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

Inclusive isolated-photon production in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13TeVis studied with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using a data set with an integrated luminosity of 3.2fb−1. The cross section is measured as a function of the photon transverse energy above 125GeVin different regions of photon pseudorapidity. Next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD and Monte Carlo event-generator predictions are compared to the cross-section measurements and provide an adequate description of the data

Prevalence of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Among Patients with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Background:The objective of this study was to measure the prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) among patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which has not been well described previously.Methods:The rates of IBD among patients with and without ASD were measured in 4 study populations with distinct modes of ascertainment: a health care benefits company, 2 pediatric tertiary care centers, and a national ASD repository. The rates of IBD (established through International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification [ICD-9-CM] codes) were compared with respective controls and combined using a Stouffer meta-analysis. Clinical charts were also reviewed for IBD among patients with ICD-9-CM codes for both IBD and ASD at one of the pediatric tertiary care centers. This expert-verified rate was compared with the rate in the repository study population (where IBD diagnoses were established by expert review) and in nationally reported rates for pediatric IBD.Results:In all of case-control study populations, the rates of IBD-related ICD-9-CM codes for patients with ASD were significantly higher than that of their respective controls (Stouffer meta-analysis, P < 0.001). Expert-verified rates of IBD among patients with ASD were 7 of 2728 patients in one study population and 16 of 7201 in a second study population. The age-adjusted prevalence of IBD among patients with ASD was higher than their respective controls and nationally reported rates of pediatric IBD.Conclusions:Across each population with different kinds of ascertainment, there was a consistent and statistically significant increased prevalance of IBD in patients with ASD than their respective controls and nationally reported rates for pediatric IBD

Risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome after meningococcal conjugate vaccination

Item does not contain fulltextPURPOSE: A new meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV4) was introduced in 2005. Shortly after, case reports of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), a serious demyelinating disease, began to be reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. In 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration requested the evaluation of GBS risk after MCV4 vaccination. We conducted a study to assess the risk of GBS after MCV4 vaccination using health plan administrative and claims data together with the review of primary medical records of potential cases. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study among 12.6 million 11- to 21-year-old members of five US health plans with a total membership of 50 million. Automated enrollment and medical claims data from March 2005 through August 2008 were used to identify the population, the vaccinations administered, and the medical services associated with possible GBS. Medical records were reviewed and adjudicated by a neurologist panel to confirm cases of GBS. The study used distributed data analysis methods that minimized sharing of protected health information. RESULTS: We confirmed 99 GBS cases during 18,322,800 person-years (5.4/1,000,000 person-years). More than 1.4 million MCV4 vaccinations were observed. No confirmed cases of GBS occurred within 6 weeks after vaccination. The upper 95% CI for the attributable risk of GBS associated with MCV4 is estimated as 1.5 cases per 1,000,000 doses. CONCLUSIONS: Among members of five US health plans, MCV4 vaccination was not associated with increased GBS risk. Copyright (c) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Measurement of the relative width difference of the B0B^0-Bˉ0\bar B^0 system with the ATLAS detector

20 pages plus author list + cover page (38 pages total), 5 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Journal of High Energy Physics, All figures including auxiliary figures are available at http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/BPHY-2015-01/ - See paper for full list of authorsInternational audienceThis paper presents the measurement of the relative width difference $\Delta \Gamma_d / \Gamma_d$ of the $B^0$-$\bar B^0$ system using the data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in $p p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV and $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 25.2 fb$^{-1}$. The value of $\Delta \Gamma_d / \Gamma_d$ is obtained by comparing the decay-time distributions of $B^0 \to J/\psi K_S$ and $B^0 \to J/\psi K^{*0}(892)$ decays. The result is \Delta \Gamma_d / \Gamma_d = (-0.1 \pm 1.1~\mbox{(stat.)} \pm 0.9~\mbox{(syst.)}) \times 10^{-2}. Currently, this is the most precise single measurement of $\Delta \Gamma_d / \Gamma_d$. It agrees with the Standard Model prediction and the measurements by other experiments