Understanding Difference-in-differences methods to evaluate policy effects with staggered adoption: an application to Medicaid and HIV

While a randomized control trial is considered the gold standard for estimating causal treatment effects, there are many research settings in which randomization is infeasible or unethical. In such cases, researchers rely on analytical methods for observational data to explore causal relationships. Difference-in-differences (DID) is one such method that, most commonly, estimates a difference in some mean outcome in a group before and after the implementation of an intervention or policy and compares this with a control group followed over the same time (i.e., a group that did not implement the intervention or policy). Although DID modeling approaches have been gaining popularity in public health research, the majority of these approaches and their extensions are developed and shared within the economics literature. While extensions of DID modeling approaches may be straightforward to apply to observational data in any field, the complexities and assumptions involved in newer approaches are often misunderstood. In this paper, we focus on recent extensions of the DID method and their relationships to linear models in the setting of staggered treatment adoption over multiple years. We detail the identification and estimation of the average treatment effect among the treated using potential outcomes notation, highlighting the assumptions necessary to produce valid estimates. These concepts are described within the context of Medicaid expansion and retention in care among people living with HIV (PWH) in the United States. While each DID approach is potentially valid, understanding their different assumptions and choosing an appropriate method can have important implications for policy-makers, funders, and public health as a whole

Utilizing a handheld electrode array for localized muscle impedance measurements

Introduction: Electrical impedance myography (EIM) is a non-invasive technique used for assessment of muscle health in which a high-frequency, low-amplitude electric current is applied to the skin overlying a muscle, and the resulting surface voltage is measured. We have previously used adhesive electrodes, application of which is inconvenient. We present data using a handheld electrode array (HEA) that we devised to expedite the EIM procedure in a clinical setting. Methods: Thirty-four healthy volunteers and 24 radiculopathy subjects underwent EIM testing using the HEA and adhesive electrodes. Results: The HEA was shown to have good test-retest reproducibility, with intraclass correlation coefficients as high as 0.99. HEA data correlated strongly with data from adhesive electrodes, ρ = 0.85 in healthy volunteers (p < 0.001) and ρ = 0.75 in radiculopathy subjects (p < 0.001). Discussion: These data support the potential use of a handheld array for performing rapid localized surface impedance measurements

Are autistic traits in the general population stable across development?

There is accumulating evidence that autistic traits (AT) are on a continuum in the general population, with clinical autism representing the extreme end of a quantitative distribution. While the nature and severity of symptoms in clinical autism are known to persist over time, no study has examined the long-term stability of AT among typically developing toddlers. The current investigation measured AT in 360 males and 400 males from the general population close to two decades apart, using the Pervasive Developmental Disorder subscale of the Child Behavior Checklist in early childhood (M = 2.14 years; SD = 0.15), and the Autism-Spectrum Quotient in early adulthood (M = 19.50 years; SD = 0.70). Items from each scale were further divided into social (difficulties with social interaction and communication) and non-social (restricted and repetitive behaviours and interests) AT. The association between child and adult measurements of AT as well the influence of potentially confounding sociodemographic, antenatal and obstetric variables were assessed using Pearson's correlations and linear regression. For males, Total AT in early childhood were positively correlated with total AT (r = .16, p = .002) and social AT (r = .16, p = .002) in adulthood. There was also a positive correlation for males between social AT measured in early childhood and Total (r = .17, p = .001) and social AT (r = .16, p = .002) measured in adulthood. Correlations for non-social AT did not achieve significance in males. Furthermore, there was no significant longitudinal association in AT observed for males or females. Despite the constraints of using different measures and different raters at the two ages, this study found modest developmental stability of social AT from early childhood to adulthood in boys

Measurement of the inclusive isolated-photon cross section in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV using 36 fb−1 of ATLAS data

The differential cross section for isolated-photon production in pp collisions is measured at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb. The differential cross section is presented as a function of the photon transverse energy in different regions of photon pseudorapidity. The differential cross section as a function of the absolute value of the photon pseudorapidity is also presented in different regions of photon transverse energy. Next-to-leading-order QCD calculations from Jetphox and Sherpa as well as next-to-next-to-leading-order QCD calculations from Nnlojet are compared with the measurement, using several parameterisations of the proton parton distribution functions. The predictions provide a good description of the data within the experimental and theoretical uncertainties. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

A search for resonances decaying into a Higgs boson and a new particle X in the XH→qqbb final state with the ATLAS detector

A search for heavy resonances decaying into a Higgs boson ($H$) and a new particle ($X$) is reported, utilizing 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV collected during 2015 and 2016 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The particle $X$ is assumed to decay to a pair of light quarks, and the fully hadronic final state $XH \rightarrow q\bar q'b\bar b$ is analysed. The search considers the regime of high $XH$ resonance masses, where the $X$ and $H$ bosons are both highly Lorentz-boosted and are each reconstructed using a single jet with large radius parameter. A two-dimensional phase space of $XH$ mass versus $X$ mass is scanned for evidence of a signal, over a range of $XH$ resonance mass values between 1 TeV and 4 TeV, and for $X$ particles with masses from 50 GeV to 1000 GeV. All search results are consistent with the expectations for the background due to Standard Model processes, and 95% CL upper limits are set, as a function of $XH$ and $X$ masses, on the production cross-section of the $XH\rightarrow q\bar q'b\bar b$ resonance

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements