Disentangling Sources of Momentum Fluctuations in Xe+Xe and Pb+Pb Collisions with the ATLAS Detector.

High-energy nuclear collisions create a quark-gluon plasma, whose initial condition and subsequent expansion vary from event to event, impacting the distribution of the eventwise average transverse momentum [P([p_{T}])]. Disentangling the contributions from fluctuations in the nuclear overlap size (geometrical component) and other sources at a fixed size (intrinsic component) remains a challenge. This problem is addressed by measuring the mean, variance, and skewness of P([p_{T}]) in ^{208}Pb+^{208}Pb and ^{129}Xe+^{129}Xe collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.

Combination of Searches for Higgs Boson Pair Production in pp Collisions at sqrt[s]=13 TeV with the ATLAS Detector.

This Letter presents results from a combination of searches for Higgs boson pair production using 126-140  fb^{-1} of proton-proton collision data at sqrt[s]=13  TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector. At 95% confidence level (CL), the upper limit on the production rate is 2.9 times the standard model (SM) prediction, with an expected limit of 2.

Studies of the Energy Dependence of Diboson Polarization Fractions and the Radiation-Amplitude-Zero Effect in WZ Production with the ATLAS Detector.

This Letter presents the first study of the energy dependence of diboson polarization fractions in WZ→ℓνℓ^{'}ℓ^{'}(ℓ,ℓ^{'}=e,μ) production. The dataset used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 140  fb^{-1} of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector. Two fiducial regions with an enhanced presence of events featuring two longitudinally polarized bosons are defined.

Non-marine Ostracoda (Crustacea) of the Early Cretaceous Pre-Salt sediments of Brazil: An illustrated catalogue of the type specimens of Wicher, Krmmelbein, Krmmelbein amp; Weber, and Bate.

Type material of 10 genera, one subgenus, 110 species and 28 subspecies described by Wicher (1959), Krmmelbein (1961, 1962, 1963, 1964a,b, 1965a,b), Krmmelbein Weber (1971) and Bate (1972, 1994) are re-illustrated using optical digital technology in order to provide a standard reference for future systematic work and its biostratigraphical and palaeoenvironmental application. The genera are: Brasacypris, Coriacina, Hourcqia, Ilhasina, Looneyellopsis, Pattersoncypris, Petrobrasia, Reconcavona, Salvadoriella, and Tucanocypris, and subgenus Cypridea (Sebastianites).

Clinical Features and Severity of Leptospirosis Cases Reported in the Hawke's Bay Region of New Zealand.

Aims: To record demographics, symptoms, signs, and laboratory features of confirmed leptospirosis cases in the Hawke's Bay area of New Zealand to aid clinicians in diagnosis and recognition of severity.

Methods: Review of suspected leptospirosis cases referred to the reference laboratory from hospitals in the Hawke's Bay region between March 2003 and March 2012. Inclusion criteria were IgM positivity and diagnosis confirmed with either polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or microscopic agglutination test (MAT).

A review of Capezoum Adlbauer, 2003 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) with the description of two new species from the Succulent Karoo ecosystem in South-Africa.

Capezoum Adlbauer, 2003 is known only from male specimens. Herein, we describe two new species: Capezoum richardi sp. nov.

Generics Substitution, Bioequivalence Standards, and International Oversight: Complex Issues Facing the FDA.

The regulations for assessing the quality of generic drugs and their bioequivalence to innovator products are outdated and need to be substantially modernized. There are multiple reasons why these changes are needed, including: (i) the regulations remain largely unchanged since the passage of the Hatch-Waxman Act in 1984; (ii) medication therapies have become substantially more complex over the three decades since the passage of the Act; (iii) a switch from an innovator drug to a generic drug, or switching from one generic to another, is not a benign process - there is substantial clinical professional judgment involved and in some instances these decisions should be better informed; and (iv) pharmaceutical ingredients for finished products, whether innovator or generic, are from multiple sources of supply, adding variability in their production, and which may not be accounted for in specification tolerances. When these elements are viewed together, they clearly suggest that more transparency of responsible manufacturers in product labels and updated standards for bioequivalence are required.

Combatting substandard and falsified medicines: a view from Rwanda.

Agnes Binagwaho and colleagues describe Rwanda's experience of pharmacovigilance for malaria and tuberculosis, and call for a global treaty and leadership by the World Health Organization to address the global manufacture and trade in substandard and falsified medicines.

Substandard and falsified anti-tuberculosis drugs: a preliminary field analysis.

