Salud es Vida: Development of a Cervical Cancer Education Curriculum for Promotora Outreach With Latina Farmworkers in Rural Southern Georgia

Methods: A systematic review was conducted to synthesize evidence from all prospective controlled studies on effectiveness of CHW programs in improving screening mammography rates. Studies reported in English and conducted in the United States were included if they: (i) evaluated a CHW intervention designed to increase screening mammography rates in women 40 years of age or older without a history of breast cancer; (ii) were a randomized controlled trial (RCT), case-controlled study, or quasi-experimental study; and (iii) evaluated a CHW intervention outside of a hospital setting. Results: Participation in a CHW intervention was associated with a statistically significant increase in receipt of screening mammography [risk ratio (RR): 1.06 (favoring intervention); 95% CI: 1.02-1.11, P = 0.003]. The effect remained when pooled data from only RCTs were included in meta-analysis (RR: 1.07; 95% CI: 1.03-1.12, P = 0.0005) but was not present using pooled data from only quasi-experimental studies (RR: 1.03; 95% CI: 0.89-1.18, P = 0.71). In RCTs, participants recruited from medical settings (RR: 1.41; 95% CI: 1.09-1.82, P = 0.008), programs conducted in urban settings (RR: 1.23; 95% CI: 1.09, 1.39, P = 0.001), and programs where CHWs were matched to intervention participants on race or ethnicity (RR: 1.58, 95% CI: 1.29-1.93, P = 0.0001) showed stronger effects on increasing mammography screening rates. Conclusions: CHW interventions are effective for increasing screening mammography in certain settings and populations. Impact: CHW interventions are especially associated with improvements in rate of screening mammography in medical settings, urban settings, and in participants who are racially or ethnically concordant with the CHW

Adiabatic transfer of light in a double cavity and the optical Landau-Zener problem

We analyze the evolution of an electromagnetic field inside a double cavity when the difference in length between the two cavities is changed, e.g. by translating the common mirror. We find that this allows photons to be moved deterministically from one cavity to the other. We are able to obtain the conditions for adiabatic transfer by first mapping the Maxwell wave equation for the electric field onto a Schroedinger-like wave equation, and then using the Landau-Zener result for the transition probability at an avoided crossing. Our analysis reveals that this mapping only rigorously holds when the two cavities are weakly coupled (i.e. in the regime of a highly reflective common mirror), and that, generally speaking, care is required when attempting a hamiltonian description of cavity electrodynamics with time-dependent boundary conditions.Comment: 24 pages, 18 figures. Version 2 includes a new section (Sec. VIII) on the regimes of validity of the Schroedinger-like equations and also of the adiabatic approximation, together with a new figure (Fig. 10). The discussion section (Sec. XI) has also been enhance

Isopiestic Investigation of the Osmotic and Activity Coefficients of {yMgCl2 + (1 - y)MgSO4}(aq) and the Osmotic Coefficients of Na2SO4.MgSO4(aq) at 298.15 K

Isopiestic vapor pressure measurements were made for {l_brace}yMgCl{sub 2} + (1-y)MgSO{sub 4}{r_brace}(aq) solutions with MgCl{sub 2} ionic strength fractions of y = 0, 0.1997, 0.3989, 0.5992, 0.8008, and (1) at the temperature 298.15 K, using KCl(aq) as the reference standard. These measurements for the mixtures cover the ionic strength range I = 0.9794 to 9.4318 mol {center_dot} kg{sup -1}. In addition, isopiestic measurements were made with NaCl(aq) as reference standard for mixtures of {l_brace}xNa{sub 2}SO{sub 4} + (1-x)MgSO{sub 4}{r_brace}(aq) with the molality fraction x = 0.50000 that correspond to solutions of the evaporite mineral bloedite (astrakanite), Na{sub 2}Mg(SO{sub 4}){sub 2} {center_dot} 4H{sub 2}O(cr). The total molalities, m{sub T} = m(Na{sub 2}SO{sub 4}) + m(MgSO{sub 4}), range from m{sub T} = 1.4479 to 4.4312 mol {center_dot} kg{sup -1} (I = 5.0677 to 15.509 mol {center_dot} kg{sup -1}), where the uppermost concentration is the highest oversaturation molality that could be achieved by isothermal evaporation of the solvent at 298.15 K. The parameters of an extended ion-interaction (Pitzer) model for MgCl2(aq) at 298.15 K, which were required for an analysis of the {l_brace}yMgCl{sub 2} + (1-y)MgSO{sub 4}{r_brace}(aq) mixture results, were evaluated up to I = 12.025 mol {center_dot} kg{sup -1} from published isopiestic data together with the six new osmotic coefficients obtained in this study. Osmotic coefficients of {l_brace}yMgCl{sub 2} + (1-y)MgSO{sub 4}{r_brace}(aq) solutions from the present study, along with critically-assessed values from previous studies, were used to evaluate the mixing parameters of the extended ion-interaction model

