Measurement of dijet cross sections in pp collisions at 7 TeV centre-of-mass energy using the ATLAS detector

Double-differential dijet cross-sections measured in pp collisions at the LHC with a 7TeV centre-of-mass energy are presented as functions of dijet mass and half the rapidity separation of the two highest-pT jets. These measurements are obtained using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.5 fb−1, recorded by the ATLAS detector in 2011. The data are corrected for detector effects so that cross-sections are presented at the particle level. Cross-sections are measured up to 5TeV dijet mass using jets reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm for values of the jet radius parameter of 0.4 and 0.6. The cross-sections are compared with next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculations by NLOJet++ corrected to account for non-perturbative effects. Comparisons with POWHEG predictions, using a next-to-leading-order matrix element calculation interfaced to a partonshower Monte Carlo simulation, are also shown. Electroweak effects are accounted for in both cases. The quantitative comparison of data and theoretical predictions obtained using various parameterizations of the parton distribution functions is performed using a frequentist method. In general, good agreement with data is observed for the NLOJet++ theoretical predictions when using the CT10, NNPDF2.1 and MSTW 2008 PDF sets. Disagreement is observed when using the ABM11 and HERAPDF1.5 PDF sets for some ranges of dijet mass and half the rapidity separation. An example setting a lower limit on the compositeness scale for a model of contact interactions is presented, showing that the unfolded results can be used to constrain contributions to dijet production beyond that predicted by the Standard Model.

A regional climate palaeosimulation for Europe in the period 1500–1990 – Part 2: Shortcomings and strengths of models and reconstructions

This study compares gridded European seasonal series of surface air temperature (SAT) and precipitation (PRE) reconstructions with a regional climate simulation over the period 1500–1990. The area is analysed separately for nine subareas that represent the majority of the climate diversity in the European sector. In their spatial structure, an overall good agreement is found between the reconstructed and simulated climate features across Europe, supporting consistency in both products. Systematic biases between both data sets can be explained by a priori known deficiencies in the simulation. Simulations and reconstructions, however, largely differ in the temporal evolution of past climate for European subregions. In particular, the simulated anomalies during the Maunder and Dalton minima show stronger response to changes in the external forcings than recorded in the reconstructions. Although this disagreement is to some extent expected given the prominent role of internal variability in the evolution of regional temperature and precipitation, a certain degree of agreement is a priori expected in variables directly affected by external forcings. In this sense, the inability of the model to reproduce a warm period similar to that recorded for the winters during the first decades of the 18th century in the reconstructions is indicative of fundamental limitations in the simulation that preclude reproducing exceptionally anomalous conditions. Despite these limitations, the simulated climate is a physically consistent data set, which can be used as a benchmark to analyse the consistency and limitations of gridded reconstructions of different variables. A comparison of the leading modes of SAT and PRE variability indicates that reconstructions are too simplistic, especially for precipitation, which is associated with the linear statistical techniques used to generate the reconstructions. The analysis of the co-variability between sea level pressure (SLP) and SAT and PRE in the simulation yields a result which resembles the canonical co-variability recorded in the observations for the 20th century. However, the same analysis for reconstructions exhibits anomalously low correlations, which points towards a lack of dynamical consistency between independent reconstructions.

Pemphigus. S2 Guideline for diagnosis and treatment--guided by the European Dermatology Forum (EDF) in cooperation with the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV)

BACKGROUND Pemphigus encompasses a group of life-threatening autoimmune bullous diseases characterized by blisters and erosions of the mucous membranes and skin. Before the era of immunosuppressive treatment, the prognosis of pemphigus was almost fatal. Due to its rarity, only few prospective controlled therapeutic trials are available. OBJECTIVES For this reason, a group of European dermatologists with a long-standing interest and expertise in basic and clinical pemphigus research has sought to define diagnostic and therapeutic guidelines for the management of patients with pemphigus. RESULTS This group identified the statements of major agreement or disagreement regarding the diagnostic and therapeutic management of pemphigus. The revised final version of the pemphigus guideline was finally passed on to the European Dermatology Forum (EDF) for a final consensus with the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) and the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS).

Comparative carbon cycle dynamics of the present and last interglacial

Changes in temperature and carbon dioxide during glacial cycles recorded in Antarctic ice cores are tightly coupled. However, this relationship does not hold for interglacials. While climate cooled towards the end of both the last (Eemian) and present (Holocene) interglacials, CO₂ remained stable during the Eemian while rising in the Holocene. We identify and review twelve biogeochemical mechanisms of terrestrial (vegetation dynamics and CO₂ fertilization, land use, wild fire, accumulation of peat, changes in permafrost carbon, subaerial volcanic outgassing) and marine origin (changes in sea surface temperature, carbonate compensation to deglaciation and terrestrial biosphere regrowth, shallow-water carbonate sedimentation, changes in the soft tissue pump, and methane hydrates), which potentially may have contributed to the CO₂ dynamics during interglacials but which remain not well quantified. We use three Earth System Models (ESMs) of intermediate complexity to compare effects of selected mechanisms on the interglacial CO₂ and δ¹³ CO₂ changes, focusing on those with substantial potential impacts: namely carbonate sedimentation in shallow waters, peat growth, and (in the case of the Holocene) human land use. A set of specified carbon cycle forcings could qualitatively explain atmospheric CO₂ dynamics from 8ka BP to the pre-industrial. However, when applied to Eemian boundary conditions from 126 to 115 ka BP, the same set of forcings led to disagreement with the observed direction of CO₂ changes after 122 ka BP. This failure to simulate late-Eemian CO₂ dynamics could be a result of the imposed forcings such as prescribed CaCO₃ accumulation and/or an incorrect response of simulated terrestrial carbon to the surface cooling at the end of the interglacial. These experiments also reveal that key natural processes of interglacial CO₂ dynamics eshallow water CaCO₃ accumulation, peat and permafrost carbon dynamics are not well represented in the current ESMs. Global-scale modeling of these long-term carbon cycle components started only in the last decade, and uncertainty in parameterization of these mechanisms is a main limitation in the successful modeling of interglacial CO₂ dynamics.

The comprehensiveness of the ESHRE/ESGE classification of female genital tract congenital anomalies: a systematic review of cases not classified by the AFS system.

STUDY QUESTION How comprehensive is the recently published European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE)/European Society for Gynaecological Endoscopy (ESGE) classification system of female genital anomalies? SUMMARY ANSWER The ESHRE/ESGE classification provides a comprehensive description and categorization of almost all of the currently known anomalies that could not be classified properly with the American Fertility Society (AFS) system. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Until now, the more accepted classification system, namely that of the AFS, is associated with serious limitations in effective categorization of female genital anomalies. Many cases published in the literature could not be properly classified using the AFS system, yet a clear and accurate classification is a prerequisite for treatment. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE AND DURATION The CONUTA (CONgenital UTerine Anomalies) ESHRE/ESGE group conducted a systematic review of the literature to examine if those types of anomalies that could not be properly classified with the AFS system could be effectively classified with the use of the new ESHRE/ESGE system. An electronic literature search through Medline, Embase and Cochrane library was carried out from January 1988 to January 2014. Three participants independently screened, selected articles of potential interest and finally extracted data from all the included studies. Any disagreement was discussed and resolved after consultation with a fourth reviewer and the results were assessed independently and approved by all members of the CONUTA group. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS Among the 143 articles assessed in detail, 120 were finally selected reporting 140 cases that could not properly fit into a specific class of the AFS system. Those 140 cases were clustered in 39 different types of anomalies. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE The congenital anomaly involved a single organ in 12 (30.8%) out of the 39 types of anomalies, while multiple organs and/or segments of Müllerian ducts (complex anomaly) were involved in 27 (69.2%) types. Uterus was the organ most frequently involved (30/39: 76.9%), followed by cervix (26/39: 66.7%) and vagina (23/39: 59%). In all 39 types, the ESHRE/ESGE classification system provided a comprehensive description of each single or complex anomaly. A precise categorization was reached in 38 out of 39 types studied. Only one case of a bizarre uterine anomaly, with no clear embryological defect, could not be categorized and thus was placed in Class 6 (un-classified) of the ESHRE/ESGE system. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION The review of the literature was thorough but we cannot rule out the possibility that other defects exist which will also require testing in the new ESHRE/ESGE system. These anomalies, however, must be rare. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS The comprehensiveness of the ESHRE/ESGE classification adds objective scientific validity to its use. This may, therefore, promote its further dissemination and acceptance, which will have a positive outcome in clinical care and research. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTERESTS None.

Finite volume effects in chiral perturbation theory with twisted boundary conditions

