Infection-related and -unrelated malignancies, HIV and the aging population

Funding Information: Conflicts of interest: JR reports personal fees from Abbvie, Bionor, BMS, Boehringer, Gilead, Merck, Janssen, Tobira, Tibotec and ViiV, outside the submitted work. OK has received honoraria, consultancy and/or lecture fees from Abbott, Gilead, GSK, Janssen, Merck, Tibotec and Viiv outside the submitted work. All other authors state no commercial or other associations that may pose a conflict of interest. Funding: Primary support for EuroSIDA is provided by the European Commission BIOMED 1 (CT94-1637), BIOMED 2 (CT97-2713), 5th Framework (QLK2-2000-00773), 6th Framework (LSHP-CT-2006-018632) and 7th Framework (FP7/2007?2013; EuroCoord n? 260694) programmes. Current support also includes unrestricted grants from Janssen R&D, Merck and Co. Inc., Pfizer Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline LLC. The participation of centres in Switzerland was supported by The Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant 108787). The authors have no financial disclosures to make. Author contributions: LS developed the project, analysed the data, and was responsible for writing the manuscript. ?HB and OK contributed to the study design and analysis, interpretation of the data and writing of the manuscript. JL proposed the project and contributed to the study design, ideas for analysis, interpretation of the data and writing of the manuscript. BL, PD, AC, JR, BK, JT and IK contributed to national coordination, study design and writing of the manuscript. AM supervised the project and contributed to the study design and analysis, interpretation of the data and writing of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2016 British HIV AssociationObjectives: HIV-positive people have increased risk of infection-related malignancies (IRMs) and infection-unrelated malignancies (IURMs). The aim of the study was to determine the impact of aging on future IRM and IURM incidence. Methods: People enrolled in EuroSIDA and followed from the latest of the first visit or 1 January 2001 until the last visit or death were included in the study. Poisson regression was used to investigate the impact of aging on the incidence of IRMs and IURMs, adjusting for demographic, clinical and laboratory confounders. Linear exponential smoothing models forecasted future incidence. Results: A total of 15 648 people contributed 95 033 person-years of follow-up, of whom 610 developed 643 malignancies [IRMs: 388 (60%); IURMs: 255 (40%)]. After adjustment, a higher IRM incidence was associated with a lower CD4 count [adjusted incidence rate ratio (aIRR) CD4 count < 200 cells/μL: 3.77; 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.59, 5.51; compared with ≥ 500 cells/μL], independent of age, while a CD4 count < 200 cells/μL was associated with IURMs in people aged < 50 years only (aIRR: 2.51; 95% CI 1.40–4.54). Smoking was associated with IURMs (aIRR: 1.75; 95% CI 1.23, 2.49) compared with never smokers in people aged ≥ 50 years only, and not with IRMs. The incidences of both IURMs and IRMs increased with older age. It was projected that the incidence of IRMs would decrease by 29% over a 5-year period from 3.1 (95% CI 1.5–5.9) per 1000 person-years in 2011, whereas the IURM incidence would increase by 44% from 4.1 (95% CI 2.2–7.2) per 1000 person-years over the same period. Conclusions: Demographic and HIV-related risk factors for IURMs (aging and smoking) and IRMs (immunodeficiency and ongoing viral replication) differ markedly and the contribution from IURMs relative to IRMs will continue to increase as a result of aging of the HIV-infected population, high smoking and lung cancer prevalence and a low prevalence of untreated HIV infection. These findings suggest the need for targeted preventive measures and evaluation of the cost−benefit of screening for IURMs in HIV-infected populations.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Status of Biodiversity in the Baltic Sea

The brackish Baltic Sea hosts species of various origins and environmental tolerances. These immigrated to the sea 10,000 to 15,000 years ago or have been introduced to the area over the relatively recent history of the system. The Baltic Sea has only one known endemic species. While information on some abiotic parameters extends back as long as five centuries and first quantitative snapshot data on biota (on exploited fish populations) originate generally from the same time, international coordination of research began in the early twentieth century. Continuous, annual Baltic Sea-wide long-term datasets on several organism groups (plankton, benthos, fish) are generally available since the mid-1950s. Based on a variety of available data sources (published papers, reports, grey literature, unpublished data), the Baltic Sea, incl. Kattegat, hosts altogether at least 6,065 species, including at least 1,700 phytoplankton, 442 phytobenthos, at least 1,199 zooplankton, at least 569 meiozoobenthos, 1,476 macrozoobenthos, at least 380 vertebrate parasites, about 200 fish, 3 seal, and 83 bird species. In general, but not in all organism groups, high sub-regional total species richness is associated with elevated salinity. Although in comparison with fully marine areas the Baltic Sea supports fewer species, several facets of the system's diversity remain underexplored to this day, such as micro-organisms, foraminiferans, meiobenthos and parasites. In the future, climate change and its interactions with multiple anthropogenic forcings are likely to have major impacts on the Baltic biodiversity

