Effective interventions are needed to prevent acquisition of HIV infection in men who have sex with men. To date, no behavioural interventions specifically for this risk group have been tested with ...HIV infection as the primary outcome.
This multisite two-group randomised controlled phase IIb trial tested the efficacy of a behavioural intervention in preventing HIV infection among 4295 men who have sex with men. The experimental intervention consisted of ten one-on-one counselling sessions followed by maintenance sessions every 3 months. The standard condition was twice-yearly Project RESPECT individual counselling. Twice-yearly follow-up visits included testing for HIV antibody and assessment of behavioural outcomes.
The rate of acquisition of HIV infection was 18·2% (95% CI –4·7 to 36·0) lower in the intervention group than the standard group. Adjustment for baseline covariates attenuated the intervention effect to 15·7% (–8·4 to 34·4). The effect was more favourable in the first 12–18 months of follow-up. The occurrence of unprotected receptive anal intercourse with HIV-positive and unknown-status partners was 20·5% (10·9 to 29·0) lower in the intervention than in the standard group.
The results from the primary analyses allow us to rule out that the experimental intervention is associated with a 35% lower rate of HIV acquisition than in the standard group. The overall estimate of a difference of 18·2%, more favourable estimates of effect in the first 12–18 months, and similar effects on risk behaviours suggest that prevention of HIV infection among men who have sex with men by a behavioural intervention is feasible. Further work should be done to develop more effective interventions.
A sample consisting of 1944 Swiss students of both sexes was investigated with regard to distribution over weight categories based on BMI age percentiles and eating behaviour (EAT-26) in relation to ...age, sex and socio-economic status (SES). In addition, the relationship between BMI and Eating Attitudes Test scores was analysed. More subjects than expected were found to be in the obese weight categories. No clear effect of age and sex on the distribution of the sample across the five BMI classes was observed. There was an inverse relationship between BMI and socio-economic status. On the EAT scale girls scored twice as high as boys. Age had no effect on the EAT scores in females, although it did in males. Socio-economic status and EAT scores were inversely associated. Three risk categories based on the EAT scores were described: EAT 0-9 = no risk (77.5% girls, 93.0% boys), EAT 10-19 = low risk (14.1% girls, 5.5% boys), and EAT > or = 20 = high risk (8.3% girls, 1.5% boys). With regard to both aspects, weight and eating behaviour, female students showed more disturbed eating behaviour and fewer instances of deviation from normal weight. In male subjects there were more deviations from normal weight than instances of disturbed eating behaviour.
LHCb is one of the experiments for the Large Hadron Collider at CERN and is dedicated to B-physics and CP-violation measurements. To exploit its physics potential good tracking performance with high ...efficiency in a high particle density environment close to the beam pipe is required. Silicon strip detectors with large read-out pitch and long strips will be used for the LHCb Inner Tracker behind the magnet and the Trigger Tracker station in front of the magnet. We report here about the design of the Silicon Tracker, test beam results and the electrical tests foreseen during production
The LHCb silicon tracker Adeva, B.; Agari, M.; Bauer, C. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
07/2005, Volume:
546, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
LHCb is a dedicated B-physics and CP-violation experiment for the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Efficient track reconstruction and excellent trigger performances are essential in order to exploit ...fully its physics potential. Silicon strip detectors providing fast signal generation, high resolution and fine granularity are used for this purpose in the large area Trigger Tracker station in front of the spectrometer magnet and the LHCb Inner Tracker covering the area close to the beam pipe behind the magnet. Long read-out strips of up to 38
cm are used together with fast signal shaping adapted to the 25
ns LHC bunch crossing. The design of these tracking stations, the silicon sensor strip geometries and the latest test results are presented here.
A search for the rare two-body charmless baryonic decay $B^+ \to p \bar\Lambda$ is performed with $pp$ collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $3\mbox{\,fb}^{-1}$, collected by ...the LHCb experiment at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV. An excess of $B^+ \to p \bar\Lambda$ candidates with respect to background expectations is seen with a statistical significance of 4.1 standard deviations, and constitutes the first evidence for this decay. The branching fraction, measured using the $B^+ \to K^0_{\mathrm S} \pi^+$ decay for normalisation, is \begin{eqnarray} \mathcal{B}(B^+ \to p \bar\Lambda) & = & ( 2.4 \,^{+1.0}_{-0.8} \pm 0.3 ) \times 10^{-7} \,, \nonumber \end{eqnarray} where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic.
The $B_s^0\pi^\pm$ invariant mass distribution is investigated in order to search for possible exotic meson states. The analysis is based on a data sample recorded with the LHCb detector ...corresponding to $3$ fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data at $\sqrt{s} = 7$ and $8$ TeV. No significant excess is found, and upper limits are set on the production rate of the claimed $X(5568)$ state. Upper limits are also set as a function of the mass and width of a possible exotic meson decaying to the $B_s^0\pi^\pm$ final state.
Background: There has been relatively little research on subthreshold eating disorders and factors which might promote their transition to eating disorders. Methods: A sample consisting of 1,944 ...Swiss adolescents of both sexes, 14-19 years of age, was investigated for eating behavior (EAT-26), psychological (SCL-90-R) and physical symptoms (GSCX-C). In addition, the relationship between eating behavior and other psychosomatic symptoms was analyzed. Results: The results revealed significantly higher scores for females than males on all except one scale of the questionnaires. Three categories of disturbed eating behavior based on the EAT scores were described: EAT 0-9 = not disturbed (77.5% girls, 93.1% boys), EAT 10-19 = moderately disturbed (14.1% girls, 5.5% boys), and EAT ≥20 = severely disturbed (8.3% girls, 1.5% boys). With regard to the three aspects, eating habits, psychosomatic symptoms and suicidality a significant correlation between disturbed eating behavior and concurrent psychological and physical symptoms was found in female but not in male subjects. Conclusions: The results emphasized that disordered eating behavior has to be seen as part of a broader psychopathological syndrome, especially in young women.
Invariant mass distributions of B+pi- and B0pi+ combinations are investigated in order to study excited B mesons. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to 3.0 fb-1 of pp collision ...data, recorded by the LHCb detector at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV. Precise measurements of the masses and widths of the B_1(5721)^(0,+) and B_2*(5747)^(0,+) states are reported. Clear enhancements, particularly prominent at high pion transverse momentum, are seen over background in the mass range 5850--6000 MeV in both B+pi- and B0pi+ combinations. The structures are consistent with the presence of four excited B mesons, labelled B_J(5840)^(0,+) and B_J(5960)^(0,+), whose masses and widths are obtained under different hypotheses for their quantum numbers.
A search for $B_s^0 \to \overline{D}^{0} f_{0}(980)$ decays is performed using $3.0\, {\rm fb}^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data recorded by the LHCb experiment during 2011 and 2012. The $f_{0}(980)$ ...meson is reconstructed through its decay to the $\pi^{+}\pi^{-}$ final state in the mass window $900\, {\rm MeV}/c^{2} < m(\pi^{+}\pi^{-}) < 1080\, {\rm MeV}/c^{2}$. No significant signal is observed. The first upper limits on the branching fraction of $\mathcal{B}(B_s^0 \to \overline{D}^{0} f_{0}(980)) < 3.1\,(3.4) \times 10^{-6}$ are set at $90\,\%$ ($95\,\%$) confidence level.
PDF
