35 results on '"Afach, S."'
Search Results
2. What can a GNOME do? Search targets for the Global Network of Optical Magnetometers for Exotic physics searches
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Afach, S., Tumturk, D. Aybas, Bekker, H., Buchler, B. C., Budker, D., Cervantes, K., Derevianko, A., Eby, J., Figueroa, N. L., Folman, R., Martin, D. Gavil'an, Givon, M., Grujic, Z. D., Guo, H., Hamilton, P., Hedges, M. P., Kimball, D. F. Jackson, Khamis, S., Kim, D., Klinger, E., Kryemadhi, A., Liu, X., Lukasiewicz, G., Masia-Roig, H., Padniuk, M., Palm, C. A., Park, S. Y., Pearson, H. R., Peng, X., Pospelov, M., Pustelny, S., Rosenzweig, Y., Ruimi, O. M., Scholtes, T., Segura, P. C., Semertzidis, Y. K., Shin, Y. C., Smiga, J. A., Stadnik, Y. V., Stalnaker, J. E., Sulai, I. A., Tandon, D., Vu, K., Weis, A., Wickenbrock, A., Wilson, T. Z., Wu, T., Xiao, W., Yang, Y., Yu, D., Yu, F., Zhang, J., and Zhao, Y.
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High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex) ,High Energy Physics - Phenomenology ,Quantum Physics ,High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph) ,Atomic Physics (physics.atom-ph) ,FOS: Physical sciences ,Quantum Physics (quant-ph) ,Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics ,Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM) ,High Energy Physics - Experiment ,Physics - Atomic Physics - Abstract
Numerous observations suggest that there exist undiscovered beyond-the-Standard-Model particles and fields. Because of their unknown nature, these exotic particles and fields could interact with Standard Model particles in many different ways and assume a variety of possible configurations. Here we present an overview of the Global Network of Optical Magnetometers for Exotic physics searches (GNOME), our ongoing experimental program designed to test a wide range of exotic physics scenarios. The GNOME experiment utilizes a worldwide network of shielded atomic magnetometers (and, more recently, comagnetometers) to search for spatially and temporally correlated signals due to torques on atomic spins from exotic fields of astrophysical origin. We survey the temporal characteristics of a variety of possible signals currently under investigation such as those from topological defect dark matter (axion-like particle domain walls), axion-like particle stars, solitons of complex-valued scalar fields (Q-balls), stochastic fluctuations of bosonic dark matter fields, a solar axion-like particle halo, and bursts of ultralight bosonic fields produced by cataclysmic astrophysical events such as binary black hole mergers., 22 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Annalen der Physik
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- 2023
3. A device for simultaneous spin analysis of ultracold neutrons
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Afach, S., Ban, G., Bison, G., Bodek, K., Chowdhuri, Z., Daum, M., Fertl, M., Franke, B., Geltenbort, P., Grujić, Z. D., Hayen, L., Hélaine, V., Henneck, R., Kasprzak, M., Kermaïdic, Y., Kirch, K., Komposch, S., Kozela, A., Krempel, J., Lauss, B., Lefort, T., Lemière, Y., Mtchedlishvili, A., Naviliat-Cuncic, O., Piegsa, F. M., Pignol, G., Prashanth, P. N., Quéméner, G., Rawlik, M., Ries, D., Rebreyend, D., Roccia, S., Rozpedzik, D., Schmidt-Wellenburg, P., Severijns, N., Weis, A., Wursten, E., Wyszynski, G., Zejma, J., and Zsigmond, G.
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- 2015
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4. Measurement of a false electric dipole moment signal from 199Hg atoms exposed to an inhomogeneous magnetic field
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Afach, S., Baker, C. A., Ban, G., Bison, G., Bodek, K., Chowdhuri, Z., Daum, M., Fertl, M., Franke, B., Geltenbort, P., Green, K., van der Grinten, M. G. D., Grujic, Z., Harris, P. G., Heil, W., Hélaine, V., Henneck, R., Horras, M., Iaydjiev, P., Ivanov, S. N., Kasprzak, M., Kermaïdic, Y., Kirch, K., Knowles, P., Koch, H.-C., Komposch, S., Kozela, A., Krempel, J., Lauss, B., Lefort, T., Lemière, Y., Mtchedlishvili, A., Naviliat-Cuncic, O., Pendlebury, J. M., Piegsa, F. M., Pignol, G., Prashant, P. N., Quéméner, G., Rebreyend, D., Ries, D., Roccia, S., Schmidt-Wellenburg, P., Severijns, N., Weis, A., Wursten, E., Wyszynski, G., Zejma, J., Zenner, J., and Zsigmond, G.
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- 2015
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5. Meta‐analysis results do not reflect the real safety of biologics in psoriasis*.
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Afach, S., Chaimani, A., Evrenoglou, T., Penso, L., Brouste, E., Sbidian, E., and Le Cleach, L.
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CLINICAL trial registries , *RANDOMIZED controlled trials , *REPORTING of diseases , *BIOLOGICALS - Abstract
Summary: Background: In reported systematic reviews and meta‐analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing treatments for psoriasis, the proportion of serious adverse events (SAEs) did not differ between treatments and placebo. Including cases of psoriasis worsening as SAEs may explain the lack of difference. Objectives: This systematic review and meta‐analysis aimed to explore this possibility. Methods: Among the 140 RCTs included in the Living Network Cochrane Review (last search on 8 May 2019), we selected those comparing a biologic treatment against placebo. The primary outcome was the numbers of SAEs in the treatment and placebo arms after excluding cases of psoriasis worsening. Secondary outcomes were the number of adverse events (AEs) of special interest. The trial was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42019124495). Results: We analysed 51 RCTs. Of these, 21 included at least one anti‐tumour necrosis factor (TNF)‐α arm, 15 one anti‐interleukin (IL)‐17 arm, 11 one anti‐IL‐23 arm and nine one anti‐IL‐12/23 arm. With cases of psoriasis worsening included, the risk of occurrence of SAEs between biologic treatments and placebo did not differ: risk ratio (RR) 1·09, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0·88–1·36. After excluding cases of psoriasis worsening, the RR became significant (RR 1·30, 95% CI 1·02–1·65). By drug class, the RRs were for anti‐TNF‐α, 1·68 (95% CI 1·11–2·54; no missing data); anti‐IL‐17, 1·28 (95% CI 0·88–1·85; no missing data); anti‐IL‐23, 0·95 (95% CI 0·59–1·52; no missing data) and anti‐IL‐12/23, 1·18 (95% CI 0·72–1·94; no missing data). We were unable to examine potential differences in AEs of special interest between biologic treatments and placebo arms because of the small number of events. Conclusions: On excluding cases of worsening psoriasis, the risk of occurrence of SAEs is higher in the biologic than in the placebo arm. Given the rare events, we could not highlight whether this higher risk of SAEs was related to AEs of special interest. Reporting of SAEs in clinical trials has to be changed to provide more transparency through the separate reporting of disease flares leading to hospital admission and other SAEs. What is already known about this topic? Systematic reviews and meta‐analyses assessing the safety of biologic treatments for plaque‐type psoriasis in randomized controlled trials concluded that the proportion of serious adverse events (SAEs) was not significantly different between biologic and placebo groups. What does this study add?On excluding cases of worsening psoriasis, the risk of occurrence of SAEs is higher in the biologic group than in the placebo group, especially for anti‐tumour necrosis factor‐α treatments.Given the rare events, we could not highlight whether this higher risk of SAEs was related to adverse events of special interest. Linked Comment: Dávila?Seijo. Br J Dermatol 2021; 184:385. Plain language summary available online [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2021
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6. Dynamic stabilization of the magnetic field surrounding the neutron electric dipole moment spectrometer at the Paul Scherrer Institute.
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Afach, S., Bison, G., Bodek, K., Burri, F., Chowdhuri, Z., Daum, M., Fertl, M., Franke, B., Grujic, Z., Hélaine, V., Henneck, R., Kasprzak, M., Kirch, K., Koch, H. C., Kozela, A., Krempel, J., Lauss, B., Lefort, T., Lemiére, Y., and Meier, M.
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MAGNETIC fields , *NEUTRONS , *ELECTRIC dipole moments , *SPECTROMETERS - Abstract
The Surrounding Field Compensation (SFC) system described in this work is installed around the four-layer Mu-metal magnetic shield of the neutron electric dipole moment spectrometer located at the Paul Scherrer Institute. The SFC system reduces the DC component of the external magnetic field by a factor of about 20. Within a control volume of approximately 2.5mx2.5mx3m, disturbances of the magnetic field are attenuated by factors of 5-50 at a bandwidth from 10-3 Hz up to 0.5Hz, which corresponds to integration times longer than several hundreds of seconds and represent the important timescale for the neutron electric dipole moment measurement. These shielding factors apply to random environmental noise from arbitrary sources. This is achieved via a proportional-integral feedback stabilization system that includes a regularized pseudoinverse matrix of proportionality factors which correlates magnetic field changes at all sensor positions to current changes in the SFC coils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2014
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7. Overview of the Cosmic Axion Spin Precession Experiment (CASPEr)
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Kimball, D. F. Jackson, Afach, S., Aybas, D., Blanchard, J. W., Budker, D., Centers, G., Engler, M., Figueroa, N. L., Garcon, A., Graham, P. W., Luo, H., Rajendran, S., Sendra, M. G., Sushkov, A. O., Wang, T., Wickenbrock, A., Wilzewski, A., and Wu, T.
