365 research outputs found

    Raman satellites in optical scattering from a laser-ablated Mg plume

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    Raman satellites have been observed in the scattering of a Nd:YAG laser (532 nm) from a laser-ablated Mg plasma plume. We identify them as originating from transitions between the fine-structure components of the metastable 3s3p P-3(0,1,2) level of Mg. We have calculated the cross sections for Raman and Rayleigh scattering from the metastable state. Comparison of the expected ratio of the satellites to the Rayleigh peak indicates the changing population fraction of the metastable states in the plume

    Enhanced He-alpha emission from "smoked" Ti targets irradiated with 400nm, 45 fs laser pulses

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    We present a study of He-like 1s(2)-1s2p line emission from solid and low-density Ti targets under similar or equal to 45 fs laser pulse irradiation with a frequency doubled Ti: Sapphire laser. By varying the beam spot, the intensity on target was varied from 10(15) W/cm(2) to 10(19) W/cm(2). At best focus, low density "smoked" Ti targets yield similar to 20 times more He-alpha than the foil targets when irradiated at an angle of 45 degrees with s-polarized pulses. The duration of He-alpha emission from smoked targets, measured with a fast streak camera, was similar to that from Ti foils

    Epidemiological findings on interventional cardiology procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic: A multi-center study

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    Background: The rates of in-hospital mortality following percutaneous interventional procedures (PIP) during the COVID-19 pandemic period compared to the non-pandemic period has not been reported so far. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled all consecutive patients admitted for PIP across five centers from February 2020 to May 2020. Results: A total of 4092 PIP were performed during the reference periods. The total number of procedures dropped from 2380 to 1712 (28.0% reduction). Overall in-hospital mortality increased from 1.1% in 2019, to 2.6% in 2020 (63% relative increase). Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, in-hospital all-cause mortality significantly increased in patients admitted for cardiological PIP

    Estimates of electronic interaction parameters for LaMMO3_3 compounds (MM=Ti-Ni) from ab-initio approaches

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    We have analyzed the ab-initio local density approximation band structure calculations for the family of perovskite oxides, LaMMO3_3 with MM=Ti-Ni within a parametrized nearest neighbor tight-binding model and extracted various interaction strengths. We study the systematics in these interaction parameters across the transition metal series and discuss the relevance of these in a many-body description of these oxides. The results obtained here compare well with estimates of these parameters obtained via analysis of electron spectroscopic results in conjunction with the Anderson impurity model. The dependence of the hopping interaction strength, t, is found to be approximately r3r^{-3}.Comment: 18 pages; 1 tex file+9 postscript files (appeared in Phys Rev B Oct 15,1996

    Congenital anomalies in newborns to women employed in jobs with frequent exposure to organic solvents - a register-based prospective study

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The foetal effects of occupational exposure to organic solvents in pregnancy are still unclear. Our aim was to study the risk of non-chromosomal congenital anomalies at birth in a well-defined population of singletons born to women employed as painters and spoolers in early pregnancy, compared to women in non-hazardous occupations.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>The study population for this prospective cohort study was singleton newborns delivered to working mothers in the industrial community of Mončegorsk in the period 1973-2005. Occupational information and characteristics of the women and their newborns was obtained from the local population-based birth register.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The 597 women employed as painters, painter-plasterers or spoolers had 712 singleton births, whereof 31 (4.4%) were perinatally diagnosed with 37 malformations. Among the 10 561 newborns in the group classified as non-exposed, 397 (3.9%) had one or more malformations. The overall prevalence in the exposed group was 520/10 000 births [95% confidence limits (CL): 476, 564], and 436/10 000 births (95% CL: 396, 476) in the unexposed. Adjusted for young maternal age, smoking during pregnancy, maternal congenital malformation and year of birth, the odds ratio (OR) was 1.24 (95% CL: 0.85, 1.82); for multiple anomalies it was 1.54 (95% CL: 0.66, 3.59).</p> <p>The largest organ-system specific difference in prevalence between the two groups was observed for malformations of the circulatory system: 112/10 000 (95% CL: 35, 190) in the exposed group, and 42/10 000 (95% CL: 29, 54) in the unexposed, with an adjusted OR of 2.03 (95% CL: 0.85, 4.84). The adjusted ORs for malformations of the genital organs and musculoskeletal system were 2.24 (95% CI: 0.95, 5.31) and 1.12 (95% CI: (0.62, 2.02), respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There appeared to be a higher risk of malformations of the circulatory system and genital organs at birth among newborns to women in occupations with organic solvent exposure during early pregnancy (predominantly employed as painters). However, the findings were not statistically conclusive. Considering that these two categories of malformations are not readily diagnosed perinatally, the difference in prevalence between the exposed and unexposed may have been underestimated.</p

    Impact of mutational profiles on response of primary oestrogen receptor-positive breast cancers to oestrogen deprivation

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    Pre-surgical studies allow study of the relationship between mutations and response of oestrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer to aromatase inhibitors (AIs) but have been limited to small biopsies. Here in phase I of this study, we perform exome sequencing on baseline, surgical core-cuts and blood from 60 patients (40 AI treated, 20 controls). In poor responders (based on Ki67 change), we find significantly more somatic mutations than good responders. Subclones exclusive to baseline or surgical cores occur in ∼30% of tumours. In phase II, we combine targeted sequencing on another 28 treated patients with phase I. We find six genes frequently mutated: PIK3CA, TP53, CDH1, MLL3, ABCA13 and FLG with 71% concordance between paired cores. TP53 mutations are associated with poor response. We conclude that multiple biopsies are essential for confident mutational profiling of ER+ breast cancer and TP53 mutations are associated with resistance to oestrogen deprivation therapy
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