Two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76 TeV

The first measurement of two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV at the Large Hadron Collider is presented. We observe a growing trend with energy now not only for the longitudinal and the outward but also for the sideward pion source radius. The pion homogeneity volume and the decoupling time are significantly larger than those measured at RHIC.Comment: 17 pages, 5 captioned figures, 1 table, authors from page 12, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/388

Relationships between Parental Education and Overweight with Childhood Overweight and Physical Activity in 9-11 Year Old Children: Results from a 12-Country Study

Background: Globally, the high prevalence of overweight and low levels of physical activity among children has serious implications for morbidity and premature mortality in adulthood. Various parental factors are associated with childhood overweight and physical activity. The objective of this paper was to investigate relationships between parental education or overweight, and (i) child overweight, (ii) child physical activity, and (iii) explore household coexistence of overweight, in a large international sample. Methods: Data were collected from 4752 children (9-11 years) as part of the International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment in 12 countries around the world. Physical activity of participating children was assessed by accelerometry, and body weight directly measured. Questionnaires were used to collect parents' education level, weight, and height. Results: Maternal and paternal overweight were positively associated with child overweight. Higher household coexistence of parent-child overweight was observed among overweight children compared to the total sample. There was a positive relationship between maternal education and child overweight in Colombia 1.90 (1.23-2.94) [odds ratio (confidence interval)] and Kenya 4.80 (2.21-10.43), and a negative relationship between paternal education and child overweight in Brazil 0.55 (0.33-0.92) and the USA 0.54 (0.33-0.88). Maternal education was negatively associated with children meeting physical activity guidelines in Colombia 0.53 (0.33-0.85), Kenya 0.35 (0.19-0.63), and Portugal 0.54 (0.31-0.96). Conclusions: Results are aligned with previous studies showing positive associations between parental and child overweight in all countries, and positive relationships between parental education and child overweight or negative associations between parental education and child physical activity in lower economic status countries. Relationships between maternal and paternal education and child weight status and physical activity appear to be related to the developmental stage of different countries. Given these varied relationships, it is crucial to further explore familial factors when investigating child overweight and physical activity

Evolution of the longitudinal and azimuthal structure of the near-side jet peak in Pb-Pb collisions at 1asNN = 2.76 TeV

In two-particle angular correlation measurements, jets give rise to a near-side peak, formed by particles associated to a higher-pT trigger particle. Measurements of these correlations as a function of pseudorapidity ( \u3b7) and azimuthal ( \u3c6) differences are used to extract the centrality and pT dependence of the shape of the near-side peak in the pT range 1 < pT < 8 GeV/c in Pb-Pb and pp collisions at 1asNN = 2.76 TeV. A combined fit of the near-side peak and long-range correlations is applied to the data and the peak shape is quantified by the variance of the distributions. While the width of the peak in the \u3c6 direction is almost independent of centrality, a significant broadening in the \u3b7 direction is found from peripheral to central collisions. This feature is prominent for the low-pT region and vanishes above 4 GeV/c. The widths measured in peripheral collisions are equal to those in pp collisions in the \u3c6 direction and above 3 GeV/c in the \u3b7 direction. Furthermore, for the 10% most central collisions and 1 < pT,assoc < 2 GeV/c, 1 < pT,trig < 3 GeV/c, a departure from a Gaussian shape is found: a depletion develops around the center of the peak. The results are compared to A Multi-Phase Transport (AMPT) model simulation as well as other theoretical calculations indicating that the broadening and the development of the depletion are connected to the strength of radial and longitudinal flow

Elliptic flow of identified hadrons in Pb-Pb collisions at 1asNN = 2.76 TeV

The elliptic flow coefficient (v2) of identified particles in Pb-Pb collisions at 1asNN = 2.76 TeV was measured with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The results were obtained with the Scalar Product method, a two-particle corre- lation technique, using a pseudo-rapidity gap of | 06\u3b7| > 0.9 between the identified hadron under study and the reference particles. The v2 is reported for \u3c0\ub1, K\ub1, K0S, p+p, \u3c6, \u39b+\u39b, \u39e 12+\u39e+ and \u3a9 12+\u3a9+ in several collision centralities. In the low transverse momentum (pT) region, pT 3 GeV/c

Centrality dependence of inclusive J/\u3c8 production in p-Pb collisions at 1asNN = 5.02 TeV

We present a measurement of inclusive J/\u3c8 production in p-Pb collisions at 1asNN = 5.02TeV as a function of the centrality of the collision, as estimated from the energy deposited in the Zero Degree Calorimeters. The measurement is performed with the ALICE detector down to zero transverse momentum, pT, in the backward ( 124.46 < ycms < 122.96) and forward (2.03 < ycms < 3.53) rapidity intervals in the dimuon decay channel and in the mid-rapidity region ( 121.37 < ycms < 0.43) in the dielectron decay channel. The backward and forward rapidity intervals correspond to the Pb-going and p-going direction, respectively. The pT-differential J/\u3c8 production cross section at backward and forward rapidity is measured for several centrality classes, together with the corresponding average pT and pT2 values. The nuclear modification factor is presented as a function of centrality for the three rapidity intervals, and as a function of pT for several centrality classes at backward and forward rapidity. At mid- and forward rapidity, the J/\u3c8 yield is suppressed up to 40% compared to that in pp interactions scaled by the number of binary collisions. The degree of suppression increases towards central p-Pb collisions at forward rapidity, and with decreasing pT of the J/\u3c8. At backward rapidity, the nuclear modification factor is compatible with unity within the total uncertainties, with an increasing trend from peripheral to central p-Pb collisions

