First Measurement of the |t| Dependence of Incoherent J/ψ Photonuclear Production

The first measurement of the cross section for incoherent photonuclear production of J/ψ vector mesons as a function of the Mandelstam |t| variable is presented. The measurement was carried out with the ALICE detector at midrapidity, |y|<0.8, using ultraperipheral collisions of Pb nuclei at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV. This rapidity interval corresponds to a Bjorken-x range (0.3-1.4)×10^{-3}. Cross sections are given in five |t| intervals in the range 0.04<|t|<1  GeV^{2} and compared to the predictions by different models. Models that ignore quantum fluctuations of the gluon density in the colliding hadron predict a |t| dependence of the cross section much steeper than in data. The inclusion of such fluctuations in the same models provides a better description of the data.

ψ(2S) Suppression in Pb-Pb Collisions at the LHC

The production of the ψ(2S) charmonium state was measured with ALICE in Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV, in the dimuon decay channel. A significant signal was observed for the first time at LHC energies down to zero transverse momentum, at forward rapidity (2.5 Collapse

Key Words Collapse

MESH Headings Collapse

Grants Collapse

Paradigm shift towards emergency cholecystectomy: one site experience of the Chole-QuiC process

INTRODUCTION

Substantial evidence exists for the superiority of emergency over delayed cholecystectomy for gallstone disease during primary admission. Despite this, emergency surgery rates in the UK remain low compared with other developed countries, with great variation in care across the nation. We aimed to describe the local paradigm shift towards emergency surgery and investigate outcomes.

METHODS

This is a prospective observational study examining patients enrolled onto an emergency cholecystectomy pathway, following the hospital's subscription to the Royal College of Surgeons of England's Cholecystectomy Quality Improvement Collaborative (Chole-QuIC), between 1 December 2021 and 31 January 2023. Multivariate logistical regression models were used to identify patient and hospital factors associated with postoperative outcomes.

RESULTS

Of the 307 suitable acute admissions, 261 (85%) had an emergency cholecystectomy, compared with 5% preceding the Chole-QuIC interventions. Waiting time dropped from 67 to 5 days. A total of 208 (79.7%) patients were primary presentations, 92 (35.2%) were classed Tokyo grade 2 and 142 (54.4%) were obese. A total of 23 (8.8%) patients underwent preoperative endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, and 26 (10%) patients had a subtotal cholecystectomy. Favourable outcomes (Clavien Dindo ≥3) were observed in first presentations (odds ratio (OR) 0.35; p=0.042) and for operation times within 7 days (OR 0.32; p=0.037), with worse outcomes in BMI ≥35 (OR 3.32; p=0.005) and operation time >7 days (OR 3.11; p=0.037).

CONCLUSION

A paradigm shift towards emergency cholecystectomy benefits both the patient and the service. Positive outcomes are apparent for early operation in patients presenting for the first time and recurrent attendees, with early operation (<7 days) providing the most favourable outcome in a select patient group.

Gossypiboma mimicking a hydatid cyst: A case report

INTRODUCTION

Retained foreign bodies have become very rare in countries where the safety rules in the operating theater are very rigorous and follow precise guidelines. Maintaining awareness of this issue among surgeons and radiologists is of paramount importance to minimize avoidable morbidity and facilitate the selection of the most suitable therapeutic strategy. This consideration is particularly relevant in the differential diagnosis of hydatid cysts. This study describes a case of intra-abdominal gossypiboma, which mimicked hydatid cyst on preoperative assessment.

CASE PRESENTATION

We report the case of a 63-year-old female who was referred to our department for the management of a hepatic hydatid cyst. She has history of open cholecystectomy and oophorocystectomy. During the intervention, we discovered a 10 cm mass located in the interhepatogastric region. Complete resection of the mass was performed, and pathology results were compatible with a piece of gauze surrounded by reactive changes (gossypiboma).

DISCUSSION

Gossypiboma is undeniably a source of concern for surgeons. It's a genuine and serious surgical complication which can potentially arise from any type of surgery and may manifest with diverse complaints. However, it is crucial to emphasize that this complication is preventable with the primary preventive measure being meticulous counting of surgical materials during the procedure.

CONCLUSION

The potential embarrassment experienced by the surgeon and the significant legal consequences associated with this iatrogenic complication are substantial. Hence, it becomes imperative to adopt all requisite preventive measures to avert such incidents, as there is no excuse that can justify their occurrence.

Measurements of Groomed-Jet Substructure of Charm Jets Tagged by D^{0} Mesons in Proton-Proton Collisions at sqrt[s]=13 TeV

Understanding the role of parton mass and Casimir color factors in the quantum chromodynamics parton shower represents an important step in characterizing the emission properties of heavy quarks. Recent experimental advances in jet substructure techniques have provided the opportunity to isolate and characterize gluon emissions from heavy quarks. In this Letter, the first direct experimental constraint on the charm-quark splitting function is presented, obtained via the measurement of the groomed shared momentum fraction of the first splitting in charm jets, tagged by a reconstructed D^{0} meson. The measurement is made in proton-proton collisions at sqrt[s]=13  TeV, in the low jet transverse-momentum interval of 15≤p_{T}^{jet ch}<30  GeV/c where the emission properties are sensitive to parton mass effects. In addition, the opening angle of the first perturbative emission of the charm quark, as well as the number of perturbative emissions it undergoes, is reported. Comparisons to measurements of an inclusive-jet sample show a steeper splitting function for charm quarks compared with gluons and light quarks. Charm quarks also undergo fewer perturbative emissions in the parton shower, with a reduced probability of large-angle emissions.

Determining the 3-substituted Coumarins inhibitory potential against the HslV protease of E. coli

OBJECTIVE

The growing bacterial resistance towards classical antibiotics demands the development of novel approaches for the effective treatment of potentially fatal bacterial infections in humans. Proteostasis is crucial for the survival of every living cell, as several important physiological functions depend on well-regulated proteostasis. Within bacteria, the regulation of proteostasis relies on AAA+ (Adenosine 5'-triphosphatases associated with diverse cellular activities), ATPases, such as the HslVU complex (heat shock locus gene products U and V), along with other proteases. The HslVU protease/chaperon complex is thought to be the progenitor of the eukaryotic proteasome that regulates proteostasis mostly in prokaryotes. This study aimed to determine the inhibitory potential of 3-substituted coumarin derivatives against Escherichia coli heat shock locus V (HslV) protease.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this study, twenty-three derivatives of 3-substituted coumarin were assessed for their inhibitory potential against E. coli HslV protease using both in-vitro and in-silico techniques.

