Another look at anomalous J/Psi suppression in Pb+Pb collisions at P/A = 158 GeV/c

A new data presentation is proposed to consider anomalous $J/\Psi$ suppression in Pb + Pb collisions at $P/A=158$ GeV/c. If the inclusive differential cross section with respect to a centrality variable is available, one can plot the yield of J/Psi events per Pb-Pb collision as a function of an estimated squared impact parameter. Both quantities are raw experimental data and have a clear physical meaning. As compared to the usual J/Psi over Drell-Yan ratio, there is a huge gain in statistical accuracy. This presentation could be applied advantageously to many processes in the field of nucleus-nucleus collisions at various energies.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, submitted to The European Physical Journal C; minor revisions for final versio

How soon to start: aspirin resumption after upper gastrointestinal bleed?

Background\ud It is uncertain whether aspirin therapy should be continued after endoscopic hemostatic therapy in patients who develop peptic ulcer bleeding while receiving lowdose aspirin.\ud \ud Objective\ud To test that continuing aspirin therapy with protonpump inhibitors after endoscopic control of ulcer bleeding was not inferior to stopping aspirin therapy, in terms of recurrent ulcer bleeding in adults with cardiovascular or cerebrovascular diseases.\ud \ud Design\ud A parallel randomized, placebo-controlled noninferiority trial, in which both patients and clinicians were blinded to treatment assignment, was conducted from 2003 to 2006 by using computer-generated numbers in concealed envelopes. (ClinicalTrials.gov registration number: NCT00153725)\ud \ud Setting\ud A tertiary endoscopy center.\ud \ud Patients\ud Low-dose aspirin recipients with peptic ulcer bleeding.\ud \ud Intervention\ud 78 patients received aspirin, 80 mg/d, and 78 received placebo for 8 weeks immediately after endoscopic therapy. All patients received a 72-hour infusion of pantoprazole followed by oral pantoprazole. All patients completed follow-up.\ud \ud Measurements\ud The primary end point was recurrent ulcer bleeding within 30 days confirmed by endoscopy. Secondary end points were all-cause and cause-specific mortality in 8 weeks.\ud \ud Results\ud 156 patients were included in an intention-to-treat analysis. Three patients withdrew from the trial before finishing follow-up. Recurrent ulcer bleeding within 30 days was 10.3% in the aspirin group and 5.4% in the placebo group (difference, 4.9 percentage points [95% CI, -3.6 to 13.4 percentage points]). Patients who received aspirin had lower all-cause mortality rates than patients who received placebo (1.3% vs. 12.9%; difference, 11.6 percentage points [CI, 3.7 to 19.5 percentage points]). Patients in the aspirin group had lower mortality rates attributable to cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, or gastrointestinal complications than patients in the placebo group (1.3% vs. 10.3%; difference, 9 percentage points [CI, 1.7 to 16.3 percentage points]).\ud \ud Limitations\ud The sample size is relatively small, and only low-dose aspirin, 80 mg, was used. Two patients with recurrent bleeding in the placebo group did not have further endoscopy.\ud \ud Conclusion\ud Among low-dose aspirin recipients who had peptic ulcer bleeding, continuous aspirin therapy may increase the risk for recurrent bleeding but potentially reduces mortality rates. Larger trials are needed to confirm these findings

Dirty mouth? Should you clean it out? Decontamination for the prevention of pneumonia and mortality in the ICU