Measurements of inclusive J/ψ production at midrapidity and forward rapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN=5.02 TeV

The measurements of the inclusive J/ψ yield at midrapidity (|y|&lt;0.9) and forward rapidity (2.5 &lt; 4) in Pb–Pb collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC are reported. The inclusive J/ψ production yields and nuclear modification factors, RAA, are measured as a function of the collision centrality, J/ψ transverse momentum (pT), and rapidity. The J/ψ average transverse momentum and squared transverse momentum (〈pT〉 and 〈pT2〉) are evaluated as a function of the centrality at midrapidity. Compared to the previous ALICE publications, here the entire Pb–Pb collisions dataset collected during the LHC Run 2 is used, which improves the precision of the measurements and extends the pT coverage. The pT-integrated RAA shows a hint of an increasing trend towards unity from semicentral to central collisions at midrapidity, while it is flat at forward rapidity. The pT-differential RAA shows a strong suppression at high pT with less suppression at low pT where it reaches a larger value at midrapidity compared to forward rapidity. The ratio of the pT-integrated yields of J/ψ to those of D0 mesons is reported for the first time for the central and semicentral event classes at midrapidity. Model calculations implementing charmonium production via the coalescence of charm quarks and antiquarks during the fireball evolution (transport models) or in a statistical approach with thermal weights are in good agreement with the data at low pT. At higher pT, the data are well described by transport models and a model based on energy loss in the strongly-interacting medium produced in nuclear collisions at the LHC

K *(892)± resonance production in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN=5.02 TeV

The production of K∗(892)± meson resonance is measured at midrapidity (|y|&lt;0.5) in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV using the ALICE detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The resonance is reconstructed via its hadronic decay channel K∗(892)±→KS0π±. The transverse momentum distributions are obtained for various centrality intervals in the pT range of 0.4-16 GeV/c. Measurements of integrated yields, mean transverse momenta, and particle yield ratios are reported and found to be consistent with previous ALICE measurements for K∗(892)0 within uncertainties. The pT-integrated yield ratio 2K∗(892)±/(K++K-) in central Pb-Pb collisions shows a significant suppression at a level of 9.3σ relative to pp collisions. Thermal model calculations result in an overprediction of the particle yield ratio. Although both hadron resonance gas in partial chemical equilibrium (HRG-PCE) and music + smash simulations consider the hadronic phase, only HRG-PCE accurately represents the measurements, whereas music + smash simulations tend to overpredict the particle yield ratio. These observations, along with the kinetic freeze-out temperatures extracted from the yields measured for light-flavored hadrons using the HRG-PCE model, indicate a finite hadronic phase lifetime, which decreases with increasing collision centrality percentile. The pT-differential yield ratios 2K∗(892)±/(K++K-) and 2K∗(892)±/(π++π-) are presented and compared with measurements in pp collisions at s=5.02 TeV. Both particle ratios are found to be suppressed by up to a factor of five at pT&lt;2.0 GeV/c in central Pb-Pb collisions and are qualitatively consistent with expectations for rescattering effects in the hadronic phase. The nuclear modification factor (RAA) shows a smooth evolution with centrality and is found to be below unity at pT&gt;8 GeV/c, consistent with measurements for other light-flavored hadrons. The smallest values are observed in most central collisions, indicating larger energy loss of partons traversing the dense medium

Skewness and kurtosis of mean transverse momentum fluctuations at the LHC energies

The first measurements of skewness and kurtosis of mean transverse momentum (〈pT〉) fluctuations are reported in Pb–Pb collisions at sNN = 5.02 TeV, Xe–Xe collisions at sNN = 5.44 TeV and pp collisions at s=5.02 TeV using the ALICE detector. The measurements are carried out as a function of system size 〈dNch/dη〉|η|&lt;0.51/3, using charged particles with transverse momentum (pT) and pseudorapidity (η), in the range 0.2&lt;3.0 GeV/c and |η|&lt;0.8, respectively. In Pb–Pb and Xe–Xe collisions, positive skewness is observed in the fluctuations of 〈pT〉 for all centralities, which is significantly larger than what would be expected in the scenario of independent particle emission. This positive skewness is considered a crucial consequence of the hydrodynamic evolution of the hot and dense nuclear matter created in heavy-ion collisions. Furthermore, similar observations of positive skewness for minimum bias pp collisions are also reported here. Kurtosis of 〈pT〉 fluctuations is found to be in good agreement with the kurtosis of Gaussian distribution, for most central Pb–Pb collisions. Hydrodynamic model calculations with MUSIC using Monte Carlo Glauber initial conditions are able to explain the measurements of both skewness and kurtosis qualitatively from semicentral to central collisions in Pb–Pb system. Color reconnection mechanism in PYTHIA8 model seems to play a pivotal role in capturing the qualitative behavior of the same measurements in pp collisions