RESULTS

Among all the tested compounds, US-I-64, US-I-66, US-I-67, and US-I-68 displayed notable inhibitory potential against the HslV protease, showing IC50 (half maximal inhibitory concentration) values ranging from 0.2 to 0.73 μM. Additionally, the inhibitory potential of these compounds against the eukaryotic proteasome was also evaluated using a separate in-silico study. It was found that these compounds did not bind with the proteasomal active site, suggesting no apparent side effects of these lead molecules.

CONCLUSIONS

These identified HslV protease inhibitors can be used for the development of novel and safer anti-bacterial drugs.

Measurement of the Lifetime and Λ Separation Energy of _{Λ}^{3}H

The most precise measurements to date of the _{Λ}^{3}H lifetime τ and Λ separation energy B_{Λ} are obtained using the data sample of Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV collected by ALICE at the LHC. The _{Λ}^{3}H is reconstructed via its charged two-body mesonic decay channel (_{Λ}^{3}H→^{3}He+π^{-} and the charge-conjugate process). The measured values τ=[253±11(stat)±6(syst)]  ps and B_{Λ}=[102±63(stat)±67(syst)]  keV are compatible with predictions from effective field theories and confirm that the _{Λ}^{3}H structure is consistent with a weakly bound system.

An Automated Deep Learning Approach for Spine Segmentation and Vertebrae Recognition Using Computed Tomography Images

Spine image analysis is based on the accurate segmentation and vertebrae recognition of the spine. Several deep learning models have been proposed for spine segmentation and vertebrae recognition, but they are very computationally demanding. In this research, a novel deep learning model is introduced for spine segmentation and vertebrae recognition using CT images. The proposed model works in two steps: (1) A cascaded hierarchical atrous spatial pyramid pooling residual attention U-Net (CHASPPRAU-Net), which is a modified version of U-Net, is used for the segmentation of the spine. Cascaded spatial pyramid pooling layers, along with residual blocks, are used for feature extraction, while the attention module is used for focusing on regions of interest. (2) A 3D mobile residual U-Net (MRU-Net) is used for vertebrae recognition. MobileNetv2 includes residual and attention modules to accurately extract features from the axial, sagittal, and coronal views of 3D spine images. The features from these three views are concatenated to form a 3D feature map. After that, a 3D deep learning model is used for vertebrae recognition. The VerSe 20 and VerSe 19 datasets were used to validate the proposed model. The model achieved more accurate results in spine segmentation and vertebrae recognition than the state-of-the-art methods.

Measurement of the J/ψ Polarization with Respect to the Event Plane in Pb-Pb Collisions at the LHC

We study the polarization of inclusive J/ψ produced in Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV at the LHC in the dimuon channel, via the measurement of the angular distribution of its decay products. We perform the study in the rapidity region 2.5 Collapse

Key Words Collapse

MESH Headings Collapse

Grants Collapse

First Measurement of Antideuteron Number Fluctuations at Energies Available at the Large Hadron Collider

The first measurement of event-by-event antideuteron number fluctuations in high energy heavy-ion collisions is presented. The measurements are carried out at midrapidity (|η|<0.8) as a function of collision centrality in Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV using the ALICE detector. A significant negative correlation between the produced antiprotons and antideuterons is observed in all collision centralities. The results are compared with a state-of-the-art coalescence calculation. While it describes the ratio of higher order cumulants of the antideuteron multiplicity distribution, it fails to describe quantitatively the magnitude of the correlation between antiproton and antideuteron production. On the other hand, thermal-statistical model calculations describe all the measured observables within uncertainties only for correlation volumes that are different with respect to those describing proton yields and a similar measurement of net-proton number fluctuations.

Enhanced Deuteron Coalescence Probability in Jets

The transverse-momentum (p_{T}) spectra and coalescence parameters B_{2} of (anti)deuterons are measured in p-p collisions at sqrt[s]=13  TeV for the first time in and out of jets. In this measurement, the direction of the leading particle with the highest p_{T} in the event (p_{T}^{lead}>5  GeV/c) is used as an approximation for the jet axis. The event is consequently divided into three azimuthal regions, and the jet signal is obtained as the difference between the toward region, that contains jet fragmentation products in addition to the underlying event (UE), and the transverse region, which is dominated by the UE. The coalescence parameter in the jet is found to be approximately a factor of 10 larger than that in the underlying event. This experimental observation is consistent with the coalescence picture and can be attributed to the smaller average phase-space distance between nucleons in the jet cone as compared with the underlying event. The results presented in this Letter are compared to predictions from a simple nucleon coalescence model, where the phase-space distributions of nucleons are generated using pythia8 with the Monash 2013 tuning, and to predictions from a deuteron production model based on ordinary nuclear reactions with parametrized energy-dependent cross sections tuned on data. The latter model is implemented in pythia8.3. Both models reproduce the observed large difference between in-jet and out-of-jet coalescence parameters, although the almost flat trend of the B_{2}^{Jet} is not reproduced by the models, which instead give a decreasing trend.

Accurate Prediction of Anxiety Levels in Asian Countries Using a Fuzzy Expert System

Anxiety is a common mental health issue that affects a significant portion of the global population and can lead to severe physical and psychological consequences. The proposed system aims to provide an objective and reliable method for the early detection of anxiety levels by using patients' physical symptoms as input variables. This paper introduces an expert system utilizing a fuzzy inference system (FIS) to predict anxiety levels. The system is designed to address anxiety's complex and uncertain nature by utilizing a comprehensive set of input variables and fuzzy logic techniques. It is based on a set of rules that represent medical knowledge of anxiety disorders, making it a valuable tool for clinicians in diagnosing and treating these disorders. The system was tested on real datasets, demonstrating high accuracy in the prediction of anxiety levels. The FIS-based expert system offers a powerful approach to cope with imprecision and uncertainty and can potentially assist in addressing the lack of effective remedies for anxiety disorders. The research primarily focused on Asian countries, such as Pakistan, and the system achieved an accuracy of 87%, which is noteworthy.

