Measuring quality of life in women undergoing surgery for breast hypertrophy

The purpose of the present study was to describe the outcomes associated with reduction mammaplasty in terms of physical parameters and health-related quality of life. A prospective cohort study was designed and included women undergoing bilateral breast reduction surgery at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, who consented to participate. Women were evaluated preoperatively for symptoms, physical parameters, quality of life (Short Form [SF]-36 and Multidimensional Body Self Relations Questionnaire [MBSRQ]) and general demographic characteristics that were identified as potential confounders. Postoperatively, women were re-evaluated at six months for symptoms, physical parameters and quality of life. A total of 74 women were entered in the study. Their average age was 32.3 years, and the mean mass of resected volume per breast was 630 g. There was a statistically significant improvement in symptoms six months after surgery (P<0.05). There was also a statistically significant improvement in the physical component summary scale of the SF-36 and several additional subscales: bodily pain, physical functioning, role-physical, and vitality. The MBSRQ subscale of appearance evaluation was significantly increased (2.69 compared with 3.12, P=0.000), whereas the appearance orientation subscale was unchanged. The amount of tissue removed did not appear to correlate with the change in physical symptoms or health-related quality of life resulting from the surgery. This study showed significant improvement in physical and psychological aspects of health-related quality of life in women undergoing reduction mammaplasty. Key Words: Breast hypertrophy; Health-related quality of life; Outcomes; Reduction mammaplasty Mesurer la qualité de vie des femmes opérées pour réduction mammaire RÉSUMÉ : Le but de la présente étude était de décrire le pronostic des interventions pour réduction mammaire sur le plan des paramètres physiques et sur le plan de la qualité de vie reliée à la santé. Une étude de cohorte prospective a été conçue et a regroupé des femmes devant subir une réduction mammaire bilatérale à l'Hôpital Royal Victoria de Montréal, au Québec, qui ont consenti à participer. Les femmes ont été évaluées avant l'opération pour ce qui est des symptômes, des paramètres physiques, de la qualité de vie (Short Form [SF]-36 et Multidimensional Body Self Relations Questionnaire [MBSRQ]) et sur le plan des caractéristiques démographiques qui ont été identifiées comme facteurs de confusion potentiels. Six mois après l'intervention, les femmes ont de nouveau été évaluées sur le plan des symptômes, des paramètres physiques et de la qualité de vie. En tout, 74 femmes ont été inscrites à l'étude. Elles avaient en moyenne 32,3 ans et la masse moyenne de volume réséqué a été de 630 g par sein. On a noté une amélioration statistiquement significative des symptômes six mois après l'intervention (p < 0,05). On a également noté une amélioration statistiquement significative de la composante physique à l'échelle d'évaluation sommaire du SF-36 et de plusieurs autres sous-échelles : douleurs physiques, rôle physique et vitalité. La sous-échelle du MBSRQ ayant trait à l'évaluation de l'aspect physique avait significativement augmenté (2,69, contre 3,12, P = 0,000), alors que la sous-échelle des l'aspect physique est restée inchangée. La quantité de tissu éliminé n'a pas semblé être en corrélation avec le changement des symptômes physiques ou la qualité de vie reliée à la santé résultant de la chirurgie

Production of He-4 and (4) in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S=2.76 TeV at the LHC

Results on the production of He-4 and (4) nuclei in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S = 2.76 TeV in the rapidity range vertical bar y vertical bar <1, using the ALICE detector, are presented in this paper. The rapidity densities corresponding to 0-10% central events are found to be dN/dy4(He) = (0.8 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.3 (syst)) x 10(-6) and dN/dy4 = (1.1 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.2 (syst)) x 10(-6), respectively. This is in agreement with the statistical thermal model expectation assuming the same chemical freeze-out temperature (T-chem = 156 MeV) as for light hadrons. The measured ratio of (4)/He-4 is 1.4 +/- 0.8 (stat) +/- 0.5 (syst). (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

Multiplicity dependence of light (anti-)nuclei production in p–Pb collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV

The measurement of the deuteron and anti-deuteron production in the rapidity range −1 < y < 0 as a function of transverse momentum and event multiplicity in p–Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV is presented. (Anti-)deuterons are identified via their specific energy loss dE/dx and via their time-of- flight. Their production in p–Pb collisions is compared to pp and Pb–Pb collisions and is discussed within the context of thermal and coalescence models. The ratio of integrated yields of deuterons to protons (d/p) shows a significant increase as a function of the charged-particle multiplicity of the event starting from values similar to those observed in pp collisions at low multiplicities and approaching those observed in Pb–Pb collisions at high multiplicities. The mean transverse particle momenta are extracted from the deuteron spectra and the values are similar to those obtained for p and particles. Thus, deuteron spectra do not follow mass ordering. This behaviour is in contrast to the trend observed for non-composite particles in p–Pb collisions. In addition, the production of the rare 3He and 3He nuclei has been studied. The spectrum corresponding to all non-single diffractive p-Pb collisions is obtained in the rapidity window −1 < y < 0 and the pT-integrated yield dN/dy is extracted. It is found that the yields of protons, deuterons, and 3He, normalised by the spin degeneracy factor, follow an exponential decrease with mass number

Charged-particle multiplicity fluctuations in Pb–Pb collisions at √sNN = 2.76 TeV

Measurements of event-by-event fluctuations of charged-particle multiplicities in Pb–Pb collisions at sNN−−−√ = 2.76 TeV using the ALICE detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are presented in the pseudorapidity range |η|<0.8 and transverse momentum 0.2<pT<2.0 GeV/c. The amplitude of the fluctuations is expressed in terms of the variance normalized by the mean of the multiplicity distribution. The η and pT dependences of the fluctuations and their evolution with respect to collision centrality are investigated. The multiplicity fluctuations tend to decrease from peripheral to central collisions. The results are compared to those obtained from HIJING and AMPT Monte Carlo event generators as well as to experimental data at lower collision energies. Additionally, the measured multiplicity fluctuations are discussed in the context of the isothermal compressibility of the high-density strongly-interacting system formed in central Pb–Pb collisions

Measurement of inclusive J/ψ\psi pair production cross section in pp collisions at s=13\sqrt{s} = 13 TeV

International audienceThe production cross section of inclusive J/$\psi$ pairs in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV is measured with ALICE. The measurement is performed for J/$\psi$ in the rapidity interval $2.5 0$. The production cross section of inclusive J/$\psi$ pairs is reported to be $10.3 \pm 2.3 {\rm (stat.)} \pm 1.3 {\rm (syst.)}$ nb in this kinematic interval. The contribution from non-prompt J/$\psi$ (i.e. originated from beauty-hadron decays) to the inclusive sample is evaluated. The results are discussed and compared with data

Inclusive and multiplicity dependent production of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays in pp and p−-Pb collisions

International audienceMeasurements of the production of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV at midrapidity with the ALICE detector are presented down to a transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) of 0.2 GeV$/c$ and up to $p_{\rm T} = 35$ GeV$/c$, which is the largest momentum range probed for inclusive electron measurements in ALICE. In p$-$Pb collisions, the production cross section and the nuclear modification factor of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays are measured in the $p_{\rm T}$ range $0.5 < p_{\rm T} < 26$ GeV$/c$ at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 8.16$ TeV. The nuclear modification factor is found to be consistent with unity within the statistical and systematic uncertainties. In both collision systems, first measurements of the yields of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays in different multiplicity intervals normalised to the multiplicity-integrated yield (self-normalised yield) at midrapidity are reported as a function of the self-normalised charged-particle multiplicity estimated at midrapidity. The self-normalised yields in pp and p$-$Pb collisions grow faster than linear with the self-normalised multiplicity. A strong $p_{\rm T}$ dependence is observed in pp collisions, where the yield of high-$p_{\rm T}$ electrons increases faster as a function of multiplicity than the one of low-$p_{\rm T}$ electrons. The measurement in p$-$Pb collisions shows no $p_{\rm T}$ dependence within uncertainties. The self-normalised yields in pp and p$-$Pb collisions are compared with measurements of other heavy-flavour, light-flavour, and strange particles, and with Monte Carlo simulations

Analysis of the apparent nuclear modification in peripheral Pb–Pb collisions at 5.02 TeV

