Adolescents and young adults with newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes demonstrate greater carotid intima-media thickness than those with Type 1 diabetes

AIM

To compare the carotid intima-media thickness in patients with newly diagnosed Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes ranging from 14 to 30 years of age.

METHODS

Demographic, anthropometric and laboratory data were obtained from 404 adolescents and young adults (103 subjects with Type 1 diabetes, 94 with Type 2 diabetes, 153 obese subjects and 54 normal control subjects). Carotid intima-media thickness was assessed based on Doppler ultrasound examination and compared among the four groups.

RESULTS

Our data showed significant increases in carotid intima-media thickness in subjects with Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes and obese subjects compared with the control subjects, with those in the group with Type 2 diabetes demonstrating the greatest change (P < 0.001). Age, BMI, percentage of fat, waist-hip ratio and total triglycerides were significantly correlated with both common and internal carotid intima-media thickness segments. From a stepwise multiple linear regression model, the independent determinants of common carotid intima-media thickness were age, BMI, HbA1c and HDL cholesterol (adjusted R(2)  = 0.152, P < 0.001). After adjustment for age, sex and HbA1c , the odds ratio for increased carotid intima-media thickness was 1.67 (95% CI 1.19-2.33, P = 0.003) for obese subjects, 2.38 (95% CI 1.59-9.47, P = 0.001) for subjects with Type 1 diabetes and 3.93 (95% CI 1.90-6.07, P = 0001) for subjects with Type 2 diabetes compared with the control subjects.

CONCLUSIONS

Compared with young control subjects, we found significant increases in carotid intima-media thickness in patients with newly diagnosed Type 1 diabetes and Type 2 diabetes, with patients with Type 2 diabetes showing greater carotid intima-media thickness. Traditional cardiovascular risk factors, such as obesity, dyslipidaemia, hypertension and hyperglycaemia, could cause vessel changes even in adolescents and young adults.

Development and characterization of novel microsatellite markers in the rock bream fish Oplegnathus fasciatus

The rock bream fish Oplegnathus fasciatus is one of the most popular aquaculture species in China. In the present study, 15 novel polymorphic microsatellite loci were isolated and characterized from a wild population of O. fasciatus from the Zhoushan coast of China. The number of alleles per polymorphic locus ranged from 4 to 9 in a sample of 30 individuals. Observed and expected heterozygosities per locus varied from 0.267 to 0.767 and from 0.395 to 0.859, respectively. Eleven of the 15 microsatellite loci conformed to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. No significant linkage disequilibrium between pairs of loci was detected. The present microsatellite markers could provide a useful tool for the genetic analyses of O. fasciatus.

Isolation and characterization of novel microsatellite loci in Nibea albiflora

Eleven novel microsatellite loci were isolated from a (CA)10-enriched genomic DNA library of Nibea albiflora. The characteristics of these microsatellites were determined in a sample of 48 N. albiflora individuals. The number of alleles at the 11 microsatellite loci ranged from 5 to 25, with an average of 13.5 per locus. The observed and expected heterozygosities varied from 0.583 to 0.917 and from 0.568 to 0.964, respectively. Eight of the 11 microsatellite loci conformed to the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. No significant linkage disequilibrium was found among all 11 loci. These polymorphic microsatellites will be useful for population genetic analyses of N. albiflora.

White matter alterations in cognitively normal apoE ε2 carriers: insight into Alzheimer resistance?

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The basis for decreased vulnerability to AD among apoE ε2 carriers is unknown. The purpose of this study was to use diffusion tensor imaging to detect possible differences in white matter integrity between cognitively normal elderly apoE ε2 carriers and apoE ε3/ε3 controls.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Thirty-nine cognitively normal elderly individuals (19 heterozygous carriers of the apoE ε2 allele, 20 apoE ε3/ε3 subjects as controls) underwent diffusion tensor MR imaging on a 4T scanner. Fractional anisotropy, MD, and axial and radial diffusivity were compared using a ROI approach. In addition, an exploratory whole-brain analysis of fractional anisotropy between the 2 groups was undertaken using TBSS.

RESULTS

apoE ε2 carriers had higher FA in the posterior cingulate white matter (P = .01) and anterior corpus callosum (P = .005) than apoE ε3/ε3 controls, secondary to lower radial diffusivity. No significant differences in the FA of the posterior corpus callosum, anterior cingulate white matter, or parahippocampal white matter were seen. Whole-brain TBSS analysis detected regions of higher FA in the apoE ε2 group in the superior longitudinal fasciculus, right thalamus, and the bilateral anterior limbs of the internal capsule, in addition to the posterior cingulum and corpus callosum (P < .005). There were no regions in which the apoE ε3/ε3 group had higher FA.

CONCLUSIONS

apoE ε2 carriers harbor more robust white matter integrity that may be associated with decreased vulnerability to developing AD. This provides further evidence that regional DTI metrics may serve as early imaging biomarkers of AD risk.