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High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex) ,High Energy Physics - Phenomenology ,High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph) ,Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors ,High Energy Physics::Phenomenology ,FOS: Physical sciences ,Instrumentation and Detectors (physics.ins-det) ,High Energy Physics - Experiment - Abstract
An overview of our experimental program to search for axion and axion-like-particle (ALP) dark matter using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques is presented. An oscillating axion field can exert a time-varying torque on nuclear spins either directly or via generation of an oscillating nuclear electric dipole moment (EDM). Magnetic resonance techniques can be used to detect such an effect. The first-stage experiments explore many decades of ALP parameter space beyond the current astrophysical and laboratory bounds. It is anticipated that future versions of the experiments will be sensitive to the axions associated with quantum chromodynamics (QCD) having masses $\lesssim 10^{-9}~{\rm eV}/c^2$., 9 pages, 4 figures
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- 2017
8. Constraining interactions mediated by axion-like particles with ultracold neutrons
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Afach, S., Ban, G., Bison, G., Bodek, K., Burghoff, M., Daum, M., Fertl, M., Franke, B., Grujić, Z.D., Hélaine, V., Kasprzak, M., Kermaïdic, Y., Kirch, K., Knowles, P., Koch, H.-C., Komposch, S., Kozela, A., Krempel, J., Lauss, B., Lefort, T., Lemière, Y., Mtchedlishvili, A., Naviliat-Cuncic, O., Piegsa, F.M., Pignol, G., Prashanth, P.N., Quéméner, G., Rebreyend, D., Ries, D., Roccia, S., Schmidt-Wellenburg, P., Schnabel, A., Severijns, N., Voigt, J., Weis, A., Wyszynski, G., Zejma, J., Zenner, J., and Zsigmond, G.
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- 2015
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9. A measurement of the neutron to 199Hg magnetic moment ratio
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Afach, S., Baker, C.A., Ban, G., Bison, G., Bodek, K., Burghoff, M., Chowdhuri, Z., Daum, M., Fertl, M., Franke, B., Geltenbort, P., Green, K., van der Grinten, M.G.D., Grujic, Z., Harris, P.G., Heil, W., Hélaine, V., Henneck, R., Horras, M., Iaydjiev, P., Ivanov, S.N., Kasprzak, M., Kermaïdic, Y., Kirch, K., Knecht, A., Koch, H.-C., Krempel, J., Kuźniak, M., Lauss, B., Lefort, T., Lemière, Y., Mtchedlishvili, A., Naviliat-Cuncic, O., Pendlebury, J.M., Perkowski, M., Pierre, E., Piegsa, F.M., Pignol, G., Prashanth, P.N., Quéméner, G., Rebreyend, D., Ries, D., Roccia, S., Schmidt-Wellenburg, P., Schnabel, A., Severijns, N., Shiers, D., Smith, K.F., Voigt, J., Weis, A., Wyszynski, G., Zejma, J., Zenner, J., and Zsigmond, G.
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- 2014
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10. A Revised Experimental Upper Limit on the Electric Dipole Moment of the Neutron
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Pendlebury, J M, Afach, S, Ayres, N J, Baker, C A, Ban, G, Bison, G, Bodek, K, Burghoff, M, Geltenbort, P, Green, K, Griffith, W C, van der Grinten, M, Grujic, Z D, Harris, P G, Helaine, V, Iaydjiev, P, Ivanov, S N, Kasprzak, M, Kermaidic, Y, Kirch, K, Koch, H-C, Komposch, S, Kozela, A, Krempel, J, Lauss, B, Lefort, T, Lemiere, Y, May, D J R, Musgrave, M, Naviliat-Cuncic, O, Piegsa, F M, Pignol, G, Prashanth, P N, Quéméner, G, Rawlik, M, Rebreyend, D, Richardson, J D, Ries, D, Roccia, S, Rozpedzik, D, Schnabel, A, Schmidt-Wellenburg, P, Severijns, N, Shiers, D, Thorne, J A, Weis, A, Winston, O J, Wursten, E, Zejma, J, Zsigmond, G, Laboratoire de physique corpusculaire de Caen (LPCC), Université de Caen Normandie (UNICAEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-École Nationale Supérieure d'Ingénieurs de Caen (ENSICAEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3), Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), ILL, Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie (LPSC), Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), CSNSM SNO, Centre de Spectrométrie Nucléaire et de Spectrométrie de Masse (CSNSM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Centre de Sciences Nucléaires et de Sciences de la Matière (CSNSM), and Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
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Nuclear and High Energy Physics ,Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors ,FOS: Physical sciences ,Magnitude (mathematics) ,01 natural sciences ,Resonance (particle physics) ,High Energy Physics - Experiment ,High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex) ,Quantum mechanics ,Paul-Scherrer Institute ,Cesium atom ,0103 physical sciences ,[PHYS.HEXP]Physics [physics]/High Energy Physics - Experiment [hep-ex] ,Neutron ,Limit (mathematics) ,010306 general physics ,Physics ,Conservation law ,magnetic-moment ,Magnetic moment ,010308 nuclear & particles physics ,Instrumentation and Detectors (physics.ins-det) ,QC0793 ,Atomic-Mercury magnetometer ,Electric dipole moment ,resonance ,Quantum electrodynamics ,Ultracold neutrons ,Particle Physics - Experiment - Abstract
We present for the first time a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the experimental results that set the current world sensitivity limit on the magnitude of the electric dipole moment (EDM) of the neutron. We have extended and enhanced our earlier analysis to include recent developments in the understanding of the effects of gravity in depolarizing ultracold neutrons (UCN); an improved calculation of the spectrum of the neutrons; and conservative estimates of other possible systematic errors, which are also shown to be consistent with more recent measurements undertaken with the apparatus. We obtain a net result of $d_\mathrm{n} = -0.21 \pm 1.82 \times10^{-26}$ $e$cm, which may be interpreted as a slightly revised upper limit on the magnitude of the EDM of $3.0 \times10^{-26}$ $e$cm (90% CL) or $ 3.6 \times10^{-26}$ $e$cm (95% CL). This paper is dedicated by the remaining authors to the memory of Prof. J. Michael Pendlebury., 23 pages, 19 figures. Authorship list changed to put J.M. Pendlebury first. Other very minor edits
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- 2015
11. A measurement of the neutron to 199Hg magnetic moment ratio
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Afach, S., Baker, C. A., Ban, G., Bison, Georg, Bodek, K., Burghoff, M., Chowdhuri, Z., Daum, M., Fertl, M., Franke, B., Geltenbort, P., Green, K., Grinten, M. G. D. van der, Grujic, Zoran, Harris, P. G., Heil, W., Hélaine, V., Henneck, R., Horras, M., Iaydjiev, P., Ivanov, S. N., Kasprzak, Malgorzata, Kermaïdic, Y., Kirch, K., Knecht, A., Koch, Hans-Christian, Krempel, J., Kuźniak, M., Lauss, B., Lefort, T., Lemière, Y., Mtchedlishvili, A., Naviliat-Cuncic, O., Pendlebury, J. M., Perkowski, M., Pierre, E., Piegsa, F. M., Pignol, G., Prashanth, P. N., Quéméner, G., Rebreyend, D., Ries, D., Roccia, S., Schmidt-Wellenburg, P., Schnabel, A., Severijns, N., Shiers, D., Smith, K.F., Voigt, J., and Weis, Antoine
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The neutron gyromagnetic ratio has been measured relative to that of the 199Hg atom with an uncertainty of 0.8 ppm. We employed an apparatus where ultracold neutrons and mercury atoms are stored in the same volume and report the result γn/γHg=3.8424574(30)γn/γHg=3.8424574(30).
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- 2015
12. Characterization of the global network of optical magnetometers to search for exotic physics (GNOME).
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Afach, S., Budker, D., DeCamp, G., Dumont, V., Grujić, Z.D., Guo, H., Jackson Kimball, D.F., Kornack, T.W., Lebedev, V., Li, W., Masia-Roig, H., Nix, S., Padniuk, M., Palm, C.A., Pankow, C., Penaflor, A., Peng, X., Pustelny, S., Scholtes, T., and Smiga, J.A.
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Abstract The Global Network of Optical Magnetometers to search for Exotic physics (GNOME) is a network of geographically separated, time-synchronized, optically pumped atomic magnetometers that is being used to search for correlated transient signals heralding exotic physics. The GNOME is sensitive to nuclear- and electron-spin couplings to exotic fields from astrophysical sources such as compact dark-matter objects (for example, axion stars and domain walls). Properties of the GNOME sensors such as sensitivity, bandwidth, and noise characteristics are studied in the present work, and features of the network's operation (e.g., data acquisition, format, storage, and diagnostics) are described. Characterization of the GNOME is a key prerequisite to searches for and identification of exotic physics signatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2018
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13. Active compensation of magnetic field distortions based on vector spherical harmonics field description.
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Wyszyński, G., Bodek, K., Afach, S., Bison, G., Chowdhuri, Z., Daum, M., Franke, B., Komposch, S., Lauss, B., Ries, D., Zsigmond, G., Perkowski, M., Rozpedzik, D., Zejma, J., Fertl, M., Koss, P. A., Severijns, N., Wursten, E., Kirch, K., and Kozela, A.
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MAGNETIC fields ,SPHERICAL harmonics ,MAGNETOSTATICS - Abstract
An analytic solution to the magnetostatic inverse problem in the framework of vector spherical harmonic basis functions is presented. This formalism is used for the design of a spherical magnetic field compensation system and its performance is compared with an already existing rectangular coil system. The proposed set of spherical coils with 15 degrees of freedom achieves a shielding factor of 1000 or better in a large part of the volume enclosed by the coils for a dipolar type external perturbation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2017
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14. Observation of Gravitationally Induced Vertical Striation of Polarized Ultracold Neutrons by Spin-Echo Spectroscopy.
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Afach, S., Ayres, N. J., Ban, G., Bison, G., Bodek, K., Chowdhuri, Z., Daum, M., Fertl, M., Franke, B., Griffith, W. C., Grujić, Z. D., Harris, P. G., Heil, W., Hélaine, V., Kasprzak, M., Kermaidic, Y., Kirch, K., Knowles, P., Koch, H. -C., and Komposch, S.
