Feeding interventions for growth and development in infants with cleft lip, cleft palate or cleft lip and palate.

BACKGROUND: Cleft lip and cleft palate are common birth defects, affecting about one baby of every 700 born. Feeding these babies is an immediate concern and there is evidence of delay in growth of children with a cleft as compared to those without clefting. In an effort to combat reduced weight for height, a variety of advice and devices are recommended to aid feeding of babies with clefts. OBJECTIVES: This review aims to assess the effects of these feeding interventions in babies with cleft lip and/or palate on growth, development and parental satisfaction. SEARCH STRATEGY: The following electronic databases were searched: the Cochrane Oral Health Group Trials Register (to 27 October 2010), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library 2010, Issue 4), MEDLINE via OVID (1950 to 27 October 2010), EMBASE via OVID (1980 to 27 October 2010), PsycINFO via OVID (1950 to 27 October 2010) and CINAHL via EBSCO (1980 to 27 October 2010). Attempts were made to identify both unpublished and ongoing studies. There was no restriction with regard to language of publication. SELECTION CRITERIA: Studies were included if they were randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of feeding interventions for babies born with cleft lip, cleft palate or cleft lip and palate up to the age of 6 months (from term). DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Studies were assessed for relevance independently and in duplicate. All studies meeting the inclusion criteria were data extracted and assessed for validity independently by each member of the review team. Authors were contacted for clarification or missing information whenever possible. MAIN RESULTS: Five RCTs with a total of 292 babies, were included in the review. Comparisons made within the RCTs were squeezable versus rigid feeding bottles (two studies), breastfeeding versus spoon-feeding (one study) and maxillary plate versus no plate (two studies). No statistically significant differences were shown for any of the primary outcomes when comparing bottle types, although squeezable bottles were less likely to require modification. No difference was shown for infants fitted with a maxillary plate compared to no plate. However, there was some evidence of an effect on weight at 6 weeks post-surgery in favour of breastfeeding when compared to spoon-feeding (mean difference 0.47; 95% confidence interval 0.20 to 0.74). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Squeezable bottles appear easier to use than rigid feeding bottles for babies born with clefts of the lip and/or palate, however, there is no evidence of a difference in growth outcomes between the bottle types. There is weak evidence that breastfeeding is better than spoon-feeding following surgery for cleft. There was no evidence to suggest that maxillary plates assist growth in babies with clefts of the palate. No evidence was found to assess the use of any types of maternal advice and/or support for these babies

Implications of CoGeNT and DAMA for Light WIMP Dark Matter

In this paper, we study the recent excess of low energy events observed by the CoGeNT collaboration, and discuss the possibility that these events originate from the elastic scattering of a light (m_DM ~ 5-10 GeV) dark matter particle. We find that such a dark matter candidate may also be capable of generating the annual modulation reported by DAMA, as well as the small excess recently reported by CDMS, without conflicting with the null results from other experiments, such as XENON10. A dark matter interpretation of the CoGeNT and DAMA observations favors a region of parameter space that is especially attractive within the context of Asymmetric Dark Matter models. In such models, the cosmological dark matter density arises from the baryon asymmetry of the universe, naturally leading to the expectation that m_DM ~ 1-10 GeV. We also discuss neutralino dark matter from extended supersymmetric frameworks, such as the NMSSM. Lastly, we explore the implications of such a dark matter candidate for indirect searches, and find that the prospects for detecting the neutrino and gamma ray annihilation products of such a particle to be very encouraging.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figures. v2: references added, fig 4 and surrounding discussion modified

Prospects For Detecting Dark Matter With GLAST In Light Of The WMAP Haze

Observations by the WMAP experiment have identified an excess of microwave emission from the center of the Milky Way. It has previously been shown that this "WMAP Haze" could be synchrotron emission from relativistic electrons and positrons produced in the annihilations of dark matter particles. In particular, the intensity, spectrum and angular distribution of the WMAP Haze is consistent with an electroweak scale dark matter particle (such as a supersymmetric neutralino or Kaluza-Klein dark matter in models with universal extra dimensions) annihilating with a cross section on the order of sigma v~3x10^-26 cm^3/s and distributed with a cusped halo profile. No further exotic astrophysical or annihilation boost factors are required. If dark matter annihilations are in fact responsible for the observed Haze, then other annihilation products will also be produced, including gamma rays. In this article, we study the prospects for the GLAST satellite to detect gamma rays from dark matter annihilations in the Galactic Center region in this scenario. We find that by studying only the inner 0.1 degrees around the Galactic Center, GLAST will be able to detect dark matter annihilating to heavy quarks or gauge bosons over astrophysical backgrounds with 5sigma (3sigma) significance if they are lighter than approximately 320-500 GeV (500-750 GeV). If the angular window is broadened to study the dark matter halo profile's angular extension (while simultaneously reducing the astrophysical backgrounds), WIMPs as heavy as several TeV can be identified by GLAST with high significance. Only if the dark matter particles annihilate mostly to electrons or muons will GLAST be unable to identify the gamma ray spectrum associated with the WMAP Haze.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Are There Hints of Light Stops in Recent Higgs Search Results?

