Novel method for identifying the heaviest QED atom.

QED atoms are composed of unstructured and point-like lepton pairs bound together by the electromagnetic force. The smallest and heaviest QED atom is formed by a τ+τ- pair. Currently, the only known atoms of this type are the e+e- and µ+e- atoms, which were discovered 64 years ago and remain the sole examples found thus far. We demonstrate that the Jτ (τ+τ- atom with JPC=1--) atom signal can be observed with a significance larger than 5σ including both statistical and systematic uncertainties, via. the process e+e-→X+Y-Ɇ (X,Y=e,µ,π,K, or ρ, and Ɇ is the missing energy due to unobserved neutrinos) with 1.5ab-1 data taken around the τ pair production threshold. The τ lepton mass can be measured with a precision of 1 keV with the same data sample. This is within one year's running time of the proposed super tau-charm facility in China or super charm-tau factory in Russia.

Life satisfaction components and all-cause and cause-specific mortality: A large prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Which life satisfaction components could be a target of positive psychological interventions for longevity is largely unknown. We aimed to investigate association of the composite measure of life satisfaction and its individual components with mortality. METHODS: This cohort study included UK Biobank participants who responded to questions concerning five components of life satisfaction at baseline. We generated a composite score representing overall life satisfaction, ranging from 0 (lowest) to 5 (highest). The outcomes were all-cause and cause-specific mortality. We used multivariable Cox regression to estimate hazard ratios (HR) for the associations of interest. RESULTS: Among 165,842 eligible participants, 12,261 all-cause deaths were observed over a median of 12.9-year follow-up. Overall life satisfaction was inversely associated with all-cause mortality (adjusted HR 0.94 [95% CI: 0.93-0.95] per 1 score increment). Health satisfaction showed the strongest association with all-cause mortality, with a fully adjusted HR of 0.52 (95% CI: 0.49-0.55) for high/extreme satisfaction and 0.63 (95% CI: 0.59-0.66) for moderate satisfaction, compared with unsatisfaction (P-trend<0.001), independent of other satisfaction components, regardless of physical health and sociodemographics. The association for family, friendship, work and financial satisfaction was attenuated when adjusted for other life satisfaction components. Similar findings were observed for cause-specific mortality. LIMITATIONS: Observational study with single baseline measurement of life satisfaction precludes the ability to establish causal relationship. CONCLUSIONS: Higher overall life satisfaction was associated with lower mortality. As the major contributor to lower mortality regardless of physical health and sociodemographics, health satisfaction could be an important target of positive psychological interventions for longevity.

Combined effect of cortical superficial siderosis and cerebral microbleed on short-term and long-term outcomes after intracerebral haemorrhage.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Cortical superficial siderosis (cSS) and cerebral microbleed (CMB) have distinct effects on intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH). We aim to investigate the combined effect of cSS and CMB on outcomes after ICH. METHODS: Based on a single-centre stroke registry database, patients with spontaneous ICH who had CT scan within 48 hours after ictus and MRI subsequently were identified. Eligible patients were divided into four groups (cSS-CMB-, cSS-CMB+, cSS+CMB-, cSS+CMB+) according to cSS and CMB on susceptibility-weighted image of MRI. Primary outcomes were haematoma volume on admission and unfavourable outcome defined as modified Rankin Scale scores ≥3 at 3 months. Secondary outcomes were all-cause death, recurrence of stroke and ICH during follow-up (median follow-up 2.0 years, IQR 1.0-3.0 years). RESULTS: A total of 673 patients were identified from 1044 patients with spontaneous ICH. 131 (19.5%) had cSS and 468 (69.5%) had CMB. Patients with cSS+CMB+ had the highest rate of poor outcome at 3 months, as well as all-cause death, recurrent stroke and ICH during follow-up. In cSS- patients, CMB was associated with smaller haematoma (ß -0.13; 95% CI -0.22 to -0.03; p=0.009), but it still increased risks of recurrent ICH (OR 4.6; 95% CI 1.3 to 15.6; p=0.015) and stroke (OR 2.0; 95% CI 1.0 to 4.0; p=0.049). These effects of CMB became unremarkable in the context of cSS+. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with different combinations of cSS and CMB have distinct patterns of short-term and long-term outcomes. Although CMB is related to restrained haematoma, it does not improve long-term outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT04803292.

Cortical superficial siderosis, hematoma volume, and outcomes after intracerebral hemorrhage: a mediation analysis.