International audienceCharged-particle spectra at midrapidity are measured in Pb–Pb collisions at the centre-of-mass energy per nucleon–nucleon pair sNN=5.02 TeV and presented in centrality classes ranging from most central (0–5%) to most peripheral (95–100%) collisions. Possible medium effects are quantified using the nuclear modification factor ( RAA ) by comparing the measured spectra with those from proton–proton collisions, scaled by the number of independent nucleon–nucleon collisions obtained from a Glauber model. At large transverse momenta ( 8<pT<20GeV/c ), the average RAA is found to increase from about 0.15 in 0–5% central to a maximum value of about 0.8 in 75–85% peripheral collisions, beyond which it falls off strongly to below 0.2 for the most peripheral collisions. Furthermore, RAA initially exhibits a positive slope as a function of pT in the 8–20 GeV/c interval, while for collisions beyond the 80% class the slope is negative. To reduce uncertainties related to event selection and normalization, we also provide the ratio of RAA in adjacent centrality intervals. Our results in peripheral collisions are consistent with a PYTHIA-based model without nuclear modification, demonstrating that biases caused by the event selection and collision geometry can lead to the apparent suppression in peripheral collisions. This explains the unintuitive observation that RAA is below unity in peripheral Pb–Pb, but equal to unity in minimum-bias p–Pb collisions despite similar charged-particle multiplicities

Anisotropic flow of identified particles in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=5.02 {\sqrt{s}}_{\mathrm{NN}}=5.02 TeV

The elliptic (v$_{2}$), triangular (v$_{3}$), and quadrangular (v$_{4}$) flow coefficients of π$^{±}$, K$^{±}$, $\mathrm{p}+\overline{\mathrm{p}},\kern0.5em \Lambda +\overline{\Lambda},\kern0.5em {\mathrm{K}}_{\mathrm{S}}^0$ , and the ϕ-meson are measured in Pb-Pb collisions at ${\sqrt{s}}_{\mathrm{NN}}=5.02$ TeV. Results obtained with the scalar product method are reported for the rapidity range |y| < 0.5 as a function of transverse momentum, p$_{T}$, at different collision centrality intervals between 0–70%, including ultra-central (0–1%) collisions for π$^{±}$, K$^{±}$, and $\mathrm{p}+\overline{\mathrm{p}}$ . For p$_{T}$ < 3 GeV/c, the flow coefficients exhibit a particle mass dependence. At intermediate transverse momenta (3 < p$_{T}$ < 8–10 GeV/c), particles show an approximate grouping according to their type (i.e., mesons and baryons). The ϕ-meson v$_{2}$, which tests both particle mass dependence and type scaling, follows $\mathrm{p}+\overline{\mathrm{p}}$ v$_{2}$ at low p$_{T}$ and π$^{±}$ v$_{2}$ at intermediate p$_{T}$. The evolution of the shape of v$_{n}$(p$_{T}$) as a function of centrality and harmonic number n is studied for the various particle species. Flow coefficients of π$^{±}$, K$^{±}$, and $\mathrm{p}+\overline{\mathrm{p}}$ for p$_{T}$ < 3 GeV/c are compared to iEBE-VISHNU and MUSIC hydrodynamical calculations coupled to a hadronic cascade model (UrQMD). The iEBE-VISHNU calculations describe the results fairly well for p$_{T}$ < 2.5 GeV/c, while MUSIC calculations reproduce the measurements for p$_{T}$ < 1 GeV/c. A comparison to v$_{n}$ coefficients measured in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=2.76$ TeV is also provided

Jet fragmentation transverse momentum distributions in pp and p-Pb collisions at s \sqrt{s} , sNN \sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} = 5.02 TeV

Jet fragmentation transverse momentum (j$_{T}$) distributions are measured in proton-proton (pp) and proton-lead (p-Pb) collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV with the ALICE experiment at the LHC. Jets are reconstructed with the ALICE tracking detectors and electromagnetic calorimeter using the anti-k$_{T}$ algorithm with resolution parameter R = 0.4 in the pseudorapidity range |η| < 0.25. The j$_{T}$ values are calculated for charged particles inside a fixed cone with a radius R = 0.4 around the reconstructed jet axis. The measured j$_{T}$ distributions are compared with a variety of parton-shower models. Herwig and Pythia 8 based models describe the data well for the higher j$_{T}$ region, while they underestimate the lower j$_{T}$ region. The j$_{T}$ distributions are further characterised by fitting them with a function composed of an inverse gamma function for higher j$_{T}$ values (called the “wide component”), related to the perturbative component of the fragmentation process, and with a Gaussian for lower j$_{T}$ values (called the “narrow component”), predominantly connected to the hadronisation process. The width of the Gaussian has only a weak dependence on jet transverse momentum, while that of the inverse gamma function increases with increasing jet transverse momentum. For the narrow component, the measured trends are successfully described by all models except for Herwig. For the wide component, Herwig and PYTHIA 8 based models slightly underestimate the data for the higher jet transverse momentum region. These measurements set constraints on models of jet fragmentation and hadronisation