The association between walking speed from short- and standard-distance tests with the risk of all-cause mortality among adults with radiographic knee osteoarthritis: data from three large United States cohort studies

Objective: Adults with radiographic knee OA (rKOA) are at increased risk of mortality and walking difficulty may modify this relation. Little is known about specific aspects of walking difficulty that increase mortality risk. We investigated the association of walking speed (objective measure of walking difficulty) with mortality and examined the threshold that best discriminated this risk in adults with rKOA. Methods: Participants with rKOA from the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project (JoCoOA, longitudinal population-based cohort), Osteoarthritis Initiative and Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study (OAI and MOST, cohorts of individuals with or at high risk of knee OA) were included. Baseline speed was measured via 2.4-meter (m) walk test (short-distance) in JoCoOA and 20-m walk test (standard-distance) in OAI and MOST. To examine the association of walking speed with mortality risk over 9 years, hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated from Cox regression models adjusted for potential confounders. A Maximal Likelihood Ratio Chi-square Approach was utilized to identify an optimal threshold of walking speed predictive of mortality. Results: Deaths after 9 years of follow-up occurred in 23.3% (290/1244) of JoCoOA and 5.9% (249/4215) of OAI + MOST. Walking 0.2 m/s slower during short- and standard-distance walk tests was associated with 23% (aHR [95%CI]; 1.23 [1.10, 1.39]) and 25% (1.25 [1.09, 1.43]) higher mortality risk, respectively. Walking <0.5 m/s on short-distance and <1.2 m/s standard-distance walk tests, best discriminated those with and without mortality risk. Conclusion: Slower walking speed measured via short- and standard-distance walk tests was associated with increased mortality risk in adults with rKOA

International delphi consensus on the management of AQP4-IgG+ NMOSD: recommendations for eculizumab, inebilizumab, and satralizumab

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is a rare debilitating autoimmune disease of the CNS. Three monoclonal antibodies were recently approved as maintenance therapies for aquaporin-4 immunoglobulin G (AQP4-IgG)-seropositive NMOSD (eculizumab, inebilizumab, and satralizumab), prompting the need to consider best practice therapeutic decision-making for this indication. Our objective was to develop validated statements for the management of AQP4-IgG-seropositive NMOSD, through an evidence-based Delphi consensus process, with a focus on recommendations for eculizumab, inebilizumab, and satralizumab. METHODS: We recruited an international panel of clinical experts in NMOSD and asked them to complete a questionnaire on NMOSD management. Panel members received a summary of evidence identified through a targeted literature review and provided free-text responses to the questionnaire based on both the data provided and their clinical experience. Responses were used to generate draft statements on NMOSD-related themes. Statements were voted on over a maximum of 3 rounds; participation in at least 1 of the first 2 rounds was mandatory. Panel members anonymously provided their level of agreement (6-point Likert scale) on each statement. Statements that failed to reach a predefined consensus threshold (≥67%) were revised based on feedback and then voted on in the next round. Final statements were those that met the consensus threshold (≥67%). RESULTS: The Delphi panel comprised 24 experts, who completed the Delphi process in November 2021 after 2 voting rounds. In round 1, 23/25 statements reached consensus and were accepted as final. The 2 statements that failed to reach consensus were revised. In round 2, both revised statements reached consensus. Twenty-five statements were agreed in total: 11 on initiation of or switching between eculizumab, inebilizumab, and satralizumab; 3 on monotherapy/combination therapy; 7 on safety and patient population considerations; 3 on biomarkers/patient-reported outcomes; and 1 on research gaps. DISCUSSION: An established consensus method was used to develop statements relevant to the management of AQP4-IgG-seropositive NMOSD. These international statements will be valuable for informing individualized therapeutic decision-making and could form the basis for standardized practice guidelines

Global estimates of viral suppression in children and adolescents and adults on antiretroviral therapy adjusted for missing viral load measurements: a multiregional, retrospective cohort study in 31 countries