Challenging gestational trophoblastic disease cases and mimics: An exemplar for the management of rare tumours

OBJECTIVE

Rare tumour management is challenging for clinicians as evidence bases are limited and clinical trials are difficult to conduct. It is even more difficult for patients where self-reliance alone is insufficient to overcome the challenges of navigating care which is often poorly evidence based. In Ireland, a national Gestational Trophoblastic Disease (GTD) service was established as one of 3 initiatives for rare tumours by the National Cancer Control Programme. The service has a national clinical lead, a dedicated supportive nursing service and a clinical biochemistry liaison team. This study sought to assess the impact of a GTD centre using national clinical guidelines and integrating and networking with European and International GTD groups on the clinical management of challenging GTD cases and to consider the application of this model of care to other rare tumour management.

STUDY DESIGN

In this article, we analyse the impact of a national GTD service on five challenging cases, and review how the service affects patient management in this rare tumour type. These cases were selected from a cohort of patients who were voluntarily registered in the service based on the diagnostic management dilemma they posed.

RESULTS

Case management was impacted by the identification of GTD mimics, the provision of lifesaving treatment of metastatic choriocarcinoma with brain metastasis, networking with international colleagues, the identification of early relapse, the use of genetics to differentiate treatment pathways and prognosis, and supportive supervision of treatment courses of up to 2 years of therapy in a cohort of patients starting or completing families.

CONCLUSION

The National GTD service could be an exemplar for the management of rare tumours (such as cholangiocarcinoma) in our jurisdiction which could benefit from a similar constellation of supports. Our study demonstrates the importance of a nominated national clinical lead, dedicated nurse navigator support, registration of cases and networking. The impact of our service would be greater if registration was mandatory rather than voluntary. Such a measure would also ensure equity of access for patients to the service, assist in quantifying the need for resourcing and facilitate research to improve outcomes.

Author Correction: Inhibitory potential of triazines and hydrazinyl thiazole substituted chromones against the HslVU protease/chaperone complex, a novel drug target

Correction to: European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences 2022; 26 (22): 8567-8575. DOI: 10.26355/eurrev_202211_30392-PMID: 36459037-published online on November 30, 2022. After publication, the authors applied some corrections to the text: - Dr. U. Salar's affiliation has been corrected as follows: Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan. - The values in the row "Binding energy with HsIV (Kcal/mol)" Table I have been corrected as follows: from -8.4 into -9.0; from -8.6 into -9.2; from -8.0 into -8.5 from -8.3 into -8.7. There are amendments to this paper. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. https://www.europeanreview.org/article/30392.

Inhibitory potential of triazines and hydrazinyl thiazole substituted chromones against the HslVU protease/chaperone complex, a novel drug target

OBJECTIVE

Proteostasis is an important process occurring in all living cells and is highly indispensable for cell survival. The HslVU protease/chaperone complex's critical role in regulating proteostasis to maintain a healthy cellular proteome and its presence in pathogenic microbes made it an important drug target. This study aimed to identify small molecular inhibitors of the HslV protease.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Herein, a library of small molecules belonging to the triazine and chromone families has been evaluated for their inhibitory potential against the E. coli HslV protease using both in silico and in vitro techniques.

RESULTS

Four compounds, i.e., SHS-II-123a, SHS-II-147a, US-IV-89, and US-IV-92, were identified as potential inhibitors of the HslV protease having IC50 values in the range of 0.1 to 0.32 µM. Additionally, these compounds' drug-likeness and ADMET profiles indicated their compatibility to be considered safer drug candidates.

CONCLUSIONS

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on small molecules having inhibitory effects on the HslVU complex. These identified compounds can be efficiently subjected to further investigations to develop novel and safer antimicrobial agents.

Hypertriton Production in p-Pb Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02 TeV

The study of nuclei and antinuclei production has proven to be a powerful tool to investigate the formation mechanism of loosely bound states in high-energy hadronic collisions. The first measurement of the production of _{Λ}^{3}H in p-Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV is presented in this Letter. Its production yield measured in the rapidity interval -1<y<0 for the 40% highest-multiplicity p-Pb collisions is dN/dy=[6.3±1.8(stat)±1.2(syst)]×10^{-7}. The measurement is compared with the expectations of statistical hadronization and coalescence models, which describe the nucleosynthesis in hadronic collisions. These two models predict very different yields of the hypertriton in charged particle multiplicity environments relevant to small collision systems such as p-Pb, and therefore the measurement of dN/dy is crucial to distinguish between them. The precision of this measurement leads to the exclusion with a significance larger than 6.9σ of some configurations of the statistical hadronization model, thus constraining the theory behind the production of loosely bound states at hadron colliders.

Surgical training during the COVID-19 pandemic at a designated 'cold' site: are we meeting the challenge?

INTRODUCTION

There has been a marked reduction in surgical operative training opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic. This may be improved by the establishment of 'cold' sites for NHS elective surgery. We investigated the training opportunities at a newly designated elective surgery cold site in the West Midlands, UK.

METHODS

An observational retrospective study was undertaken to include all gastrointestinal and urological elective surgery at a single 'cold' site during the first peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Patient demographics, details of surgery and data relating to surgical training such as primary surgeon and portfolio index procedure were collected. Factors affecting the likelihood of trainees being the primary surgeon were analysed using logistic regression models.

RESULTS

There were 880 patients, with a median (interquartile range) age of 62 (48-74). Some 658 (74.8%) procedures were defined as 'index procedures' for specialty training year 4 (ST4) level: 409/509 (80.4%) for urology, 155/235 (66%) for colorectal and 94/136 (69.1%) for upper gastrointestinal (GI). Only 253/880 (28.8%) procedures were performed by a trainee as the primary surgeon: 201/509 (39.4%) for urology, 21/235 (8.9%) for colorectal and 31/136 (22.8%) for upper GI. The likelihood of a trainee being the primary surgeon was reduced for major surgery (p<0.001) and for GI surgery when compared with urology (p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Surgical training was facilitated at an elective surgery 'cold' site during the COVID-19 pandemic, but at lower levels than anticipated. Type of surgery influenced trainee participation. Surgical training should be incorporated into 'cold' site elective surgical services if trainees are to be prepared for the future.

