Biomechanical Evaluation of Recurrent Dissociation of Modular Humeral Prostheses

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the force and torque required to dissociate a humeral head from the unimplanted modular total shoulder replacement system from different manufacturers and to determine if load and torque to dissociation are reduced in the presence of bodily fluids. Impingement, taper contamination, lack of compressive forces, and interference of taper fixation by the proximal humerus have all been reported as possible causes for dissociation. Experimental values determined in this research were compared with literature estimates of dissociation force of the humeral head under various conditions to gain more understanding of the causes of recurrent dissociations of the humeral head. This study examined biomechanical properties under dry and wet conditions under clinically practiced methods. Mean load to dissociation (1513 N ± 508 N) was found to be greater than that exerted by the activities of daily living (578 N) for all implants studied. The mean torque to dissociation was (49.77 N·m ± 19.07 N·m). Analysis of R2 correlation coefficients and p-values (α = 0.05) did not show any significant correlation between dry/bovine, dry/wet, or wet/bovine for load, displacement, or torsional stiffness in the majority of tests performed. Wetting the taper with water or bovine serum did not reduce the dissociation force to a statistically significant degree. Torque and lack of compressive forces at the rotator cuff may be the cause of dissociation at values less than those of activities of daily living. Torque data are provided by this study, but further research is needed to fully appreciate the role of torque in recurrent dissociations

MicroRNAs Dynamically Remodel Gastrointestinal Smooth Muscle Cells

Smooth muscle cells (SMCs) express a unique set of microRNAs (miRNAs) which regulate and maintain the differentiation state of SMCs. The goal of this study was to investigate the role of miRNAs during the development of gastrointestinal (GI) SMCs in a transgenic animal model. We generated SMC-specific Dicer null animals that express the reporter, green fluorescence protein, in a SMC-specific manner. SMC-specific knockout of Dicer prevented SMC miRNA biogenesis, causing dramatic changes in phenotype, function, and global gene expression in SMCs: the mutant mice developed severe dilation of the intestinal tract associated with the thinning and destruction of the smooth muscle (SM) layers; contractile motility in the mutant intestine was dramatically decreased; and SM contractile genes and transcriptional regulators were extensively down-regulated in the mutant SMCs. Profiling and bioinformatic analyses showed that SMC phenotype is regulated by a complex network of positive and negative feedback by SMC miRNAs, serum response factor (SRF), and other transcriptional factors. Taken together, our data suggest that SMC miRNAs are required for the development and survival of SMCs in the GI tract

Developing a core outcome set for future infertility research : An international consensus development study

STUDY QUESTION: Can a core outcome set to standardize outcome selection, collection and reporting across future infertility research be developed? SUMMARY ANSWER: A minimum data set, known as a core outcome set, has been developed for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and systematic reviews evaluating potential treatments for infertility. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Complex issues, including a failure to consider the perspectives of people with fertility problems when selecting outcomes, variations in outcome definitions and the selective reporting of outcomes on the basis of statistical analysis, make the results of infertility research difficult to interpret. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: A three-round Delphi survey (372 participants from 41 countries) and consensus development workshop (30 participants from 27 countries). PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: Healthcare professionals, researchers and people with fertility problems were brought together in an open and transparent process using formal consensus science methods. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: The core outcome set consists of: viable intrauterine pregnancy confirmed by ultrasound (accounting for singleton, twin and higher multiple pregnancy); pregnancy loss (accounting for ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, stillbirth and termination of pregnancy); live birth; gestational age at delivery; birthweight; neonatal mortality; and major congenital anomaly. Time to pregnancy leading to live birth should be reported when applicable. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: We used consensus development methods which have inherent limitations, including the representativeness of the participant sample, Delphi survey attrition and an arbitrary consensus threshold. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: Embedding the core outcome set within RCTs and systematic reviews should ensure the comprehensive selection, collection and reporting of core outcomes. Research funding bodies, the Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials (SPIRIT) statement, and over 80 specialty journals, including the Cochrane Gynaecology and Fertility Group, Fertility and Sterility and Human Reproduction, have committed to implementing this core outcome set. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S): This research was funded by the Catalyst Fund, Royal Society of New Zealand, Auckland Medical Research Fund and Maurice and Phyllis Paykel Trust. The funder had no role in the design and conduct of the study, the collection, management, analysis or interpretation of data, or manuscript preparation. B.W.J.M. is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Practitioner Fellowship (GNT1082548). S.B. was supported by University of Auckland Foundation Seelye Travelling Fellowship. S.B. reports being the Editor-in-Chief of Human Reproduction Open and an editor of the Cochrane Gynaecology and Fertility group. J.L.H.E. reports being the Editor Emeritus of Human Reproduction. J.M.L.K. reports research sponsorship from Ferring and Theramex. R.S.L. reports consultancy fees from Abbvie, Bayer, Ferring, Fractyl, Insud Pharma and Kindex and research sponsorship from Guerbet and Hass Avocado Board. B.W.J.M. reports consultancy fees from Guerbet, iGenomix, Merck, Merck KGaA and ObsEva. C.N. reports being the Co Editor-in-Chief of Fertility and Sterility and Section Editor of the Journal of Urology, research sponsorship from Ferring, and retains a financial interest in NexHand. A.S. reports consultancy fees from Guerbet. E.H.Y.N. reports research sponsorship from Merck. N.L.V. reports consultancy and conference fees from Ferring, Merck and Merck Sharp and Dohme. The remaining authors declare no competing interests in relation to the work presented. All authors have completed the disclosure form

