BreastScreen Australia monitoring report 2011-2012

Presents the latest national statistics on BreastScreen, which aims to reduce illness and death resulting from breast cancer through organised screening to detect cases of unsuspected breast cancer in women, thus enabling early intervention. Summary BreastScreen Australia aims to reduce illness and death resulting from breast cancer through organised screening to detect cases of unsuspected breast cancer in women, thus enabling early intervention. Women aged 40 and over are eligible for free 2-yearly mammograms. This report is the latest in the BreastScreen Australia monitoring report series, which is published annually to provide regular monitoring of national participation and performance for BreastScreen Australia. The report provides data for the 2011-2012 period of participation in BreastScreen Australia, as well as the latest available data on incidence and mortality. The following statistics refer to the latest data available for women aged 50-69*. *As part of the 2013-14 Federal Budget, the Australian Government committed $55.7 million over 4 years to expand BreastScreen Australia\u27s target age range from 50-69 to 50-74. This report includes data from women screened when BreastScreen Australia actively targeted women aged 50-69. How many women were diagnosed with, or died from, breast cancer? In 2010, there were 7,449 new cases of invasive breast cancer diagnosed in Australian women aged 50-69. This is equivalent to 300 new cases per 100,000 women, and makes breast cancer the most common cancer affecting Australian women. Incidence has remained steady at around 300 per 100,000 women for over a decade. In 2011, a total of 1,130 women aged 50-69 died from breast cancer, equivalent to 44 deaths per 100,000 women. This is similar to the rate for 2010, and makes breast cancer the second most common cause of cancer-related death for Australian women. Breast cancer mortality fell from 68 deaths per 100,000 women in the target age range in 1991 (when BreastScreen Australia began) to 44 per 100,000 women in 2011. Incidence of breast cancer was lower for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women than for non-Indigenous women (221 compared with 266 new cases per 100,000 women), but mortality from breast cancer was higher (52 compared with 44 deaths per 100,000 women). How many women participated in BreastScreen Australia? In 2011-2012, more than 1.4 million women aged 50-69 had a screening mammogram through BreastScreen Australia, a participation rate of 55% for the target age group. This was unchanged from participation rates in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011. Participation of Indigenous women was lower-38% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in the population participated compared with 54% of non-Indigenous women. How many women were recalled for further investigation? In 2012, 11% of women screening for the first time were recalled for further investigation; 3% of women attending subsequent screens were recalled. These are similar to rates for 2011. How many women had a small breast cancer detected? Small breast cancers (≤15 mm in diameter) are associated with better treatment options and improved survival. A high proportion of invasive breast cancers detected were small in 2012: 47% of invasive breast cancers detected in those attending their first screen, and 61% in those attending subsequent screens. These are similar to the figures for 2011

Finite Domain Bounds Consistency Revisited

A widely adopted approach to solving constraint satisfaction problems combines systematic tree search with constraint propagation for pruning the search space. Constraint propagation is performed by propagators implementing a certain notion of consistency. Bounds consistency is the method of choice for building propagators for arithmetic constraints and several global constraints in the finite integer domain. However, there has been some confusion in the definition of bounds consistency. In this paper we clarify the differences and similarities among the three commonly used notions of bounds consistency.Comment: 12 page

Fabrication methods for creating flexible polymer substrate sensor tags

The authors describe the design, fabrication, and testing of a passive wireless sensor platform utilizing low-cost commercial surface acoustic wave filters and sensors. Polyimide and polyethylene terephthalate sheets are used as substrates to create a flexible sensor tag that can be applied to curved surfaces. A microfabricated antenna is integrated on the substrate in order to create a compact form factor. The sensor tags are fabricated using 315 MHz surface acoustic wave filters and photodiodes and tested with the aid of a fiber-coupled tungsten lamp. Microwave energy transmitted from a network analyzer is used to interrogate the sensor tag. Due to an electrical impedance mismatch at the SAW filter and sensor, energy is reflected at the sensor load and reradiated from the integrated antenna. By selecting sensors that change electrical impedance based on environmental conditions, the sensor state can be inferred through measurement of the reflected energy profile. Testing has shown that a calibrated system utilizing this type of sensor tag can detect distinct light levels wireless and passively. The authors also demonstrate simultaneous operation of two tags with different center passbands that detects light. Ranging tests show that the sensor tags can operate at a distance of at least 3.6 m

The Extremely High-Velocity Outflow from the Luminous Young Stellar Object G5.89-0.39

We have imaged the extremely high-velocity outflowing gas in CO (2-1) and (3-2) associated with the shell-like ultracompact HII region G5.89-0.39 at a resolution of ~3" (corresponding to ~4000 AU) with the Submillimeter Array. The integrated high-velocity (>45 km/s) CO emission reveals at least three blueshifted lobes and two redshifted lobes. These lobes belong to two outflows, one oriented N-S, the other NW-SE. The NW-SE outflow is likely identical to the previously detected Br_gamma outflow. Furthermore, these outflow lobes all clearly show a Hubble-like kinematic structure. For the first time, we estimate the temperature of the outflowing gas as a function of velocity with the large velocity gradient calculations. Our results reveal a clear increasing trend of temperature with gas velocity. The observational features of the extremely high-velocity gas associated with G5.89-0.39 qualitatively favor the jet-driven bow shock model.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Engagement of the Type I Interferon Receptor on Dendritic Cells Inhibits T Helper 17 Cell Development: Role of Intracellular Osteopontin