Polarization of Λ and Λ[over ¯] Hyperons along the Beam Direction in Pb-Pb Collisions at sqrt[s]_{NN}=5.02 TeV

The polarization of the Λ and Λ[over ¯] hyperons along the beam (z) direction, P_{z}, has been measured in Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV recorded with ALICE at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The main contribution to P_{z} comes from elliptic flow-induced vorticity and can be characterized by the second Fourier sine coefficient P_{z,s2}=⟨P_{z}sin(2φ-2Ψ_{2})⟩, where φ is the hyperon azimuthal emission angle and Ψ_{2} is the elliptic flow plane angle. We report the measurement of P_{z,s2} for different collision centralities and in the 30%-50% centrality interval as a function of the hyperon transverse momentum and rapidity. The P_{z,s2} is positive similarly as measured by the STAR Collaboration in Au-Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV, with somewhat smaller amplitude in the semicentral collisions. This is the first experimental evidence of a nonzero hyperon P_{z} in Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC. The comparison of the measured P_{z,s2} with the hydrodynamic model calculations shows sensitivity to the competing contributions from thermal and the recently found shear-induced vorticity, as well as to whether the polarization is acquired at the quark-gluon plasma or the hadronic phase.

Measurement of the Groomed Jet Radius and Momentum Splitting Fraction in pp and Pb-Pb Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02 TeV

This article presents groomed jet substructure measurements in pp and Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV with the ALICE detector. The soft drop grooming algorithm provides access to the hard parton splittings inside a jet by removing soft wide-angle radiation. We report the groomed jet momentum splitting fraction, z_{g}, and the (scaled) groomed jet radius, θ_{g}. Charged-particle jets are reconstructed at midrapidity using the anti-k_{T} algorithm with resolution parameters R=0.2 and R=0.4. In heavy-ion collisions, the large underlying event poses a challenge for the reconstruction of groomed jet observables, since fluctuations in the background can cause groomed parton splittings to be misidentified. By using strong grooming conditions to reduce this background, we report these observables fully corrected for detector effects and background fluctuations for the first time. A narrowing of the θ_{g} distribution in Pb-Pb collisions compared to pp collisions is seen, which provides direct evidence of the modification of the angular structure of jets in the quark-gluon plasma. No significant modification of the z_{g} distribution in Pb-Pb collisions compared to pp collisions is observed. These results are compared with a variety of theoretical models of jet quenching, and provide constraints on jet energy-loss mechanisms and coherence effects in the quark-gluon plasma.

Measurement of Prompt D^{0}, Λ_{c}^{+}, and Σ_{c}^{0,++}(2455) Production in Proton-Proton Collisions at sqrt[s]=13 TeV

The p_{T}-differential production cross sections of prompt D^{0}, Λ_{c}^{+}, and Σ_{c}^{0,++}(2455) charmed hadrons are measured at midrapidity (|y|<0.5) in pp collisions at sqrt[s]=13  TeV. This is the first measurement of Σ_{c}^{0,++} production in hadronic collisions. Assuming the same production yield for the three Σ_{c}^{0,+,++} isospin states, the baryon-to-meson cross section ratios Σ_{c}^{0,+,++}/D^{0} and Λ_{c}^{+}/D^{0} are calculated in the transverse momentum (p_{T}) intervals 2<p_{T}<12 and 1<p_{T}<24  GeV/c. Values significantly larger than in e^{+}e^{-} collisions are observed, indicating for the first time that baryon enhancement in hadronic collisions also extends to the Σ_{c}. The feed-down contribution to Λ_{c}^{+} production from Σ_{c}^{0,+,++} is also reported and is found to be larger than in e^{+}e^{-} collisions. The data are compared with predictions from event generators and other phenomenological models, providing a sensitive test of the different charm-hadronization mechanisms implemented in the models.

Measurement of the Cross Sections of Ξ_{c}^{0} and Ξ_{c}^{+} Baryons and of the Branching-Fraction Ratio BR(Ξ_{c}^{0}→Ξ^{-}e^{+}ν_{e})/BR(Ξ_{c}^{0}→Ξ^{-}π^{+}) in pp Collisions at sqrt[s]=13 TeV

The p_{T}-differential cross sections of prompt charm-strange baryons Ξ_{c}^{0} and Ξ_{c}^{+} were measured at midrapidity (|y|<0.5) in proton-proton (pp) collisions at a center-of-mass energy sqrt[s]=13  TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The Ξ_{c}^{0} baryon was reconstructed via both the semileptonic decay (Ξ^{-}e^{+}ν_{e}) and the hadronic decay (Ξ^{-}π^{+}) channels. The Ξ_{c}^{+} baryon was reconstructed via the hadronic decay (Ξ^{-}π^{+}π^{+}) channel. The branching-fraction ratio BR(Ξ_{c}^{0}→Ξ^{-}e^{+}ν_{e})/BR(Ξ_{c}^{0}→Ξ^{-}π^{+})=1.38±0.14(stat)±0.22(syst) was measured with a total uncertainty reduced by a factor of about 3 with respect to the current world average reported by the Particle Data Group. The transverse momentum (p_{T}) dependence of the Ξ_{c}^{0}- and Ξ_{c}^{+}-baryon production relative to the D^{0} meson and to the Σ_{c}^{0,+,++}- and Λ_{c}^{+}-baryon production are reported. The baryon-to-meson ratio increases toward low p_{T} up to a value of approximately 0.3. The measurements are compared with various models that take different hadronization mechanisms into consideration. The results provide stringent constraints to these theoretical calculations and additional evidence that different processes are involved in charm hadronization in electron-positron (e^{+}e^{-}) and hadronic collisions.

