CMS physics technical design report : Addendum on high density QCD with heavy ions

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GrassPlot - a database of multi-scale plant diversity in Palaearctic grasslands

GrassPlot is a collaborative vegetation-plot database organised by the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) and listed in the Global Index of Vegetation-Plot Databases (GIVD ID EU-00-003). GrassPlot collects plot records (releves) from grasslands and other open habitats of the Palaearctic biogeographic realm. It focuses on precisely delimited plots of eight standard grain sizes (0.0001; 0.001;... 1,000 m(2)) and on nested-plot series with at least four different grain sizes. The usage of GrassPlot is regulated through Bylaws that intend to balance the interests of data contributors and data users. The current version (v. 1.00) contains data for approximately 170,000 plots of different sizes and 2,800 nested-plot series. The key components are richness data and metadata. However, most included datasets also encompass compositional data. About 14,000 plots have near-complete records of terricolous bryophytes and lichens in addition to vascular plants. At present, GrassPlot contains data from 36 countries throughout the Palaearctic, spread across elevational gradients and major grassland types. GrassPlot with its multi-scale and multi-taxon focus complements the larger international vegetationplot databases, such as the European Vegetation Archive (EVA) and the global database " sPlot". Its main aim is to facilitate studies on the scale-and taxon-dependency of biodiversity patterns and drivers along macroecological gradients. GrassPlot is a dynamic database and will expand through new data collection coordinated by the elected Governing Board. We invite researchers with suitable data to join GrassPlot. Researchers with project ideas addressable with GrassPlot data are welcome to submit proposals to the Governing Board

Comparison of major depression diagnostic classification probability using the SCID, CIDI, and MINI diagnostic interviews among women in pregnancy or postpartum: An individual participant data meta‐analysis

OBJECTIVES: A previous individual participant data meta-analysis (IPDMA) identified differences in major depression classification rates between different diagnostic interviews, controlling for depressive symptoms on the basis of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. We aimed to determine whether similar results would be seen in a different population, using studies that administered the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) in pregnancy or postpartum. METHODS: Data accrued for an EPDS diagnostic accuracy IPDMA were analysed. Binomial generalised linear mixed models were fit to compare depression classification odds for the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), and Structured Clinical Interview for DSM (SCID), controlling for EPDS scores and participant characteristics. RESULTS: Among fully structured interviews, the MINI (15 studies, 2,532 participants, 342 major depression cases) classified depression more often than the CIDI (3 studies, 2,948 participants, 194 major depression cases; adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 3.72, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.21, 11.43]). Compared with the semistructured SCID (28 studies, 7,403 participants, 1,027 major depression cases), odds with the CIDI (interaction aOR = 0.88, 95% CI [0.85, 0.92]) and MINI (interaction aOR = 0.95, 95% CI [0.92, 0.99]) increased less as EPDS scores increased. CONCLUSION: Different interviews may not classify major depression equivalently

Dizziness at a Canadian tertiary care hospital: a cost-of-illness study

Abstract Background In the Canadian health care system, determining overall costs associated with a particular diagnostic subgroup of patients, in this case dizzy patients, is the first step in the process of determining where costs could be saved without compromising patient care. This study is the first Canadian study that evaluates these costs at a tertiary care hospital and will allow for the extrapolation of cost data for other similar academic health science centers, regional health initiatives, and provincial healthcare planning structures. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients of any age presenting to The Ottawa Hospital (TOH), a tertiary care hospital, between January 1st, 2009 and December 31st, 2014 with a main diagnosis of dizziness or dizziness-related disease. De-identified patient information was acquired through TOH Data Warehouse and included a patient’s sex, age, arrival and departure dates, Elixhauser co-morbidity score, location of presentation (emergency department or admitted inpatient) presenting complaint, final diagnosis code, any procedure codes linked to their care, and the direct and indirect hospital costs linked with any admission. We derived the mean hospital costs and 95% confidence interval for each diagnosis. We obtained the number of patients who were diagnosed with dizziness within Ontario in year 2015–16 from Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). A simple frequency multiplication was performed to estimate the total cost burden for Ontario based on the cost estimate for the same year obtained from TOH. Cost data were presented in 2017 Canadian dollars. Results The average total hospital cost per patient with dizziness for the entire cohort is $450 (SD =$1334), with ED only patients costing $359 (SD =$214). The total estimated hospital cost burden of dizziness in Ontario is $31,202,000 (95$29,559,000 – 32,844,000). Conclusions The estimated annual costs of emergency department ambulatory and inpatient dizziness in Ontario was calculated to be approximately 31 million dollars per year. This is the first step in identifying potential areas for cost savings to aid local and provincial policy-makers in allocation of health care spending