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ULTRACOLD neutrons , *NEUTRON spin echoes , *MAGNETIC fields , *ELECTRIC dipole moments , *NUCLEAR resonance reactions , *ELECTRIC discharges - Abstract
We describe a spin-echo method for ultracold neutrons (UCNs) confined in a precession chamber and exposed to a ∣B0∣ = 1 μT magnetic field. We have demonstrated that the analysis of UCN spin-echo resonance signals in combination with knowledge of the ambient magnetic field provides an excellent method by which to reconstruct the energy spectrum of a confined ensemble of neutrons. The method takes advantage of the relative dephasing of spins arising from a gravitationally induced striation of stored UCNs of different energies, and also permits an improved determination of the vertical magnetic-field gradient with an exceptional accuracy of 1.1 pT/cm. This novel combination of a well-known nuclear resonance method and gravitationally induced vertical striation is unique in the realm of nuclear and particle physics and should prove to be invaluable for the assessment of systematic effects in precision experiments such as searches for an electric dipole moment of the neutron or the measurement of the neutron lifetime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2015
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15. Measurement of a false electric dipole moment signal from Hg atoms exposed to an inhomogeneous magnetic field.
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Afach, S., Baker, C., Ban, G., Bison, G., Bodek, K., Chowdhuri, Z., Daum, M., Fertl, M., Franke, B., Geltenbort, P., Green, K., Grinten, M., Grujic, Z., Harris, P., Heil, W., Hélaine, V., Henneck, R., Horras, M., Iaydjiev, P., and Ivanov, S.
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ELECTRIC dipole moments ,SIGNAL processing ,MERCURY analysis ,ATOMS ,INHOMOGENEOUS materials ,MAGNETIC fields - Abstract
We report on the measurement of a Larmor frequency shift proportional to the electric-field strength for Hg atoms contained in a volume permeated with aligned magnetic and electric fields. This shift arises from the interplay between the inevitable magnetic field gradients and the motional magnetic field. The proportionality to electric-field strength makes it apparently similar to an electric dipole moment (EDM) signal, although unlike an EDM this effect is P- and T-conserving. We have used a neutron magnetic resonance EDM spectrometer, featuring a mercury co-magnetometer and an array of external cesium magnetometers, to measure the shift as a function of the applied magnetic field gradient. Our results are in good agreement with theoretical expectations. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2015
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16. Revised experimental upper limit on the electric dipole moment of the neutron.
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Pendlebury, J. M., Afach, S., Ayres, N. J., Baker, C. A., Ban, G., Bison, G., Bodek, K., Burghoff, M., Geltenbort, P., Green, K., Griffith, W. C., van der Grinten, M., Grujić, Z. D., Harris, P. G., Hélaine, V., Iaydjiev, P., Ivanov, S. N., Kasprzak, M., Kermaidic, Y., and Kirch, H. -C.
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ELECTRIC dipole moments , *NEUTRON diffraction , *POLARIZATION (Electricity) - Abstract
We present for the first time a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the experimental results that set the current world sensitivity limit on the magnitude of the electric dipole moment (EDM) of the neutron. We have extended and enhanced our earlier analysis to include recent developments in the understanding of the effects of gravity in depolarizing ultracold neutrons; an improved calculation of the spectrum of the neutrons; and conservative estimates of other possible systematic errors, which are also shown to be consistent with more recent measurements undertaken with the apparatus. We obtain a net result of dn = -0.21 ± 1.82 × 10-26 ecm, which may be interpreted as a slightly revised upper limit on the magnitude of the EDM of 3.0 × 10-26 ecm (90% C.L.) or 3.6 × 10-266 ecm (95% C.L.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2015
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17. Gravitational depolarization of ultracold neutrons: Comparison with data.
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Afach, S., Ayres, N. J., Baker, C. A., Ban, G., Bison, G., Bodek, K., Fertl, M., Franke, B., Geltenbort, P., Green, K., Griffith, W. C., van der Grinten, M., Grujic, Z. D., Harris, P. G., Heil, W., Helaine, V., Iaydjiev, P., Ivanov, S. N., Kasprzak, M., and Kermaidic, Y.
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ULTRACOLD neutrons , *NEUTRON electric moments , *MAGNETIC fields - Abstract
We compare the expected effects of so-called gravitationally enhanced depolarization of ultracold neutrons to measurements carried out in a spin-precession chamber exposed to a variety of vertical magnetic-field gradients. In particular, we have investigated the dependence upon these field gradients of spin-depolarization rates and also of shifts in the measured neutron Larmor precession frequency. We find excellent qualitative agreement, with gravitationally enhanced depolarization accounting for several previously unexplained features in the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2015
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18. Quality of reporting and concordance between sources of adverse events in the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis: a cross-sectional study of RCTs from a Cochrane systematic review.
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Beytout Q, Afach S, Guelimi R, Sbidian E, and Le Cleach L
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- Humans, Cross-Sectional Studies, Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions, Psoriasis drug therapy, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic standards
- Abstract
Objectives: Incomplete reporting of safety outcomes in quality and availability of safety reporting in published articles of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were described in different medical areas. The number of RCTs assessing systemic treatments for psoriasis has increased considerably. Complete and precise reporting of safety is mandatory for the efficacy/harms balance evaluation. We aimed to assess the quality and availability of safety reporting in published RCTs assessing systemic treatments for psoriasis, as well as the concordance of data between published trials and ClinicalTrials.gov (CT)., Study Design and Setting: We included all RCTs in adults initiated after September 2009, assessing systemic psoriasis treatments compared with placebo or with an active comparator. All trials were selected in duplicate by 2 independent authors from the latest search of the dedicated Cochrane review. We described quality of safety reporting for all published RCTs, using a modified Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials harms scale by using descriptive analysis, and a composite score of 3 key items of safety report. For each RCT, data on adverse events (AEs)/serious AEs (SAEs) were extracted from the publication and CT: total number of AEs/SAEs, patients with AEs/SAEs, SAEs by system organ class classification and deaths. These data were compared between sources for each RCT., Results: In total, 128 trials were included in the analysis of reporting quality, and 76 in the analysis of data concordance between sources. The median number of reported Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials harms items per article was 9 out of 18 (IQR 7-10), and mean number was 8.39 (SD = 3.02). Items in the methods section were the least frequently reported. The proportion of RCTs reporting the number of SAEs and death were significantly higher on CT than in the published article ((100% (76/76) vs 88.2%, McNemar test, P < .0016). At least 1 discrepancy between sources for SAE safety data was found in 30/76 (39.5%) RCTs., Conclusion: Shortcomings and gaps in the quality of safety reporting in publications of RCTs of systemic psoriasis treatments have been identified. A lack of data in published articles and discrepancies between published articles and CT data complete this finding., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest There are no competing interests for any author., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
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- 2024
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19. Pustular mycosis fungoides has a poor outcome: a multicentric clinico-pathological and molecular case series study.
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Bontoux C, Badrignans M, Afach S, Sbidian E, Mboumba DL, Ingen-Housz-Oro S, Claudel A, Aubriot-Lorton MH, Chong-Si-Tsaon A, Le Masson G, Attencourt C, Dubois R, Beltzung F, Koubaa W, Beltraminelli H, Cardot-Leccia N, Balme B, Nguyen AT, Bagny K, Legoupil D, Moustaghfir I, Denamps J, Mortier L, Hammami-Ghorbel H, Skrek S, Rafaa M, Fougerousse AC, Deschamps T, Dalle S, D'incan M, Chaby G, Beylot-Barry M, Dalac S, and Ortonne N
- Abstract
Background: Mycosis fungoides (MF) has usually an indolent course. However, some patients develop a more aggressive disease and few prognostic parameters have been identified. Isolated cases of pustular MF (pMF) suggest an unfavourable prognosis., Objectives: We aim to describe the clinico-pathological characteristics and prognostic value of pMF., Methods: We retrospectively collected data of all cases of MF with histological pustules diagnosed from 2009 to 2020. The outcomes and clinico-pathological characteristics of pMF at diagnosis (pMFD) were compared to those of a cohort of non-pustular MF (NpMF)., Results: 33 pMF (including 22 pMFD) and 86 NpMF cases were included. The median age at diagnosis of pMF was 61 years [IQR=50-75]. The median follow-up of pMFD was 32 months [IQR=14-49]. Clinically, 33% of pMF had pustules. Large-cell transformation (LCT) occurred in 17 cases. pMFD were at a significantly more advanced-stage and more showed LCT at diagnosis than NpMF (50% vs 7%, p<0.001 and 23% vs 0%, p<0.001, respectively). In multivariate Cox analysis, the presence of histological pustule at diagnostic was associated with shorter OS in all patients (HR=13.90, CI95%[2.43-79]; p=0.003), and in early-stage patients (HR=11.09, CI95%[1.56-78.82]; p=0.02). In multivariate Fine and Gray model analysis, pMFD was associated with a higher cumulative incidence of LCT (SHR=13.90, CI95% [2.43-79]; p=0.003) in all patients. Median OS after the occurrence of histological pustules during follow-up of all pMF patients was 37 months, with a five-year OS of 25% (CI95% [0.06-0.5])., Conclusion: pMF often follows an aggressive course, with a high risk of LCT and shorter survival, even for early-stage patients. Histological pustules at diagnostic of MF might represent an independent poor prognostic factor, to be confirmed by further studies. Because pustules are not always clinically identified, histological pustules should be mentioned in pathology reports of MF and prompt discussion of a closer follow-up., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of British Association of Dermatologists. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)
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- 2024
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20. Funding and conclusions of network meta-analyses on targeted therapies in inflammatory diseases: an overview.
