Data encoding efficiency in pixel detector readout with charge information

The average minimum number of bits needed for lossless readout of a pixel detector is calculated, in the regime of interest for particle physics where only a small fraction of pixels have a non-zero value per frame. This permits a systematic comparison of the readout efficiency of different encoding imple- mentations. The calculation is compared to the number of bits used by the FE-I4 pixel readout chip of the ATLAS experiment.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure

Expression of monocyte chemotactic protein-3 mRNA in rat vascular smooth muscle cells and in carotid artery after balloon angioplasty

AbstractMonocyte chemotactic protein-3 (MCP-3) is a CC chemokine that functions in chemoattraction and activation of monocytes, T lymphocytes, eosinophils, basophils, natural killer cells and dendritic cells. The activation of the target cells by MCP-3 is via specific chemokine receptors CCR2 and CCR3, of which CCR2 is shared with MCP-1. MCP-1 and CCR2 have been implicated in vascular diseases including atherosclerosis and restenosis, that are known to be involved in inflammation (accumulation of T lymphocytes and monocytes) and smooth muscle cell (SMC) activation (proliferation, migration and matrix deposition). To investigate a potential role of MCP-3 in vascular injury, the present work examined its mRNA expression in rat aortic SMCs stimulated with various inflammatory stimuli including LPS, TNF-α, IL-1β, IFN-γ and TGF-β. A time- and concentration-dependant induction of MCP-3 mRNA in SMCs was observed by means of Northern analysis. A strikingly similar expression profile was observed for MCP-3 and MCP-1 mRNA in SMCs. Furthermore, MCP-3 mRNA expression was induced in rat carotid artery after balloon angioplasty. A significant induction in MCP-3 mRNA was observed in the carotid artery at 6 h (41-fold increase over control, P<0.001), 1 day (13-fold increase, P<0.001) and 3 days (6-fold increase, P<0.01) after balloon angioplasty as quantitated by reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction. These data provide evidence for the cytokine-induced expression of MCP-3 in SMCs and in carotid artery after balloon angioplasty, suggesting a potential role of MCP-3 in the pathogenesis of restenosis and atherosclerosis

Characterization of human cysteine-rich protein, a member of the lim/double zinc-finger family, as a primary response gene

Human cysteine-rich protein (hCRP) is a highly conserved and widely distributed 23.4 kDa zinc finger protein. The unusual zinc fingers of hCRP constitute a highly characteristic 52 amino acid motif referred to as the LIM/double zinc finger motif, (CXXC-X\sb{17-19}HXXC)-XX-(CXXC-X\sb{16-20}-CXXC/D/H), shared with a number of proteins that are involved in transcriptional regulation and/or developmental control: mouse/rat cysteine-rich intestinal protein (CRIP), rhombotin, rIsl-1, lin-11, mec-3, and Xlim-1. The characterization of crp as a primary response gene to serum stimulation in quiescent mouse and human cells suggests that crp may play a regulatory role in the cell cycle. The crp mRNA induction profile is remarkably parallel to that of c-myc in both human and mouse cell lines upon serum stimulation. The 5\sp\prime-flanking sequence of the hcrp gene that shares several cis-regulatory elements with c-myc and other immediate early genes, and the parallel increases of the CRP protein with RNA levels upon serum stimulation further support the functional role of crp in the G\sb0 to S phase transition. The failure of hcrp promoter function assays to define a serum response element in the 5\sp\prime-flanking region may suggest a complicated regulatory mechanism for c-myc type immediate early genes. The cloning and characterization of the 23.2 kb hcrp gene, and the assignment of hcrp to human chromosome 1q24-1q32 provide valuable information for the future study of the biological function of this gene. Taking advantage of these primary studies, we found that crp may be involved in the oncogenesis of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in our initial survey of B-cell ALL patients with chromosomal rearrangements in 1q21-1q32

Groundwater Quality Assessment in the Northern Part of Changchun City, Northeast China, Using PIG and Two Improved PIG Methods

As a numerical indicator, the pollution index of groundwater (PIG) has gained a great deal of popularity in quantifying groundwater quality for drinking purposes. However, its weight-determination procedure is rather subjective due to the absolute dependence on experts&rsquo; experience. To make the evaluation results more accurate and convincing, two improved PIG models (CRITIC-PIG and Entropy-PIG) that integrate subjective weights and objective weights were designed, and they were employed to appraise groundwater suitability for drinking purposes in the northern part of Changchun City. A total of 48 water samples (34 unconfined water samples and 14 confined water samples) with abundances of Ca2+ and HCO3&minus; were collected and tested to obtain the data for the analyses. The results showed that 60.4%, 47.9% and 60.4% of the water samples manifested insignificant pollution and were marginally potable based on the values of the PIG, CRITIC-PIG and Entropy-PIG, respectively. Though 48% of the water samples had different evaluation results, their level difference was mostly 1, which is relatively acceptable. The distribution maps of the three sets of PIG values demonstrated that the quality of groundwater was the best in Dehui City and the worst in Nongan County. Groundwater contamination in the study area was mainly caused by the high concentrations of TDS, TH, Fe3+, F&minus; and NO3&minus;, which not only came from geogenic sources but also anthropogenic sources