Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 237 in total

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  1. Ong SG, Ming LC, Lee KS, Yuen KH
    Pharmaceutics, 2016;8(3).
    PMID: 27571096 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics8030025
    The objective of the present study was to investigate the influence of the encapsulation efficiency and size of liposome on the oral bioavailability of griseofulvin-loaded liposomes. Griseofulvin-loaded liposomes with desired characteristics were prepared from pro-liposome using various techniques. To study the effect of encapsulation efficiency, three preparations of griseofulvin, namely, griseofulvin aqueous suspension and two griseofulvin-loaded liposomes with different amounts of griseofulvin encapsulated [i.e., F1 (32%) and F2(98%)], were administered to rats. On the other hand, to study the effect of liposome size, the rats were given three different griseofulvin-loaded liposomes of various sizes, generated via different mechanical dispersion techniques [i.e., FTS (142 nm), MS (357 nm) and NS (813 nm)], but with essentially similar encapsulation efficiencies (about 93%). Results indicated that the extent of bioavailability of griseofulvin was improved 1.7-2.0 times when given in the form of liposomes (F1) compared to griseofulvin suspension. Besides that, there was an approximately two-fold enhancement of the extent of bioavailability following administration of griseofulvin-loaded liposomes with higher encapsulation efficiency (F2), compared to those of F1. Also, the results showed that the extent of bioavailability of liposomal formulations with smaller sizes were higher by approximately three times compared to liposomal formulation of a larger size. Nevertheless, a further size reduction of griseofulvin-loaded liposome (≤400 nm) did not promote the uptake or bioavailability of griseofulvin. In conclusion, high drug encapsulation efficiency and small liposome size could enhance the oral bioavailability of griseofulvin-loaded liposomes and therefore these two parameters deserve careful consideration during formulation.
  2. CMS Collaboration, Khachatryan V, Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Bergauer T, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2014 09 26;74(9):3036.
    PMID: 25814912
    Searches for the direct electroweak production of supersymmetric charginos, neutralinos, and sleptons in a variety of signatures with leptons and [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and Higgs bosons are presented. Results are based on a sample of proton-proton collision data collected at center-of-mass energy [Formula: see text] with the CMS detector in 2012, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.5 [Formula: see text]. The observed event rates are in agreement with expectations from the standard model. These results probe charginos and neutralinos with masses up to 720 [Formula: see text], and sleptons up to 260 [Formula: see text], depending on the model details.
  3. CMS Collaboration, Chatrchyan S, Khachatryan V, Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2014 08 07;74(8):2973.
    PMID: 25814904
    Measurements are reported of the WZ and ZZ production cross sections in proton-proton collisions at [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] in final states where one Z boson decays to b-tagged jets. The other gauge boson, either W or Z, is detected through its leptonic decay (either [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] or [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], or [Formula: see text]). The results are based on data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 18.9 fb[Formula: see text] collected with the CMS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The measured cross sections, [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], are consistent with next-to-leading order quantum chromodynamics calculations.
  4. CMS Collaboration, Chatrchyan S, Khachatryan V, Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2014 08 20;74(8):3014.
    PMID: 25814909
    The normalised differential top quark-antiquark production cross section is measured as a function of the jet multiplicity in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7[Formula: see text] at the LHC with the CMS detector. The measurement is performed in both the dilepton and lepton+jets decay channels using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.0[Formula: see text]. Using a procedure to associate jets to decay products of the top quarks, the differential cross section of the [Formula: see text] production is determined as a function of the additional jet multiplicity in the lepton+jets channel. Furthermore, the fraction of events with no additional jets is measured in the dilepton channel, as a function of the threshold on the jet transverse momentum. The measurements are compared with predictions from perturbative quantum chromodynamics and no significant deviations are observed.
  5. CMS Collaboration, Chatrchyan S, Khachatryan V, Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2014 11 12;74(11):3129.
    PMID: 25814874
