Late-Onset Multiple Self-Healing Squamous Epithelioma Ferguson-Smith Recurrence Induced by Radiotherapy.

We report the case of a woman in her 60s with confirmed multiple self-healing squamous epitheliomas (MSSE) Ferguson-Smith. After recurrences following surgery and radiotherapy, the patient was successfully treated with minimal surgical intervention combined with intralesional injections of triamcinolone acetate. The histological comparison between mature and regressed keratoacanthomas (KA) revealed an increased inflammatory infiltrate with numerous plasmacytoid dendritic cells in the regressed KA in comparison to the mature one, speaking in favor of an inflammation-mediated regression process. Corticosteroids injection in MSSE may have paradoxical effects with action on the proliferation phase rather than the inflammatory regression phase of the KA. Our case confirms previous reports showing that radiotherapy may exacerbate MSSE and should be avoided. Intralesional triamcinolone acetate injection is a safe and easy to use method also effective for multiple lesions. Our case underlines the difference between squamous cell carcinoma and KA, responding differently to therapies like imiquimod or radiotherapy

The Nuclear Scissors Mode from Various Aspects

Three methods to describe collective motion, Random Phase Approximation (RPA), Wigner Function Moments (WFM) and the Green's Function (GF) method are compared in detail and their physical content analyzed on an example of a simple model, the harmonic oscillator with quadrupole--quadrupole residual interaction. It is shown that they give identical formulae for eigenfrequencies and transition probabilities of all collective excitations of the model, including the scissors mode, which is the subject of our special attention. The exact relation between the RPA and WFM variables and the respective dynamical equations is established. The transformation of the RPA spectrum into the one of WFM is explained. The very close connection of the WFM method with the GF one is demonstrated. The normalization factor of the ``synthetic'' scissors state and its overlap with physical states are calculated analytically. The orthogonality of the spurious state to all physical states is proved rigorously. A differential equation describing the current lines of RPA modes is established and the current lines of the scissors mode analyzed as a superposition of rotational and irrotational components.Comment: 52 pages, 2 figure

The Green, Green Grass of Home: an archaeo-ecological approach to pastoralist settlement in central Kenya

© 2016 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This paper considers the ecological residues of pastoralist occupation at the site of Maili Sita in Laikipia, central Kenya, drawing links with the archaeological record so as to contribute a fresh approach to the ephemeral settlement sites of mobile herding communities, a methodological aspect of African archaeology that remains problematic. Variations in the geochemical and micromorphological composition of soils along transects across the site are compared with vegetation distributions and satellite imagery to propose an occupation pattern not dissimilar to contemporary Cushitic-speaking groups further north. We argue that Maili Sita exemplifies the broad migratory and cultural exchange networks in place during the mid- to late second millennium AD, with pastoralist occupants who were both physically and culturally mobile.British Academy (2002-5 Funding) European Union - Marie Curie Initiatives (EXT grant 2007-11

Universal Correlations of Coulomb Blockade Conductance Peaks and the Rotation Scaling in Quantum Dots

We show that the parametric correlations of the conductance peak amplitudes of a chaotic or weakly disordered quantum dot in the Coulomb blockade regime become universal upon an appropriate scaling of the parameter. We compute the universal forms of this correlator for both cases of conserved and broken time reversal symmetry. For a symmetric dot the correlator is independent of the details in each lead such as the number of channels and their correlation. We derive a new scaling, which we call the rotation scaling, that can be computed directly from the dot's eigenfunction rotation rate or alternatively from the conductance peak heights, and therefore does not require knowledge of the spectrum of the dot. The relation of the rotation scaling to the level velocity scaling is discussed. The exact analytic form of the conductance peak correlator is derived at short distances. We also calculate the universal distributions of the average level width velocity for various values of the scaled parameter. The universality is illustrated in an Anderson model of a disordered dot.Comment: 35 pages, RevTex, 6 Postscript figure

Mammographic Density Change With Estrogen and Progestin Therapy and Breast Cancer Risk

