Prospective Assessment of Sex-Related Differences in Symptom Status and Health Perception Among Patients With Atrial Fibrillation.

We prospectively assessed sex-specific differences in health perception, overall symptom status, and specific symptoms in a large cohort of patients with atrial fibrillation. We performed a prospective multicenter observational cohort study of 1553 patients with atrial fibrillation. Patients completed questionnaires about personal characteristics, comorbidities, and symptoms on a yearly basis. Mean age was 70±11 years among women and 67±12 years among men. Health perception on a visual analogue scale ranging from 0 to 100 (with higher scores indicating better health perception) was significantly lower in women than in men (70 [interquartile range: 50-80] versus 75 [interquartile range: 60-85]; javax.xml.bind.JAXBElement@29592a5d <0.0001). More women than men had any symptoms (85.0% versus 68.3%; javax.xml.bind.JAXBElement@7ac0b4e4 <0.0001), palpitations (65.2% versus 44.4%; javax.xml.bind.JAXBElement@41229466 <0.0001), dizziness (25.6% versus 13.5%; javax.xml.bind.JAXBElement@61871784 <0.0001), dyspnea (35.7% versus 21.8%; javax.xml.bind.JAXBElement@16cc22b <0.0001), and fatigue (25.3% versus 19.1%; javax.xml.bind.JAXBElement@7ef43176 =0.006). At 1-year follow-up, symptoms decreased in both sexes but remained more frequent in women (49.1% versus 32.6%, javax.xml.bind.JAXBElement@2b200b6a <0.0001). In multivariable adjusted longitudinal regression models, female sex remained an independent predictor for lower health perception (ß=-4.8; 95% CI, -6.5 to -3.1; javax.xml.bind.JAXBElement@72c212bd <0.0001), any symptoms (odds ratio [OR]: 2.6; 95% CI, 2.1-3.4; javax.xml.bind.JAXBElement@15d8fb54 <0.0001), palpitations (OR: 2.6; 95% CI, 2.1-3.2; javax.xml.bind.JAXBElement@4af80718 <0.0001), dizziness (OR: 2.9; 95% CI, 2.1-3.9; javax.xml.bind.JAXBElement@61282e76 <0.0001), dyspnea (OR: 2.1; 95% CI, 1.6-2.8; javax.xml.bind.JAXBElement@31d9f14 <0.0001), fatigue (OR: 1.6; 95% CI, 1.2-2.2; javax.xml.bind.JAXBElement@51cdd678 =0.0008), and chest pain (OR: 1.8; 95% CI, 1.3-2.6; javax.xml.bind.JAXBElement@5b87db9e =0.001). Women with atrial fibrillation have a substantially higher symptom burden and lower health perception than men. These relationships persisted after multivariable adjustment and during prospective follow-up

Survival of dental implants in patients with oral cancer treated by surgery and radiotherapy: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND: The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the survival of dental implants placed after ablative surgery, in patients affected by oral cancer treated with or without radiotherapy. METHODS: We collected data for 34 subjects (22 females, 12 males; mean age: 51 ± 19) with malignant oral tumors who had been treated with ablative surgery and received dental implant rehabilitation between 2007 and 2012. Postoperative radiation therapy (less than 50 Gy) was delivered before implant placement in 12 patients. A total of 144 titanium implants were placed, at a minimum interval of 12 months, in irradiated and non-irradiated residual bone. RESULTS: Implant loss was dependent on the position and location of the implants (P = 0.05-0.1). Moreover, implant survival was dependent on whether the patient had received radiotherapy. This result was highly statistically significant (P < 0.01). Whether the implant was loaded is another highly significant (P < 0.01) factor determinin

Two-neutron transfer reaction mechanisms in 12^{12}C(6^6He,4^{4}He)14^{14}C using a realistic three-body 6^{6}He model

The reaction mechanisms of the two-neutron transfer reaction $^{12}$C($^6$He,$^4$He) have been studied at 30 MeV at the TRIUMF ISAC-II facility using the SHARC charged-particle detector array. Optical potential parameters have been extracted from the analysis of the elastic scattering angular distribution. The new potential has been applied to the study of the transfer angular distribution to the 2$^+_2$ 8.32 MeV state in $^{14}$C, using a realistic 3-body $^6$He model and advanced shell model calculations for the carbon structure, allowing to calculate the relative contributions of the simultaneous and sequential two-neutron transfer. The reaction model provides a good description of the 30 MeV data set and shows that the simultaneous process is the dominant transfer mechanism. Sensitivity tests of optical potential parameters show that the final results can be considerably affected by the choice of optical potentials. A reanalysis of data measured previously at 18 MeV however, is not as well described by the same reaction model, suggesting that one needs to include higher order effects in the reaction mechanism.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

Spectral Distortions of the CMB as a Probe of Inflation, Recombination, Structure Formation and Particle Physics

