding the rareness, or otherwise, of PAL because of 1) rediscovery in the last 12 years of the normokalemic phase described by Conn, 2) application of widely available methods for measurement of aldosterone and renin to "screening", 3) variable quality of these methods, and of their application, and 4) lack of the necessary "diagnostic", in addition to "screening", tests in some studies. PAL is significantly more common than previously thought, and a very important potentially curable form of hypertension. Early diagnosis and specific treatment avoids morbidity. The current focus on increased detection is essential, and will help to resolve the question of prevalence