Hand Pose Recognition Using Parallel Multi Stream CNN

Recently, several computer applications provided operating mode through pointing fingers, waving hands, and with body movement instead of a mouse, keyboard, audio, or touch input such as sign language recognition, robot control, games, appliances control, and smart surveillance. With the increase of hand-pose-based applications, new challenges in this domain have also emerged. Support vector machines and neural networks have been extensively used in this domain using conventional RGB data, which are not very effective for adequate performance. Recently, depth data have become popular due to better understating of posture attributes. In this study, a multiple parallel stream 2D CNN (two-dimensional convolution neural network) model is proposed to recognize the hand postures. The proposed model comprises multiple steps and layers to detect hand poses from image maps obtained from depth data. The hyper parameters of the proposed model are tuned through experimental analysis. Three publicly available benchmark datasets: Kaggle, First Person, and Dexter, are used independently to train and test the proposed approach. The accuracy of the proposed method is 99.99%, 99.48%, and 98% using the Kaggle hand posture dataset, First Person hand posture dataset, and Dexter dataset, respectively. Further, the results obtained for F1 and AUC scores are also near-optimal. Comparative analysis with state-of-the-art shows that the proposed model outperforms the previous methods.

Λ_{c}^{+} Production and Baryon-to-Meson Ratios in pp and p-Pb Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02 TeV at the LHC

The prompt production of the charm baryon Λ_{c}^{+} and the Λ_{c}^{+}/D^{0} production ratios were measured at midrapidity with the ALICE detector in pp and p-Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV. These new measurements show a clear decrease of the Λ_{c}^{+}/D^{0} ratio with increasing transverse momentum (p_{T}) in both collision systems in the range 2<p_{T}<12  GeV/c, exhibiting similarities with the light-flavor baryon-to-meson ratios p/π and Λ/K_{S}^{0}. At low p_{T}, predictions that include additional color-reconnection mechanisms beyond the leading-color approximation, assume the existence of additional higher-mass charm-baryon states, or include hadronization via coalescence can describe the data, while predictions driven by charm-quark fragmentation processes measured in e^{+}e^{-} and e^{-}p collisions significantly underestimate the data. The results presented in this Letter provide significant evidence that the established assumption of universality (colliding-system independence) of parton-to-hadron fragmentation is not sufficient to describe charm-baryon production in hadronic collisions at LHC energies.

Experimental Evidence for an Attractive p-ϕ Interaction

This Letter presents the first experimental evidence of the attractive strong interaction between a proton and a ϕ meson. The result is obtained from two-particle correlations of combined p-ϕ⊕ p[over ¯]-ϕ pairs measured in high-multiplicity pp collisions at sqrt[s]=13  TeV by the ALICE Collaboration. The spin-averaged scattering length and effective range of the p-ϕ interaction are extracted from the fully corrected correlation function employing the Lednický-Lyuboshits approach. In particular, the imaginary part of the scattering length vanishes within uncertainties, indicating that inelastic processes do not play a prominent role for the p-ϕ interaction. These data demonstrate that the interaction is dominated by elastic p-ϕ scattering. Furthermore, an analysis employing phenomenological Gaussian- and Yukawa-type potentials is conducted. Under the assumption of the latter, the N-ϕ coupling constant is found to be g_{N-ϕ}=0.14±0.03(stat)±0.02(syst). This work provides valuable experimental input to accomplish a self-consistent description of the N-ϕ interaction, which is particularly relevant for the more fundamental studies on partial restoration of chiral symmetry in nuclear medium.

925 Maintenance of Elective Surgical Care During Covid-19 Pandemic

Introduction

Recent publications demonstrate significant morbidity in surgical patients with concurrent COVID-19 infection. This, combined with the redistribution of resources to support the pandemic, led to abrupt cessation in planned operating. COVID-19-free ‘cold’ sites were established to enable elective surgery to resume with reduced risk. We evaluate the outcomes and limitations of a newly established cold site.

Method

Data were collected retrospectively for all patients operated between June and September 2020 by either General Surgery or Urology. Primary outcomes were 30-day COVID-19 infection and 30-day mortality. Secondary outcomes included length of stay, 30-day complications, and need for transfer to ‘hot’ hospital sites.

Results

881 patients were included. No patients had a positive COVID-19 test within 30 days of their operation. 30-day mortality was 0.01% (n = 1). The mean (+/-SD) length of stay was 1.69+/-3.42 days. 12.15% (n = 107) of patients experienced a complication within 30 days and 11.7% (n = 103) were readmitted within 30 day of discharge. 3.3% (n = 29) of patients required transfer to a ‘hot’ hospital site. 44.8% of these were admitted to level 2 or level 3 care, 17.2% required total parenteral nutrition, and 20.7% returned to theatre.

Conclusions

‘Cold’ surgical sites are effective in preventing peri-operative COVID-19 infection. Elective surgery can therefore continue safely through the pandemic with such precautions. Further development of on-site resources, including provision for total parenteral nutrition and access to higher level care, will help to minimise the need for patient transfers to COVID-19 exposed sites.

Multiharmonic Correlations of Different Flow Amplitudes in Pb-Pb Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=2.76 TeV

The event-by-event correlations between three flow amplitudes are measured for the first time in Pb-Pb collisions, using higher-order symmetric cumulants. We find that different three-harmonic correlations develop during the collective evolution of the medium when compared to correlations that exist in the initial state. These new results cannot be interpreted in terms of previous lower-order flow measurements since contributions from two-harmonic correlations are explicitly removed in the new observables. A comparison to Monte Carlo simulations provides new and independent constraints for the initial conditions and system properties of nuclear matter created in heavy-ion collisions.

Colorectal cancer in the young - outcomes following surgical management?

INTRODUCTION

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer, accounting for approximately 10% of all cancer deaths. The incidence of CRC in young adults and the adolescent population is increasing. This study aims to highlight short-term outcomes for young patients with CRC.

METHODS

Data were collected retrospectively for all patients aged less than 50 years diagnosed with CRC at a university teaching hospital between October 2012 and June 2018. The primary endpoints were disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS).

