Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) : Investigating care practices pointed out to disparities in diagnosis and treatment across European Union

ME/CFS is a chronic, complex, multisystem disease that often limits the health and functioning of the affected patients. Diagnosing patients with ME/CFS is a challenge, and many different case definitions exist and are used in clinical practice and research. Even after diagnosis, medical treatment is very challenging. Symptom relief and coping may affect how patients live with their disease and their quality of life. There is no consensus on which diagnostic criteria should be used and which treatment strategies can be recommended for patients. The purpose of the current project was to map the landscape of the Euromene countries in respect of national guidelines and recommendations for case definition, diagnosis and clinical approaches for ME/CFS patients. A 23 items questionnaire was sent out by email to the members of Euromene. The form contained questions on existing guidelines for case definitions, treatment/management of the disease, tests and questionnaires applied, and the prioritization of information for data sampling in research. We obtained information from 17 countries. Five countries reported having national guidelines for diagnosis, and five countries reported having guidelines for clinical approaches. For diagnostic purposes, the Fukuda criteria were most often recommended, and also the Canadian Consensus criteria, the International Consensus Criteria and the Oxford criteria were used. A mix of diagnostic criteria was applied within those countries having no guidelines. Many different questionnaires and tests were used for symptom registration and diagnostic investigation. For symptom relief, pain and anti-depressive medication were most often recommended. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Graded Exercise treatment were often recommended as disease management and rehabilitative/palliative strategies. The lack of consistency in recommendations across European countries urges the development of regulations, guidance and standards. The results of this study will contribute to the harmonization of diagnostic criteria and treatment for ME/CFS in Europe

Communication and Cognition in Primate Group Movement

We here review the communicative and cognitive processes underpinning collective group movement in animals. Generally, we identify 2 major axes to explain the dynamics of decision making in animal or human groups or aggregations: One describes whether the behavior is largely determined by simple rules such as keeping a specific distance from the neighbor, or whether global information is also factored in. The second axis describes whether or not the individual constituents of the group have overlapping or diverging interests. We then review the available evidence for baboons, which have been particularly well studied, but we also draw from further studies on other nonhuman primate species. Baboons and other nonhuman primates may produce specific signals in the group movement context, such as the notifying behavior of male hamadryas baboons at the departure from the sleeping site, or clear barks that are given by chacma baboons that have lost contact with the group or specific individuals. Such signals can be understood as expressions of specific motivational states of the individuals, but there is no evidence that the subjects intend to alter the knowledge state of the recipients. There is also no evidence for shared intentionality. The cognitive demands that are associated with decision making in the context of group coordination vary with the amount of information and possibly conflicting sources of information that need to be integrated. Thus, selective pressures should favor the use of signals that maintain group cohesion, while recipients should be selected to be able to make the decision that is in their own best interest in light of all the available information

Accessing the strong interaction between Λ baryons and charged kaons with the femtoscopy technique at the LHC

The interaction between Λ baryons and kaons/antikaons is a crucial ingredient for the strangeness S=0 and S=-2 sector of the meson–baryon interaction at low energies. In particular, the Lambda-Kbar might help in understanding the origin of states such as the Csi(1620), whose nature and properties are still under debate. Experimental data on Lambda-K and Lambda-Kbar systems are scarce, leading to large uncertainties and tension between the available theoretical predictions constrained by such data. In this Letter we present the measurements of Λ–KK− and Λ–KK+ correlations obtained in the high-multiplicity triggered data sample in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 13 TeV recorded by ALICE at the LHC. The correlation function for both pairs is modeled using the Lednický–Lyuboshits analytical formula and the corresponding scattering parameters are extracted. The Λ–KK+ correlations show the presence of several structures at relative momenta k* above 200 MeV/c, compatible with the Ω baryon, the , and resonances decaying into Λ–K− pairs. The low k* region in the Λ–KK+ also exhibits the presence of the state, expected to strongly couple to the measured pair. The presented data allow to access the ΛK+ and ΛK− strong interaction with an unprecedented precision and deliver the first experimental observation of the decaying into ΛK−

Investigation of K+K- interactions via femtoscopy in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN =2.76 TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider

Femtoscopic correlations of nonidentical charged kaons (K+K-) are studied in Pb-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon collision sNN=2.76 TeV by ALICE at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. One-dimensional K+K- correlation functions are analyzed in three centrality classes and eight intervals of particle-pair transverse momentum. The Lednický and Luboshitz interaction model used in the K+K- analysis includes the final-state Coulomb interactions between kaons and the final-state interaction through a0(980) and f0(980) resonances. The mass of f0(980) and coupling were extracted from the fit to K+K- correlation functions using the femtoscopic technique. The measured mass and width of the f0(980) resonance are consistent with other published measurements. The height of the φ(1020) meson peak present in the K+K- correlation function rapidly decreases with increasing source radius, qualitatively in agreement with an inverse volume dependence. A phenomenological fit to this trend suggests that the φ(1020) meson yield is dominated by particles produced directly from the hadronization of the system. The small fraction subsequently produced by final-state interactions could not be precisely quantified with data presented in this paper and will be assessed in future work

