Search for time-dependent B0s - B0s-bar oscillations using a vertex charge dipole technique

We report a search for B0s - B0s-bar oscillations using a sample of 400,000 hadronic Z0 decays collected by the SLD experiment. The analysis takes advantage of the electron beam polarization as well as information from the hemisphere opposite that of the reconstructed B decay to tag the B production flavor. The excellent resolution provided by the pixel CCD vertex detector is exploited to cleanly reconstruct both B and cascade D decay vertices, and tag the B decay flavor from the charge difference between them. We exclude the following values of the B0s - B0s-bar oscillation frequency: Delta m_s < 4.9 ps-1 and 7.9 < Delta m_s < 10.3 ps-1 at the 95% confidence level.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figures, replaced by version accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.D; results differ slightly from first versio

Foundations of Black Hole Accretion Disk Theory

This review covers the main aspects of black hole accretion disk theory. We begin with the view that one of the main goals of the theory is to better understand the nature of black holes themselves. In this light we discuss how accretion disks might reveal some of the unique signatures of strong gravity: the event horizon, the innermost stable circular orbit, and the ergosphere. We then review, from a first-principles perspective, the physical processes at play in accretion disks. This leads us to the four primary accretion disk models that we review: Polish doughnuts (thick disks), Shakura-Sunyaev (thin) disks, slim disks, and advection-dominated accretion flows (ADAFs). After presenting the models we discuss issues of stability, oscillations, and jets. Following our review of the analytic work, we take a parallel approach in reviewing numerical studies of black hole accretion disks. We finish with a few select applications that highlight particular astrophysical applications: measurements of black hole mass and spin, black hole vs. neutron star accretion disks, black hole accretion disk spectral states, and quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs).Comment: 91 pages, 23 figures, final published version available at http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2013-

Validation of the adherence evaluation of osteoporosis treatment (ADEOS) questionnaire for osteoporotic post-menopausal women

SUMMARY: We developed and validated a specific 12-item questionnaire to evaluate adherence to oral antiresorptive medication by post-menopausal osteoporotic women in everyday practice. Over the following 9 months, an index of ≤16 was associated with an increase in the risk of treatment discontinuation of 1.69 and of 2.10 for new patients who had started treatment within the previous year. INTRODUCTION: Adherence to medication in osteoporosis is poor. The goal of this study was to develop and validate a disease-specific questionnaire to evaluate adherence to treatment of women with post-menopausal osteoporosis taking oral antiresorptive medication. METHODS: A prototype adherence questionnaire with 45 items developed from patient interview, literature review, and physician opinion was evaluated in a sample of 350 post-menopausal women with osteoporosis treated in primary care. Item responses were matched against scores on the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS). The most discriminant items were retained in the final questionnaire. Concurrent and predictive validity were assessed. RESULTS: Twelve items were associated with MMAS score at a probability level of 0.05. These were retained in the final questionnaire which provided an adherence index ranging from 0 to 22. An index of ≥20 was associated with a high probability of persistence and an index ≤ 16 with a high probability of treatment discontinuation in the following 9 months. CONCLUSIONS: The ADEOS-12 is a simple patient-reported measure to determine adherence to osteoporosis treatments with good concurrent and discriminant validity. This is the first disease-specific adherence measure to have been developed for osteoporosis

Prostaglandin E2 Synthesizing Enzymes in Rheumatoid Arthritis B Cells and the Effects of B Cell Depleting Therapy on Enzyme Expression