The recent discovery at the LHC by the CMS and ATLAS collaborations of the Higgs boson presents, at long last, direct probes of the mechanism for electroweak symmetry breaking. While it is clear from the observations that the new particle plays some role in this process, it is not yet apparent whether the couplings and widths of the observed particle match those predicted by the Standard Model. In this paper, we perform a global fit of the Higgs results from the LHC and Tevatron. While these results could be subject to as-yet-unknown systematics, we find that the data are significantly better fit by a Higgs with a suppressed width to gluon-gluon and an enhanced width to gamma gamma, relative to the predictions of the Standard Model. After considering a variety of new physics scenarios which could potenially modify these widths, we find that the most promising possibility is the addition of a new colored, charged particle, with a large coupling to the Higgs. Of particular interest is a light, and highly mixed, stop, which we show can provide the required alterations to the combination of gg and gamma gamma widths.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Some Physical Properties of Aqueous Salt Solutions

The refractive indices of solutions of the alkali halides and nitrates were determined at 25 ° and from these the specific refractivities of both the solution and solute were calculated by means of the Lorenz-Lorentz formula. From density data the partial molal volumes were also calculated. The dielectric constants of the solutions were calculated by means of the Huckel relation involving the refractive index and were found to decrease with increase in concentration, the values for all salts approaching the same small value at saturation. The activities were calculated according to the equation given by Huckel for concentrated solutions of strong electrolytes and were found to agree qualitatively with experimental values

Using Machine Learning to Automatically Detect Volcanic Unrest in a Time Series of Interferograms

The latest generation of synthetic aperture radar satellites produce measurements of ground deformation at the majority of the world's subaerial active volcanoes and can be used to detect signs of volcanic unrest. We present an automatic detection algorithm that uses these data to automatically warn when deformation at a volcano departs from the background. We demonstrate our approach on synthetic data sets and the unrest leading to the 2018 eruption of Sierra Negra (Galapagos). Our algorithm encompasses spatial independent component analysis and uses a significantly improved version of the ICASO algorithm, which we term ICASAR, to robustly perform spatial independent component analysis. We use ICASAR to isolate signals of geophysical interest from atmospheric signals, before monitoring the evolution of these signals through time in order to detect the onset of a period of volcanic unrest

Distinguishing Supersymmetry From Universal Extra Dimensions or Little Higgs Models With Dark Matter Experiments

There are compelling reasons to think that new physics will appear at or below the TeV-scale. It is not known what form this new physics will take, however. Although The Large Hadron collider is very likely to discover new particles associated with the TeV-scale, it may be difficult for it to determine the nature of those particles, whether superpartners, Kaluza-Klein modes or other states. In this article, we consider how direct and indirect dark matter detection experiments may provide information complementary to hadron colliders, which can be used to discriminate between supersymmetry, models with universal extra dimensions, and Little Higgs theories. We find that, in many scenarios, dark matter experiments can be effectively used to distinguish between these possibilities.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures, references added in version

Phase transition in the 3 Kelvin phase in the eutectic Sr2RuO4-Ru

The inhomogeneous 3-Kelvin (3K) phase of the eutectic Sr2RuO4 with Ru inclusions nucleates superconductivity at the interface between Ru and Sr2RuO4. The structure of the interface state and its physical properties are examined here. Two superconducting phases are identified between the transitions to the bulk phase at 1.5K and to the 3K phase. The nucleation of the 3K phase results in a state conserving time reversal symmetry, which generates an intrinsically frustrated superconducting network in samples with many Ru inclusions. At a lower temperature (>1.5K), a discontinuous (first order) transition to an interface state breaking time reversal symmetry is found leading to an unfrustrated network phase. It is shown that this phase transition located at a temperature between 1.5 and 3K would yield the anomalous property that the critical current in such a network depends on the sign of the current, reproducing recent experimental observations.Comment: This paper has been withdrawn by the authors. 5 pages, 6 figure

Kaluza-Klein Dark Matter, Electrons and Gamma Ray Telescopes

Kaluza-Klein dark matter particles can annihilate efficiently into electron-positron pairs, providing a discrete feature (a sharp edge) in the cosmic $e^+ e^-$ spectrum at an energy equal to the particle's mass (typically several hundred GeV to one TeV). Although this feature is probably beyond the reach of satellite or balloon-based cosmic ray experiments (those that distinguish the charge and mass of the primary particle), gamma ray telescopes may provide an alternative detection method. Designed to observe very high-energy gamma-rays, ACTs also observe the diffuse flux of electron-induced electromagnetic showers. The GLAST satellite, designed for gamma ray astronomy, will also observe any high energy showers (several hundred GeV and above) in its calorimeter. We show that high-significance detections of an electron-positron feature from Kaluza-Klein dark matter annihilations are possible with GLAST, and also with ACTs such as HESS, VERITAS or MAGIC.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

Two photon annihilation of Kaluza-Klein dark matter

We investigate the fermionic one-loop cross section for the two photon annihilation of Kaluza-Klein (KK) dark matter particles in a model of universal extra dimensions (UED). This process gives a nearly mono-energetic gamma-ray line with energy equal to the KK dark matter particle mass. We find that the cross section is large enough that if a continuum signature is detected, the energy distribution of gamma-rays should end at the particle mass with a peak that is visible for an energy resolution of the detector at the percent level. This would give an unmistakable signature of a dark matter origin of the gamma-rays, and a unique determination of the dark matter particle mass, which in the case studied should be around 800 GeV. Unlike the situation for supersymmetric models where the two-gamma peak may or may not be visible depending on parameters, this feature seems to be quite robust in UED models, and should be similar in other models where annihilation into fermions is not helicity suppressed. The observability of the signal still depends on largely unknown astrophysical parameters related to the structure of the dark matter halo. If the dark matter near the galactic center is adiabatically contracted by the central star cluster, or if the dark matter halo has substructure surviving tidal effects, prospects for detection look promising.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures; slightly revised versio