A Measurement of Parity-Violating Neutron Transmission in Xenon

This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY-931478

4-Methyl-2H-1,3-oxazine-2,6(3H)-dione

In the title compound, C5H5NO3, the planar (maximum deviation = 0.075 Å for the ring O atom) mol­ecules form N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds in a zigzag chain (C—O⋯N bond angle ≃ 140°) between glide-related mol­ecules

Ewing Sarcoma of the Posterior Fossa in an Adolescent Girl

Medulloblastoma, astrocytoma, and ependymoma represent the most common infratentorial tumors in childhood, while Ewing sarcomas in that localization are extremely rare. A large left infratentorial space-occupying lesion was diagnosed in a 12-year-old girl with signs of increased intracranial pressure. Following total tumor resection, histological and molecular examination revealed Ewing sarcoma with rearranged EWSR-1 gene. The patient achieved complete remission following adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy according to Euro-EWING 2008 treatment protocol. Intracranial Ewing sarcoma, although rare, should be an important differential diagnosis of intracranial tumors in childhood which requires aggressive multimodal treatment

Clinical Usefulness of Streptococcus pneumoniae Urinary Antigen in Patients Hospitalized with Non-Nosocomial Pneumonia

Introduction : Community acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a major cause of hospital admissions and mortality in developed countries. Nevertheless, in about half of the cases a microbial etiology can`t be determined. The need to improve the diagnostic tools of this disease has led to the development of new techniques, such as Streptococcus pneumoniae urinary antigen. Objectives : To analyse the usefulness of the urinary antigen in determining the etiologic diagnosis of pneumonias and its influence in the antibiotherapy modification. Methods : Retrospective analysis of hospitalized patients in 2010 with CAP (n=226) and healthcare associated pneumonia (HCAP) [n=64] diagnosis whose urinary pneumococcal antigen has been analyzed. Results: Median age was significantly greater in HCAP. HCAP patients had more co-morbidities and higher severity scores. Twenty-one patients in the CAP group and 4 patients in the HCAP group had positive pneumococcal antigen. The sensibility of urinary antigen in determining pneumococcal pneumonias was 36% and the specificity 89%. Almost one quarter of the 25 patients with positive urinary antigen had appropriate reductions in antimicrobial spectra, which was not statistically significant when compared with the group with negative urinary antigen. There was a significant relation between a positive urinary antigen and pneumonia severity. Conclusions: Considering its high specificity, the urinary antigen is useful to confirm the presence of pneumococcal pneumonia. Potentially urinary antigen can help to avoid unnecessary treatments in hospitalized patients with CAP

A Study of Single-Particle Parity-Nonconserving Nuclear Matrix Elements

This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY-931478

Wavelet Based Fractal Analysis of Airborne Pollen

The most abundant biological particles in the atmosphere are pollen grains and spores. Self protection of pollen allergy is possible through the information of future pollen contents in the air. In spite of the importance of airborne pol len concentration forecasting, it has not been possible to predict the pollen concentrations with great accuracy, and about 25% of the daily pollen forecasts have resulted in failures. Previous analysis of the dynamic characteristics of atmospheric pollen time series indicate that the system can be described by a low dimensional chaotic map. We apply the wavelet transform to study the multifractal characteristics of an a irborne pollen time series. We find the persistence behaviour associated to low pollen concentration values and to the most rare events of highest pollen co ncentration values. The information and the correlation dimensions correspond to a chaotic system showing loss of information with time evolution.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure

A Study of Single-Particle Parity-Nonconserving Nuclear Matrix Elements

This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY-931478

Ground state correlations and mean-field in 16^{16}O

We use the coupled cluster expansion ($\exp(S)$ method) to generate the complete ground state correlations due to the NN interaction. Part of this procedure is the calculation of the two-body G matrix inside the nucleus in which it is being used. This formalism is being applied to $^{16}O$ in a configuration space of 50 $\hbar\omega$. The resulting ground state wave function is used to calculate the binding energy and one- and two-body densities for the ground state of $^{16}O$.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, LaTe

Human Papillomavirus prevalence and probable first effects of vaccination in 20 to 25 year-old women in Germany: a population-based cross-sectional study via home-based self-sampling

BACKGROUND: Estimates of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) prevalence in a population prior to and after HPV vaccine introduction are essential to evaluate the short-term impact of vaccination. METHODS: Between 2010 and 2012 we conducted a population-based cross-sectional study in Germany to determine HPV prevalence, genotype distribution and risk factors for HPV-infection in women aged 20-25 years. Women were recruited by a two-step cluster sampling approach. A home-based self-collection of cervicovaginal lavages was used. Specimens were analysed using a general primer GP5+/GP6+-based polymerase chain reaction and genotyped for 18 high-risk and 6 low-risk HPV- strains by Luminex-based multiplexed genotyping. RESULTS: Among 787 included women, 512 were not vaccinated against HPV. In the non-vaccinated population, HPV prevalence of any type was 38.1%, with HPV 16 (19.5%) being the most prevalent genotype. Prevalence of any high-risk type was 34.4%, and in 17.4% of all women, more than one genotype was identified. A higher number of lifetime sexual partners and low educational status were independently associated with HPV-infection. In 223 vaccinated women, prevalence of HPV 16/18 was significantly lower compared to non-vaccinated women (13.9% vs. 22.5%, p = 0.007). When stratifying by age groups, this difference was only significant in women aged 20-21 years, who at time of vaccination were on average younger and had less previous sexual contacts than women aged 22-25 years. CONCLUSION: We demonstrate a high prevalence of high-risk HPV genotypes in non-vaccinated women living in Germany that can be potentially prevented by vaccination. Probable first vaccination effects on the HPV prevalence were observed in women who were vaccinated at younger age. This finding reinforces the recommendation to vaccinate girls in early adolescence

FAST CARS: Engineering a Laser Spectroscopic Technique for Rapid Identification of Bacterial Spores

Airborne contaminants, e.g., bacterial spores, are usually analyzed by time consuming microscopic, chemical and biological assays. Current research into real time laser spectroscopic detectors of such contaminants is based on e.g. resonant Raman spectroscopy. The present approach derives from recent experiments in which atoms and molecules are prepared by one (or more) coherent laser(s) and probed by another set of lasers. The connection with previous studies based on "Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Spectroscopy" (CARS) is to be noted. However generating and utilizing maximally coherent oscillation in macromolecules having an enormous number of degrees of freedom is much more challenging. This extension of the CARS technique is called FAST CARS (Femtosecond Adaptive Spectroscopic Techniques for Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Spectroscopy), and the present paper proposes and analyses ways in which it could be used to rapidly identify pre-selected molecules in real time.Comment: 43 pages, 21 figures; replacement with references added. Submitted to the Proceedings of National Academy of Science