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Guelimi R, Afach S, Bettuzzi T, Meyer A, Padern G, Yiu Z, Naudet F, Sbidian E, and Le-Cleach L
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- Humans, Drug Industry economics, Inflammation drug therapy, Practice Guidelines as Topic, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic economics, Research Support as Topic statistics & numerical data, Molecular Targeted Therapy economics, Molecular Targeted Therapy methods, Molecular Targeted Therapy statistics & numerical data, Network Meta-Analysis
- Abstract
Objectives: To explore the association between industry funding and network meta-analyses' (NMAs) conclusion, and the use in Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) of NMAs., Study Design and Setting: This was an overview of NMAs and CPGs. We searched PubMed/MEDLINE, Epistemonikos, and several guideline databases up to February 18th 2023. We included CPGs from the last 5 years and NMAs of randomized controlled trials that evaluated targeted therapies in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. Data extraction and outcome assessments were done in duplicate by independent authors., Results: We included 216 NMAs and 99 CPGs. 31% (67/216) were industry-funded. The proportion of industry-funded NMAs that cited one treatment as being best was 44% (25/57) compared to 26% (30/116) for nonindustry-funded (OR = 2.24 [1.15-4.39]; aOR = 1.76 [0.81-3.81]). The abstract's conclusion of 39/67 (58%) industry-funded and 69/149 (46%) nonindustry-funded NMAs were considered unsupported by the results (OR = 1.61 [0.90-2.89]; aOR = 1.40 [0.71-2.78]). All industry-funded NMAs that cited one treatment as best cited their own sponsored drug. 59/99 (60%) CPGs included at least one NMA, with 23/59 (39%) of them citing industry-funded NMAs., Conclusions: We did not find evidence that industry-funded NMAs were more likely to have unsupported conclusions or to cite only one treatment as being best in their conclusions compared to non-industry-funded NMAs. However, almost all industry-funded NMAs favored their own treatments. Even though 40% of the CPGs did not rely on NMA, over a third of those who did used industry-funded NMAs. Limitations include the possible misclassification due to undisclosed funding and potential confounders that have not been accounted for., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Robin Guelimi reports financial support was provided by Public Assistance Hospitals Paris. and the Association for Interdisciplinary Meta-Research and Open Science. LLC, ES, and SA are co-authors of this work and authors of several studies that are included in the submitted overview. L.L.C., E.S., and S.A. are authors of several studies that are included in this overview. L.L.C. took part in the selection process, but none of them were involved in the extraction of data or in the assessment of the quality of a work they took a part in. L.L.C. and E.S. received a grant from the French Ministry of Health (PHRC-N AOM22145). L.L.C. is the co-ordinating editor of the Cochrane Skin. F.N. received funding from the French National Research Agency (ANR-17-CE36-0010), the French ministry of health and the French ministry of research. He is a work package leader in the OSIRIS project (Open Science to Increase Reproducibility in Science). The OSIRIS project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the grant agreement No. 101094725. He is a work package leader for the doctoral network MSCA-DN SHARE-CTD (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-DN-01 101120360) funded by the EU. YZZN received a grant from the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR203308). R.G., A.M., T.B., and G.P. had no conflict of interest to declare. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
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- 2024
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21. Sensitivity and Specificity of Using GPT-3.5 Turbo Models for Title and Abstract Screening in Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses.
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Tran VT, Gartlehner G, Yaacoub S, Boutron I, Schwingshackl L, Stadelmaier J, Sommer I, Alebouyeh F, Afach S, Meerpohl J, and Ravaud P
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- Sensitivity and Specificity, Meta-Analysis as Topic, Systematic Reviews as Topic, Artificial Intelligence
- Abstract
Background: Systematic reviews are performed manually despite the exponential growth of scientific literature., Objective: To investigate the sensitivity and specificity of GPT-3.5 Turbo, from OpenAI, as a single reviewer, for title and abstract screening in systematic reviews., Design: Diagnostic test accuracy study., Setting: Unannotated bibliographic databases from 5 systematic reviews representing 22 665 citations., Participants: None., Measurements: A generic prompt framework to instruct GPT to perform title and abstract screening was designed. The output of the model was compared with decisions from authors under 2 rules. The first rule balanced sensitivity and specificity, for example, to act as a second reviewer. The second rule optimized sensitivity, for example, to reduce the number of citations to be manually screened., Results: Under the balanced rule, sensitivities ranged from 81.1% to 96.5% and specificities ranged from 25.8% to 80.4%. Across all reviews, GPT identified 7 of 708 citations (1%) missed by humans that should have been included after full-text screening at the cost of 10 279 of 22 665 false-positive recommendations (45.3%) that would require reconciliation during the screening process. Under the sensitive rule, sensitivities ranged from 94.6% to 99.8% and specificities ranged from 2.2% to 46.6%. Limiting manual screening to citations not ruled out by GPT could reduce the number of citations to screen from 127 of 6334 (2%) to 1851 of 4077 (45.4%), at the cost of missing from 0 to 1 of 26 citations (3.8%) at the full-text level., Limitations: Time needed to fine-tune prompt. Retrospective nature of the study, convenient sample of 5 systematic reviews, and GPT performance sensitive to prompt development and time., Conclusion: The GPT-3.5 Turbo model may be used as a second reviewer for title and abstract screening, at the cost of additional work to reconcile added false positives. It also showed potential to reduce the number of citations before screening by humans, at the cost of missing some citations at the full-text level., Primary Funding Source: None., Competing Interests: Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M23-3389.
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- 2024
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22. Systemic pharmacological treatments for chronic plaque psoriasis: a network meta-analysis.
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Sbidian E, Chaimani A, Guelimi R, Garcia-Doval I, Hua C, Hughes C, Naldi L, Kinberger M, Afach S, and Le Cleach L
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- Adult, Male, Humans, Female, Ustekinumab therapeutic use, Methotrexate therapeutic use, Infliximab therapeutic use, Network Meta-Analysis, Systematic Reviews as Topic, Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha, Psoriasis drug therapy, Biological Products therapeutic use
- Abstract
Background: Psoriasis is an immune-mediated disease with either skin or joints manifestations, or both, and it has a major impact on quality of life. Although there is currently no cure for psoriasis, various treatment strategies allow sustained control of disease signs and symptoms. The relative benefit of these treatments remains unclear due to the limited number of trials comparing them directly head-to-head, which is why we chose to conduct a network meta-analysis., Objectives: To compare the benefits and harms of non-biological systemic agents, small molecules, and biologics for people with moderate-to-severe psoriasis using a network meta-analysis, and to provide a ranking of these treatments according to their benefits and harms., Search Methods: For this update of the living systematic review, we updated our searches of the following databases monthly to October 2022: the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, and Embase., Selection Criteria: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of systemic treatments in adults over 18 years with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, at any stage of treatment, compared to placebo or another active agent. The primary outcomes were: proportion of participants who achieved clear or almost clear skin, that is, at least Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) 90; proportion of participants with serious adverse events (SAEs) at induction phase (8 to 24 weeks after randomisation)., Data Collection and Analysis: We conducted duplicate study selection, data extraction, risk of bias assessment, and analyses. We synthesised data using pairwise and network meta-analysis (NMA) to compare treatments and rank them according to effectiveness (PASI 90 score) and acceptability (inverse of SAEs). We assessed the certainty of NMA evidence for the two primary outcomes and all comparisons using CINeMA, as very low, low, moderate, or high. We contacted study authors when data were unclear or missing. We used the surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) to infer treatment hierarchy, from 0% (worst for effectiveness or safety) to 100% (best for effectiveness or safety)., Main Results: This update includes an additional 12 studies, taking the total number of included studies to 179, and randomised participants to 62,339, 67.1% men, mainly recruited from hospitals. Average age was 44.6 years, mean PASI score at baseline was 20.4 (range: 9.5 to 39). Most studies were placebo-controlled (56%). We assessed a total of 20 treatments. Most (152) trials were multicentric (two to 231 centres). One-third of the studies (65/179) had high risk of bias, 24 unclear risk, and most (90) low risk. Most studies (138/179) declared funding by a pharmaceutical company, and 24 studies did not report a funding source. Network meta-analysis at class level showed that all interventions (non-biological systemic agents, small molecules, and biological treatments) showed a higher proportion of patients reaching PASI 90 than placebo. Anti-IL17 treatment showed a higher proportion of patients reaching PASI 90 compared to all the interventions. Biologic treatments anti-IL17, anti-IL12/23, anti-IL23, and anti-TNF alpha showed a higher proportion of patients reaching PASI 90 than the non-biological systemic agents. For reaching PASI 90, the most effective drugs when compared to placebo were (SUCRA rank order, all high-certainty evidence): infliximab (risk ratio (RR) 49.16, 95% CI 20.49 to 117.95), bimekizumab (RR 27.86, 95% CI 23.56 to 32.94), ixekizumab (RR 27.35, 95% CI 23.15 to 32.29), risankizumab (RR 26.16, 95% CI 22.03 to 31.07). Clinical effectiveness of these drugs was similar when compared against each other. Bimekizumab and ixekizumab were significantly more likely to reach PASI 90 than secukinumab. Bimekizumab, ixekizumab, and risankizumab were significantly more likely to reach PASI 90 than brodalumab and guselkumab. Infliximab, anti-IL17 drugs (bimekizumab, ixekizumab, secukinumab, and brodalumab), and anti-IL23 drugs except tildrakizumab were significantly more likely to reach PASI 90 than ustekinumab, three anti-TNF alpha agents, and deucravacitinib. Ustekinumab was superior to certolizumab. Adalimumab, tildrakizumab, and ustekinumab were superior to etanercept. No significant difference was shown between apremilast and two non-biological drugs: ciclosporin and methotrexate. We found no significant difference between any of the interventions and the placebo for the risk of SAEs. The risk of SAEs was significantly lower for participants on methotrexate compared with most of the interventions. Nevertheless, the SAE analyses were based on a very low number of events with very low- to moderate-certainty evidence for all the comparisons. The findings therefore have to be viewed with caution. For other efficacy outcomes (PASI 75 and Physician Global Assessment (PGA) 0/1), the results were similar to the results for PASI 90. Information on quality of life was often poorly reported and was absent for several of the interventions., Authors' Conclusions: Our review shows that, compared to placebo, the biologics infliximab, bimekizumab, ixekizumab, and risankizumab were the most effective treatments for achieving PASI 90 in people with moderate-to-severe psoriasis on the basis of high-certainty evidence. This NMA evidence is limited to induction therapy (outcomes measured from 8 to 24 weeks after randomisation), and is not sufficient for evaluating longer-term outcomes in this chronic disease. Moreover, we found low numbers of studies for some of the interventions, and the young age (mean 44.6 years) and high level of disease severity (PASI 20.4 at baseline) may not be typical of patients seen in daily clinical practice. We found no significant difference in the assessed interventions and placebo in terms of SAEs, and the safety evidence for most interventions was very low to moderate quality. More randomised trials directly comparing active agents are needed, and these should include systematic subgroup analyses (sex, age, ethnicity, comorbidities, psoriatic arthritis). To provide long-term information on the safety of treatments included in this review, an evaluation of non-randomised studies is needed. Editorial note: This is a living systematic review. Living systematic reviews offer a new approach to review updating, in which the review is continually updated, incorporating relevant new evidence as it becomes available. Please refer to the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for the current status of this review., (Copyright © 2023 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)
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- 2023
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23. Placebo Response in Moderate-to-Severe Psoriasis: Prevalence Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
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Afach S, Le Cleach L, and Sbidian E
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- Humans, Prevalence, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Antibodies, Monoclonal therapeutic use, Placebo Effect, Treatment Outcome, Severity of Illness Index, Double-Blind Method, Psoriasis drug therapy, Psoriasis epidemiology
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- 2023
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24. Long-term clinical trials of biologics in plaque psoriasis demonstrate heterogeneous study designs.