Background: As countries move towards the UNAIDS's 95-95-95 targets and with strong evidence that undetectable equals untransmittable, it is increasingly important to assess whether those with HIV who are receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) achieve viral suppression. We estimated the proportions of children and adolescents and adults with viral suppression at 1, 2, and 3 years after initiating ART. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, seven regional cohorts from the International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA) consortium contributed data from individuals initiating ART between Jan 1, 2010, and Dec 31, 2019, at 148 sites in 31 countries with annual viral load monitoring. Only people with HIV who started ART after the time a site started routine viral load monitoring were included. Data up to March 31, 2020, were analysed. We estimated the proportions of children and adolescents (aged <18 years at ART initiation) and adults (aged ≥18 years at ART initiation) with viral suppression (viral load <1000 copies per mL) at 1, 2, and 3 years after ART initiation using an intention-to-treat approach and an adjusted approach that accounted for missing viral load measurements. Findings: 21 594 children and adolescents (11 812 [55%] female, 9782 [45%] male) from 106 sites in 22 countries and 255 662 adults (163 831 [64%] female, 91 831 [36%] male) from 143 sites in 30 countries were included. Using the intention-to-treat approach, the proportion of children and adolescents with viral suppression was 7303 (36%) of 20 478 at 1 year, 5709 (30%) of 19 135 at 2 years, and 4287 (24%) of 17 589 at 3 years after ART initiation; the proportion of adults with viral suppression was 106 541 (44%) of 240 600 at 1 year, 79 141 (36%) of 220 925 at 2 years, and 57 970 (29%) of 201 124 at 3 years after ART initiation. After adjusting for missing viral load measurements among those who transferred, were lost to follow-up, or who were in follow-up without viral load testing, the proportion of children and adolescents with viral suppression was 12 048 (64% [plausible range 43–81]) of 18 835 at 1 year, 10 796 (62% [41–77]) of 17 553 at 2 years, and 9177 (59% [38–91]) of 15 667 at 3 years after ART initiation; the proportion of adults with viral suppression was 176 964 (79% [53–80]) of 225 418 at 1 year, 145 552 (72% [48–79]) of 201 238 at 2 years, and 115 260 (65% [43–69]) of 178 458 at 3 years after ART initiation. Interpretation: Although adults with HIV are approaching the global target of 95% viral suppression, progress among children and adolescents is much slower. Substantial efforts are still needed to reach the viral suppression target for children and adolescents. Funding: US National Institutes of Health

Applications of electrified dust and dust devil electrodynamics to Martian atmospheric electricity

Atmospheric transport and suspension of dust frequently brings electrification, which may be substantial. Electric fields of 10 kVm-1 to 100 kVm-1 have been observed at the surface beneath suspended dust in the terrestrial atmosphere, and some electrification has been observed to persist in dust at levels to 5 km, as well as in volcanic plumes. The interaction between individual particles which causes the electrification is incompletely understood, and multiple processes are thought to be acting. A variation in particle charge with particle size, and the effect of gravitational separation explains to, some extent, the charge structures observed in terrestrial dust storms. More extensive flow-based modelling demonstrates that bulk electric fields in excess of 10 kV m-1 can be obtained rapidly (in less than 10 s) from rotating dust systems (dust devils) and that terrestrial breakdown fields can be obtained. Modelled profiles of electrical conductivity in the Martian atmosphere suggest the possibility of dust electrification, and dust devils have been suggested as a mechanism of charge separation able to maintain current flow between one region of the atmosphere and another, through a global circuit. Fundamental new understanding of Martian atmospheric electricity will result from the ExoMars mission, which carries the DREAMS (Dust characterization, Risk Assessment, and Environment Analyser on the Martian Surface)-MicroARES (Atmospheric Radiation and Electricity Sensor) instrumentation to Mars in 2016 for the first in situ measurements