Background: Previous studies have shown that cortical superficial siderosis (cSS) can increase hematoma volume and predict poor outcomes following primary intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Objective: We aimed to determine whether a large hematoma volume was the essential factor contributing to worse outcomes of cSS. Methods: Patients with spontaneous ICH underwent a CT scan within 48 h after ictus. Evaluation of cSS was performed using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) within 7 days. The 90-day outcome was assessed using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS). In addition, we investigated the correlation between cSS, hematoma volume, and 90-day outcomes using multivariate regression and mediation analyses. Results: Among the 673 patients with ICH [mean (SD) age, 61 (13) years; 237 female subjects (35.2%); median (IQR) hematoma volume, 9.0 (3.0-17.6) ml], 131 (19.5%) had cSS. There was an association between cSS and larger hematoma volume (ß = 4.449, 95% CI 1.890-7.009, p < 0.001) independent of hematoma location and was also related to worse 90-day mRS (ß = 0.333, 95% CI 0.008-0.659, p = 0.045) in multivariable regression. In addition, mediation analyses revealed that hematoma volume was an essential factor mediating the effect of cSS on unfavorable 90-day outcomes (proportion mediated:66.04%, p = 0.01). Conclusion: Large hematoma volume was the major charge of directing cSS to worse outcomes in patients with mild to moderate ICH, and cSS was related to a larger hematoma in both lobar and non-lobar areas. Clinical trial registration: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04803292, identifier: NCT04803292.

Association of age at first birth and risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in women: evidence from the NHANES.

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have suggested that age at first birth (AFB) is inversely associated with metabolic diseases, but positively associated with liver cancer in women. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a canonical example of metabolic dysfunction and inflammation-based liver disease, while the association between AFB and the risk of NAFLD remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the association between AFB and the odds of NAFLD in women. METHODS: Women older than 20 years at the time of the survey were analyzed using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 1999 to 2018 in the US. AFB was obtained with self-administered questionnaires. NAFLD was diagnosed as fatty liver index (FLI) ≥ 60. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using logistic regression models. RESULTS: Of the 12,188 women included in this study, 5670 (46.5%) had NAFLD. Compared to individuals with AFB of 30-32 years old (reference group), the fully adjusted ORs and 95% CI in women with AFB < 18, 18-20, 21-23, and 24-26 years were 1.52 (95% CI 1.14, 2.03), 1.60 (95% CI 1.21, 2.11), 1.40 (95% CI 1.06, 1.84), and 1.33 (95% CI 1.01-1.76), respectively. Yet there was no significant difference between AFB of 27-29, 33-35, or > 35 years compared to the reference group. CONCLUSIONS: Women with younger AFB have higher odds of NAFLD in later life. Policymakers should consider focusing on those with earlier AFB for screening and prevention of NAFLD.

Charmonium and charmoniumlike states at the BESIII experiment.

Charmonium is a bound state of a charmed quark and a charmed antiquark, and a charmoniumlike state is a resonant structure that contains a charmed quark and antiquark pair but has properties that are incompatible with a conventional charmonium state. While operating at center-of-mass energies from 2 to 5 GeV, the BESIII experiment can access a wide mass range of charmonium and charmoniumlike states, and has contributed significantly in this field. We review BESIII results involving conventional charmonium states, including the first observation of the M1 transition ψ(2S) → γη c (2S) and the discovery of the ψ2(3823) state; and report on studies of charmoniumlike states, including the discoveries of the Z c (3900) and Z c (4020) tetraquark candidates, the resolution of the fine structure of the Y(4260) state, the discovery of the new production process e + e - → γX(3872) and the uncovering of strong evidence for the commonality among the X(3872), Y(4260) and Z c (3900) states. The prospects for further research at BESIII and proposed future facilities are also presented.

Cornucopia of Antineutrons and Hyperons from a Super J/ψ Factory for Next-Generation Nuclear and Particle Physics High-Precision Experiments.

In order to study the interactions and structure of various types of matter, one typically needs to carry out scattering experiments utilizing many different particles as projectiles. Whereas beams of e^{±}, µ^{±}, π^{±}, K^{±}, protons, antiprotons, and various heavy ions have been produced and have enabled many scientific breakthroughs, beams of antineutrons, hyperons (Λ, Σ, and Ξ) and their antiparticles are typically not easy to obtain. Here we point out and investigate a new high-quality source of these particles: a super-J/ψ factory with the capability of accumulating trillions of J/ψ decays each year. In the relevant J/ψ decays, the desired particle is produced together with other final-state particles that can be tagged. This allows accurate determination of the flux and momentum of the projectile, enabling unprecedented precision in the study of the corresponding interactions with a broad range of targets. These novel high-statistics sources of baryons and antibaryons with precisely known kinematics open fresh opportunities for applications in particle and nuclear physics, including antinucleon-nucleon interaction, a nonvalence ss[over ¯] component of the nucleon, (anti)hyperon-nucleon interaction, OZI violation, (multistrange) hypernuclei, exotic light hadron spectroscopy, and many others, as well as calibration of Monte Carlo simulation for hadronic and medical physics.