Minimum Bias Research Articles

Inclusive J/ψ production in forward proton-proton and proton-lead collisions at high energy

We calculate the cross section for forward J/ψ production in proton-proton and minimum bias proton-lead collisions using the color glass condensate (CGC) and nonrelativistic QCD (NRQCD) formalism consistently with deep inelastic scattering data. The cross section for color singlet states is sensitive to a four-point correlator of Wilson lines for which we describe in the Gaussian approximation in the large-Nc limit. Furthermore, we quantify the importance of finite-Nc corrections to have a small ∼12% effect. In contrast with the generic NRQCD expectation, we show that the color singlet contribution is only 15% to the total cross section. We also compare our predictions for J/ψ production as well as for the nuclear modification ratio RpPb to LHCb and ALICE data. We find a good agreement at forward rapidities, except at low transverse momenta where the cross sections are overestimated. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Benchmarking Point-of-Care Glucometers: A Comparative Study Using the Hexokinase Test and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Standards.

Introduction The International Diabetes Federation states that India accounts for one in seven of all adults with diabetes. Adherence to self-monitoring of blood glucose is essential for effective management of diabetes. Despite the wide variety of glucometers and their clinical applicability, there is a lot of ambiguity regarding their accuracy. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate if three point-of-care glucometers using three different methods for the estimation of blood glucose fulfil the minimum accuracy needed by ISO15197:2013 when compared with the gold standard hexokinase test. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted at two primary health care centers in Ernakulam district, which included 73 participants with diabetes and 73 without diabetes. We evaluated three different enzymes in the test glucometers: glucose dehydrogenase with pyrroloquinoline quinone (GDH-PQQ), glucose dehydrogenase with flavin adenine dinucleotide (GDH-FAD), and glucose oxidase (GOD). The glucometer readings were compared with the gold standard hexokinase test and ISO15197:2013 standards. To compare the accuracy of each glucometer with the reference method, the Bland-Altman plot was used and to evaluate the clinical significance of the differences between the glucometer and reference value the Clarke error grid analysis was performed. Results When compared with the gold standard hexokinase result, only 78.08% (GOD), 92.4% (GDH-PQQ), and 95.8 (GDH-FAD) of results were within the limits stipulated by ISO15197:2013. All three glucometers showed blood glucose results within zones A and B of the consensus error grid, implying that it is clinically acceptable, and the Bland-Altman plot showed that the GDH-FAD method had the narrowest range between the upper and lower limit of agreement and a minimum bias of -0.89. Conclusion Only one test glucometer with the GDH-FAD method met the ISO15197:2013 criteria. Glucometers must meet the accuracy standards for the safety of the patients.

A-147 Comparative Precision of Platelet Counting by Optical, Fluorescent, and Impedance Techniques in Thrombocytopenia and Microcytosis Patients

Abstract Background In today's era of automation driven by Artificial Intelligence, even the most efficient automated hematology analyzer may struggle to accurately determine platelet count in patients with low platelet count and microcytosis. The Sysmex XN-series analyzer (Sysmex, Kobe, Japan) uses optical density, fluorescence, and electronic impedance methods for platelet counting. This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of optical, fluorescence, and electrical impedance methods in estimating precise platelet counts in thrombocytopenic and microcytic patient samples. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Laboratory Medicine at AIIMS, New Delhi, for 30 days consecutively. A total of 200 blood samples collected, of which 100 samples were of thrombocytopenia (<100x10^9/L) and 100 samples were of microcytosis (Mean corpuscular volume <76 femtoliters). MCV<76 fl was further categorized into 2 groups- MCV 60-70 fl and MCV 71-76 fl accordingly. Males and females were categorized and analyzed distinctly for thrombocytopenia and microcytosis. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 16.0 for Windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) and the Bland Altman plot was analyzed. Results Of the 100 patients with thrombocytopenia (platelet<1 lakh/L) females were predominantly 54% while males were 46% and the median age was 29 years (0.02-70). Of the 100 patients with low MCV (<76 fl) females were 53%, while males were 47% and the median age was 29 years (0.3-69). The findings were compared against the standard manual platelet count method in peripheral smears verified by two expert pathologists. The Bland Altman plot for Platelet <1 lakh/L and MCV <76 fl were compared with standard manual platelet count method and the following findings were obtained i) In female with PLT- <1 lakh/L, PLT-O showed least bias (9.8) followed by PLT-F (10.4) and PLT-I (12.1) ii) In males with PLT-<1 lakh/L, PLT-O showed least bias(14.1) followed by PLT-F(16.5) and PLT-I(17.0) iii) For MCV 61-70fl, PLT-O showed the least bias (4.4) followed by PLT-F (6.7) and PLT-I (28.5) iv)For MCV 71-76fl, PLT-F showed least bias (-0.2) followed by PLT-O (1.5) and PLT-I(31.2). Conclusions Platelet count by optical method (PLT-O) detects platelet count more accurately with minimum bias when compared with PLT-F and PLT-I in patients with thrombocytopenia. In patients with microcytosis, PLT-I is less reliable in comparison to PLT-O and PLT-F. A limitation of the automated hematology analyzer is the inability to detect platelet clumps which is appreciated in peripheral smears.

