5,015 research outputs found
Lymphocyte Subsets and Inflammatory Cytokines of Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance and Multiple Myeloma
Almost all multiple myeloma (MM) cases have been demonstrated to be linked to earlier monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS). Nevertheless, there are no identified characteristics in the diagnosis of MGUS that have been helpful in differentiating subjects whose cancer may progress to a malignant situation. Regarding malignancy, the role of lymphocyte subsets and cytokines at the beginning of neoplastic diseases is now incontestable. In this review, we have concentrated our attention on the equilibrium between the diverse lymphocyte subsets and the cytokine system and summarized the current state of knowledge, providing an overview of the condition of the entire system in MGUS and MM. In an age where the therapy of neoplastic monoclonal gammopathies largely relies on drugs capable of acting on the immune system (immunomodulants, immunological checkpoint inhibitors, CAR-T), detailed knowledge of the the differences existing in benign and neoplastic forms of gammopathy is the main foundation for the adequate and optimal use of new drugs
Chlorinative stress in age-related diseases: A literature review
Aging is an agglomerate of biological long-lasting processes that result being inevitable. Main actors in this scenario are both long-term inflammation and oxidative stress. It has been proved that oxidative stress induce alteration in proteins and this fact itself is critically important in the pathophysiological mechanisms leading to diseases typical of aging. Among reactive species, chlorine ones such as hypochlorous acid (HOCl) are cytotoxic oxidants produced by activated neutrophils during chronic inflammation processes. HOCl can also cause damages by reacting with biological molecules. HOCl is generated by myeloperoxidase (MPO) and augmented serum levels of MPO have been described in acute and chronic inflammatory conditions in cardiovascular patients and has been implicated in many inflammatory diseases such as atherosclerosis, neurodegenerative conditions, and some cancers. Due to these data, we decided to conduct an up-to-date review evaluating chlorinative stress effects on every age-related disease linked; potential anti-oxidant countermeasures were also assessed. Results obtained associated HOCl generation to the aging processes and confirmed its connection with diseases like neurodegenerative and cardiovascular pathologies, atherosclerosis and cancer; chlorination was mainly linked to diseases where molecular (protein) alteration constitute the major suspected cause: i.e. inflammation, tissue lesions, DNA damages, apoptosis and oxidative stress itself. According data collected, a healthy lifestyle together with some dietary suggestion and/or the administration of nutracetical antioxidant integrators could balance the effects of chlorinative stress and, in some cases, slow down or prevent the onset of age-releated diseases
Study on hepatitis B and C serologic status among municipal solid waste workers in Messina (Italy)
A study on hepatitis B and C virus seroprevalence was carried out on blood samples from 327 municipal solid waste workers in Messina (Italy) to verify the hypothesis that this category of workers is at high risk for such diseases. The fact that 32.41% of all the subjects showed previous exposure to hepatitis B virus (HBV) substantiates the need to proceed with compulsory HBV vaccine prophylaxis in this category of workers, also in anticipation of possible medical legal litigations
Search for new phenomena in high-mass diphoton final states using 37 fb(-1) of proton-proton collisions collected at root(s) = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector
Searches for new phenomena in high-mass diphoton final states with the
ATLAS experiment at the LHC are presented. The analysis is based on pp
collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.7 fb(-1)
at a centre-of-mass energy root s = 13 TeV recorded in 2015 and 2016.
Searches are performed for resonances with spin 0, as predicted by
theories with an extended Higgs sector, and for resonances with spin 2,
using a warped extra-dimension model as a benchmark model, as well as
for non-resonant signals, assuming a large extra-dimension scenario. No
significant deviation from the Standard Model is observed. Upper limits
are placed on the production cross section times branching ratio to two
photons as a function of the resonance mass. In addition, lower limits
are set on the ultraviolet cutoff scale in the large extra-dimensions
model. (C) 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V
Search for new phenomena in events containing a same-flavour opposite-sign dilepton pair, jets, and large missing transverse momentum in root s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector
Two searches for new phenomena in final states containing a same-flavour
opposite-sign lepton (electron or muon) pair, jets, and large missing
transverse momentum are presented. These searches make use of
proton-proton collision data, collected during 2015 and 2016 at a
centre-of-mass energy root s = 13 TeV by the ATLAS detector at the large
hadron collider, which correspond to an integrated luminosity of 14.7
fb(-1). Both searches target the pair production of supersymmetric
particles, squarks or gluinos, which decay to final states containing a
same-flavour opposite-sign lepton pair via one of two mechanisms: a
leptonically decaying Z boson in the final state, leading to a peak in
the dilepton invariant-mass distribution around the Z boson mass; and
decays of neutralinos (e.g.. (chi) over tilde (0)(2) -> l(+)l(-1)(chi)
over tilde (0)(1)), yielding a kinematic endpoint in the dilepton
invariant-mass spectrum. The data are found to be consistent with the
Standard Model expectation. Results are interpreted in simplified models
of gluino-pair (squark-pair) production, and provide sensitivity to
gluinos (squarks) with masses as large as 1.70 TeV (980 GeV)
Measurements of top-quark pair differential cross-sections in the lepton+jets channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV using the ATLAS detector
