Heavy ion measurement on LDEF

A stack of CR-39 and Kodak CN track detectors was exposed on the NASA satellite LDEF and recovered after almost six years in space. The quick look analysis yielded heavy ion tracks on a background of low energy secondaries from proton interaction. The detected heavy ions show a steep energy spectrum which indicates a radiation belt origin

Prevention of tick bites: an evaluation of a smartphone app.

Lyme borreliosis (LB) is the most common reported tick-borne infection in Europe, and involves transmission of Borrelia by ticks. As long as a vaccine is not available and effective measures for controlling tick populations are insufficient, LB control is focused on preventive measures to avoid tick bites. To inform citizens about the risk of ticks, motivate them to check for tick bites, and encourage them to remove any attached tick as quickly as possible, a mobile app called 'Tekenbeet' (Dutch for 'tick bite') was developed and released. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usage and user satisfaction of the 'Tekenbeet' app and to investigate whether it affects users' knowledge, perceived severity, perceived susceptibility, self-efficacy, response efficacy, current behavior and intention to comply with preventive measures

The ALTCRISS project on board the International Space Station

The Altcriss project aims to perform a long term survey of the radiation environment on board the International Space Station. Measurements are being performed with active and passive devices in different locations and orientations of the Russian segment of the station. The goal is to perform a detailed evaluation of the differences in particle fluence and nuclear composition due to different shielding material and attitude of the station. The Sileye-3/Alteino detector is used to identify nuclei up to Iron in the energy range above 60 MeV/n. Several passive dosimeters (TLDs, CR39) are also placed in the same location of Sileye-3 detector. Polyethylene shielding is periodically interposed in front of the detectors to evaluate the effectiveness of shielding on the nuclear component of the cosmic radiation. The project was submitted to ESA in reply to the AO in the Life and Physical Science of 2004 and data taking began in December 2005. Dosimeters and data cards are rotated every six months: up to now three launches of dosimeters and data cards have been performed and have been returned with the end of expedition 12 and 13.Comment: Accepted for publication on Advances in Space Research http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2007.04.03

Implications from clean observables for the binned analysis of B -> K*ll at large recoil

We perform a frequentist analysis of q^2-dependent B-> K*(->Kpi)ll angular observables at large recoil, aiming at bridging the gap between current theoretical analyses and the actual experimental measurements. We focus on the most appropriate set of observables to measure and on the role of the q^2-binning. We highlight the importance of the observables P_i exhibiting a limited sensitivity to soft form factors for the search for New Physics contributions. We compute predictions for these binned observables in the Standard Model, and we compare them with their experimental determination extracted from recent LHCb data. Analyzing b->s and b->sll transitions within four different New Physics scenarios, we identify several New Physics benchmark points which can be discriminated through the measurement of P_i observables with a fine q^2-binning. We emphasise the importance (and risks) of using observables with (un)suppressed dependence on soft form factors for the search of New Physics, which we illustrate by the different size of hadronic uncertainties attached to two related observables (P_1 and S_3). We illustrate how the q^2-dependent angular observables measured in several bins can help to unravel New Physics contributions to B-> K*(->Kpi)ll, and show the extraordinary constraining power that the clean observables will have in the near future. We provide semi-numerical expressions for these observables as functions of the relevant Wilson coefficients at the low scale.Comment: 50 pages, 21 figures. Improved form factor analysis, conclusions unchanged. Plots with full resolution. Version published in JHE

Bayesian Fit of Exclusive b→sℓˉℓb \to s \bar\ell\ell Decays: The Standard Model Operator Basis

We perform a model-independent fit of the short-distance couplings $C_{7,9,10}$ within the Standard Model set of $b\to s\gamma$ and $b\to s\bar\ell\ell$ operators. Our analysis of $B \to K^* \gamma$, $B \to K^{(*)} \bar\ell\ell$ and $B_s \to \bar\mu\mu$ decays is the first to harness the full power of the Bayesian approach: all major sources of theory uncertainty explicitly enter as nuisance parameters. Exploiting the latest measurements, the fit reveals a flipped-sign solution in addition to a Standard-Model-like solution for the couplings $C_i$. Each solution contains about half of the posterior probability, and both have nearly equal goodness of fit. The Standard Model prediction is close to the best-fit point. No New Physics contributions are necessary to describe the current data. Benefitting from the improved posterior knowledge of the nuisance parameters, we predict ranges for currently unmeasured, optimized observables in the angular distributions of $B\to K^*(\to K\pi)\,\bar\ell\ell$.Comment: 42 pages, 8 figures; v2: Using new lattice input for f_Bs, considering Bs-mixing effects in BR[B_s->ll]. Main results and conclusion unchanged, matches journal versio

Agreement among Health Care Professionals in Diagnosing Case Vignette-Based Surgical Site Infections

OBJECTIVE: To assess agreement in diagnosing surgical site infection (SSI) among healthcare professionals involved in SSI surveillance. METHODS: Case-vignette study done in 2009 in 140 healthcare professionals from seven specialties (20 in each specialty, Anesthesiologists, Surgeons, Public health specialists, Infection control physicians, Infection control nurses, Infectious diseases specialists, Microbiologists) in 29 University and 36 non-University hospitals in France. We developed 40 case-vignettes based on cardiac and gastrointestinal surgery patients with suspected SSI. Each participant scored six randomly assigned case-vignettes before and after reading the SSI definition on an online secure relational database. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to assess agreement regarding SSI diagnosis on a seven-point Likert scale and the kappa coefficient to assess agreement for superficial or deep SSI on a three-point scale. RESULTS: Based on a consensus, SSI was present in 21 of 40 vignettes (52.5%). Intraspecialty agreement for SSI diagnosis ranged across specialties from 0.15 (95% confidence interval, 0.00-0.59) (anesthesiologists and infection control nurses) to 0.73 (0.32-0.90) (infectious diseases specialists). Reading the SSI definition improved agreement in the specialties with poor initial agreement. Intraspecialty agreement for superficial or deep SSI ranged from 0.10 (-0.19-0.38) to 0.54 (0.25-0.83) (surgeons) and increased after reading the SSI definition only among the infection control nurses from 0.10 (-0.19-0.38) to 0.41 (-0.09-0.72). Interspecialty agreement for SSI diagnosis was 0.36 (0.22-0.54) and increased to 0.47 (0.31-0.64) after reading the SSI definition. CONCLUSION: Among healthcare professionals evaluating case-vignettes for possible surgical site infection, there was large disagreement in diagnosis that varied both between and within specialties