RESULTS

A total of 120 patients (65 males, 55 females) with CRC aged under 50 years were initially included; 20 did not receive surgical treatment (12 metastatic adenocarcinoma, 5 metastatic squamous cell cancer (SCC), 3 neuroendocrine tumours (NET)), and 13 patients had insufficient data for analysis and were excluded. A total of 87 patients underwent surgical intervention and 66 with diagnosis of adenocarcinoma were included in survival analysis. Median age of patients was 42 years (19-49 years). Cancer recurrence was seen in 14 patients, 10 showing local, 3 liver and 1 lung metastasis. The median OS was 28 months (3-156 months). The median DFS was 13 months (3-85 months). Overall 5-year survival and DFS were 72% and 59%, respectively. Median survival in the group who did not undergo surgery was 4.5 months (1-15 months).

CONCLUSIONS

CRC is often more advanced and aggressive in younger patients. Current guidelines can result in young patients being investigated/treated for other gastrointestinal conditions before referral for CRC investigation.

Soft-Dielectron Excess in Proton-Proton Collisions at sqrt[s]=13 TeV

A measurement of dielectron production in proton-proton (pp) collisions at sqrt[s]=13  TeV, recorded with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC, is presented in this Letter. The data set was recorded with a reduced magnetic solenoid field. This enables the investigation of a kinematic domain at low dielectron (ee) invariant mass m_{ee} and pair transverse momentum p_{T,ee} that was previously inaccessible at the LHC. The cross section for dielectron production is studied as a function of m_{ee}, p_{T,ee}, and event multiplicity dN_{ch}/dη. The expected dielectron rate from hadron decays, called hadronic cocktail, utilizes a parametrization of the measured η/π^{0} ratio in pp and proton-nucleus collisions, assuming that this ratio shows no strong dependence on collision energy at low transverse momentum. Comparison of the measured dielectron yield to the hadronic cocktail at 0.15<m_{ee}<0.6  GeV/c^{2} and for p_{T,ee}<0.4  GeV/c indicates an enhancement of soft dielectrons, reminiscent of the "anomalous" soft-photon and soft-dilepton excess in hadron-hadron collisions reported by several experiments under different experimental conditions. The enhancement factor over the hadronic cocktail amounts to 1.61±0.13(stat)±0.17(syst,data)±0.34(syst,cocktail) in the ALICE acceptance. Acceptance-corrected excess spectra in m_{ee} and p_{T,ee} are extracted and compared with calculations of dielectron production from hadronic bremsstrahlung and thermal radiation within a hadronic many-body approach.

845 Flattening the Learning Curve: The Evaluation of Extended Laparoscopic Simulation Training for Novice Surgeons

Introduction

Associated with faster postoperative recovery, reduced length of hospital stays and scarring; laparoscopy has become the favoured approach for many surgical procedures across a range of specialties. However, due to its challenging learning curve, it has also been associated with increased theatre time and higher complication rates.

Method

A prospective, observational study with box trainers was carried out by novice medical students and trainees to evaluate the efficacy of long duration courses on skill acquisition. The novice group undertook a 5-week curriculum composed of lectures, demonstrations and spaced timed-assessments involving 3 tasks: hoop placement, stacking of sugar cubes and surgical cutting.

Results

Time taken for novice participants to complete a task individually and collectively improved markedly from the first to the third attempt, with an overall 44% reduction in time observed over the 5-weeks. We invited back 6 novice participants and 6 core surgical trainees after 4-weeks to complete the same tests. There was a further 18% time improvement in the novice group, with 44% faster task completion.

Conclusions

Given the success of this study and other simulation courses reported in the literature, we recommend more courses adopt a spaced-out approach; and a simulation curriculum for surgical trainees to cultivate greater skill acquisition.

Elliptic Flow of Electrons from Beauty-Hadron Decays in Pb-Pb Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02 TeV

The elliptic flow of electrons from beauty hadron decays at midrapidity (|y|<0.8) is measured in Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The azimuthal distribution of the particles produced in the collisions can be parametrized with a Fourier expansion, in which the second harmonic coefficient represents the elliptic flow, v_{2}. The v_{2} coefficient of electrons from beauty hadron decays is measured for the first time in the transverse momentum (p_{T}) range 1.3-6  GeV/c in the centrality class 30%-50%. The measurement of electrons from beauty-hadron decays exploits their larger mean proper decay length cτ≈500  μm compared to that of charm hadrons and most of the other background sources. The v_{2} of electrons from beauty hadron decays at midrapidity is found to be positive with a significance of 3.75  σ. The results provide insights into the degree of thermalization of beauty quarks in the medium. A model assuming full thermalization of beauty quarks is strongly disfavored by the measurement at high p_{T}, but is in agreement with the results at low p_{T}. Transport models including substantial interactions of beauty quarks with an expanding strongly interacting medium describe the measurement within uncertainties.

A Phase 1 study Combining Pexidartinib, Radiation Therapy, and Androgen Deprivation Therapy in Men With Intermediate- and High-Risk Prostate Cancer

Purpose

This study aimed to evaluate a combination of radiation therapy (RT), androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), and pexidartinib (colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor [CSF1R]) inhibitor in men with intermediate- and high-risk prostate cancer. CSF1R signaling promotes tumor infiltration and survival of tumor-associated macrophages, which in turn promote progression and resistance. Counteracting protumorigenic actions of tumor-associated macrophages via CSF1R inhibition may enhance therapeutic efficacy of RT and ADT for prostate cancer.

Methods and Materials

In this phase 1 study, the treatment regimen consisted of pexidartinib (800 mg, administered as a split-dose twice daily) and ADT (both for a total of 6 months), and RT that was initiated at the start of month 3. RT volumes included the prostate and proximal seminal vesicles. The delivered dose was 7920 cGy (180 cGy per fraction) using intensity modulated RT with daily image guidance for prostate localization. The primary objective was to identify the maximum tolerated dose based on dose-limiting toxicities.

Results

All 4 enrolled patients who were eligible to receive RT had T₁ stage prostate cancer, 2 were intermediate risk, and 2 were high risk. The median age was 62.5 years, and the prostate-specific antigen levels were in the range 6.4 to 10.7 ng/mL. The patients’ individual Gleason scores were 3 + 3, 4 + 3, 4 + 4, and 4 + 5. All 4 patients reported ≥1 adverse events before RT. Grade 1 hypopigmentation was observed in 1 patient, and grade 3 pulmonary embolus in another. One patient experienced fatigue and joint pain, and another elevated amylase and pruritus (all grade 3 toxicities). Five of the 6 adverse events noted in 3 patients were all grade 3 toxicities attributable to pexidartinib, qualifying as dose-limiting toxicities and ultimately resulting in the study closure.

