Search for WW and WZ production in lepton plus jets final state at CDF

We present a search for WW and WZ production in final states that contain a charged lepton (electron or muon) and at least two jets, produced in sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV ppbar collisions at the Fermilab Tevatron, using data corresponding to 1.2 fb-1 of integrated luminosity collected with the CDF II detector. Diboson production in this decay channel has yet to be observed at hadron colliders due to the large single W plus jets background. An artificial neural network has been developed to increase signal sensitivity, as compared with an event selection based on conventional cuts. We set a 95% confidence level upper limit of sigma_{WW}* BR(W->lnu,W->jets)+ sigma_{WZ}*BR(W->lnu,Z->jets)We present a search for WW and WZ production in final states that contain a charged lepton (electron or muon) and at least two jets, produced in √s=1.96  TeV pp̅ collisions at the Fermilab Tevatron, using data corresponding to 1.2  fb-1 of integrated luminosity collected with the CDF II detector. Diboson production in this decay channel has yet to be observed at hadron colliders due to the large single W plus jets background. An artificial neural network has been developed to increase signal sensitivity, as compared with an event selection based on conventional cuts. We set a 95% confidence level upper limit of σWW×BR(W→ℓνℓ,W→jets)+σWZ×BR(W→ℓνℓ,Z→jets)<2.88  pb, which is consistent with the standard model next-to-leading-order cross section calculation for this decay channel of 2.09±0.12  pb.Peer reviewe

Tuberculosis diagnostics and biomarkers: needs, challenges, recent advances, and opportunities

Tuberculosis is unique among the major infectious diseases in that it lacks accurate rapid point-of-care diagnostic tests. Failure to control the spread of tuberculosis is largely due to our inability to detect and treat all infectious cases of pulmonary tuberculosis in a timely fashion, allowing continued Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission within communities. Currently recommended gold-standard diagnostic tests for tuberculosis are laboratory based, and multiple investigations may be necessary over a period of weeks or months before a diagnosis is made. Several new diagnostic tests have recently become available for detecting active tuberculosis disease, screening for latent M. tuberculosis infection, and identifying drug-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis. However, progress toward a robust point-of-care test has been limited, and novel biomarker discovery remains challenging. In the absence of effective prevention strategies, high rates of early case detection and subsequent cure are required for global tuberculosis control. Early case detection is dependent on test accuracy, accessibility, cost, and complexity, but also depends on the political will and funder investment to deliver optimal, sustainable care to those worst affected by the tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus epidemics. This review highlights unanswered questions, challenges, recent advances, unresolved operational and technical issues, needs, and opportunities related to tuberculosis diagnostics

Searching the inclusive l γe T+b-quark signature for radiative top quark decay and non-standard-model processes

We compare the inclusive production of events containing a lepton (á), a photon (γ), significant transverse momentum imbalance (E T), and a jet identified as containing a b-quark, to SM predictions. The search uses data produced in proton-antiproton collisions at s=1.96TeV corresponding to 1.9fb-1 of integrated luminosity taken with the CDF detector. We find 28 áγbET events versus an expectation of 31.0-3.5+4.1 events. If we further require events to contain at least three jets and large total transverse energy, the largest SM source is radiative top-quark pair production, tt̄+γ. In the data we observe 16 tt̄γ candidate events versus an expectation from SM sources of 11.2-2.1+2.3. Assuming the difference between the observed number and the predicted non-top-quark total of 6.8-2.0+2.2 is due to SM top-quark production, we estimate the tt̄γ cross section to be 0.15±0.08pb. © 2009 The American Physical Society

Measurement of resonance parameters of orbitally excited narrow B0 mesons

We report a measurement of resonance parameters of the orbitally excited (L=1) narrow B0 mesons in decays to B(*)+Ï€- using 1.7fb-1 of data collected by the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. The mass and width of the B2*0 state are measured to be m(B2*0)=5740.2-1.8+1. 7(stat)-0.8+0.9(syst)MeV/c2 and Î (B2*0)=22.7-3.2+3.8(stat)-10. 2+3.2(syst)MeV/c2. The mass difference between the B2*0 and B10 states is measured to be 14.9-2.5+2.2(stat)-1.4+1.2(syst)MeV/c2, resulting in a B10 mass of 5725.3-2.2+1.6(stat)-1.5+1.4(syst)MeV/c2. This is currently the most precise measurement of the masses of these states and the first measurement of the B2*0 width. © 2009 The American Physical Society

Measurement of the top quark mass at CDF using the `neutrino phi weighting' template method on a lepton plus isolated track sample

We present a measurement of the top quark mass with t{bar t} dilepton events produced in p{bar p} collisions at the Fermilab Tevatron ({radical}s = 1.96 TeV) and collected by the CDF II detector. A sample of 328 events with a charged electron or muon and an isolated track, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.9 fb{sup -1}, are selected as t{bar t} candidates. To account for the unconstrained event kinematics, we scan over the phase space of the azimuthal angles ({phi}{sub {nu}1}, {phi}{sub {nu}2}) of neutrinos and reconstruct the top quark mass for each {phi}{sub {nu}1}, {phi}{sub {nu}2} pair by minimizing a {chi}{sup 2} function in the t{bar t} dilepton hypothesis. We assign {chi}{sup 2}-dependent weights to the solutions in order to build a preferred mass for each event. Preferred mass distributions (templates) are built from simulated t{bar t} and background events, and parameterized in order to provide continuous probability density functions. A likelihood fit to the mass distribution in data as a weighted sum of signal and background probability density functions gives a top quark mass of 165.5{sub -3.3}{sup +3.4}(stat.){+-}3.1(syst.) GeV/c{sup 2}

Search for new physics in the mu mu+e/mu + is not an element of T channel with a low-pT lepton threshold at the Collider Detector at Fermilab

A search for new physics using three-lepton (trilepton) data collected with the CDF II detector and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 976 pb(-1) is presented. The standard model predicts a low rate of trilepton events, which makes some supersymmetric processes, such as chargino-neutralino production, measurable in this channel. The mu mu + l signature is investigated, where l is an electron or a muon, with the additional requirement of large missing transverse energy. In this analysis, the lepton transverse momenta with respect to the beam direction (p(T)) are as low as 5 GeV/c, a selection that improves the sensitivity to particles that are light as well as to ones that result in leptonically decaying tau leptons. At the same time, this low-p(T) selection presents additional challenges due to the non-negligible heavy-quark background at low lepton momenta. This background is measured with an innovative technique using experimental data. Several dimuon and trilepton control regions are investigated, and good agreement between experimental results and standard-model predictions is observed. In the signal region, we observe one three-muon event and expect 0.4 +/- 0.1 mu mu + l events from standard-model processes.We thank the Fermilab staff and the technical staffs of the participating institutions for their vital contributions. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy and National Science Foundation; the Italian Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare; the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan; the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada; the National Science Council of the Republic of China; the Swiss National Science Foundation; the A.P. Sloan Foundation; the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Germany; the Korean Science and Engineering Foundation and the Korean Research Foundation; the Science and Technology Facilities Council and the Royal Society, UK; the Institut National de Physique Nucleaire et Physique des Particules/CNRS; the Russian Foundation for Basic Research; the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and Programa Consolider-Ingenio 2010, Spain; the Slovak R&D Agency; and the Academy of Finland.Peer reviewe

Magnesium based materials for hydrogen based energy storage: Past, present and future