    A measurement of differential cross sections for the production of a pair of isolated photons in proton-proton collisions at [Formula: see text] is presented. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0[Formula: see text] collected with the CMS detector. A data-driven isolation template method is used to extract the prompt diphoton yield. The measured cross section for two isolated photons, with transverse energy above 40 and 25[Formula: see text] respectively, in the pseudorapidity range [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and with an angular separation [Formula: see text], is [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]. Differential cross sections are measured as a function of the diphoton invariant mass, the diphoton transverse momentum, the azimuthal angle difference between the two photons, and the cosine of the polar angle in the Collins-Soper reference frame of the diphoton system. The results are compared to theoretical predictions at leading, next-to-leading, and next-to-next-to-leading order in quantum chromodynamics.
  6. CMS Collaboration, Khachatryan V, Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Bergauer T, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2014 11 26;74(11):3149.
    PMID: 25814876
    A search for heavy, right-handed neutrinos, [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]), and right-handed [Formula: see text] bosons, which arise in the left-right symmetric extensions of the standard model, has been performed by the CMS experiment. The search was based on a sample of two lepton plus two jet events collected in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8[Formula: see text] corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 [Formula: see text]. For models with strict left-right symmetry, and assuming only one [Formula: see text] flavor contributes significantly to the [Formula: see text] decay width, the region in the two-dimensional [Formula: see text] mass plane excluded at a 95 % confidence level extends to approximately [Formula: see text] and covers a large range of neutrino masses below the [Formula: see text] boson mass, depending on the value of [Formula: see text]. This search significantly extends the [Formula: see text] exclusion region beyond previous results.
  7. CMS Collaboration, Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Ambrogi F, Bergauer T, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2020;80(3):189.
    PMID: 32226948 DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-020-7739-7
    A search is presented for τ slepton pairs produced in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV . The search is carried out in events containing two τ leptons in the final state, on the assumption that each τ slepton decays primarily to a τ lepton and a neutralino. Events are considered in which each τ lepton decays to one or more hadrons and a neutrino, or in which one of the τ leptons decays instead to an electron or a muon and two neutrinos. The data, collected with the CMS detector in 2016 and 2017, correspond to an integrated luminosity of 77.2 fb - 1 . The observed data are consistent with the standard model background expectation. The results are used to set 95% confidence level upper limits on the cross section for τ slepton pair production in various models for τ slepton masses between 90 and 200 GeV and neutralino masses of 1, 10, and 20 GeV . In the case of purely left-handed τ slepton production and decay to a τ lepton and a neutralino with a mass of 1 GeV , the strongest limit is obtained for a τ slepton mass of 125 GeV at a factor of 1.14 larger than the theoretical cross section.
  8. CMS Collaboration, Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Ambrogi F, Bergauer T, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2021;81(7):629.
    PMID: 34727144 DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-021-09236-z
    Results of the Model Unspecific Search in CMS (MUSiC), using proton-proton collision data recorded at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV , corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb - 1 , are presented. The MUSiC analysis searches for anomalies that could be signatures of physics beyond the standard model. The analysis is based on the comparison of observed data with the standard model prediction, as determined from simulation, in several hundred final states and multiple kinematic distributions. Events containing at least one electron or muon are classified based on their final state topology, and an automated search algorithm surveys the observed data for deviations from the prediction. The sensitivity of the search is validated using multiple methods. No significant deviations from the predictions have been observed. For a wide range of final state topologies, agreement is found between the data and the standard model simulation. This analysis complements dedicated search analyses by significantly expanding the range of final states covered using a model independent approach with the largest data set to date to probe phase space regions beyond the reach of previous general searches.
  9. Sirunyan AM, CMS Collaboration, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Bergauer T, Dragicevic M, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2021;81(1):13.