Nonuniversality of heavy quark hadronization in elementary high-energy collisions

It has been traditionally hypothesized that the heavy quark (charm c and bottom b) fragmentation is universal across different collision systems, based on the notion that hadronization as a soft process should occur at the characteristic nonperturbative quantum chromodynamics (QCD) scale, ΛQCD. However, this universality hypothesis has recently been challenged by the observation that the c- and b-baryon production relative to their meson counterparts in minimum bias proton-proton (pp) collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) energies is significantly enhanced as compared to the electron-positron (e+e−) collisions. The conception of nonuniversality is unambiguously reinforced by the latest measurement of the charged-particle multiplicity dependence of the b-baryon–to–meson yield ratio, Λb/B, by the LHCb experiment in s=13TeVpp collisions at the LHC, evolving continuously from the saturation value in minimum bias pp collisions toward the small value in e+e− collisions as the system size gradually reduces. We address the multiplicity dependence of b-baryon production in the canonical statistical hadronization model with input b-hadron spectrum augmented with many hitherto unobserved states from quark model predictions. We demonstrate that the decreasing trend of the Λb/B toward low multiplicities can be quantitatively understood from the canonical suppression on the yield of Λb, as caused by the requirement of strict conservation of baryon number in sufficiently small systems. We have therefore proposed a plausible scenario for understanding the origin of the nonuniversality of heavy quark fragmentation in elementary collisions. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Estimation Approach for a Linear Quantile-Regression Model with Long-Memory Stationary GARMA Errors

The aim of this paper is to assess the significant impact of using quantile analysis in multiple fields of scientific research . Here, we focus on estimating conditional quantile functions when the errors follow a GARMA (Generalized Auto-Regressive Moving Average) model. Our key theoretical contribution involves identifying the Quantile-Regression (QR) coefficients within the context of GARMA errors. We propose a modified maximum-likelihood estimation method using an EM algorithm to estimate the target coefficients and derive their statistical properties. The proposed procedure yields estimators that are strongly consistent and asymptotically normal under mild conditions. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed estimators, a simulation study is conducted employing the minimum bias and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) criterion. Furthermore, an empirical application is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology in practice.

Search for jet quenching effects in high-multiplicity pp collisions at s\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\sqrt{s} $$\\end{document} = 13 TeV via di-jet acoplanarity

The ALICE Collaboration reports a search for jet quenching effects in high-multiplicity (HM) proton-proton collisions at s\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\sqrt{s} $$\\end{document} = 13 TeV, using the semi-inclusive azimuthal-difference distribution ∆φ of charged-particle jets recoiling from a high transverse momentum (high-pT,trig) trigger hadron. Jet quenching may broaden the ∆φ distribution measured in HM events compared to that in minimum bias (MB) events. The measurement employs a pT,trig-differential observable for data-driven suppression of the contribution of multiple partonic interactions, which is the dominant background. While azimuthal broadening is indeed observed in HM compared to MB events, similar broadening for HM events is observed for simulations based on the PYTHIA 8 Monte Carlo generator, which does not incorporate jet quenching. Detailed analysis of these data and simulations show that the azimuthal broadening is due to bias of the HM selection towards events with multiple jets in the final state. The identification of this bias has implications for all jet quenching searches where selection is made on the event activity.

