Alternative treatment for otitis media with effusion: eustachian tube rehabilitation

In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of eustachian tube rehabilitation (ETR) as treatment for otitis media with effusion (OME). Thirty-five children with persistent OME were enrolled. Patients were divided into three groups: group I (isolated OME); group II (OME and atypical swallowing); group II (OME, habitual mouth breathing and atypical swallowing). All children underwent ETR. Otomicroscopy and tympanograms were performed before treatment, and at one and three months following ETR. Considering the overall patient population after ETR (one and three months later), the prevalence of type A tympanogram increased significantly compared to before therapy (p < 0.005), while the prevalence of type B tympanogram decreased significantly (p < 0.005). We found significant differences between pre- and both post-therapy control in groups I and II. However, children in group II experienced significant improvement of middle ear conditions only three months after the end of therapy (p < 0.005). On the basis of the physiopathologic knowledge of OME and the underlying principles of ETR, we conclude that ETR can be considered a useful therapy in management of OME

The role of masseter muscle EMG during DISE to predict the effectiveness of MAD: preliminary results

È noto che lapplicazione dellapparecchio per lavanzamento mandibolare (MAD) aumenta lattività del complesso muscolare temporomandibolare (TM) e del muscolo massetere (MM) con il rischio di ridurre laderenza al trattamento. Alcuni parametri clinici riconosciuti predittivi dellefficacia del MAD sono già utilizzati per la selezione dei casi e tra questi lavanzamento mandibolare (MA) simulato durante la sleep endoscopy è quello principale. Presentiamo qui i risultati della registrazione EMG del muscolo massetere in tre casi di pazienti normopeso affetti da OSAS non-severa (AHI < 30) sottoposti alla MA durante la sleep endoscopy e poi trattati con MAD. La poligrafia dinamica di controllo a distanza, documentava una significativa riduzione dellAHI. I due casi che avevano mostrato un incremento transitorio dellattività del MM durante la MA non riferivano effetti collaterali, laltro, che aveva dimostrato un incremento persistente del segnale, riferiva al follow-up un discomfort in regione TM senza alterazioni dellocclusione. LEMG del massetere potrebbe contribuire a migliorare la selezione dei casi suscettibili di trattamento con MAD

Ruolo della sleep endoscopy nella selezione dei pazienti affetti da sindrome delle apnee ostruttive durante il sonno di grado lieve moderato candidati a terapia ortodontica con dispositivo di avanzamento mandibolare

Il trattamento con dispositivi di avanzamento mandibolare (MAD) rappresenta un’efficace alternativa terapeutica per i pazienti affetti da roncopatia semplice, OSAS di grado lieve/moderato e in casi selezionati di OSAS grave con scarsa tollerabilità alla terapia ventilatoria con C-PAP. Pertanto è importante identificare dei criteri oggettivi per selezionare i pazienti che possono beneficiare del trattamento con i sistemi di avanzamento mandibolare (MAD). In letteratura sono stati descritti vari fattori predittivi sia antropometrici che polisonnografici, mentre esistono ancora controversie circa il ruolo della Sleep Endoscopy e della manovra di avanzamento mandibolare bimanuale durante lo stesso esame come fattori predittivi del successo terapeutico con MAD. In questo studio descriviamo la nostra esperienza nel management di pazienti affetti da OSAS lieve/moderata trattati con MAD e selezionati mediante “sleep endoscopy”. Abbiamo eseguito una valutazione prospettica longitudinale di una serie consecutiva di pazienti giunti alla nostra osservazione con diagnosi di OSAS lieve/moderata e sottoposti a sleependoscopy. Durante il sonno indotto farmacologicamente è stata eseguita una delicata manovra di avanzamento mandibolare con escursione inferiore ai 5 mm e abbiamo riscontrato che in 30 dei 65 pazienti (46,2%) lo spazio respiratorio non migliorava in modo significativo a livello dei siti di ostruzione osservati, mentre in 35 dei 65 pazienti (53,8%) si osservava un miglioramento significativo tale da poter indicare terapia con MAD. In 7 dei 35 pazienti venivano riscontrate condizioni che ostacolavano l’applicazione del MAD per cui 28 dei 35 pazienti sono stati sottoposti a terapia con MAD. Dopo 3 mesi di trattamento abbiamo documentato un miglioramento significativo dell’indice di Epworth medio [(7,35 ± 2,8 vs 4,1 ± 2,2 (p < 0.05)], dell’AHI medio [(21.4 ± 6 eventi per ora verso 8,85 ± 6,9 (p < 0.05) ] e dell’ODI medio [(18.6 ± 8 eventi per ora versus 7 ± 5.8 (p < 0.05)]. Abbiamo inoltre osservato che l’AHI migliorava di almeno il 50% rispetto al basale nel 71.4% dei pazienti selezionati mediante sleep endoscopy. In questo studio, la terapia con i dispositivi di avanzamento mandibolare è stata prescritta con successo sulla base non soltanto dell’indice di apnea/ipopnea, ma anche dei reperti della sleep endoscopy e della manovra di avanzamento mandibolare, ottenendo una visione diretta degli effetti della protrusione mandibolare sullo spazio respiratorio in corrispondenza dei siti di ostruzione, e ottenendo una buona ottimizzazione della selezione dei pazienti per il trattamento con MAD

