Stably non-synchronizable maps of the plane

Pecora and Carroll presented a notion of synchronization where an (n-1)-dimensional nonautonomous system is constructed from a given $n$-dimensional dynamical system by imposing the evolution of one coordinate. They noticed that the resulting dynamics may be contracting even if the original dynamics are not. It is easy to construct flows or maps such that no coordinate has synchronizing properties, but this cannot be done in an open set of linear maps or flows in $\R^n$, $n\geq 2$. In this paper we give examples of real analytic homeomorphisms of $\R^2$ such that the non-synchronizability is stable in the sense that in a full $C^0$ neighborhood of the given map, no homeomorphism is synchronizable

An adapted algorithm for patient engagement in care for young people living with perinatal HIV in England

BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests that engagement in care (EIC) may be worse in young people living with perinatal HIV (YPLPHIV) compared to adults or children living with HIV. We took a published EIC algorithm for adults with HIV, which takes patients’ clinical scenarios into account, and adapted it for use in YPLPHIV in England, to measure their EIC. METHODS: The adult algorithm predicts when in the next 6 months the next clinic visit should be scheduled, based on routinely collected clinical indicators at the current visit. We updated the algorithm based on the latest adult guidelines at the time, and modified it for young people in paediatric care using the latest European paediatric guidelines. Paediatric/adolescent HIV consultants from the UK reviewed and adapted the resulting flowcharts. The adapted algorithm was applied to the Adolescent and Adults Living with Perinatal HIV (AALPHI) cohort in England. Data for 12 months following entry into AALPHI were used to predicted visits which were then compared to appointment attendances, to measure whether young people were in care in each month. Proxy markers (e.g. dates of CD4 counts, viral loads (VL)) were used to indicate appointment attendance. RESULTS: Three hundred sixteen patients were in AALPHI, of whom 41% were male, 82% of black African ethnicity and 58% born abroad. At baseline (time of AALPHI interview) median [IQR] age was 17 [15–18] years, median CD4 was 597 [427, 791] cells/µL and 69% had VL ≤50c/mL. 10 patients were dropped due to missing data. 306 YPLPHIV contributed 3,585 person months of follow up across the 12 month study in which a clinic visit was recorded for 1,204 months (38/1204 dropped due to missing data). The remaining 1,166 months were classified into 3 groups: Group-A: on ART, VL ≤ 50c/mL—63%(734/1,166) visit months, Group-B: on ART, VL > 50c/mL—27%(320/1,166) Group-C: not on ART-10%(112/1,166). Most patients were engaged in care with 87% (3,126/3,585) of months fulfilling the definition of engaged in care. CONCLUSIONS: The adapted algorithm allowed the varying clinical scenarios of YPLPHIV to be taken into account when measuring EIC. However availability of good quality surveillance data is crucial to ensure that EIC can be measured well

Novel Electroweak Symmetry Breaking Conditions From Quantum Effects In The MSSM

We present, in the context of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, a detailed one-loop analytic study of the minimization conditions of the effective potential in the Higgs sector. Special emphasis is put on the role played by $Str M^4$ in the determination of the electroweak symmetry breaking conditions, where first and second order derivatives of the effective potential are systematically taken into account. Novel, necessary (and sufficient in the Higgs sector) model-independent constraints, are thus obtained analytically, leading to new theoretical lower and upper bounds on $\tan \beta$. Although fully model-independent, these bounds are found to be much more restrictive than the existing model-dependent ones! A first illustration is given in the context of a SUGRA-GUT motivated scenario.Comment: Latex, 45 pages, 5 figure

A Living Database of HIV Implementation Research (LIVE project): Protocol for rapid living reviews

