The impact of whole-body hyperthermia interventions on mood and depression - are we ready for recommendations for clinical application?

Objective: To systematically summarize the findings from research studies examining the effects of whole-body hyperthermia (WBH) interventions on mood and symptoms of depression. Methods: Systematic literature search of online and offline databases (e.g., Pubmed, Web of Knowledge, Cochrane, academic libraries). Risk of bias assessment and secondary analysis of effect sizes. Study selection: Clinical studies with a pre/post-intervention design and outcome measures for mood and depression as accepted in the S-3 guidelines (Association of Scientific Medical Societies in Germany). Data extraction: Study characteristics and outcomes (means and standard deviations) from participants receiving at least one WBH intervention. Results: A total of 7 studies and 148 subjects with a mean age of 46 years (36-56 years) were identified. Three out of seven studies utilized hot baths and 4/7 infrared heating. Study duration ranged from 1 to 6 weeks with one or multiple interventions and an average treatment time of 66.37 min (42.55-140). Risk of bias analysis revealed small sample biases and lack of control groups in 3/7 studies. About 21 study end-points were extracted with 19 resulting in effects sizes (Cohen's d) of 0.8 or greater. Target temperatures between 38 °C and 39 °C and slower increase in core body temperature during the intervention resulted in larger treatment effects. Conclusion: WBH is a promising alternative treatment for depression with low risk for adverse reactions and side effects but still lacking sufficient evidence for general recommendations for clinical practice. However, as all other interventions have failed, the studies to date can provide a framework for clinical application.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

The subpulse modulation properties of pulsars at 92 cm and the frequency dependence of subpulse modulation

A large sample of pulsars has been observed to study their subpulse modulation at an observing wavelength (when achievable) of both 21 and 92 cm using the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope. In this paper we present the 92-cm data and a comparison is made with the already published 21-cm results. We analysed 191 pulsars at 92 cm using fluctuation spectra. The sample of pulsars is as unbiased as possible towards any particular pulsar characteristics. For 15 pulsars drifting subpulses are discovered for the first time and 26 of the new drifters found in the 21-cm data are confirmed. We discovered nulling for 8 sources and 8 pulsars are found to intermittently emit single pulses that have pulse energies similar to giant pulses. It is estimated that at least half of the total population of pulsars have drifting subpulses when observations with a high enough signal-to-noise ratio would be available. It could well be that the drifting subpulse mechanism is an intrinsic property of the emission mechanism itself, although for some pulsars it is difficult or impossible to detect. Drifting subpulses are in general found at both frequencies, although the chance of detecting drifting subpulses is possibly slightly higher at 92 cm. It appears that the youngest pulsars have the most disordered subpulses and the subpulses become more and more organized into drifting subpulses as the pulsar ages. The correlations with the modulation indices are argued to be consistent with the picture in which the radio emission can be divided in a drifting subpulse signal plus a quasi-steady signal which becomes, on average, stronger at high observing frequencies. The measured values of P3 at the two frequencies are highly correlated, but there is no evidence for a correlation with other pulsar parameters.Comment: 30 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A&A, astro-ph version is missing 191 figures due to file size restrictions. Please download the appendix from http://www.astron.nl/~stappers/wiki/doku.php?id=resources:publication