Identified hadron compositions in p+p and Au+Au collisions at high transverse momenta at √S(NN)=200 GeV

We report transverse momentum (p(T)≤15  GeV/c) spectra of π(±), K(±), p, p[over ¯], K(S)(0), and ρ(0) at midrapidity in p+p and Au+Au collisions at √S(NN)=200  GeV. Perturbative QCD calculations are consistent with π(±) spectra in p+p collisions but do not reproduce K and p(p[over ¯]) spectra. The observed decreasing antiparticle-to-particle ratios with increasing p(T) provide experimental evidence for varying quark and gluon jet contributions to high-p(T) hadron yields. The relative hadron abundances in Au+Au at p(T)≳8  GeV/c are measured to be similar to the p+p results, despite the expected Casimir effect for parton energy loss.

Strangeness enhancement in Cu-Cu and Au-Au collisions at √S(NN)=200 GeV

We report new STAR measurements of midrapidity yields for the Λ, Λ[over ¯], K(S)(0), Ξ(-), Ξ[over ¯](+), Ω(-), Ω[over ¯](+) particles in Cu+Cu collisions at √S(NN)==200  GeV, and midrapidity yields for the Λ, Λ[over ¯], K(S)(0) particles in Au+Au at √S(NN)==200  GeV. We show that, at a given number of participating nucleons, the production of strange hadrons is higher in Cu+Cu collisions than in Au+Au collisions at the same center-of-mass energy. We find that aspects of the enhancement factors for all particles can be described by a parametrization based on the fraction of participants that undergo multiple collisions.

Measurement of the parity-violating longitudinal single-spin asymmetry for W± boson production in polarized proton-proton collisions at sqrt[s] = 500 GeV

We report the first measurement of the parity-violating single-spin asymmetries for midrapidity decay positrons and electrons from W+ and W- boson production in longitudinally polarized proton-proton collisions at sqrt[s] = 500 GeV by the STAR experiment at RHIC. The measured asymmetries, A(L)(W+) = -0.27 ± 0.10(stat.) ± 0.02(syst.) ± 0.03(norm.) and A(L)(W-) = 0.14 ± 0.19(stat.) ± 0.02(syst.) ± 0.01(norm.), are consistent with theory predictions, which are large and of opposite sign. These predictions are based on polarized quark and antiquark distribution functions constrained by polarized deep-inelastic scattering measurements.

Measurement of the bottom quark contribution to nonphotonic electron production in p + p collisions at √s=200 GeV

The contribution of B meson decays to nonphotonic electrons, which are mainly produced by the semileptonic decays of heavy-flavor mesons, in p + p collisions at √s=200  GeV has been measured using azimuthal correlations between nonphotonic electrons and hadrons. The extracted B decay contribution is approximately 50% at a transverse momentum of pT≥5  GeV/c. These measurements constrain the nuclear modification factor for electrons from B and D meson decays. The result indicates that B meson production in heavy ion collisions is also suppressed at high pT.

Higher moments of net proton multiplicity distributions at RHIC

We report the first measurements of the kurtosis (κ), skewness (S), and variance (σ2) of net-proton multiplicity (Np-Np) distributions at midrapidity for Au+Au collisions at square root of s(NN)=19.6, 62.4, and 200 GeV corresponding to baryon chemical potentials (μB) between 200 and 20 MeV. Our measurements of the products κσ2 and Sσ, which can be related to theoretical calculations sensitive to baryon number susceptibilities and long-range correlations, are constant as functions of collision centrality. We compare these products with results from lattice QCD and various models without a critical point and study the square root of s(NN) dependence of κσ2. From the measurements at the three beam energies, we find no evidence for a critical point in the QCD phase diagram for μB below 200 MeV.

Three-particle coincidence of the long range pseudorapidity correlation in high energy nucleus-nucleus collisions

We report the first three-particle coincidence measurement in pseudorapidity (Δη) between a high transverse momentum (p⊥) trigger particle and two lower p⊥ associated particles within azimuth |Δϕ|<0.7 in square root of s(NN)=200 GeV d+Au and Au+Au collisions. Charge ordering properties are exploited to separate the jetlike component and the ridge (long range Δη correlation). The results indicate that the correlation of ridge particles are uniform not only with respect to the trigger particle but also between themselves event by event in our measured Δη. In addition, the production of the ridge appears to be uncorrelated to the presence of the narrow jetlike component.

Azimuthal charged-particle correlations and possible local strong parity violation

Parity-odd domains, corresponding to nontrivial topological solutions of the QCD vacuum, might be created during relativistic heavy-ion collisions. These domains are predicted to lead to charge separation of quarks along the system's orbital momentum axis. We investigate a three-particle azimuthal correlator which is a P even observable, but directly sensitive to the charge separation effect. We report measurements of charged hadrons near center-of-mass rapidity with this observable in Au + Au and Cu + Cu collisions at square root of s(NN) = 200 GeV using the STAR detector. A signal consistent with several expectations from the theory is detected. We discuss possible contributions from other effects that are not related to parity violation.