    PMID: 33493254 DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-020-08739-5
    A search for dark matter particles is performed using events with a Z boson candidate and large missing transverse momentum. The analysis is based on proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 Te , collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2016-2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb - 1 . The search uses the decay channels Z → e e and Z → μ μ . No significant excess of events is observed over the background expected from the standard model. Limits are set on dark matter particle production in the context of simplified models with vector, axial-vector, scalar, and pseudoscalar mediators, as well as on a two-Higgs-doublet model with an additional pseudoscalar mediator. In addition, limits are provided for spin-dependent and spin-independent scattering cross sections and are compared to those from direct-detection experiments. The results are also interpreted in the context of models of invisible Higgs boson decays, unparticles, and large extra dimensions.
  10. CMS Collaboration, Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Andrejkovic JW, Bergauer T, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2021;81(6):488.
    PMID: 34727143 DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-021-09200-x
    Production cross sections of the Higgs boson are measured in the H → Z Z → 4 ℓ ( ℓ = e , μ ) decay channel. A data sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV , collected by the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb - 1 is used. The signal strength modifier μ , defined as the ratio of the Higgs boson production rate in the 4 ℓ channel to the standard model (SM) expectation, is measured to be μ = 0.94 ± 0.07 (stat) - 0.08 + 0.09 (syst) at a fixed value of m H = 125.38 GeV . The signal strength modifiers for the individual Higgs boson production modes are also reported. The inclusive fiducial cross section for the H → 4 ℓ process is measured to be 2 . 84 - 0.22 + 0.23 (stat) - 0.21 + 0.26 (syst) fb , which is compatible with the SM prediction of 2.84 ± 0.15 fb for the same fiducial region. Differential cross sections as a function of the transverse momentum and rapidity of the Higgs boson, the number of associated jets, and the transverse momentum of the leading associated jet are measured. A new set of cross section measurements in mutually exclusive categories targeted to identify production mechanisms and kinematical features of the events is presented. The results are in agreement with the SM predictions.
  11. Lee KS, Divis PC, Zakaria SK, Matusop A, Julin RA, Conway DJ, et al.
    PLoS Pathog, 2011 Apr;7(4):e1002015.
    PMID: 21490952 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1002015
    Plasmodium knowlesi, a malaria parasite originally thought to be restricted to macaques in Southeast Asia, has recently been recognized as a significant cause of human malaria. Unlike the benign and morphologically similar P. malariae, these parasites can lead to fatal infections. Malaria parasites, including P. knowlesi, have not yet been detected in macaques of the Kapit Division of Malaysian Borneo, where the majority of human knowlesi malaria cases have been reported. In order to extend our understanding of the epidemiology and evolutionary history of P. knowlesi, we examined 108 wild macaques for malaria parasites and sequenced the circumsporozoite protein (csp) gene and mitochondrial (mt) DNA of P. knowlesi isolates derived from macaques and humans. We detected five species of Plasmodium (P. knowlesi, P. inui, P. cynomolgi, P. fieldi and P. coatneyi) in the long-tailed and pig-tailed macaques, and an extremely high prevalence of P. inui and P. knowlesi. Macaques had a higher number of P. knowlesi genotypes per infection than humans, and some diverse alleles of the P. knowlesi csp gene and certain mtDNA haplotypes were shared between both hosts. Analyses of DNA sequence data indicate that there are no mtDNA lineages associated exclusively with either host. Furthermore, our analyses of the mtDNA data reveal that P. knowlesi is derived from an ancestral parasite population that existed prior to human settlement in Southeast Asia, and underwent significant population expansion approximately 30,000-40,000 years ago. Our results indicate that human infections with P. knowlesi are not newly emergent in Southeast Asia and that knowlesi malaria is primarily a zoonosis with wild macaques as the reservoir hosts. However, ongoing ecological changes resulting from deforestation, with an associated increase in the human population, could enable this pathogenic species of Plasmodium to switch to humans as the preferred host.
  12. Cox-Singh J, Davis TM, Lee KS, Shamsul SS, Matusop A, Ratnam S, et al.
    Clin Infect Dis, 2008 Jan 15;46(2):165-71.
    PMID: 18171245 DOI: 10.1086/524888
    BACKGROUND: Until recently, Plasmodium knowlesi malaria in humans was misdiagnosed as Plasmodium malariae malaria. The objectives of the present study were to determine the geographic distribution of P. knowlesi malaria in the human population in Malaysia and to investigate 4 suspected fatal cases.

