Breast cancer mortality rates are levelling off or beginning to decline in many western countries: analysis of time trends, age-cohort and age-period models of breast cancer mortality in 20 countries.

Age-standardised mortality rates for breast cancer were examined for 20 countries in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand from 1950 to 1992 and age-birth cohort and age-period of death models were fitted to the data. Breast cancer mortality rates generally increased in the earlier decades, but more recently rates have levelled off or begun to decline in most countries. Only in 4 of the 20 countries studied, Belgium, Hungary, Poland and Spain, was there no evidence of a decline or leveling off or mortality in recent birth cohorts or in recent years. In the other countries the decline in mortality appeared to be in part due to birth cohort effects and in part due to period effects. The birth cohort effects were suggestive of a decline in breast cancer rates among women born after about 1920 and were evident in many countries especially Canada, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom and the United States. The decline in mortality in women born after 1920 appeared to be in part related to a reduction in childlessness and a reduction in age at first birth in those generations. As well as the birth cohort effects, there was some evidence of a recent overall decline in mortality rates in several countries, e.g. Austria, FRG, Greece and the UK, and this may be due to an increase in survival resulting from improved management and treatment of women with breast cancer

A proportionate study of cancer mortality among members of a vegetarian society.

A proportionate study was carried out of the causes of death of the 759 Vegetarian Society members whose deaths were recorded in Society records and whose death certificates could be traced. Compared to the general population, a lower proportion of deaths from respiratory diseases and from lung cancer was noted particularly in long-standing members, consistent with the evidence that vegetarians smoke less than the average. The proportion of deaths from colorectal cancer was slightly lower than in the general population but there was no reduction in the proportions of deaths from other diseases that have been linked with meat or fat consumption, such as cardiovascular diseases and breast cancer. The proportions of deaths from stomach cancer and from accidents and violence were greater than expected. The significance of the findings is discussed and also the possible limitations of the proportionate method of analysis in relation to studies of vegetarians

57-Fe Mossbauer study of magnetic ordering in superconducting K_0.85Fe_1.83Se_2.09 single crystals

The magnetic ordering of superconducting single crystals of K_0.85Fe_1.83Se_2.09 has been studied between 10K and 550K using 57-Fe Mossbauer spectroscopy. Despite being superconducting below T_sc ~30K, the iron sublattice in K_0.85Fe_1.83Se_2.09 clearly exhibits magnetic order from well below T_sc to its N\'eel temperature of T_N = 532 +/- 2K. The iron moments are ordered perpendicular to the single crystal plates, i.e. parallel to the crystal c-axis. The order collapses rapidly above 500K and the accompanying growth of a paramagnetic component suggests that the magnetic transition may be first order, which may explain the unusual temperature dependence reported in recent neutron diffraction studies.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures Submitted to Phys.Rev.

HBIM FOR THE SURVEYING, ANALYSIS AND RESTORATION OF THE SAINT JOHN THE THEOLOGIAN CATHEDRAL IN NICOSIA (CYPRUS)

Abstract. The present study illustrates the results of an interdisciplinary collaboration between the Mediterranean Laboratory of Survey and Diagnostics for Architecture (RDA) of the Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture (DICAR) of the University of Catania in Italy and the Andreas Pittas Laboratories for Art Characterisation (APAC) of the Science and Technology in Archaeology Research Center (STARC) of the Cyprus Institute in Cyprus. The research focused on the application of an H-BIM approach in the study of a Mediterranean iconic heritage asset, the St. John Cathedral of Nicosia, built in 1662 on the remains of a monastery from the 15th century. The adopted methodology has provided the framework for a dynamic investigation, constantly evolving along several dimensions: historical, geometric spatial, architectural-constructive identification and mapping of degrade, interpretation of degenerative causes and design proposals.</p

Cigarette smoking and urinary oestrogen excretion in premenopausal and post-menopausal women.

Cigarette smoking is associated with a reduction in the risk for endometrial cancer in post-menopausal women and it has been suggested that this is because smoking has an anti-oestrogenic effect. To investigate this, concentrations of oestrone, oestradiol and oestriol were measured in 24 h urine samples from 167 premenopausal women (53 smokers, 114 non-smokers) and 200 post-menopausal women (54 smokers, 146 non-smokers). Among premenopausal women there were no significant differences in oestrogen excretion between smokers and non-smokers. Among post-menopausal women, geometric mean excretion rates for oestrone and oestradiol did not differ significantly between groups, but oestriol excretion was 19% lower (95% confidence interval -34% to -1%) in smokers than in non-smokers. This may partly explain the reduced risk for endometrial cancer among post-menopausal smokers

Geographical variation in mortality from leukaemia and other cancers in England and Wales in relation to proximity to nuclear installations, 1969-78.