Congressional Apportionment: A Multiobjective Optimization Approach

Two events, with major implications for U.S. voters, occur after each decennial census. First, congressional “apportionment” takes place, followed by congressional “districting.” Apportionment determines how to allocate the 435 seats in the House of Representatives across the 50 states, whereas districting determines the geographic boundaries assigned to representatives within each state. Although districting and the practice of gerrymandering often receive great attention in the media and courts, the best way to apportion representatives across states has been debated for nearly 250 years. Historical methods (including the current method) each satisfy some desirable optimality criteria that the others are not guaranteed to satisfy. Moreover, none are guaranteed to optimize certain reasonable fairness measures (e.g., minimum range, minimum bias). To our knowledge, we are the first to formulate and analyze a multiobjective optimization approach to apportionment, allowing policymakers to identify Pareto-optimal allocations and quantify their trade-offs between several competing criteria. Some of these models can be formulated and solved as mixed-integer linear programs, whereas others require the solution of mixed-integer, nonconvex, quadratically constrained quadratic programs. We take advantage of recent software advances that allow one to solve these problems with optimality guarantees. Policy implications of our work include Pareto curves from historical censuses and simulations, which suggest opportunities for improvement in some objectives at little sacrifice to others. This paper was accepted by David Simchi-Levi, operations management. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.02472 .

Measurement of inclusive charged-particle jet production in pp and p-Pb collisions at sNN\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\sqrt{s_{\ extrm{NN}}} $$\\end{document} = 5.02 TeV

Measurements of inclusive charged-particle jet production in pp and p-Pb collisions at center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon collision sNN\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\sqrt{s_{\ extrm{NN}}} $$\\end{document} = 5.02 TeV and the corresponding nuclear modification factor RpPbchjet\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {R}_{\ extrm{pPb}}^{\ extrm{ch}\\ \ extrm{jet}} $$\\end{document} are presented, using data collected with the ALICE detector at the LHC. Jets are reconstructed in the central rapidity region |ηjet| < 0.5 from charged particles using the anti-kT algorithm with resolution parameters R = 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4. The pT-differential inclusive production cross section of charged-particle jets, as well as the corresponding cross section ratios, are reported for pp and p-Pb collisions in the transverse momentum range 10 <pT,jetch\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {p}_{\ extrm{T},\ extrm{jet}}^{\ extrm{ch}} $$\\end{document}< 140 GeV/c and 10 <pT,jetch\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {p}_{\ extrm{T},\ extrm{jet}}^{\ extrm{ch}} $$\\end{document}< 160 GeV/c, respectively, together with the nuclear modification factor RpPbchjet\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {R}_{\ extrm{pPb}}^{\ extrm{ch}\\ \ extrm{jet}} $$\\end{document} in the range 10 <pT,jetch\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {p}_{\ extrm{T},\ extrm{jet}}^{\ extrm{ch}} $$\\end{document}< 140 GeV/c. The analysis extends the pT range of the previously-reported charged-particle jet measurements by the ALICE Collaboration. The nuclear modification factor is found to be consistent with one and independent of the jet resolution parameter with the improved precision of this study, indicating that the possible influence of cold nuclear matter effects on the production cross section of charged-particle jets in p-Pb collisions at sNN\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\sqrt{s_{\ extrm{NN}}} $$\\end{document} = 5.02 TeV is smaller than the current precision. The obtained results are in agreement with other minimum bias jet measurements available for RHIC and LHC energies, and are well reproduced by the NLO perturbative QCD Powheg calculations with parton shower provided by Pythia8 as well as by Jetscape simulations.

The ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider: a description of the detector configuration for Run 3