Measurements of normalized differential cross-sections of top-quark pair production are presented as a function of the top-quark, tt¯ system and event-level kinematic observables in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of s√=8 TeV. The observables have been chosen to emphasize the tt¯ production process and to be sensitive to effects of initial- and final-state radiation, to the different parton distribution functions, and to non-resonant processes and higher-order corrections. The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb−1, recorded in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Events are selected in the lepton+jets channel, requiring exactly one charged lepton and at least four jets with at least two of the jets tagged as originating from a b-quark. The measured spectra are corrected for detector effects and are compared to several Monte Carlo simulations. The results are in fair agreement with the predictions over a wide kinematic range. Nevertheless, most generators predict a harder top-quark transverse momentum distribution at high values than what is observed in the data. The agreement for this observable improves when next-to-next-to-leading order corrections are taken into account. Using the current settings and parton distribution functions, the rapidity distributions are not well modelled by any generator under consideration. However, the level of agreement is improved when more recent sets of parton distribution functions are used
Reconstruction of primary vertices at the ATLAS experiment in Run 1 proton-proton collisions at the LHC
This paper presents the method and performance of primary vertex
reconstruction in proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS
experiment during Run 1 of the LHC. The studies presented focus on data
taken during 2012 at a centre-of-mass energy of root s = 8 TeV. The
performance has been measured as a function of the number of
interactions per bunch crossing over a wide range, from one to seventy.
The measurement of the position and size of the luminous region and its
use as a constraint to improve the primary vertex resolution are
discussed. A longitudinal vertex position resolution of about 30 mu m is
achieved for events with high multiplicity of reconstructed tracks. The
transverse position resolution is better than 20 mu m and is dominated
by the precision on the size of the luminous region. An analytical model
is proposed to describe the primary vertex reconstruction efficiency as
a function of the number of interactions per bunch crossing and of the
longitudinal size of the luminous region. Agreement between the data and
the predictions of this model is better than 3\% up to seventy
interactions per bunch crossing
Search for new phenomena in dijet events using 37 fb(-1) of pp collision data collected at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector
Dijet events are studied in the proton-proton collision dataset recorded
at root s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider
in 2015 and 2016, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 3.5 fb(-1)
and 33.5 fb(-1) respectively. Invariant mass and angular distributions
are compared to background predictions and no significant deviation is
observed. For resonance searches, a new method for fitting the
background component of the invariant mass distribution is employed. The
dataset is then used to set upper limits at a 95\% confidence level on a
range of new physics scenarios. Excited quarks with masses below 6.0 TeV
are excluded, and limits are set on quantum black holes, heavy W'
bosons, W* bosons, and a range of masses and couplings in a Z' dark
matter mediator model. Model-independent limits on signals with a
Gaussian shape are also set, using a new approach allowing factorization
of physics and detector effects. From the angular distributions, a scale
of new physics in contact interaction models is excluded for scenarios
with either constructive or destructive interference. These results
represent a substantial improvement over those obtained previously with
lower integrated luminosity
Measurements of top quark spin observables in tt events using dilepton final states in root s=8 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector
Measurements of top quark spin observables in tt events are presented
based on 20.2 fb(-1) of root s = 8TeV proton-proton collisions recorded
with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The analysis is performed in the
dilepton final state, characterised by the presence of two isolated
leptons ( electrons or muons). There are 15 observables, each sensitive
to a different coefficient of the spin density matrix of tt production,
which are measured independently. Ten of these observables are measured
for the first time. All of them are corrected for detector resolution
and acceptance effects back to the parton and stable-particle levels.
The measured values of the observables at parton level are compared to
Standard Model predictions at next-to-leading order in QCD. The
corrected distributions at stable-particle level are presented and the
means of the distributions are compared to Monte Carlo predictions. No
significant deviation from the Standard Model is observed for any
observable
Measurement of jet activity produced in top-quark events with an electron, a muon and two b-tagged jets in the final state in pp collisions root s=13TeV with the ATLAS detector
Measurements of jet activity in top-quark pair events produced in
proton-proton collisions are presented, using 3.2 fb of pp collision
data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS
experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Events are chosen by requiring
an opposite-charge pair and two b-tagged jets in the final state. The
normalised differential cross-sections of top-quark pair production are
presented as functions of additional-jet multiplicity and transverse
momentum, . The fraction of signal events that do not contain additional
jet activity in a given rapidity region, the gap fraction, is measured
as a function of the threshold for additional jets, and is also
presented for different invariant mass regions of the system. All
measurements are corrected for detector effects and presented as
particle-level distributions compared to predictions with different
theoretical approaches for QCD radiation. While the kinematics of the
jets from top-quark decays are described well, the generators show
differing levels of agreement with the measurements of observables that
depend on the production of additional jets
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