The Power of Storytelling As a Tool for Fundraising

Amount raised: 300,000 Emirati Dirhams (81,675 U.S. Dollars). Background and context: Friends of Cancer Patients came to learn about the case of a 3-year-old boy with leukemia, whose parents required financial support to be able to afford to continue his treatment. To accomplish this, we approached the employees of a company, with whom we had a prior relationship. 30 employees of the company agreed to climb the Mount Everest base camp, to drive their friends and families to donate. Aim: The aim of the event that took place was to fundraise to cover the child's entire treatment journey, as well as to make sure extra funds are in place, in case the child needs future support in treatment. Strategy/Tactics: To fund raise the amount of 300,000 which was needed by the child, we attempted to do so through storytelling, however, we decided to not only focus on the child´s medical condition, but we also tried to tell it in such a way that would make people get to know him, and his family better. Further, each climber from the company also told a story in their own way, they all explained how each and every one of us has been affected by cancer in one way or another, and they also specified how it affected them personally. Program process: The fundraising campaign took part over the period of three months, and as a result of the attention, and the reach that the climbers were able to achieve, we were receiving emails from places such as Saudi Arabia, U.S.A., and the U.K. from people who have heard about the story of the child and wished to help. Overall, by the time the climbers had returned from Mount Everest, we had fundraised 100,000 more than what we expected, all through the word of mouth, and storytelling. Costs and returns: Costs to Friends of Cancer Patients: 0 Returns: 300,000+ AED What was learned: By moving people emotionally, and by telling a good genuine story, we were able to carry out a campaign, that would not have been possible otherwise. Furthermore, after the conclusion of this event, we have started utilizing a similar model of fundraising, which has brought much greater returns to Friends of Cancer Patients.

Empowering Cancer Survivors to Become Mentors, and Leaders Through Various Workshops and Programs

Background and context: Friends of Cancer Patients UAE conducts various moral support programs for cancer patients, one of which is the “Color My World” program, which focuses on provide moral support to predominantly men and women, who have undergone, or are currently undergoing treatment of cancer. Aim: The aim is to empower cancer survivors to become leaders and mentors to other ladies/men currently undergoing treatment, and to establish a survivor led support program, as a result of these various programs and workshops. Strategy/Tactics: We believe that to for such a program to be a success, you need to understand your target group, their interests, as well as their backgrounds. A needs assessment needs to be conducted prior to the selection of workshops, whether through direct interviews with the patients, or internally by examining the different support programs available in the country, and what is available/not available. Program/Policy process: There are numerous workshops that take place throughout the year, and they are divided as follows: - There are workshops that focus on healthy living, and the importance of a healthy diet, which involves numerous cooking workshops, and educational sessions. - There are workshops that focus on skin care and make-up, where the ladies are taught how to take care of themselves by certified stylists and makeup artists. - Those who are interested in crochet and handicrafts, have the chance to take part in group workshops, or in focused 1 to 1 sessions. Outcomes: There are a number of positive outcomes that came about from our attempts to empower cancer survivors, the ones we believe are worth of being highlighted are: - A group of survivors are now leading, and running a cancer support program, that visits hospitals within the UAE, to visit those currently undergoing treatment, to provide support, and assist those still undergoing treatment in any way possible. - Many of the ladies, who attended previous workshops, will now start to lead similar workshops during hospital visits to children and women with cancer. What was learned: Cancer survivors must be the driving force in providing support to other cancer patients, and the existing model of the support groups can be linked with the educational workshops, to not only provide moral support, but also social support to the cancer patient.

The ASOS Surgical Risk Calculator: development and validation of a tool for identifying African surgical patients at risk of severe postoperative complications

BACKGROUND

The African Surgical Outcomes Study (ASOS) showed that surgical patients in Africa have a mortality twice the global average. Existing risk assessment tools are not valid for use in this population because the pattern of risk for poor outcomes differs from high-income countries. The objective of this study was to derive and validate a simple, preoperative risk stratification tool to identify African surgical patients at risk for in-hospital postoperative mortality and severe complications.

METHODS

ASOS was a 7-day prospective cohort study of adult patients undergoing surgery in Africa. The ASOS Surgical Risk Calculator was constructed with a multivariable logistic regression model for the outcome of in-hospital mortality and severe postoperative complications. The following preoperative risk factors were entered into the model; age, sex, smoking status, ASA physical status, preoperative chronic comorbid conditions, indication for surgery, urgency, severity, and type of surgery.