    METHODS: Sensitive and specific nested polymerase chain reaction was used to identify all Plasmodium species present in (1) blood samples obtained from 960 patients with malaria who were hospitalized in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, during 2001-2006; (2) 54 P. malariae archival blood films from 15 districts in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo (during 2003-2005), and 4 districts in Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia (during 2004-2005); and (3) 4 patients whose suspected cause of death was P. knowlesi malaria. For the 4 latter cases, available clinical and laboratory data were reviewed.

    RESULTS: P. knowlesi DNA was detected in 266 (27.7%) of 960 of the samples from Sarawak hospitals, 41 (83.7%) of 49 from Sabah, and all 5 from Pahang. Only P. knowlesi DNA was detected in archival blood films from the 4 patients who died. All were hyperparasitemic and developed marked hepatorenal dysfunction.

    CONCLUSIONS: Human infection with P. knowlesi, commonly misidentified as the more benign P. malariae, are widely distributed across Malaysian Borneo and extend to Peninsular Malaysia. Because P. knowlesi replicates every 24 h, rapid diagnosis and prompt effective treatment are essential. In the absence of a specific routine diagnostic test for P. knowlesi malaria, we recommend that patients who reside in or have traveled to Southeast Asia and who have received a "P. malariae" hyperparasitemia diagnosis by microscopy receive intensive management as appropriate for severe falciparum malaria.

  13. Vythilingam I, Tan CH, Asmad M, Chan ST, Lee KS, Singh B
    Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg, 2006 Nov;100(11):1087-8.
    PMID: 16725166
    Four species of malaria parasites are known to infect humans. A fifth species, Plasmodium knowlesi, has been reported to infect humans in Malaysian Borneo. Here we report for the first time the incrimination of Anopheles latens as the vector of P. knowlesi among humans and monkeys in Sarawak, Malaysia.
  14. Nada Raja T, Hu TH, Zainudin R, Lee KS, Perkins SL, Singh B
    BMC Evol. Biol., 2018 04 10;18(1):49.
    PMID: 29636003 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-018-1170-9
    BACKGROUND: Non-human primates have long been identified to harbour different species of Plasmodium. Long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis), in particular, are reservoirs for P. knowlesi, P. inui, P. cynomolgi, P. coatneyi and P. fieldi. A previous study conducted in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, however revealed that long-tailed macaques could potentially harbour novel species of Plasmodium based on sequences of small subunit ribosomal RNA and circumsporozoite genes. To further validate this finding, the mitochondrial genome and the apicoplast caseinolytic protease M genes of Plasmodium spp. were sequenced from 43 long-tailed macaque blood samples.

    RESULTS: Apart from several named species of malaria parasites, long-tailed macaques were found to be potentially infected with novel species of Plasmodium, namely one we refer to as "P. inui-like." This group of parasites bifurcated into two monophyletic clades indicating the presence of two distinct sub-populations. Further analyses, which relied on the assumption of strict co-phylogeny between hosts and parasites, estimated a population expansion event of between 150,000 to 250,000 years before present of one of these sub-populations that preceded that of the expansion of P. knowlesi. Furthermore, both sub-populations were found to have diverged from a common ancestor of P. inui approximately 1.5 million years ago. In addition, the phylogenetic analyses also demonstrated that long-tailed macaques are new hosts for P. simiovale.

    CONCLUSIONS: Malaria infections of long-tailed macaques of Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo are complex and include a novel species of Plasmodium that is phylogenetically distinct from P. inui. These macaques are new natural hosts of P. simiovale, a species previously described only in toque monkeys (Macaca sinica) in Sri Lanka. The results suggest that ecological factors could affect the evolution of malaria parasites.

  15. Lee KS, Cox-Singh J, Singh B
    Malar J, 2009 Apr 21;8:73.
    PMID: 19383118 DOI: 10.1186/1475-2875-8-73
    BACKGROUND: Human infections with Plasmodium knowlesi, a simian malaria parasite, are more common than previously thought. They have been detected by molecular detection methods in various countries in Southeast Asia, where they were initially diagnosed by microscopy mainly as Plasmodium malariae and at times, as Plasmodium falciparum. There is a paucity of information on the morphology of P. knowlesi parasites and proportion of each erythrocytic stage in naturally acquired human infections. Therefore, detailed descriptions of the morphological characteristics and differential counts of the erythrocytic stages of P. knowlesi parasites in human infections were made, photographs were taken, and morphological features were compared with those of P. malariae and P. falciparum.