The ATLAS detector is installed in its experimental cavern at Point 1 of the CERN Large Hadron Collider. During Run 2 of the LHC, a luminosity of ℒ = 2 × 1034 cm-2 s-1 was routinely achieved at the start of fills, twice the design luminosity. For Run 3, accelerator improvements, notably luminosity levelling, allow sustained running at an instantaneous luminosity of ℒ = 2 × 1034 cm-2 s-1, with an average of up to 60 interactions per bunch crossing. The ATLAS detector has been upgraded to recover Run 1 single-lepton trigger thresholds while operating comfortably under Run 3 sustained pileup conditions. A fourth pixel layer 3.3 cm from the beam axis was added before Run 2 to improve vertex reconstruction and b-tagging performance. New Liquid Argon Calorimeter digital trigger electronics, with corresponding upgrades to the Trigger and Data Acquisition system, take advantage of a factor of 10 finer granularity to improve triggering on electrons, photons, taus, and hadronic signatures through increased pileup rejection. The inner muon endcap wheels were replaced by New Small Wheels with Micromegas and small-strip Thin Gap Chamber detectors, providing both precision tracking and Level-1 Muon trigger functionality. Trigger coverage of the inner barrel muon layer near one endcap region was augmented with modules integrating new thin-gap resistive plate chambers and smaller-diameter drift-tube chambers. Tile Calorimeter scintillation counters were added to improve electron energy resolution and background rejection. Upgrades to Minimum Bias Trigger Scintillators and Forward Detectors improve luminosity monitoring and enable total proton-proton cross section, diffractive physics, and heavy ion measurements. These upgrades are all compatible with operation in the much harsher environment anticipated after the High-Luminosity upgrade of the LHC and are the first steps towards preparing ATLAS for the High-Luminosity upgrade of the LHC. This paper describes the Run 3 configuration of the ATLAS detector.

Prophet time series modeling of waste disposal rates in four North American cities.

In this study, three different univariate municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal rate forecast models (SARIMA, Holt-Winters, Prophet) were examined using different testing periods in four North American cities with different socioeconomic conditions. A review of the literature suggests that the selected models are able to handle seasonality in a time series; however, their ability to handle outliers is not well understood. The Prophet model generally outperformed the Holt-Winters model and the SARIMA model. The MAPE and R2 of the Prophet model during pre-COVID-19 were 4.3-22.2% and 0.71-0.93, respectively. All three models showed satisfactory predictive results, especially during the pre-COVID-19 testing period. COVID-19 lockdowns and the associated regulatory measures appear to have affected MSW disposal behaviors, and all the univariate models failed to fully capture the abrupt changes in waste disposal behaviors. Modeling errors were largely attributed to data noise in seasonality and the unprecedented event of COVID-19 lockdowns. Overall, the modeling errors of the Prophet model were evenly distributed, with minimum modeling biases. The Prophet model also appeared to be versatile and successfully captured MSW disposal rates from 3000 to 39,000 tons/month. The study highlights the potential benefits of the use of univariate models in waste forecast.

Understanding the limitations of your assay using EQA data with serum creatinine as an example.

Laboratories need to take into consideration the specificity and imprecision of assays not only in verification, but also of quality assessment. This study investigates the composition of serum used in EQA materials by comparing material from a single and multiple donors (pooled material), across multiple methods, using creatinine as an example. Sixteen different serum matrices were distributed as 36 specimens through the UK NEQAS for Acute and Chronic Kidney Disease Scheme from March 2022 to March 2023. Male-only and female-only serum was used as single donations, pooled donations, unmanipulated or with addedexogenous creatinine. Specimens were distributed to primarily UK participants (approximately n=500) for creatinine analysis. Data has been reviewed by method compared to the enzymatic creatinine method principle mean. From the 16 different matrices, only the enzymatic creatinine assay systems from Roche Cobas and Siemens Atellica met the minimum acceptable bias goal, from biological data, of 5.6 %, in all specimens. Pooled material showed less variation in bias across all methods. Since Laboratories invest a lot of time and money in quality management, they need to know the limitations of their assays so that they are not investigating 'apparent' EQA/IQC problems which are purely due to non-specific, imprecise assay, rather than an analytical issuein their laboratory. When large numbers of individual donations are combined, interferents are essentially diluted out. Therefore, if EQA material is of this type it will be very difficult to determine the actual assay's bias and variability.

Multiplicity dependence of charged-particle jet production in pp collisions at 13 TeV with ALICE

Measurements of jet production and jet properties in pp collisions provide a test of perturbative quantum chromodynamics (pQCD) and form a baseline for similar measurements in heavy ion (A-A) collisions. In this contribution, we report recent ALICE measurements of charged-particle jet production and intra-jet properties, including mean charged-constituent multiplicity and fragmentation distribution for leading jets, in minimum bias pp collisions at \sqrt{s}s = 13 TeV. In addition, the event multiplicity dependence of jet production and jet properties in pp collisions at \sqrt{s}s = 13 TeV will be presented. Results will be compared with theoretical model predictions.