RESULTS

The model was derived from 8799 patients from 168 African hospitals. The composite outcome of severe postoperative complications and death occurred in 423/8799 (4.8%) patients. The ASOS Surgical Risk Calculator includes the following risk factors: age, ASA physical status, indication for surgery, urgency, severity, and type of surgery. The model showed good discrimination with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.805 and good calibration with c-statistic corrected for optimism of 0.784.

CONCLUSIONS

This simple preoperative risk calculator could be used to identify high-risk surgical patients in African hospitals and facilitate increased postoperative surveillance.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

NCT03044899.

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T, Dolen J, Parashar N, Chen Z, Ecklund KM, Freed S, Geurts FJM, Guilbaud M, Kilpatrick M, Li W, Michlin B, Padley BP, Roberts J, Rorie J, Shi W, Tu Z, Zabel J, Zhang A, Bodek A, de Barbaro P, Demina R, Duh YT, Dulemba JL, Fallon C, Ferbel T, Galanti M, Garcia-Bellido A, Han J, Hindrichs O, Khukhunaishvili A, Lo KH, Tan P, Taus R, Verzetti M, Agapitos A, Chou JP, Gershtein Y, Gómez Espinosa TA, Halkiadakis E, Heindl M, Hughes E, Kaplan S, KunnawalkamElayavalli R, Kyriacou S, Lath A, Montalvo R, Nash K, Osherson M, Saka H, Salur S, Schnetzer S, Sheffield D, Somalwar S, Stone R, Thomas S, Thomassen P, Walker M, Delannoy AG, Heideman J, Riley G, Rose K, Spanier S, Thapa K, Bouhali O, Hernandez AC, Celik A, Dalchenko M, De Mattia M, Delgado A, Dildick S, Eusebi R, Gilmore J, Huang T, Kamon T, Luo S, Mueller R, Pakhotin Y, Patel R, Perloff A, Perniè L, Rathjens D, Safonov A, Tatarinov A, Akchurin N, Damgov J, De Guio F, Dudero PR, Kunori S, Lamichhane K, Lee SW, Mengke T, Muthumuni S, Peltola T, Undleeb S, Volobouev I, Wang Z, Greene S, Gurrola A, Janjam R, Johns W, Maguire C, Melo A, Ni H, Padeken K, Alvarez JDR, Sheldon P, Tuo S, Velkovska J, Xu Q, Arenton MW, Barria P, Cox B, Hirosky R, Joyce M, Ledovskoy A, Li H, Neu C, Sinthuprasith T, Wang Y, Wolfe E, Xia F, Harr R, Karchin PE, Poudyal N, Sturdy J, Thapa P, Zaleski S, Brodski M, Buchanan J, Caillol C, Carlsmith D, Dasu S, Dodd L, Duric S, Gomber B, Grothe M, Herndon M, Hervé A, Hussain U, Klabbers P, Lanaro A, Levine A, Long K, Loveless R, Ruggles T, Savin A, Smith N, Smith WH, Woods N. Measurement of the weak mixing angle using the forward-backward asymmetry of Drell-Yan events in p p collisions at 8 TeV

A measurement is presented of the effective leptonic weak mixing angle ( sin 2 θ eff ℓ ) using the forward-backward asymmetry of Drell-Yan lepton pairs ( μ μ and e e ) produced in proton-proton collisions at s = 8 TeV at the CMS experiment of the LHC. The data correspond to integrated luminosities of 18.8 and 19.6 fb - 1 in the dimuon and dielectron channels, respectively, containing 8.2 million dimuon and 4.9 million dielectron events. With more events and new analysis techniques, including constraints obtained on the parton distribution functions from the measured forward-backward asymmetry, the statistical and systematic uncertainties are significantly reduced relative to previous CMS measurements. The extracted value of sin 2 θ eff ℓ from the combined dilepton data is sin 2 θ eff ℓ = 0.23101 ± 0.00036 (stat) ± 0.00018 (syst) ± 0.00016 (theo) ± 0.00031 (parton distributions in proton) = 0.23101 ± 0.00053 .