Growth of long range forward-backward multiplicity correlations with centrality in Au + Au collisions at square root of sNN = 200 GeV

Forward-backward multiplicity correlation strengths have been measured with the STAR detector for Au + Au and p + p collisions at square root of s(NN) = 200 GeV. Strong short- and long-range correlations (LRC) are seen in central Au + Au collisions. The magnitude of these correlations decrease with decreasing centrality until only short-range correlations are observed in peripheral Au + Au collisions. Both the dual parton model (DPM) and the color glass condensate (CGC) predict the existence of the long-range correlations. In the DPM, the fluctuation in the number of elementary (parton) inelastic collisions produces the LRC. In the CGC, longitudinal color flux tubes generate the LRC. The data are in qualitative agreement with the predictions of the DPM and indicate the presence of multiple parton interactions.

K/pi Fluctuations at relativistic energies

We report K/pi fluctuations from Au + Au collisions at sqrt[s(NN)]= 19.6, 62.4, 130, and 200 GeV using the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. K/pi fluctuations in central collisions show little dependence on incident energy and are on the same order as those from NA49 at the Super Proton Synchrotron in central Pb + Pb collisions at sqrt[s(NN)]=12.3 and 17.3 GeV. We report results for the collision centrality dependence of K/pi fluctuations and results for charge-separated fluctuations. We observe that the K/pi fluctuations scale with the charged particle multiplicity density.

Observation of two-source interference in the photoproduction reaction AuAu --> AuAurho0

In ultraperipheral relativistic heavy-ion collisions, a photon from the electromagnetic field of one nucleus can fluctuate to a quark-antiquark pair and scatter from the other nucleus, emerging as a rho{0}. The rho{0} production occurs in two well-separated (median impact parameters of 20 and 40 F for the cases considered here) nuclei, so the system forms a two-source interferometer. At low transverse momenta, the two amplitudes interfere destructively, suppressing rho{0} production. Since the rho{0} decays before the production amplitudes from the two sources can overlap, the two-pion system can only be described with an entangled nonlocal wave function, and is thus an example of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox. We observe this suppression in 200 GeV per nucleon-pair gold-gold collisions. The interference is 87%+/-5%(stat.)+/-8%(syst.) of the expected level. This translates into a limit on decoherence due to wave function collapse or other factors of 23% at the 90% confidence level.

Indications of conical emission of charged hadrons at the BNL relativistic heavy ion collider

Three-particle azimuthal correlation measurements with a high transverse momentum trigger particle are reported for pp, d+Au, and Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV by the STAR experiment. Dijet structures are observed in pp, d+Au and peripheral Au+Au collisions. An additional structure is observed in central Au+Au data, signaling conical emission of correlated charged hadrons. The conical emission angle is found to be theta=1.37+/-0.02(stat)-0.07+0.06(syst), independent of p_{ perpendicular}.

System-size independence of directed flow measured at the BNL relativistic heavy-ion collider

We measure directed flow (v_{1}) for charged particles in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 and 62.4 GeV, as a function of pseudorapidity (eta), transverse momentum (p_{t}), and collision centrality, based on data from the STAR experiment. We find that the directed flow depends on the incident energy but, contrary to all available model implementations, not on the size of the colliding system at a given centrality. We extend the validity of the limiting fragmentation concept to v_{1} in different collision systems, and investigate possible explanations for the observed sign change in v_{1}(p_{t}).

Forward neutral-pion transverse single-spin asymmetries in p + p collisions at sqrt[s] = 200 GeV

We report precision measurements of the Feynman x (xF) dependence, and first measurements of the transverse momentum (pT) dependence, of transverse single-spin asymmetries for the production of pi0 mesons from polarized proton collisions at sqrt[s] = 200 GeV. The xF dependence of the results is in fair agreement with perturbative QCD model calculations that identify orbital motion of quarks and gluons within the proton as the origin of the spin effects. Results for the pT dependence at fixed xF are not consistent with these same perturbative QCD-based calculations.

Longitudinal double-spin asymmetry for inclusive jet production in p[over -->] + p[over -->] collisions at sqrt[s]=200 GeV

We report a new STAR measurement of the longitudinal double-spin asymmetry A(LL) for inclusive jet production at midrapidity in polarized p + p collisions at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt[s]=200 GeV. The data, which cover jet transverse momenta 5<p(T)<30 GeV/c, are substantially more precise than previous measurements. They provide significant new constraints on the gluon spin contribution to the nucleon spin through the comparison to predictions derived from one global fit to polarized deep-inelastic scattering measurements.

Measurement of transverse single-spin asymmetries for Dijet production in proton-proton collisions at sqrt[s]=200 GeV

We report the first measurement of the opening angle distribution between pairs of jets produced in high-energy collisions of transversely polarized protons. The measurement probes (Sivers) correlations between the transverse spin orientation of a proton and the transverse momentum directions of its partons. With both beams polarized, the wide pseudorapidity (-1< or = eta < or = +2) coverage for jets permits separation of Sivers functions for the valence and sea regions. The resulting asymmetries are all consistent with zero and considerably smaller than Sivers effects observed in semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering. We discuss theoretical attempts to reconcile the new results with the sizable transverse spin effects seen in semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering and forward hadron production in pp collisions.