679 research outputs found
Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage is associated with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels, gender and smoking status. The Tromsø Staph and Skin Study
Vitamin D induces the expression of antimicrobial peptides with activity against Staphylococcus aureus. Thus, we studied the association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and S. aureus nasal colonization and carriage. Nasal swabs, blood samples and clinical data from 2,115 women and 1,674 men, aged 30–87 years, were collected in the Tromsø Staph and Skin Study 2007–08, as part of the population-based sixth Tromsø Study. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were stratified by recognized risk factors for S. aureus carriage: sex, age and smoking. In non-smoking men, we observed a 6.6% and 6.7% decrease in the probability of S. aureus colonization and carriage, respectively, by each 5 nmol/l increase in serum 25(OH)D concentration (P < 0.001 and P = 0.001), and serum 25(OH)D > 59 nmol/l and ≥75 nmol/l as thresholds for ~30% and ~50% reduction in S. aureus colonization and carriage. In non-smoking men aged 44–60 years, the odds ratio for S. aureus colonization was 0.44 (95% confidence interval, 0.28−0.69) in the top tertile of serum 25(OH)D versus the bottom tertile. In women and smokers there were no such associations. Our study supports that serum vitamin D is a determinant of S. aureus colonization and carriage
Varespladib and cardiovascular events in patients with an acute coronary syndrome: the VISTA-16 randomized clinical trial
IMPORTANCE: Secretory phospholipase A2(sPLA2) generates bioactive phospholipid products implicated in atherosclerosis. The sPLA2inhibitor varespladib has favorable effects on lipid and inflammatory markers; however, its effect on cardiovascular outcomes is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of sPLA2inhibition with varespladib on cardiovascular outcomes. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A double-blind, randomized, multicenter trial at 362 academic and community hospitals in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, India, and North America of 5145 patients randomized within 96 hours of presentation of an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) to either varespladib (n = 2572) or placebo (n = 2573) with enrollment between June 1, 2010, and March 7, 2012 (study termination on March 9, 2012). INTERVENTIONS: Participants were randomized to receive varespladib (500 mg) or placebo daily for 16 weeks, in addition to atorvastatin and other established therapies. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary efficacy measurewas a composite of cardiovascular mortality, nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), nonfatal stroke, or unstable angina with evidence of ischemia requiring hospitalization at 16 weeks. Six-month survival status was also evaluated. RESULTS: At a prespecified interim analysis, including 212 primary end point events, the independent data and safety monitoring board recommended termination of the trial for futility and possible harm. The primary end point occurred in 136 patients (6.1%) treated with varespladib compared with 109 patients (5.1%) treated with placebo (hazard ratio [HR], 1.25; 95%CI, 0.97-1.61; log-rank P = .08). Varespladib was associated with a greater risk of MI (78 [3.4%] vs 47 [2.2%]; HR, 1.66; 95%CI, 1.16-2.39; log-rank P = .005). The composite secondary end point of cardiovascular mortality, MI, and stroke was observed in 107 patients (4.6%) in the varespladib group and 79 patients (3.8%) in the placebo group (HR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.02-1.82; P = .04). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In patients with recent ACS, varespladib did not reduce the risk of recurrent cardiovascular events and significantly increased the risk of MI. The sPLA2inhibition with varespladib may be harmful and is not a useful strategy to reduce adverse cardiovascular outcomes after ACS. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01130246. Copyright 2014 American Medical Association. All rights reserved
Studying the Underlying Event in Drell-Yan and High Transverse Momentum Jet Production at the Tevatron
We study the underlying event in proton-antiproton collisions by examining
the behavior of charged particles (transverse momentum pT > 0.5 GeV/c,
pseudorapidity |\eta| < 1) produced in association with large transverse
momentum jets (~2.2 fb-1) or with Drell-Yan lepton-pairs (~2.7 fb-1) in the
Z-boson mass region (70 < M(pair) < 110 GeV/c2) as measured by CDF at 1.96 TeV
center-of-mass energy. We use the direction of the lepton-pair (in Drell-Yan
production) or the leading jet (in high-pT jet production) in each event to
define three regions of \eta-\phi space; toward, away, and transverse, where
\phi is the azimuthal scattering angle. For Drell-Yan production (excluding the
leptons) both the toward and transverse regions are very sensitive to the
underlying event. In high-pT jet production the transverse region is very
sensitive to the underlying event and is separated into a MAX and MIN
transverse region, which helps separate the hard component (initial and
final-state radiation) from the beam-beam remnant and multiple parton
interaction components of the scattering. The data are corrected to the
particle level to remove detector effects and are then compared with several
QCD Monte-Carlo models. The goal of this analysis is to provide data that can
be used to test and improve the QCD Monte-Carlo models of the underlying event
that are used to simulate hadron-hadron collisions.Comment: Submitted to Phys.Rev.