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Grolleau C, Le Cleach L, Shourick J, Sbidian E, and Afach S
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- Humans, Antibodies, Monoclonal therapeutic use, Research Design, Treatment Outcome, Biological Products therapeutic use, Psoriasis drug therapy
- Abstract
Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest none declared.
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- 2023
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25. Network meta-analysis of rare events using penalized likelihood regression.
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Evrenoglou T, White IR, Afach S, Mavridis D, and Chaimani A
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- Humans, Bias, Computer Simulation, Likelihood Functions, Network Meta-Analysis, Research Design
- Abstract
Network meta-analysis (NMA) of rare events has attracted little attention in the literature. Until recently, networks of interventions with rare events were analyzed using the inverse-variance NMA approach. However, when events are rare the normal approximations made by this model can be poor and effect estimates are potentially biased. Other methods for the synthesis of such data are the recent extension of the Mantel-Haenszel approach to NMA or the use of the noncentral hypergeometric distribution. In this article, we suggest a new common-effect NMA approach that can be applied even in networks of interventions with extremely low or even zero number of events without requiring study exclusion or arbitrary imputations. Our method is based on the implementation of the penalized likelihood function proposed by Firth for bias reduction of the maximum likelihood estimate to the logistic expression of the NMA model. A limitation of our method is that heterogeneity cannot be taken into account as an additive parameter as in most meta-analytical models. However, we account for heterogeneity by incorporating a multiplicative overdispersion term using a two-stage approach. We show through simulation that our method performs consistently well across all tested scenarios and most often results in smaller bias than other available methods. We also illustrate the use of our method through two clinical examples. We conclude that our "penalized likelihood NMA" approach is promising for the analysis of binary outcomes with rare events especially for networks with very few studies per comparison and very low control group risks., (© 2022 The Authors. Statistics in Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
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- 2022
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26. Overlapping network meta-analyses on psoriasis systemic treatments, an overview: quantity does not make quality.
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Guelimi R, Afach S, Régnaux JP, Bettuzzi T, Chaby G, Sbidian E, Naudet F, and Le Cleach L
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- Adult, Humans, Immunotherapy, Network Meta-Analysis, Reproducibility of Results, Psoriasis drug therapy
- Abstract
Background: Network meta-analyses (NMAs) have become successful in addressing gaps in the comparative effectiveness of systemic treatments in moderate-to-severe psoriasis. However, their increasing number carries both a risk of overlap and reproducibility issues that can hamper clinical decision-making., Objectives: In this overview, we aimed to assess redundancy across these NMAs and to describe their characteristics., Materials and Methods: We considered all systematic reviews with NMAs of randomized controlled trials that included adult patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis and that evaluated the efficacy and/or safety of systemic treatments compared with placebo or with an active comparator. PubMed/MEDLINE, Epistemonikos, PROSPERO and the Evidence update of the Centre of Evidence-Based Dermatology of the University of Nottingham were searched up to 25 February 2021. Our main outcome was the number per year of redundant NMAs and the extent of their overlap. We also described their features, especially, the confidence in the results of the reviews, the funding of the studies and the presence of spin (a description that overstates efficacy and/or understates harm), reporting issues and methodological characteristics., Results: In total, 47 redundant NMAs were included. Only two of 47 (4%) included all available treatments. Both efficacy and safety were evaluated in 14 of 47 (30%) NMAs and both short- and long-term evaluations were assessed in five of 47 (11%). Confidence in the results was critically low for 39 of 47 (83%) NMAs and only 10 of 47 (21·3%) registered a protocol. Twenty-six of 47 NMAs (55%) received pharmaceutical funding. Contract research organizations were involved in 19 of 47 (40%) NMAs. Reporting was poor across most of the NMA abstracts and spin was present in all of the abstracts. Almost half of the NMAs failed to consider important limitations such as heterogeneity (considered in 32%) or consistency (considered in 66%)., Conclusions: In addition to a duplication of efforts, our overview showed heterogeneous methods and poor confidence in the results in a majority of the included NMAs, further distorted by reporting issues and spin. Clinicians need to interpret NMAs with caution when looking for the most reliable and comprehensive evidence., (© 2022 British Association of Dermatologists.)
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- 2022
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27. Systemic pharmacological treatments for chronic plaque psoriasis: a network meta-analysis.
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Sbidian E, Chaimani A, Garcia-Doval I, Doney L, Dressler C, Hua C, Hughes C, Naldi L, Afach S, and Le Cleach L
- Subjects
- Adalimumab adverse effects, Adult, Etanercept therapeutic use, Female, Humans, Infliximab therapeutic use, Male, Methotrexate therapeutic use, Network Meta-Analysis, Systematic Reviews as Topic, Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha, Ustekinumab therapeutic use, Biological Products therapeutic use, Psoriasis drug therapy
- Abstract
Background: Psoriasis is an immune-mediated disease with either skin or joints manifestations, or both, and it has a major impact on quality of life. Although there is currently no cure for psoriasis, various treatment strategies allow sustained control of disease signs and symptoms. The relative benefit of these treatments remains unclear due to the limited number of trials comparing them directly head-to-head, which is why we chose to conduct a network meta-analysis., Objectives: To compare the efficacy and safety of non-biological systemic agents, small molecules, and biologics for people with moderate-to-severe psoriasis using a network meta-analysis, and to provide a ranking of these treatments according to their efficacy and safety., Search Methods: For this update of the living systematic review, we updated our searches of the following databases monthly to October 2021: the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, and Embase., Selection Criteria: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of systemic treatments in adults over 18 years with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, at any stage of treatment, compared to placebo or another active agent. The primary outcomes were: proportion of participants who achieved clear or almost clear skin, that is, at least Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) 90; proportion of participants with serious adverse events (SAEs) at induction phase (8 to 24 weeks after randomisation)., Data Collection and Analysis: We conducted duplicate study selection, data extraction, risk of bias assessment and analyses. We synthesised data using pairwise and network meta-analysis (NMA) to compare treatments and rank them according to effectiveness (PASI 90 score) and acceptability (inverse of SAEs). We assessed the certainty of NMA evidence for the two primary outcomes and all comparisons using CINeMA, as very low, low, moderate, or high. We contacted study authors when data were unclear or missing. We used the surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) to infer treatment hierarchy, from 0% (worst for effectiveness or safety) to 100% (best for effectiveness or safety)., Main Results: This update includes an additional 19 studies, taking the total number of included studies to 167, and randomised participants to 58,912, 67.2% men, mainly recruited from hospitals. Average age was 44.5 years, mean PASI score at baseline was 20.4 (range: 9.5 to 39). Most studies were placebo-controlled (57%). We assessed a total of 20 treatments. Most (140) trials were multicentric (two to 231 centres). One-third of the studies (57/167) had high risk of bias; 23 unclear risk, and most (87) low risk. Most studies (127/167) declared funding by a pharmaceutical company, and 24 studies did not report a funding source. Network meta-analysis at class level showed that all interventions (non-biological systemic agents, small molecules, and biological treatments) showed a higher proportion of patients reaching PASI 90 than placebo. Anti-IL17 treatment showed a higher proportion of patients reaching PASI 90 compared to all the interventions, except anti-IL23. Biologic treatments anti-IL17, anti-IL12/23, anti-IL23 and anti-TNF alpha showed a higher proportion of patients reaching PASI 90 than the non-biological systemic agents. For reaching PASI 90, the most effective drugs when compared to placebo were (SUCRA rank order, all high-certainty evidence): infliximab (risk ratio (RR) 50.19, 95% CI 20.92 to 120.45), bimekizumab (RR 30.27, 95% CI 25.45 to 36.01), ixekizumab (RR 30.19, 95% CI 25.38 to 35.93), risankizumab (RR 28.75, 95% CI 24.03 to 34.39). Clinical effectiveness of these drugs was similar when compared against each other. Bimekizumab, ixekizumab and risankizumab showed a higher proportion of patients reaching PASI 90 than other anti-IL17 drugs (secukinumab and brodalumab) and guselkumab. Infliximab, anti-IL17 drugs (bimekizumab, ixekizumab, secukinumab and brodalumab) and anti-IL23 drugs (risankizumab and guselkumab) except tildrakizumab showed a higher proportion of patients reaching PASI 90 than ustekinumab and three anti-TNF alpha agents (adalimumab, certolizumab and etanercept). Ustekinumab was superior to certolizumab; adalimumab and ustekinumab were superior to etanercept. No significant difference was shown between apremilast and two non-biological drugs: ciclosporin and methotrexate. We found no significant difference between any of the interventions and the placebo for the risk of SAEs. The risk of SAEs was significantly lower for participants on methotrexate compared with most of the interventions. Nevertheless, the SAE analyses were based on a very low number of events with low- to moderate-certainty for all the comparisons (except methotrexate versus placebo, which was high-certainty). The findings therefore have to be viewed with caution. For other efficacy outcomes (PASI 75 and Physician Global Assessment (PGA) 0/1), the results were similar to the results for PASI 90. Information on quality of life was often poorly reported and was absent for several of the interventions., Authors' Conclusions: Our review shows that, compared to placebo, the biologics infliximab, bimekizumab, ixekizumab, and risankizumab were the most effective treatments for achieving PASI 90 in people with moderate-to-severe psoriasis on the basis of high-certainty evidence. This NMA evidence is limited to induction therapy (outcomes measured from 8 to 24 weeks after randomisation), and is not sufficient for evaluating longer-term outcomes in this chronic disease. Moreover, we found low numbers of studies for some of the interventions, and the young age (mean 44.5 years) and high level of disease severity (PASI 20.4 at baseline) may not be typical of patients seen in daily clinical practice. We found no significant difference in the assessed interventions and placebo in terms of SAEs, and the safety evidence for most interventions was low to moderate quality. More randomised trials directly comparing active agents are needed, and these should include systematic subgroup analyses (sex, age, ethnicity, comorbidities, psoriatic arthritis). To provide long-term information on the safety of treatments included in this review, an evaluation of non-randomised studies and postmarketing reports from regulatory agencies is needed. Editorial note: This is a living systematic review. Living systematic reviews offer a new approach to review updating, in which the review is continually updated, incorporating relevant new evidence as it becomes available. Please refer to the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for the current status of this review., (Copyright © 2022 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)
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- 2022
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28. Most randomized controlled trials for psoriasis used placebo comparators despite the availability of effective treatments.