Introduction: B cells may play an important role in promoting immune activation in the rheumatoid synovium and can produce prostaglandin E-2 (PGE(2)) when activated. In its turn, PGE(2) formed by cyclooxygenase (COX) and microsomal prostaglandin E-2 synthase 1 (MPGES1) contributes to the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pathological process. Therapeutic depletion of B cells results in important improvement in controlling disease activity in rheumatoid patients. Therefore we investigated the expression of PGE(2) pathway enzymes in RA B cells and evaluated the effects of B cell depleting therapy on their expression in RA tissue. Methods: B cells expressing MPGES1 and COX-2 were identified by flow cytometry in in vitro stimulated and control mononuclear cells isolated from synovial fluid and peripheral blood of RA patients. Synovial biopsies were obtained from 24 RA patients before and at two consecutive time points after rituximab therapy. Expression of MPGES1, COX-1 and COX-2, as well as interleukin (IL)-1 beta and IL-6, known inducers of MPGES1, was quantified in immunostained biopsy sections using computerized image analysis. Results: Expression of MPGES1 or COX-2 was significantly upregulated upon stimulation of B cells from blood and synovial fluid while control cells displayed no detectable enzymes. In synovial biopsy sections, the expression of MPGES1, COX-1 or COX-2 was resistant to rituximab therapy at 8 or 16 weeks after start of treatment. Furthermore expression of IL-1 beta in the synovial tissue remained unchanged, while IL-6 tended to decrease after therapy. Conclusions: Therapy with B cell depleting agents, although efficient in achieving good clinical and radiographic response in RA patients, leaves important inflammatory pathways in the rheumatoid synovium essentially unaffecte

Women's attitudes towards mechanisms of action of family planning methods: survey in primary health centres in Pamplona, Spain

Irala J de, Lopez del Burgo C, Lopez de Fez CM, Arredondo J, Mikolajczyk RT, Stanford JB. Women's attitudes towards mechanisms of action of family planning methods: survey in primary health centres in Pamplona, Spain. BMC Women's Health. 2007;7(1): 10.Background: Informed consent in family planning includes knowledge of mechanism of action. Some methods of family planning occasionally work after fertilization. Knowing about postfertilization effects may be important to some women before choosing a certain family planning method. The objective of this survey is to explore women's attitudes towards postfertilization effects of family planning methods, and beliefs and characteristics possibly associated with those attitudes. Methods: Cross-sectional survey in a sample of 755 potentially fertile women, aged 18–49, from Primary Care Health Centres in Pamplona, Spain. Participants were given a 30-item, self-administered, anonymous questionnaire about family planning methods and medical and surgical abortion. Logistic regression was used to identify variables associated with women's attitudes towards postfertilization effects. Results: The response rate was 80%. The majority of women were married, held an academic degree and had no children. Forty percent of women would not consider using a method that may work after fertilization but before implantation and 57% would not consider using one that may work after implantation. While 35.3% of the sample would stop using a method if they learned that it sometimes works after fertilization, this percentage increased to 56.3% when referring to a method that sometimes works after implantation. Women who believe that human life begins at fertilization and those who consider it is important to distinguish between natural and induced embryo loss were less likely to consider the use of a method with postfertilization effects. Conclusion: Information about potential postfertilization effects of family planning methods may influence women's acceptance and choice of a particular family planning method. Additional studies in other populations are necessary to evaluate whether these beliefs are important to those populations

African tropical rainforest net carbon dioxide fluxes in the twentieth century

The African humid tropical biome constitutes the second largest rainforest region, significantly impacts global carbon cycling and climate, and has undergone major changes in functioning owing to climate and land-use change over the past century. We assess changes and trends in CO2 fluxes from 1901 to 2010 using nine land surface models forced with common driving data, and depict the inter-model variability as the uncertainty in fluxes. The biome is estimated to be a natural (no disturbance) net carbon sink (−0.02 kg C m−2 yr−1 or −0.04 Pg C yr−1, p < 0.05) with increasing strength fourfold in the second half of the century. The models were in close agreement on net CO2 flux at the beginning of the century (σ1901 = 0.02 kg C m−2 yr−1), but diverged exponentially throughout the century (σ2010 = 0.03 kg C m−2 yr−1). The increasing uncertainty is due to differences in sensitivity to increasing atmospheric CO2, but not increasing water stress, despite a decrease in precipitation and increase in air temperature. However, the largest uncertainties were associated with the most extreme drought events of the century. These results highlight the need to constrain modelled CO2 fluxes with increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations and extreme climatic events, as the uncertainties will only amplify in the next century