Fine-tuning implications for complementary dark matter and LHC SUSY searches

The requirement that SUSY should solve the hierarchy problem without undue fine-tuning imposes severe constraints on the new supersymmetric states. With the MSSM spectrum and soft SUSY breaking originating from universal scalar and gaugino masses at the Grand Unification scale, we show that the low-fine-tuned regions fall into two classes that will require complementary collider and dark matter searches to explore in the near future. The first class has relatively light gluinos or squarks which should be found by the LHC in its first run. We identify the multijet plus E_T^miss signal as the optimal channel and determine the discovery potential in the first run. The second class has heavier gluinos and squarks but the LSP has a significant Higgsino component and should be seen by the next generation of direct dark matter detection experiments. The combined information from the 7 TeV LHC run and the next generation of direct detection experiments can test almost all of the CMSSM parameter space consistent with dark matter and EW constraints, corresponding to a fine-tuning not worse than 1:100. To cover the complete low-fine-tuned region by SUSY searches at the LHC will require running at the full 14 TeV CM energy; in addition it may be tested indirectly by Higgs searches covering the mass range below 120 GeV.Comment: References added. Version accepted for publication in JHE

Functional Sequential Treatment Allocation

Consider a setting in which a policy maker assigns subjects to treatments, observing each outcome before the next subject arrives. Initially, it is unknown which treatment is best, but the sequential nature of the problem permits learning about the effectiveness of the treatments. While the multi-armed-bandit literature has shed much light on the situation when the policy maker compares the effectiveness of the treatments through their mean, much less is known about other targets. This is restrictive, because a cautious decision maker may prefer to target a robust location measure such as a quantile or a trimmed mean. Furthermore, socio-economic decision making often requires targeting purpose specific characteristics of the outcome distribution, such as its inherent degree of inequality, welfare or poverty. In the present paper we introduce and study sequential learning algorithms when the distributional characteristic of interest is a general functional of the outcome distribution. Minimax expected regret optimality results are obtained within the subclass of explore-then-commit policies, and for the unrestricted class of all policies

Reporting and transparent research practices in sports medicine and orthopaedic clinical trials: a meta-research study

Objectives: Transparent reporting of clinical trials is essential to assess the risk of bias and translate research findings into clinical practice. While existing studies have shown that deficiencies are common, detailed empirical and field-specific data are scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to examine current clinical trial reporting and transparent research practices in sports medicine and orthopaedics. Setting: Exploratory meta-research study on reporting quality and transparent research practices in orthopaedics and sports medicine clinical trials. Participants: The sample included clinical trials published in the top 25% of sports medicine and orthopaedics journals over 9 months. Primary and secondary outcome measures: Two independent reviewers assessed pre-registration, open data and criteria related to scientific rigour, like randomisation, blinding, and sample size calculations, as well as the study sample, and data analysis. Results: The sample included 163 clinical trials from 27 journals. While the majority of trials mentioned rigour criteria, essential details were often missing. Sixty per cent (95% confidence interval (CI) 53% to 68%) of trials reported sample size calculations, but only 32% (95% CI 25% to 39%) justified the expected effect size. Few trials indicated the blinding status of all main stakeholders (4%; 95% CI 1% to 7%). Only 18% (95% CI 12% to 24%) included information on randomisation type, method and concealed allocation. Most trials reported participants' sex/gender (95%; 95% CI 92% to 98%) and information on inclusion and exclusion criteria (78%; 95% CI 72% to 84%). Only 20% (95% CI 14% to 26%) of trials were pre-registered. No trials deposited data in open repositories. Conclusions: These results will aid the sports medicine and orthopaedics community in developing tailored interventions to improve reporting. While authors typically mention blinding, randomisation and other factors, essential details are often missing. Greater acceptance of open science practices, like pre-registration and open data, is needed. As these practices have been widely encouraged, we discuss systemic interventions that may improve clinical trial reporting

Understanding disparities in clinical trials for Native Hawaiian men

Understanding low rates of participation by minority populations in clinical trials is critical for reducing and eliminating disparities. We examined beliefs and attitudes of Native Hawaiian men related to illness and cancer to better understand their rates of participation in clinical trials. We conducted face-to-face interviews with Native Hawaiian key informants throughout the State of Hawai‘i using quota sampling methods to obtain a range of perspectives about attitudes towards health care seeking to provide insight into low clinical trials participation. Interviews were audio-taped, transcribed, and independently coded by researchers. Thematic analysis guided the extraction of relevant data from the discussions. Key informants (N=16) suggested the following beliefs and attitudes regarding clinical trials participation: 1) mistrust in the healthcare system, 2) external locus of control, 3) gender norms, and 4) the customary pono (righteousness, to make right) practice towards family/community to model and maintain good health, including participation in cancer clinical trials. Native Hawaiian men in this study expressed hesitation in the benefits of formalized health care. Many men described experiences of racism, inequity, and injustice associated their interactions with health care providers. These encounters were factors that influenced their healthcare practices and beliefs towards maintaining health and longevity

Practical Application of Sociology in Systems Engineering

Systems engineering involves both the integration of the system and the integration of the disciplines which develop and operate the system. Integrating the disciplines is a sociological effort to bring together different groups, who often have different terminology, to achieve a common goal, the system. The focus for the systems engineer is information flow through the organization, between the disciplines, to ensure the system is developed and operated will all relevant information informing system decisions. The practical application of the sociology in systems engineering brings in various organizational development concepts including the principles of planned renegotiation and the application of principles to address information barriers created by organizational culture. Concepts such as specification of ignorance, consistent terminology, opportunity structures, role-sets, and the reclama (reconsideration) process are all important sociological approaches that help address the organizational social structure (culture). In bringing the disciplines together, the systems engineer must also be wary of social ambivalence, social anomie, social dysfunction, and insider-outsider behavior. Unintended consequences can result when these social issues are present. These issues can occur when localized subcultures shift from the overarching organizational culture, or when the organizational culture prevents achievement of system goals. These sociological principles provide the systems engineer with key approaches to manage the information flow through the organization as the disciplines are integrated and share their information and provides key sociological barriers to information flow through the organization. This paper will discuss the practical application of sociological principles to systems engineering

Anthropometric and physiological factors affecting batted ball speed of adolescent baseball players

Fifty-seven junior baseball players performed eight swings off a tee to record ball exit speed, as well as tests of grip strength, standing broad jump, lateral-to-medial (LM) jumps, chin-ups and chest pass with a medicine ball. The height, weight and age of each participant was also recorded. All anthropometric and physiological tests were significantly positively correlated with ball speed (p \u3c 0.05). Collinearity between variables meant that only chest pass (R² = 0.70, p = 0.000), body mass (ΔR² = 0.03, Δp = 0.021) and LM jump (ΔR² = 0.04, Δp = 0.005) made independent contributions to a stepwise linear regression. These findings corroborate the expectation that upper body power is a major determinant of batting speed, with leg power adding an additional, independent contribution to performance

Viscous-Inviscid Interactions in a Boundary-Layer Flow Induced by a Vortex Array

In this paper we investigate the asymptotic validity of boundary layer theory. For a flow induced by a periodic row of point-vortices, we compare Prandtl's solution to Navier-Stokes solutions at different $Re$ numbers. We show how Prandtl's solution develops a finite time separation singularity. On the other hand Navier-Stokes solution is characterized by the presence of two kinds of viscous-inviscid interactions between the boundary layer and the outer flow. These interactions can be detected by the analysis of the enstrophy and of the pressure gradient on the wall. Moreover we apply the complex singularity tracking method to Prandtl and Navier-Stokes solutions and analyze the previous interactions from a different perspective