Late cardiac events after childhood cancer: Methodological aspects of the pan-european study pancaresurfup

Background and Aim Childhood cancer survivors are at high risk of long-Termadverse effects of cancer and its treatment, including cardiac events. The pan-European PanCareSurFup study determined the incidence and risk factors for cardiac events among childhood cancer survivors. The aim of this article is to describe the methodology of the cardiac cohort and nested case-control study within PanCareSurFup. Methods Eight data providers in Europe participating in PanCareSurFup identified and validated symptomatic cardiac events in their cohorts of childhood cancer survivors. Data onsymptomatic heart failure, ischemia, pericarditis, valvular disease and arrhythmia were collected and graded according to the Criteria for Adverse Events. Detailed treatment data, data on potential confounders, lifestyle related risk factors and general health problems were collected. Results The PanCareSurFup cardiac cohort consisted of 59,915 5-year childhood cancer survivors with malignancies diagnosed between 1940 and 2009 and classified according to the International Classification of Childhood Cancer 3. Different strategies were used to identify cardiac events such as record linkage to population/ hospital or regional based databases, and patient-And general practitioner-based questionnaires. Conclusion The cardiac study of the European collaborative research project PanCareSurFup will provide the largest cohort of 5-year childhood cancer survivors with systematically ascertained and validated data on symptomatic cardiac events. The result of this study can provide information to minimize the burden of cardiac events in childhood cancer survivors by tailoring the follow-up of childhood cancer survivors at high risk of cardiac adverse events, transferring this knowledge into evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and providing a platformfor future research studies in childhood cancer patients. © 2016 Feijen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Measurement of the top quark mass using the matrix element technique in dilepton final states

We present a measurement of the top quark mass in pp¯ collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. The data were collected by the D0 experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9.7  fb−1. The matrix element technique is applied to tt¯ events in the final state containing leptons (electrons or muons) with high transverse momenta and at least two jets. The calibration of the jet energy scale determined in the lepton+jets final state of tt¯ decays is applied to jet energies. This correction provides a substantial reduction in systematic uncertainties. We obtain a top quark mass of mt=173.93±1.84  GeV

Studies of X(3872) and ψ(2S) production in p\bar{p}over-bar collisions at 1.96 TeV

We present various properties of the production of the X (3872) and ψ(2S) states based on 10.4fb‾¹ collected by the D0 experiment in Tevatron p\bar{p} collisions at \sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV. For both states, we measure the nonprompt fraction fNP of the inclusive production rate due to decays of b-flavored hadrons. We find the fNP values systematically below those obtained at the LHC. The fNP fraction for ψ(2S) increases with transverse momentum, whereas for the X(3872) it is constant within large uncertainties, in agreement with the LHC results. The ratio of prompt to nonprompt ψ(2S) production, (1 - fNP)/fNP, decreases only slightly going from the Tevatron to the LHC, but for the X(3872), this ratio decreases by a factor of about 3. We test the soft-pion signature of the X(3872) modeled as a weakly bound charm-meson pair by studying the production of the X(3872) as a function of the kinetic energy of the X(3872) and the pion in the X(3872) π center-of-mass frame. For a subsample consistent with prompt production, the results are incompatible with a strong enhancement in the production of the X(3872) at the small kinetic energy of the X(3872) and the π in the X(3872)π center-of-mass frame expected for the X + soft-pion production mechanism. For events consistent with being due to decays of hadrons, there is no significant evidence for the soft-pion effect, but its presence at the level expected for the binding energy of 0.17 MeV and the momentum scale Λ = M(π) is not ruled out

Properties of Z±c(3900) produced in pp¯ collisions

We study the production of the exotic charged charmoniumlike state Z ± c ( 3900 ) in p ¯ p collisions through the sequential process ψ ( 4260 ) → Z ± c ( 3900 ) π ∓ , Z ± c ( 3900 ) → J / ψ π ± . Using the subsample of candidates originating from semi-inclusive weak decays of b -flavored hadrons, we measure the invariant mass and natural width to be M = 3902.6 + 5.2 − 5.0 ( stat ) + 3.3 − 1.4 ( syst )     MeV and Γ = 3 2 + 28 − 21 ( stat ) + 26 − 7 ( syst )     MeV , respectively. We search for prompt production of the Z ± c ( 3900 ) through the same sequential process. No significant signal is observed, and we set an upper limit of 0.70 at the 95% credibility level on the ratio of prompt production to the production via b -hadron decays. The study is based on 10.4     f b − 1 of p ¯ p collision data collected by the D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron collider

QCD and strongly coupled gauge theories : challenges and perspectives

We highlight the progress, current status, and open challenges of QCD-driven physics, in theory and in experiment. We discuss how the strong interaction is intimately connected to a broad sweep of physical problems, in settings ranging from astrophysics and cosmology to strongly coupled, complex systems in particle and condensed-matter physics, as well as to searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. We also discuss how success in describing the strong interaction impacts other fields, and, in turn, how such subjects can impact studies of the strong interaction. In the course of the work we offer a perspective on the many research streams which flow into and out of QCD, as well as a vision for future developments.Peer reviewe

Pooled analysis of WHO Surgical Safety Checklist use and mortality after emergency laparotomy