Background\ud Selective digestive tract decontamination (SDD) and selective oropharyngeal decontamination (SOD) are infection-prevention measures used in the treatment of some patients in intensive care, but reported effects on patient outcome are conflicting.\ud \ud Methods\ud Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of SDD and SOD in intensive care unit (ICU) patients.\ud \ud Design\ud A controlled, crossover study using cluster randomization.\ud \ud Setting\ud 13 ICUs in the Netherlands between May 2004 and July 2006.\ud \ud Subjects\ud 5939 patients with an expected duration of intubation of more than 48 hours or an expected ICU stay of more than 72 hours were eligible.\ud \ud Intervention\ud In each ICU, three regimens (SDD, SOD, and standard care) were applied in random order over the course of 6 months. SDD consisted of 4 days of intravenous cefotaxime and topical application of tobramycin, colistin, and amphotericin B in the oropharynx and stomach. SOD consisted of oropharyngeal application only of the same antibiotics.\ud \ud Outcomes\ud Mortality at day 28 was the primary end point. Monthly point-prevalence studies were performed to analyze antibiotic resistance.\ud \ud Results\ud A total of 5939 patients were enrolled in the study, with 1990 assigned to standard care, 1904 to SOD, and 2045 to SDD; crude mortality in the groups at day 28 was 27.5%, 26.6%, and 26.9%, respectively. In a random-effects logistic-regression model with age, sex, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) score, intubation status, and medical specialty used as covariates, odds ratios for death at day 28 in the SOD and SDD groups, as compared with the standard-care group, were 0.86 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.74 to 0.99) and 0.83 (95% CI, 0.72 to 0.97), respectively.\ud \ud Conclusions\ud In an ICU population in which the mortality rate associated with standard care was 27.5% at day 28, the rate was reduced by an estimated 3.5 percentage points with SDD and by 2.9 percentage points with SOD. (Controlled Clinical Trials number, ISRCTN35176830.

Variazione del profilo lipidico nel latte in relazione alla concentrazione di corpi chetonici nel plasma di bovine durante al fase di transizione

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Truck-based drone delivery system: An economic and environmental assessment

Innovative solutions for last-mile delivery have sparked great interest among consumers and logistics operators. The combination of new technologies with existing ones can lead to new possible last-mile delivery configurations, among which truck-drone joint delivery is one of the most promising. This paper evaluates the environmental and economic sustainability of a last-mile delivery solution involving electric trucks equipped with drones, and it provides a comparison with traditional logistics systems. The comparative life cycle assessment methodology is used to quantify the greenhouse gas emissions per parcel delivered. The total cost of ownership methodology is adopted for the economic analysis. Results suggest that the truck-drone alternative leads to significant emissions reductions, while its cost performance is primarily affected by the drone automation level

Production du J/ dans les collisions proton-proton à 2.76 et 7 TeV dans l expérience ALICE auprès du LHC

Le plasma de quarks et de gluons (QGP) est un état de la matière nucléaire apparaissant à hautedensité d énergie. En laboratoire, il est possible de reproduire de telles conditions grâce aux collisionsd ions lourds aux énergies ultra-relativistes. ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) estl expérience du LHC dédiée à la mise en évidence du QGP.Différentes signatures ont été proposées et étudiées expérimentalement comme manifestations duQGP. Parmi celles-ci, le méson J/ joue un rôle central. Il fait partie de la famille des quarkonia,états mésoniques (Q Q) formées d un quark lourd c ou b et de son anti-quark, liés par un potentield interaction forte. En 1986, Matsui et Satz proposèrent la suppression des charmonia (états liés cc)et notamment du J/ comme signature de la formation du plasma de quarks et de gluons.ALICE peut détecter le J/ à grande rapidité (2.5 < y < 4) via le canal de désintégration en deuxmuons. Cette thèse porte sur la mesure de la production du J/ , via le canal muonique, dans lescollisions pp à une énergie dans le centre de masse de 2.76 et 7 TeV. Elle a exploité les donnéesacquises en 2010 et 2011 auprès du collisionneur LHC.Tenter d appréhender le mécanisme de production du J/ (et plus généralement du quarkonium)dans les collisions pp est un préalable nécessaire avant d aborder le degré de complexité suivantque constitue le cas des collisions noyau-noyau. Il est également un test important pour la QuantumChromo Dynamics (QCD), la théorie de l interaction forte, aux énergies très élevées du LHC.Quarkonia are meson states whose constituents are a charm or bottom quark and its correspondingantiquark (Q Q). The study of the production of such bound states in high-energy hadron collisionsrepresents an important test for the Quantum Chromo-Dynamics. Despite the fact that the quarkoniumsaga has already a 40-year history, the quarkonium production mechanism is still an open issue.Therefore, measurements at the new CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) energy regimes are extremelyinteresting.In this thesis, the study of inclusive J/ production in proton-proton (pp) collisions at s = 2.76and 7 TeV, obtained with the ALICE experiment, is presented. J/ mesons are measured at forwardrapidity (2.5 < y < 4), down to zero pT, via their decay into muon pairs ( + ).Quarkonium resonances also play an important role in probing the properties of the stronglyinteracting hadronic matter created, at high energy densities, in heavy-ion collisions. Under suchextreme conditions, the created system, according to QCD, undergoes a phase transition from ordinaryhadronic matter to a new state of deconfined quarks and gluons, called Quark Gluon Plasma(QGP). The ALICE experiment at CERN LHC has been specifically designed to study this state ofmatter. Quarkonia, among other probes, represents one of the most promising tools to prove the QGPformation. In order to correctly interpret the measurements of quarkonium production in heavy-ioncollisions, a solid baseline is provided by the analogous results obtained in pp collisions.Hence, the work discussed in this thesis, concerning the inclusive J/ production in pp collisions,also provides the necessary reference for the corresponding measurements performed in Pb-Pb collisionswhich were collected, by the ALICE experiment, at the very same center-of-mass energy pernucleon pair ( sNN = 2.76 TeV).PARIS11-SCD-Bib. électronique (914719901) / SudocSudocFranceF

