Intercalibration of the barrel electromagnetic calorimeter of the CMS experiment at start-up

Calibration of the relative response of the individual channels of the barrel electromagnetic calorimeter of the CMS detector was accomplished, before installation, with cosmic ray muons and test beams. One fourth of the calorimeter was exposed to a beam of high energy electrons and the relative calibration of the channels, the intercalibration, was found to be reproducible to a precision of about 0.3%. Additionally, data were collected with cosmic rays for the entire ECAL barrel during the commissioning phase. By comparing the intercalibration constants obtained with the electron beam data with those from the cosmic ray data, it is demonstrated that the latter provide an intercalibration precision of 1.5% over most of the barrel ECAL. The best intercalibration precision is expected to come from the analysis of events collected in situ during the LHC operation. Using data collected with both electrons and pion beams, several aspects of the intercalibration procedures based on electrons or neutral pions were investigated

Post-marketing surveillance of drugs. The spontaneous reporting scheme: Role of the Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee

Post-marketing surveillance of drugs in Australia operates predominantly through the spontaneous reporting of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Approximately 50% of reports are submitted by hospitals and the rest by individual doctors, pharmacists and dentists. Some 4500 reports ("blue cards") are now reviewed annually by the Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee (ADRAC) and its Secretariat. The register of ADRs has now accumulated more than 65,000 reports. Collations and analyses of data derived from the review process are published to increase awareness by health professionals of drug associated morbidity. Continued educational efforts by professional bodies and regulatory agencies will play a key role in rationalising drug use and reducing drug induced disease

Ascorbic acid deficiency affects the metabolism of cytosolic ferritin but not lipid-associated ferritin in livers of guinea pigs

Two physicochemically and metabolically separate pools of ferritin, namely cytosolic ferritin and lipid-associated ferritin, are present in the livers of guinea pigs. In this paper we establish that the iron content of cytosolic ferritin is dependent on and linearly related to ascorbic acid concentration, whereas changes in concentration of this vitamin do not affect the iron content of lipid-associated ferritin. In livers of ascorbic acid-deficient guinea pigs both synthesis and degradation of cytosolic ferritin are diminished equally. Consequently cytosolic ferritin is metabolized more slowly without changes in its pool size. In contrast with cytosolic ferritin, the metabolism of lipid-associated ferritin is unaffected by ascorbic acid deficiency. The differential effects of ascorbic acid deficiency on the physicochemical characteristics as well as on the metabolism of cytosolic ferritin and lipid-associated ferritin suggest that the two forms of ferritin have different functional roles

Evaluation of hepatocellular and Kupffer cell function of the isolated guinea pig liver perfused by a fluorocarbon medium

A synthetic medium for isolated guinea pig liver perfusion, using a fluorocarbon (FC) emulsion as the oxygen-carrying agent, was evaluated for its capacity to maintain liver viability and function. A 10% emulsion of perfluorotributylamine (FC43) was dispersed by a nonionic detergent (Pluronic F68) in a buffered electrolyte solution. The FC43 perfusate was compared with identical media in which FC43 was either omitted or replaced by 20% isologous red cells. Damage to liver cells was assessed by hepatic flow rate, release of aspartate aminotransferase, and liver histology. Bile secretion, albumin synthesis, and galactose elimination capacity were used as indices of parenchymal cell function, and Kupffer cell activity was assessed by uptake of colloidal radioactive gold. All three perfusion media satisfactorily maintained liver cell viability, but the two media supplemented with a specific oxygen-carrying agent were associated with significantly superior parenchymal cell function (P was between 0.05 and 0.01). The performance of the FC and red cell media was not significantly different. The phagocytic activity of Kupffer cells was well sustained by all three media, but the FC medium was superior with large amounts of colloidal gold. Release of iron from hepatic parenchymal cells, with the FC medium, was similar to that reported for rat liver preparations, using a red cell perfusate

Cytosolic ferritin and lipid-associated ferritin are metabolically different in guinea-pig livers

A distinct pool of liver ferritin has been described in man, guinea pigs and rats [Cham, Roeser, Nikles & Ridgway (1986) Clin. Chim. Acta 158, 71-79]. This ferritin accounts for approx. 30% of total intracellular ferritin. It differs from previously described cytosolic and 'microsomal-fraction' ferritin by its firm association with lipid and by the absence of heat-stability at 75 degrees C. The present study demonstrates that cytosolic ferritin and lipid-associated ferritin in guinea-pig livers have distinctly different rates of turnover. Cytosolic ferritin has a rate of turnover approx. 3.5 times as high as lipid-associated ferritin. The apparent metabolic heterogeneity suggests that the two forms of ferritin may have different functional roles