The epidemiology of incomplete abortion in South Africa

Objective. To describe the epidemiology of incomplete abortion (spontaneous miscarriage and illegally induced) in South Africa.Design. Multicentre, prospective, descriptive study.Setting. Fifty-six public hospitals in nine provinces (a stratified, random sample of all hospitals treating gynaecological emergencies).Patients. All women of gestation under 22 weeks who presented with incomplete abortion during the 2-week study period.Main outcome measures. Incidence of, morbidity associated with and mortality from incomplete abortion.Main results. An estimated 44 686 (95% Cl 35 633 - 53 709) women per year were admitted to South Africa's public hospitals with incomplete abortion. An estimated 425 (95% Cl 78 - 735) women die in public hospitais from complications of abortion. Fifteen per cent (95% Cl 13 18) of patients have severe morbidity while a further 19% (95% Cl 16 - 22) have moderate morbidity, as assessed by categories designed for the study which largely reflect infection. There were marked inter-provincial differences  and inter-age group differences in trimester of presentation and proportion of patients with appreciable morbidity.Conclusions. Incomplete abortions and, in particular, unsafe abortions are an important cause of mortality and morbidity in South Africa. The methods used in this study underestimate the true incidence for reasons that are discussed. A high priority should be given to the prevention of unsafe abortion

Search for New Color-Octet Vector Particle Decaying to ttbar in ppbar Collisions at s=1.96\sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV

Submitted to Phys. Lett. BWe present the result of a search for a massive color-octet vector particle, (e.g. a massive gluon) decaying to a pair of top quarks in proton-antiproton collisions with a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV. This search is based on 1.9 fb$^{-1}$ of data collected using the CDF detector during Run II of the Tevatron at Fermilab. We study $t\bar{t}$ events in the lepton+jets channel with at least one $b$-tagged jet. A massive gluon is characterized by its mass, decay width, and the strength of its coupling to quarks. These parameters are determined according to the observed invariant mass distribution of top quark pairs. We set limits on the massive gluon coupling strength for masses between 400 and 800 GeV$/c^2$ and width-to-mass ratios between 0.05 and 0.50. The coupling strength of the hypothetical massive gluon to quarks is consistent with zero within the explored parameter space.We present the result of a search for a massive color-octet vector particle, (e.g. a massive gluon) decaying to a pair of top quarks in proton–antiproton collisions with a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV. This search is based on 1.9 fb−1 of data collected using the CDF detector during Run II of the Tevatron at Fermilab. We study View the MathML source events in the lepton + jets channel with at least one b-tagged jet. A massive gluon is characterized by its mass, decay width, and the strength of its coupling to quarks. These parameters are determined according to the observed invariant mass distribution of top quark pairs. We set limits on the massive gluon coupling strength for masses between 400 and 800 GeV/c2 and width-to-mass ratios between 0.05 and 0.50. The coupling strength of the hypothetical massive gluon to quarks is consistent with zero within the explored parameter space.Peer reviewe

THE RATE OF BINARY BLACK HOLE MERGERS INFERRED FROM ADVANCED LIGO OBSERVATIONS SURROUNDING GW150914

A transient gravitational-wave signal, GW150914, was identi fi ed in the twin Advanced LIGO detectors on 2015 September 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC. To asse ss the implications of this discovery, the detectors remained in operation with unchanged con fi gurations over a period of 39 days around the time of t he signal. At the detection statistic threshold corresponding to that observed for GW150914, our search of the 16 days of simultaneous two-detector observational data is estimated to have a false-alarm rate ( FAR ) of < ́ -- 4.9 10 yr 61 , yielding a p -value for GW150914 of < ́ - 210 7 . Parameter estimation follo w-up on this trigger identi fi es its source as a binary black hole ( BBH ) merger with component masses ( )( ) = - + - + mm M ,36,29 12 4 5 4 4 at redshift = - + z 0.09 0.04 0.03 ( median and 90% credible range ) . Here, we report on the constraints these observations place on the rate of BBH coalescences. Considering only GW150914, assuming that all BBHs in the universe have the same masses and spins as this event, imposing a search FAR threshold of 1 per 100 years, and assuming that the BBH merger rate is constant in the comoving frame, we infer a 90% credible range of merger rates between – -- 2 53 Gpc yr 31 ( comoving frame ) . Incorporating all search triggers that pass a much lower threshold while accounting for the uncerta inty in the astrophysical origin of each trigger, we estimate a higher rate, ranging from – -- 13 600 Gpc yr 31 depending on assumptions about the BBH mass distribution. All together, our various rate estimat es fall in the conservative range – -- 2 600 Gpc yr 31