Waterpipe tobacco smoking legislation and policy enactment: a global analysis

Objective (1) To review how current global tobacco control policies address regulation of waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS). (2) To identify features associated with enactment and enforcement of WTS legislation. Data Sources (1) Legislations compiled by Tobacco Control Laws (www.tobaccocontrollaws.org). (2) Weekly news articles by ‘Google Alerts’ (www.google.com/alerts) from July 2013 to August 2014. Study Selection (1) Countries containing legislative reviews, written by legal experts, were included. Countries prohibiting tobacco sales were excluded. (2) News articles discussing aspects of the WHO FCTC were included. News articles related to electronic-waterpipe, crime, smuggling, opinion pieces or brief mentions of WTS were excluded. Data Abstraction (1) Two reviewers independently abstracted the definition of “tobacco product” and/or “smoking”. Four tobacco control domains (smokefree law, misleading descriptors, health warning labels and advertising/promotion/sponsorship) were assigned one of four categories based on the degree to which WTS had specific legislation. (2) Two investigators independently assigned at least one theme and associated subtheme to each news article. Data Synthesis (1) Reviewed legislations of 62 countries showed that most do not address WTS regulation but instead rely on generic tobacco/smoking definitions to cover all tobacco products. Where WTS was specifically addressed, no additional legislative guidance accounted for the unique way it is smoked, except for in one country specifying health warnings on waterpipe apparatuses (2) News articles mainly reported on noncompliance with public smoking bans, especially in India, Pakistan and the UK. Conclusions A regulatory framework evaluated for effectiveness and tailored for the specificities of WTS needs to be developed

Transient Thermo-Mechanical Analysis of the TPSG4 Beam Diluter

A new extraction channel is being built in the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) Long Straight Section 4 (LSS4) to transfer proton beams to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and also to the CERN Neutrino to Gran Sasso (CNGS) target. The beam is extracted in a fast mode during a single turn. For this purpose a protection of the MSE copper septum coil, in the form of a beam diluting element placed upstream, will be required to cope with the new failure modes associated with the fast extraction operation. The present analysis focuses on the thermo-mechanical behavior of the proposed TPSG4 diluter element irradiated by a fast extracted beam (up to 4.9 x 10^13 protons per 7.2 mus pulse) from the SPS. The deposited energy densities, estimated from primary and secondary particle simulations using the high-energy particle transport code FLUKA, were converted to internal heat generation rates taken as a thermal load input for the finite-element engineering analyses code ANSYS. According to the time dependence of the extracted beam, the transient solutions were obtained for coupled heat transfer, structural deformation, and shock wave problems. The results are given for the space distribution and the time evolution of temperatures and stresses in the most critical parts of the TPSG4 beam diluting element followed by the MSE copper septum coil. In the worst case of impact of the full LHC ultimate beam, the maximum temperatures remain safely below the melting point. However, the maximum equivalent stresses may slightly exceed the elastic limit in the aluminium section of the diluter. Also, the predicted maximum temperature rise in the MSE septum coil exceeds the design value

Morbi-Mortalité des Contusions Abdominales : La Face Visible de L’iceberg

Objectif : rapporter la morbimortalité des contusions abdominales (CA) à l’hôpital national de Niamey. Patients et méthode : il s’agissait d’une étude rétrospective, descriptive et analytique sur 4 ans incluant les patients pris en charge pour CA à l’hôpital national de Niamey. Les variables étudiées étaient le sexe, l’âge, le mode de traitement, les lésions abdominales, les lésions associées, la morbidité et la mortalité. Résultats : l’étude incluait 137 patients, soit 1,6% des urgences abdominales. Il s’agissait de 116 hommes et de 27 femmes avec un sex ratio de 5,52. L’âge moyen des patients était de 22,09 ±12,3 ans. Le délai moyen d’admission était de 18,4 ±26,3 heures. Les accidents de la voie publique représentaient 49,64% des circonstances de survenue du traumatisme. La CA était isolée chez 75,2% des patients et associée à une lésion extra-abdominale chez 24,8% des patients. Cette association lésionnelle réalisait un polytraumatisme chez 18,9% des patients. Les lésions abdominales étaient dominées par les lésions spléniques survenues chez 38,6% des patients, suivies par les lésions de l’intestin grêle chez 12,4% des patients. Une complication était survenue chez 10,9% des patients et 6,5% des patients étaient décédés à l’hôpital. La survenue de complications était influencée par le délai d’admission et la survenue d’une péritonite (p=0,002). L’hémorragie était la principale cause de décès. Conclusion : les CA constituent un traumatisme de l’adulte jeune de sexe masculin. La morbimortalité des CA n’est peut être que ‘’la face visible de l’iceberg’’. Objective : to report the morbidity and the mortality of the blunt abdominal trauma (BAT) at the national hospital of Niamey. Patients and method: it was a retrospective, descriptive and analytical study over 4 years including patients managed for BAT at the national hospital of Niamey. The variables analyzed were the age, sex, treatment, abdominal organs injury, associated injury, morbidity and mortality. Results: the study included 137 patients, whether 1.6% of abdominal emergencies. They were 116 men and 27 women, with a sex ratio of 5.52. The average age was 22.09[±12.3] years old. The average intake time was 18.43[±26.3] hours. Car crashes accounted for 49.64% of the circumstances of the trauma. The BAT was isolated in 75.2% of patients and associated to a (34) extra-abdominal trauma in 24.8% of patients. This lesional association achieved polytrauma in 18.9% of patients. The most abdominal organ injured was spleen in 38.6% of patients followed by small intestine in 12.4% of patients. The morbidity rate was 10.9% and the intrahospital mortality rate was 6.5%. The occurrence of morbidity was influenced by the intake time and the occurrence of peritonitis (p=0.002). Hemorrhage was the leading cause of death. Conclusion: BAT are most frequent in young male adults at national hospital of Niamey. The morbimortality of BAT is perhaps ‘’the visible face of the iceberg’’

