Alignment of the ALICE Inner Tracking System with cosmic-ray tracks

37 pages, 15 figures, revised version, accepted by JINSTALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) experiment devoted to investigating the strongly interacting matter created in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the LHC energies. The ALICE ITS, Inner Tracking System, consists of six cylindrical layers of silicon detectors with three different technologies; in the outward direction: two layers of pixel detectors, two layers each of drift, and strip detectors. The number of parameters to be determined in the spatial alignment of the 2198 sensor modules of the ITS is about 13,000. The target alignment precision is well below 10 micron in some cases (pixels). The sources of alignment information include survey measurements, and the reconstructed tracks from cosmic rays and from proton-proton collisions. The main track-based alignment method uses the Millepede global approach. An iterative local method was developed and used as well. We present the results obtained for the ITS alignment using about 10^5 charged tracks from cosmic rays that have been collected during summer 2008, with the ALICE solenoidal magnet switched off.Peer reviewe

Effects of brain death on stress and inflammatory response in the human donor kidney.

BACKGROUND: After kidney transplantation, a decreased graft survival is seen in grafts from brain dead donors compared to living donors, possibly related to a progressive inflammatory reaction in the graft. In this study, we focused on the effects of brain death on the inflammatory response (adhesion molecules, leukocyte infiltration, and gene expression) and stress-related heat shock proteins in the human kidney. Research outcomes and clinical donor parameters were linked to outcome data after transplantation. METHODS: Human kidney biopsy specimens were obtained during organ retrieval from brain dead and living organ donor controls. On these specimens, immunohistochemistry and semiquantitative RT-PCR were performed. Regression analyses were performed connecting results to outcome data of kidney recipients. RESULTS: In brain death, immunohistochemistry showed an increase of E-selectin and interstitial leukocyte invasion versus controls; RT-PCR showed an increase of gene expression of HO-1 and Hsp70. One and 3 years after transplantation, high ICAM and VCAM expression proved to have a negative effect on kidney function in brain dead and living kidneys, while HO-1 proved to have a strongly positive effect, but only in kidneys from living donors. CONCLUSIONS: E-selectin expression and interstitial leukocyte accumulation in brain dead donor kidneys indicate an early phase inflammatory state prior to organ retrieval. Also, brain death causes a stress-related response resulting in upregulation of potentially protective heat shock proteins. The upregulation of HO-1 is beneficial in living donor kidneys, but might be inadequate in brain death

Machine perfusion versus cold storage for preservation of kidneys from expanded criteria donors after brain death.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the possible effects of machine perfusion (MP) versus cold storage (CS) on delayed graft function (DGF) and early graft survival in expanded criteria donor kidneys (ECD). As part of the previously reported international randomized controlled trial 91 consecutive heart-beating deceased ECDs--defined according to the United Network of Organ Sharing definition--were included in the study. From each donor one kidney was randomized to MP and the contralateral kidney to CS. All recipients were followed for 1 year. The primary endpoint was DGF. Secondary endpoints included primary nonfunction and graft survival. DGF occurred in 27 patients in the CS group (29.7%) and in 20 patients in the MP group (22%). Using the logistic regression model MP significantly reduced the risk of DGF compared with CS (OR 0.460, P=0.047). The incidence of nonfunction in the CS group (12%) was four times higher than in the MP group (3%) (P=0.04). One-year graft survival was significantly higher in machine perfused kidneys compared with cold stored kidneys (92.3% vs. 80.2%, P=0.02). In the present study, MP preservation clearly reduced the risk of DGF and improved 1-year graft survival and function in ECD kidneys. (Current Controlled Trials number: ISRCTN83876362)