Haemostasis in Open Carpal Tunnel Release: Tourniquet vs Local Anaesthetic and Adrenaline

Open carpal tunnel release is one of the commonest performed procedures in hand surgery. We performed a prospective randomised control trial to compare the efficacy and patient satisfaction of the traditional arm tourniquet versus infiltration of adrenaline and local anaesthetic solution to achieve haemostasis during the procedure. Using a combination of objective and subjective measures we concluded that infiltration of local anaesthetic and adrenaline not only provided adequate haemostasis but also provided a significantly more tolerable experience for the patient during the procedure

Measurement of J/ψ production in association with a W ± boson with pp data at 8 TeV

A measurement of the production of a prompt J/ψ meson in association with a W± boson with W± → μν and J/ψ → μ+μ− is presented for J/ψ transverse momenta in the range 8.5–150 GeV and rapidity |yJ/ψ| < 2.1 using ATLAS data recorded in 2012 at the LHC. The data were taken at a proton-proton centre-of-mass energy of s = 8 TeV and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb−1. The ratio of the prompt J/ψ plus W± cross-section to the inclusive W± cross-section is presented as a differential measurement as a function of J/ψ transverse momenta and compared with theoretical predictions using different double-parton-scattering cross-sections. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

Haemostasis in Open Carpal Tunnel Release: Tourniquet vs Local Anaesthetic and Adrenaline

Open carpal tunnel release is one of the commonest performed procedures in hand surgery. We performed a prospective randomised control trial to compare the efficacy and patient satisfaction of the traditional arm tourniquet versus infiltration of adrenaline and local anaesthetic solution to achieve haemostasis during the procedure. Using a combination of objective and subjective measures we concluded that infiltration of local anaesthetic and adrenaline not only provided adequate haemostasis but also provided a significantly more tolerable experience for the patient during the procedure

Knee Arthroplasty: Disabilities in Comparison to the General Population and to Hip Arthroplasty Using a French National Longitudinal Survey

International audienceBACKGROUND: Knee arthroplasty is increasing exponentially due to the aging of the population and to the broadening of indications. We aimed to compare physical disability and its evolution over two years in people with knee arthroplasty to that in the general population. A secondary objective was to compare the level of disabilities of people with knee to people with hip arthroplasty. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: 16,945 people representative of the French population were selected in 1999 from the French census and interviewed about their level of disability. This sample included 815 people with lower limb arthroplasty. In 2001, 608 of them were re-interviewed, among whom 134 had knee arthroplasty. Among the other participants re-interviewed, we identified 68 who had undergone knee arthroplasty and 145 hip arthroplasty within the last two years (recent arthroplasty). People with knee arthroplasty reported significantly greater difficulties than the general population with bending forward (odds ratio [OR] = 4.7; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.7, 12.6), walking more than 500 meters (OR = 6.0; 95% CI: 1.5, 24.7) and carrying 5 kg kilograms for 10 meters (OR = 4.6; 95% CI: 1.3, 16.4). However, the two years evolution in disability was similar to that in the general population for most activities. The level of mobility was similar between people with recent knee arthroplasty and those with recent hip arthroplasty. Nevertheless, people with recent knee arthroplasty reported a lower level of disability than the other group for washing and bending forward (OR = 0.3; 95% CI: 0.1, 0.6 and OR = 0.4; 95% CI: 0.1, 0.9, respectively). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: People with knee arthroplasty reported a higher risk of disability than the general population for common activities of daily living but a similar evolution. There was no relevant difference between recent knee and hip arthroplasties for mobility

Alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use amongst same-sex attracted women: results from the Western Australian Lesbian and Bisexual Women's Health and Well-Being Survey

Background: The prevalence of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use has been reported to be higheramongst lesbian and bisexual women (LBW) than their heterosexual counterparts. However, few studieshave been conducted with this population in Australia and rates that have been reported vary considerably.Methods: A self-completed questionnaire exploring a range of health issues was administered to 917women aged 15-65 years (median 34 years) living in Western Australia, who identified as lesbian orbisexual, or reported having sex with another woman. Participants were recruited from a range of settings,including Perth Pride Festival events (67.0%, n = 615), online (13.2%, n = 121), at gay bars and nightclubs(12.9%, n = 118), and through community groups (6.9%, n = 63). Results were compared against availablestate and national surveillance data.Results: LBW reported consuming alcohol more frequently and in greater quantities than women in thegeneral population. A quarter of LBW (25.7%, n = 236) exceeded national alcohol guidelines by consumingmore than four standard drinks on a single occasion, once a week or more. However, only 6.8% (n = 62)described themselves as a heavy drinker, suggesting that exceeding national alcohol guidelines may be anormalised behaviour amongst LBW. Of the 876 women who provided data on tobacco use, 28.1% (n =246) were smokers, nearly double the rate in the female population as a whole. One third of the sample(33.6%, n = 308) reported use of an illicit drug in the previous six months. The illicit drugs most commonlyreported were cannabis (26.4%, n = 242), meth/amphetamine (18.6%, n = 171), and ecstasy (17.9%, n =164). Injecting drug use was reported by 3.5% (n = 32) of participants.Conclusion: LBW appear to use alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs at higher rates than women generally,indicating that mainstream health promotion messages are not reaching this group or are not perceivedas relevant. There is an urgent need for public health practitioners working in the area of substance useto recognise that drug consumption and use patterns of LBW are likely to be different to the widerpopulation and that special considerations and strategies are required to address the unique and complexneeds of this population

