BBN For Pedestrians

The simplest, `standard' model of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (SBBN) assumes three light neutrinos (N_nu = 3) and no significant electron neutrino asymmetry, leaving only one adjustable parameter: the baryon to photon ratio eta. The primordial abundance of any one nuclide can, therefore, be used to measure the baryon abundance and the value derived from the observationally inferred primordial abundance of deuterium closely matches that from current, non-BBN data, primarily from the WMAP survey. However, using this same estimate there is a tension between the SBBN-predicted 4He and 7Li abundances and their current, observationally inferred primordial abundances, suggesting that N_nu may differ from the standard model value of three and/or that there may be a non-zero neutral lepton asymmetry (or, that systematic errors in the abundance determinations have been underestimated or overlooked). The differences are not large and the allowed ranges of the BBN parameters permitted by the data are quite small. Within these ranges, the BBN-predicted abundances of D, 3He, 4He, and 7Li are very smooth, monotonic functions of eta, N_nu, and the lepton asymmetry. It is possible to describe the dependencies of these abundances (or powers of them) upon the three parameters by simple, linear fits which, over their ranges of applicability, are accurate to a few percent or better. The fits presented here have not been maximized for their accuracy but, for their simplicity. To identify the ranges of applicability and relative accuracies, they are compared to detailed BBN calculations; their utility is illustrated with several examples. Given the tension within BBN, these fits should prove useful in facilitating studies of the viability of proposals for non-standard physics and cosmology, prior to undertaking detailed BBN calculations.Comment: Submitted to a Focus Issue on Neutrino Physics in New Journal of Physics (www.njp.org

Acceptance-based Behavior Therapy for Depression With Psychosis: Results From a Pilot Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial

Acceptance-based depression and psychosis therapy (ADAPT), a mindfulness/acceptance-based behavioral activation treatment, showed clinically significant effects in the treatment of depression with psychosis in a previous open trial. The goal of the current study was to further test the feasibility of ADAPT to determine the utility of testing it in a future clinical trial, following a stage model of treatment development. Feasibility was determined by randomizing a small number of patients (N = 13) with comorbid depression and psychosis to medication treatment as usual plus enhanced assessment and monitoring (EAM) versus ADAPT for 4 months of outpatient treatment. Both conditions were deemed acceptable by patients. Differences in between-subjects effect sizes favored ADAPT post-treatment and were in the medium to large range for depression, psychosocial functioning, and experiential avoidance (ie, the target mechanism). Thus ADAPT shows promise for improving outcomes compared to medications alone and requires testing in a fully powered randomized trial

Microwave Imaging for Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Monitoring: Initial Clinical Experience

Introduction: Microwave tomography recovers images of tissue dielectric properties, which appear to be specific for breast cancer, with low-cost technology that does not present an exposure risk, suggesting the modality may be a good candidate for monitoring neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Methods: Eight patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy for locally advanced breast cancer were imaged longitudinally five to eight times during the course of treatment. At the start of therapy, regions of interest (ROIs) were identified from contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging studies. During subsequent microwave examinations, subjects were positioned with their breasts pendant in a coupling fluid and surrounded by an immersed antenna array. Microwave property values were extracted from the ROIs through an automated procedure and statistical analyses were performed to assess short term (30 days) and longer term (four to six months) dielectric property changes. Results: Two patient cases (one complete and one partial response) are presented in detail and demonstrate changes in microwave properties commensurate with the degree of treatment response observed pathologically. Normalized mean conductivity in ROIs from patients with complete pathological responses was significantly different from that of partial responders (P value = 0.004). In addition, the normalized conductivity measure also correlated well with complete pathological response at 30 days (P value = 0.002). Conclusions: These preliminary findings suggest that both early and late conductivity property changes correlate well with overall treatment response to neoadjuvant therapy in locally advanced breast cancer. This result is consistent with earlier clinical outcomes that lesion conductivity is specific to differentiating breast cancer from benign lesions and normal tissue

Unhealthy Landscapes: Policy Recommendations on Land Use Change and Infectious Disease Emergence

Anthropogenic land use changes drive a range of infectious disease outbreaks and emergence events and modify the transmission of endemic infections. These drivers include agricultural encroachment, deforestation, road construction, dam building, irrigation, wetland modification, mining, the concentration or expansion of urban environments, coastal zone degradation, and other activities. These changes in turn cause a cascade of factors that exacerbate infectious disease emergence, such as forest fragmentation, disease introduction, pollution, poverty, and human migration. The Working Group on Land Use Change and Disease Emergence grew out of a special colloquium that convened international experts in infectious diseases, ecology, and environmental health to assess the current state of knowledge and to develop recommendations for addressing these environmental health challenges. The group established a systems model approach and priority lists of infectious diseases affected by ecologic degradation. Policy-relevant levels of the model include specific health risk factors, landscape or habitat change, and institutional (economic and behavioral) levels. The group recommended creating Centers of Excellence in Ecology and Health Research and Training, based at regional universities and/or research institutes with close links to the surrounding communities. The centers’ objectives would be 3-fold: a) to provide information to local communities about the links between environmental change and public health; b) to facilitate fully interdisciplinary research from a variety of natural, social, and health sciences and train professionals who can conduct interdisciplinary research; and c) to engage in science-based communication and assessment for policy making toward sustainable health and ecosystems

Assets and domestic units: methodological challenges for longitudinal studies of poverty dynamics

Tracking change in assets access and ownership in longitudinal research is difficult. Assets are rarely assigned to individuals. Their benefit and management are spread across domestic units which morph over time. We review the challenges of using assets to understand poverty dynamics, and tracking the domestic units that own and manage assets. Using case studies from longitudinal research we demonstrate that assets can afford useful insights into important change