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Very heavy nuclei owe their stability against spontaneous fission to quantum shell effects, which depend on the local density of single-particle states. The height but also the width and the structure of the barrier in multi-dimensional deformation space determine the fission half-lives. Other effects come into play, such as the conservation of quantum numbers and superfluidity or stiffness of the system in the fission process. This is why odd nuclei have longer fission partial half-lives with respect to their even neighbours and also why multi-quasi-particle states, such as high-K states, are thought to be more stable against fission than the ground state. We will report here on two different fission studies carried out with the GABRIELA detector array at the focal plane of the recoil separator SHELS. The first study concerns the fission properties of 253Rf, the most neutron deficient Rf isotope known to date. The second study focusses on a new measurement of the fission hindrance of the known 8- isomer in 254No.

Background: Several vascular surgical procedures, including repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs), show poorer outcomes for women than for men. We evaluated the impact of sex-based demographic differences on survival after endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR)., Methods: We reviewed EVARs performed at our institution between 2003 and 2009 and assessed aortic neck variables (length, diameter, angulation, and calcification), iliac artery variables (length, tortuosity, angulation, and calcification), and AAA diameter. Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine the association between sex and 5-year mortality while adjusting for patients' demographics, comorbidities, anatomic variables, and AAA parameters. The final model adjusted for sex, age, body mass index, hypertension, iliac artery length, and aortic neck length., Results: Of 336 patients, 278 were male (mean age, 73 years) and 58 were female (mean age, 77 years; P = .0005). Men had more coronary artery bypass grafts (79 vs 8; P = .02) and percutaneous coronary interventions (52 vs 4; P = .03) than women did. Significant differences between the sexes was seen for aortic neck angle, diameter, and length and for iliac artery diameter and length. Men (44%) were more likely than women (22%; P = .0002) to have EVAR performed within the device guidelines. Five-year survival was 73% in men and 49% in women. Multivariable analysis showed that female sex, increase in age, low body mass index (<25 kg/m 2 ), and aortic neck length were significantly associated with risk of 5-year mortality., Conclusions: Women presented at an older age and with a more hostile anatomy. They had reduced survival compared with men after EVAR. After controlling for comorbidities and aortic neck and iliac artery anatomy, sex remained an independent predictor for survival., (Copyright © 2018 Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: In Belgium, eleven AIDS Reference Centers (ARCs) and seven AIDS Reference Laboratories diagnose and treat HIV-positive individuals and track patients under care. As AIDS-related deaths are avoided and the HIV-positive population ages, non-infectious comorbidities (NICMs), such as cardiovascular disease, renal disease and certain cancers, play a larger role in the quality and length of patients' lives. This study aims to characterize the HIV-positive population in Belgium in terms of the prevalence of key NICMs., Methods: We performed a retrospective study of 5787 HIV-positive patients under follow-up at four ARCs across Belgium between 1st of June 2014 and 1st of July 2016., Results: The mean age of patients under follow-up was 46.7 (SD = 11.6) years, and the mean nadir CD4 count was 268.8 cells/mm 3 (SD = 189.5). The prevalence of diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension and chronic kidney disease (CKD) were 5.9, 31 and 7.8%, respectively. Cardiovascular events, defined as the occurrence of myocardial infarction, stroke or an invasive coronary procedure, occurred in 2.9% of patients. The highest age-adjusted mortality rates were observed among patients 51-55 years of age. Mortality rates were also higher among patients with CKD and patients with viremic hepatitis C virus (p < 0.05)., Conclusions: Helping the aging HIV-positive population avoids premature morbidity and mortality from NICMs represents a key challenge to further improve patient outcomes. Belgium has an advanced system of HIV care and patient management; however, standardized data collection across ARCs is needed to improve knowledge sharing and to support future countrywide analyses.