Setting: Pharmacies in 19 cities in Angola, Brazil, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, India (n = 3), Kenya, Nigeria, Russia, Rwanda, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia.

Objective: To assess the quality of the two main first-line anti-tuberculosis medicines, isoniazid and rifampicin, procured from private-sector pharmacies, to determine if substandard and falsified medicines are available and if they potentially contribute to drug resistance in cities in low- and middle-income countries.

Design: Local nationals procured 713 treatment packs from a selection of pharmacies in 19 cities.

The role of pre-shipment batch testing in ensuring good medicine quality.

Background: Most donor agencies only procure drugs approved by a Stringent Regulatory Authority or the World Health Organization (WHO) Prequalification Programme in an effort to ensure high quality. However, the US President's Malaria Initiative has occasionally had to return approved drugs with quality issues to the manufacturer. This study compares the quality of artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) produced by WHO-approved manufacturers with non-approved manufacturers and suggests policy changes to improve quality of donor-procured drugs.

Subsidizing artemisinin-based combination therapies: a preliminary investigation of the Affordable Medicines Facility - malaria.

Background: The Affordable Medicines Facility - malaria (AMFm) is a subsidy mechanism to lower the price of, and hence increase access to, the best antimalarial medicines, artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs). While the AMFm stipulates that only quality-approved products are eligible for subsidy, it is not known whether those products, when actually supplied, are of good quality and comport with established pharmacopeial guidance on formulation and content of active ingredients. This study aimed to assess price and quality of AMFm ACTs, to compare AMFm ACTs with non-AMFm ACTs and artemisinin monotherapies, and to assess whether AMFm ACTs have been pilfered and diverted to a nearby country.

Anti-infective medicine quality: analysis of basic product quality by approval status and country of manufacture.

Background: Some medicines for sale in developing countries are approved by a stringent regulatory authority (SRA) or the World Health Organization (WHO) prequalification program; many of these are global brands. This study ascertains whether medicines approved by SRAs or the WHO perform better in simple quality tests than those that have not been approved by either.

Methods: Over the past 4 years, 2652 essential drugs (products to treat malaria, tuberculosis, and bacterial infections) were procured by covert shoppers from eleven African cities and eight cities in a variety of mid-income nations.

The AMFm and Medicine Diversion: Good intent enabling corrupt practices.

Increased donated and subsidised medicines for malaria are saving countless lives in Africa, but there is probably increasing theft and diversion of those medicines. The impact of medicine diversion is unknown but potentially dangerous and may bolster criminal networks and increase medicine stock outs (1,2). This study demonstrates that diversion is widespread; diverted subsidised medicines were found in 11 of 14 cities investigated, and in four of those, over half the pharmacies researchers visited had diverted subsidised malaria products.

The primacy of public health considerations in defining poor quality medicines.

Paul Newton and colleagues argue that public health, and not intellectual property or trade issues, should be the prime consideration in defining and combating counterfeit medicines, and that the World Health Organization (WHO) should take a more prominent role.

Does price reveal poor-quality drugs? Evidence from 17 countries.

Focusing on 8 drug types on the WHO-approved medicine list, we constructed an original dataset of 899 drug samples from 17 low- and median-income countries and tested them for visual appearance, disintegration, and analyzed their ingredients by chromatography and spectrometry. Fifteen percent of the samples fail at least one test and can be considered substandard. After controlling for local factors, we find that failing drugs are priced 13.

Assessing website pharmacy drug quality: safer than you think?

Background: Internet-sourced drugs are often considered suspect. The World Health Organization reports that drugs from websites that conceal their physical address are counterfeit in over 50 percent of cases; the U.S.

Anti-malarial drug quality in Lagos and Accra - a comparison of various quality assessments.

Background: Two major cities in West Africa, Accra, the capital of Ghana, and Lagos, the largest city of Nigeria, have significant problems with substandard pharmaceuticals. Both have actively combated the problem in recent years, particularly by screening products on the market using the Global Pharma Health Fund e.V.

Drug procurement, the Global Fund and misguided competition policies.

In an effort to increase competition and decrease price, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria recently began asking some grant recipients to use international competitive bidding processes for certain drug purchases. Unfortunately, for countries like Kenya, this request has caused more harm than good. After awarding the tender for its annual supply of the anti-malarial artemether-lumefantrine to the lowest bidder, Ajanta Pharma, Kenya experienced wide stock-outs in part due to the company's inability to supply the order in full and on time.