Controversy and consensus on the management of elevated sperm DNA fragmentation in male infertility: A global survey, current guidelines, and expert recommendations

Purpose Sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) has been associated with male infertility and poor outcomes of assisted reproductive technology (ART). The purpose of this study was to investigate global practices related to the management of elevated SDF in infertile men, summarize the relevant professional society recommendations, and provide expert recommendations for managing this condition. Materials and Methods An online global survey on clinical practices related to SDF was disseminated to reproductive clinicians, according to the CHERRIES checklist criteria. Management protocols for various conditions associated with SDF were captured and compared to the relevant recommendations in professional society guidelines and the appropriate available evidence. Expert recommendations and consensus on the management of infertile men with elevated SDF were then formulated and adapted using the Delphi method. Results A total of 436 experts from 55 different countries submitted responses. As an initial approach, 79.1% of reproductive experts recommend lifestyle modifications for infertile men with elevated SDF, and 76.9% prescribe empiric antioxidants. Regarding antioxidant duration, 39.3% recommend 4–6 months and 38.1% recommend 3 months. For men with unexplained or idiopathic infertility, and couples experiencing recurrent miscarriages associated with elevated SDF, most respondents refer to ART 6 months after failure of conservative and empiric medical management. Infertile men with clinical varicocele, normal conventional semen parameters, and elevated SDF are offered varicocele repair immediately after diagnosis by 31.4%, and after failure of antioxidants and conservative measures by 40.9%. Sperm selection techniques and testicular sperm extraction are also management options for couples undergoing ART. For most questions, heterogenous practices were demonstrated. Conclusions This paper presents the results of a large global survey on the management of infertile men with elevated SDF and reveals a lack of consensus among clinicians. Furthermore, it demonstrates the scarcity of professional society guidelines in this regard and attempts to highlight the relevant evidence. Expert recommendations are proposed to help guide clinicians

First measurement of time-dependent CP violation in Bs0→K+K− B_s^0\to K^+K^- decays

Direct and mixing-induced CP-violating asymmetries in B-s(0) -> K+K- decays are measured for the first time using a data sample of p p collisions, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb(-1), collected with the LHCb detector at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. The results are C-KK = 0.14 +/- 0.11 +/- 0.03 and S-KK = 0.30 +/- 0.12 +/- 0.04, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. The corresponding quantities are also determined for B-0 -> pi(+)pi(-) decays to be C-pi pi = -0.38 +/- 0.15 +/- 0.02 and S-pi pi = -0.71 +/- 0.13 +/- 0.02, in good agreement with existing measurements

Measurement of the flavour-specific CP-violating asymmetry a(sl)(s) in B-s(0) decays

The CP-violating asymmetry a(sl)(s), is studied using semileptonic decays of B-s(0) and (B) over bar (0)(s) mesons produced in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV at the LHC, exploiting a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb(-1). The reconstructed final states are D-s(+/-)mu(+/-)(s), with the D-s(+/-) particle decaying in the phi pi(+/-) mode. The D-s(+/-)mu(+/-)(s) yields are summed over B-s(0) and (B) over bar (0)(s) initial states, and integrated with respect to decay time. Data-driven methods are used to measure efficiency ratios. We obtain a(sl)(s) = (-0.06 +/- 0.50 +/- 0.36)%, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic

Measurement of the charge asymmetry in B-+/- -> phi K +/- and search for B-+/- -> phi pi(+/-) decays

The CP-violating charge asymmetry in B-+/- -> phi K-+/- decays is measured in a sample of pp collisions at 7 TeV centre-of-mass energy, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb-1 collected by the LHCb experiment. The result is A(CP)(B-+/- -> phi K-+/-) = 0.022 +/- 0.021 +/- 0.009, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. In addition, a search for the B-+/- -> phi pi(+/-) decay mode is performed, using the B-+/- -> phi K-+/- decay rate for normalization. An upper limit on the branching fraction B(B-+/- -> phi pi(+/-)) < 1.5 x 10(-7) is set at 90% confidence level. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Model-independent search for CP violation in D-0 > K-K+pi(-)pi(+) and D-0 -> pi(-)pi(+)pi(+)pi(-) decays

