Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Global analyses of Ceratocystis cacaofunesta mitochondria: from genome to proteome

Abstract Background The ascomycete fungus Ceratocystis cacaofunesta is the causal agent of wilt disease in cacao, which results in significant economic losses in the affected producing areas. Despite the economic importance of the Ceratocystis complex of species, no genomic data are available for any of its members. Given that mitochondria play important roles in fungal virulence and the susceptibility/resistance of fungi to fungicides, we performed the first functional analysis of this organelle in Ceratocystis using integrated “omics” approaches. Results The C. cacaofunesta mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) consists of a single, 103,147-bp circular molecule, making this the second largest mtDNA among the Sordariomycetes. Bioinformatics analysis revealed the presence of 15 conserved genes and 37 intronic open reading frames in C. cacaofunesta mtDNA. Here, we predicted the mitochondrial proteome (mtProt) of C. cacaofunesta, which is comprised of 1,124 polypeptides - 52 proteins that are mitochondrially encoded and 1,072 that are nuclearly encoded. Transcriptome analysis revealed 33 probable novel genes. Comparisons among the Gene Ontology results of the predicted mtProt of C. cacaofunesta, Neurospora crassa and Saccharomyces cerevisiae revealed no significant differences. Moreover, C. cacaofunesta mitochondria were isolated, and the mtProt was subjected to mass spectrometric analysis. The experimental proteome validated 27% of the predicted mtProt. Our results confirmed the existence of 110 hypothetical proteins and 7 novel proteins of which 83 and 1, respectively, had putative mitochondrial localization. Conclusions The present study provides the first partial genomic analysis of a species of the Ceratocystis genus and the first predicted mitochondrial protein inventory of a phytopathogenic fungus. In addition to the known mitochondrial role in pathogenicity, our results demonstrated that the global function analysis of this organelle is similar in pathogenic and non-pathogenic fungi, suggesting that its relevance in the lifestyle of these organisms should be based on a small number of specific proteins and/or with respect to differential gene regulation. In this regard, particular interest should be directed towards mitochondrial proteins with unknown function and the novel protein that might be specific to this species. Further functional characterization of these proteins could enhance our understanding of the role of mitochondria in phytopathogenicity

The expression of HSP60 and HSP10 in large bowel carcinomas with lymph node metastase

BACKGROUND: The involvement of Heat Shock Proteins (HSP) in cancer development and progression is a widely debated topic. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the presence and expression of HSP60 and HSP10 in a series of large bowel carcinomas and locoregional lymph nodes with and without metastases. METHODS: 82 Astler and Coller's stage C2 colorectal cancers, of which 48 well-differentiated and 34 poorly-differentiated, were selected along with 661 lymph nodes, including 372 with metastases and 289 with reactive hyperplasia only, from the same tumours. Primitive tumours and both metastatic and reactive lymph nodes were studied; specifically, three different compartments of the lymph nodes, secondary follicle, paracortex and medullary sinus, were also analysed. An immunohistochemical research for HSP60 and HSP10 was performed and the semiquantitative results were analysed by statistical analysis to determine the correlation between HSPs expression and 1) tumour grading; 2) degree of inflammation; 3) number of lymph nodes involved; 4) lymph node compartment hyperplasia. Moreover, western blotting was performed on a smaller group of samples to confirm the immunohistochemical results. RESULTS: Our data show that the expression of HSP60, in both primary tumour and lymph node metastasis, is correlated with the tumoral grade, while the HSP10 expression is not. Nevertheless, the levels of HSP10 are commonly higher than the levels of HSP60. In addition, statistical analyses do not show any correlation between the degree of inflammation and the immunopositivity for both HSP60 and HSP10. Moreover, we find a significant correlation between the presence of lymph node metastases and the positivity for both HSP60 and HSP10. In particular, metastatic lymph nodes show a higher percentage of cells positive for both HSP60 and HSP10 in the secondary follicles, and for HSP10 in the medullary sinuses, when compared with hyperplastic lymph nodes. CONCLUSION: HSP60 and HSP10 may have diagnostic and prognostic significance in the management of this tumour and their overexpression in tumoral cells may be functionally related to tumoral progression. We hypothesise that their expression in follicular and medullary cells of lymph nodes may be induced by formation of metastases. Further studies based on these observations could lead to a better understanding of the HSPs involvement in colorectal cancer progression, as well as other neoplasms

Point Mutations in Aβ Result in the Formation of Distinct Polymorphic Aggregates in the Presence of Lipid Bilayers

A hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the rearrangement of the β-amyloid (Aβ) peptide to a non-native conformation that promotes the formation of toxic, nanoscale aggregates. Recent studies have pointed to the role of sample preparation in creating polymorphic fibrillar species. One of many potential pathways for Aβ toxicity may be modulation of lipid membrane function on cellular surfaces. There are several mutations clustered around the central hydrophobic core of Aβ near the α-secretase cleavage site (E22G Arctic mutation, E22K Italian mutation, D23N Iowa mutation, and A21G Flemish mutation). These point mutations are associated with hereditary diseases ranging from almost pure cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) to typical Alzheimer's disease pathology with plaques and tangles. We investigated how these point mutations alter Aβ aggregation in the presence of supported lipid membranes comprised of total brain lipid extract. Brain lipid extract bilayers were used as a physiologically relevant model of a neuronal cell surface. Intact lipid bilayers were exposed to predominantly monomeric preparations of Wild Type or different mutant forms of Aβ, and atomic force microscopy was used to monitor aggregate formation and morphology as well as bilayer integrity over a 12 hour period. The goal of this study was to determine how point mutations in Aβ, which alter peptide charge and hydrophobic character, influence interactions between Aβ and the lipid surface. While fibril morphology did not appear to be significantly altered when mutants were prepped similarly and incubated under free solution conditions, aggregation in the lipid membranes resulted in a variety of polymorphic aggregates in a mutation dependent manner. The mutant peptides also had a variable ability to disrupt bilayer integrity

Performance of the ATLAS Trigger System in 2010

Proton-proton collisions at sqrt{s} = 7 TeV and heavy ion collisions at sqrt{s_NN} = 2.76 TeV were produced by the LHC and recorded using the ATLAS experiment's trigger system in 2010. The LHC is designed with a maximum bunch crossing rate of 40 MHz and the ATLAS trigger system is designed to record approximately 200 of these per second. The trigger system selects events by rapidly identifying signatures of muon, electron, photon, tau lepton, jet, and B meson candidates, as well as using global event signatures, such as missing transverse energy. An overview of the ATLAS trigger system, the evolution of the system during 2010 and the performance of the trigger system components and selections based on the 2010 collision data are shown. A brief outline of plans for the trigger system in 2011 is presente

Measurement of the transverse momentum distribution of [Z over γ*] bosons in proton-proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A measurement of the [Z over γ*] transverse momentum (p[Z over T]) distribution in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV is presented using [Z over γ*] →e[superscript +]e[superscript −] and [Z over γ*] →μ[superscript +]μ[superscript −] decays collected with the ATLAS detector in data sets with integrated luminosities of 35 pb[superscript −1] and 40 pb[superscript −1], respectively. The normalized differential cross sections are measured separately for electron and muon decay channels as well as for their combination up to p[Z over T] of 350 GeV for invariant dilepton masses 66 GeV<m[subscript ℓℓ]<116 GeV. The measurement is compared to predictions of perturbative QCD and various event generators. The prediction of resummed QCD combined with fixed order perturbative QCD is found to be in good agreement with the data.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Brookhaven National LaboratoryEuropean Organization for Nuclear Researc