Visual fixation and continuous head rotations have minimal effect on set-point adaptation to magnetic vestibular stimulation

Background: Strong static magnetic fields such as those in an MRI machine can induce sensations of self-motion and nystagmus. The proposed mechanism is a Lorentz force resulting from the interaction between strong static magnetic fields and ionic currents in the inner ear endolymph that causes displacement of the semicircular canal cupulae. Nystagmus persists throughout an individual's exposure to the magnetic field, though its slow-phase velocity partially declines due to adaptation. After leaving the magnetic field an after effect occurs in which the nystagmus and sensations of rotation reverse direction, reflecting the adaptation that occurred while inside the MRI. However, the effects of visual fixation and of head shaking on this early type of vestibular adaptation are unknown. Methods: Three-dimensional infrared video-oculography was performed in six individuals just before, during (5, 20, or 60 min) and after (4, 15, or 20 min) lying supine inside a 7T MRI scanner. Trials began by entering the magnetic field in darkness followed 60 s later, either by light with visual fixation and head still, or by continuous yaw head rotations (2 Hz) in either darkness or light with visual fixation. Subjects were always placed in darkness 10 or 30 s before exiting the bore. In control conditions subjects remained in the dark with the head still for the entire duration. Results: In darkness with head still all subjects developed horizontal nystagmus inside the magnetic field, with slow-phase velocity partially decreasing over time. An after effect followed on exiting the magnet, with nystagmus in the opposite direction. Nystagmus was suppressed during visual fixation; however, after resuming darkness just before exiting the magnet, nystagmus returned with velocity close to the control condition and with a comparable after effect. Similar after effects occurred with continuous yaw head rotations while in the scanner whether in darkness or light. Conclusions: Visual fixation and sustained head shaking either in the dark or with fixation inside a strong static magnetic field have minimal impact on the short-term mechanisms that attempt to null unwanted spontaneous nystagmus when the head is still, so called VOR set-point adaptation. This contrasts with the critical influence of vision and slippage of images on the retina on the dynamic (gain and direction) components of VOR adaptation

Identifying and visualising multimorbidity and comorbidity patterns in patients in the English National Health Service: a population-based study

Summary. Background: Globally, there is a paucity of multimorbidity and comorbidity data, especially for minority ethnic groups and younger people. We estimated the frequency of common disease combinations and identified non-random disease associations for all ages in a multiethnic population. Methods In this population-based study, we examined multimorbidity and comorbidity patterns stratified by ethnicity or race, sex, and age for 308 health conditions using electronic health records from individuals included on the Clinical Practice Research Datalink linked with the Hospital Episode Statistics admitted patient care dataset in England. We included individuals who were older than 1 year and who had been registered for at least 1 year in a participating general practice during the study period (between April 1, 2010, and March 31, 2015). We identified the most common combinations of conditions and comorbidities for index conditions. We defined comorbidity as the accumulation of additional conditions to an index condition over an individual's lifetime. We used network analysis to identify conditions that co-occurred more often than expected by chance. We developed online interactive tools to explore multimorbidity and comorbidity patterns overall and by subgroup based on ethnicity, sex, and age. Findings: We collected data for 3 872 451 eligible patients, of whom 1 955 700 (50·5%) were women and girls, 1 916 751 (49·5%) were men and boys, 2 666 234 (68·9%) were White, 155 435 (4·0%) were south Asian, and 98 815 (2·6%) were Black. We found that a higher proportion of boys aged 1–9 years (132 506 [47·8%] of 277 158) had two or more diagnosed conditions than did girls in the same age group (106 982 [40·3%] of 265 179), but more women and girls were diagnosed with multimorbidity than were boys aged 10 years and older and men (1 361 232 [80·5%] of 1 690 521 vs 1 161 308 [70·8%] of 1 639 593). White individuals (2 097 536 [78·7%] of 2 666 234) were more likely to be diagnosed with two or more conditions than were Black (59 339 [60·1%] of 98 815) or south Asian individuals (93 617 [60·2%] of 155 435). Depression commonly co-occurred with anxiety, migraine, obesity, atopic conditions, deafness, soft-tissue disorders, and gastrointestinal disorders across all subgroups. Heart failure often co-occurred with hypertension, atrial fibrillation, osteoarthritis, stable angina, myocardial infarction, chronic kidney disease, type 2 diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Spinal fractures were most strongly non-randomly associated with malignancy in Black individuals, but with osteoporosis in White individuals. Hypertension was most strongly associated with kidney disorders in those aged 20–29 years, but with dyslipidaemia, obesity, and type 2 diabetes in individuals aged 40 years and older. Breast cancer was associated with different comorbidities in individuals from different ethnic groups. Asthma was associated with different comorbidities between males and females. Bipolar disorder was associated with different comorbidities in younger age groups compared with older age groups. Interpretation: Our findings and interactive online tools are a resource for: patients and their clinicians, to prevent and detect comorbid conditions; research funders and policy makers, to redesign service provision, training priorities, and guideline development; and biomedical researchers and manufacturers of medicines, to provide leads for research into common or sequential pathways of disease and inform the design of clinical trials