A search for CP violation in the phase-space structures of 130 and 15 decays to the final states K-K+pi(-)pi(+) and pi(-)pi(+)pi(+)pi(-) is presented. The search is carried out with a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb(-1) collected in 2011 by the LHCb experiment in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. For the K-K+pi(-)pi(+) final state, the four-body phase space is divided into 32 bins, each bin with approximately 1800 decays. The p-value under the hypothesis of no CP violation is 9.1%, and in no bin is a CP asymmetry greater than 6.5% observed. The phase space of the pi(-)pi(+)pi(+)pi(-). final state is partitioned into 128 bins, each bin with approximately 2500 decays. The p-value under the hypothesis of no CP violation is 41%, and in no bin is a CP asymmetry greater than 5.5% observed. All results are consistent with the hypothesis of no CP violation at the current sensitivity

LHCb detector performance

The LHCb detector is a forward spectrometer at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. The experiment is designed for precision measurements of CP violation and rare decays of beauty and charm hadrons. In this paper the performance of the various LHCb sub-detectors and the trigger system are described, using data taken from 2010 to 2012. It is shown that the design criteria of the experiment have been met. The excellent performance of the detector has allowed the LHCb collaboration to publish a wide range of physics results, demonstrating LHCb's unique role, both as a heavy flavour experiment and as a general purpose detector in the forward region

Identification of beauty and charm quark jets at LHCb

Identification of jets originating from beauty and charm quarks is important for measuring Standard Model processes and for searching for new physics. The performance of algorithms developed to select b- and c-quark jets is measured using data recorded by LHCb from proton-proton collisions at root s = 7TeV in 2011 and at root s = 8TeV in 2012. The efficiency for identifying a b (c) jet is about 65%(25%) with a probability for misidentifying a light-parton jet of 0.3% for jets with transverse momentum pT > 20GeV and pseudorapidity 2 : 2 < eta < 4.2. The dependence of the performance on the pT and eta of the jet is also measured

Measurement of the CP-violating phase beta in B-0 -> J/psi pi(+)pi(-) decays and limits on penguin effects

Time-dependent CP violation is measured in the (B-0) over bar -> J/psi pi(+)pi(-) p-channel for each pi(+)pi(-) resonant final state using data collected with an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb(-1) in pp collisions using the LHCb detector. The final state with the largest rate, J/psi rho(0)(770), is used to measure the CP-violating angle 2 beta(eff) to be (41.7 +/- 9.6(-6.3)(+2.8)).. This result can be used to limit the size of penguin amplitude contributions to CPviolation measurements in, for example, (B-0) over bar -> J/psi pi(+)pi(-) decays. Assuming approximate SU(3) flavour symmetry and neglecting higher order diagrams, the shift in the CP-violating phase phi(s) limited to be within the interval [-1.05 degrees, + 1.18 degrees] at 95% confidence level. Changes to the limit due to SU(3) symmetry breaking effects are also discussed. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V

Precision luminosity measurements at LHCb

Measuring cross-sections at the LHC requires the luminosity to be determined accurately at each centre-of-mass energy root s. In this paper results are reported from the luminosity calibrations carried out at the LHC interaction point 8 with the LHCb detector for root s = 2.76, 7 and 8TeV (proton-proton collisions) and for root s(NN) = 5TeV (proton-lead collisions). Both the "van der Meer scan" and "beam-gas imaging" luminosity calibration methods were employed. It is observed that the beam density profile cannot always be described by a function that is factorizable in the two transverse coordinates. The introduction of a two-dimensional description of the beams improves significantly the consistency of the results. For proton-proton interactions at root s = 8TeV a relative precision of the luminosity calibration of 1.47% is obtained using van der Meer scans and 1.43% using beam-gas imaging, resulting in a combined precision of 1.12%. Applying the calibration to the full data set determines the luminosity with a precision of 1.16%. This represents the most precise luminosity measurement achieved so far at a bunched-beam hadron collider

Determination of gamma and-2 beta(s) from charmless two-body decays of beauty mesons

Using the latest LHCb measurements of time-dependent CP violation in the B-s(0) -> K+K- decay, a U-spin relation between the decay amplitudes of B-s(0) -> K+K- and B-0 -> p(+)p(-) decay processes allows constraints to be placed on the angle gamma of the unitarity triangle and on the B-s(0) mixing phase -2 beta(s). Results from an extended approach, which uses additional inputs on B-0 -> pi(0)pi(0) and B+ -> pi(+)pi(0) decays from other experiments and exploits isospin symmetry, are also presented. The dependence of the results on the maximum allowed amount of U-spin breaking is studied. At 68% probability, the value gamma =( 63.5(-6.7)(+7.2))degrees modulo 180 degrees is determined. In an alternative analysis, the value -2 beta(s)= - 0.12(-0.16)(+ 0.14) rad is found. In both measurements, the uncertainties due to U-spin breaking effects up to 50% are included. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)