886 research outputs found
The risk of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma among patients with type 2 diabetes receiving hydrochlorothiazide:A cohort study
Background: Because of continuous hyperglycemia and hyper-insulinemia and the use of photosensitizing drug, hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), the risk of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) might be increased among patients with diabetes. This study aimed to estimate the risk of cSCC among HCTZ users with type 2 diabetes, and to determine whether thiazide-like diuretics, another drug in the same class with HCTZ, would be safer. Methods: We linked the benchmarking database in Dutch primary care, the Netherlands Cancer Registry, and the Dutch Personal Records Database (1998-2019). All 71,648 patients were included, except for those who had a history of skin cancer prior to cohort entry. We used Cox modeling to estimate the HRs and 95% confidence intervals for cSCC. The model was adjusted by cumulative exposure to each antihypertensive, age, sex, smoking, body mass index, blood pressure, serum creatinine, other confounding drug use at cohort entry, and cohort entry year. Results: There were 1,409 cSCC events (23 among thiazide-like diuretics users), during a follow-up of 679,789 person-years. Compared with no HCTZ use, the adjusted HRs for HCTZ use were 1.18 (1.00-1.40) for ≤2 years, 1.57 (1.32-1.88) for 2 to 4 years, and 2.09 (1.73-2.52) for >4 years. The HR was 0.90 (0.79-1.03) for an additional year of thiazide-like diuretic use. Conclusions: In patients with diabetes, exposure to HCTZ for >2 years is associated with an increased risk of cSCC, whereas no increased risk associated with thiazide-like diuretics was observed. Impact: The potential increased risk of cSCC should be a consideration when prescribing HCTZ, with thiazide-like diuretics offering a safer alternative
REFRACTIVE INDEX SENSITIVITY IN THINNED UV AND ARC INDUCED LONG-PERIOD GRATINGS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY
Highly sensitive bend sensor with hybrid long-period and tilted fiber Bragg grating
We demonstrate a new type of fiber optic bend sensor with a hybrid structure made up of a long period grating (LPG) and a tilted fiber Bragg grating (TFBG). The sensing mechanism is based on the spectrum of power transfers between the core and cladding modes from a TFBG located downstream from a LPG. We show that the curvature of a beam can be determined by the reflected power difference between the core mode and the recoupled cladding modes. We further provide design rules for the LPG and TFBG to optimize and linearize the sensor response. In addition, the temperature cross-sensitivities of this configuration are also investigated for two different types of fiber
One and two dimensional analysis of 3pi correlations measured in Pb+Pb interactions
3pi- correlations from Pb+Pb collisions at 158 GeV/c per nucleon are
presented as measured by the focusing spectrometer of the NA44 experiment at
CERN. The three-body effect is found to be stronger for PbPb than for SPb. The
two-dimensional three-particle correlation function is also measured and the
longitudinal extension of the source is larger than the transverse extension
Taxonomic surrogacy in biodiversity assessments, and the meaning of Linnaean ranks
Copyright © 2006 The Natural History MuseumThe majority of biodiversity assessments use species as the base unit. Recently, a series of studies have suggested replacing numbers of species with higher ranked taxa (genera, families, etc.); a method known as taxonomic surrogacy that has an important potential to save time and resources in assesments of biological diversity. We examine the relationships between taxa and ranks, and suggest that species/higher taxon exchanges are founded on misconceptions about the properties of Linnaean classification. Rank allocations in current classifications constitute a heterogeneous mixture of various historical and contemporary views. Even if all taxa were monophyletic, those referred to the same rank would simply denote separate clades without further equivalence. We conclude that they are no more comparable than any other, non-nested taxa, such as, for example, the genus Rattus and the phylum Arthropoda, and that taxonomic surrogacy lacks justification. These problems are also illustrated with data of polychaetous annelid worms from a broad-scale study of benthic biodiversity and species distributions in the Irish Sea. A recent consensus phylogeny for polychaetes is used to provide three different family-level classifications of polychaetes. We use families as a surrogate for species, and present Shannon–Wiener diversity indices for the different sites and the three different classifications, showing how the diversity measures rely on subjective rank allocations.Y. Bertrand, F. Pleijel and G. W. Rous