Are the dynamics of wall turbulence in minimal channels and larger domain channels equivalent? A graph-theoretic approach

This work proposes two algorithmic approaches to extract critical dynamical mechanisms in wall-bounded turbulence with minimum human bias. In both approaches, multiple types of coherent structures are spatiotemporally tracked, resulting in a complex multilayer network. Network motif analysis, i.e., extracting dominant non-random elemental patterns within these networks, is used to identify the most dominant dynamical mechanisms. Both approaches, combined with network motif analysis, are used to answer whether the main dynamical mechanisms of a minimal flow unit (MFU) and a larger unconstrained channel flow, labeled a full channel (FC), at Reτ ≈ 180, are equivalent. The first approach tracks traditional coherent structures defined as low- and high-speed streaks, ejections, and sweeps. It is found that the roll-streak pairing, consistent with the current understanding of self-sustaining processes, is the most significant and simplest dynamical mechanism in both flows. However, the MFU has a timescale for this mechanism that is approximately 2.83 times slower than that of the FC. In the second approach, we use semi-Lagrangian wavepackets and define coherent structures from their energetic streak, roll, and small-scale phase space. This method also shows similar motifs for both the MFU and FC. It indicates that, on average, the most dominant phase-space motifs are similar between the two flows, with the significant events taking place approximately 2.21 times slower in the MFU than in the FC. This value is more consistent with the implied timescale ratio of only the slow speed streaks taking part in the roll-streak pairing extracted using the first multi-type spatiotemporal approach, which is approximately 2.17 slower in the MFU than the FC.

Evaluating climate change scenarios in the white volta basin: A statistical bias-correction approach

This study provides a critical assessment of future climate scenarios in the White Volta Basin (WVB), an area heavily reliant on groundwater resources. With monthly model results for two Shared Socioeconomic Pathway Scenarios (SSP2-4.5 and 5–8.5), seven (7) Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) models with spatial resolution ranging from 1.125° × 2.8° were assessed. The study also considered, three 30-year time intervals, 1971–2013 for the Baseline (historical) climate, the 2020s (2020–2040) 2050s (2041–2070), and the 2080s (2071–2075) for the future climate scenarios. The Climate Change for Watershed Modeling (CMhyd) software was used for bias correction of these models, with observational data sourced from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction's Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (NCEP CFSR) and 12 gridded climate stations. The bias-corrected models validated using R2, NSE, RMSE, PBIAS, and additional metrics, demonstrated good calibration results compared to observed data. Precipitation ensembles showed 97–99% R2, 94–99% NSE, 70–485 mm RMSE, and -9-5% PBIAS. Maximum and minimum bias corrected temperatures performance varied from 95 to 99% R2, 92–99% NSE, 0.01–0.07 RMSE, and 0.01–0.23 PBIAS, Overall, precipitation levels are expected to decline for SSP2-4.5, while under SSP5-8.5 are expected to increase until the 2080s across all scenarios in comparison to the baseline period. Maximum temperature will be considerably high under SSP5-8.5, with an estimated increase of around 4.3 °C/year in comparison to the reference period. The monthly average variation in the maximum temperature ranges from 0.62 to 2.43 0Cunder the SSP5-8.5 scenario. These findings reveal the potential impacts of climate change on agricultural productivity, groundwater recharge, and crucial information for the development of Ghana's National Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). Thus, emphasizing the need for comprehensive adaptation strategies to mitigate the climate change impact on water resources and ecosystem services.

Quantitative Comparison of Liver Volume, Proton Density Fat Fraction, and Time Burden between Automatic Whole Liver Segmentation and Manual Sampling MRI Strategies for Diagnosing Metabolic Dysfunction-associated Steatotic Liver Disease in Obese Patients.