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Afach S, Evrenoglou T, Oubaya N, Le Cleach L, and Sbidian E
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- Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Research Design statistics & numerical data, Research Design trends, Anti-Inflammatory Agents therapeutic use, Biomedical Research standards, Guidelines as Topic, Placebos therapeutic use, Psoriasis drug therapy, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic standards, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic statistics & numerical data
- Abstract
Background: The availability of effective treatments for psoriasis raises ethical questions about the use of a placebo group in therapeutic trials. We evaluated the use of the placebo over time in such trials., Methods: From trials in a living Cochrane review and network meta-analysis for psoriasis, we included trials comparing a biologic to a placebo or other systemic treatment. First, we tested the changes in placebo rate from 2001 to 2019 by linear regression, then constructed networks for 2004-2019 and evaluated the contribution of the placebo to the network meta-analysis estimates per trial and per comparison., Results: We included 81 trials (36,774 patients). The placebo rate did not decrease significantly over time. The proportion contribution of trials with a placebo decreased from 100% in 2004 to 86% in 2008 and 75% in 2019. However, the proportion contribution of trials without a placebo remained low (from 0% in 2004 to 25% in 2019)., Conclusion: The design of future psoriasis trials should be reviewed to improve the number of patients to be included in a placebo group., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
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- 2021
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29. Systemic pharmacological treatments for chronic plaque psoriasis: a network meta-analysis.
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Sbidian E, Chaimani A, Garcia-Doval I, Doney L, Dressler C, Hua C, Hughes C, Naldi L, Afach S, and Le Cleach L
- Subjects
- Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized, Chronic Disease, Cytokines antagonists & inhibitors, Cytokines metabolism, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Molecular Targeted Therapy, Network Meta-Analysis, Placebos therapeutic use, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Remission Induction, Severity of Illness Index, Treatment Outcome, Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha antagonists & inhibitors, Antibodies, Monoclonal therapeutic use, Immunosuppressive Agents therapeutic use, Psoriasis drug therapy
- Abstract
Background: Psoriasis is an immune-mediated disease for which some people have a genetic predisposition. The condition manifests in inflammatory effects on either the skin or joints, or both, and it has a major impact on quality of life. Although there is currently no cure for psoriasis, various treatment strategies allow sustained control of disease signs and symptoms. Several randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have compared the efficacy of the different systemic treatments in psoriasis against placebo. However, the relative benefit of these treatments remains unclear due to the limited number of trials comparing them directly head-to-head, which is why we chose to conduct a network meta-analysis., Objectives: To compare the efficacy and safety of non-biological systemic agents, small molecules, and biologics for people with moderate-to-severe psoriasis using a network meta-analysis, and to provide a ranking of these treatments according to their efficacy and safety., Search Methods: For this living systematic review we updated our searches of the following databases monthly to September 2020: the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, and Embase. We searched two trials registers to the same date. We checked the reference lists of included studies and relevant systematic reviews for further references to eligible RCTs., Selection Criteria: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of systemic treatments in adults (over 18 years of age) with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis whose skin had been clinically diagnosed with moderate-to-severe psoriasis, at any stage of treatment, in comparison to placebo or another active agent. The primary outcomes of this review were: the proportion of participants who achieved clear or almost clear skin, that is, at least Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) 90 at induction phase (from 8 to 24 weeks after the randomisation), and the proportion of participants with serious adverse events (SAEs) at induction phase. We did not evaluate differences in specific adverse events., Data Collection and Analysis: Several groups of two review authors independently undertook study selection, data extraction, 'Risk of bias' assessment, and analyses. We synthesised the data using pair-wise and network meta-analysis (NMA) to compare the treatments of interest and rank them according to their effectiveness (as measured by the PASI 90 score) and acceptability (the inverse of serious adverse events). We assessed the certainty of the body of evidence from the NMA for the two primary outcomes and all comparisons, according to CINeMA, as either very low, low, moderate, or high. We contacted study authors when data were unclear or missing. We used the surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) to infer on treatment hierarchy: 0% (treatment is the worst for effectiveness or safety) to 100% (treatment is the best for effectiveness or safety)., Main Results: We included 158 studies (18 new studies for the update) in our review (57,831 randomised participants, 67.2% men, mainly recruited from hospitals). The overall average age was 45 years; the overall mean PASI score at baseline was 20 (range: 9.5 to 39). Most of these studies were placebo-controlled (58%), 30% were head-to-head studies, and 11% were multi-armed studies with both an active comparator and a placebo. We have assessed a total of 20 treatments. In all, 133 trials were multicentric (two to 231 centres). All but two of the outcomes included in this review were limited to the induction phase (assessment from 8 to 24 weeks after randomisation). We assessed many studies (53/158) as being at high risk of bias; 25 were at an unclear risk, and 80 at low risk. Most studies (123/158) declared funding by a pharmaceutical company, and 22 studies did not report their source of funding. Network meta-analysis at class level showed that all of the interventions (non-biological systemic agents, small molecules, and biological treatments) were significantly more effective than placebo in reaching PASI 90. At class level, in reaching PASI 90, the biologic treatments anti-IL17, anti-IL12/23, anti-IL23, and anti-TNF alpha were significantly more effective than the small molecules and the non-biological systemic agents. At drug level, infliximab, ixekizumab, secukinumab, brodalumab, risankizumab and guselkumab were significantly more effective in reaching PASI 90 than ustekinumab and three anti-TNF alpha agents: adalimumab, certolizumab, and etanercept. Ustekinumab and adalimumab were significantly more effective in reaching PASI 90 than etanercept; ustekinumab was more effective than certolizumab, and the clinical effectiveness of ustekinumab and adalimumab was similar. There was no significant difference between tofacitinib or apremilast and three non-biological drugs: fumaric acid esters (FAEs), ciclosporin and methotrexate. Network meta-analysis also showed that infliximab, ixekizumab, risankizumab, bimekizumab, secukinumab, guselkumab, and brodalumab outperformed other drugs when compared to placebo in reaching PASI 90. The clinical effectiveness of these drugs was similar, except for ixekizumab which had a better chance of reaching PASI 90 compared with secukinumab, guselkumab and brodalumab. The clinical effectiveness of these seven drugs was: infliximab (versus placebo): risk ratio (RR) 50.29, 95% confidence interval (CI) 20.96 to 120.67, SUCRA = 93.6; high-certainty evidence; ixekizumab (versus placebo): RR 32.48, 95% CI 27.13 to 38.87; SUCRA = 90.5; high-certainty evidence; risankizumab (versus placebo): RR 28.76, 95% CI 23.96 to 34.54; SUCRA = 84.6; high-certainty evidence; bimekizumab (versus placebo): RR 58.64, 95% CI 3.72 to 923.86; SUCRA = 81.4; high-certainty evidence; secukinumab (versus placebo): RR 25.79, 95% CI 21.61 to 30.78; SUCRA = 76.2; high-certainty evidence; guselkumab (versus placebo): RR 25.52, 95% CI 21.25 to 30.64; SUCRA = 75; high-certainty evidence; and brodalumab (versus placebo): RR 23.55, 95% CI 19.48 to 28.48; SUCRA = 68.4; moderate-certainty evidence. Conservative interpretation is warranted for the results for bimekizumab (as well as mirikizumab, tyrosine kinase 2 inhibitor, acitretin, ciclosporin, fumaric acid esters, and methotrexate), as these drugs, in the NMA, have been evaluated in few trials. We found no significant difference between any of the interventions and the placebo for the risk of SAEs. Nevertheless, the SAE analyses were based on a very low number of events with low to moderate certainty for all the comparisons. Thus, the results have to be viewed with caution and we cannot be sure of the ranking. For other efficacy outcomes (PASI 75 and Physician Global Assessment (PGA) 0/1) the results were similar to the results for PASI 90. Information on quality of life was often poorly reported and was absent for several of the interventions., Authors' Conclusions: Our review shows that compared to placebo, the biologics infliximab, ixekizumab, risankizumab, bimekizumab, secukinumab, guselkumab and brodalumab were the most effective treatments for achieving PASI 90 in people with moderate-to-severe psoriasis on the basis of moderate- to high-certainty evidence. This NMA evidence is limited to induction therapy (outcomes were measured from 8 to 24 weeks after randomisation) and is not sufficient for evaluation of longer-term outcomes in this chronic disease. Moreover, we found low numbers of studies for some of the interventions, and the young age (mean age of 45 years) and high level of disease severity (PASI 20 at baseline) may not be typical of patients seen in daily clinical practice. Another major concern is that short-term trials provide scanty and sometimes poorly-reported safety data and thus do not provide useful evidence to create a reliable risk profile of treatments. We found no significant difference in the assessed interventions and placebo in terms of SAEs, and the evidence for all the interventions was of low to moderate quality. In order to provide long-term information on the safety of the treatments included in this review, it will also be necessary to evaluate non-randomised studies and postmarketing reports released from regulatory agencies. In terms of future research, randomised trials directly comparing active agents are necessary once high-quality evidence of benefit against placebo is established, including head-to-head trials amongst and between non-biological systemic agents and small molecules, and between biological agents (anti-IL17 versus anti-IL23, anti-IL23 versus anti-IL12/23, anti-TNF alpha versus anti-IL12/23). Future trials should also undertake systematic subgroup analyses (e.g. assessing biological-naïve participants, baseline psoriasis severity, presence of psoriatic arthritis, etc.). Finally, outcome measure harmonisation is needed in psoriasis trials, and researchers should look at the medium- and long-term benefit and safety of the interventions and the comparative safety of different agents. Editorial note: This is a living systematic review. Living systematic reviews offer a new approach to review updating, in which the review is continually updated, incorporating relevant new evidence as it becomes available. Please refer to the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for the current status of this review., (Copyright © 2021 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)