Magnesium hydride owns the largest share of publications on solid materials for hydrogen storage. The “Magnesium group” of international experts contributing to IEA Task 32 “Hydrogen Based Energy Storage” recently published two review papers presenting the activities of the group focused on magnesium hydride based materials and on Mg based compounds for hydrogen and energy storage. This review article not only overviews the latest activities on both fundamental aspects of Mg-based hydrides and their applications, but also presents a historic overview on the topic and outlines projected future developments. Particular attention is paid to the theoretical and experimental studies of Mg-H system at extreme pressures, kinetics and thermodynamics of the systems based on MgH2, nanostructuring, new Mg-based compounds and novel composites, and catalysis in the Mg based H storage systems. Finally, thermal energy storage and upscaled H storage systems accommodating MgH2 are presented

Rationale and design: telepsychology service delivery for depressed elderly veterans

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Older adults who live in rural areas experience significant disparities in health status and access to mental health care. "Telepsychology," (also referred to as "telepsychiatry," or "telemental health") represents a potential strategy towards addressing this longstanding problem. Older adults may benefit from telepsychology due to its: (1) utility to address existing problematic access to care for rural residents; (2) capacity to reduce stigma associated with traditional mental health care; and (3) utility to overcome significant age-related problems in ambulation and transportation. Moreover, preliminary evidence indicates that telepsychiatry programs are often less expensive for patients, and reduce travel time, travel costs, and time off from work. Thus, telepsychology may provide a cost-efficient solution to access-to-care problems in rural areas.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We describe an ongoing four-year prospective, randomized clinical trial comparing the effectiveness of an empirically supported treatment for major depressive disorder, Behavioral Activation, delivered either via in-home videoconferencing technology ("Telepsychology") or traditional face-to-face services ("Same-Room"). Our hypothesis is that in-homeTelepsychology service delivery will be equally effective as the traditional mode (Same-Room). Two-hundred twenty-four (224) male and female elderly participants will be administered protocol-driven individual Behavioral Activation therapy for depression over an 8-week period; and subjects will be followed for 12-months to ascertain longer-term effects of the treatment on three outcomes domains: (1) clinical outcomes (symptom severity, social functioning); (2) process variables (patient satisfaction, treatment credibility, attendance, adherence, dropout); and (3) economic outcomes (cost and resource use).</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Results from the proposed study will provide important insight into whether telepsychology service delivery is as effective as the traditional mode of service delivery, defined in terms of clinical, process, and economic outcomes, for elderly patients with depression residing in rural areas without adequate access to mental health services.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>National Institutes of Health Clinical Trials Registry (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier# NCT00324701).</p

Benzodiazepine use among adults residing in the urban settlements of Karachi, Pakistan: A cross sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There are hardly any studies carried out in Pakistan on the usage of benzodiazepines at the level of community. This research was aimed to determine the frequency of benzodiazepine use, along with its associations with socio-demographic and clinical characteristics among community dwelling adults, residing in two urban settlements of Karachi, Pakistan.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We performed a cross sectional study from August 2008 to December 2009, in 2 areas of Karachi, namely Garden and Sultanabad. We followed the systematic sampling strategy to randomly select the households, with an adult of either sex and of age 18 years or more. Data collection was carried out through interview, using a pre-tested questionnaire, with items on socio-demographic position, medical history and benzodiazepine use. Student's t-test and χ²test was employed to determine the associations between socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, and their relationship with benzodiazepine use was determined using applied logistic regression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The overall percentage of benzodiazepine consumption was estimated to be 14%. There were significantly more benzodiazepine users in the peri-urban Sultanabad community to the urban community of Garden (p-value = 0.001). The mean age (± SD) for users was 51.3 (± 15.6) years compared to 37.1 (± 14.4) years among non-users. Bromazepam was the most widely used benzodiazepine (29%); followed by diazepam, with a median duration on primary use being 144 weeks (IQR = 48-240). The adjusted logistic regression model revealed that increasing age, location, female sex, unemployment and psychiatric consultation were associated with increased likelihood of benzodiazepine use.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We believe the unregulated over-the-counter sales of benzodiazepines and social conditions might be playing a role in this high consumption of benzodiazepines in the community.</p