    METHODS: Thick and thin blood films were made prior to administration of anti-malarial treatment in patients who were subsequently confirmed as having single species knowlesi infections by PCR assays. Giemsa-stained blood films, prepared from 10 randomly selected patients with a parasitaemia ranging from 610 to 236,000 parasites per microl blood, were examined.

    RESULTS: The P. knowlesi infection was highly synchronous in only one patient, where 97% of the parasites were at the late trophozoite stage. Early, late and mature trophozoites and schizonts were observed in films from all patients except three; where schizonts and early trophozoites were absent in two and one patient, respectively. Gametocytes were observed in four patients, comprising only between 1.2 to 2.8% of infected erythrocytes. The early trophozoites of P. knowlesi morphologically resemble those of P. falciparum. The late and mature trophozoites, schizonts and gametocytes appear very similar to those of P. malariae. Careful examinations revealed that some minor morphological differences existed between P. knowlesi and P. malariae. These include trophozoites of knowlesi with double chromatin dots and at times with two or three parasites per erythrocyte and mature schizonts of P. knowlesi having 16 merozoites, compared with 12 for P. malariae.

    CONCLUSION: Plasmodium knowlesi infections in humans are not highly synchronous. The morphological resemblance of early trophozoites of P. knowlesi to P. falciparum and later erythrocytic stages to P. malariae makes it extremely difficult to identify P. knowlesi infections by microscopy alone.