- Published
- 2021
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- View/download PDF
30. Search for Axionlike Dark Matter Using Solid-State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.
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Aybas D, Adam J, Blumenthal E, Gramolin AV, Johnson D, Kleyheeg A, Afach S, Blanchard JW, Centers GP, Garcon A, Engler M, Figueroa NL, Sendra MG, Wickenbrock A, Lawson M, Wang T, Wu T, Luo H, Mani H, Mauskopf P, Graham PW, Rajendran S, Kimball DFJ, Budker D, and Sushkov AO
- Abstract
We report the results of an experimental search for ultralight axionlike dark matter in the mass range 162-166 neV. The detection scheme of our Cosmic Axion Spin Precession Experiment is based on a precision measurement of ^{207}Pb solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance in a polarized ferroelectric crystal. Axionlike dark matter can exert an oscillating torque on ^{207}Pb nuclear spins via the electric dipole moment coupling g_{d} or via the gradient coupling g_{aNN}. We calibrate the detector and characterize the excitation spectrum and relaxation parameters of the nuclear spin ensemble with pulsed magnetic resonance measurements in a 4.4 T magnetic field. We sweep the magnetic field near this value and search for axionlike dark matter with Compton frequency within a 1 MHz band centered at 39.65 MHz. Our measurements place the upper bounds |g_{d}|<9.5×10^{-4} GeV^{-2} and |g_{aNN}|<2.8×10^{-1} GeV^{-1} (95% confidence level) in this frequency range. The constraint on g_{d} corresponds to an upper bound of 1.0×10^{-21} e cm on the amplitude of oscillations of the neutron electric dipole moment and 4.3×10^{-6} on the amplitude of oscillations of CP-violating θ parameter of quantum chromodynamics. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of using solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance to search for axionlike dark matter in the neV mass range.
- Published
- 2021
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31. Quality and Reporting Completeness of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses in Dermatology.
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Smires S, Afach S, Mazaud C, Phan C, Garcia Doval I, Boyle R, Dellavalle R, Williams HC, Grindlay D, Sbidian E, and Le Cleach L
- Subjects
- Databases, Factual, Humans, Dermatology standards, Quality Improvement
- Abstract
We sought to assess the quality of dermatological systematic reviews (SRs) and identify factors that predict high methodological quality. We searched for all SRs published in 2017 using PubMed, Epistemonikos, and the Cochrane Database of SRs. We included studies identified as SRs or meta-analysis in the title or abstract and dealing with a dermatological topic. Study selection and data extraction were carried out and Preferred Reporting Items for SRs and Meta-Analyses and rating by A MeaSurement Tool to Assess SRs 2 were used independently by two authors. On the basis of A MeaSurement Tool to Assess SRs 2, confidence in SRs results was classified as high, moderate, low, or very low. We included 732 studies. We described a random sample of 140. The overall rating of confidence in the results according to a tool called A MeaSurement Tool to Assess SRs 2 was high or moderate for nine reviews (6%). A total of 20 reviews (15%) had a registered protocol. Independent factors associated with moderate or high rating of A MeaSurement Tool to Assess SRs 2 were publication in a journal where Preferred Reporting Items for SRs and Meta-Analyses was mandatory (OR [95% confidence interval] = 27.0 [1.4-528]) and journal impact factor (OR of 1.9 [1.3-3]) for each increase in one more point. The observation that 90% of published dermatology SRs are of very low quality is alarming. Review registration in the International Prospective Register of SRs and full reporting according to Preferred Items for SRs and Meta-Analyses should be mandatory for publication. This study is registered in the International Prospective Register of SRs (CRD42018093856)., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2021
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32. Search for topological defect dark matter with a global network of optical magnetometers.
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Afach S, Buchler BC, Budker D, Dailey C, Derevianko A, Dumont V, Figueroa NL, Gerhardt I, Grujić ZD, Guo H, Hao C, Hamilton PS, Hedges M, Jackson Kimball DF, Kim D, Khamis S, Kornack T, Lebedev V, Lu ZT, Masia-Roig H, Monroy M, Padniuk M, Palm CA, Park SY, Paul KV, Penaflor A, Peng X, Pospelov M, Preston R, Pustelny S, Scholtes T, Segura PC, Semertzidis YK, Sheng D, Shin YC, Smiga JA, Stalnaker JE, Sulai I, Tandon D, Wang T, Weis A, Wickenbrock A, Wilson T, Wu T, Wurm D, Xiao W, Yang Y, Yu D, and Zhang J
- Abstract
Ultralight bosons such as axion-like particles are viable candidates for dark matter. They can form stable, macroscopic field configurations in the form of topological defects that could concentrate the dark matter density into many distinct, compact spatial regions that are small compared with the Galaxy but much larger than the Earth. Here we report the results of the search for transient signals from the domain walls of axion-like particles by using the global network of optical magnetometers for exotic (GNOME) physics searches. We search the data, consisting of correlated measurements from optical atomic magnetometers located in laboratories all over the world, for patterns of signals propagating through the network consistent with domain walls. The analysis of these data from a continuous month-long operation of GNOME finds no statistically significant signals, thus placing experimental constraints on such dark matter scenarios., Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing interests., (© The Author(s) 2021.)
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- 2021
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33. Measurement of the Permanent Electric Dipole Moment of the Neutron.
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Abel C, Afach S, Ayres NJ, Baker CA, Ban G, Bison G, Bodek K, Bondar V, Burghoff M, Chanel E, Chowdhuri Z, Chiu PJ, Clement B, Crawford CB, Daum M, Emmenegger S, Ferraris-Bouchez L, Fertl M, Flaux P, Franke B, Fratangelo A, Geltenbort P, Green K, Griffith WC, van der Grinten M, Grujić ZD, Harris PG, Hayen L, Heil W, Henneck R, Hélaine V, Hild N, Hodge Z, Horras M, Iaydjiev P, Ivanov SN, Kasprzak M, Kermaidic Y, Kirch K, Knecht A, Knowles P, Koch HC, Koss PA, Komposch S, Kozela A, Kraft A, Krempel J, Kuźniak M, Lauss B, Lefort T, Lemière Y, Leredde A, Mohanmurthy P, Mtchedlishvili A, Musgrave M, Naviliat-Cuncic O, Pais D, Piegsa FM, Pierre E, Pignol G, Plonka-Spehr C, Prashanth PN, Quéméner G, Rawlik M, Rebreyend D, Rienäcker I, Ries D, Roccia S, Rogel G, Rozpedzik D, Schnabel A, Schmidt-Wellenburg P, Severijns N, Shiers D, Tavakoli Dinani R, Thorne JA, Virot R, Voigt J, Weis A, Wursten E, Wyszynski G, Zejma J, Zenner J, and Zsigmond G
- Abstract
We present the result of an experiment to measure the electric dipole moment (EDM) of the neutron at the Paul Scherrer Institute using Ramsey's method of separated oscillating magnetic fields with ultracold neutrons. Our measurement stands in the long history of EDM experiments probing physics violating time-reversal invariance. The salient features of this experiment were the use of a ^{199}Hg comagnetometer and an array of optically pumped cesium vapor magnetometers to cancel and correct for magnetic-field changes. The statistical analysis was performed on blinded datasets by two separate groups, while the estimation of systematic effects profited from an unprecedented knowledge of the magnetic field. The measured value of the neutron EDM is d_{n}=(0.0±1.1_{stat}±0.2_{sys})×10^{-26} e.cm.