Background: Estrogen plus progestin therapy increases both mammographic density and breast cancer incidence. Whether mammographic density change associated with estrogen plus progestin initiation predicts breast cancer risk is unknown. Methods: We conducted an ancillary nested case-control study within the Women's Health Initiative trial that randomly assigned postmenopausal women to daily conjugated equine estrogen 0.625 mg plus medroxyprogesterone acetate 2.5 mg or placebo. Mammographic density was assessed from mammograms taken prior to and one year after random assignment for 174 women who later developed breast cancer (cases) and 733 healthy women (controls). Logistic regression analyses included adjustment for confounders and baseline mammographic density when appropriate. Results: Among women in the estrogen plus progestin arm (97 cases/378 controls), each 1% positive change in percent mammographic density increased breast cancer risk 3% (odds ratio [OR] = 1.03, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.01 to 1.06). For women in the highest quintile of mammographic density change (>19.3% increase), breast cancer risk increased 3.6-fold (95% CI = 1.52 to 8.56). The effect of estrogen plus progestin use on breast cancer risk (OR = 1.28, 95% CI = 0.90 to 1.82) was eliminated in this study, after adjusting for change in mammographic density (OR = 1.00, 95% CI = 0.66 to 1.51). Conclusions: We found the one-year change in mammographic density after estrogen plus progestin initiation predicted subsequent increase in breast cancer risk. All of the increased risk from estrogen plus progestin use was mediated through mammographic density change. Doctors should evaluate changes in mammographic density with women who initiate estrogen plus progestin therapy and discuss the breast cancer risk implications

Bacterial strains from floodplain soils perform different plant-growth promoting processes and enhance cowpea growth

ABSTRACT Certain nodulating nitrogen-fixing bacteria in legumes and other nodule endophytes perform different plant-growth promoting processes. The objective of this study was to evaluate 26 bacterial strains isolated from cowpea nodules grown in floodplain soils in the Brazilian savannas, regarding performance of plant-growth promoting processes and ability to enhance cowpea growth. We also identified these strains by 16S rRNA sequencing. The following processes were evaluated: free-living biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), solubilization of calcium, aluminum and iron phosphates and production of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). The abilities to nodulate and promote cowpea growth were evaluated in Leonard jars. Partial sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene identified 60 % of the strains as belonging to genus Paenibacillus. The following four genera were also identified: Bacillus, Bradyrhizobium, Enterobacter and Pseudomonas. None of the strains fixed N2 free-living. Among the strains, 80 % solubilized Ca phosphate and one solubilized Al phosphate and none solubilized Fe phosphate. The highest IAA concentrations (52.37, 51.52 and 51.00 μg mL−1) were obtained in the 79 medium with tryptophan by Enterobacter strains UFPI B5-7A, UFPI B5-4 and UFPI B5-6, respectively. Only eight strains nodulated cowpea, however, all increased production of total dry matter. The fact that the strains evaluated perform different biological processes to promote plant growth indicates that these strains have potential use in agricultural crops to increase production and environmental sustainability

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Jet size dependence of single jet suppression in lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s(NN)) = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions at the LHC provide direct sensitivity to the physics of jet quenching. In a sample of lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s) = 2.76 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 7 inverse microbarns, ATLAS has measured jets with a calorimeter over the pseudorapidity interval |eta| < 2.1 and over the transverse momentum range 38 < pT < 210 GeV. Jets were reconstructed using the anti-kt algorithm with values for the distance parameter that determines the nominal jet radius of R = 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5. The centrality dependence of the jet yield is characterized by the jet "central-to-peripheral ratio," Rcp. Jet production is found to be suppressed by approximately a factor of two in the 10% most central collisions relative to peripheral collisions. Rcp varies smoothly with centrality as characterized by the number of participating nucleons. The observed suppression is only weakly dependent on jet radius and transverse momentum. These results provide the first direct measurement of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions and complement previous measurements of dijet transverse energy imbalance at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages plus author list (30 pages total), 8 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Physics Letters B. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/HION-2011-02

Search for displaced vertices arising from decays of new heavy particles in 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

We present the results of a search for new, heavy particles that decay at a significant distance from their production point into a final state containing charged hadrons in association with a high-momentum muon. The search is conducted in a pp-collision data sample with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 33 pb^-1 collected in 2010 by the ATLAS detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. Production of such particles is expected in various scenarios of physics beyond the standard model. We observe no signal and place limits on the production cross-section of supersymmetric particles in an R-parity-violating scenario as a function of the neutralino lifetime. Limits are presented for different squark and neutralino masses, enabling extension of the limits to a variety of other models.Comment: 8 pages plus author list (20 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version to appear in Physics Letters

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio