The KATRIN experiment aims to determine the neutrino mass scale with a sensitivity of 200
meV
/
c
2
(90% C. L.) by a precision measurement of the shape of the tritium
β
-spectrum in the endpoint ...region. The energy analysis of the decay electrons is achieved by a MAC-E filter spectrometer. To determine the transmission properties of the KATRIN main spectrometer, a mono-energetic and angular-selective electron source has been developed. In preparation for the second commissioning phase of the main spectrometer, a measurement phase was carried out at the KATRIN monitor spectrometer where the device was operated in a MAC-E filter setup for testing. The results of these measurements are compared with simulations using the particle-tracking software “Kassiopeia”, which was developed in the KATRIN collaboration over recent years.
Purpose
To estimate the annual volume and cost of ventral hernia repair (VHR) performed in the United States.
Methods
A retrospective cohort study was performed using the National Inpatient Sample ...(NIS) and the Nationwide Ambulatory Surgery Sample (NASS) for 2016–2019. Patients over the age of 18 who underwent open (OVHR) or minimally invasive ventral hernia repair (MISVHR) were identified. NIS procedural costs were estimated using cost-to-charge ratios; NASS costs were estimated using the NIS cost-to-charge ratios stratified by payer status. Costs were adjusted for inflation to 2021 dollars using US Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index.
Results
On average 610,998 VHRs were performed per year. Most were outpatient (67.3% per year), and open (70.7%). MIS procedures increased from 25.8% to 32.8% of all VHRs.
Inpatient OVHR had significantly higher associated cost than MISVHR $35,511 (34,100–36,921) vs. $21,165 (19,664–22,665 in 2019. Outpatient MISVHR was more expensive than OVHR $11,558 (11,174–11,942 MIS vs. $6807 (6620–6994) OVHR in 2019.
The estimated cost of an inpatient MISVHR remained similar between 2016 and 2019, from $20,076 (13,374–20,777) to $21,165 (19,664–22,665) and increased slightly from $9975 (9639–10,312) to $11,558 (11,174–11,942) in the outpatient setting. The estimated cost of an inpatient OVHR increased from $31,383 (30,338–32,428) to $35,511 (34,100–36,921), while outpatient costs increased from $6018 (5860–6175) to $6807 (6620–6994). VHR costs decreased slightly over the study period to a mean cost of $9.7 billion dollars in 2019.
Conclusion
Compared to 2006 national data, VHRs in the United States have almost doubled to 611,000 per year with an estimated annual cost of $9.7 billion. A 1% decrease in VHR achieved through recurrence reduction or hernia prophylaxis could save the US healthcare system at least $139.9 million annually.
In this work we present a keV-scale sterile-neutrino search with a low-tritium-activity data set of the KATRIN experiment, acquired in a commissioning run in 2018. KATRIN performs a spectroscopic ...measurement of the tritium
β
-decay spectrum with the main goal of directly determining the effective electron anti-neutrino mass. During this commissioning phase a lower tritium activity facilitated the measurement of a wider part of the tritium spectrum and thus the search for sterile neutrinos with a mass of up to
1.6
keV
. We do not find a signal and set an exclusion limit on the sterile-to-active mixing amplitude of
sin
2
θ
<
5
×
10
-
4
(
95
%
C.L.) at a mass of 0.3 keV. This result improves current laboratory-based bounds in the sterile-neutrino mass range between 0.1 and 1.0 keV.
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