We study the effects of a finite cubic volume with twisted boundary conditions on pseudoscalar mesons. We apply Chiral Perturbation Theory in the p-regime and introduce the twist by means of a constant vector field. The corrections of masses, decay constants, pseudoscalar coupling constants and form factors are calculated at next-to-leading order. We detail the derivations and compare with results available in the literature. In some case there is disagreement due to a different treatment of new extra terms generated from the breaking of the cubic invariance. We advocate to treat such terms as renormalization terms of the twisting angles and reabsorb them in the on-shell conditions. We confirm that the corrections of masses, decay constants, pseudoscalar coupling constants are related by means of chiral Ward identities. Furthermore, we show that the matrix elements of the scalar (resp. vector) form factor satisfies the Feynman–Hellman Theorem (resp. the Ward–Takahashi identity). To show the Ward–Takahashi identity we construct an effective field theory for charged pions which is invariant under electromagnetic gauge transformations and which reproduces the results obtained with Chiral Perturbation Theory at a vanishing momentum transfer. This generalizes considerations previously published for periodic boundary conditions to twisted boundary conditions. Another method to estimate the corrections in finite volume are asymptotic formulae. Asymptotic formulae were introduced by Lüscher and relate the corrections of a given physical quantity to an integral of a specific amplitude, evaluated in infinite volume. Here, we revise the original derivation of Lüscher and generalize it to finite volume with twisted boundary conditions. In some cases, the derivation involves complications due to extra terms generated from the breaking of the cubic invariance. We isolate such terms and treat them as renormalization terms just as done before. In that way, we derive asymptotic formulae for masses, decay constants, pseudoscalar coupling constants and scalar form factors. At the same time, we derive also asymptotic formulae for renormalization terms. We apply all these formulae in combination with Chiral Perturbation Theory and estimate the corrections beyond next-to-leading order. We show that asymptotic formulae for masses, decay constants, pseudoscalar coupling constants are related by means of chiral Ward identities. A similar relation connects in an independent way asymptotic formulae for renormalization terms. We check these relations for charged pions through a direct calculation. To conclude, a numerical analysis quantifies the importance of finite volume corrections at next-to-leading order and beyond. We perform a generic Analysis and illustrate two possible applications to real simulations.

Psychological therapies for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia in adults: a network meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND Panic disorder is characterised by the presence of recurrent unexpected panic attacks, discrete periods of fear or anxiety that have a rapid onset and include symptoms such as racing heart, chest pain, sweating and shaking. Panic disorder is common in the general population, with a lifetime prevalence of 1% to 4%. A previous Cochrane meta-analysis suggested that psychological therapy (either alone or combined with pharmacotherapy) can be chosen as a first-line treatment for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia. However, it is not yet clear whether certain psychological therapies can be considered superior to others. In order to answer this question, in this review we performed a network meta-analysis (NMA), in which we compared eight different forms of psychological therapy and three forms of a control condition. OBJECTIVES To assess the comparative efficacy and acceptability of different psychological therapies and different control conditions for panic disorder, with or without agoraphobia, in adults. SEARCH METHODS We conducted the main searches in the CCDANCTR electronic databases (studies and references registers), all years to 16 March 2015. We conducted complementary searches in PubMed and trials registries. Supplementary searches included reference lists of included studies, citation indexes, personal communication to the authors of all included studies and grey literature searches in OpenSIGLE. We applied no restrictions on date, language or publication status. SELECTION CRITERIA We included all relevant randomised controlled trials (RCTs) focusing on adults with a formal diagnosis of panic disorder with or without agoraphobia. We considered the following psychological therapies: psychoeducation (PE), supportive psychotherapy (SP), physiological therapies (PT), behaviour therapy (BT), cognitive therapy (CT), cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), third-wave CBT (3W) and psychodynamic therapies (PD). We included both individual and group formats. Therapies had to be administered face-to-face. The comparator interventions considered for this review were: no treatment (NT), wait list (WL) and attention/psychological placebo (APP). For this review we considered four short-term (ST) outcomes (ST-remission, ST-response, ST-dropouts, ST-improvement on a continuous scale) and one long-term (LT) outcome (LT-remission/response). DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS As a first step, we conducted a systematic search of all relevant papers according to the inclusion criteria. For each outcome, we then constructed a treatment network in order to clarify the extent to which each type of therapy and each comparison had been investigated in the available literature. Then, for each available comparison, we conducted a random-effects meta-analysis. Subsequently, we performed a network meta-analysis in order to synthesise the available direct evidence with indirect evidence, and to obtain an overall effect size estimate for each possible pair of therapies in the network. Finally, we calculated a probabilistic ranking of the different psychological therapies and control conditions for each outcome. MAIN RESULTS We identified 1432 references; after screening, we included 60 studies in the final qualitative analyses. Among these, 54 (including 3021 patients) were also included in the quantitative analyses. With respect to the analyses for the first of our primary outcomes, (short-term remission), the most studied of the included psychological therapies was CBT (32 studies), followed by BT (12 studies), PT (10 studies), CT (three studies), SP (three studies) and PD (two studies).The quality of the evidence for the entire network was found to be low for all outcomes. The quality of the evidence for CBT vs NT, CBT vs SP and CBT vs PD was low to very low, depending on the outcome. The majority of the included studies were at unclear risk of bias with regard to the randomisation process. We found almost half of the included studies to be at high risk of attrition bias and detection bias. We also found selective outcome reporting bias to be present and we strongly suspected publication bias. Finally, we found almost half of the included studies to be at high risk of researcher allegiance bias.Overall the networks appeared to be well connected, but were generally underpowered to detect any important disagreement between direct and indirect evidence. The results showed the superiority of psychological therapies over the WL condition, although this finding was amplified by evident small study effects (SSE). The NMAs for ST-remission, ST-response and ST-improvement on a continuous scale showed well-replicated evidence in favour of CBT, as well as some sparse but relevant evidence in favour of PD and SP, over other therapies. In terms of ST-dropouts, PD and 3W showed better tolerability over other psychological therapies in the short term. In the long term, CBT and PD showed the highest level of remission/response, suggesting that the effects of these two treatments may be more stable with respect to other psychological therapies. However, all the mentioned differences among active treatments must be interpreted while taking into account that in most cases the effect sizes were small and/or results were imprecise. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS There is no high-quality, unequivocal evidence to support one psychological therapy over the others for the treatment of panic disorder with or without agoraphobia in adults. However, the results show that CBT - the most extensively studied among the included psychological therapies - was often superior to other therapies, although the effect size was small and the level of precision was often insufficient or clinically irrelevant. In the only two studies available that explored PD, this treatment showed promising results, although further research is needed in order to better explore the relative efficacy of PD with respect to CBT. Furthermore, PD appeared to be the best tolerated (in terms of ST-dropouts) among psychological treatments. Unexpectedly, we found some evidence in support of the possible viability of non-specific supportive psychotherapy for the treatment of panic disorder; however, the results concerning SP should be interpreted cautiously because of the sparsity of evidence regarding this treatment and, as in the case of PD, further research is needed to explore this issue. Behaviour therapy did not appear to be a valid alternative to CBT as a first-line treatment for patients with panic disorder with or without agoraphobia.

Clinical Evaluation of a Fully-automatic Segmentation Method for Longitudinal Brain Tumor Volumetry.

Information about the size of a tumor and its temporal evolution is needed for diagnosis as well as treatment of brain tumor patients. The aim of the study was to investigate the potential of a fully-automatic segmentation method, called BraTumIA, for longitudinal brain tumor volumetry by comparing the automatically estimated volumes with ground truth data acquired via manual segmentation. Longitudinal Magnetic Resonance (MR) Imaging data of 14 patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma encompassing 64 MR acquisitions, ranging from preoperative up to 12 month follow-up images, was analysed. Manual segmentation was performed by two human raters. Strong correlations (R = 0.83-0.96, p < 0.001) were observed between volumetric estimates of BraTumIA and of each of the human raters for the contrast-enhancing (CET) and non-enhancing T2-hyperintense tumor compartments (NCE-T2). A quantitative analysis of the inter-rater disagreement showed that the disagreement between BraTumIA and each of the human raters was comparable to the disagreement between the human raters. In summary, BraTumIA generated volumetric trend curves of contrast-enhancing and non-enhancing T2-hyperintense tumor compartments comparable to estimates of human raters. These findings suggest the potential of automated longitudinal tumor segmentation to substitute manual volumetric follow-up of contrast-enhancing and non-enhancing T2-hyperintense tumor compartments.

Definition and diagnostic criteria of sleep-related hypermotor epilepsy

The syndrome known as nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy is recognized worldwide and has been studied in a wide range of clinical and scientific settings (epilepsy, sleep medicine, neurosurgery, pediatric neurology, epidemiology, genetics). Though uncommon, it is of considerable interest to practicing neurologists because of complexity in differential diagnosis from more common, benign sleep disorders such as parasomnias, or other disorders like psychogenic nonepileptic seizures. Moreover, misdiagnosis can have substantial adverse consequences on patients' lives. At present, there is no consensus definition of this disorder and disagreement persists about its core electroclinical features and the spectrum of etiologies involved. To improve the definition of the disorder and establish diagnostic criteria with levels of certainty, a consensus conference using formal recommended methodology was held in Bologna in September 2014. It was recommended that the name be changed to sleep-related hypermotor epilepsy (SHE), reflecting evidence that the attacks are associated with sleep rather than time of day, the seizures may arise from extrafrontal sites, and the motor aspects of the seizures are characteristic. The etiology may be genetic or due to structural pathology, but in most cases remains unknown. Diagnostic criteria were developed with 3 levels of certainty: witnessed (possible) SHE, video-documented (clinical) SHE, and video-EEG-documented (confirmed) SHE. The main research gaps involve epidemiology, pathophysiology, treatment, and prognosis.