  16. Lee KS, Cox-Singh J, Brooke G, Matusop A, Singh B
    Int J Parasitol, 2009 Aug;39(10):1125-8.
    PMID: 19358848 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2009.03.003
    Human infections with Plasmodium knowlesi have been misdiagnosed by microscopy as Plasmodium malariae due to their morphological similarities. Although microscopy-identified P. malariae cases have been reported in the state of Sarawak (Malaysian Borneo) as early as 1952, recent epidemiological studies suggest the absence of indigenous P. malariae infections. The present study aimed to determine the past incidence and distribution of P. knowlesi infections in the state of Sarawak based on archival blood films from patients diagnosed by microscopy as having P. malariae infections. Nested PCR assays were used to identify Plasmodium species in DNA extracted from 47 thick blood films collected in 1996 from patients in seven different divisions throughout the state of Sarawak. Plasmodium knowlesi DNA was detected in 35 (97.2%) of 36 blood films that were positive for Plasmodium DNA, with patients originating from all seven divisions. Only one sample was positive for P. malariae DNA. This study provides further evidence of the widespread distribution of human infections with P. knowlesi in Sarawak and its past occurrence. Taken together with data from previous studies, our findings suggest that P. knowlesi malaria is not a newly emergent disease in humans.
  17. Aksu F, Topacoglu H, Arman C, Atac A, Tetik S, Hasanovic A, et al.
    Surg Radiol Anat, 2009 Sep;31 Suppl 1:95-229.
    PMID: 27392492 DOI: 10.1007/BF03371486
    Conference abstracts: Malaysia in affiliation
    (1). PO-211. AGE-SPECIFIC STRESS-MODULATED
    CHANGES OF SPLENIC IMMUNOARCHITECTURE
    IN THE GROWING BODY. Marina Yurievna Kapitonova, Syed Baharom Syed Ahmad Fuad, Flossie Jayakaran; Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia
    syedbaharom@salam.uitm.edu.my
    (2). PO-213. A DETAILED OSTEOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE ANOMALOUS GROOVES NEAR THE
    MASTOID NOTCH OF THE SKULL. ISrijit Das, 2Normadiah Kassim, lAzian Latiff, IFarihah Suhaimi, INorzana Ghafar, lKhin Pa Pa Hlaing, lIsraa Maatoq, IFaizah Othman; I Department of Anatomy, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 2 Department of Anatomy, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. das_sri jit23@rediffmail.com
    (3). PO-21S. FIRST LUMBRICAL MUSCLE OF THE
    PALM: A DETAILED ANATOMICAL STUDY WITH
    CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS. Srijit Das, Azian Latiff, Parihah Suhaimi, Norzana Ghafar, Khin Pa Pa Hlaing, Israa Maatoq, Paizah Othman; Department of Anatomy, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. das_srijit23@rediffmail.com
    (4). PO-336. IMPROVEMENT IN EXPERIMENTALLY
    INDUCED INFRACTED CARDIAC FUNCTION
    FOLLOWING TRANSPLANTATION OF HUMAN
    UMBILICAL CORD MATRIX-DERIVED
    MESENCHYMAL CELLS. lSeyed Noureddin Nematollahi-Mahani, lMastafa Latifpour, 2Masood Deilami, 3Behzad Soroure-Azimzadeh, lSeyed
    Hasan Eftekharvaghefi, 4Fatemeh Nabipour, 5Hamid
    Najafipour, 6Nouzar Nakhaee, 7Mohammad Yaghoobi, 8Rana Eftekharvaghefi, 9Parvin Salehinejad, IOHasan Azizi; 1 Department of Anatomy, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran; 2 Department of Cardiosurgery, Hazrat-e Zahra Hospital, Kerman, Iran; 3 Department of Cardiology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran; 4 Department of Pathology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran; 5 Department of Physiology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran; 6 Department of Neuroscience Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran; 7 Department
    of Biotechnology, Research Institute of Environmental Science, International Center for Science, High Technology & Environmental Science, Kerman, Iran; 8 Students Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran; 9 Institute of Bioscience, University Putra Malaysia,
    Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 10 Department of Stem Cell, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute, ACECR, Tehran, Iran. nnematollahi@kmu.ac.ir
    (5).
  18. Goh CR, Lee KS, Tan TC, Wang TL, Tan CH, Wong J, et al.
    Ann Acad Med Singap, 1996 May;25(3):323-34.
    PMID: 8876896
    Quality-of-life assessment has become an accepted method of evaluation in clinical medicine. The technique is based on a patient's self-assessment of physical, psychological, and social function, as well as the effects of distressing physical symptoms. The most important aspect of quality-of-life assessment is that it brings into focus a patient-centred view of health outcome, which is broader than the physiologic measures which predominate in Western medicine. Strategies for the development and use of assessment questionnaires have evolved over the past 15 years, and numerous questionnaires have been created. Most originate in Western societies, with English as the most common language of development. Adapting such questionnaires for use in other language and cultural settings is an imprecise practice. Language translation and equivalent cultural meaning must both be addressed. This paper reports on the language translation process and results for the Functional Living Index for Cancer (FLIC) as translated into Chinese and Malay in Singapore. We employed a step-wise process beginning with translation/back translation, followed by structured pilot field trials and population sampling. Taped versions of the questionnaire were devised to meet illiteracy problems in the sample population. Paired comparisons of the Chinese and Malay versions of individual questions with their English counterparts show good correlations and similar means most of the time. Factor analysis on a population sample of 246 (112 Chinese, 35 Malay and 98 English speaking) with cancers of minimal, extensive or palliative extent is convergent with that obtained on a North American population. However, a separate analysis of the Chinese questionnaires showed some differences in factor pattern. Specific language and cultural translation difficulties are discussed. Of note is the predicted significant decrease in total FLIC scores with extent of disease within each of the language preference populations, which provides some evidence for the validity for each language version in the Singapore culture(s). Thus, the FLIC translations into Malay and Chinese in Singapore can be considered for use in local trials, subject to ongoing evaluation.
  19. Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Ambrogi F, Asilar E, Bergauer T, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2018;78(11):965.
    PMID: 30881214 DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-018-6373-0
    The production of a Z boson, decaying to two charged leptons, in association with jets in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is measured. Data recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC are used that correspond to an integrated luminosity of 2.19 fb -1 . The cross section is measured as a function of the jet multiplicity and its dependence on the transverse momentum of the Z boson, the jet kinematic variables (transverse momentum and rapidity), the scalar sum of the jet momenta, which quantifies the hadronic activity, and the balance in transverse momentum between the reconstructed jet recoil and the Z boson. The measurements are compared with predictions from four different calculations. The first two merge matrix elements with different parton multiplicities in the final state and parton showering, one of which includes one-loop corrections. The third is a fixed-order calculation with next-to-next-to-leading order accuracy for the process with a Z boson and one parton in the final state. The fourth combines the fully differential next-to-next-to-leading order calculation of the process with no parton in the final state with next-to-next-to-leading logarithm resummation and parton showering.
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