Searching for a Light Stop at the Tevatron

We describe a method to help the search for a light stop squark [M(stop) + M(LSP) < M(top)] at the Fermilab Tevatron. Traditional search methods rely upon a series of stringent background-reducing cuts which, unfortunately, leave very few signal events given the present data set. To avoid this difficulty, we instead suggest using a milder set of cuts, combined with a "superweight," whose purpose is to discriminate between signal and background events. The superweight consists of a sum of terms, each of which are either zero or one. The terms are assigned event-by-event depending upon the values of various observables. We suggest a method for choosing the observables as well as the criteria used to assign the values such that the superweight is "large" for the supersymmetric signal and "small" for the standard model background. For illustration, we mainly consider the detection of stops coming from top decay, making our analysis especially relevant to the W+2 jets top sample.Comment: 45 pages, revtex, 15 figures included. Final version, as will appear in Phys. Rev. D. Contains an expanded introduction plus a few additional reference

Patterns of paediatric end-of-life care: a chart review across different care settings in Switzerland.

Paediatric end-of-life care is challenging and requires a high level of professional expertise. It is important that healthcare teams have a thorough understanding of paediatric subspecialties and related knowledge of disease-specific aspects of paediatric end-of-life care. The aim of this study was to comprehensively describe, explore and compare current practices in paediatric end-of-life care in four distinct diagnostic groups across healthcare settings including all relevant levels of healthcare providers in Switzerland. In this nationwide retrospective chart review study, data from paediatric patients who died in the years 2011 or 2012 due to a cardiac, neurological or oncological condition, or during the neonatal period were collected in 13 hospitals, two long-term institutions and 10 community-based healthcare service providers throughout Switzerland. Ninety-three (62%) of the 149 reviewed patients died in intensive care units, 78 (84%) of them following withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment. Reliance on invasive medical interventions was prevalent, and the use of medication was high, with a median count of 12 different drugs during the last week of life. Patients experienced an average number of 6.42 symptoms. The prevalence of various types of symptoms differed significantly among the four diagnostic groups. Overall, our study patients stayed in the hospital for a median of six days during their last four weeks of life. Seventy-two patients (48%) stayed at home for at least one day and only half of those received community-based healthcare. The study provides a wide-ranging overview of current end-of-life care practices in a real-life setting of different healthcare providers. The inclusion of patients with all major diagnoses leading to disease- and prematurity-related childhood deaths, as well as comparisons across the diagnostic groups, provides additional insight and understanding for healthcare professionals. The provision of specialised palliative and end-of-life care services in Switzerland, including the capacity of community healthcare services, need to be expanded to meet the specific needs of seriously ill children and their families

What should I do about my patient's gall stones?

The problem of benign biliary disease is one that causes significant morbidity and social economic strain in the western world. The classical treatment, cholecystectomy, has been challenged by various medical and surgical techniques in a seemingly random nature. The development of the treatment of gall stone disease is reviewed by analysis of published studies over the last 20 years. The advantages and disadvantages are discussed as an overview and summary of the current management of gall stone disease in the light of our knowledge of its malignant potential