Similarity of nuclear structure in 132Sn and 208Pb regions: proton-neutron multiplets

Starting from the striking similarity of proton-neutron multiplets in 134Sb and 210Bi, we perform a shell-model study of nuclei with two additional protons or neutrons to find out to what extent this analogy persists. We employ effective interactions derived from the CD-Bonn nucleon-nucleon potential renormalized by use of the V-low-k approach. The calculated results for 136Sb, 212Bi, 136I, and 212At are in very good agreement with the available experimental data. The similarity between 132Sn and 208Pb regions is discussed in connection with the effective interaction, emphasizing the role of core polarization effects.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 2 table

Generating human-computer micro-task workflows from domain ontologies

With the growing popularity of micro-task crowdsourcing platforms, a renewed interest in the resolution of complex tasks that require the coopera-tion of human and machine participants has emerged. This interest has led to workflow approaches that present new challenges at different dimensions of the human-machine computation process, namely in micro-task specification and human-computer interaction due to the unstructured nature of micro-tasks in terms of domain representation. In this sense, a semi-automatic generation envi-ronment for human-computer micro-task workflows from domain ontologies is proposed. The structure and semantics of the domain ontology provides a com-mon ground for understanding and enhances human-computer cooperation.This work is partially funded by FEDER Funds and by the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) through the COMPETE Programme (operational programme for competitiveness) and by National Funds through the FCT (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) under the projects AAL4ALL (QREN13852) and FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-028980 (PTDC/EEI-SII/1386/2012)

Radiation to supraclavicular and internal mammary lymph nodes in breast cancer increases the risk of stroke

The aim of this study was to assess whether adjuvant treatment of breast cancer (BC) affects the risk of stroke, and to explore radiation targets and fraction doses regarding risk and location of stroke. In a Swedish BC cohort diagnosed during 1970–2003, we carried out a nested case–control study of stroke after BC, with relevant details extracted from medical records. The odds ratio (OR) for radiotherapy (RT) vs that of no RT did not differ between cases and controls (OR=0.85; confidence interval, CI=0.6–1.3). Radiotherapy to internal mammary chain (IMC) and supraclavicular (SCL) lymph nodes vs that of no RT was associated with a higher, although not statistically significant, risk of stroke (OR=1.3; CI=0.8–2.2). In a pooled analysis, RT to IMC and SCL vs the pooled group of no RT and RT to breast/chest wall/axilla (but not IMC and SCL), showed a significant increase of stroke (OR=1.8; CI=1.1–2.8). There were no associations between cancer laterality, targets of RT, and location of stroke. The radiation targets, IMC and SCL, showed a statistically significant trend for an increased risk of stroke with daily fraction dose. Our finding of a target-specific increased risk of stroke and a dose-response relationship for daily fraction dose, indicate that there may be a causal link between RT to the IMC and SCL and risk of stroke

Does the shoe fit? Real versus imagined ecological footprints

Linus Blomqvist, Barry W. Brook, Erle C. Ellis, Peter M. Kareiva, Ted Nordhaus, Michael Shellenberge

Particle tracking in kaon electroproduction with cathode-charge sampling in multi-wire proportional chambers

Wire chambers are routinely operated as tracking detectors in magnetic spectrometers at high-intensity continuous electron beams. Especially in experiments studying reactions with small cross-sections the reaction yield is limited by the background rate in the chambers. One way to determine the track of a charged particle through a multi-wire proportional chamber (MWPC) is the measurement of the charge distribution induced on its cathodes. In practical applications of this read-out method, the algorithm to relate the measured charge distribution to the avalanche position is an important factor for the achievable position resolution and for the track reconstruction efficiency. An algorithm was developed for operating two large-sized MWPCs in a strong background environment with multiple-particle tracks. Resulting efficiencies were determined as a function of the electron beam current and on the signal amplitudes. Because of the different energy-losses of pions, kaons, and protons in the momentum range of the spectrometer the efficiencies depend also on the particle species

Self-Consistent Nuclear Shell-Model Calculation Starting from a Realistic NN Potential

First self-consistent realistic shell-model calculation for the light p-shell nuclei is performed, starting from the high-precision nucleon-nucleon (NN) CD-Bonn potential. This realistic potential is renormalized deriving a low-momentum NN potential V-low-k that preserves exactly the two-nucleon low-energy physics. This V-low-k is suitable to derive a self-consistent Hartree-Fock basis that is employed to derive both effective single-particle energies and residual two-body matrix elements for the shell-model hamiltonian. Results obtained show the reliability of such a fundamental microscopic approach.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, 8 tables, to be published on Physics Letters

The ecological footprint remains a misleading metric of global sustainability

Linus Blomqvist, Barry W. Brook, Erle C. Ellis, Peter M. Kareiva, Ted Nordhaus, Michael Shellenberge

High expression of cyclin D1 is associated to high proliferation rate and increased risk of mortality in women with ER-positive but not in ER-negative breast cancers

Cyclin D1 has a central role in cell cycle control and is an important component of estrogen regulation of cell cycle progression. We have previously shown that high cyclin D expression is related to aggressive features of ER-positive but not ER-negative breast cancer. The aims of the present study were to validate this differential ER-related effect and furthermore explore the relationship between cyclin D overexpression and CCND1 gene amplification status in a node-negative breast cancer case-control study. Immunohistochemical nuclear expression of cyclin D1 (n = 364) and amplification of the gene CCND1 by fluorescent in situ hybridization (n = 255) was performed on tissue microarray sections from patients with T1-2N0M0 breast cancer. Patients given adjuvant chemotherapy were excluded. The primary event was defined as breast cancer death. Breast cancer-specific survival was analyzed in univariate and multivariable models using conditional logistic regression. Expression of cyclin D1 above the median (61.7%) in ER breast cancer was associated with an increased risk for breast cancer death (OR 3.2 95% CI 1.5-6.8) also when adjusted for tumor size and grade (OR 3.1). No significant prognostic impact of cyclin D1 expression was found among ER-negative cases. Cyclin D1 overexpression was significantly associated to high expression of the proliferation markers cyclins A (rho 0.19, p = 0.006) and B (rho 0.18, p = 0.003) in ER-positive tumors, but not in ER-negative cases. There was a significant association between CCND1 amplification and cyclin D1 expression (p = 0.003), but CCND1 amplification was not statistically significantly prognostic (HR 1.4, 95% CI 0.4-4.4). We confirmed our previous observation that high cyclin D1 expression is associated to high proliferation and a threefold higher risk of death from breast cancer in ER-positive breast cancer.Peer reviewe