The distribution of mortality from 11 causes of death (lymphoid leukaemia, other leukaemia, leukaemia of all types, Hodgkin's disease, other lymphomas, all lymphomas, multiple myeloma, lung cancer, other malignancies, all malignancies and all other causes) has been examined in three age groups throughout England and Wales over the period 1969-78. The reorganisation of local authority administration in 1974 meant that the smallest areas that could be examined were 400 county districts or (in some cases) approximate county districts formed by aggregating pre-1974 local authority areas. The variation in the numbers of deaths observed about the numbers expected was assessed using log-linear models to estimate the effect on the relative risk in each district associated with social class, rural status, population size, health authority region and proximity to one of 15 nuclear installations. Trends in risk with increasing proximity to an installation (as judged by the proportion of the population resident within 10 miles) were examined after adjustment for the other four variables. The results showed that in districts near to an installation there were significant excess mortalities in persons under 25 years of age from leukaemia (RR = 1.15, P = 0.01) and especially from lymphoid leukaemia (RR 1.21, P = 0.01) and from Hodgkin's disease (RR 1.24, P = 0.05) and a significant deficiency of mortality from lymphoid leukaemia in persons aged 25-64 years. No significant trends were observed with an increasing proportion of the population near to the installations and the greatest excess mortality from lymphoid leukaemia in young persons was observed in the districts with the intermediate proportion of the population (10.0-65.9%) near an installation

Charge Solitons in 1-D Arrays of Serially Coupled Josephson Junctions

We study a 1-D array of Josephson coupled superconducting grains with kinetic inductance which dominates over the Josephson inductance. In this limit the dynamics of excess Cooper pairs in the array is described in terms of charge solitons, created by polarization of the grains. We analyze the dynamics of these topological excitations, which are dual to the fluxons in a long Josephson junction, using the continuum sine-Gordon model. We find that their classical relativistic motion leads to saturation branches in the I-V characteristic of the array. We then discuss the semi-classical quantization of the charge soliton, and show that it is consistent with the large kinetic inductance of the array. We study the dynamics of a quantum charge soliton in a ring-shaped array biased by an external flux through its center. If the dephasing length of the quantum charge soliton is larger than the circumference of the array, quantum phenomena like persistent current and coherent current oscillations are expected. As the characteristic width of the charge soliton is of the order of 100 microns, it is a macroscopic quantum object. We discuss the dephasing mechanisms which can suppress the quantum behaviour of the charge soliton.Comment: 26 pages, LaTex, 7 Postscript figure

Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling of a Fluxon in a Long Josephson Junction

Macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT) for a single fluxon moving along a long Josephson junction is studied theoretically. To introduce a fluxon-pinning force, we consider inhomogeneities made by modifying thickness of an insulating layer locally. Two different situations are studied: one is the quantum tunneling from a metastable state caused by a single inhomogeneity, and the other is the quantum tunneling in a two-state system made by two inhomogeneities. In the quantum tunneling from a metastable state, the decay rate is estimated within the WKB approximation. Dissipation effects on a fluxon dynamics are taken into account by the Caldeira-Leggett theory. We propose a device to observe quantum tunneling of a fluxon experimentally. Required experimental resolutions to observe MQT of a fluxon seem attainable within the presently available micro-fabrication technique. For the two-state system, we study quantum resonance between two stable states, i.e., macroscopic quantum coherence (MQC). From the estimate for dissipation coefficients due to quasiparticle tunneling, the observation of MQC appears to be possible within the Caldeira-Leggett theory.Comment: 30 pages LaTeX including 11 PS figures, using jpsj.sty. To be published on J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. Overestimates for damping amplitude is correcte

Vortices and Quantum tunneling in Current-Biased 0-\pi-0 Josephson Junctions of d-wave Superconductors

We study a current-biased 0-\pi-0 Josephson junction made by high-T_c superconductors, theoretically. When a length of the \pi junction is large enough, this junction contains a vortex-antivortex pair at both ends of the \pi junction. Magnetic flux carried by the vortices is calculated using the sine-Gordon equation. The result shows that the magnetic flux of the vortices is suppressed to zero as the distance between the vortices is reduced. By applying an external current, the orientation of the vortices is reversed, and a voltage pulse is generated. The current needed for this transition and generated pulse energy are calculated. Macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT) in this transition is also studied. The tunneling rate has been evaluated by an effective Hamiltonian with one degree of freedom.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX with 5 PS figures, using jpsj.st

Menopausal hormone use and ovarian cancer risk: individual participant meta-analysis of 52 epidemiological studies.

BACKGROUND: Half the epidemiological studies with information about menopausal hormone therapy and ovarian cancer risk remain unpublished, and some retrospective studies could have been biased by selective participation or recall. We aimed to assess with minimal bias the effects of hormone therapy on ovarian cancer risk. METHODS: Individual participant datasets from 52 epidemiological studies were analysed centrally. The principal analyses involved the prospective studies (with last hormone therapy use extrapolated forwards for up to 4 years). Sensitivity analyses included the retrospective studies. Adjusted Poisson regressions yielded relative risks (RRs) versus never-use. FINDINGS: During prospective follow-up, 12 110 postmenopausal women, 55% (6601) of whom had used hormone therapy, developed ovarian cancer. Among women last recorded as current users, risk was increased even with <5 years of use (RR 1·43, 95% CI 1·31-1·56; p<0·0001). Combining current-or-recent use (any duration, but stopped <5 years before diagnosis) resulted in an RR of 1·37 (95% CI 1·29-1·46; p<0·0001); this risk was similar in European and American prospective studies and for oestrogen-only and oestrogen-progestagen preparations, but differed across the four main tumour types (heterogeneity p<0·0001), being definitely increased only for the two most common types, serous (RR 1·53, 95% CI 1·40-1·66; p<0·0001) and endometrioid (1·42, 1·20-1·67; p<0·0001). Risk declined the longer ago use had ceased, although about 10 years after stopping long-duration hormone therapy use there was still an excess of serous or endometrioid tumours (RR 1·25, 95% CI 1·07-1·46, p=0·005). INTERPRETATION: The increased risk may well be largely or wholly causal; if it is, women who use hormone therapy for 5 years from around age 50 years have about one extra ovarian cancer per 1000 users and, if its prognosis is typical, about one extra ovarian cancer death per 1700 users. FUNDING: Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK