Performance of the CMS Cathode Strip Chambers with Cosmic Rays

The Cathode Strip Chambers (CSCs) constitute the primary muon tracking device in the CMS endcaps. Their performance has been evaluated using data taken during a cosmic ray run in fall 2008. Measured noise levels are low, with the number of noisy channels well below 1%. Coordinate resolution was measured for all types of chambers, and fall in the range 47 microns to 243 microns. The efficiencies for local charged track triggers, for hit and for segments reconstruction were measured, and are above 99%. The timing resolution per layer is approximately 5 ns

Effects of an H3R Antagonist on the Animal Model of Autism Induced by Prenatal Exposure to Valproic Acid

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a group of neurodevelopmental disorders primarily characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted repetitive behaviors and interests. Ligands of histamine receptor 3 (H3R) are considered potential therapeutic agents for the treatment of different brain disorders and cognitive impairments. Considering this, the aim of the present study is to evaluate the actions of ciproxifan (CPX), an H3R antagonist, on the animal model of autism induced by prenatal exposure to valproic acid (VPA). Swiss mice were prenatally exposed to VPA on embryonic day 11 and assessed for social behavior, nociceptive threshold and repetitive behavior at 50 days of life. The treatment with CPX (3 mg/kg) or saline was administered 30 minutes before each behavioral test. The VPA group presented lower sociability index compared to VPA animals that were treated with CPX. Compared to the Control group, VPA animals presented a significantly higher nociceptive threshold, and treatment with CPX was not able to modify this parameter. In the marble burying test, the number of marbles buried by VPA animals was consistent with markedly repetitive behavior. VPA animals that received CPX buried a reduced amount of marbles. In summary, we report that an acute dose of CPX is able to attenuate sociability deficits and stereotypies present in the VPA model of autism. Our findings have the potential to help the investigations of both the molecular underpinnings of ASD and of possible treatments to ameliorate the ASD symptomatology, although more research is still necessary to corroborate and expand this initial data

Effect of defects on reaction of NiO surface with Pb-contained solution

In order to understand the role of defects in chemical reactions, we used two types of samples, which are molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) grown NiO(001) film on Mg(001) substrate as the defect free NiO prototype and NiO grown on Ni(110) single crystal as the one with defects. In-situ observations for oxide-liquid interfacial structure and surface morphology were performed for both samples in water and Pb-contained solution using high-resolution X-ray reflectivity and atomic force microscopy. For the MBE grown NiO, no significant changes were detected in the high-resolution X-ray reflectivity data with monotonic increase in roughness. Meanwhile, in the case of native grown NiO on Ni(110), significant changes in both the morphology and atomistic structure at the interface were observed when immersed in water and Pb-contained solution. Our results provide simple and direct experimental evidence of the role of the defects in chemical reaction of oxide surfaces with both water and Pb-contained solution.ope

Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta

The ongoing pursuit of neuroprotective therapies in Parkinson disease

Many agents developed for neuroprotective treatment of Parkinson disease (PD) have shown great promise in the laboratory, but none have translated to positive results in patients with PD. Potential neuroprotective drugs, such as ubiquinone, creatine and PYM50028, have failed to show any clinical benefits in recent high-profile clinical trials. This 'failure to translate' is likely to be related primarily to our incomplete understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms underlying PD, and excessive reliance on data from toxin-based animal models to judge which agents should be selected for clinical trials. Restricted resources inevitably mean that difficult compromises must be made in terms of trial design, and reliable estimation of efficacy is further hampered by the absence of validated biomarkers of disease progression. Drug development in PD dementia has been mostly unsuccessful; however, emerging biochemical, genetic and pathological evidence suggests a link between tau and amyloid-β deposition and cognitive decline in PD, potentially opening up new possibilities for therapeutic intervention. This Review discusses the most important 'druggable' disease mechanisms in PD, as well as the most-promising drugs that are being evaluated for their potential efficiency in treatment of motor and cognitive impairments in PD

Adolescent standing postural response to backpack loads: a randomised controlled experimental study

BACKGROUND: Backpack loads produce changes in standing posture when compared with unloaded posture. Although 'poor' unloaded standing posture has been related to spinal pain, there is little evidence of whether, and how much, exposure to posterior load produces injurious effects on spinal tissue. The objective of this study was to describe the effect on adolescent sagittal plane standing posture of different loads and positions of a common design of school backpack. The underlying study aim was to test the appropriateness of two adult 'rules-of-thumb'-that for postural efficiency, backpacks should be worn high on the spine, and loads should be limited to 10% of body weight. METHOD: A randomised controlled experimental study was conducted on 250 adolescents (12–18 years), randomly selected from five South Australian metropolitan high schools. Sagittal view anatomical points were marked on head, neck, shoulder, hip, thigh, knee and ankle. There were nine experimental conditions: combinations of backpack loads (3, 5 or 10% of body weight) and positions (backpack centred at T7, T12 or L3). Sagittal plane photographs were taken of unloaded standing posture (baseline), and standing posture under the experimental conditions. Posture was quantified from the x (horizontal) coordinate of each anatomical point under each experimental condition. Differences in postural response were described, and differences between conditions were determined using Analysis of Variance models. RESULTS: Neither age nor gender was a significant factor when comparing postural response to backpack loads or conditions. Backpacks positioned at T7 produced the largest forward (horizontal) displacement at all the anatomical points. The horizontal position of all anatomical points increased linearly with load. CONCLUSION: There is evidence refuting the 'rule-of-thumb' to carry the backpack high on the back. Typical school backpacks should be positioned with the centre at waist or hip level. There is no evidence for the 10% body weight limit

A DNA Sequence Directed Mutual Transcription Regulation of HSF1 and NFIX Involves Novel Heat Sensitive Protein Interactions

BACKGROUND: Though the Nuclear factor 1 family member NFIX has been strongly implicated in PDGFB-induced glioblastoma, its molecular mechanisms of action remain unknown. HSF1, a heat shock-related transcription factor is also a powerful modifier of carcinogenesis by several factors, including PDGFB. How HSF1 transcription is controlled has remained largely elusive. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: By combining microarray expression profiling and a yeast-two-hybrid screen, we identified that NFIX and its interactions with CGGBP1 and HMGN1 regulate expression of HSF1. We found that CGGBP1 organizes a bifunctional transcriptional complex at small CGG repeats in the HSF1 promoter. Under chronic heat shock, NFIX uses CGGBP1 and HMGN1 to get recruited to this promoter and in turn affects their binding to DNA. Results show that the interactions of NFIX with CGGBP1 and HMGN1 in the soluble fraction are heat shock sensitive due to preferential localization of CGGBP1 to heterochromatin after heat shock. HSF1 in turn was found to bind to the NFIX promoter and repress its expression in a heat shock sensitive manner. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: NFIX and HSF1 exert a mutual transcriptional repressive effect on each other which requires CGG repeat in HSF1 promoter and HSF1 binding site in NFIX promoter. We unravel a unique mechanism of heat shock sensitive DNA sequence-directed reciprocal transcriptional regulation between NFIX and HSF1. Our findings provide new insights into mechanisms of transcription regulation under stress

Near-infrared sensitivity enhancement of photorefractive polymer composites by pre-illumination

Among the various applications for reversible holographic storage media, a particularly interesting one is time-gated holographic imaging (TGHI). This technique could provide a noninvasive medical diagnosis tool, related to optical coherence tomography. In this technique, biological samples are illuminated within their transparency windowwith near-infrared light, and information about subsurface features is obtained by a detection method that distinguishes between reflected photons originating from a certain depth and those scattered from various depths. Such an application requires reversible holographic storage media with very high sensitivity in the near-infrared. Photorefractive materials, in particular certain amorphous organic systems, are in principle promising candidate media, but their sensitivity has so far been too low, mainly owing to their long response times in the near-infrared. Here we introduce an organic photorefractive material—a composite based on the poly(arylene vinylene) copolymer TPD-PPV—that exhibits favourable near-infrared characteristics. We show that pre-illumination of this material at a shorter wavelength before holographic recording improves the response time by a factor of 40. This process was found to be reversible. We demonstrate multiple holographic recording with this technique at video rate under practical conditions