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

Therapeutic potential of transdermal glyceryl trinitrate in the management of acute stroke

The nitric oxide donor, glyceryl trinitrate (GTN), is a candidate treatment for the management of acute stroke with haemodynamic and potential reperfusion and neuroprotective effects. When administered as a transdermal patch during the acute and subacute phases after stroke, GTN was safe, lowered blood pressure, maintained cerebral blood flow, and did not induce cerebral steal or alter functional outcome. However, when given within 6 h of stroke onset, GTN reduced death and dependency (odds ratio 0.52; 95% confidence interval 0.34–0.78), death, disability, cognitive impairment and mood disturbance, and improved quality of life (data from two trials, n = 312). In a pooled analysis of four studies (n = 186), GTN reduced between-visit systolic blood pressure variability over days 1–7 compared with no GTN (mean difference -2.09; 95% confidence interval -3.83 to -0.35; p = 0.019). The efficacy of GTN given in the ultra-acute/pre-hospital setting is currently being assessed and, if found to be beneficial, the implications for hyperacute stroke practice are significant. Here, we discuss the evidence to date, potential mechanisms of action and future possibilities, including unanswered questions, for the therapeutic potential of GTN in acute stroke

Review of mobile applications for optimizing the follow-up care of patients with diabetes

© 2018, The Author(s). Background: Several smartphone applications aim at facilitating communication between patients and healthcare providers. In this review, we evaluate and compare the most promising applications in the field of diabetes mellitus (DM) and obesity. Most applications monitor body weight, fasting or postprandial blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin (Hgb) A1c (HgbA1c), and units and types of insulin used. Methods: Nine clinically tested applications and two Web platforms were grouped into three categories that were evaluated and compared. Group 1 included seven applications focusing mainly on monitoring DM, fitness and weight, blood glucose levels, and HbA1c. Group 2 included two applications that focus on insulin dosage calculators and glucose self-monitoring tests. Group 3 included two web-platforms that interact with patients via SMS (short message service) messaging. Results: A common feature of the applications examined was the limited number of clinical parameters tested, the small number of subjects taking part in the evaluation, and the fact that the controls were not randomized. Furthermore, the interfaces of the applications varied and were not standardized. Finally, another common characteristic across applications was the lack of standardization of the interface and the overall structure due to language barriers, the devices usually having been designed around a specific language. Lastly, most applications lacked a critical mass of evaluators and were thus not worthy of being considered of serious clinical relevance. Conclusions: The current smartphone applications for DM are characterized by a limited number of participants, a small number of parameters, and a lack of standardization.Published versio

Prenatal exposures and exposomics of asthma

This review examines the causal investigation of preclinical development of childhood asthma using exposomic tools. We examine the current state of knowledge regarding early-life exposure to non-biogenic indoor air pollution and the developmental modulation of the immune system. We examine how metabolomics technologies could aid not only in the biomarker identification of a particular asthma phenotype, but also the mechanisms underlying the immunopathologic process. Within such a framework, we propose alternate components of exposomic investigation of asthma in which, the exposome represents a reiterative investigative process of targeted biomarker identification, validation through computational systems biology and physical sampling of environmental medi

Measurement of the azimuthal anisotropy for charged particle production in SNN=2.76\sqrt{^{S}NN}=2.76 TeV lead-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Contains fulltext : 103506.pdf (preprint version ) (Open Access

Cardiovascular outcomes with sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors vs other glucose-lowering drugs in 13 countries across three continents: analysis of CVD-REAL data