Studies of new Higgs boson interactions through nonresonant HH production in the b¯bγγ fnal state in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for nonresonant Higgs boson pair production in the b ¯bγγ fnal state is performed using 140 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. This analysis supersedes and expands upon the previous nonresonant ATLAS results in this fnal state based on the same data sample. The analysis strategy is optimised to probe anomalous values not only of the Higgs (H) boson self-coupling modifer κλ but also of the quartic HHV V (V = W, Z) coupling modifer κ2V . No signifcant excess above the expected background from Standard Model processes is observed. An observed upper limit µHH < 4.0 is set at 95% confdence level on the Higgs boson pair production cross-section normalised to its Standard Model prediction. The 95% confdence intervals for the coupling modifers are −1.4 < κλ < 6.9 and −0.5 < κ2V < 2.7, assuming all other Higgs boson couplings except the one under study are fxed to the Standard Model predictions. The results are interpreted in the Standard Model efective feld theory and Higgs efective feld theory frameworks in terms of constraints on the couplings of anomalous Higgs boson (self-)interactions

Comparison of inclusive and photon-tagged jet suppression in 5.02 TeV Pb+Pb collisions with ATLAS

Parton energy loss in the quark–gluon plasma (QGP) is studied with a measurement of photon-tagged jet production in 1.7 nb−1 of Pb+Pb data and 260 pb−1 of pp data, both at sNN=5.02 TeV, with the ATLAS detector. The process pp →γ+jet+X and its analogue in Pb+Pb collisions is measured in events containing an isolated photon with transverse momentum (pT) above 50 GeV and reported as a function of jet pT. This selection results in a sample of jets with a steeply falling pT distribution that are mostly initiated by the showering of quarks. The pp and Pb+Pb measurements are used to report the nuclear modification factor, RAA, and the fractional energy loss, Sloss, for photon-tagged jets. In addition, the results are compared with the analogous ones for inclusive jets, which have a significantly smaller quark-initiated fraction. The RAA and Sloss values are found to be significantly different between those for photon-tagged jets and inclusive jets, demonstrating that energy loss in the QGP is sensitive to the colour-charge of the initiating parton. The results are also compared with a variety of theoretical models of colour-charge-dependent energy loss

Search for non-resonant Higgs boson pair production in the 2b+2l+ETmiss final state in pp collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for non-resonant Higgs boson pair (HH) production is presented, in which one of the Higgs bosons decays to a b-quark pair (bb ̄) and the other decays to WW*, ZZ*, or τ+τ−, with in each case a final state with l+l−+ neutrinos (l = e, μ). The analysis targets separately the gluon-gluon fusion and vector boson fusion production modes. Data recorded by the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1, are used in this analysis. Events are selected to have exactly two b-tagged jets and two leptons with opposite electric charge and missing transverse momentum in the final state. These events are classified using multivariate analysis algorithms to separate the HH events from other Standard Model processes. No evidence of the signal is found. The observed (expected) upper limit on the cross-section for non-resonant Higgs boson pair production is determined to be 9.7 (16.2) times the Standard Model prediction at 95% confidence level. The Higgs boson self-interaction coupling parameter κλ and the quadrilinear coupling parameter κ2V are each separately constrained by this analysis to be within the ranges [−6.2, 13.3] and [−0.17, 2.4], respectively, at 95% confidence level, when all other parameters are fixed