Measurement of the cross section for isolated-photon plus jet production in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV using the ATLAS detector

The dynamics of isolated-photon production in association with a jet in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV are studied with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using a dataset with an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb−1. Photons are required to have transverse energies above 125 GeV. Jets are identified using the anti- algorithm with radius parameter and required to have transverse momenta above 100 GeV. Measurements of isolated-photon plus jet cross sections are presented as functions of the leading-photon transverse energy, the leading-jet transverse momentum, the azimuthal angular separation between the photon and the jet, the photon–jet invariant mass and the scattering angle in the photon–jet centre-of-mass system. Tree-level plus parton-shower predictions from Sherpa and Pythia as well as next-to-leading-order QCD predictions from Jetphox and Sherpa are compared to the measurements

A search for resonances decaying into a Higgs boson and a new particle X in the XH → qqbb final state with the ATLAS detector

A search for heavy resonances decaying into a Higgs boson (H) and a new particle (X) is reported, utilizing 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data at collected during 2015 and 2016 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The particle X is assumed to decay to a pair of light quarks, and the fully hadronic final state is analysed. The search considers the regime of high XH resonance masses, where the X and H bosons are both highly Lorentz-boosted and are each reconstructed using a single jet with large radius parameter. A two-dimensional phase space of XH mass versus X mass is scanned for evidence of a signal, over a range of XH resonance mass values between 1 TeV and 4 TeV, and for X particles with masses from 50 GeV to 1000 GeV. All search results are consistent with the expectations for the background due to Standard Model processes, and 95% CL upper limits are set, as a function of XH and X masses, on the production cross-section of the resonance

Search for an invisibly decaying Higgs boson or dark matter candidates produced in association with a Z boson in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

SCOAP

Search for exclusive Higgs and Z boson decays to ϕγ and ργ with the ATLAS detector

A search for the exclusive decays of the Higgs and Z bosons to a φ or ρ meson and a photon is performed with a pp collision data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of up to 35.6 fb−1 collected at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. These decays have been suggested as a probe of the Higgs boson couplings to light quarks. No significant excess of events is observed above the background, as expected from the Standard Model. Upper limits at 95% confidence level were obtained on the branching fractions of the Higgs boson decays to φγ and ργ of 4.8 × 10−4 and 8.8 × 10−4, respectively. The corresponding 95% confidence level upper limits for the Z boson decays are 0.9 × 10−6 and 25 × 10−6 for φγ and ργ, respectively

Visual fixation and continuous head rotations have minimal effect on set-point adaptation to magnetic vestibular stimulation

Background: Strong static magnetic fields such as those in an MRI machine can induce sensations of self-motion and nystagmus. The proposed mechanism is a Lorentz force resulting from the interaction between strong static magnetic fields and ionic currents in the inner ear endolymph that causes displacement of the semicircular canal cupulae. Nystagmus persists throughout an individual's exposure to the magnetic field, though its slow-phase velocity partially declines due to adaptation. After leaving the magnetic field an after effect occurs in which the nystagmus and sensations of rotation reverse direction, reflecting the adaptation that occurred while inside the MRI. However, the effects of visual fixation and of head shaking on this early type of vestibular adaptation are unknown. Methods: Three-dimensional infrared video-oculography was performed in six individuals just before, during (5, 20, or 60 min) and after (4, 15, or 20 min) lying supine inside a 7T MRI scanner. Trials began by entering the magnetic field in darkness followed 60 s later, either by light with visual fixation and head still, or by continuous yaw head rotations (2 Hz) in either darkness or light with visual fixation. Subjects were always placed in darkness 10 or 30 s before exiting the bore. In control conditions subjects remained in the dark with the head still for the entire duration. Results: In darkness with head still all subjects developed horizontal nystagmus inside the magnetic field, with slow-phase velocity partially decreasing over time. An after effect followed on exiting the magnet, with nystagmus in the opposite direction. Nystagmus was suppressed during visual fixation; however, after resuming darkness just before exiting the magnet, nystagmus returned with velocity close to the control condition and with a comparable after effect. Similar after effects occurred with continuous yaw head rotations while in the scanner whether in darkness or light. Conclusions: Visual fixation and sustained head shaking either in the dark or with fixation inside a strong static magnetic field have minimal impact on the short-term mechanisms that attempt to null unwanted spontaneous nystagmus when the head is still, so called VOR set-point adaptation. This contrasts with the critical influence of vision and slippage of images on the retina on the dynamic (gain and direction) components of VOR adaptation

The secretary as supporter, team worker and independent: a case for societal comparison

Recent developments in cross-national comparisons of women's work have led to some new and challenging findings. This article aims to contribute to this debate by presenting one study which examined secretarial work in three European countries. The methodological issues connected with cross-national research on gender are addressed, and it is suggested that the ‘societal’ approach offers the most potential for cross-national gender research. Findings are discussed in the areas of demographics, education and training, job content and mobility, and interlinkages between national institutions and the secretarial occupation are explored. Differences between the national samples highlight the importance of carrying out cross-national research in this area