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Jet size dependence of single jet suppression in lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s(NN)) = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions at the LHC provide direct sensitivity to the physics of jet quenching. In a sample of lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s) = 2.76 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 7 inverse microbarns, ATLAS has measured jets with a calorimeter over the pseudorapidity interval |eta| < 2.1 and over the transverse momentum range 38 < pT < 210 GeV. Jets were reconstructed using the anti-kt algorithm with values for the distance parameter that determines the nominal jet radius of R = 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5. The centrality dependence of the jet yield is characterized by the jet "central-to-peripheral ratio," Rcp. Jet production is found to be suppressed by approximately a factor of two in the 10% most central collisions relative to peripheral collisions. Rcp varies smoothly with centrality as characterized by the number of participating nucleons. The observed suppression is only weakly dependent on jet radius and transverse momentum. These results provide the first direct measurement of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions and complement previous measurements of dijet transverse energy imbalance at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages plus author list (30 pages total), 8 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Physics Letters B. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/HION-2011-02

Search for displaced vertices arising from decays of new heavy particles in 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

We present the results of a search for new, heavy particles that decay at a significant distance from their production point into a final state containing charged hadrons in association with a high-momentum muon. The search is conducted in a pp-collision data sample with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 33 pb^-1 collected in 2010 by the ATLAS detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. Production of such particles is expected in various scenarios of physics beyond the standard model. We observe no signal and place limits on the production cross-section of supersymmetric particles in an R-parity-violating scenario as a function of the neutralino lifetime. Limits are presented for different squark and neutralino masses, enabling extension of the limits to a variety of other models.Comment: 8 pages plus author list (20 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version to appear in Physics Letters

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio

Observation of a new chi_b state in radiative transitions to Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) at ATLAS

The chi_b(nP) quarkonium states are produced in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4 fb^-1, these states are reconstructed through their radiative decays to Upsilon(1S,2S) with Upsilon->mu+mu-. In addition to the mass peaks corresponding to the decay modes chi_b(1P,2P)->Upsilon(1S)gamma, a new structure centered at a mass of 10.530+/-0.005 (stat.)+/-0.009 (syst.) GeV is also observed, in both the Upsilon(1S)gamma and Upsilon(2S)gamma decay modes. This is interpreted as the chi_b(3P) system.Comment: 5 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 1 table, corrected author list, matches final version in Physical Review Letter

Measurement of the inclusive isolated prompt photon cross-section in pp collisions at sqrt(s)= 7 TeV using 35 pb-1 of ATLAS data

A measurement of the differential cross-section for the inclusive production of isolated prompt photons in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 7 TeV is presented. The measurement covers the pseudorapidity ranges |eta|<1.37 and 1.52<=|eta|<2.37 in the transverse energy range 45<=E_T<400GeV. The results are based on an integrated luminosity of 35 pb-1, collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The yields of the signal photons are measured using a data-driven technique, based on the observed distribution of the hadronic energy in a narrow cone around the photon candidate and the photon selection criteria. The results are compared with next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations and found to be in good agreement over four orders of magnitude in cross-section.Comment: 7 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 4 tables, final version published in Physics Letters

Measurement of the production cross section of prompt j/psi mesons in association with a W (+/-) boson in pp collisions root s=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The process pp → W±J/ψ provides a powerful probe of the production mechanism of charmonium in hadronic collisions, and is also sensitive to multiple parton interactions in the colliding protons. Using the 2011 ATLAS dataset of 4.5 fb-1 of p s = 7TeV pp collisions at the LHC, the first observation is made of the production of W± + prompt J/ events in hadronic collisions, using W± → μ and J/ψ → μ+μ-. A yield of 27.4±7.5 -6.5 W± + prompt J/ψ events is observed, with a statistical significance of 5.1. The production rate as a ratio to the inclusive W± boson production rate is measured, and the double parton scattering contribution to the cross section is estimated. Copyright CERN, for the benefit of the ATLAS Collaboration