Early cost-utility analysis of tissue-engineered heart valves compared to bioprostheses in the aortic position in elderly patients

__Objectives:__ Aortic valve disease is the most frequent indication for heart valve replacement with the highest prevalence in elderly. Tissue-engineered heart valves (TEHV) are foreseen to have important advantages over currently used bioprosthetic heart valve substitutes, most importantly reducing valve degeneration with subsequent reduction of re-intervention. We performed early Health Technology Assessment of hypothetical TEHV in elderly patients (≥ 70 years) requiring surgical (SAVR) or transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) to assess the potential of TEHV and to inform future development decisions. __Methods:__ Using a patient-level simulation model, the potential cost-effectiveness of TEHV compared with bioprostheses was predicted from a societal perspective. Anticipated, but currently hypothetical improvements in performance of TEHV, divided in durability, thrombogenicity, and infection resistance, were explored in scenario analyses to estimate quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gain, cost reduction, headroom, and budget impact. __Results:__ Durability of TEHV had the highest impact on QALY gain and costs, followed by infection resistance. Improved TEHV performance (− 50% prosthetic valve-related events) resulted in lifetime QALY gains of 0.131 and 0.043, lifetime cost reductions of €639 and €368, translating to headrooms of €3255 and €2498 per hypothetical TEHV compared to SAVR and TAVI, respectively. National savings in the first decade after implementation varied between €2.8 and €11.2 million (SAVR) and €3.2–€12.8 million (TAVI) for TEHV substitution rates of 25–100%. __Conclusions:__ Despite the relatively short life expectancy of elderly patients undergoing SAVR/TAVI, hypothetical TEHV are predicted to be cost-effective compared to bioprostheses, commercially viable and result in national cost savings when biomedical engineers succeed in realising improved durability and/or infection resistance of TEHV

Supernova neutrino oscillations: A simple analytical approach

Analyses of observable supernova neutrino oscillation effects require the calculation of the electron (anti)neutrino survival probability P_ee along a given supernova matter density profile. We propose a simple analytical prescription for P_ee, based on a double-exponential form for the crossing probability and on the concept of maximum violation of adiabaticity. In the case of two-flavor transitions, the prescription is shown to reproduce accurately, in the whole neutrino oscillation parameter space, the results of exact numerical calculations for generic (realistic or power-law) profiles. The analytical approach is then generalized to cover three-flavor transitions with (direct or inverse) mass spectrum hierarchy, and to incorporate Earth matter effects. Compact analytical expressions, explicitly showing the symmetry properties of P_ee, are provided for practical calculations.Comment: 22 pages (RevTeX) + 5 figures (PostScript

Proximity effect at superconducting Sn-Bi2Se3 interface

We have investigated the conductance spectra of Sn-Bi2Se3 interface junctions down to 250 mK and in different magnetic fields. A number of conductance anomalies were observed below the superconducting transition temperature of Sn, including a small gap different from that of Sn, and a zero-bias conductance peak growing up at lower temperatures. We discussed the possible origins of the smaller gap and the zero-bias conductance peak. These phenomena support that a proximity-effect-induced chiral superconducting phase is formed at the interface between the superconducting Sn and the strong spin-orbit coupling material Bi2Se3.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure

Centrality Dependence of the High p_T Charged Hadron Suppression in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV

PHENIX has measured the centrality dependence of charged hadron p_T spectra from central Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=130 GeV. The truncated mean p_T decreases with centrality for p_T > 2 GeV/c, indicating an apparent reduction of the contribution from hard scattering to high p_T hadron production. For central collisions the yield at high p_T is shown to be suppressed compared to binary nucleon-nucleon collision scaling of p+p data. This suppression is monotonically increasing with centrality, but most of the change occurs below 30% centrality, i.e. for collisions with less than about 140 participating nucleons. The observed p_T and centrality dependence is consistent with the particle production predicted by models including hard scattering and subsequent energy loss of the scattered partons in the dense matter created in the collisions.Comment: 7 pages text, LaTeX, 6 figures, 2 tables, 307 authors, resubmitted to Phys. Lett. B. Revised to address referee concerns. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/phenix/WWW/run/phenix/papers.htm

Formation of dense partonic matter in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC: Experimental evaluation by the PHENIX collaboration

Extensive experimental data from high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions were recorded using the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The comprehensive set of measurements from the first three years of RHIC operation includes charged particle multiplicities, transverse energy, yield ratios and spectra of identified hadrons in a wide range of transverse momenta (p_T), elliptic flow, two-particle correlations, non-statistical fluctuations, and suppression of particle production at high p_T. The results are examined with an emphasis on implications for the formation of a new state of dense matter. We find that the state of matter created at RHIC cannot be described in terms of ordinary color neutral hadrons.Comment: 510 authors, 127 pages text, 56 figures, 1 tables, LaTeX. Submitted to Nuclear Physics A as a regular article; v3 has minor changes in response to referee comments. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

PROFIL WISATAWAN MUSEUM RADYA PUSTAKA SURAKARTA

Anggit Margaret, C9407031 2011. Profil Wisatawan Museum Radya Pustaka Surakarta. Program Studi Diploma III Usaha Perjalanan Wisata Fakultas Sastra Dan Seni Rupa Universitas Sebelas Maret Surakarta. Penelitian tugas akhir ini mengkaji tentang Profil Wisatawan di Museum Radya Pustaka Surakarta. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui dari daerah mana saja wisatawan yang berkunjung ke Museum Radya Pustaka, bagaimana ciri-ciri wisatawan yang berkunjung ke Museum Radya Pustaka serta harapan-harapan yang diinginkan wisatawan terhadap Museum Radya Pustaka. Penelitian dilakukan dengan metode kualitatif. Pengumpulan data dilakukan melalui wawancara dengan narasumber wisatawan yang berkujung di Museum Radya Pustaka Surakarta tempat penulis melakukan penelitian, serta studi pustaka dan studi dokumen guna menambah sumber data. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa (1) Sebagian besar wisatawan yang datang berasal dari Semarang sebesar 32%. (2) Mayoritas wisatawan yang berkunjung ke Museum Radya Pustaka berusia antara 17-25 tahun dan kebanyakan dari mereka adalah pelajar atau mahasiswa dengan prosentase 52%. (3) Sebagian besar wisatawan yang datang ke Museum Radya Pustaka adalah bertujuan untuk melakukan penelitian yaitu sebesar 34%. (4) Harapan wisatawan yang berkunjung terhadap kelangsungan Museum Radya Pustaka sebagian besar adalah agar ditingkatkan lagi pengelolaan dan keamanan museum, agar kejadian hilangnya benda-benda koleksi museum tidak terulang lagi dikemudian hari. Kesimpulan dari hasil penelitian ini bahwa wisatawan yang berkujung ke Museum Radya Pustaka Surakarta mayoritas berasal dari Semarang, mayoritas berusia 17-25 tahun dan kebanyakan dari mereka adalah berprofesi sebagai pelajar dan mahasiswa. Kebanyakan wisatawan yang datang bertujuan untuk melakukan penelitian, serta harapan wisatawan terhadap Museum Radya Pustaka adalah supaya lebih ditingkatkan lagi pengelolaan dan keamanan museum

Search for long-lived neutral particles in pp collisions at s√=13 TeV that decay into displaced hadronic jets in the ATLAS calorimeter

This paper describes a search for pairs of neutral, long-lived particles decaying in the ATLAS calorimeter. Long-lived particles occur in many extensions to the Standard Model and may elude searches for new promptly decaying particles. The analysis considers neutral, long-lived scalars with masses between 5 and 400 GeV, produced from decays of heavy bosons with masses between 125 and 1000 GeV, where the long-lived scalars decay into Standard Model fermions. The analysis uses either 10.8 fb−1 or 33.0 fb−1 of data (depending on the trigger) recorded in 2016 at the LHC with the ATLAS detector in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. No significant excess is observed, and limits are reported on the production cross section times branching ratio as a function of the proper decay length of the long-lived particles

Study of Z → llγ decays at √s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents a study of Z → llγ decays with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis uses a proton–proton data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.2 fb−1 collected at a centre-ofmass energy √s = 8 TeV. Integrated fiducial cross-sections together with normalised differential fiducial cross-sections, sensitive to the kinematics of final-state QED radiation, are obtained. The results are found to be in agreement with stateof-the-art predictions for final-state QED radiation. First measurements of Z → llγ γ decays are also reported