Background The World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist has fostered safe practice for 10 years, yet its place in emergency surgery has not been assessed on a global scale. The aim of this study was to evaluate reported checklist use in emergency settings and examine the relationship with perioperative mortality in patients who had emergency laparotomy. Methods In two multinational cohort studies, adults undergoing emergency laparotomy were compared with those having elective gastrointestinal surgery. Relationships between reported checklist use and mortality were determined using multivariable logistic regression and bootstrapped simulation. Results Of 12 296 patients included from 76 countries, 4843 underwent emergency laparotomy. After adjusting for patient and disease factors, checklist use before emergency laparotomy was more common in countries with a high Human Development Index (HDI) (2455 of 2741, 89.6 per cent) compared with that in countries with a middle (753 of 1242, 60.6 per cent; odds ratio (OR) 0.17, 95 per cent c.i. 0.14 to 0.21, P <0001) or low (363 of 860, 422 per cent; OR 008, 007 to 010, P <0.001) HDI. Checklist use was less common in elective surgery than for emergency laparotomy in high-HDI countries (risk difference -94 (95 per cent c.i. -11.9 to -6.9) per cent; P <0001), but the relationship was reversed in low-HDI countries (+121 (+7.0 to +173) per cent; P <0001). In multivariable models, checklist use was associated with a lower 30-day perioperative mortality (OR 0.60, 0.50 to 073; P <0.001). The greatest absolute benefit was seen for emergency surgery in low- and middle-HDI countries. Conclusion Checklist use in emergency laparotomy was associated with a significantly lower perioperative mortality rate. Checklist use in low-HDI countries was half that in high-HDI countries.Peer reviewe

Global Retinoblastoma Presentation and Analysis by National Income Level.

Importance: Early diagnosis of retinoblastoma, the most common intraocular cancer, can save both a child's life and vision. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that many children across the world are diagnosed late. To our knowledge, the clinical presentation of retinoblastoma has never been assessed on a global scale. Objectives: To report the retinoblastoma stage at diagnosis in patients across the world during a single year, to investigate associations between clinical variables and national income level, and to investigate risk factors for advanced disease at diagnosis. Design, Setting, and Participants: A total of 278 retinoblastoma treatment centers were recruited from June 2017 through December 2018 to participate in a cross-sectional analysis of treatment-naive patients with retinoblastoma who were diagnosed in 2017. Main Outcomes and Measures: Age at presentation, proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, and tumor stage and metastasis. Results: The cohort included 4351 new patients from 153 countries; the median age at diagnosis was 30.5 (interquartile range, 18.3-45.9) months, and 1976 patients (45.4%) were female. Most patients (n = 3685 [84.7%]) were from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Globally, the most common indication for referral was leukocoria (n = 2638 [62.8%]), followed by strabismus (n = 429 [10.2%]) and proptosis (n = 309 [7.4%]). Patients from high-income countries (HICs) were diagnosed at a median age of 14.1 months, with 656 of 666 (98.5%) patients having intraocular retinoblastoma and 2 (0.3%) having metastasis. Patients from low-income countries were diagnosed at a median age of 30.5 months, with 256 of 521 (49.1%) having extraocular retinoblastoma and 94 of 498 (18.9%) having metastasis. Lower national income level was associated with older presentation age, higher proportion of locally advanced disease and distant metastasis, and smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma. Advanced disease at diagnosis was more common in LMICs even after adjusting for age (odds ratio for low-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 17.92 [95% CI, 12.94-24.80], and for lower-middle-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 5.74 [95% CI, 4.30-7.68]). Conclusions and Relevance: This study is estimated to have included more than half of all new retinoblastoma cases worldwide in 2017. Children from LMICs, where the main global retinoblastoma burden lies, presented at an older age with more advanced disease and demonstrated a smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, likely because many do not reach a childbearing age. Given that retinoblastoma is curable, these data are concerning and mandate intervention at national and international levels. Further studies are needed to investigate factors, other than age at presentation, that may be associated with advanced disease in LMICs

Combination of D0 measurements of the top quark mass

We present a combination of measurements of the top quark mass by the D0 experiment in the lepton+jets and dilepton channels. We use all the data collected in Run I (1992–1996) at √s=1.8  TeV and Run II (2001–2011) at √s=1.96  TeV of the Tevatron p¯p collider, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 0.1  fb−1 and 9.7  fb−1, respectively. The combined result is: mt=174.95±0.40(stat)±0.64(syst)  GeV=174.95±0.75  GeV

Measurement of angular correlations of jets at root s=1.96 TeV and determination of the strong coupling at high momentum transfers

We present a measurement of the average value of a new observable at hadron colliders that is sensitive to QCD dynamics and to the strong coupling constant, while being only weakly sensitive to parton distribution functions. The observable measures the angular correlations of jets and is defined as the number of neighboring jets above a given transverse momentum threshold which accompany a given jet within a given distance �R in the plane of rapidity and azimuthal angle. The ensemble average over all jets in an inclusive jet sample is measured and the results are presented as a function of transverse momentum of the inclusive jets, in different regions of �R and for different transverse momentum requirements for the neighboring jets. The measurement is based on a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.7 fb−1 collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider in p¯p collisions at √ s = 1.96 TeV. The results are well described by a perturbative QCD calculation in next-toleading order in the strong coupling constant, corrected for non-perturbative effects. From these results, we extract the strong coupling and test the QCD predictions for its running over a range of momentum transfers of 50–400 GeV