A Search for various Double Beta Decay Modes of Cd, Te and Zn Isotopes

Various double beta decay modes of Cd, Zn and Te isotopes are explored with the help of CdTe and CdZnTe semiconductor detectors. The data set is splitted in an energy range below 1 MeV having a statistics of 134.5 g$\cdot$d and one above 1 MeV resulting in 532 g$\cdot$d. No signals were observed in all channels under investigation. New improved limits for the neutrinoless double beta decay of Zn70 of $T_{1/2} > 1.3 \cdot 10^{16} yrs$ (90% CL), the longest standing limit of all double beta isotopes, and 0$\nu\beta^+$EC of Te120 of $T_{1/2} > 2.2 \cdot 10^{16} yrs$ (90% CL) are given. For the first time a limit on the half-life of the 2$\nu$ECEC of $^{120}$Te of $T_{1/2} > 9.4 \cdot 10^{15} yrs$ (90% CL) is obtained. In addition, limits on 2$\nu$ECEC for ground state transitions of Cd106, Cd108 and Zn64 are improved. The obtained results even under rough background conditions show the reliability of CdTe semiconductor detectors for rare nuclear decay searches.Comment: Extended introduction and summar

Diabetes and kidney cancer: A direct or indirect association?

A positive association between diabetes and kidney cancer has been reported in several investigations, but it is unclear whether diabetes or its complications account for this association. Recent advances in estimating direct associations may be useful for elucidating the association between diabetes and kidney cancer. Therefore, we performed a case-control analysis to evaluate whether the direct association between diabetes and kidney cancer is the primary concern in this exposure-outcome relation. Discharge data (with International Classification of Diseases – 9 codes) from 2001 for hospitals throughout Florida were used to construct a case-control population of inpatients aged ≥45 years. Cases (n=1,909) were inpatients with malignant kidney cancer and controls (n=6,451) were inpatients with motor vehicle injuries. Diabetes status was ascertained for cases and controls. Covariates that required adjustment to estimate the total (age, gender, ethnicity, obesity, and smoking) and direct (age, gender, ethnicity, obesity, smoking, hypertension, and kidney disease) associations were identified in a directed acyclic graph. Binary logistic regression was used to estimate the adjusted total and direct odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of kidney cancer for diabetics. The odds of kidney cancer were higher for inpatients with diabetes than inpatients without diabetes when estimating the total association (OR=1.27, 95%CI: 1.10, 1.47) but attenuated when estimating the direct association (OR=1.08, 95%CI: 0.93, 1.25). Our findings provide preliminary insight that the direct association between diabetes and kidney cancer may not be the primary concern in this exposure-outcome relation; indirect pathways (i.e. diabetic complications) may have greater influence on this relation. A similar analysis using longitudinal data with appropriately measured covariates may provide more definitive conclusions and could have implications for kidney cancer prevention among diabetics

Postpartum Invasive Group A Streptococcal Disease in the Modern Era

To describe the clinical features of individuals hospitalized for postpartum invasive group A Streptococcus (GAS) infection, a retrospective, population-based study of hospitalized patients in the state of Florida was conducted. Cases of postpartum invasive GAS infection (occurring within 42 days of delivery) were compared to women with other manifestations of invasive GAS disease with respect to their age at the time of admission. Four cases of postpartum invasive GAS infection were detected in this population, yielding a prevalence of 1.6% (4/257) of postpartum disease in this invasive GAS infection database. Patients presented a median of 4 days (mean of 9 days) after delivery with signs and symptoms of infection. Three cases were complicated by bacteremia and one patient had streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. Each patient received multiple antibiotics and survived. No patients received intravenous immunoglobulin. For comparison, a secondary retrospective investigation of a large hospital discharge dataset obtained from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration was assessed for patients with puerperal GAS infections. This method yielded an additional three cases, whose clinical and demographic characteristics were summarized. These data highlight that postpartum invasive GAS infection continues to complicate pregnancy, though the frequency has decreased markedly over the past century

Cosmic-ray induced background intercomparison with actively shielded HPGe detectors at underground locations

The main background above 3\,MeV for in-beam nuclear astrophysics studies with $\gamma$-ray detectors is caused by cosmic-ray induced secondaries. The two commonly used suppression methods, active and passive shielding, against this kind of background were formerly considered only as alternatives in nuclear astrophysics experiments. In this work the study of the effects of active shielding against cosmic-ray induced events at a medium deep location is performed. Background spectra were recorded with two actively shielded HPGe detectors. The experiment was located at 148\,m below the surface of the Earth in the Reiche Zeche mine in Freiberg, Germany. The results are compared to data with the same detectors at the Earth's surface, and at depths of 45\,m and 1400\,m, respectively.Comment: Minor errors corrected; final versio