First Measurement of the |t| Dependence of Incoherent J/ψ Photonuclear Production

The first measurement of the cross section for incoherent photonuclear production of J/ψ vector mesons as a function of the Mandelstam |t| variable is presented. The measurement was carried out with the ALICE detector at midrapidity, |y|&lt;0.8, using ultraperipheral collisions of Pb nuclei at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of sNN=5.02 TeV. This rapidity interval corresponds to a Bjorken-x range (0.3-1.4)×10-3. Cross sections are given in five |t| intervals in the range 0.04&lt;|t|&lt;1 GeV2 and compared to the predictions by different models. Models that ignore quantum fluctuations of the gluon density in the colliding hadron predict a |t| dependence of the cross section much steeper than in data. The inclusion of such fluctuations in the same models provides a better description of the data

Measurement of the low-energy antitriton inelastic cross section

In this Letter, the first measurement of the inelastic cross section for antitriton–nucleus interactions is reported, covering the momentum range of 0.8≤p&lt;2.4 GeV/c. The measurement is carried out using data recorded with the ALICE detector in pp and Pb–Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon of 13 TeV and 5.02 TeV, respectively. The detector material serves as an absorber for antitriton nuclei. The raw yield of (anti)triton nuclei measured with the ALICE apparatus is compared to the results from detailed ALICE simulations based on the [Formula presented] toolkit for the propagation of (anti)particles through matter, allowing one to quantify the inelastic interaction probability in the detector material. This analysis complements the measurement of the inelastic cross section of antinuclei up to A=3 carried out by the ALICE Collaboration, and demonstrates the feasibility of the study of the isospin dependence of inelastic interaction cross section with the analysis techniques presented in this Letter

Multiplicity and event-scale dependent flow and jet fragmentation in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV and in p-Pb collisions at √sNN=5.02 TeV

Long- and short-range correlations for pairs of charged particles are studied via two-particle angular correlations in pp collisions at s = 13 TeV and p–Pb collisions at sNN = 5.02 TeV. The correlation functions are measured as a function of relative azimuthal angle ∆φ and pseudorapidity separation ∆η for pairs of primary charged particles within the pseudorapidity interval |η| &lt; 0.9 and the transverse-momentum interval 1 &lt; pT&lt; 4 GeV/c. Flow coefficients are extracted for the long-range correlations (1.6 &lt; |∆η| &lt; 1.8) in various high-multiplicity event classes using the low-multiplicity template fit method. The method is used to subtract the enhanced yield of away-side jet fragments in high-multiplicity events. These results show decreasing flow signals toward lower multiplicity events. Furthermore, the flow coefficients for events with hard probes, such as jets or leading particles, do not exhibit any significant changes compared to those obtained from high-multiplicity events without any specific event selection criteria. The results are compared with hydrodynamic-model calculations, and it is found that a better understanding of the initial conditions is necessary to describe the results, particularly for low-multiplicity events

Search for jet quenching effects in high-multiplicity pp collisions at √s=13 TeV via di-jet acoplanarity

The ALICE Collaboration reports a search for jet quenching effects in high-multiplicity (HM) proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV, using the semi-inclusive azimuthal-difference distribution ∆φ of charged-particle jets recoiling from a high transverse momentum (high-pT,trig) trigger hadron. Jet quenching may broaden the ∆φ distribution measured in HM events compared to that in minimum bias (MB) events. The measurement employs a pT,trig-differential observable for data-driven suppression of the contribution of multiple partonic interactions, which is the dominant background. While azimuthal broadening is indeed observed in HM compared to MB events, similar broadening for HM events is observed for simulations based on the PYTHIA 8 Monte Carlo generator, which does not incorporate jet quenching. Detailed analysis of these data and simulations show that the azimuthal broadening is due to bias of the HM selection towards events with multiple jets in the final state. The identification of this bias has implications for all jet quenching searches where selection is made on the event activity