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- 2020
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34. Systemic pharmacological treatments for chronic plaque psoriasis: a network meta-analysis.
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Sbidian E, Chaimani A, Afach S, Doney L, Dressler C, Hua C, Mazaud C, Phan C, Hughes C, Riddle D, Naldi L, Garcia-Doval I, and Le Cleach L
- Subjects
- Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized, Chronic Disease, Cytokines antagonists & inhibitors, Cytokines metabolism, Humans, Molecular Targeted Therapy, Network Meta-Analysis, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Remission Induction, Severity of Illness Index, Treatment Outcome, Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha antagonists & inhibitors, Antibodies, Monoclonal therapeutic use, Immunosuppressive Agents therapeutic use, Psoriasis drug therapy
- Abstract
Background: Psoriasis is an immune-mediated disease for which some people have a genetic predisposition. The condition manifests in inflammatory effects on either the skin or joints, or both, and it has a major impact on quality of life. Although there is currently no cure for psoriasis, various treatment strategies allow sustained control of disease signs and symptoms. Several randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have compared the efficacy of the different systemic treatments in psoriasis against placebo. However, the relative benefit of these treatments remains unclear due to the limited number of trials comparing them directly head-to-head, which is why we chose to conduct a network meta-analysis. This is the baseline update of a Cochrane Review first published in 2017, in preparation for this Cochrane Review becoming a living systematic review., Objectives: To compare the efficacy and safety of conventional systemic agents, small molecules, and biologics for people with moderate-to-severe psoriasis, and to provide a ranking of these treatments according to their efficacy and safety., Search Methods: We updated our research using the following databases to January 2019: the Cochrane Skin Specialised Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, Embase, LILACS and the conference proceedings of a number of dermatology meetings. We also searched five trials registers and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) reports (until June 2019). We checked the reference lists of included and excluded studies for further references to relevant RCTs., Selection Criteria: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of systemic treatments in adults (over 18 years of age) with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis whose skin had been clinically diagnosed with moderate-to-severe psoriasis, at any stage of treatment, in comparison to placebo or another active agent. The primary outcomes of this review were: the proportion of participants who achieved clear or almost clear skin, that is, at least Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) 90 at induction phase (from 8 to 24 weeks after the randomisation), and the proportion of participants with serious adverse effects (SAEs) at induction phase. We did not evaluate differences in specific adverse effects., Data Collection and Analysis: Several groups of two review authors independently undertook study selection, data extraction, 'Risk of bias' assessment, and analyses. We synthesised the data using pair-wise and network meta-analysis (NMA) to compare the treatments of interest and rank them according to their effectiveness (as measured by the PASI 90 score) and acceptability (the inverse of serious adverse effects). We assessed the certainty of the body of evidence from the NMA for the two primary outcomes, according to GRADE, as either very low, low, moderate, or high. We contacted study authors when data were unclear or missing., Main Results: We included 140 studies (31 new studies for the update) in our review (51,749 randomised participants, 68% men, mainly recruited from hospitals). The overall average age was 45 years; the overall mean PASI score at baseline was 20 (range: 9.5 to 39). Most of these studies were placebo-controlled (59%), 30% were head-to-head studies, and 11% were multi-armed studies with both an active comparator and a placebo. We have assessed a total of 19 treatments. In all, 117 trials were multicentric (two to 231 centres). All but two of the outcomes included in this review were limited to the induction phase (assessment from 8 to 24 weeks after randomisation). We assessed many studies (57/140) as being at high risk of bias; 42 were at an unclear risk, and 41 at low risk. Most studies (107/140) declared funding by a pharmaceutical company, and 22 studies did not report the source of funding. Network meta-analysis at class level showed that all of the interventions (conventional systemic agents, small molecules, and biological treatments) were significantly more effective than placebo in terms of reaching PASI 90. At class level, in terms of reaching PASI 90, the biologic treatments anti-IL17, anti-IL12/23, anti-IL23, and anti-TNF alpha were significantly more effective than the small molecules and the conventional systemic agents. At drug level, in terms of reaching PASI 90, infliximab, all of the anti-IL17 drugs (ixekizumab, secukinumab, bimekizumab and brodalumab) and the anti-IL23 drugs (risankizumab and guselkumab, but not tildrakizumab) were significantly more effective in reaching PASI 90 than ustekinumab and 3 anti-TNF alpha agents: adalimumab, certolizumab and etanercept. Adalimumab and ustekinumab were significantly more effective in reaching PASI 90 than certolizumab and etanercept. There was no significant difference between tofacitinib or apremilast and between two conventional drugs: ciclosporin and methotrexate. Network meta-analysis also showed that infliximab, ixekizumab, risankizumab, bimekizumab, guselkumab, secukinumab and brodalumab outperformed other drugs when compared to placebo in reaching PASI 90. The clinical effectiveness for these seven drugs was similar: infliximab (versus placebo): risk ratio (RR) 29.52, 95% confidence interval (CI) 19.94 to 43.70, Surface Under the Cumulative Ranking (SUCRA) = 88.5; moderate-certainty evidence; ixekizumab (versus placebo): RR 28.12, 95% CI 23.17 to 34.12, SUCRA = 88.3, moderate-certainty evidence; risankizumab (versus placebo): RR 27.67, 95% CI 22.86 to 33.49, SUCRA = 87.5, high-certainty evidence; bimekizumab (versus placebo): RR 58.64, 95% CI 3.72 to 923.86, SUCRA = 83.5, low-certainty evidence; guselkumab (versus placebo): RR 25.84, 95% CI 20.90 to 31.95; SUCRA = 81; moderate-certainty evidence; secukinumab (versus placebo): RR 23.97, 95% CI 20.03 to 28.70, SUCRA = 75.4; high-certainty evidence; and brodalumab (versus placebo): RR 21.96, 95% CI 18.17 to 26.53, SUCRA = 68.7; moderate-certainty evidence. Conservative interpretation is warranted for the results for bimekizumab (as well as tyrosine kinase 2 inhibitor, acitretin, ciclosporin, fumaric acid esters, and methotrexate), as these drugs, in the NMA, have been evaluated in few trials. We found no significant difference between any of the interventions and the placebo for the risk of SAEs. Nevertheless, the SAE analyses were based on a very low number of events with low to very low certainty for just under half of the treatment estimates in total, and moderate for the others. Thus, the results have to be viewed with caution and we cannot be sure of the ranking. For other efficacy outcomes (PASI 75 and Physician Global Assessment (PGA) 0/1) the results were very similar to the results for PASI 90. Information on quality of life was often poorly reported and was absent for several of the interventions., Authors' Conclusions: Our review shows that compared to placebo, the biologics infliximab, ixekizumab, risankizumab, bimekizumab, guselkumab, secukinumab and brodalumab were the best choices for achieving PASI 90 in people with moderate-to-severe psoriasis on the basis of moderate- to high-certainty evidence (low-certainty evidence for bimekizumab). This NMA evidence is limited to induction therapy (outcomes were measured from 8 to 24 weeks after randomisation) and is not sufficient for evaluation of longer-term outcomes in this chronic disease. Moreover, we found low numbers of studies for some of the interventions, and the young age (mean age of 45 years) and high level of disease severity (PASI 20 at baseline) may not be typical of patients seen in daily clinical practice. Another major concern is that short-term trials provide scanty and sometimes poorly-reported safety data and thus do not provide useful evidence to create a reliable risk profile of treatments. Indeed, we found no significant difference in the assessed interventions and placebo in terms of SAEs, but the evidence for all the interventions was of very low to moderate quality. In order to provide long-term information on the safety of the treatments included in this review, it will also be necessary to evaluate non-randomised studies and postmarketing reports released from regulatory agencies. In terms of future research, randomised trials comparing directly active agents are necessary once high-quality evidence of benefit against placebo is established, including head-to-head trials amongst and between conventional systemic and small molecules, and between biological agents (anti-IL17 versus anti-IL23, anti-IL23 versus anti-IL12/23, anti-TNF alpha versus anti-IL12/23). Future trials should also undertake systematic subgroup analyses (e.g. assessing biological-naïve participants, baseline psoriasis severity, presence of psoriatic arthritis, etc.). Finally, outcome measure harmonisation is needed in psoriasis trials, and researchers should look at the medium- and long-term benefit and safety of the interventions and the comparative safety of different agents. Editorial note: This is a living systematic review. Living systematic reviews offer a new approach to review updating, in which the review is continually updated, incorporating relevant new evidence as it becomes available. Please refer to the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for the current status of this review., (Copyright © 2020 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
35. Highly stable atomic vector magnetometer based on free spin precession.
- Author
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Afach S, Ban G, Bison G, Bodek K, Chowdhuri Z, Grujić ZD, Hayen L, Hélaine V, Kasprzak M, Kirch K, Knowles P, Koch HC, Komposch S, Kozela A, Krempel J, Lauss B, Lefort T, Lemière Y, Mtchedlishvili A, Naviliat-Cuncic O, Piegsa FM, Prashanth PN, Quéméner G, Rawlik M, Ries D, Roccia S, Rozpedzik D, Schmidt-Wellenburg P, Severjins N, Weis A, Wursten E, Wyszynski G, Zejma J, and Zsigmond G
- Abstract
We present a magnetometer based on optically pumped Cs atoms that measures the magnitude and direction of a 1 μT magnetic field. Multiple circularly polarized laser beams were used to probe the free spin precession of the Cs atoms. The design was optimized for long-time stability and achieves a scalar resolution better than 300 fT for integration times ranging from 80 ms to 1000 s. The best scalar resolution of less than 80 fT was reached with integration times of 1.6 to 6 s. We were able to measure the magnetic field direction with a resolution better than 10 μrad for integration times from 10 s up to 2000 s.
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
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