6,588 research outputs found
Novel conopeptides of the I-superfamily occur in several clades of cone snails
The I-superfamily of conotoxins represents a new class of peptides in the venom of some Conus species. These toxins are characterized by four disulfide bridges and inhibit or modify ion channels of nerve cells. When testing venoms from 11 Conus species for a functional characterization, blocking activity on potassium channels (like Kv1.1 and Kv1.3 channels, but not Kv1.2 channels) was detected in the venom of Conus capitaneus, Conus miles, Conus vexillum and Conus virgo. Analysis at the cDNA level of these venoms using primers designed according to the amino acid sequence of a potassium channel blocking toxin (ViTx) from C. virgo confirmed the presence of structurally homologous peptides in these venoms. Moreover, peptides belonging to the I-superfamily, but with divergent amino acid sequences, were found in Conus striatus and Conus imperialis. In all cases, the sequences of the precursors' prepro-regions exhibited high conservation, whereas the sequences of the mature peptides ranged from almost identical to highly divergent between species. We then performed phylogenetic analyses of new and published mitochondrial 16S rDNA sequences representing 104 haplotypes from these and numerous other Conus species, using Bayesian, maximum-likelihood, maximum-parsimony and neighbor-joining methods of inference. Cone snails known to possess I-superfamily toxins were assigned to five different major clades in all of the resulting gene trees. Moreover, I-superfamily conopeptides were detected both in vermivorous and piscivorous species of Conus, thus demonstrating the widespread presence of such toxins in this speciose genus beyond evolutionary and ecological groups
Background reionization history from omniscopes
The measurements of the 21-cm brightness temperature fluctuations from the
neutral hydrogen at the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) should inaugurate the next
generation of cosmological observables. In this respect, many works have
concentrated on the disambiguation of the cosmological signals from the
dominant reionization foregrounds. However, even after perfect foregrounds
removal, our ignorance on the background reionization history can significantly
affect the cosmological parameter estimation. In particular, the
interdependence between the hydrogen ionized fraction, the baryon density and
the optical depth to the redshift of observation induce nontrivial degeneracies
between the cosmological parameters that have not been considered so far. Using
a simple, but consistent reionization model, we revisit their expected
constraints for a futuristic giant 21-cm omniscope by using for the first time
Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods on multiredshift full sky simulated
data. Our results agree well with the usual Fisher matrix analysis on the
three-dimensional flat sky power spectrum but only when the above-mentioned
degeneracies are kept under control. In the opposite situation, Fisher results
can be inaccurate. We show that these conditions can be fulfilled by combining
cosmic microwave background measurements with multiple observation redshifts
probing the beginning of EoR. This allows a precise reconstruction of the total
optical depth, reionization duration and maximal spin temperature. Finally, we
discuss the robustness of these results in presence of unresolved ionizing
sources. Although most of the standard cosmological parameters remain weakly
affected, we find a significant degradation of the background reionization
parameter estimation in presence of nuisance ionizing sources.Comment: 22 pages, 18 figures, uses RevTex. References added, matches
published versio
The Upgrade of the CMS RPC System during the First LHC Long Shutdown
The CMS muon system includes in both the barrel and endcap region Resistive
Plate Chambers (RPC). They mainly serve as trigger detectors and also improve
the reconstruction of muon parameters. Over the years, the instantaneous
luminosity of the Large Hadron Collider gradually increases. During the LHC
Phase 1 (~first 10 years of operation) an ultimate luminosity is expected above
its design value of 10^34/cm^2/s at 14 TeV. To prepare the machine and also the
experiments for this, two long shutdown periods are scheduled for 2013-2014 and
2018-2019. The CMS Collaboration is planning several detector upgrades during
these long shutdowns. In particular, the muon detection system should be able
to maintain a low-pT threshold for an efficient Level-1 Muon Trigger at high
particle rates. One of the measures to ensure this, is to extend the present
RPC system with the addition of a 4th layer in both endcap regions. During the
first long shutdown, these two new stations will be equipped in the region
|eta|<1.6 with 144 High Pressure Laminate (HPL) double-gap RPCs operating in
avalanche mode, with a similar design as the existing CMS endcap chambers.