Osmotic and Activity Coefficients of the {xZnCl2 + (1 - x)ZnSO4}(aq) System at 298.15 K

Isopiestic vapor pressure measurements were made for (xZnCl{sub 2} + (1 - x)ZnSO{sub 4})(aq) solutions with ZnCl{sub 2} molality fractions of x = (0, 0.3062, 0.5730, 0.7969, and 1) at the temperature 298.15 K, using KCl(aq) as the reference standard. These measurements cover the water activity range 0.901-0.919 {le} a{sub w} {le} 0.978. The experimental osmotic coefficients were used to evaluate the parameters of an extended ion-interaction (Pitzer) model for these mixed electrolyte solutions. A similar analysis was made of the available activity data for ZnCl{sub 2}(aq) at 298.15 K, while assuming the presence of equilibrium amounts of ZnCl{sup +}(aq) ion-pairs, to derive the ion-interaction parameters for the hypothetical pure binary electrolytes (Zn{sup 2+}, 2Cl{sup -}) and (ZnCl{sup +},Cl{sup -}). These parameters are required for the analysis of the mixture results. Although significant concentrations of higher-order zinc chloride complexes may also be present in these solutions, it was possible to represent the osmotic coefficients accurately by explicitly including only the predominant complex ZnCl{sup +}(aq) and the completely dissociated ions. The ionic activity coefficients and osmotic coefficients were calculated over the investigated molality range using the evaluated extended Pitzer model parameters

Antioxidative responses to seasonal changes and chemiluminescence assay of Astragalus onobrychis leaves extract

The aim of this study was to research the seasonal changes of antioxidant enzyme activity and total antioxidant capacity in leaves of Astragalus onobrychis L. subsp. chlorocarpus (Griseb.) S. Kozuharov et D.K. Pavlova. Leaves of A. onobrychis were collected during the different stages of growth and analyzed for antioxidant enzyme activity: superoxide dismutase, catalase, guaiacol peroxidase, glutathione peroxidase. Quantities of malonyldialdehyde, superoxide radicals, and hydroxyl radicals were measured as well as the content of soluble proteins. Furthermore, total antioxidant capacity was determined by the inhibition of chemiluminescence activity of blood phagocytes by leaf extracts. Stages of vegetation significantly affected the accumulation of superoxide radicals, but there were no significant differences in hydroxyl radical quantity and lipid peroxidation levels during vegetation. Soluble proteins vary greatly between different stages of growth. Seasonal changes were found to have an effect on enzymatic activities. During the spring season, guaiacol peroxidase showed the highest levels. Catalase and glutathione peroxidase increased their activities in summer, while, during the autumn season, superoxide dismutase showed maximum activity. On the basis of chemiluminescence assay, it can be concluded that leaf extract of A. onobrychis possesses a significant antioxidant capacity thus protecting plants during environmental stress

Search for the Higgs boson in events with missing transverse energy and b quark jets produced in proton-antiproton collisions at s**(1/2)=1.96 TeV

