Measurement of quarkonium production at forward rapidity in [Formula: see text] collisions at [Formula: see text]TeV

The inclusive production cross sections at forward rapidity of [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text](1S) and [Formula: see text](2S) are measured in [Formula: see text] collisions at [Formula: see text] with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.35 pb[Formula: see text]. Quarkonia are reconstructed in the dimuon-decay channel and the signal yields are evaluated by fitting the [Formula: see text] invariant mass distributions. The differential production cross sections are measured as a function of the transverse momentum [Formula: see text] and rapidity [Formula: see text], over the ranges [Formula: see text] GeV/c for [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] GeV/c for all other resonances and for [Formula: see text]. The measured cross sections integrated over [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], and assuming unpolarized quarkonia, are: [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text]b, [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text]b, [Formula: see text] nb and [Formula: see text] nb, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second one is systematic. The results are compared to measurements performed by other LHC experiments and to theoretical models.

miRNAs affect the development of hepatocellular carcinoma via dysregulation of their biogenesis and expression

The pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is not fully understood, which has affected the early diagnosis and treatment of HCC and the survival time of patients. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of evolutionarily conserved small, non-coding RNAs, which regulate the expression of various genes post-transcriptionally. Emerging evidence indicates that the key enzymes involved in the miRNA biosynthesis pathway and some tumor-specific miRNAs are widely deregulated or upregulated in HCC and closely associated with the occurrence and development of various cancers, including HCC. Early studies have shown that miRNAs have critical roles in HCC progression by targeting many critical protein-coding genes, thereby contributing to the promotion of cell proliferation; the avoidance of apoptosis, inducing via angiogenesis; and the activation of invasion and metastasis pathways. Experimental data indicate that discovery of increasing numbers of aberrantly expressed miRNAs has opened up a new field for investigating the molecular mechanism of HCC progression. In this review, we describe the current knowledge about the roles and validated targets of miRNAs in the above pathways that are known to be hallmarks of HCC, and we also describe the influence of genetic variations in miRNA biosynthesis and genes.

Measurement of the target-normal single-spin asymmetry in deep-inelastic scattering from the reaction (3)He(↑)(e,e')X

We report the first measurement of the target-normal single-spin asymmetry in deep-inelastic scattering from the inclusive reaction 3)He(↑)(e,e')X on a polarized (3)He gas target. Assuming time-reversal invariance, this asymmetry is strictly zero in the Born approximation but can be nonzero if two-photon-exchange contributions are included. The experiment, conducted at Jefferson Lab using a 5.89 GeV electron beam, covers a range of 1.7<W<2.9  GeV, 1.0<Q(2)<4.0  GeV(2) and 0.16<x<0.65. Neutron asymmetries were extracted using the effective nucleon polarization and measured proton-to-(3)He cross-section ratios. The measured neutron asymmetries are negative with an average value of (-1.09±0.38)×10(-2) for invariant mass W>2  GeV, which is nonzero at the 2.89σ level. Our measured asymmetry agrees both in sign and magnitude with a two-photon-exchange model prediction that uses input from the Sivers transverse momentum distribution obtained from semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering.

Probing the repulsive core of the nucleon-nucleon interaction via the (4)He(e,e'pN) triple-coincidence reaction

We studied simultaneously the (4)He(e,e'p), (4)He(e,e'pp), and (4)He(e,e'pn) reactions at Q(2)=2(GeV/c)(2) and x(B)>1, for an (e,e'p) missing-momentum range of 400 to 830  MeV/c. The knocked-out proton was detected in coincidence with a proton or neutron recoiling almost back to back to the missing momentum, leaving the residual A=2 system at low excitation energy. These data were used to identify two-nucleon short-range correlated pairs and to deduce their isospin structure as a function of missing momentum, in a region where the nucleon-nucleon (NN) force is expected to change from predominantly tensor to repulsive. The abundance of neutron-proton pairs is reduced as the nucleon momentum increases beyond ∼500  MeV/c. The extracted fraction of proton-proton pairs is small and almost independent of the missing momentum. Our data are compared with calculations of two-nucleon momentum distributions in (4)He and discussed in the context of probing the elusive repulsive component of the NN force.

Vitamin D deficiency causes defective resistance to Aspergillus fumigatus in mice via aggravated and sustained inflammation

Background

Vitamin D plays an important role in pulmonary resistance and immunity, and its deficiency has been linked to various respiratory infections. Little is known about the effect of vitamin D deficiency on host pulmonary defense to Aspergillus fumigatus (A. fumigatus).

Methods

Mice raised on vitamin D sufficient or deficient diets were infected intratracheally with A. fumigatus conidia. Mortality, fungal growth, weight loss and lung histology were monitored. Alveolar macrophages (AMs) were stimulated with A. fumigatus conidia in vitro. The kinetics of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6), chemokines (CXCL1, CCL3), and pattern recognition receptors (Toll-like receptor [TLR] 2, TLR 4 and dectin-1) expression in the lungs and AMs were measured.

Results

Upon A. fumigatus infection, vitamin D deficient mice showed higher mortality, greater fungal load, and more weight loss than its sufficient counterparts. Vitamin D deficient mice demonstrated aggravated and prolonged histological evidence of lung inflammation as well as enhanced BAL cell counts, dominated by neutrophils after A. fumigatus inoculation. Increased basal levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the lungs and AMs from naïve vitamin D deficient mice were observed. Upon A. fumigatus exposure, vitamin D deficiency led to enhanced and sustained expression of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, CXCL1 and CCL3 both in vivo and in vitro. Up-regulation of TLR2, TLR4 and dectin-1was observed in the lungs and AMs from vitamin D deficient mice both at baseline and after A. fumigatus exposure.

Conclusions

Vitamin D deficiency causes defective pulmonary resistance to A. fumigatus in mice, possibly by the enhanced basal expression of pattern recognition receptors and pro-inflammatory cytokines, which induced excessive inflammatory response in response to A. fumigatus challenge.