BACKGROUND: Randomized, controlled cardiovascular outcome trials may not be fully representative of the management of patients with type 2 diabetes across different geographic regions. We conducted analyses of data from the multinational CVD-REAL consortium to determine the association between initiation of sodium–glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT-2i) and cardiovascular outcomes, including subgroup analyses based on patient characteristics. METHODS: De-identified health records from 13 countries across three continents were used to identify patients newly-initiated on SGLT-2i or other glucose-lowering drugs (oGLDs). Propensity scores for SGLT-2i initiation were developed in each country, with 1:1 matching for oGLD initiation. In the matched groups hazard ratios (HRs) for hospitalization for heart failure (HHF), all-cause death (ACD), the composite of HHF or ACD, myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke were estimated by country, and pooled using a weighted meta-analysis. Multiple subgroup analyses were conducted across patient demographic and clinical characteristics to examine any heterogeneity in treatment effects. RESULTS: Following matching, 440,599 new users of SGLT-2i and oGLDs were included in each group. Mean follow-up time was 396 days for SGLT-2i initiation and 406 days for oGLDs initiation. SGLT-2i initiation was associated with a lower risk of HHF (HR: 0.66, 95%CI 0.58–0.75; p < 0.001), ACD (HR: 0.52, 95%CI 0.45–0.60; p < 0.001), the composite of HHF or ACD (HR: 0.60, 95%CI 0.53–0.68; p < 0.001), MI (HR: 0.85, 95%CI 0.78–0.92; p < 0.001), and stroke (HR: 0.78, 95%CI 0.72–0.85; p < 0.001); regardless of patient characteristics, including established cardiovascular disease, or geographic region. CONCLUSIONS: This CVD-REAL study extends the findings from the SGLT-2i clinical trials to the broader setting of an ethnically and geographically diverse population, and across multiple subgroups. Trial registration NCT02993614 SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12933-021-01345-z

Evaluation of prognostic risk models for postoperative pulmonary complications in adult patients undergoing major abdominal surgery: a systematic review and international external validation cohort study

Background Stratifying risk of postoperative pulmonary complications after major abdominal surgery allows clinicians to modify risk through targeted interventions and enhanced monitoring. In this study, we aimed to identify and validate prognostic models against a new consensus definition of postoperative pulmonary complications. Methods We did a systematic review and international external validation cohort study. The systematic review was done in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. We searched MEDLINE and Embase on March 1, 2020, for articles published in English that reported on risk prediction models for postoperative pulmonary complications following abdominal surgery. External validation of existing models was done within a prospective international cohort study of adult patients (≥18 years) undergoing major abdominal surgery. Data were collected between Jan 1, 2019, and April 30, 2019, in the UK, Ireland, and Australia. Discriminative ability and prognostic accuracy summary statistics were compared between models for the 30-day postoperative pulmonary complication rate as defined by the Standardised Endpoints in Perioperative Medicine Core Outcome Measures in Perioperative and Anaesthetic Care (StEP-COMPAC). Model performance was compared using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROCC). Findings In total, we identified 2903 records from our literature search; of which, 2514 (86·6%) unique records were screened, 121 (4·8%) of 2514 full texts were assessed for eligibility, and 29 unique prognostic models were identified. Nine (31·0%) of 29 models had score development reported only, 19 (65·5%) had undergone internal validation, and only four (13·8%) had been externally validated. Data to validate six eligible models were collected in the international external validation cohort study. Data from 11 591 patients were available, with an overall postoperative pulmonary complication rate of 7·8% (n=903). None of the six models showed good discrimination (defined as AUROCC ≥0·70) for identifying postoperative pulmonary complications, with the Assess Respiratory Risk in Surgical Patients in Catalonia score showing the best discrimination (AUROCC 0·700 [95% CI 0·683–0·717]). Interpretation In the pre-COVID-19 pandemic data, variability in the risk of pulmonary complications (StEP-COMPAC definition) following major abdominal surgery was poorly described by existing prognostication tools. To improve surgical safety during the COVID-19 pandemic recovery and beyond, novel risk stratification tools are required. Funding British Journal of Surgery Society

Search for the standard model Higgs boson in the diphoton decay channel with 4.9fb -1 of pp collision data at √s=7TeV with atlas

A search for the standard model Higgs boson is performed in the diphoton decay channel. The data used correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.9  fb-1 collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of √s=7  TeV. In the diphoton mass range 110–150 GeV, the largest excess with respect to the background-only hypothesis is observed at 126.5 GeV, with a local significance of 2.8 standard deviations. Taking the look-elsewhere effect into account in the range 110–150 GeV, this significance becomes 1.5 standard deviations. The standard model Higgs boson is excluded at 95% confidence level in the mass ranges of 113–115 GeV and 134.5–136 GeV

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

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