Vitamin D Supplementation for Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo: A Systematic Review

Objective: Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is commonly attributed to displaced otoconia. These have been shown to have biomineralization close to that of bone, and vitamin D deficiency has been associated with BPPV. We aim to systematically review the available literature on vitamin D supplementation and BPPV intensity and recurrence in adults. Databases Reviewed: PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Current Controlled Trials, and ClinicalTrials.gov. Methods: We systematically reviewed the available literature from 1947 to April 2020. The study protocol was registered in the PROSPERO database (trial registration: CRD42020183195). Results: A total of 179 abstracts were identified and screened by two independent reviewers. Based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, six studies were selected and subjected to a quality assessment. In one randomized clinical trial (RCT), vitamin D supplementation was found to reduce annual recurrence rate of vertigo in patient with BPPVand subnormal serum vitamin D levels compared with placebo (odds ratio, 0.69; 95% confidence interval, 0.54–0.90). Non-RCTs demonstrated the possibility of a null effect in the random effects model (odds ratio, 0.08; 95% confidence interval, 0.00–1.56). The RCT considered as low risk of bias. All of the nonrandomized studies were assessed as serious risk of bias. Conclusions: The intervention studies identified consistently demonstrated a decrease in BPPV recurrence with supplementation of vitamin D in patients with subnormal vitamin D levels. Although there is a paucity of high-quality studies, the present literature does highlight a role for optimization of vitamin D levels in patients with BPP

MEDLEM database, a data collection on large Elasmobranchs in the Mediterranean and Black seas

The Mediterranean Large Elasmobranchs Monitoring (MEDLEM) database contains over 3000 records (more than 4000 individuals) of large elasmobranch species from 20 different countries around the Mediterranean and Black seas, observed from 1666 to 2017. The main species included in the archive are the devil fish (1 813 individuals), the basking shark (939 individuals), the blue shark (585 individuals) and the great white shark (337 individuals).In the last decades other species such as the shortfin mako (166 individuals), the spiny butterfly ray (138) and the thresher shark (174 individuals) were reported with an increasing frequency. This was possibly due to an increased public awareness on the conservation status of sharks, and a consequent development of new monitoring programmes. MEDLEM does not have a homogeneous reporting coverage throughout the Mediterranean and Black seas and it should be considered as a database of observed species presence. Scientific monitoring efforts in the south-eastern Mediterranean and Black seas are generally lower than in the northern sectors and the absence in our database of some species does not imply their actual absence in these regions. Some considerations are made on the frequency and spatial distribution of records, size structure of the observed individuals for selected species, general area coverage and species involved as by-catch by fishing gear

Recessive mutations in ATP8A2 cause severe hypotonia, cognitive impairment, hyperkinetic movement disorders and progressive optic atrophy

Background: ATP8A2 mutations have recently been described in several patients with severe, early-onset hypotonia and cognitive impairment. The aim of our study was to characterize the clinical phenotype of patients with ATP8A2 mutations. Methods: An observational study was conducted at multiple diagnostic centres. Clinical data is presented from 9 unreported and 2 previously reported patients with ATP8A2 mutations. We compare their features with 3 additional patients that have been previously reported in the medical literature. Results: Eleven patients with biallelic ATP8A2 mutations were identified, with a mean age of 9.4 years (range 2.5–28 years). All patients with ATP8A2 mutations (100%) demonstrated developmental delay, severe hypotonia and movement disorders, specifically chorea or choreoathetosis (100%), dystonia (27%) and facial dyskinesia (18%). Optic atrophy was observed in 78% of patients for whom funduscopic examination was performed. Symptom onset in all (100%) was noted before 6 months of age, with 70% having symptoms noted at birth. Feeding difficulties were common (91%) although most patients were able to tolerate pureed or thickened feeds, and 3 patients required gastrostomy tube insertion. MRI of the brain was normal in 50% of the patients. A smaller proportion was noted to have mild cortical atrophy (30%), delayed myelination (20%) and/or hypoplastic optic nerves (20%). Functional studies were performed on differentiated induced pluripotent cells from one child, which confirmed a decrease in ATP8A2 expression compared to control cells. Conclusions: ATP8A2 gene mutations have emerged as the cause of a novel neurological phenotype characterized by global developmental delays, severe hypotonia and hyperkinetic movement disorders, the latter being an important distinguishing feature. Optic atrophy is common and may only become apparent in the first few years of life, necessitating repeat ophthalmologic evaluation in older children. Early recognition of the cardinal features of this condition will facilitate diagnosis of this complex neurologic disorder.Medicine, Faculty ofOther UBCNon UBCBiochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department ofCellular and Physiological Sciences, Department ofOphthalmology and Visual Sciences, Department ofSurgery, Department ofReviewedFacult

CALDERA: a scientific drilling concept to unravel Connections Among Life, geo-Dynamics and Eruptions in a Rifting Arc caldera, Okataina Volcanic Centre, Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract. Silicic caldera volcanoes present major volcanic and seismic hazards but also host dynamic hydrothermal and groundwater systems and a rich but largely unexplored subsurface biosphere. Many of these volcanoes are hosted in rift settings. The intricate connections and feedbacks among magmatism, rifting, hydrothermal processes, and the biosphere in these complex systems remain poorly understood, necessitating subsurface joint observations that are only enabled by scientific drilling. The CALDERA (Connections Among Life, geo-Dynamics and Eruptions in a Rifting Arc caldera) project workshop funded by the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) gathered multi-disciplinary international experts in January 2023 to advance planning of a scientific drilling project within one of these dynamic, rift-hosted calderas, the Okataina Volcanic Centre (OVC), Aotearoa New Zealand. The OVC's high eruption rate, frequent unrest events and earthquake swarms, location in a densely faulted rapidly extending rift, abundant groundwater–geothermal fluid circulations, and diverse surface hot spring microbiota make it an ideal location for exploring a connected geo-hydro-biosphere via scientific drilling and developing a test bed for novel volcano monitoring approaches. Drilling configurations with at least two boreholes (∼ 200 and ∼ 1000–1500 m deep) were favoured to achieve the multi-disciplinary objectives of the CALDERA project. Decadal monitoring including biosphere activity and composition has the potential to evaluate the response of the hydro-bio system to volcano-tectonic activity. In addition to the OVC caldera-scale datasets already available, site surveys will be conducted to select the best drilling locations. The CALDERA project at the OVC would provide, for the first time, an understanding of volcanic–tectonic–hydrological–biological connections in a caldera–rift system and a baseline for global comparisons with other volcanoes, rifts, and hydrothermal systems. CALDERA would serve as an unprecedented model system to understand how and how quickly the subsurface biosphere responds to geologic activities. Discoveries will improve assessment of volcanic and seismic hazards, guide the sustainable management and/or conservation of groundwater and geothermal resources and microbial ecosystems, and provide a forum for interweaving mātauranga Māori and Western knowledge systems. </jats:p