A Prospective Non-Randomised Interventional Study of Goal-Directed Ultrafiltration Compared With Clinical Dry-Weight Assessment in Achieving Euvolemic Status of Patients on Maintenance Hemodialysis

An accurate assessment of intravascular volume status in hemodialysis (HD) patients presents a significant challenge. Current clinical practices to determine dry weight is flawed due to interobserver variability and nonreproducibility. This miscalculation results in either chronic hypervolemia or hypovolemia with intra or interdialytic hypotension. The quest for noninvasive volume assessment tools to aid in the estimation of dry weight still continues. This study aims at goal-directed ultrafiltration removal compared with clinical dry-weight assessment in achieving euvolemic status of patients on chronic HD. It is a prospective, single-centered, nonrandomized, noninvasive interventional study on HD patients, for 12 months. Fifty two patients participated out of which 46 completed the study. Ultrasound-guided inferior vena cava collapsing index (IVCCI) and B lines were measured at intervals along with cardiac parameters. Dry weight was first estimated clinically by trial and error method. New dry weight target was set when B-lines were less than four in the eight site lung ultrasound and IVCCI between 50 and 75%, after 30 min post dialysis. Approximately 23.9% of the patients did not require dry-weight modification throughout the study. About 19% patients did not achieve dry weight in spite of all interventions. Overall, 56.5% of the patients achieved dry weight during the study period. A total of 46.3% of patients with NYHA Grade 3 dyspnoea observed at the start of study was reduced to 2.2%, showing statistical significance. Clinical assessment when bundled with noninvasive technology of assessment of dry weight showed encouraging results. B-lines and IVCCI estimation could be additional tools to achieve target weight goals, reducing complications and increasing compliance

Production of He-4 and (4) in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S=2.76 TeV at the LHC

Results on the production of He-4 and (4) nuclei in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S = 2.76 TeV in the rapidity range vertical bar y vertical bar <1, using the ALICE detector, are presented in this paper. The rapidity densities corresponding to 0-10% central events are found to be dN/dy4(He) = (0.8 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.3 (syst)) x 10(-6) and dN/dy4 = (1.1 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.2 (syst)) x 10(-6), respectively. This is in agreement with the statistical thermal model expectation assuming the same chemical freeze-out temperature (T-chem = 156 MeV) as for light hadrons. The measured ratio of (4)/He-4 is 1.4 +/- 0.8 (stat) +/- 0.5 (syst). (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

Production of Σ(1385)± and Ξ(1530)0 in p–Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV

The transverse momentum distributions of the strange and double-strange hyperon resonances (Σ(1385)±, Ξ(1530)0) produced in p-Pb collisions at sNN−−−√=5.02 TeV were measured in the rapidity range −0.5<yCMS<0 for event classes corresponding to different charged-particle multiplicity densities, ⟨dNch/dηlab⟩. The mean transverse momentum values are presented as a function of ⟨dNch/dηlab⟩, as well as a function of the particle masses and compared with previous results on hyperon production. The integrated yield ratios of excited to ground-state hyperons are constant as a function of ⟨dNch/dηlab⟩. The equivalent ratios to pions exhibit an increase with ⟨dNch/dηlab⟩, depending on their strangeness content

π0\pi ^{0} and η\eta meson production in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV

An invariant differential cross section measurement of inclusive $\pi ^{0}$ and $\eta$ meson production at mid-rapidity in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=8$  TeV was carried out by the ALICE experiment at the LHC. The spectra of $\pi ^{0}$ and $\eta$ mesons were measured in transverse momentum ranges of $0.33.5$   $\text{ GeV/c }$ . However, a deviation from this empirical scaling rule is observed for transverse momenta below $p_{ \text{ T }} <3.5$   $\text{ GeV/c }$ in the $\eta /\pi ^0$ ratio with a significance of $6.2\sigma$

Relative particle yield fluctuations in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76 TeV