Prise En Charge Des Plaies Pénétrantes De L’abdomen À L’hôpital National De Niamey

Objectif : rapporter les résultats de la prise en charge des plaies pénétrantes de l’abdomen à l’hôpital national de Niamey au Niger. Patients et méthodes : il s’agissait d’une étude rétrospective et descriptive sur une période de 2 ans. L’étude a concerné tous les patients de tout âge pris en charge à l’hôpital national de Niamey pour plaie pénétrantes de l’abdomen. Résultats : l’étude incluait 51 patients, soit 0,88% des traumatismes. Il s’agissait de 6 femmes et 45 hommes, soit un sex ratio de 7,5. L’âge moyen des patients était de 28 ans [±10,2]. Le délai moyen d’admission était de 4,86 heures [±2,08]. Dans 84,32% des cas les patients étaient transportés à l’hôpital dans un véhicule non médicalisé. Les agressions représentaient 78,44% des circonstances de survenue et la plaie abdominale s’intégrait dans un contexte de polytraumatisme chez 21,53% des patients. Une éviscération était présente chez 31,37% des patients. Le traitement était opératoire chez 90,19% des patients avec 19,56% de laparotomie non thérapeutique. L’organe le plus lésé était l’intestin grêle dans 31,37% des cas suivi du colon dans 23,52% des cas. La morbidité globale était de 33,37% dominée par les hémorragies postopératoires dans 8,69% des cas. La mortalité était de 13,73% avec 50,14% de décès en postopératoire immédiat par hémorragie secondaire ; 28,58% de décès par retard de l’hémostase chirurgicale et 14,28% de décès par défaut de compensation des pertes sanguines en urgence.Conclusion : les plaies de l’abdomen sont fréquentes chez l’adulte jeune de sexe masculin. Elles sont souvent dues à une agression par armes blanches avec un taux élevé de décès. Objective: to report the results of the management of the penetrating abdominal wounds at the national hospital of Niamey. Patients and method: it was a retrospective and descriptive study over 2 years. The study included the patients of all ages managed for penetrating abdominal wounds at national hospital of Niamey in Niger. Results: the study includes 51 patients whether 0.88 % of trauma. They were 45 men and 6 women, with a sex ratio of 7.5. The average age was 28 [±10.2] years old. The average intake time was 4.86 [2.08] hours. In 84. 32% of cases, patients were transported to the hospital in non-medical vehicle. The assault accounted for 78.44% of the circumstances of the occurrence and the penetrating abdominal wound was integrated into a polytrauma in 21.53% of cases. An evisceration was present in 31.37 % of cases. The management was operative in 90.19% of cases with 19.56% of non-therapeutic laparotomy. The most injured organ was the small intestine in 31.37% of cases followed by the colon in 23.52% of cases. The overall morbidity was 33.37%, dominated by postoperative hemorrhages in 8.69% of cases. The mortality was 13.73% with 50.14% of immediate deaths by secondary hemorrhage, 28.58% of deaths by delay of the surgical hemostasis and 14.28% of deaths by a failure of compensation of the blood losses in emergency room. Conclusion: the penetrating abdominal wounds are common in young adult males. They are often due to a stabbing assault with a high death rate