The performance of automatic liver segmentation and manual sampling MRI strategies needs be compared to determine interchangeability. To compare automatic liver segmentation and manual sampling strategies (manual whole liver segmentation and standardized manual region of interest) for performance in quantifying liver volume and MRI-proton density fat fraction (MRI-PDFF), identifying steatosis grade, and time burden. Fifty patients with obesity who underwent liver biopsy and MRI between December 2017 and November 2018 were included. Sampling strategies included automatic and manual whole liver segmentation and 4 and 9 large regions of interest. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), Bland-Altman, linear regression, receiver operating characteristic curve, and Pearson correlation analyses were performed. Automatic whole liver segmentation liver volume and manual whole liver segmentation liver volume showed excellent agreement (ICC=0.97), high correlation (R2=0.96), and low bias (3.7%, 95% limits of agreement, -4.8%, 12.2%) in liver volume. There was the best agreement (ICC=0.99), highest correlation (R2=1.00), and minimum bias (0.84%, 95% limits of agreement, -0.20%, 1.89%) between automated whole liver segmentation MRI-PDFF and manual whole liver segmentation MRI-PDFF. There was no difference of each paired comparison of receiver operating characteristic curves for detecting steatosis (P=0.07-1.00). The minimum time burden for automatic whole liver segmentation was 0.32 s (0.32-0.33 s). Automatic measurement has similar effects to manual measurement in quantifying liver volume, MRI-PDFF, and detecting steatosis. Time burden of automatic whole liver segmentation is minimal among all sampling strategies. Manual measurement can be replaced by automatic measurement to improve quantitative efficiency.

Entropy and heat capacity of the transverse momentum distribution for pp collisions at RHIC and LHC energies

We investigate the transverse momentum distribution (TMD) statistics from three different theoretical approaches. In particular, we explore the framework used for string models, wherein the particle production is given by the Schwinger mechanism. The thermal distribution arises from the Gaussian fluctuations of the string tension. The hard part of the TMD can be reproduced by considering heavy tailed string tension fluctuations, for instance, the Tsallis q-Gaussian function, giving rise to a confluent hypergeometric function that fits the entire experimental TMD data. We also discuss the QCD-based Hagerdon function, another family of fitting functions frequently used to describe the spectrum. We analyze the experimental data of minimum bias pp collisions reported by the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments (from s=0.2 TeV to s=13 TeV). We extracted the corresponding temperature by studying the behavior of the spectra at low transverse momentum values. For the three approaches, we compute all moments, highlighting the average, variance, and kurtosis. Finally, we compute the Shannon entropy and the heat capacity through the entropy derivative with respect to the temperature. We found that the q-Gaussian string tension fluctuations lead to a monotonically increasing heat capacity as a function of the center-of-mass energy, which is also observed for the Hagedorn fitting function. This behavior is consistent with the experimental observation that the temperature slowly rises with increments of the collision energy. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Skewness and kurtosis of mean transverse momentum fluctuations at the LHC energies

The first measurements of skewness and kurtosis of mean transverse momentum (〈pT〉) fluctuations are reported in Pb–Pb collisions at sNN = 5.02 TeV, Xe–Xe collisions at sNN = 5.44 TeV and pp collisions at s=5.02 TeV using the ALICE detector. The measurements are carried out as a function of system size 〈dNch/dη〉|η|<0.51/3, using charged particles with transverse momentum (pT) and pseudorapidity (η), in the range 0.2<pT<3.0 GeV/c and |η|<0.8, respectively. In Pb–Pb and Xe–Xe collisions, positive skewness is observed in the fluctuations of 〈pT〉 for all centralities, which is significantly larger than what would be expected in the scenario of independent particle emission. This positive skewness is considered a crucial consequence of the hydrodynamic evolution of the hot and dense nuclear matter created in heavy-ion collisions. Furthermore, similar observations of positive skewness for minimum bias pp collisions are also reported here. Kurtosis of 〈pT〉 fluctuations is found to be in good agreement with the kurtosis of Gaussian distribution, for most central Pb–Pb collisions. Hydrodynamic model calculations with MUSIC using Monte Carlo Glauber initial conditions are able to explain the measurements of both skewness and kurtosis qualitatively from semicentral to central collisions in Pb–Pb system. Color reconnection mechanism in PYTHIA8 model seems to play a pivotal role in capturing the qualitative behavior of the same measurements in pp collisions.

