Using a BESIII-data sample of 1.31 × 109 J/ψ events collected in 2009 and 2012, the glueball-sensitive decay J/ψ→γpp¯ is analyzed. In the past, an exciting near-threshold enhancement X (pp¯) showed ...up. Furthermore, the poorly-understood properties of the ηc resonance, its radiative production, and many other interesting dynamics can be studied via this decay. The high statistics provided by BESIII enables to perform a partial-wave analysis (PWA) of the reaction channel. With a PWA, the spin-parity of the possible intermediate glueball state can be determined unambiguously and more information can be gained about the dynamics of other resonances, such as the ηc. The main background contributions are from final-state radiation and from the J/ψ→π0(γγ)pp¯ channel. In a follow-up study, we will investigate the possibilities to further suppress the background and to use data-driven methods to control them.
Kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) elicit an impaired immune response after COVID-19 vaccination; however, the exact clinical impact remains unclear. We therefore analyse the relationship between ...antibody levels after vaccination and the risk of COVID-19 in a large cohort of KTRs. All KTRs living in the Netherlands were invited to send a blood sample 28 days after their second COVID-19 vaccination for measurement of their IgG antibodies against the receptor-binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (anti-RBD IgG). Information on COVID-19 was collected from the moment the blood sample was obtained until 6 months thereafter. Multivariable Cox and logistic regression analyses were performed to analyse which factors affected the occurrence and severity (i.e., hospitalization and/or death) of COVID-19. In total, 12,159 KTRs were approached, of whom 2885 were included in the analyses. Among those, 1578 (54.7%) became seropositive (i.e., anti-RBD IgG level >50 BAU/mL). Seropositivity was associated with a lower risk for COVID-19, also after adjusting for multiple confounders, including socio-economic status and adherence to COVID-19 restrictions (HR 0.37 (0.19-0.47),
= 0.005). When studied on a continuous scale, we observed a log-linear relationship between antibody level and the risk for COVID-19 (HR 0.52 (0.31-0.89),
= 0.02). Similar results were found for COVID-19 severity. In conclusion, antibody level after COVID-19 vaccination is associated in a log-linear manner with the occurrence and severity of COVID-19 in KTRs. This implies that if future vaccinations are indicated, the aim should be to reach for as high an antibody level as possible and not only seropositivity to protect this vulnerable patient group from disease.
•COVID-19 associated with long-lasting symptoms in patients with advanced kidney disease.•Post COVID-19 condition (PCC) occurs in 24% of patients with advanced kidney disease.•Less likelihood of PCC ...if higher SARS-CoV-2 vaccine induced antibody levels.•More likelihood of PCC if previously hospital admitted during COVID-19.
The burden of post COVID-19 condition (PCC) is not well studied in patients with advanced kidney disease.
A large prospective cohort of SARS-CoV-2 vaccinated patients with chronic kidney disease stages G4–G5 (CKD G4/5), on dialysis, and kidney transplant recipients (KTR) were included. Antibody levels were determined after vaccination. Presence of long-lasting symptoms was assessed in patients with and without prior COVID-19 and compared using logistic regression. In patients with prior COVID-19, PCC was defined according to the WHO definition.
Two hundred sixteen CKD G4/5 patients, 375 dialysis patients, and 2005 KTR were included. Long-lasting symptoms were reported in 204/853 (24%) patients with prior COVID-19 and in 297/1743 (17%) patients without prior COVID-19 (aOR: 1.45 (1.17–1.78), P < 0.001). PCC was prevalent in 29% of CKD G4/5 patients, 21% of dialysis patients, and 24% of KTR. In addition, 69% of patients with PCC reported (very) high symptom burden. Odds of PCC was lower per 10-fold increase in antibody level after vaccination (aOR 0.82 0.70–0.96, P = 0.01) and higher in case of COVID-19 related hospital admission (aOR 4.64 2.61–8.25, P = 0.003).
CKD G4/5 patients, dialysis patients, and KTR are at risk for PCC with high symptom burden after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, especially if antibody levels are low and in case of hospitalization due to COVID-19.
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Precision data are presented for the break-up reaction, H2(p→,pp)n, within the framework of nuclear-force studies. The experiment was carried out at KVI using a polarized-proton beam of 190 MeV ...impinging on a liquid-deuterium target and by exploiting the detector, BINA. Some of the vector-analyzing powers are presented and compared with state-of-the-art Faddeev calculations including three-nucleon forces effect. Significant discrepancies between the data and theoretical predictions were observed for kinematical configurations which correspond to the H2(p→,He2)n channel. These results are compared to the H2(p→,d)p reaction to test the isospin sensitivity of the present three-nucleon force models. The current modeling of two and three-nucleon forces is not sufficient to describe consistently polarization data for both isospin states.
The immune response to COVID-19 vaccination is inferior in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) and to a lesser extent in patients on dialysis or with chronic kidney disease (CKD). We assessed the ...immune response 6 months after mRNA-1273 vaccination in kidney patients and compared this to controls.
A total of 152 participants with CKD stages G4/5 (eGFR <30 mL/min/1.73 m2), 145 participants on dialysis, 267 KTRs, and 181 controls were included. SARS-CoV-2 Spike S1 specific IgG antibodies were measured using fluorescent bead-based multiplex-immunoassay, neutralizing antibodies to ancestral, Delta, and Omicron (BA.1) variants by plaque reduction, and T-cell responses by interferon-γ release assay.
At 6 months after vaccination, S1-specific antibodies were detected in 100% of controls, 98.7% of CKD G4/5 patients, 95.1% of dialysis patients, and 56.6% of KTRs. These figures were comparable to the response rates at 28 days, but antibody levels waned significantly. Neutralization of the ancestral and Delta variants was detected in most participants, whereas neutralization of Omicron was mostly absent. S-specific T-cell responses were detected at 6 months in 75.0% of controls, 69.4% of CKD G4/5 patients, 52.6% of dialysis patients, and 12.9% of KTRs. T-cell responses at 6 months were significantly lower than responses at 28 days.
Although seropositivity rates at 6 months were comparable to rates at 28 days after vaccination, significantly decreased antibody levels and T-cell responses were observed. The combination of low antibody levels, reduced T-cell responses, and absent neutralization of the newly emerging variants indicates the need for additional boosts or alternative vaccination strategies in KTRs.
NCT04741386.
•We introduce a new representation and processing scheme for computing attribute-spaces and attribute-space connected filters. We have extended this concept to process graphs; this is a powerful tool ...when it comes to analysing images generated by multi-sensor systems. In addition, our method requires intrinsically a smaller amount of memory to store image representations in different attribute-spaces. The latter makes it possible to process more complex and larger images in higher dimensions.•We believe that our method is a starting point to develop a new theoretical base for image analysis and understanding, where we investigate the common ground between the graph- and image-processing techniques. On the other hand, we explore a rather uncommon yet intriguing application area.•These three papers in the published literature set a theoretical base for application of morphology to either graphs or images. 1 M.H.F. Wilkinson, Attribute-space connectivity and connected filters. Image Vis. Comput. 25 (2007) 426–435. 2 A. Toet, H.J.A.M. Heijmans, P. Nacken, L. Vincent, Graph morphology. J. Vis. Commun. Image Represent. 3 (March 1992) 24–38. 3 Jean Cousty, Laurent Najman, Fabio Dias, Jean Serra. Morphological filtering on graphs. Comput. Vis. Image Understand. 117(4) (2013) 370–385. Special issue on Discrete Geometry for Computer Imagery. In our work, we use the combination of both concepts to introduce a theoretical extension and a very efficient method to process high dimensional and complex images.
Measurements by many multi-sensor systems can be considered as point-clouds. One such system is the tracker for the PANDA experiment. Charged particles passing through the tracker produce patterns representing their paths. We present a new, graph-based, attribute-space morphological connected filter for reconstructing particle paths through such a detector. We introduce the concept of attribute-spaces and attribute-space connected filters on graphs, rather than binary images and show a new processing scheme to reduce the size of the memory required to store the attribute-space representations of binary images and graphs. The result is an O(Nlog (N)) algorithm with a total recognition error of approximately 0.10, a significant improvement compared to our previous state-of-the-art O(N2) algorithm with a total error of 0.17.
.
Precision measurements of vector and tensor analyzing powers of the
2
H(
d
,
dp
)
n
break-up process for configurations in the vicinity of the quasi-free scattering regime with the neutron as ...spectator are presented. These measurements are performed with a polarized deuteron-beam with an energy of 65MeV/nucleon impinging on a liquid-deuterium target. The experiment was conducted at the AGOR facility at KVI using the BINA 4
π
-detection system. Events for which the final-state deuteron and proton are coplanar have been analyzed and the data have been sorted for various momenta of the missing neutron. In the limit of vanishing neutron momentum and at large deuteron-proton momentum transfer, the data agree well with the measured and theoretically predicted spin observables of the elastic deuteron-proton scattering process. The agreement deteriorates rapidly with increasing neutron momentum and/or decreasing momentum transfer from the deuteron beam to the outgoing proton. This study reveals the presence of a significant contribution of final-state interactions even at very small neutron momenta.
Vector-analyzing powers,
A
x
and
A
y
, of the proton–deuteron break-up reaction have been measured by using a polarized-proton beam at 135 MeV impinging on a liquid-deuterium target. For the ...experiment, the big instrument for nuclear-polarization analysis (BINA) was used at KVI, Groningen, the Netherlands. The data are compared to the predictions of Faddeev calculations using state-of-the-art two- and three-nucleon potentials. Our data are reasonably well described by calculations for the kinematical configurations at which the three-nucleon force (3NF) effect is predicted to be small. However, striking discrepancies are observed at specific configurations, in particular in the cases of symmetric configurations, where the relative azimuthal angle between the two protons is small which corresponds to the
d
(
p
→
,
2
He
)
n
channel. The vector-analyzing powers of these configurations are compared to the proton–deuteron elastic scattering to study the spin–isospin sensitivity of the 3NF models. The results are compared to the earlier results of the proton–deuteron break-up reaction at 190 MeV proton-beam energy
1
. Disagreement is observed for both proton-beam energies between data and calculations which points to a deficiency in the treatment of spin–isospin part of the 3NF.
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