Recent Decisions

Comments on recent decisions by Cornelius F. Collins, Joseph P. Summers, Michael E. Phenner, Daniel J. Manelli, Ralph H. Witt, Richard C. Wilbur, and Raymond W. Brown

Taking down ‘the Ivory Tower’: leveraging academia for better health outcomes in Uganda

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112732/1/12914_2011_Article_147.pd

CTEQ Parton Distributions and Flavor Dependence of Sea Quarks

This paper describes salient features of new sets of parton distributions obtained by the CTEQ Collaboration based on a comprehensive QCD global analysis of all available data. The accuracy of the new data on deep inelastic scattering structure functions obtained by the very high statistics NMC and CCFR experiments provides unprecedented sensitivity to the flavor dependence of the sea-quark distributions. In addition to much better determination of the small x dependence of all parton distributions, we found: (i) the strange quark distribution is much softer than the non-strange sea quarks and rises above the latter at small-x; and (ii) the difference $\bar d-\bar u$ changes sign as a function of x. A few alternative sets of viable distributions with conventional assumptions are also discussed.Comment: 13 pages with figures, MSUHEP-92-27, Fermilab-Pub-92/371, FSU-HEP-92-1225, ISU-NP-92-1

How Anisotropic is our Universe?

Large-scale cosmic microwave background anisotropies in homogeneous, globally anisotropic cosmologies are investigated. We perform a statistical analysis in which the four-year data from the Cosmic Background Explorer satellite is searched for the specific anisotropy patterns predicted by these models and thereby set definitive upper limits on the amount of shear, $(\sigma/H)_0$ and vorticity, $(\omega/H)_0$, which are orders of magnitude stronger than previous constraints. We comment on how these results might impact our understanding of primordial global anisotropy.Comment: 12 pages (1 figure), uses RevTex and psfig, submitted to PR

Exclusive Production of Higgs Bosons in Hadron Colliders

We study the exclusive, double--diffractive production of the Standard Model Higgs particle in hadronic collisions at LHC and FNAL (upgraded) energies. Such a mechanism would provide an exceptionally clean signal for experimental detection in which the usual penalty for triggering on the rare decays of the Higgs could be avoided. In addition, because of the color singlet nature of the hard interaction, factorization is expected to be preserved, allowing the cross--section to be related to similar hard--diffractive events at HERA. Starting from a Fock state expansion in perturbative QCD, we obtain an estimate for the cross section in terms of the gluon structure functions squared of the colliding hadrons. Unfortunately, our estimates yield a production rate well below what is likely to be experimentally feasible.Comment: 17 pages, RevTeX file, four uufiled PostScript figures. UMPP #94-177. (Revised version. Some mistakenly missing Feynman diagrams are now added. Results do not change qualitatively. Paper reorganized.

Prospective surveillance of invasive group a streptococcal disease, Fiji, 2005-2007.

We undertook a prospective active surveillance study of invasive group A streptococcal (GAS) disease in Fiji over a 23-month period, 2005-2007. We identified 64 cases of invasive GAS disease, which represents an average annualized all-ages incidence of 9.9 cases/100,000 population per year (95% confidence interval [CI] 7.6-12.6). Rates were highest in those >65 years of age and in those <5 years, particularly in infants, for whom the incidence was 44.9/100,000 (95% CI 18.1-92.5). The case-fatality rate was 32% and was associated with increasing age and underlying coexisting disease, including diabetes and renal disease. Fifty-five of the GAS isolates underwent emm sequence typing; the types were highly diverse, with 38 different emm subtypes and no particular dominant type. Our data support the view that invasive GAS disease is common in developing countries and deserves increased public health attention

Impact of endoscopic versus open saphenous vein harvest technique on late coronary artery bypass grafting patient outcomes in the ROOBY (Randomized On/Off Bypass) Trial

ObjectiveIn the Randomized On/Off Bypass (ROOBY) Trial, the efficacy of on-pump versus off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting was evaluated. This ROOBY Trial planned subanalysis compared the effects on postbypass patient clinical outcomes and graft patency of endoscopic vein harvesting and open vein harvesting.MethodsFrom April 2003 to April 2007, the technique used for saphenous vein graft harvesting was recorded in 1471 cases. Of these, 894 patients (341 endoscopic harvest and 553 open harvest) also underwent coronary angiography 1 year after coronary artery bypass grafting. Univariate and multivariable analyses were used to compare patient outcomes in the endoscopic and open groups.ResultsPreoperative patient characteristics were statistically similar between the endoscopic and open groups. Endoscopic vein harvest was used in 38% of the cases. There were no significant differences in both short-term and 1-year composite outcomes between the endoscopic and open groups. For patients with 1-year catheterization follow-up (n = 894), the saphenous vein graft patency rate for the endoscopic group was lower than that in the open harvest group (74.5% vs 85.2%, P < .0001), and the repeat revascularization rate was significantly higher (6.7% vs 3.4%, P < .05). Multivariable regression documented no interaction effect between endoscopic approach and off-pump treatment.ConclusionsIn the ROOBY Trial, endoscopic vein harvest was associated with lower 1-year saphenous vein graft patency and higher 1-year revascularization rates, independent of the use of off-pump or on-pump cardiac surgical approach

The 4 youth by youth HIV self-testing crowdsourcing contest: A qualitative evaluation.

INTRODUCTION: Crowdsourcing, a participatory approach to solicit ideas from a large group of diverse individuals, provides an opportunity to nurture youth participation in HIV self-testing service design. The objective of this study was to describe the responses to a crowdsourcing contest aimed at soliciting ideas on how to promote HIV self-testing (HIVST) among young people in Nigeria. METHODS: The "4 Youth by Youth" HIV Self-Testing Crowdsourcing contest was an online and off-line contest that asked Nigerian youth (10-24 years old) for ideas in response to the following: How might we promote HIVST among young people in Nigeria? All data were collected and analyzed between October 2018, and June 2019. Ideas and perceptions generated from the crowdsourcing contest were qualitatively analyzed using thematic content analysis. Specifically, four reviewers analyzed whether the ideas generated were desirable (appealing to young people), feasible (easy to implement) and impactful (will significantly influence HIVST uptake among young people). RESULTS: A total of 903 entries were received in response to the contest prompt. Participants submitted entries in various forms: online form (39.7%), offline Dropbox (44.6%), email (6.1%) and WhatsApp (9.7%). Of the total entries, 85% (n = 769/903) entries were eligible and were scored as having either high, moderate or low level of feasibility, impact and desirability, on a 3-point Likert scale. A significant portion of the entries were given a score of 3 for feasibility (4.9%), desirability (7.1%), impact (3.0%) or a total overall score of 7 or more (8.2%). The three main themes that emerged from the entries include:1) Peer-to-peer distribution and leveraging on existing infrastructures 2) Youth-Oriented Branding of the HIVST Kit 3) Mobile platforms and social media technology. CONCLUSION: The "4 Youth by Youth" Self-Testing contest engaged a broad audience of young people to generate ideas and perspectives on how to promote HIVST. This process informed the development of youth innovated implementation strategies to increase uptake of HIVST among adolescents and youth at risk for HIV