Long-term outcomes of endovenous laser ablation and conventional surgery for great saphenous varicose veins

BACKGROUND

Clinical guidelines recommend endovenous laser ablation (EVLA) over surgery based on short-term evidence, yet there are few studies reporting mid- to long-term outcomes. The aim of this study was to report the 5-year outcomes from an RCT of surgery versus EVLA for treatment of symptomatic great saphenous varicose veins.

METHODS

Patients with symptomatic varicose veins due to great saphenous vein (GSV) incompetence were followed up 5 years after enrolment in a randomized trial of either surgery (saphenofemoral junction ligation, GSV strip to the knee and multiple avulsions of varicosities) or EVLA plus multiple avulsions. Outcomes included: clinical recurrence, defined as new varicose veins greater than 3 mm in diameter; Venous Clinical Severity Score (VCSS); quality of life measured by means of Short Form 36, EuroQol Five Dimensions (EQ-5D™) and Aberdeen Varicose Vein Questionnaire (AVVQ); patient satisfaction; and duplex ultrasound examination (DUS) findings.

RESULTS

Some 218 of the 276 patients enrolled in the trial (79·0 per cent) were available for follow-up. Clinical recurrence was more frequent following surgery than EVLA at 5 years (34·3 versus 20·9 per cent; P = 0·010). Both groups demonstrated sustained significant improvements at 5 years over baseline in VCSS (surgery: median (i.q.r.) 1 (0-2) from 4 (3-5), P < 0·001; EVLA: 0 (0-1) from 4 (3-5), P < 0·001), AVVQ (surgery: 4·59 (0·56-9·78) from 13·69 (9·81-18·11), P < 0·001; EVLA: 3·35 (0·17 to 6·55) from 12·73 (9·41-17·32), P < 0·001) and EQ-5D™ (surgery: 1·000 (0·796-1·000) from 0·859 (0·796-1·000), P = 0·002; EVLA: 1·000 (0·796-1·000) from 0·808 (0·796-1·000), P = 0·002). VCSS was better for EVLA than surgery at 5 years (P = 0·031). Technical success assessed by DUS remained high at 5 years (85·4 per cent for surgery and 93·2 per cent for EVLA; P = 0·074). DUS-detected anatomical patterns of recurrence differed between the groups.

CONCLUSION

EVLA was more effective than surgery in preventing clinical recurrence 5 years after treatment of great saphenous varicose veins. Patient-reported outcome measures were similar. Registration number: NCT00759434 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov).

Observation of tt[over ¯]H Production

The observation of Higgs boson production in association with a top quark-antiquark pair is reported, based on a combined analysis of proton-proton collision data at center-of-mass energies of sqrt[s]=7, 8, and 13 TeV, corresponding to integrated luminosities of up to 5.1, 19.7, and 35.9  fb^{-1}, respectively. The data were collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC. The results of statistically independent searches for Higgs bosons produced in conjunction with a top quark-antiquark pair and decaying to pairs of W bosons, Z bosons, photons, τ leptons, or bottom quark jets are combined to maximize sensitivity. An excess of events is observed, with a significance of 5.2 standard deviations, over the expectation from the background-only hypothesis. The corresponding expected significance from the standard model for a Higgs boson mass of 125.09 GeV is 4.2 standard deviations. The combined best fit signal strength normalized to the standard model prediction is 1.26_{-0.26}^{+0.31}.

Structural Determinants and Children's Oral Health: A Cross-National Study

Much research on children's oral health has focused on proximal determinants at the expense of distal (upstream) factors. Yet, such upstream factors-the so-called structural determinants of health-play a crucial role. Children's lives, and in turn their health, are shaped by politics, economic forces, and social and public policies. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between children's clinical (number of decayed, missing, and filled teeth) and self-reported oral health (oral health-related quality of life) and 4 key structural determinants (governance, macroeconomic policy, public policy, and social policy) as outlined in the World Health Organization's Commission for Social Determinants of Health framework. Secondary data analyses were carried out using subnational epidemiological samples of 8- to 15-y-olds in 11 countries ( N = 6,648): Australia (372), New Zealand (three samples; 352, 202, 429), Brunei (423), Cambodia (423), Hong Kong (542), Malaysia (439), Thailand (261, 506), United Kingdom (88, 374), Germany (1498), Mexico (335), and Brazil (404). The results indicated that the type of political regime, amount of governance (e.g., rule of law, accountability), gross domestic product per capita, employment ratio, income inequality, type of welfare regime, human development index, government expenditure on health, and out-of-pocket (private) health expenditure by citizens were all associated with children's oral health. The structural determinants accounted for between 5% and 21% of the variance in children's oral health quality-of-life scores. These findings bring attention to the upstream or structural determinants as an understudied area but one that could reap huge rewards for public health dentistry research and the oral health inequalities policy agenda.