Effect of Adding Ticagrelor to Standard Aspirin on Saphenous Vein Graft Patency in Patients Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (POPular CABG) A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND: Approximately 15% of saphenous vein grafts (SVGs) occlude during the first year after coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) despite aspirin use. The POPular CABG trial (The Effect of Ticagrelor on Saphenous Vein Graft Patency in Patients Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Surgery) investigated whether ticagrelor added to standard aspirin improves SVG patency at 1 year after CABG. METHODS: In this investigator-initiated, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial, patients with ≥1 SVGs were randomly assigned (1:1) after CABG to ticagrelor or placebo added to standard aspirin (80 mg or 100 mg). The primary outcome was SVG occlusion at 1 year, assessed with coronary computed tomography angiography, in all patients that had primary outcome imaging available. A generalized estimating equation model was used to perform the primary analysis per SVG. The secondary outcome was 1-year SVG failure, which was a composite of SVG occlusion, SVG revascularization, myocardial infarction in myocardial territory supplied by a SVG, or sudden death. RESULTS: Among 499 randomly assigned patients, the mean age was 67.9±8.3 years, 87.1% were male, the indication for CABG was acute coronary syndrome in 31.3%, and 95.2% of procedures used cardiopulmonary bypass. Primary outcome imaging was available in 220 patients in the ticagrelor group and 223 patients in the placebo group. The SVG occlusion rate in the ticagrelor group was 10.5% (51 of 484 SVGs) versus 9.1% in the placebo group (43 of 470 SVGs), odds ratio, 1.29 [95% CI, 0.73-2.30]; P=0.38. SVG failure occurred in 35 (14.2%) patients in the ticagrelor group versus 29 (11.6%) patients in the placebo group (odds ratio, 1.22 [95% CI, 0.72-2.05]). CONCLUSIONS: In this randomized, placebo-controlled trial, the addition of ticagrelor to standard aspirin did not reduce SVG occlusion at 1 year after CABG. Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT02352402

Search for squarks and gluinos with the ATLAS detector in final states with jets and missing transverse momentum using √s=8 TeV proton-proton collision data

A search for squarks and gluinos in final states containing high-p T jets, missing transverse momentum and no electrons or muons is presented. The data were recorded in 2012 by the ATLAS experiment in s√=8 TeV proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, with a total integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb−1. Results are interpreted in a variety of simplified and specific supersymmetry-breaking models assuming that R-parity is conserved and that the lightest neutralino is the lightest supersymmetric particle. An exclusion limit at the 95% confidence level on the mass of the gluino is set at 1330 GeV for a simplified model incorporating only a gluino and the lightest neutralino. For a simplified model involving the strong production of first- and second-generation squarks, squark masses below 850 GeV (440 GeV) are excluded for a massless lightest neutralino, assuming mass degenerate (single light-flavour) squarks. In mSUGRA/CMSSM models with tan β = 30, A 0 = −2m 0 and μ > 0, squarks and gluinos of equal mass are excluded for masses below 1700 GeV. Additional limits are set for non-universal Higgs mass models with gaugino mediation and for simplified models involving the pair production of gluinos, each decaying to a top squark and a top quark, with the top squark decaying to a charm quark and a neutralino. These limits extend the region of supersymmetric parameter space excluded by previous searches with the ATLAS detector

Search for squarks and gluinos in events with isolated leptons, jets and missing transverse momentum at s√=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The results of a search for supersymmetry in final states containing at least one isolated lepton (electron or muon), jets and large missing transverse momentum with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider are reported. The search is based on proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy s√=8 TeV collected in 2012, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20 fb−1. No significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed. Limits are set on supersymmetric particle masses for various supersymmetric models. Depending on the model, the search excludes gluino masses up to 1.32 TeV and squark masses up to 840 GeV. Limits are also set on the parameters of a minimal universal extra dimension model, excluding a compactification radius of 1/R c = 950 GeV for a cut-off scale times radius (ΛR c) of approximately 30

Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections for Higgs boson production in the diphoton decay channel at s√=8 TeV with ATLAS

Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections are presented for Higgs boson production in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of s√=8 TeV. The analysis is performed in the H → γγ decay channel using 20.3 fb−1 of data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The signal is extracted using a fit to the diphoton invariant mass spectrum assuming that the width of the resonance is much smaller than the experimental resolution. The signal yields are corrected for the effects of detector inefficiency and resolution. The pp → H → γγ fiducial cross section is measured to be 43.2 ±9.4(stat.) − 2.9 + 3.2 (syst.) ±1.2(lumi)fb for a Higgs boson of mass 125.4GeV decaying to two isolated photons that have transverse momentum greater than 35% and 25% of the diphoton invariant mass and each with absolute pseudorapidity less than 2.37. Four additional fiducial cross sections and two cross-section limits are presented in phase space regions that test the theoretical modelling of different Higgs boson production mechanisms, or are sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model. Differential cross sections are also presented, as a function of variables related to the diphoton kinematics and the jet activity produced in the Higgs boson events. The observed spectra are statistically limited but broadly in line with the theoretical expectations

Measurement of χ c1 and χ c2 production with s√ = 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

The prompt and non-prompt production cross-sections for the χ c1 and χ c2 charmonium states are measured in pp collisions at s√ = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using 4.5 fb−1 of integrated luminosity. The χ c states are reconstructed through the radiative decay χ c → J/ψγ (with J/ψ → μ + μ −) where photons are reconstructed from γ → e + e − conversions. The production rate of the χ c2 state relative to the χ c1 state is measured for prompt and non-prompt χ c as a function of J/ψ transverse momentum. The prompt χ c cross-sections are combined with existing measurements of prompt J/ψ production to derive the fraction of prompt J/ψ produced in feed-down from χ c decays. The fractions of χ c1 and χ c2 produced in b-hadron decays are also measured

Measurement of the production of a W boson in association with a charm quark in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The production of a W boson in association with a single charm quark is studied using 4.6 fb−1 of pp collision data at s√ = 7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. In events in which a W boson decays to an electron or muon, the charm quark is tagged either by its semileptonic decay to a muon or by the presence of a charmed meson. The integrated and differential cross sections as a function of the pseudorapidity of the lepton from the W-boson decay are measured. Results are compared to the predictions of next-to-leading-order QCD calculations obtained from various parton distribution function parameterisations. The ratio of the strange-to-down sea-quark distributions is determined to be 0.96+0.26−0.30 at Q 2 = 1.9 GeV2, which supports the hypothesis of an SU(3)-symmetric composition of the light-quark sea. Additionally, the cross-section ratio σ(W + +c¯¯)/σ(W − + c) is compared to the predictions obtained using parton distribution function parameterisations with different assumptions about the s−s¯¯¯ quark asymmetry

Search for dark matter in events with heavy quarks and missing transverse momentum in pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

This article reports on a search for dark matterpair production in association with bottom or top quarks in20.3fb−1ofppcollisions collected at√s=8TeVbytheATLAS detector at the LHC. Events with large missing trans-verse momentum are selected when produced in associationwith high-momentum jets of which one or more are identifiedas jets containingb-quarks. Final states with top quarks areselected by requiring a high jet multiplicity and in some casesa single lepton. The data are found to be consistent with theStandard Model expectations and limits are set on the massscale of effective field theories that describe scalar and tensorinteractions between dark matter and Standard Model par-ticles. Limits on the dark-matter–nucleon cross-section forspin-independent and spin-dependent interactions are alsoprovided. These limits are particularly strong for low-massdark matter. Using a simplified model, constraints are set onthe mass of dark matter and of a coloured mediator suitableto explain a possible signal of annihilating dark matter

Evidence for the Higgs-boson Yukawa coupling to tau leptons with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for H → τ τ decays are presented, based on the full set of proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC during 2011 and 2012. The data correspond to integrated luminosities of 4.5 fb−1 and 20.3 fb−1 at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV respectively. All combinations of leptonic (τ → `νν¯ with ` = e, µ) and hadronic (τ → hadrons ν) tau decays are considered. An excess of events over the expected background from other Standard Model processes is found with an observed (expected) significance of 4.5 (3.4) standard deviations. This excess provides evidence for the direct coupling of the recently discovered Higgs boson to fermions. The measured signal strength, normalised to the Standard Model expectation, of µ = 1.43 +0.43 −0.37 is consistent with the predicted Yukawa coupling strength in the Standard Model