Conclusions

The combination was not well tolerated and does not warrant further investigation in men with intermediate- and high-risk prostate cancer.

The effect of SGLT2 inhibitors on silent myocardial ischemia

Background

In large cardiovascular (CV) outcome trials, sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors reduced the development of heart failure (HF) in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Also it reduced CV death and worsening HF events in HFrEF patients. It is unknown whether SGLT2 inhibitors work through glucose-dependent mechanism or it could have other effects not related to glucose on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in diabetic patients. Its effect on silent ambulatory myocardial ischemia (SAMI) has not been reported yet. In this study we report the effect of SGLT2 inhibitors on (SAMI). Treating silent myocardial ischemia has a prognostic effect and may improve long term mortality of chronic ischemic heart disease (CIHD).

Methods

We enrolled 44 type 2 diabetic patients with proven stable coronary artery disease (CAD) and at least one episode of on silent ambulatory myocardial ischemia (SAMI) on ambulatory ECG monitoring. All of them were receiving optimal therapy for CIHD and type 2 DM. 22 patients were randomized to receive Dapagliflozin 5mg qd and the other 22 patients received placebo. Ambulatory monitoring was repeated after 4 to 6 months of therapy. The two groups were comparable with respect to baseline characteristics, number of episodes of ST-segment depression, HgbA1c level, and baseline serum cholesterol levels. Holters were read by a blinded cardiologist.

Results

The Dapagliflozin group experienced a significant reduction in the number of episodes of ST-segment depression compared with the placebo group. ST-segment depression completely resolved in 8 of 22 patients (36%) in the Dapagliflozin group versus 3 of 22 (13%) in the placebo group and the Dapagliflozin group exhibited a highly significant reduction in (SAMI) (P&lt;0.001). By logistic regression, treatment with Dapagliflozin was an independent predictor of (SAMI) resolution.

Conclusions

Therapy with SGLT2 inhibitors in type2 DM patients results in reduction or resolution of (SAMI) recorded as episodes of ST-segment depression in ambulatory monitoring of the ECG. A larger study is required to confirm this theory and to see the effect of SAMI reduction on long term mortality of CIHD in diabetics. Possible mechanisms for this beneficial effects of SGLT2i includes: Reduction in oxygen supply-demand mismatch, improvement in cardiac microvascular function, modulation of cardiac energy metabolism, reduction in glucotoxicity, reduction in sympathetic nervous system activation and reduction in blood pressure.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding source: None

Measurement of the Low-Energy Antideuteron Inelastic Cross Section

In this Letter, we report the first measurement of the inelastic cross section for antideuteron-nucleus interactions at low particle momenta, covering a range of 0.3≤p<4  GeV/c. The measurement is carried out using p-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon pair of sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV, recorded with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC and utilizing the detector material as an absorber for antideuterons and antiprotons. The extracted raw primary antiparticle-to-particle ratios are compared to the results from detailed ALICE simulations based on the geant4 toolkit for the propagation of (anti)particles through the detector material. The analysis of the raw primary (anti)proton spectra serves as a benchmark for this study, since their hadronic interaction cross sections are well constrained experimentally. The first measurement of the inelastic cross section for antideuteron-nucleus interactions averaged over the ALICE detector material with atomic mass numbers ⟨A⟩=17.4 and 31.8 is obtained. The measured inelastic cross section points to a possible excess with respect to the Glauber model parametrization used in geant4 in the lowest momentum interval of 0.3≤p<0.47  GeV/c up to a factor 2.1. This result is relevant for the understanding of antimatter propagation and the contributions to antinuclei production from cosmic ray interactions within the interstellar medium. In addition, the momentum range covered by this measurement is of particular importance to evaluate signal predictions for indirect dark-matter searches.

Probing the Effects of Strong Electromagnetic Fields with Charge-Dependent Directed Flow in Pb-Pb Collisions at the LHC

The first measurement at the LHC of charge-dependent directed flow (v_{1}) relative to the spectator plane is presented for Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV. Results are reported for charged hadrons and D^{0} mesons for the transverse momentum intervals p_{T}>0.2  GeV/c and 3<p_{T}<6  GeV/c in the 5%-40% and 10%-40% centrality classes, respectively. The difference between the positively and negatively charged hadron v_{1} has a positive slope as a function of pseudorapidity η, dΔv_{1}/dη=[1.68±0.49(stat)±0.41(syst)]×10^{-4}. The same measurement for D^{0} and D[over ¯]^{0} mesons yields a positive value dΔv_{1}/dη=[4.9±1.7(stat)±0.6(syst)]×10^{-1}, which is about 3 orders of magnitude larger than the one of the charged hadrons. These measurements can provide new insights into the effects of the strong electromagnetic field and the initial tilt of matter created in noncentral heavy ion collisions on the dynamics of light (u, d, and s) and heavy (c) quarks. The large difference between the observed Δv_{1} of charged hadrons and D^{0} mesons may reflect different sensitivity of the charm and light quarks to the early time dynamics of a heavy ion collision. These observations challenge some recent theoretical calculations, which predicted a negative and an order of magnitude smaller value of dΔv_{1}/dη for both light flavor and charmed hadrons.

Evidence of Spin-Orbital Angular Momentum Interactions in Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions

The first evidence of spin alignment of vector mesons (K^{*0} and ϕ) in heavy-ion collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is reported. The spin density matrix element ρ_{00} is measured at midrapidity (|y|<0.5) in Pb-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy (sqrt[s_{NN}]) of 2.76 TeV with the ALICE detector. ρ_{00} values are found to be less than 1/3 (1/3 implies no spin alignment) at low transverse momentum (p_{T}<2  GeV/c) for K^{*0} and ϕ at a level of 3σ and 2σ, respectively. No significant spin alignment is observed for the K_{S}^{0} meson (spin=0) in Pb-Pb collisions and for the vector mesons in pp collisions. The measured spin alignment is unexpectedly large but qualitatively consistent with the expectation from models which attribute it to a polarization of quarks in the presence of angular momentum in heavy-ion collisions and a subsequent hadronization by the process of recombination.

