Impact of flood on rural population and strategies for mitigation: A case study of Darbhanga district, Bihar state, India

Floods are one of the most disastrous acts of nature and impact human life in multiple ways. Damages by floods in rural areas are more severe compared to urban counterparts due to poverty, limited infrastructures and access to resources and health care services. The Province of Bihar in India, with a population of 104.1 million, has 76 per cent of the population living under recurring threat of floods. In 2008, Bihar experienced severe floods in the northern region that affected more than 2.3 million people; and in 2013, they affected more than 5.9 million in 3768 villages across 20 rural districts. Floods damage property, infrastructure and further decreases access to health care and social services. This paper draws from the data collected for the primary author’s master’s thesis, along with his personal experience on floods as an inhabitant of a flooded community. It outlines the impact of floods in the rural areas of Bihar and highlights the continuous marginalization and exclusion of flood-affected communities. This paper will raise awareness of the issue and call for global support to advocate for more effective flood mitigation strategies

Evaluation of a quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy (EAGLE): pragmatic, batched stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial in 64 countries

Background Anastomotic leak affects 8 per cent of patients after right colectomy with a 10-fold increased risk of postoperative death. The EAGLE study aimed to develop and test whether an international, standardized quality improvement intervention could reduce anastomotic leaks. Methods The internationally intended protocol, iteratively co-developed by a multistage Delphi process, comprised an online educational module introducing risk stratification, an intraoperative checklist, and harmonized surgical techniques. Clusters (hospital teams) were randomized to one of three arms with varied sequences of intervention/data collection by a derived stepped-wedge batch design (at least 18 hospital teams per batch). Patients were blinded to the study allocation. Low- and middle-income country enrolment was encouraged. The primary outcome (assessed by intention to treat) was anastomotic leak rate, and subgroup analyses by module completion (at least 80 per cent of surgeons, high engagement; less than 50 per cent, low engagement) were preplanned. Results A total 355 hospital teams registered, with 332 from 64 countries (39.2 per cent low and middle income) included in the final analysis. The online modules were completed by half of the surgeons (2143 of 4411). The primary analysis included 3039 of the 3268 patients recruited (206 patients had no anastomosis and 23 were lost to follow-up), with anastomotic leaks arising before and after the intervention in 10.1 and 9.6 per cent respectively (adjusted OR 0.87, 95 per cent c.i. 0.59 to 1.30; P = 0.498). The proportion of surgeons completing the educational modules was an influence: the leak rate decreased from 12.2 per cent (61 of 500) before intervention to 5.1 per cent (24 of 473) after intervention in high-engagement centres (adjusted OR 0.36, 0.20 to 0.64; P < 0.001), but this was not observed in low-engagement hospitals (8.3 per cent (59 of 714) and 13.8 per cent (61 of 443) respectively; adjusted OR 2.09, 1.31 to 3.31). Conclusion Completion of globally available digital training by engaged teams can alter anastomotic leak rates. Registration number: NCT04270721 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)

Search for third-generation scalar leptoquarks in the tτ channel in proton-proton collisions at √s =8 TeV

A search for pair production of third-generation scalar leptoquarks decaying to top quark and τ lepton pairs is presented using proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb$^{−1}$. The search is performed using events that contain an electron or a muon, a hadronically decaying τ lepton, and two or more jets. The observations are found to be consistent with the standard model predictions. Assuming that all leptoquarks decay to a top quark and a τ lepton, the existence of pair produced, charge −1/3, third-generation leptoquarks up to a mass of 685 GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level. This result constitutes the first direct limit for leptoquarks decaying into a top quark and a τ lepton, and may also be applied directly to the pair production of bottom squarks decaying predominantly via the R-parity violating coupling λ$_{333}^{′}$

Evidence for Transverse Momentum and Pseudorapidity Dependent Event Plane Fluctuations in PbPb and pPb Collisions

A systematic study of the factorization of long-range azimuthal two-particle correlations into a product of single-particle anisotropies is presented as a function of $p_\mathrm{T}$ and $\eta$ of both particles, and as a function of the particle multiplicity in PbPb and pPb collisions. The data were taken with the CMS detector for PbPb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$ = 2.76 TeV and pPb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV, covering a very wide range of multiplicity. Factorization is observed to be broken as a function of both particle $p_\mathrm{T}$ and $\eta$. When measured with particles of different $p_\mathrm{T}$, the magnitude of the factorization breakdown for the second Fourier harmonic reaches 20% for very central PbPb collisions but decreases rapidly as the multiplicity decreases. The data are consistent with viscous hydrodynamic predictions, which suggest that the effect of factorization breaking is mainly sensitive to the initial-state conditions rather than to the transport properties (e.g., shear viscosity) of the medium. The factorization breakdown is also computed with particles of different $\eta$. The effect is found to be weakest for mid-central PbPb events but becomes larger for more central or peripheral PbPb collisions, and also for very high-multiplicity pPb collisions. The $\eta$-dependent factorization data provide new insights to the longitudinal evolution of the medium formed in heavy ion collisions

Search for Pair Production of First and Second Generation Leptoquarks in Proton-Proton Collisions at s\sqrt{s} = 8 TeV

A search for pair production of first and second generation leptoquarks is performed in final states containing either two charged leptons and two jets, or one charged lepton, one neutrino and two jets, using proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s} =$8TeV. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb$^{-1}$, were recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC. First-generation scalar leptoquarks with masses less than 1010 (850) GeV are excluded for $\beta =$ 1.0 (0.5), where $\beta$ is the branching fraction of a leptoquark decaying to a charged lepton and a quark. Similarly, second-generation scalar leptoquarks with masses less than 1080 (760) GeV are excluded for $\beta =$ 1.0 (0.5). Mass limits are also set for vector leptoquark production scenarios with anomalous vector couplings, and for R-parity violating supersymmetric scenarios of top squark pair production resulting in similar final-state signatures. These are the most stringent limits placed on the masses of leptoquarks and RPV top squarks to date

Search for neutral MSSM Higgs bosons decaying into a pair of bottom quarks

A search for neutral Higgs bosons decaying into a b-bbar quark pair and produced in association with at least one additional b quark is presented. This signature is sensitive to the Higgs sector of the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) with large values of the parameter tan(beta). The analysis is based on data from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV collected with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns. The results are combined with a previous analysis based on 7 TeV data. No signal is observed. Stringent upper limits on the cross section times branching fraction are derived for Higgs bosons with masses up to 900 GeV, and the results are interpreted within different MSSM benchmark scenarios, m[h,max], m[h,mod+], m[h,mod-], light-stau and light-stop. Observed 95% confidence level upper limits on tan(beta), ranging from 14 to 50, are obtained in the m[h,mod+] benchmark scenario