Centrality dependence of high-pT D meson suppression in Pb-Pb collisions at 1asNN = 2.76 TeV

The nuclear modification factor, RAA, of the prompt charmed mesons D0, D+ and D 17+, and their antiparticles, was measured with the ALICE detector in Pb-Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy 1asNN = 2.76 TeV in two transverse momentum intervals, 5 < pT < 8GeV/c and 8 < pT < 16GeV/c, and in six collision centrality classes. The RAA shows a maximum suppression of a factor of 5\u20136 in the 10% most central collisions. The suppression and its centrality dependence are compatible within uncertainties with those of charged pions. A comparison with the RAA of non-prompt J/\u3c8 from B meson decays, measured by the CMS Collaboration, hints at a larger suppression of D mesons in the most central collisions

Improving wear time compliance with a 24-hour waist-worn accelerometer protocol in the International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment (ISCOLE)

Background: We compared 24-hour waist-worn accelerometer wear time characteristics of 9-11 year old children in the International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment (ISCOLE) to similarly aged U.S. children providing waking-hours waist-worn accelerometer data in the 2003-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Methods: Valid cases were defined as having 654 days with 6510 hours of waking wear time in a 24-hour period, including one weekend day. Previously published algorithms for extracting total sleep episode time from 24-hour accelerometer data and for identifying wear time (in both the 24-hour and waking-hours protocols) were applied. The number of valid days obtained and a ratio (percent) of valid cases to the number of participants originally wearing an accelerometer were computed for both ISCOLE and NHANES. Given the two surveys' discrepant sampling designs, wear time (minutes/day, hours/day) from U.S. ISCOLE was compared to NHANES using a meta-analytic approach. Wear time for the 11 additional countries participating in ISCOLE were graphically compared with NHANES. Results: 491 U.S. ISCOLE children (9.92\ub10.03 years of age [M\ub1SE]) and 586 NHANES children (10.43 \ub1 0.04 years of age) were deemed valid cases. The ratio of valid cases to the number of participants originally wearing an accelerometer was 76.7% in U.S. ISCOLE and 62.6% in NHANES. Wear time averaged 1357.0 \ub1 4.2 minutes per 24-hour day in ISCOLE. Waking wear time was 884.4 \ub1 2.2 minutes/day for U.S. ISCOLE children and 822.6 \ub1 4.3 minutes/day in NHANES children (difference = 61.8 minutes/day, p &lt; 0.001). Wear time characteristics were consistently higher in all ISCOLE study sites compared to the NHANES protocol. Conclusions: A 24-hour waist-worn accelerometry protocol implemented in U.S. children produced 22.6 out of 24 hours of possible wear time, and 61.8 more minutes/day of waking wear time than a similarly implemented and processed waking wear time waist-worn accelerometry protocol. Consistent results were obtained internationally. The 24-hour protocol may produce an important increase in wear time compliance that also provides an opportunity to study the total sleep episode time separate and distinct from physical activity and sedentary time detected during waking-hours

Anastomotic leak following oesophagectomy: research priorities from an international Delphi consensus study

Background: The Oesophago-Gastric Anastomosis Audit (OGAA) is an international collaborative group set up to study anastomotic leak outcomes after oesophagectomy for cancer. This Delphi study aimed to prioritize future research areas of unmet clinical need in RCTs to reduce anastomotic leaks.Methods: A modified Delphi process was overseen by the OGAA committee, national leads, and engaged clinicians from high-income countries (HICs) and low/middle-income countries (LMICs). A three-stage iterative process was used to prioritize research topics, including a scoping systematic review (stage 1), and two rounds of anonymous electronic voting (stages 2 and 3) addressing research priority and ability to recruit. Stratified analyses were performed by country income.Results: In stage 1, the steering committee proposed research topics across six domains: preoperative optimization, surgical oncology, technical approach, anastomotic technique, enhanced recovery and nutrition, and management of leaks. In stages 2 and stage 3, 192 and 171 respondents respectively participated in online voting. Prioritized research topics include prehabilitation, anastomotic technique, and timing of surgery after neoadjuvant chemo(radio)therapy. Stratified analyses by country income demonstrated no significant differences in research priorities between HICs and LMICs. However, for ability to recruit, there were significant differences between LMICs and HICs for themes related to the technical approach (minimally invasive, width of gastric tube, ischaemic preconditioning) and location of the anastomosis.Conclusion: Several areas of research priority are consistent across LMICs and HICs, but discrepancies in ability to recruit by country income will inform future study design

Studies of J/\u3c8 production at forward rapidity in Pb\u2013Pb collisions at sNNsqrtsmathrmNN sqrts_mathrmNN = 5.02 TeV

The inclusive J/\u3c8 production in Pb\u2013Pb collisions at the center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair sNN 12 12 12 1a = 5.02 TeV, measured with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC, is reported. The J/\u3c8 meson is reconstructed via the dimuon decay channel at forward rapidity (2.5 < y < 4) down to zero transverse momentum. The suppression of the J/\u3c8 yield in Pb\u2013Pb collisions with respect to binary-scaled pp collisions is quantified by the nuclear modification factor (RAA). The RAA at sNN 12 12 12 1a = 5.02 TeV is presented and compared with previous measurements at sNN 12 12 12 1a = 2.76 TeV as a function of the centrality of the collision, and of the J/\u3c8 transverse momentum and rapidity. The inclusive J/\u3c8 RAA shows a suppression increasing toward higher transverse momentum, with a steeper dependence for central collisions. The modification of the J/\u3c8 average transverse momentum and average squared transverse momentum is also studied. Comparisons with the results of models based on a transport equation and on statistical hadronization are carried out