A IRREGULARIDADE DA DISPENSA DE RESERVA DE ÁREA INSTITUCIONAL EM PROJETOS DE LOTEAMENTO: OS CASOS DO "CONDOMÍNIO TERRAMÉRICA HOME PREMIUM – TAQUARAL I” E DO “JARDIM AMÉRICA” NA CIDADE DE PIRACICABA-SP

Este trabalho discute o caso do PLC 013/2012 do município de Piracicaba-SP, que dispensa a reserva de áreas institucionais em dois projetos de loteamentos. A dispensa de áreas institucionais só é possível mediante a realização de uma operação urbana consorciada e deve ser objeto de estudo de impacto de vizinhança. Problemas revelados: o procedimento não era feito por meio de operação urbana, a compensação proposta em troca da dispensa das áreas institucionais previa a doação de duas áreas com severas restrições à urbanização e; o desequilíbrio econômico na operação, pois o valor estimado das áreas a serem doadas era 40% menor do que o das áreas originais. O estudo demonstrou a importância da participação cidadã para a aplicação do Estatuto da Cidade e do Plano Diretor e revelou alguns dos mecanismos de especulação imobiliária na implantação de loteamentos fechados nas relações entre o poder público e o capital imobiliário

Transverse Spin at PHENIX: Results and Prospects

The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), as the world's first and only polarized proton collider, offers a unique environment in which to study the spin structure of the proton. In order to study the proton's transverse spin structure, the PHENIX experiment at RHIC took data with transversely polarized beams in 2001-02 and 2005, and it has plans for further running with transverse polarization in 2006 and beyond. Results from early running as well as prospective measurements for the future will be discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, presented at Transversity 2005, Como, Ital

Clinical review: Considerations for the triage of maternity care during an influenza pandemic - one institution's approach

The ongoing pandemic of 2009 H1N1 swine-origin influenza A has heightened the world's attention to the reality of influenza pandemics and their unpredictable nature. Currently, the 2009 H1N1 influenza strain appears to cause mild clinical disease for the majority of those infected. However, the risk of severe disease from this strain or other future strains remains an ongoing concern and is noted in specific patient populations. Pregnant women represent a unique patient population that historically has been disproportionately affected by both seasonal and pandemic influenza outbreaks. Data thus far suggest that the current 2009 H1N1 outbreak is following this same epidemiologic tendency among pregnant women. The increased predilection to worse clinical outcomes among pregnant women has potential to produce an acute demand for critical care resources that may overwhelm supply in facilities providing maternity care. The ability of healthcare systems to optimize maternal-child health outcomes during an influenza pandemic or other biologic disaster may therefore depend on the equitable allocation of these limited resources. Triage algorithms for resource allocation have been delineated in the general medical population. However, no current guidance considers the unique aspects of pregnant women and their unborn fetuses. An approach is suggested that may help guide facilities faced with these challenges. © 2010 BioMed Central Ltd