Differences in the prevalence of sarcopenia in haemodialysis patients: the effects of gender and ethnicity

BACKGROUND

There is no universal consensus definition of sarcopenia, although there is agreement that sarcopenia is a risk factor for mortality in haemodialysis (HD) patients. We aimed to determine the effect of using different operational definitions in a multiracial group of HD patients.

METHODS

We measured hand grip strength (HGS) and appendicular lean mass (ALM) by segmental bioimpedance using the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health Sarcopenia Project (FNIH), European Working Group on Sarcopenia (EWGS) and Asian Working Group on Sarcopenia definitions for HGS weakness and loss of appendicular lean mass.

RESULTS

In total, there were 600 HD patients: 373 men (62.2%), mean (SD) age 66.3 (14.7) years, 45.6% diabetic, ethnicity: 281 (48.5%) White, 167 (27.8%) Asian and 149 (24.8%) Black. On HGS criteria, 90.5% of Asian women and 88.5% of Asian men were weak according to EWGS compared to 62.3% of Black women and 52.5% of Black men and 64.5% of White women and 69.1% of White men by FNIH criteria (P < 0.001). On adding appendicular lean mass, the prevalence of sarcopenia was 68.3% for Asian, 27.1% for Black and 36.6% for White women by FNIH and 59.6% Asian, 21.3% Black and 39.9% White men by EWGS criteria.

CONCLUSIONS

Current definitions of sarcopenia report a greater prevalence of muscle weakness compared to appendicular muscle loss in female compared to male HD patients and this is greater for Asian compared to Black and White patients. Because HGS weakness is a greater risk for death, definitions of sarcopenia may underestimate risk in HD patients.

Physiological Stress Elicits Impaired Left Ventricular Function in Preterm-Born Adults

BACKGROUND

Experimental and clinical studies show that prematurity leads to altered left ventricular (LV) structure and function with preserved resting LV ejection fraction (EF). Large-scale epidemiological data now links prematurity to increased early heart failure risk.

OBJECTIVES

The authors performed echocardiographic imaging at prescribed exercise intensities to determine whether preterm-born adults have impaired LV functional response to physical exercise.

METHODS

We recruited 101 normotensive young adults born preterm (n = 47; mean gestational age 32.8 ± 3.2 weeks) and term (n = 54) for detailed cardiovascular phenotyping. Full clinical resting and exercise stress echocardiograms were performed, with apical 4-chamber views collected while exercising at 40%, 60%, and 80% of peak exercise capacity, determined by maximal cardiopulmonary exercise testing.

RESULTS

Preterm-born individuals had greater LV mass (p = 0.015) with lower peak systolic longitudinal strain (p = 0.038) and similar EF to term-born control subjects at rest (p = 0.62). However, by 60% exercise intensity, EF was 6.7% lower in preterm subjects (71.9 ± 8.7% vs 78.6 ± 5.4%; p = 0.004) and further declined to 7.3% below the term-born group at 80% exercise intensity (69.8 ± 6.4% vs 77.1 ± 6.3%; p = 0.004). Submaximal cardiac output reserve was 56% lower in preterm-born subjects versus term-born control subjects at 40% of peak exercise capacity (729 ± 1,162 ml/min/m2 vs. 1,669 ± 937 ml/min/m2; p = 0.021). LV length and resting peak systolic longitudinal strain predicted EF increase from rest to 60% exercise intensity in the preterm group (r = 0.68, p = 0.009 and r = 0.56, p = 0.031, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Preterm-born young adults had impaired LV response to physiological stress when subjected to physical exercise, which suggested a reduced myocardial functional reserve that might help explain their increased risk of early heart failure. (Young Adult Cardiovascular Health sTudy [YACHT]; NCT02103231).

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Linacre J, Lincoln D, Lipton R, Liu M, Liu T, De Sá RL, Lykken J, Maeshima K, Magini N, Marraffino JM, Maruyama S, Mason D, McBride P, Merkel P, Mrenna S, Nahn S, O’Dell V, Pedro K, Prokofyev O, Rakness G, Ristori L, Sexton-Kennedy E, Soha A, Spalding WJ, Spiegel L, Stoynev S, Strait J, Strobbe N, Taylor L, Tkaczyk S, Tran NV, Uplegger L, Vaandering EW, Vernieri C, Verzocchi M, Vidal R, Wang M, Weber HA, Whitbeck A, Wu Y, Acosta D, Avery P, Bortignon P, Bourilkov D, Brinkerhoff A, Carnes A, Carver M, Curry D, Das S, Field RD, Furic IK, Konigsberg J, Korytov A, Low JF, Ma P, Matchev K, Mei H, Mitselmakher G, Rank D, Shchutska L, Sperka D, Thomas L, Wang J, Wang S, Yelton J, Linn S, Markowitz P, Martinez G, Rodriguez JL, Ackert A, Adams T, Askew A, Bein S, Hagopian S, Hagopian V, Johnson KF, Kolberg T, Perry T, Prosper H, Santra A, Yohay R, Baarmand MM, Bhopatkar V, Colafranceschi S, Hohlmann M, Noonan D, Roy T, Yumiceva F, Adams MR, Apanasevich L, Berry D, Betts RR, Bucinskaite I, Cavanaugh R, Chen X, Evdokimov O, Gauthier L, Gerber CE, Hofman DJ, Jung K, Sandoval Gonzalez ID, Varelas N, Wang H, Wu Z, Zakaria M, Zhang J, Bilki B, Clarida W, Dilsiz K, Durgut S, Gandrajula RP, Haytmyradov M, Khristenko V, Merlo JP, Mermerkaya H, Mestvirishvili A, Moeller A, Nachtman J, Ogul H, Onel Y, Ozok F, Penzo A, Snyder C, Tiras E, Wetzel J, Yi K, Blumenfeld B, Cocoros A, Eminizer N, Fehling D, Feng L, Gritsan AV, Maksimovic P, Roskes J, Sarica U, Swartz M, Xiao M, You C, Al-bataineh A, Baringer P, Bean A, Boren S, Bowen J, Castle J, Forthomme L, Kenny RP, Khalil S, Kropivnitskaya A, Majumder D, Mcbrayer W, Murray M, Sanders S, Stringer R, Tapia Takaki JD, Wang Q, Ivanov A, Kaadze K, Maravin Y, Mohammadi A, Saini LK, Skhirtladze N, Toda S, Rebassoo F, Wright D, Anelli C, Baden A, Baron O, Belloni A, Calvert B, Eno SC, Ferraioli C, Gomez JA, Hadley NJ, Jabeen S, Jeng GY, Kellogg RG, Kunkle J, Mignerey AC, Ricci-Tam F, Shin YH, Skuja A, Tonjes MB, Tonwar SC, Abercrombie D, Allen B, Apyan A, Azzolini V, Barbieri R, Baty A, Bi R, Bierwagen K, Brandt S, Busza W, Cali IA, D’Alfonso M, Demiragli Z, Gomez Ceballos G, Goncharov M, Hsu D, Iiyama Y, Innocenti GM, Klute M, Kovalskyi D, Krajczar K, Lai YS, Lee YJ, Levin A, Luckey PD, Maier B, Marini AC, Mcginn C, Mironov C, Narayanan S, Niu X, Paus C, Roland C, Roland G, Salfeld-Nebgen J, Stephans GSF, Tatar K, Velicanu D, Wang J, Wang TW, Wyslouch B, Benvenuti AC, Chatterjee RM, Evans A, Hansen P, Kalafut S, Kao SC, Kubota Y, Lesko Z, Mans J, Nourbakhsh S, Ruckstuhl N, Rusack R, Tambe N, Turkewitz J, Acosta JG, Oliveros S, Avdeeva E, Bloom K, Claes DR, Fangmeier C, Gonzalez Suarez R, Kamalieddin R, Kravchenko I, Malta