SummaryMechanisms that prevent inappropriate or excessive interleukin-17-producing T helper (Th17) cell responses after microbial infection may be necessary to avoid autoimmunity. Here, we define a pathway initiated by engagement of type I IFN receptor (IFNAR) expressed by dendritic cells (DC) that culminated in suppression of Th17 cell differentiation. IFNAR-dependent inhibition of an intracellular translational isoform of Osteopontin, termed Opn-i, derepressed interleukin-27 (IL-27) secretion and prevented efficient Th17 responses. Moreover, Opn-i expression in DC and microglia regulated the type and intensity of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Mice containing DC deficient in Opn-i produced excessive amounts of IL-27 and developed a delayed disease characterized by an enhanced Th1 response compared with the dominant Th17 response of Opn-sufficient mice. Definition of the IFNAR-Opn-i axis that controls Th17 development provides insight into regulation of Th cell sublineage development and the molecular basis of type I interferon therapy for MS and other autoimmune diseases

Плазмохимическая установка для конверсии природного газа в углерод и водород

Приводится описание плазмохимической установки, в которой реализован новый способ конверсии природного газа в водород и углерод при совмещенном воздействии катализатора и плазмы СВЧ-разряда. Рассмотрены основные технологические параметры, проанализированы методы и средства их контроля. Представлены некоторые результаты экспериментов по конверсии природного газа в СВЧ-реакторе с металлическим катализатором на основе Fe и Ni

On the string interpretation of M(atrix) theory

It has been proposed recently that, in the framework of M(atrix) theory, N=8 supersymmetric U(N) Yang-Mills theory in 1+1 dimensions gives rise to type IIA long string configurations. We point out that the quantum moduli space of $SYM_{1+1}$ gives rise to two quantum numbers, which fit very well into the M(atrix) theory. The two quantum numbers become familiar if one switches to a IIB picture, where they represent configurations of D-strings and fundamental strings. We argue that, due to the SL(2,Z) symmetry, of the IIB theory, such quantum numbers must represent configurations that are present also in the IIA framework.Comment: 13 pages, Latex, more comment

High-Velocity Jets and Slowly Rotating Envelope in B335

We have performed detailed imaging and analyses of SMA observations in 230 GHz continuum, 12CO (2-1), 13CO (2-1), and C18O (2-1) emission toward B335, a Bok globule with an embedded Class 0 source (Lbol ~ 1.5 Lsun). We report the first discover of high-velocity 12CO jets with a size of ~ 900 AU x 1500 AU along the E-W direction in B335. The estimated mass-loss rate (~ 2.3 x 10^-7 Msun yr^-1) and the momentum flux (~ 3.7 x 10^-5 Msun yr^-1 km s^-1) of the 12CO jets in B335 are one order of magnitude lower than those of other 12CO jets in more luminous sources such as HH 211 (Lbol ~ 3.6 Lsun) and HH 212 (Lbol ~ 14 Lsun). The weaker jet activity in B335 could be due to the lower active accretion onto the central protostar. The C18O emission shows a compact (~ 1500 AU) condensation associated with the central protostar, and it likely traces the protostellar envelope around B335. The envelope exhibits a velocity gradient from the east (blueshifted) to west (redshifted) that can be interpreted as an infalling motion. The estimated central stellar mass, the mass infalling rate, and the accretion luminosity are 0.04 Msun, 6.9 x 10^-6 Msun yr^-1, and 2.1 Lsun, respectively. On the other hand, there is no clear velocity gradient perpendicular to the outflow axis in the C18O envelope, suggesting little envelope rotation on a hundred-AU scale. The upper limits of the rotational velocity and specific angular momentum were estimated to be 0.04 km s^-1 and 7.0 x 10^-5 km s^-1 pc at a radius of 370 AU, respectively. The specific angular momentum and the inferred Keplerian radius (~ 6 AU) in B335 are 1 - 2 orders of magnitude smaller than those in other more-evolved sources. Possible scenarios to explain the lower specific angular momentum in B335 are discussed.Comment: 35 pages, 11 figures, and ApJ accepted; http://stacks.iop.org/0004-637X/710/178

Evolutionary Status of Brightest and Youngest Source in the Orion Molecular Cloud-3 Region

The brightest continuum source in the Orion Molecular Cloud-3 region (OMC-3), MMS 6, was observed with the Very Large Array (VLA), the Nobeyama Millimeter Array (NMA), and the Submillimeter Array (SMA). Our data were supplemented by near- to mid-infrared archival data taken by Spitzer Space Telescope. The compact continuum source, MMS 6-main, was detected with an H_2 mass of 3.0 Msun with a size of 510 AU. Despite its compact and well condensed appearance, neither clear CO outflow, radio jet, nor infrared sources (at a wave-length shorter than 8 um) were detected at MMS 6-main even with the present high-spatial resolution and high-sensitivity observations. The derived H_2 column density, 2.6x10^25 cm^-2, corresponds to a visual extinction of A_v~15000 mag., and the derived number density is at least two orders of magnitude higher than for the other OMC-2/3 continuum sources. The volume density profile of the source was estimated to have a power-law index of 2 or steeper down to a radius of ~450 AU. The time scale to form a protostar at the center or the time scale elapsed after its formation is estimated to be 830 to 7600 yr. This is much shorter than the typical lifetime of the Class 0/I protostars, which is ~10^(4-5) yr, suggesting that MMS 6-main is probably in either the earliest stage of the proto-stellar core or in the latest stage of the pre-stellar phase.Comment: 34 pages, 7 figures, accepted to Ap