Here, we present the upgrade plans for the CMS RPC system for the fist long
shutdown, including trigger simulation studies for the extended system, and
details on the new HPL production, the chamber assembly and the quality control
procedures.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, presented by M.Tytgat at the XI workshop on
Resistive Plate Chambers and Related Detectors (RPC2012), INFN - Laboratori
Nazionali di Frascati, February 5-10, 201
Production of Polarized Vector Mesons off Nuclei
Using the light-cone QCD dipole formalism we investigate manifestations of
color transparency (CT) and coherence length (CL) effects in electroproduction
of longitudinally (L) and transversally (T) polarized vector mesons. Motivated
by forthcoming data from the HERMES experiment we predict both the A and Q^2
dependence of the L/T- ratios, for rho^0 mesons produced coherently and
incoherently off nuclei. For an incoherent reaction the CT and CL effects add
up and result in a monotonic A dependence of the L/T-ratio at different values
of Q^2. On the contrary, for a coherent process the contraction of the CL with
Q^2 causes an effect opposite to that of CT and we expect quite a nontrivial A
dependence, especially at Q^2 >> m_V^2.Comment: Revtex 24 pages and 14 figure
Safety and feasibility of indocyanine green fluorescence angiography in pediatric gastrointestinal surgery:A systematic review
Background: Although ICG-FA may be valuable in assessing anastomotic perfusion, reliable data on its use in pediatric gastrointestinal surgery is lacking. This systematic review analyzes whether ICG is useful for intestinal perfusion assessment in pediatric gastrointestinal surgery and safe to use in neonates. Methods: Systematic searches of PubMed, EMBASE & MEDLINE and CENTRAL were performed (last conducted December 6, 2021). The main inclusion criteria were (1) use of ICG for intestinal perfusion assessment and (2) use of ICG in young infants. Exclusion criteria were lack of an English or Dutch full-text and MINORS quality score <60%. Data was presented in overview tables. The usefulness in pediatric gastrointestinal surgery was assessed by surgical outcome. Safety of ICG in neonates was assessed by complication or adverse event occurrence. Results: Regarding intestinal perfusion assessment, four studies were included, reporting 45 patients (median age 1.5 years). ICG was considered useful for anastomotic blood flow evaluation and intraoperative determination of resection length. Regarding ICG safety in neonates, eight studies were included, reporting 46 infants (median age 24.9 days), of which 18 neonates. All but one studies reported the absence of complications or adverse events. Two studies reported subcutaneous dye retention, which fully disappeared within two weeks. Conclusion: Although the number of available studies is small, ICG might be useful for intraoperative intestinal perfusion assessment, perhaps even more than conventional clinical assessment. Furthermore, its safety profile looks promising in neonates. Larger prospective studies are necessary to confirm these assumptions and seem warranted given the safety profile. Levels of evidence: Since this is a systematic review, a Level of Evidence for clinical studies cannot be determined for this manuscript.</p
A Novel Technique for Risk Calculation of Anastomotic Leakage after Thoracoscopic Repair for Esophageal Atresia with Distal Fistula
Purpose: This study was designed to determine the risk of
anastomotic leakage after thoracoscopic repair for esophageal
atresia by digitally measuring the length of the
proximal esophagus and distance of carina to proximal
esophagus.
Methods: With the use of Picture Archiving and Communication
System (PACS), the length of the proximal
esophagus from the top of the first thoracic vertebra was
measured on the preoperative chest x-ray, as well as the
distance from the carina to the proximal esophagus. The
chest x-rays of 27 neonates, born with esophageal atresia
with distal fistula, were examined. Furthermore, the tapes
from the procedures were reviewed. Statistical analysis was
performed with the t test for equality of means by using
SPSS® 12.0.1 for Windows.
Results: Both groups were comparable, and there was a
statistical significant difference in both length of the
proximal esophagus (p<0.023) and distance of carina to
proximal esophagus (p<0.022) in patients who did and
did not leak postoperatively. There seems to be a tendency
toward a shorter proximal esophagus in recent years that
was not obvious earlier.
Conclusions: The digital measurement of the length of the
proximal esophagus (M<7 mm) and distance of carina to
proximal esophagus (M<13.5 mm) with the use of PACS
gives a good risk calculation for postoperative leakage
Performance of Glass Resistive Plate Chambers for a high granularity semi-digital calorimeter
A new design of highly granular hadronic calorimeter using Glass Resistive
Plate Chambers (GRPCs) with embedded electronics has been proposed for the
future International Linear Collider (ILC) experiments. It features a 2-bit
threshold semi-digital read-out. Several GRPC prototypes with their electronics
have been successfully built and tested in pion beams. The design of these
detectors is presented along with the test results on efficiency, pad
multiplicity, stability and reproducibility.Comment: 16 pages, 15 figure
Particle Dark Matter Candidates
I give a short overview on some of the favorite particle Cold Dark Matter
candidates today, focusing on those having detectable interactions: the axion,
the KK-photon in Universal Extra Dimensions, the heavy photon in Little Higgs
and the neutralino in Supersymmetry. The neutralino is still the most popular,
and today is available in different flavours: SUGRA, nuSUGRA, sub-GUT, Mirage
mediation, NMSSM, effective MSSM, scenarios with CP violation. Some of these
scenarios are already at the level of present sensitivities for direct DM
searches.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, 3 references added. Contribution to the
proceedings of the TAUP 07 conference, Sep. 11-15, Sendai, Japa
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