Prevalence of human papillomavirus, Chlamydia trachomatis, and Neisseria gonorrhoeae in commercial sex workers in Japan.

OBJECTIVE: We used the hybrid capture assays to investigate the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV), Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae among commercial sex workers in Tokyo. METHODS: Five hundred forty-six consecutive commercial sex workers (CSW) who visited an STD clinic for STD checkup in 1998 and 1999 were studied. A control group consisted of 233 consecutive women who visited a general gynecological clinic for annual checkup. A cervical sample was obtained for hybrid capture assays for HPV-A (low-oncogenic-risk types), HPV-B (intermediate- and high-oncogenic-risk types), C. trachomatis, and N. gonorrhoeae. Fisher's exact test was used for statistical analyses. RESULTS: The positive rate for HPV-B among the CSW was 48.4%, significantly higher than the 6.0% among the control subjects. The positive rates for HPV-A, C. trachomatis, and N. gonorrhoeae were also significantly higher among the CSW than among the control subjects. Among the microorganisms tested, the positive rate for HPV-B was the highest in both the STD and control groups. CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalence of HPV, C. trachomatis, and N. gonorrhoeae infection in CSW poses a risk of further transmission of STD to the general public, suggesting the need for further education and screening for CSW and the general public. We found high- and intermediate-oncogenic-type HPV to be the most prevalent infection among both CSW and control subjects. Screening for HPV may be necessary in STD and general clinics to predict the risk of cervical malignancy. Hybrid capture assays, which permit simultaneous detection of HPV and other STD with high sensitivity, may be a useful diagnostic method

Observation of enhanced transmission for s-polarized light through a subwavelength slit

Enhanced optical transmission (EOT) through subwavelength apertures is usually obtained for p-polarized light. The present study experimentally investigates EOT for s-polarized light. A subwavelength slit surrounded on each side by periodic grooves has been fabricated in a gold film and covered by a thin dielectric layer. The excitation of s-polarized dielectric waveguide modes inside the dielectric film strongly increases the s-polarized transmission. Transmission measurements are compared with a coupled mode model and show good qualitative agreement. Adding a waveguide can improve light transmission through subwavelength apertures, as both s and p-polarization can be efficiently transmitted.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Applied Physics Letter

Kahler immersions of homogeneous Kahler manifolds into complex space forms

In this paper we study the homogeneous Kaehler manifolds (h.K.m.) which can be Kaehler immersed into finite or infinite dimensional complex space forms. On the one hand we completely classify the h.K.m. which can be Kaehler immersed into a finite or infinite dimensional complex Euclidean or hyperbolic space. On the other hand, we extend known results about Kaehler immersions into the finite dimensional complex projective space to the infinite dimensional settin

Peak Stir Zone Temperatures during Friction Stir Processing

The stir zone (SZ) temperature cycle was measured during the friction stir processing (FSP) of NiAl bronze plates. The FSP was conducted using a tool design with a smooth concave shoulder and a 12.7-mm step-spiral pin. Temperature sensing was accomplished using sheathed thermocouples embedded in the tool path within the plates, while simultaneous optical pyrometry measurements of surface temperatures were also obtained. Peak SZ temperatures were 990 ⁰Cto 1015 ⁰C (0.90 to 0.97 TMelt) and were not affected by preheating to 400⁰C, although the dwell time above 900 ⁰C was increased by the preheating. Thermocouple data suggested little variation in peak temperature across the SZ, although thermocouples initially located on the advancing sides and at the centerlines of the tool traverses were displaced to the retreating sides, precluding direct assessment of the temperature variation across the SZ. Microstructure-based estimates of local peak SZ temperatures have been made on these and on other similarly processed materials. Altogether, the peak-temperature determinations from these different measurement techniques are in close agreement

Effect of Dynamical SU(2) Gluons to the Gap Equation of Nambu--Jona-Lasinio Model in Constant Background Magnetic Field

In order to estimate the effect of dynamical gluons to chiral condensate, the gap equation of SU(2) gauged Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model, under a constant background magnetic field, is investigated up to the two-loop order in 2+1 and 3+1 dimensions. We set up a general formulation allowing both cases of electric as well as magnetic background field. We rely on the proper time method to maintain gauge invariance. In 3+1 dimensions chiral symmetry breaking ($\chi$SB) is enhanced by gluons even in zero background magnetic field and becomes much striking as the background field grows larger. In 2+1 dimensions gluons also enhance $\chi$SB but whose dependence on the background field is not simple: dynamical mass is not a monotone function of background field for a fixed four-fermi coupling.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figure

Stress in frictionless granular material: Adaptive Network Simulations

We present a minimalistic approach to simulations of force transmission through granular systems. We start from a configuration containing cohesive (tensile) contact forces and use an adaptive procedure to find the stable configuration with no tensile contact forces. The procedure works by sequentially removing and adding individual contacts between adjacent beads, while the bead positions are not modified. In a series of two-dimensional realizations, the resulting force networks are shown to satisfy a linear constraint among the three components of average stress, as anticipated by recent theories. The coefficients in the linear constraint remain nearly constant for a range of shear loadings up to about .6 of the normal loading. The spatial distribution of contact forces shows strong concentration along ``force chains". The probability of contact forces of magnitude f shows an exponential falloff with f. The response to a local perturbing force is concentrated along two characteristic rays directed downward and laterally.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure

Dynamical symmetry breaking in the Nambu-Jona-Lasino model with external gravitational and constant electric fields

An investigation of the Nambu-Jona-Lasino model with external constant electric and weak gravitational fields is carried out in three- and four- dimensional spacetimes. The effective potential of the composite bifermionic fields is calculated keeping terms linear in the curvature, while the electric field effect is treated exactly by means of the proper- time formalism. A rich dynamical symmetry breaking pattern, accompanied by phase transitions which are ruled, independently, by both the curvature and the electric field strength is found. Numerical simulations of the transitions are presented.Comment: 20 pages, LaTeX, 6 .ps-figures, Final version published in "Classical and Quantum Gravity

Radio-Frequency Measurements of Coherent Transition and Cherenkov Radiation: Implications for High-Energy Neutrino Detection

We report on measurements of 11-18 cm wavelength radio emission from interactions of 15.2 MeV pulsed electron bunches at the Argonne Wakefield Accelerator. The electrons were observed both in a configuration where they produced primarily transition radiation from an aluminum foil, and in a configuration designed for the electrons to produce Cherenkov radiation in a silica sand target. Our aim was to emulate the large electron excess expected to develop during an electromagnetic cascade initiated by an ultra high-energy particle. Such charge asymmetries are predicted to produce strong coherent radio pulses, which are the basis for several experiments to detect high-energy neutrinos from the showers they induce in Antarctic ice and in the lunar regolith. We detected coherent emission which we attribute both to transition and possibly Cherenkov radiation at different levels depending on the experimental conditions. We discuss implications for experiments relying on radio emission for detection of electromagnetic cascades produced by ultra high-energy neutrinos.Comment: updated figure 10; fixed typo in equation 2.2; accepted by PR