Measurement of the Production Cross Section and Search for Anomalous and Couplings in Collisions at TeV
This Letter describes the current most precise measurement of the boson
pair production cross section and most sensitive test of anomalous
and couplings in collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96
TeV. The candidates are reconstructed from decays containing two charged
leptons and two neutrinos, where the charged leptons are either electrons or
muons. Using data collected by the CDF II detector from 3.6 fb of
integrated luminosity, a total of 654 candidate events are observed with an
expected background contribution of events. The measured total
cross section is pb, which is in good agreement
with the standard model prediction. The same data sample is used to place
constraints on anomalous and couplings.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Search for High Mass Photon Pairs in p-pbar --> gamma-gamma-jet-jet Events at sqrt(s)=1.8 TeV
A search has been carried out for events in the channel p-barp --> gamma
gamma jet jet. Such a signature can characterize the production of a
non-standard Higgs boson together with a W or Z boson. We refer to this
non-standard Higgs, having standard model couplings to vector bosons but no
coupling to fermions, as a "bosonic Higgs." With the requirement of two high
transverse energy photons and two jets, the diphoton mass (m(gamma gamma))
distribution is consistent with expected background. A 90(95)% C.L. upper limit
on the cross section as a function of mass is calculated, ranging from
0.60(0.80) pb for m(gamma gamma) = 65 GeV/c^2 to 0.26(0.34) pb for m(gamma
gamma) = 150 GeV/c^2, corresponding to a 95% C.L. lower limit on the mass of a
bosonic Higgs of 78.5 GeV/c^2.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures. Replacement has new H->gamma gamma branching
ratios and corresponding new mass limit
The Dijet Mass Spectrum and a Search for Quark Compositeness in bar{p}p Collisions at sqrt{s} = 1.8 TeV
Using the DZero detector at the 1.8 TeV pbarp Fermilab Tevatron collider, we
have measured the inclusive dijet mass spectrum in the central pseudorapidity
region |eta_jet| < 1.0 for dijet masses greater than 200 Gev/c^2. We have also
measured the ratio of spectra sigma(|eta_jet| < 0.5)/sigma(0.5 < |eta_jet| <
1.0). The order alpha_s^3 QCD predictions are in good agreement with the data
and we rule out models of quark compositeness with a contact interaction scale
< 2.4 TeV at the 95% confidence level.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector
Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02 TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1 μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT
Utilisation of an operative difficulty grading scale for laparoscopic cholecystectomy
Background
A reliable system for grading operative difficulty of laparoscopic cholecystectomy would standardise description of findings and reporting of outcomes. The aim of this study was to validate a difficulty grading system (Nassar scale), testing its applicability and consistency in two large prospective datasets.
Methods
Patient and disease-related variables and 30-day outcomes were identified in two prospective cholecystectomy databases: the multi-centre prospective cohort of 8820 patients from the recent CholeS Study and the single-surgeon series containing 4089 patients. Operative data and patient outcomes were correlated with Nassar operative difficultly scale, using Kendall’s tau for dichotomous variables, or Jonckheere–Terpstra tests for continuous variables. A ROC curve analysis was performed, to quantify the predictive accuracy of the scale for each outcome, with continuous outcomes dichotomised, prior to analysis.
Results
A higher operative difficulty grade was consistently associated with worse outcomes for the patients in both the reference and CholeS cohorts. The median length of stay increased from 0 to 4 days, and the 30-day complication rate from 7.6 to 24.4% as the difficulty grade increased from 1 to 4/5 (both p < 0.001). In the CholeS cohort, a higher difficulty grade was found to be most strongly associated with conversion to open and 30-day mortality (AUROC = 0.903, 0.822, respectively). On multivariable analysis, the Nassar operative difficultly scale was found to be a significant independent predictor of operative duration, conversion to open surgery, 30-day complications and 30-day reintervention (all p < 0.001).
Conclusion
We have shown that an operative difficulty scale can standardise the description of operative findings by multiple grades of surgeons to facilitate audit, training assessment and research. It provides a tool for reporting operative findings, disease severity and technical difficulty and can be utilised in future research to reliably compare outcomes according to case mix and intra-operative difficulty
Limits on WWZ and WW\gamma couplings from p\bar{p}\to e\nu jj X events at \sqrt{s} = 1.8 TeV
We present limits on anomalous WWZ and WW-gamma couplings from a search for
WW and WZ production in p-bar p collisions at sqrt(s)=1.8 TeV. We use p-bar p
-> e-nu jjX events recorded with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron
Collider during the 1992-1995 run. The data sample corresponds to an integrated
luminosity of 96.0+-5.1 pb^(-1). Assuming identical WWZ and WW-gamma coupling
parameters, the 95% CL limits on the CP-conserving couplings are
-0.33<lambda<0.36 (Delta-kappa=0) and -0.43<Delta-kappa<0.59 (lambda=0), for a
form factor scale Lambda = 2.0 TeV. Limits based on other assumptions are also
presented.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, 2 table
Search For Heavy Pointlike Dirac Monopoles
We have searched for central production of a pair of photons with high
transverse energies in collisions at TeV using of data collected with the D\O detector at the Fermilab Tevatron in
1994--1996. If they exist, virtual heavy pointlike Dirac monopoles could
rescatter pairs of nearly real photons into this final state via a box diagram.
We observe no excess of events above background, and set lower 95% C.L. limits
of on the mass of a spin 0, 1/2, or 1 Dirac
monopole.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
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