Two-particle Bose-Einstein correlations and their Lévy parameters in PbPb collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV

Two-particle Bose–Einstein momentum correlation functions are studied for charged-hadron pairs in lead-lead collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of sNN=5.02TeV. The data sample, containing 4.27×109 minimum bias events corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.607 nb−1, was collected by the CMS experiment in 2018. The experimental results are discussed in terms of a Lévy-type source distribution. The parameters of this distribution are extracted as functions of particle pair average transverse mass and collision centrality. These parameters include the Lévy index or shape parameter α, the Lévy scale parameter R, and the correlation strength parameter λ. The source shape, characterized by α, is found to be neither Cauchy nor Gaussian, implying the need for a full Lévy analysis. Similarly to what was previously found for systems characterized by Gaussian source radii, a hydrodynamical scaling is observed for the Lévy R parameter. The λ parameter is studied in terms of the core-halo model. ©2024 CERN, for the CMS Collaboration 2024 CERN

Investigating the Current Harmonization Status of Tumor Markers Using Global External Quality Assessment Programs: A Feasibility Study.

The harmonization status of most tumor markers (TMs) is unknown. We report a feasibility study performed to determine whether external quality assessment (EQA) programs can be used to obtain insights into the current harmonization status of the tumor markers α-fetoprotein (AFP), prostate specific antigen (PSA), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cancer antigen (CA)125, CA15-3 and CA19-9. EQA sample results provided by 6 EQA providers (INSTAND [Germany], Korean Association of External Quality Assessment Service [KEQAS, South Korea], National Center for Clinical Laboratories [NCCL, China], United Kingdom National External Quality Assessment Service [UK NEQAS, United Kingdom], Stichting Kwaliteitsbewaking Medische Laboratoriumdiagnostiek [SKML, the Netherlands], and the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Quality Assurance Programs [RCPAQAP, Australia]) between 2020 and 2021 were used. The consensus means, calculated from the measurement procedures present in all EQA programs (Abbott Alinity, Beckman Coulter DxI, Roche Cobas, and Siemens Atellica), was used as reference values. Per measurement procedure, the relative difference between consensus mean for each EQA sample and the mean of all patient-pool-based EQA samples were calculated and compared to minimum, desirable, and optimal allowable bias criteria based on biological variation. Between 19040 (CA15-3) and 25398 (PSA) individual results and 56 (PSA) to 76 (AFP) unique EQA samples were included in the final analysis. The mean differences with the consensus mean of patient-pool-based EQA samples for all measurement procedures were within the optimum bias criterion for AFP, the desirable bias for PSA, and the minimum bias criterion for CEA. However, CEA results <8 µg/L exceeded the minimum bias criterion. For CA125, CA15-3, and CA19-9, the harmonization status was outside the minimum bias criterion, with systematic differences identified. This study provides relevant information about the current harmonization status of 6 tumor markers. A pilot harmonization investigation for CEA, CA125, CA15-3, and CA19-9 would be desirable.

Assessment of preferable site for temperature measurement using non-contact infra-red temperature among pediatric patients.

Accurate temperature measurement with little or no discomfort that is safe, without risk of hospital-acquired infections or perforations, is the preferred choice of medical professionals in pediatric settings. The objective was to discover the preferable site for body temperature measurement using non-contact infra-red thermometer (NCIT) among pediatric patients. NCIT measurement at mid forehead (F), right temporal region (T), right side of neck-over-carotid artery area (N), jugular notch (J), sternum (S), umbilical region and sublingual region (U) were compared with digital axillary temperature (DAT) in a single attempt in 500 patients, aged between 2 to 5 years with fever. Data was analyzed using Pearson's correlation, paired t-test and Bland-Altman plot to assess the correlation and agreement between the DAT and NCIT sites. The mean temperature of NCIT-T (38.42±0.64 °C) was more agreeable with DAT (38.42±0.63 °C) compared to other body sites. The minimum mean bias of -0.00480 °C was noted for NCIT-F with 95% CI of -0.164-0.15; however, NCIT-F revealed many outliers as compared to NCIT-J. A strong positive correlation existed between DAT and NCIT sites (r value: 0.99-0.98). However, significant difference was found between DAT and NCIT-N, NCIT-F and NCIT-U (P<0.0001). NCIT-J is the most preferable choice for measuring body temperature and can be interchanged with DAT. It will help to deliver fast results with enhanced patient comfort due to its non-invasive nature.