Measurement of the cross section of high transverse momentum Z→bb̄ production in proton–proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This Letter reports the observation of a high transverse momentum Z→bb̄ signal in proton–proton collisions at √s=8 TeV and the measurement of its production cross section. The data analysed were collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.5 fb−¹. The Z→bb̄ decay is reconstructed from a pair of b -tagged jets, clustered with the anti-ktkt jet algorithm with R=0.4R=0.4, that have low angular separation and form a dijet with pT>200 GeVpT>200 GeV. The signal yield is extracted from a fit to the dijet invariant mass distribution, with the dominant, multi-jet background mass shape estimated by employing a fully data-driven technique that reduces the dependence of the analysis on simulation. The fiducial cross section is determined to be σZ→bb¯fid=2.02±0.20 (stat.) ±0.25 (syst.)±0.06 (lumi.) pb=2.02±0.33 pb, in good agreement with next-to-leading-order theoretical predictions

Measurement of the branching ratio Γ(Λb⁰ → ψ(2S)Λ0)/Γ(Λb⁰ → J/ψΛ0) with the ATLAS detector

An observation of the $\Lambda_b^0 \rightarrow \psi(2S) \Lambda^0$ decay and a comparison of its branching fraction with that of the $\Lambda_b^0 \rightarrow J/\psi \Lambda^0$ decay has been made with the ATLAS detector in proton--proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=8\,$TeV at the LHC using an integrated luminosity of $20.6\,$fb$^{-1}$. The $J/\psi$ and $\psi(2S)$ mesons are reconstructed in their decays to a muon pair, while the $\Lambda^0\rightarrow p\pi^-$ decay is exploited for the $\Lambda^0$ baryon reconstruction. The $\Lambda_b^0$ baryons are reconstructed with transverse momentum $p_{\rm T}>10\,$GeV and pseudorapidity $|\eta|<2.1$. The measured branching ratio of the $\Lambda_b^0 \rightarrow \psi(2S) \Lambda^0$ and $\Lambda_b^0 \rightarrow J/\psi \Lambda^0$ decays is $\Gamma(\Lambda_b^0 \rightarrow \psi(2S)\Lambda^0)/\Gamma(\Lambda_b^0 \rightarrow J/\psi\Lambda^0) = 0.501\pm 0.033 ({\rm stat})\pm 0.019({\rm syst})$, lower than the expectation from the covariant quark model.Comment: 12 pages plus author list (28 pages total), 5 figures, 1 table, published on Physics Letters B 751 (2015) 63-80. All figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/BPHY-2013-08

Measurement of the View the tt production cross-section using eμ events with b-tagged jets in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper describes a measurement of the inclusive top quark pair production cross-section (σtt¯) with a data sample of 3.2 fb−1 of proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 13 TeV, collected in 2015 by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. This measurement uses events with an opposite-charge electron–muon pair in the final state. Jets containing b-quarks are tagged using an algorithm based on track impact parameters and reconstructed secondary vertices. The numbers of events with exactly one and exactly two b-tagged jets are counted and used to determine simultaneously σtt¯ and the efficiency to reconstruct and b-tag a jet from a top quark decay, thereby minimising the associated systematic uncertainties. The cross-section is measured to be: σtt¯ = 818 ± 8 (stat) ± 27 (syst) ± 19 (lumi) ± 12 (beam) pb, where the four uncertainties arise from data statistics, experimental and theoretical systematic effects, the integrated luminosity and the LHC beam energy, giving a total relative uncertainty of 4.4%. The result is consistent with theoretical QCD calculations at next-to-next-to-leading order. A fiducial measurement corresponding to the experimental acceptance of the leptons is also presented

Search for TeV-scale gravity signatures in high-mass final states with leptons and jets with the ATLAS detector at sqrt [ s ] = 13TeV

A search for physics beyond the Standard Model, in final states with at least one high transverse momentum charged lepton (electron or muon) and two additional high transverse momentum leptons or jets, is performed using 3.2 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2015 at √s = 13 TeV. The upper end of the distribution of the scalar sum of the transverse momenta of leptons and jets is sensitive to the production of high-mass objects. No excess of events beyond Standard Model predictions is observed. Exclusion limits are set for models of microscopic black holes with two to six extra dimensions