Rodrigues A, Monroy J, Siado JE, Snow GR, Stieger B, Alyari M, Dolen J, Godshalk A, Harrington C, Iashvili I, Kaisen J, Nguyen D, Parker A, Rappoccio S, Roozbahani B, Alverson G, Barberis E, Hortiangtham A, Massironi A, Morse DM, Nash D, Orimoto T, De Lima RT, Trocino D, Wang RJ, Wood D, Bhattacharya S, Charaf O, Hahn KA, Kumar A, Mucia N, Odell N, Pollack B, Schmitt MH, Sung K, Trovato M, Velasco M, Dev N, Hildreth M, Hurtado Anampa K, Jessop C, Karmgard DJ, Kellams N, Lannon K, Marinelli N, Meng F, Mueller C, Musienko Y, Planer M, Reinsvold A, Ruchti R, Rupprecht N, Smith G, Taroni S, Wayne M, Wolf M, Woodard A, Alimena J, Antonelli L, Bylsma B, Durkin LS, Flowers S, Francis B, Hart A, Hill C, Ji W, Liu B, Luo W, Puigh D, Winer BL, Wulsin HW, Cooperstein S, Driga O, Elmer P, Hardenbrook J, Hebda P, Lange D, Luo J, Marlow D, Medvedeva T, Mei K, Ojalvo I, Olsen J, Palmer C, Piroué P, Stickland D, Svyatkovskiy A, Tully C, Malik S, Barker A, Barnes VE, Folgueras S, Gutay L, Jha MK, Jones M, Jung AW, Khatiwada A, Miller DH, Neumeister N, Schulte JF, Shi X, Sun J, Wang F, Xie W, Parashar N, Stupak J, Adair A, Akgun B, Chen Z, Ecklund KM, Geurts FJM, Guilbaud M, Li W, Michlin B, Northup M, Padley BP, Roberts J, Rorie J, Tu Z, Zabel J, Betchart B, Bodek A, de Barbaro P, Demina R, Duh YT, Ferbel T, Galanti M, Garcia-Bellido A, Han J, Hindrichs O, Khukhunaishvili A, Lo KH, Tan P, Verzetti M, Ciesielski R, Agapitos A, Chou JP, Gershtein Y, Gómez Espinosa TA, Halkiadakis E, Heindl M, Hughes E, Kaplan S, Kunnawalkam Elayavalli R, Kyriacou S, Lath A, Nash K, Osherson M, Saka H, Salur S, Schnetzer S, Sheffield D, Somalwar S, Stone R, Thomas S, Thomassen P, Walker M, Delannoy AG, Foerster M, Heideman J, Riley G, Rose K, Spanier S, Thapa K, Bouhali O, Celik A, Dalchenko M, De Mattia M, Delgado A, Dildick S, Eusebi R, Gilmore J, Huang T, Juska E, Kamon T, Mueller R, Pakhotin Y, Patel R, Perloff A, Perniè L, Rathjens D, Safonov A, Tatarinov A, Ulmer KA, Akchurin N, Damgov J, De Guio F, Dragoiu C, Dudero PR, Faulkner J, Gurpinar E, Kunori S, Lamichhane K, Lee SW, Libeiro T, Peltola T, Undleeb S, Volobouev I, Wang Z, Greene S, Gurrola A, Janjam R, Johns W, Maguire C, Melo A, Ni H, Sheldon P, Tuo S, Velkovska J, Xu Q, Arenton MW, Barria P, Cox B, Goodell J, Hirosky R, Ledovskoy A, Li H, Neu C, Sinthuprasith T, Sun X, Wang Y, Wolfe E, Xia F, Clarke C, Harr R, Karchin PE, Sturdy J, Zaleski S, Belknap DA, Buchanan J, Caillol C, Dasu S, Dodd L, Duric S, Gomber B, Grothe M, Herndon M, Hervé A, Klabbers P, Lanaro A, Levine A, Long K, Loveless R, Pierro GA, Polese G, Ruggles T, Savin A, Smith N, Smith WH, Taylor D, Woods N. Study of dijet events with a large rapidity gap between the two leading jets in pp collisions at s = 7 TeV

Events with no charged particles produced between the two leading jets are studied in proton-proton collisions ats = 7 TeV . The jets were required to have transverse momentump T jet > 40 GeV and pseudorapidity1.5 < | η jet | < 4.7 , and to have values of η jet with opposite signs. The data used for this study were collected with the CMS detector during low-luminosity running at the LHC, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 8pb - 1 . Events with no charged particles withp T > 0.2 GeV in the interval - 1 < η < 1 between the jets are observed in excess of calculations that assume no color-singlet exchange. The fraction of events with such a rapidity gap, amounting to 0.5-1% of the selected dijet sample, is measured as a function of the p T of the second-leading jet and of the rapidity separation between the jets. The data are compared to previous measurements at the Tevatron, and to perturbative quantum chromodynamics calculations based on the Balitsky-Fadin-Kuraev-Lipatov evolution equations, including different models of the non-perturbative gap survival probability.

Search for new phenomena with the M T 2 variable in the all-hadronic final state produced in proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV

A search for new phenomena is performed using events with jets and significant transverse momentum imbalance, as inferred through the M T 2 variable. The results are based on a sample of proton-proton collisions collected in 2016 at a center-of-mass energy of 13TeV with the CMS detector and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9fb -1 . No excess event yield is observed above the predicted standard model background, and the results are interpreted as exclusion limits at 95% confidence level on the masses of predicted particles in a variety of simplified models of R-parity conserving supersymmetry. Depending on the details of the model, 95% confidence level lower limits on the gluino (light-flavor squark) masses are placed up to 2025 (1550)GeV . Mass limits as high as 1070 (1175)GeV are set on the masses of top (bottom) squarks. Information is provided to enable re-interpretation of these results, including model-independent limits on the number of non-standard model events for a set of simplified, inclusive search regions.

Use of Doppler velocimetry in diagnosis and prognosis of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR): A Review

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is a condition which has been difficult to assess at an early stage, resulting in the delivery of children who have poor genetic growth potential. Currently, IUGR classification is based upon the system of ultrasound biometry. Doppler velocimetry allows the measurement of hemodynamic flow of major fetal vessels, comparing the flow indices and patterns of normal and IUGR cases. In this review, the effectiveness of Doppler velocimetry in assessing blood flow in major vessels including the umbilical artery, ductus venosus, and middle cerebral artery was studied for both diagnostic and prognostic screening of IUGR. The umbilical artery is the most frequently studied vessel in Doppler velocimetry due to its accessibility and the strength of its associations with fetal outcomes. Abnormalities in the ductus venosus waveform can be indicative of increased resistance in the right atrium due to placental abnormalities. The middle cerebral artery is the most studied fetal cerebral artery and can detect cerebral blood flow and direction, which is why these three vessels were selected to be examined in this context. A potential mathematical model could be developed to incorporate these Doppler measurements which are indicative of IUGR, in order to reduce perinatal mortality. The purpose of the proposed algorithm is to integrate Doppler velocimetry with biophysical profiling in order to determine the optimal timing of delivery, thus reducing the risks of adverse perinatal outcomes.

Effect of early adjunctive use of oral sildenafil and inhaled nitric oxide on the outcome of pulmonary hypertension in newborn infants. A feasibility study

INTRODUCTION

Inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) is the standard therapy for infants with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN). Recently, sildenafil has been evaluated as an alternative or adjunctive pulmonary vasodilator.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the effectiveness of adding sildenafil as an early adjunctive therapy together with iNO when treating newborns with PPHN and/or hypoxemic respiratory failure.

METHODS

This is a randomized placebo trial on newborns with gestational age > 34 weeks, postnatal age < 48 hours, and diagnosed with PPHN (oxygen index (OI) ≥ 20). Newborns were randomized to two groups: Group A- received oral sildenafil and iNO, and group B- received placebo and iNO. Initial and follow up echocardiography were performed over 14 days period.

RESULTS

A total of 24 newborns were recruited; 13 of them received sildenafil in addition to iNO and 11 received iNO and placebo. The most common causes of PPHN were meconium aspiration syndrome, pneumonia, and RDS. At the starting point, OI was marginally higher in the intervention group without statistical significance (29 vs 28). There were no differences between the two groups regarding surfactant administration, incidence of pneumothoraces, and the underlying causes of PPHN. Sildenafil or placebo treatment started within 12 hours after starting iNO (8 vs 6 hours).

CONCLUSION

Early use of oral sildenafil next to iNO in cases of PPHN was tolerated well by newborns and it did not show significant adverse effects. Further studies with a larger sample size is needed to assess its effecacy.