Andreas Pfeiffer

Bio: Andreas Pfeiffer is an academic researcher from CERN. The author has contributed to research in topics: Large Hadron Collider & Lepton. The author has an hindex of 149, co-authored 1756 publications receiving 131080 citations. Previous affiliations of Andreas Pfeiffer include Heidelberg University & Paul Scherrer Institute.

Endogenous and exogenous glucocorticoids decrease plasma ghrelin in humans

Abstract: Objective: The orexigenic and adipogenic peptide hormone ghrelin is predominantly produced and secreted by the stomach and seems to transduce changes in food intake to specific neuronal circuits in the brain. The activity of ghrelin also includes stimulatory effects on the corticotropic system. However, little is known about the influence of glucocorticoids on ghrelin levels. We therefore studied human plasma ghrelin levels in the presence and absence of elevated glucocorticoid levels of either endogenous or exogenous origin. Methods: Plasma ghrelin levels were measured in five patients with chronic hypercortisolism (aged 29 – 58, median 46 years) due to Cushing’s syndrome before and after successful surgery for the adenoma, and in eight healthy controls (aged 24 – 39, median 27.5 years) before and after 30 mg prednisolone (for 5 days) once a day in the morning (median body mass index (BMI) 22.7 kg/m 2 ). Plasma ghrelin levels were measured with a commercially available radioimmunoassay. Results: In patients with Cushing’s syndrome, plasma ghrelin levels were low (median 363.2 pg/ml, range 161.9 – 525.7 pg/ml) and significantly increased by 26.6% (P ¼ 0.04) after successful surgery, while BMI decreased (median 26.2 – 24.0 kg/m 2 , P ¼ 0.04). A strong negative correlation (r ¼ 2 0.9, P ¼ 0.04) between changes in BMI and plasma ghrelin was observed. In healthy controls, plasma ghrelin levels (median 288.7 pg/ml, range 119.6 – 827.8 pg/ml) were significantly suppressed by 18.3% (P ¼ 0.04) after prednisolone treatment. Conclusions: We have shown for the first time that plasma ghrelin levels are decreased under endogenously or exogenously induced hypercortisolism, making ghrelin an unlikely candidate for causing the changes in energy balance or body composition characteristic of Cushing’s disease. However, the reduced ghrelin secretion could reflect a compensation mechanism in reaction to the metabolic consequences of chronic hypercortisolism.

Measurement of the mass difference between top and antitop quarks

Abstract: A measurement of the mass difference between the top and the antitop quark (Delta m(t) = m(t) - m(anti-t)) is performed using events with a muon or an electron and at least four jets in the final state. The analysis is based on data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.96 +/- 0.11 inverse femtobarns, and yields the value of Delta m(t) = -0.44 +/- 0.46 (stat) +/- 0.27 (syst) GeV. This result is consistent with equality of particle and antiparticle masses required by CPT invariance, and provides a significantly improved precision relative to existing measurements.

Measurement of the transverse momentum spectrum of the Higgs boson produced in pp collisions at s=8 TeV using H → WW decays

Abstract: The cross section for Higgs boson production in pp collisions is studied using the H → W+W− decay mode, followed by leptonic decays of the W bosons to an oppositely charged electron-muon pair in the final state. The measurements are performed using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.4 fb−1. The Higgs boson transverse momentum (pT) is reconstructed using the lepton pair pT and missing pT. The differential cross section times branching fraction is measured as a function of the Higgs boson pT in a fiducial phase space defined to match the experimental acceptance in terms of the lepton kinematics and event topology. The production cross section times branching fraction in the fiducial phase space is measured to be 39 ± 8 (stat) ± 9 (syst) fb. The measurements are found to agree, within experimental uncertainties, with theoretical calculations based on the standard model.

I and i

Abstract: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality. Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

Phd by thesis

Abstract: Deposits of clastic carbonate-dominated (calciclastic) sedimentary slope systems in the rock record have been identified mostly as linearly-consistent carbonate apron deposits, even though most ancient clastic carbonate slope deposits fit the submarine fan systems better. Calciclastic submarine fans are consequently rarely described and are poorly understood. Subsequently, very little is known especially in mud-dominated calciclastic submarine fan systems. Presented in this study are a sedimentological core and petrographic characterisation of samples from eleven boreholes from the Lower Carboniferous of Bowland Basin (Northwest England) that reveals a >250 m thick calciturbidite complex deposited in a calciclastic submarine fan setting. Seven facies are recognised from core and thin section characterisation and are grouped into three carbonate turbidite sequences. They include: 1) Calciturbidites, comprising mostly of highto low-density, wavy-laminated bioclast-rich facies; 2) low-density densite mudstones which are characterised by planar laminated and unlaminated muddominated facies; and 3) Calcidebrites which are muddy or hyper-concentrated debrisflow deposits occurring as poorly-sorted, chaotic, mud-supported floatstones. These

Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes

Abstract: XI. STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING DIABETES CARE D iabetes is a chronic illness that requires continuing medical care and patient self-management education to prevent acute complications and to reduce the risk of long-term complications. Diabetes care is complex and requires that many issues, beyond glycemic control, be addressed. A large body of evidence exists that supports a range of interventions to improve diabetes outcomes. These standards of care are intended to provide clinicians, patients, researchers, payors, and other interested individuals with the components of diabetes care, treatment goals, and tools to evaluate the quality of care. While individual preferences, comorbidities, and other patient factors may require modification of goals, targets that are desirable for most patients with diabetes are provided. These standards are not intended to preclude more extensive evaluation and management of the patient by other specialists as needed. For more detailed information, refer to Bode (Ed.): Medical Management of Type 1 Diabetes (1), Burant (Ed): Medical Management of Type 2 Diabetes (2), and Klingensmith (Ed): Intensive Diabetes Management (3). The recommendations included are diagnostic and therapeutic actions that are known or believed to favorably affect health outcomes of patients with diabetes. A grading system (Table 1), developed by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and modeled after existing methods, was utilized to clarify and codify the evidence that forms the basis for the recommendations. The level of evidence that supports each recommendation is listed after each recommendation using the letters A, B, C, or E.