Status of the HIE-ISOLDE project at CERN

The HIE-ISOLDE project represents a major upgrade of the ISOLDE nuclear facility with a mandate to significantly improve the quality and increase the intensity and energy of radioactive nuclear beams produced at CERN. The project will expand the experimental nuclear physics programme at ISOLDE by focusing on an upgrade of the existing Radioactive ion beam EXperiment (REX) linac with a 40 MV superconducting linac comprising thirty-two niobium-on-copper sputter-coated quarter-wave resonators housed in six cryomodules. The new linac will raise the energy of post-accelerated beams from 3 MeV/u to over 10 MeV/u. The upgrade will be staged to first deliver beam energies of 5.5 MeV/u using two high-$\beta$ cryomodules placed downstream of REX, before the energy variable section of the existing linac is replaced with two low-$\beta$ cryomodules and two additional high-$\beta$ cryomodules are installed to attain over 10 MeV/u with full energy variability above 0.45 MeV/u. An overview of the project including a status summary of the different R&D activities and the schedule will outlined.Comment: 7 pages, 12 figures, submitted to the Heavy Ion Accelerator Technology conference (HIAT) 2012, in Chicag

TIME Series Analysis Using Copula Gauss And Ar(1)-n.garch(1,1)

In this case, the Gaussian Copula is used to connect the data that correlates with the time and with other data sets. Most often, practitioners rely only on the linear correlation to describe the degree of dependence between two or more variables; an approach that can lead to quite misleading conclusions as this measure is only capable of capturing linear relationships. Correlation doesn't mean causation, prediction using Copula is built on three things that the marginal distribution function, the kernel function, and the function of the Copula. Gaussian Copula involves the covariance matrix are approximated by using kernel functions. Kernel acts as the correlation between the approach of the data values that have the same characteristics. In this case, the characteristics used is the time. The advantage of the kernel function is able to calculate the correlation between random variables that have a realization using data characteristics. The advantage of using the kernel based Copula able to capture the dependencies between data and process data that have the same characteristics with time. Another benefit is that it allows a sequence of random variables have a joint distribution function so that the conditional probability of the prediction can be calculated

Interaction of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) Beam with Carbon Collimators

The LHC will operate at an energy of 7 TeV with a luminosity of 1034cm-2s-1. This requires two beams, each with 2808 bunches. The energy stored in each beam of 362 MJ. In a previous paper the mechanisms causing equipment damage in case of a failure of the machine protection system was discussed, assuming that the entire beam is deflected into a copper target [1, 2]. Another failure scenario is the deflection of beam into carbon material. Carbon collimators and beam absorbers are installed in many locations around the LHC to diffuse or absorb beam losses. Since the collimator jaws are close to the beam, it is very likely that they are hit first when the beam is accidentally deflected. Here we present the results of two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of the heating of a solid carbon cylinder irradiated by the LHC beam with nominal parameters, carried out using the BIG-2 computer code [3] while the energy loss of the 7 TeV protons in carbon is calculated using the well known FLUKA code [4]. Our calculations suggest that the LHC beam may penetrate up to about 10 m to 15 m in solid carbon, resulting in a substantial damage of collimators and beam absorbers

Can Desarda Technique Repair all Adult Inguinal Hernia?

Objectives: This paper focuses on reporting the results of the daily use of the Desarda technique for the treatment of adult inguinal hernias without selection of patients at national hospital of Niamey. Patients and Method: This was a prospective and descriptive study from December 2012 to August 2014. It included 76 patients aged over 15 years who underwent inguinal hernia repair by Desarda technique without any selection. The variables studied include the type of inguinal hernia, the Nyhus class of inguinal hernia, the operating time, the postoperative pain, and the hernia recurrences. Results: There were 74 men and 2 women. The average age of the patients was 43.6 years [± 17.6]. Inguinal hernia was found in 57.9% of patients. There were 76.31% simple hernias, 15.80% recurrent hernias, 2.63% intractable hernias by loss of domain, and 5.26% strangulated hernias. 90.79% of the patients were operated under spinal anesthesia. The most frequent types of inguinal hernia were Nyhus type 2 found in 35.52% of patients, followed by Nyhus type 3b found in 30.26% of patients. The mean operative time was 46.67 [± 11.5] minutes. The immediate operative follow-up was marked by the occurrence of a hematoma of the scrotum in two patients. There was no recurrence of chronic postoperative pain after a median follow up of 40 months. Conclusion: The Desarda technique could be a good alternative for the cure of all inguinal hernias of adults