Abdominal nodal localization of Castleman's disease: report of a case.

Abstract Introduction Castleman's disease (CD) is a rare benign disorder that may grow in any area where lymphoid tissue is normally present but the most frequent site is mediastinum (67%); the abdomen is rarely affected by this pathology. In the pathogenesis of CD an important role could be played by HHV-8. Diagnosis is difficult and the diagnostic certainty is obtained only by histological examination. For this disease there is no gold-standard treatment. Case report We report the case of a woman of 33 years of age affected by a rare form of abdominal nodal localization of Castleman's Disease for which the patient underwent surgery. Conclusion CD must be included in the differential diagnosis of retroperitoneal tumors even though the definitive diagnosis can only be achieved by histological and immunohistochemical examination. In the case of single location, the treatment of choice is surgical removal

Phi meson production in Au+Au and p+p collisions at sqrt (s)=200 GeV

We report the STAR measurement of Phi meson production in Au+Au and p+p collisions at sqrt (s)=200 GeV. Using the event mixing technique, the Phi spectra and yields are obtained at mid-rapidity for five centrality bins in Au+Au collisions and for non-singly-diffractive p+p collisions. It is found that the Phi transverse momentum distributions from Au+Au collisions are better fitted with a single-exponential while the p+p spectrum is better described by a double-exponential distribution. The measured nuclear modification factors indicate that Phi production in central Au+Au collisions is suppressed relative to peripheral collisions when scaled by the number of binary collisions. The systematics of versus centrality and the constant Phi/K- ratio versus beam species, centrality, and collision energy rule out kaon coalescence as the dominant mechanism for Phi production.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Experimental and Theoretical Challenges in the Search for the Quark Gluon Plasma: The STAR Collaboration's Critical Assessment of the Evidence from RHIC Collisions

We review the most important experimental results from the first three years of nucleus-nucleus collision studies at RHIC, with emphasis on results from the STAR experiment, and we assess their interpretation and comparison to theory. The theory-experiment comparison suggests that central Au+Au collisions at RHIC produce dense, rapidly thermalizing matter characterized by: (1) initial energy densities above the critical values predicted by lattice QCD for establishment of a Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP); (2) nearly ideal fluid flow, marked by constituent interactions of very short mean free path, established most probably at a stage preceding hadron formation; and (3) opacity to jets. Many of the observations are consistent with models incorporating QGP formation in the early collision stages, and have not found ready explanation in a hadronic framework. However, the measurements themselves do not yet establish unequivocal evidence for a transition to this new form of matter. The theoretical treatment of the collision evolution, despite impressive successes, invokes a suite of distinct models, degrees of freedom and assumptions of as yet unknown quantitative consequence. We pose a set of important open questions, and suggest additional measurements, at least some of which should be addressed in order to establish a compelling basis to conclude definitively that thermalized, deconfined quark-gluon matter has been produced at RHIC.Comment: 101 pages, 37 figures; revised version to Nucl. Phys.

Attitudes towards compulsory vaccination in Italy: Results from the NAVIDAD multicentre study

ABSTRACT: Background: Vaccine hesitancy is a considerable issue in European countries and leads to low coverage rates. After a long debate, Italy has made vaccination mandatory for admission to its schools. Methods: In the NAVIDAD study (a cross-sectional multicentre study), a 63-item questionnaire was administered to 1820 pregnant women from 15 Italian cities. The questionnaire assessed the interviewee's opinion on mandatory vaccines, as well as their socioeconomic status, sources of information about vaccines, confidence in the Italian National Healthcare Service (NHS), and intention to vaccinate their newborn. Results: Information sources play a key role in determining the opinion on restoration of mandatory vaccines; in particular, women who obtained information from anti-vaccination movements are less likely to accept the vaccines (OR: 0.35, 95% CI: 0.21\u20130.58, p < 0.001). Women who had confidence in healthcare professional information agreed more on mandatory vaccination than did the other women (OR: 2.66, 95% CI: 1.62\u20134.36, p < 0.001); those who perceived that healthcare professionals have economic interest in child immunization and who declared that healthcare providers inform only on vaccinations benefits not on risks were less likely to agree on compulsory vaccination (OR: 0.66, CI 95%: 0.46\u20130.96, p = 0.03; OR: 0.66, CI 95%: 0.46\u20130.95, p = 0.03, respectively). Conclusion: Information sources and confidence towards health professionals are the main determinants of acceptance of mandatory vaccine restoration. To increase the acceptability of the restoration and reduce vaccine hesitancy, these aspects need to be strengthened

Energy dependence of charged pion, proton and anti-proton transverse momentum spectra for Au+Au collisions at \sqrt{s_NN} = 62.4 and 200 GeV

We study the energy dependence of the transverse momentum (pT) spectra for charged pions, protons and anti-protons for Au+Au collisions at \sqrt{s_NN} = 62.4 and 200 GeV. Data are presented at mid-rapidity (|y| < 0.5) for 0.2 < pT < 12 GeV/c. In the intermediate pT region (2 < pT < 6 GeV/c), the nuclear modification factor is higher at 62.4 GeV than at 200 GeV, while at higher pT (pT >7 GeV/c) the modification is similar for both energies. The p/pi+ and pbar/pi- ratios for central collisions at \sqrt{s_NN} = 62.4 GeV peak at pT ~ 2 GeV/c. In the pT range where recombination is expected to dominate, the p/pi+ ratios at 62.4 GeV are larger than at 200 GeV, while the pbar/pi- ratios are smaller. For pT > 2 GeV/c, the pbar/pi- ratios at the two beam energies are independent of pT and centrality indicating that the dependence of the pbar/pi- ratio on pT does not change between 62.4 and 200 GeV. These findings challenge various models incorporating jet quenching and/or constituent quark coalescence.Comment: 19 pages and 6 figure

Search for gravitational waves from Scorpius X-1 in the second Advanced LIGO observing run with an improved hidden Markov model

We present results from a semicoherent search for continuous gravitational waves from the low-mass x-ray binary Scorpius X-1, using a hidden Markov model (HMM) to track spin wandering. This search improves on previous HMM-based searches of LIGO data by using an improved frequency domain matched filter, the J-statistic, and by analyzing data from Advanced LIGO's second observing run. In the frequency range searched, from 60 to 650 Hz, we find no evidence of gravitational radiation. At 194.6 Hz, the most sensitive search frequency, we report an upper limit on gravitational wave strain (at 95% confidence) of h095%=3.47×10-25 when marginalizing over source inclination angle. This is the most sensitive search for Scorpius X-1, to date, that is specifically designed to be robust in the presence of spin wandering. © 2019 American Physical Society

Search for Tensor, Vector, and Scalar Polarizations in the Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background

The detection of gravitational waves with Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo has enabled novel tests of general relativity, including direct study of the polarization of gravitational waves. While general relativity allows for only two tensor gravitational-wave polarizations, general metric theories can additionally predict two vector and two scalar polarizations. The polarization of gravitational waves is encoded in the spectral shape of the stochastic gravitational-wave background, formed by the superposition of cosmological and individually unresolved astrophysical sources. Using data recorded by Advanced LIGO during its first observing run, we search for a stochastic background of generically polarized gravitational waves. We find no evidence for a background of any polarization, and place the first direct bounds on the contributions of vector and scalar polarizations to the stochastic background. Under log-uniform priors for the energy in each polarization, we limit the energy densities of tensor, vector, and scalar modes at 95% credibility to Ω0T<5.58×10-8, Ω0V<6.35×10-8, and Ω0S<1.08×10-7 at a reference frequency f0=25 Hz. © 2018 American Physical Society