Following the pioneering observations with COBE in the early 1990s, studies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) have focused on temperature and polarization anisotropies. CMB spectral distortions - tiny departures of the CMB energy spectrum from that of a perfect blackbody - provide a second, independent probe of fundamental physics, with a reach deep into the primordial Universe. The theoretical foundation of spectral distortions has seen major advances in recent years, which highlight the immense potential of this emerging field. Spectral distortions probe a fundamental property of the Universe - its thermal history - thereby providing additional insight into processes within the cosmological standard model (CSM) as well as new physics beyond. Spectral distortions are an important tool for understanding inflation and the nature of dark matter. They shed new light on the physics of recombination and reionization, both prominent stages in the evolution of our Universe, and furnish critical information on baryonic feedback processes, in addition to probing primordial correlation functions at scales inaccessible to other tracers. In principle the range of signals is vast: many orders of magnitude of discovery space could be explored by detailed observations of the CMB energy spectrum. Several CSM signals are predicted and provide clear experimental targets, some of which are already observable with present-day technology. Confirmation of these signals would extend the reach of the CSM by orders of magnitude in physical scale as the Universe evolves from the initial stages to its present form. The absence of these signals would pose a huge theoretical challenge, immediately pointing to new physics.Comment: Astro2020 Science White Paper, 5 pages text, 13 pages in total, 3 Figures, minor update to reference

Future constraints on neutrino isocurvature perturbations in the curvaton scenario

In the curvaton scenario, residual isocurvature perturbations can be imprinted in the cosmic neutrino component after the decay of the curvaton field, implying in turn a non-zero chemical potential in the neutrino distribution. We study the constraints that future experiments like Planck, SPIDER or CMBPol will be able to put on the amplitude of isocurvature perturbations in the neutrino component. We express our results in terms of the square root \gamma of the non-adiabaticity parameter \alpha and of the extra relativistic degrees of freedom \Delta N_eff. Assuming a fiducial model with purely adiabatic fluctuations, we find that Planck (SPIDER) will be able to put the following upper limits at the 1sigma level: \gamma < 5.3x10^-3 (1.2x10^-2) and \Delta N_eff < 0.16 (0.40) . CMBPol will further improve these constraints to \gamma < 1.5x10^-3 and \Delta N_eff < 0.043. Finally, we recast these bounds in terms of the background neutrino degeneracy parameter \xi\ and the corresponding perturbation amplitude \sigma_\xi, and compare with the bounds on \xi\ that can be derived from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. References added. Matches version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Design of the Swiss Atrial Fibrillation Cohort Study (Swiss-AF): structural brain damage and cognitive decline among patients with atrial fibrillation.

Several studies found that patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) have an increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia over time. However, the magnitude of the problem, associated risk factors and underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This article describes the design and methodology of the Swiss Atrial Fibrillation (Swiss-AF) Cohort Study, a prospective multicentre national cohort study of 2400 patients across 13 sites in Switzerland. Eligible patients must have documented AF. Main exclusion criteria are the inability to provide informed consent and the presence of exclusively short episodes of reversible forms of AF. All patients undergo extensive phenotyping and genotyping, including repeated assessment of cognitive functions, quality of life, disability, electrocardiography and cerebral magnetic resonance imaging. We also collect information on health related costs, and we assemble a large biobank. Key clinical outcomes in Swiss-AF are death, stroke, systemic embolism, bleeding, hospitalisation for heart failure and myocardial infarction. Information on outcomes and updates on other characteristics are being collected during yearly follow-up visits. Up to 7 April 2017, we have enrolled 2133 patients into Swiss-AF. With the current recruitment rate of 15 to 20 patients per week, we expect that the target sample size of 2400 patients will be reached by summer 2017. Swiss-AF is a large national prospective cohort of patients with AF in Switzerland. This study will provide important new information on structural and functional brain damage in patients with AF and on other AF related complications, using a large variety of genetic, phenotypic and health economic parameters

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

Search for squarks and gluinos with the ATLAS detector in final states with jets and missing transverse momentum using √s=8 TeV proton-proton collision data

A search for squarks and gluinos in final states containing high-p T jets, missing transverse momentum and no electrons or muons is presented. The data were recorded in 2012 by the ATLAS experiment in s√=8 TeV proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, with a total integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb−1. Results are interpreted in a variety of simplified and specific supersymmetry-breaking models assuming that R-parity is conserved and that the lightest neutralino is the lightest supersymmetric particle. An exclusion limit at the 95% confidence level on the mass of the gluino is set at 1330 GeV for a simplified model incorporating only a gluino and the lightest neutralino. For a simplified model involving the strong production of first- and second-generation squarks, squark masses below 850 GeV (440 GeV) are excluded for a massless lightest neutralino, assuming mass degenerate (single light-flavour) squarks. In mSUGRA/CMSSM models with tan β = 30, A 0 = −2m 0 and μ > 0, squarks and gluinos of equal mass are excluded for masses below 1700 GeV. Additional limits are set for non-universal Higgs mass models with gaugino mediation and for simplified models involving the pair production of gluinos, each decaying to a top squark and a top quark, with the top squark decaying to a charm quark and a neutralino. These limits extend the region of supersymmetric parameter space excluded by previous searches with the ATLAS detector