First measurement of prompt and non-prompt D⁎+ vector meson spin alignment in pp collisions at s=13 TeV

This letter reports the first measurement of spin alignment, with respect to the helicity axis, for D*+ vector mesons and their charge conjugates from charm-quark hadronisation (prompt) and from beauty-meson decays (non-prompt) in hadron collisions. The measurements were performed at midrapidity (|y| D0 (-> K- pi+) pi+ decay products, in the D*+ rest frame, with respect to the D*+ momentum direction in the pp centre of mass frame. The rho_00 value for prompt D*+ mesons is consistent with 1/3, which implies no spin alignment. However, for non-prompt D*+ mesons an evidence of rho_00 larger than 1/3 is found. The measured value of the spin density element is in the interval, which is consistent with a Pythia 8 Monte Carlo simulation coupled with the EvtGen package, which implements the helicity conservation in the decay of D*+ meson from beauty mesons. In non-central heavy-ion collisions, the spin of the D*+ mesons may be globally aligned with the direction of the initial angular momentum and magnetic field. Based on the results for pp collisions reported in this letter it is shown that alignment of non-prompt D*+ mesons due to the helicity conservation coupled to the collective anisotropic expansion may mimic the signal of global spin alignment in heavy-ion collisions

Measurement of electrons from beauty-hadron decays in pp and Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV

The production of electrons from beauty-hadron decays was measured at midrapidity in proton-proton (pp) and central Pb-Pb collisions at center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon pair √s NN = 5.02 TeV, using the ALICE detector at the LHC. The cross section measured in pp collisions in the transverse momentum interval 2 < pT < 8 GeV/c was compared with models based on perturbative quantum chromodynamics calculations. The yield in the 10% most central Pb-Pb collisions, measured in the interval 2 < pT < 26 GeV/c, was used to compute the nuclear modification factor RAA, extrapolating the pp reference cross section to pT larger than 8 GeV/c. The measured R AA shows significant suppression of the yield of electrons from beauty-hadron decays at high pT and does not show a significant dependence above 8 GeV/c within uncertainties. The results are de- scribed by several theoretical models based on different implementations of the interaction of heavy quarks with a quark-gluon plasma, which predict a smaller energy loss for beauty quarks compared to light and charm quark

Measurement of the Lifetime and Λ Separation Energy of _{Λ}^{3}H

The most precise measurements to date of the _{Λ}^{3}H lifetime τ and Λ separation energy B_{Λ} are obtained using the data sample of Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV collected by ALICE at the LHC. The _{Λ}^{3}H is reconstructed via its charged two-body mesonic decay channel (_{Λ}^{3}H→^{3}He+π^{-} and the charge-conjugate process). The measured values τ=[253±11(stat)±6(syst)]  ps and B_{Λ}=[102±63(stat)±67(syst)]  keV are compatible with predictions from effective field theories and confirm that the _{Λ}^{3}H structure is consistent with a weakly bound system

First measurement of Λc+ production down to pT=0 in pp and p-Pb collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV

The production of prompt Lambda+c baryons has been measured at midrapidity in the transverse momentum interval 0 < pT < 1 GeV/c for the first time, in pp and p–Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon collision √s NN = 5.02 TeV. The measurement was performed in the decay channel Lambda+c → pK0S by applying new decay reconstruction techniques using a Kalman-Filter vertexing algorithm and adopting a machine-learning approach for the candidate selection. The pT -integrated Lambda+c production cross sections in both collision systems were determined and used along with the measured yields in Pb–Pb collisions to compute the pT -integrated nuclear modification factors R pPb and R AA of Lambda+c baryons, which are compared to model calculations that consider nuclear modification of the parton distribution functions. The Lambda+c /D0 baryon-to-meson yield ratio is reported for pp and p–Pb collisions. Comparisons with models that include modified hadronization processes are presented, and the implications of the results on the understanding of charm hadronization in hadronic collisions are discussed. A significant (3.7σ ) modification of the mean transverse momentum of Lambda+c baryons is seen in p–Pb collisions with respect to pp collisions, while the pT -integrated Lambda+c /D0 yield ratio was found to be consistent between the two collision systems within the uncertainties

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

Measurements of the production of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays in pp collisions at root s = 13 TeV at midrapidity with the ALICE detector are presented down to a transverse momentum (p(T)) of 0.2 GeV/c and up to p(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(T) range 0.5 < p(T) < 26 GeV/c at root s(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(T) dependence is observed in pp collisions, where the yield of high-p(T) electrons increases faster as a function of multiplicity than the one of low-p(T) electrons. The measurement in p-Pb collisions shows no p(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