Performance of pile-up mitigation techniques for jets in pp collisions at √s=8 TeV using the ATLAS detector

The large rate of multiple simultaneous proton–proton interactions, or pile-up, generated by the Large Hadron Collider in Run 1 required the development of many new techniques to mitigate the adverse effects of these conditions. This paper describes the methods employed in the ATLAS experiment to correct for the impact of pile-up on jet energy and jet shapes, and for the presence of spurious additional jets, with a primary focus on the large 20.3 fb- 1data sample collected at a centre-of-mass energy of s=8TeV. The energy correction techniques that incorporate sophisticated estimates of the average pile-up energy density and tracking information are presented. Jet-to-vertex association techniques are discussed and projections of performance for the future are considered. Lastly, the extension of these techniques to mitigate the effect of pile-up on jet shapes using subtraction and grooming procedures is presented

Genes Expressed in Specific Areas of the Human Fetal Cerebral Cortex Display Distinct Patterns of Evolution

The developmental mechanisms through which the cerebral cortex increased in size and complexity during primate evolution are essentially unknown. To uncover genetic networks active in the developing cerebral cortex, we combined three-dimensional reconstruction of human fetal brains at midgestation and whole genome expression profiling. This novel approach enabled transcriptional characterization of neurons from accurately defined cortical regions containing presumptive Broca and Wernicke language areas, as well as surrounding associative areas. We identified hundreds of genes displaying differential expression between the two regions, but no significant difference in gene expression between left and right hemispheres. Validation by qRTPCR and in situ hybridization confirmed the robustness of our approach and revealed novel patterns of area- and layer-specific expression throughout the developing cortex. Genes differentially expressed between cortical areas were significantly associated with fast-evolving non-coding sequences harboring human-specific substitutions that could lead to divergence in their repertoires of transcription factor binding sites. Strikingly, while some of these sequences were accelerated in the human lineage only, many others were accelerated in chimpanzee and/or mouse lineages, indicating that genes important for cortical development may be particularly prone to changes in transcriptional regulation across mammals. Genes differentially expressed between cortical regions were also enriched for transcriptional targets of FoxP2, a key gene for the acquisition of language abilities in humans. Our findings point to a subset of genes with a unique combination of cortical areal expression and evolutionary patterns, suggesting that they play important roles in the transcriptional network underlying human-specific neural traits

Measurements of top-quark pair differential cross-sections in the lepton+jets channel in pp collisions at √s=8TeV using the ATLAS detector

© 2016, CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration.Measurements of normalized differential cross-sections of top-quark pair production are presented as a function of the top-quark, tt¯ system and event-level kinematic observables in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of s=8TeV. The observables have been chosen to emphasize the tt¯ production process and to be sensitive to effects of initial- and final-state radiation, to the different parton distribution functions, and to non-resonant processes and higher-order corrections. The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb- 1, recorded in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Events are selected in the lepton+jets channel, requiring exactly one charged lepton and at least four jets with at least two of the jets tagged as originating from a b-quark. The measured spectra are corrected for detector effects and are compared to several Monte Carlo simulations. The results are in fair agreement with the predictions over a wide kinematic range. Nevertheless, most generators predict a harder top-quark transverse momentum distribution at high values than what is observed in the data. Predictions beyond NLO accuracy improve the agreement with data at high top-quark transverse momenta. Using the current settings and parton distribution functions, the rapidity distributions are not well modelled by any generator under consideration. However, the level of agreement is improved when more recent sets of parton distribution functions are used

Searches for exclusive Higgs and Z boson decays into J/ψ γ, ψ(2S) γ, and ϒ(nS) γ at s=13TeV with the ATLAS detector

Searches for the exclusive decays of the Higgs and Z bosons into a J/ψ, ψ(2S), or ϒ(nS) (n=1,2,3) meson and a photon are performed with a pp collision data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1fb collected at s=13TeV with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. No significant excess of events is observed above the expected backgrounds, and 95% confidence-level upper limits on the branching fractions of the Higgs boson decays to J/ψγ, ψ(2S)γ, and ϒ(nS)γ of 3.5×10 , 2.0×10 , and (4.9,5.9,5.7)×10 , respectively, are obtained assuming Standard Model production. The corresponding 95% confidence-level upper limits for the branching fractions of the Z boson decays are 2.3×10 , 4.5×10 and (2.8,1.7,4.8)×10 , respectively. −1 −4 −3 −4 −6 −6 −