First results on K/$\pi$, p/$\pi$ and K/p fluctuations are obtained with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC as a function of centrality in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=2.76$ TeV. The observable $\nu_{\rm dyn}$, which is defined in terms of the moments of particle multiplicity distributions, is used to quantify the magnitude of dynamical fluctuations of relative particle yields and also provides insight into the correlation between particle pairs. This study is based on a novel experimental technique, called the Identity Method, which allows one to measure the moments of multiplicity distributions in case of incomplete particle identification. The results for p/$\pi$ show a change of sign in $\nu_{\rm dyn}$ from positive to negative towards more peripheral collisions. For central collisions, the results follow the smooth trend of the data at lower energies and $\nu_{\rm dyn}$ exhibits a change in sign for p/$\pi$ and K/p.First results on $\hbox {K}/\pi$ , $\hbox {p}/\pi$ and K/p fluctuations are obtained with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC as a function of centrality in $\text{ Pb--Pb }$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{{NN}}} =2.76\hbox { TeV}$ . The observable $\nu _{\mathrm{dyn}}$ , which is defined in terms of the moments of particle multiplicity distributions, is used to quantify the magnitude of dynamical fluctuations of relative particle yields and also provides insight into the correlation between particle pairs. This study is based on a novel experimental technique, called the Identity Method, which allows one to measure the moments of multiplicity distributions in case of incomplete particle identification. The results for $\hbox {p}/\pi$ show a change of sign in $\nu _{\mathrm{dyn}}$ from positive to negative towards more peripheral collisions. For central collisions, the results follow the smooth trend of the data at lower energies and $\nu _{\mathrm{dyn}}$ exhibits a change in sign for $\hbox {p}/\pi$ and K/p

W and Z boson production in p-Pb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02 TeV

The W and Z boson production was measured via the muonic decay channel in proton-lead collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=5.02$ TeV at the Large Hadron Collider with the ALICE detector. The measurement covers backward (−4.46 10 GeV/c are determined. The results are compared to theoretical calculations both with and without including the nuclear modification of the parton distribution functions. The W-boson production is also studied as a function of the collision centrality: the cross section of muons from W-boson decays is found to scale with the average number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions within uncertainties

Linear and non-linear flow modes in Pb–Pb collisions at √sNN = 2.76 TeV

The second and the third order anisotropic flow, V2 and V3, are mostly determined by the corresponding initial spatial anisotropy coefficients, ε2 and ε3, in the initial density distribution. In addition to their dependence on the same order initial anisotropy coefficient, higher order anisotropic flow, Vn (n>3), can also have a significant contribution from lower order initial anisotropy coefficients, which leads to mode-coupling effects. In this Letter we investigate the linear and non-linear modes in higher order anisotropic flow Vn for n=4, 5, 6 with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The measurements are done for particles in the pseudorapidity range |η|<0.8 and the transverse momentum range 0.2<pT<5.0 GeV/c as a function of collision centrality. The results are compared with theoretical calculations and provide important constraints on the initial conditions, including initial spatial geometry and its fluctuations, as well as the ratio of the shear viscosity to entropy density of the produced system

Systematic studies of correlations between different order flow harmonics in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76 TeV

The correlations between event-by-event fluctuations of anisotropic flow harmonic amplitudes have been measured in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76 TeV with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The results are reported in terms of multiparticle correlation observables dubbed symmetric cumulants. These observables are robust against biases originating from nonflow effects. The centrality dependence of correlations between the higher order harmonics (the quadrangular v4 and pentagonal v5 flow) and the lower order harmonics (the elliptic v2 and triangular v3 flow) is presented. The transverse momentum dependences of correlations between v3 and v2 and between v4 and v2 are also reported. The results are compared to calculations from viscous hydrodynamics and a multiphase transport (AMPT) model calculations. The comparisons to viscous hydrodynamic models demonstrate that the different order harmonic correlations respond differently to the initial conditions and the temperature dependence of the ratio of shear viscosity to entropy density (η/s). A small average value of η/s is favored independent of the specific choice of initial conditions in the models. The calculations with the AMPT initial conditions yield results closest to the measurements. Correlations among the magnitudes of v2, v3, and v4 show moderate pT dependence in midcentral collisions. This might be an indication of possible viscous corrections to the equilibrium distribution at hadronic freeze-out, which might help to understand the possible contribution of bulk viscosity in the hadronic phase of the system. Together with existing measurements of individual flow harmonics, the presented results provide further constraints on the initial conditions and the transport properties of the system produced in heavy-ion collisions