BACKGROUND: HIV implementation research evolves rapidly and is often complex and poorly characterized, which makes the synthesis of data on HIV implementation strategies inherently difficult. This is further compromised by prolonged data abstraction processes due to variable interventions, outcomes, and context, and delays in the publication of review findings; this can all result in outdated and irrelevant systematic reviews. OBJECTIVE: The LIVE project (A Living Database of HIV Implementation Research) aims to overcome these challenges by applying an implementation science lens to the conduct of rapid living systematic reviews and meta-analyses to inform HIV service delivery priorities and guideline development. METHODS: The LIVE project will generate a series of living systematic reviews exploring implementation strategies for improving HIV cascade outcomes (HIV infection, HIV diagnosis, linkage and retention in HIV care, viral suppression, and mortality). We will search Embase and MEDLINE as well databases specific to review questions for studies conducted after 2004 using predefined search terms to identify studies conducted in any age group or setting, and using implementation strategies that target policy makers, society, health organizations, health workers, and beneficiaries of care and their families. Both randomized controlled trials and observational studies will be included to ensure reviews include pragmatic data. In addition to assessments of methodological quality, features of the implementation strategies, relevance for implementation, and evidence quality will be determined using recognized frameworks. After initial publication, knowledge gaps will be identified, and review questions and search strategies revised to address ongoing critical areas of inquiry. Updated searches will be conducted every 6 months, with subsequent ongoing screening, data abstraction, and revision of meta-analyses. RESULTS: As of July 2022, five reviews are at various stages of development within the LIVE project. Three systematic reviews are underway and living review processes are in development for two reviews with estimated completion over the next 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: This project and resulting systematic reviews will provide critical insights for HIV service delivery to inform international guideline development. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/37070

Optimal Charge and Color Breaking conditions in the MSSM

In the MSSM, we make a careful tree-level study of Charge and Color Breaking conditions in the plane $(H_2, \tilde{u}_L, \tilde{u}_R)$, focusing on the top quark scalar case. A simple and fast procedure to compute the VEVs of the dangerous vacuum is presented and used to derive a model-independent optimal CCB bound on $A_t$. This bound takes into account all possible deviations of the CCB vacuum from the D-flat directions. For large $\tan \beta$, it provides a CCB maximal mixing for the stop scalar fields $\tilde{t}_1,\tilde{t}_2$, which automatically rules out the Higgs maximal mixing $|A_t|=\sqrt{6} m_{\tilde{t}}$. As a result, strong limits on the stop mass spectrum and a reduction, in some cases substantial, of the one-loop upper bound on the CP-even lightest Higgs boson mass, $m_h$, are obtained. To incorporate one-loop leading corrections, this tree-level CCB condition should be evaluated at an appropriate renormalization scale which proves to be the SUSY scale.Comment: 41 pages, 7 eps figures, minor corrections, references added, to appear in Nucl. Phys.

Prospectus, February 15, 1995

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1995/1004/thumbnail.jp

A Multiply Imaged Luminous Infrared Galaxy Behind the Bullet Cluster

We present evidence for a Spitzer-selected luminous infrared galaxy (LIRG) behind the Bullet Cluster. The galaxy, originally identified in IRAC photometry as a multiply imaged source, has a spectral energy distribution consistent with a highly extincted (A_V~3.3), strongly star-forming galaxy at z=2.7. Using our strong gravitational lensing model presented in Bradac et al. (2006), we find that the magnifications are 10 to 50 for the three images of the galaxy. The implied infrared luminosity is consistent with the galaxy being a LIRG, with a stellar mass of M_*~2e11 M_Sun and a star formation rate of ~90 M_Sun/yr. With lensed fluxes at 24 microns of 0.58 mJy and 0.39 mJy in the two brightest images, this galaxy presents a unique opportunity for detailed study of an obscured starburst with star fomation rate comparable to that of L* galaxies at z>2.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, ApJ, accepted. This version includes information on a third lensed image of the galax

Risk factors for type 2 diabetes in groups stratified according to metabolic syndrome: a 10-year follow-up of The Tromsø Study

Many incident cases of type 2 diabetes do not fulfil the metabolic syndrome, which accordingly has been questioned both as a research and clinical tool. The aim of this study was to determine differences in risk factors for type 2 diabetes between groups with high or low metabolic score. The study population were 26,093 men and women attending the Tromsø Study in 1994, followed through 2005, and who did not have diabetes when entering the study. A total of 492 incident cases of type 2 diabetes were registered. A metabolic score was defined according to a modified version of the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III. For those fulfilling ≥ 3 metabolic score criteria, increasing age, body mass index (BMI), triglycerides and a family history of diabetes were independent predictors. Age, BMI, and triglycerides predicted type 2 diabetes more strongly in subjects with low metabolic score, whereas high HDL cholesterol was not protective in this low risk group. The risk associated with a positive family history was unaffected by level of metabolic score. In addition smoking, low education and in men also physical inactivity were independent risk factors only in those with low metabolic score. Adding these non-metabolic risk factors increased correct classification from an ROC area of 77.2 to 87.1% (P value < 0.0001). One half of the incident cases of type 2 diabetes were missed by using high metabolic score for risk prediction