Impact of Treatment Beyond Progression with Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Hodgkin Lymphoma

Atypical response patterns following immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) led to the concept of continuation of treatment beyond progression (TBP); however, the longitudinal benefit of this approach is unclear. We therefore performed a retrospective analysis of 64 patients treated with ICB; 20 who received TBP (TBP cohort) and 44 who stopped ICB at initial progression (non-TBP cohort). The TBP cohort received ICB for a median of 4.7 months after initial progression and delayed subsequent treatment by a median of 6.6 months. Despite receiving more prior lines of therapy, the TBP cohort achieved longer progression-free survival with post-ICB treatment (median, 17.5 months vs. 6.1 months, p = .035) and longer time-to-subsequent treatment failure, defined as time from initial ICB progression to failure of subsequent treatment (median, 34.6 months vs. 9.9 months, p = .003). With the limitations of a retrospective study, these results support the clinical benefit of TBP with ICB for selected patients.

Scattering Studies with Low-Energy Kaon-Proton Femtoscopy in Proton-Proton Collisions at the LHC

The study of the strength and behavior of the antikaon-nucleon (K[over ¯]N) interaction constitutes one of the key focuses of the strangeness sector in low-energy quantum chromodynamics (QCD). In this Letter a unique high-precision measurement of the strong interaction between kaons and protons, close and above the kinematic threshold, is presented. The femtoscopic measurements of the correlation function at low pair-frame relative momentum of (K^{+}p⊕K^{-}p[over ¯]) and (K^{-}p⊕K^{+}p[over ¯]) pairs measured in pp collisions at sqrt[s]=5, 7, and 13 TeV are reported. A structure observed around a relative momentum of 58  MeV/c in the measured correlation function of (K^{-}p⊕K^{+}p[over ¯]) with a significance of 4.4σ constitutes the first experimental evidence for the opening of the (K[over ¯]^{0}n⊕K^{0}n[over ¯]) isospin breaking channel due to the mass difference between charged and neutral kaons. The measured correlation functions have been compared to Jülich and Kyoto models in addition to the Coulomb potential. The high-precision data at low relative momenta presented in this work prove femtoscopy to be a powerful complementary tool to scattering experiments and provide new constraints above the K[over ¯]N threshold for low-energy QCD chiral models.

Measurement of ϒ(1S) Elliptic Flow at Forward Rapidity in Pb-Pb Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02 TeV

The first measurement of the ϒ(1S) elliptic flow coefficient (v_{2}) is performed at forward rapidity (2.5<y<4) in Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The results are obtained with the scalar product method and are reported as a function of transverse momentum (p_{T}) up to 15  GeV/c in the 5%-60% centrality interval. The measured ϒ(1S)v_{2} is consistent with 0 and with the small positive values predicted by transport models within uncertainties. The v_{2} coefficient in 2<p_{T}<15  GeV/c is lower than that of inclusive J/ψ mesons in the same p_{T} interval by 2.6 standard deviations. These results, combined with earlier suppression measurements, are in agreement with a scenario in which the ϒ(1S) production in Pb-Pb collisions at LHC energies is dominated by dissociation limited to the early stage of the collision, whereas in the J/ψ case there is substantial experimental evidence of an additional regeneration component.

Investigations of Anisotropic Flow Using Multiparticle Azimuthal Correlations in pp, p-Pb, Xe-Xe, and Pb-Pb Collisions at the LHC

Measurements of anisotropic flow coefficients (v_{n}) and their cross-correlations using two- and multiparticle cumulant methods are reported in collisions of pp at sqrt[s]=13  TeV, p-Pb at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV, Xe-Xe at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.44  TeV, and Pb-Pb at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV recorded with the ALICE detector. The multiplicity dependence of v_{n} is studied in a very wide range from 20 to 3000 particles produced in the midrapidity region |η|<0.8 for the transverse momentum range 0.2<p_{T}<3.0  GeV/c. An ordering of the coefficients v_{2}>v_{3}>v_{4} is found in pp and p-Pb collisions, similar to that seen in large collision systems, while a weak v_{2} multiplicity dependence is observed relative to nucleus-nucleus collisions in the same multiplicity range. Using a novel subevent method, v_{2} measured with four-particle cumulants is found to be compatible with that from six-particle cumulants in pp and p-Pb collisions. The magnitude of the correlation between v_{n}^{2} and v_{m}^{2}, evaluated with the symmetric cumulants SC(m,n) is observed to be positive at all multiplicities for v_{2} and v_{4}, while for v_{2} and v_{3} it is negative and changes sign for multiplicities below 100, which may indicate a different v_{n} fluctuation pattern in this multiplicity range. The observed long-range multiparticle azimuthal correlations in high multiplicity pp and p-Pb collisions can neither be described by pythia 8 nor by impact-parameter-Glasma, music, and ultrarelativistic quantum molecular dynamics model calculations, and hence, provide new insights into the understanding of collective effects in small collision systems.

First Observation of an Attractive Interaction between a Proton and a Cascade Baryon

This Letter presents the first experimental observation of the attractive strong interaction between a proton and a multistrange baryon (hyperon) Ξ^{-}. The result is extracted from two-particle correlations of combined p-Ξ^{-}⊕p[over ¯]-Ξ[over ¯]^{+} pairs measured in p-Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV at the LHC with ALICE. The measured correlation function is compared with the prediction obtained assuming only an attractive Coulomb interaction and a standard deviation in the range [3.6, 5.3] is found. Since the measured p-Ξ^{-}⊕p[over ¯]-Ξ[over ¯]^{+} correlation is significantly enhanced with respect to the Coulomb prediction, the presence of an additional, strong, attractive interaction is evident. The data are compatible with recent lattice calculations by the HAL-QCD Collaboration, with a standard deviation in the range [1.8, 3.7]. The lattice potential predicts a shallow repulsive Ξ^{-} interaction within pure neutron matter and this implies stiffer equations of state for neutron-rich matter including hyperons. Implications of the strong interaction for the modeling of neutron stars are discussed.