Search for R-Parity Violating Decays of Scalar Fermions at LEP
A search for pair-produced scalar fermions under the assumption that R-parity
is not conserved has been performed using data collected with the OPAL detector
at LEP. The data samples analysed correspond to an integrated luminosity of
about 610 pb-1 collected at centre-of-mass energies of sqrt(s) 189-209 GeV. An
important consequence of R-parity violation is that the lightest supersymmetric
particle is expected to be unstable. Searches of R-parity violating decays of
charged sleptons, sneutrinos and squarks have been performed under the
assumptions that the lightest supersymmetric particle decays promptly and that
only one of the R-parity violating couplings is dominant for each of the decay
modes considered. Such processes would yield final states consisting of
leptons, jets, or both with or without missing energy. No significant
single-like excess of events has been observed with respect to the Standard
Model expectations. Limits on the production cross- section of scalar fermions
in R-parity violating scenarios are obtained. Constraints on the supersymmetric
particle masses are also presented in an R-parity violating framework analogous
to the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model.Comment: 51 pages, 24 figures, Submitted to Eur. Phys. J.
Measurement of the Hadronic Photon Structure Function F_2^gamma at LEP2
The hadronic structure function of the photon F_2^gamma is measured as a
function of Bjorken x and of the factorisation scale Q^2 using data taken by
the OPAL detector at LEP. Previous OPAL measurements of the x dependence of
F_2^gamma are extended to an average Q^2 of 767 GeV^2. The Q^2 evolution of
F_2^gamma is studied for average Q^2 between 11.9 and 1051 GeV^2. As predicted
by QCD, the data show positive scaling violations in F_2^gamma. Several
parameterisations of F_2^gamma are in agreement with the measurements whereas
the quark-parton model prediction fails to describe the data.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of Photon 2001,
Ascona, Switzerlan
A measurement of the tau mass and the first CPT test with tau leptons
We measure the mass of the tau lepton to be 1775.1+-1.6(stat)+-1.0(syst.) MeV
using tau pairs from Z0 decays. To test CPT invariance we compare the masses of
the positively and negatively charged tau leptons. The relative mass difference
is found to be smaller than 3.0 10^-3 at the 90% confidence level.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, Submitted to Phys. Letts.
Measurement of the B0 Lifetime and Oscillation Frequency using B0->D*+l-v decays
The lifetime and oscillation frequency of the B0 meson has been measured
using B0->D*+l-v decays recorded on the Z0 peak with the OPAL detector at LEP.
The D*+ -> D0pi+ decays were reconstructed using an inclusive technique and the
production flavour of the B0 mesons was determined using a combination of tags
from the rest of the event. The results t_B0 = 1.541 +- 0.028 +- 0.023 ps, Dm_d
= 0.497 +- 0.024 +- 0.025 ps-1 were obtained, where in each case the first
error is statistical and the second systematic.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Lett.
First Measurement of Z/gamma* Production in Compton Scattering of Quasi-real Photons
We report the first observation of Z/gamma* production in Compton scattering
of quasi-real photons. This is a subprocess of the reaction e+e- to
e+e-Z/gamma*, where one of the final state electrons is undetected.
Approximately 55 pb-1 of data collected in the year 1997 at an e+e-
centre-of-mass energy of 183 GeV with the OPAL detector at LEP have been
analysed. The Z/gamma* from Compton scattering has been detected in the
hadronic decay channel. Within well defined kinematic bounds, we measure the
product of cross-section and Z/gamma* branching ratio to hadrons to be
(0.9+-0.3+-0.1) pb for events with a hadronic mass larger than 60 GeV,
dominated by (e)eZ production. In the hadronic mass region between 5 GeV and 60
GeV, dominated by (e)egamma* production, this product is found to be
(4.1+-1.6+-0.6) pb. Our results agree with the predictions of two Monte Carlo
event generators, grc4f and PYTHIA.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX, 5 eps figures included, submitted to Physics Letters
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