Global quark polarization in non-central A+AA+A collisions

Partons produced in the early stage of non-central heavy-ion collisions can develop a longitudinal fluid shear because of unequal local number densities of participant target and projectile nucleons. Under such fluid shear, local parton pairs with non-vanishing impact parameter have finite local relative orbital angular momentum along the direction opposite to the reaction plane. Such finite relative orbital angular momentum among locally interacting quark pairs can lead to global quark polarization along the same direction due to spin-orbital coupling. Local longitudinal fluid shear is estimated within both Landau fireball and Bjorken scaling model of initial parton production. Quark polarization through quark-quark scatterings with the exchange of a thermal gluon is calculated beyond small-angle scattering approximation in a quark-gluon plasma. The polarization is shown to have a non-monotonic dependence on the local relative orbital angular momentum dictated by the interplay between electric and magnetic interaction. It peaks at a value of relative orbital angular momentum which scales with the magnetic mass of the exchanged gluons. With the estimated small longitudinal fluid shear in semi-peripheral $Au+Au$ collisions at the RHIC energy, the final quark polarization is found to be small $|P_q|<0.04$ in the weak coupling limit. Possible behavior of the quark polarization in the strong coupling limit and implications on the experimental detection of such global quark polarization at RHIC and LHC are also discussed.Comment: 28 pages,11 figure

New Perspectives on Roles of Alpha-Synuclein in Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is one of the synucleinopathies spectrum of disorders typified by the presence of intraneuronal protein inclusions. It is primarily composed of misfolded and aggregated forms of alpha-synuclein (α-syn), the toxicity of which has been attributed to the transition from an α-helical conformation to a β-sheetrich structure that polymerizes to form toxic oligomers. This could spread and initiate the formation of “LB-like aggregates,” by transcellular mechanisms with seeding and subsequent permissive templating. This hypothesis postulates that α-syn is a prion-like pathological agent and responsible for the progression of Parkinson’s pathology. Moreover, the involvement of the inflammatory response in PD pathogenesis has been reported on the excessive microglial activation and production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. At last, we describe several treatment approaches that target the pathogenic α-syn protein, especially the oligomers, which are currently being tested in advanced animal experiments or are already in clinical trials. However, there are current challenges with therapies that target α-syn, for example, difficulties in identifying varying α-syn conformations within different individuals as well as both the cost and need of long-duration large trials

Cluster-Like Headache Secondary to Anamnesis of Sphenoid Ridge Meningioma: A Case Report and Literature Review

Cluster headache is generally considered to be a primary headache; secondary cluster-like headache is quite rare, while cluster-like headache secondary to meningioma is even rarer. Here, we describe an unusual case with cluster-like headache 2.5 years after sphenoid ridge meningioma surgery. The cluster-like headache and meningioma were on the same side, and even at the same position. Furthermore, the cluster-like headache lasted for 6 months. In addition, the patient did not respond well to conventional treatments for cluster headache, such as oxygen inhalation, carbamazepine, and tramadol. Brain magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a softening lesion, glial hyperplasia, and localized thickening and enhancement of the dura in the left frontal-temporal lobe. However, positron-emission computed tomography showed reduced metabolism in the left frontal-temporal lobe. Although the possibility of a primary headache cannot be completely eliminated, the association between cluster-like headache and probable tumor recurrence or postoperative changes should be considered

Risk to human health related to the presence of perfluoroalkyl substances in food

Acknowledgements: The Panel wishes to thank the following for their support provided to this scientific output as Hearing experts: Klaus Abraham, Esben Budtz-Jørgensen, Tony Fletcher, Philippe Grandjean, Hans Mielke and Hans Rumke and EFSA staff members: Davide Arcella, Marco Binaglia, Petra Gergelova, Elena Rovesti and Marijke Schutte. The Panel wishes to acknowledge all European competent institutions, Member State bodies and other organisations that provided data for this scientific output. The Panel would also like to thank the following authors and co-authors for providing additional information in relation to their respective studies: Berit Granum, Margie M Peden-Adams, Thomas Webster.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals &lt;1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Study on Fire Smoke Distribution and Safety Evacuation of Subway Station Based on BIM

A subway station is a confined space, so it is very important to evacuate people safely in case of a fire. It is necessary to study and analyze the smoke distribution and evacuation ability of different station layout schemes when fire occurs. Taking a subway station as an example, this paper combines BIM (Building Information Model) technology with the fire safety evacuation of the subway station. First, we optimize the layout of the public area of the subway station and use BIM technology to establish a subway station model. Then, we use the PyroSim software to establish a subway station fire model to analyze fire development in different locations of the station in the optimization scheme, and determine the time it takes for CO concentration, smoke temperature and visibility to reach the critical value of danger. Finally, a subway station fire evacuation model is established using the Pathfinder software to study the safety evacuation of people in the subway station fire. The results show that it takes the shortest time for the visibility in the station to reach the critical value under fire conditions, and the threat to safety evacuation is the greatest. The available safe evacuation time of the optimized subway station is greater than the required safe evacuation time under different fire conditions, that is, the optimized subway station arrangement can ensure the safety evacuation of the personnel in the subway station under fire conditions. The research results can serve as reference for the optimization of safety evacuation designs of similar subway stations

[NiL] \u3c inf\u3e 3 [BTC] \u3c inf\u3e 2 ·14H \u3c inf\u3e 2 O [L = 3,10-bis(2-ethyl)-1,3,5,8,10,12-hexaazacyclotetradecane, BTC = 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate]: Synthesis, structure and unique selective guest molecule absorption propertiesy

Reaction of 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate with a macrocyclic Ni(II) complex leads to a porous metal-organic framework, which displays a high selectivity for ethanol sorption