We search for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with an electroweak vector boson in events with no identified charged leptons, large imbalance in transverse momentum, and two jets where at least one contains a secondary vertex consistent with the decay of b hadrons. We use ~1 fb-1 integrated luminosity of proton-antiproton collisions at s**(1/2)=1.96 TeV recorded by the CDF II experiment at the Tevatron. We find 268 (16) single (double) b-tagged candidate events, where 248 +/- 43 (14.4 +/- 2.7) are expected from standard model background processes. We place 95% confidence level upper limits on the Higgs boson production cross section for several Higgs boson masses ranging from 110 GeV/c2 to 140 GeV/c2. For a mass of 115 GeV/c2 the observed (expected) limit is 20.4 (14.2) times the standard model prediction.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Measurement of the Helicity Fractions of W Bosons from Top Quark Decays Using Fully Reconstructed top-antitop Events with CDF II

We present a measurement of the fractions F_0 and F_+ of longitudinally polarized and right-handed W bosons in top quark decays using data collected with the CDF II detector. The data set used in the analysis corresponds to an integrated luminosity of approximately 318 pb -1. We select ttbar candidate events with one lepton, at least four jets, and missing transverse energy. Our helicity measurement uses the decay angle theta*, which is defined as the angle between the momentum of the charged lepton in the W boson rest frame and the W momentum in the top quark rest frame. The cos(theta*) distribution in the data is determined by full kinematic reconstruction of the ttbar candidates. We find F_0 = 0.85 +0.15 -0.22 (stat) +- 0.06 (syst) and F_+ = 0.05 +0.11 -0.05 (stat) +- 0.03 (syst), which is consistent with the standard model prediction. We set an upper limit on the fraction of right-handed W bosons of F_+ < 0.26 at the 95% confidence level.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Measurement of the ttbar Production Cross Section in ppbar Collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV

We present a measurement of the top quark pair production cross section in ppbar collisions at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV using 318 pb^{-1} of data collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab. We select ttbar decays into the final states e nu + jets and mu nu + jets, in which at least one b quark from the t-quark decays is identified using a secondary vertex-finding algorithm. Assuming a top quark mass of 178 GeV/c^2, we measure a cross section of 8.7 +-0.9 (stat) +1.1-0.9 (syst) pb. We also report the first observation of ttbar with significance greater than 5 sigma in the subsample in which both b quarks are identified, corresponding to a cross section of 10.1 +1.6-1.4(stat)+2.0-1.3 (syst) pb.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physics Review Letters, 7 page

Top quark mass measurement using the template method at CDF

We present a measurement of the top quark mass in the lepton+jets and dilepton channels of $t\bar{t}$ decays using the template method. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.6 fb$^{-1}$ of $p\bar{p}$ collisions at Tevatron with $\sqrt{s}=1.96$ TeV, collected with the CDF II detector. The measurement is performed by constructing templates of three kinematic variables in the lepton+jets and two kinematic variables in the dilepton channel. The variables are two reconstructed top quark masses from different jets-to-quarks combinations and the invariant mass of two jets from the $W$ decay in the lepton+jets channel, and a reconstructed top quark mass and $m_{T2}$, a variable related to the transverse mass in events with two missing particles, in the dilepton channel. The simultaneous fit of the templates from signal and background events in the lepton+jets and dilepton channels to the data yields a measured top quark mass of $M_{top} = 172.1 \pm 1.1(stat) \pm 0.9(syst).$Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev.

Observation and Mass Measurement of the Baryon Ξb−\Xi^-_b

We report the observation and measurement of the mass of the bottom, strange baryon $\Xi^-_b$ through the decay chain $\Xi^-_b \to J/\psi \Xi^-$, where $J/\psi \to \mu^+ \mu^-$, $\Xi^- \to \Lambda \pi^-$, and $\Lambda \to p \pi^-$. Evidence for observation is based on a signal whose probability of arising from the estimated background is 6.6 x 10^{-15}, or 7.7 Gaussian standard deviations. The $\Xi^-_b$ mass is measured to be $5792.9\pm 2.5$ (stat.) $\pm 1.7$ (syst.) MeV/$c^2$.Comment: Minor text changes for the second version. Accepted by Phys. Rev. Let