Spontaneous dressed-state polarization in the strong driving regime of cavity QED

We utilize high-bandwidth phase quadrature homodyne measurement of the light transmitted through a Fabry-Perot cavity, driven strongly and on resonance, to detect excess phase noise induced by a single intracavity atom. We analyze the correlation properties and driving-strength dependence of the atom-induced phase noise to establish that it corresponds to the long-predicted phenomenon of spontaneous dressed-state polarization. Our experiment thus provides a demonstration of cavity quantum electrodynamics in the strong driving regime, in which one atom interacts strongly with a many-photon cavity field to produce novel quantum stochastic behavior.Comment: 4 pages, 4 color figure

Twenty five year follow-up for breast cancer incidence and mortality of the Canadian national breast screening study: randomised screening trial

Annual mammography in women aged 40-59 does not reduce mortality from breast cancer beyond that of physical examination or usual care when adjuvant therapy for breast cancer is freely available. Abstract Objective: To compare breast cancer incidence and mortality up to 25 years in women aged 40-59 who did or did not undergo mammography screening. Design: Follow-up of randomised screening trial by centre coordinators, the study’s central office, and linkage to cancer registries and vital statistics databases. Setting: 15 screening centres in six Canadian provinces,1980-85 (Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia). Participants: 89 835 women, aged 40-59, randomly assigned to mammography (five annual mammography screens) or control (no mammography). Interventions: Women aged 40-49 in the mammography arm and all women aged 50-59 in both arms received annual physical breast examinations. Women aged 40-49 in the control arm received a single examination followed by usual care in the community. Main outcome measure: Deaths from breast cancer. Results: During the five year screening period, 666 invasive breast cancers were diagnosed in the mammography arm (n=44 925 participants) and 524 in the controls (n=44 910), and of these, 180 women in the mammography arm and 171 women in the control arm died of breast cancer during the 25 year follow-up period. The overall hazard ratio for death from breast cancer diagnosed during the screening period associated with mammography was 1.05 (95% confidence interval 0.85 to 1.30). The findings for women aged 40-49 and 50-59 were almost identical. During the entire study period, 3250 women in the mammography arm and 3133 in the control arm had a diagnosis of breast cancer, and 500 and 505, respectively, died of breast cancer. Thus the cumulative mortality from breast cancer was similar between women in the mammography arm and in the control arm (hazard ratio 0.99, 95% confidence interval 0.88 to 1.12). After 15 years of follow-up a residual excess of 106 cancers was observed in the mammography arm, attributable to over-diagnosis. Conclusion: Annual mammography in women aged 40-59 does not reduce mortality from breast cancer beyond that of physical examination or usual care when adjuvant therapy for breast cancer is freely available. Overall, 22% (106/484) of screen detected invasive breast cancers were over-diagnosed, representing one over-diagnosed breast cancer for every 424 women who received mammography screening in the trial

Chiral Corrections to Baryon Masses Calculated within Lattice QCD

Consideration of the analytic properties of pion-induced baryon self energies leads to new functional forms for the extrapolation of light baryon masses. These functional forms reproduce the leading non-analytic behavior of chiral perturbation theory, the correct non-analytic behavior at the $N \pi$ threshold and the appropriate heavy-quark limit. They involve only three unknown parameters, which may be obtained by fitting lattice QCD data. Recent dynamical fermion results from CP-PACS and UKQCD are extrapolated using these new functional forms. We also use these functions to probe the limit of applicability of chiral perturbation theory.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Contribution to the Proceedings of the 15th Particles and Nuclei International Conference (PANIC 99), Uppsala, Sweden, June 10-16, 199

A demonstration of motion base design alternatives for the National Advanced Driving Simulator

A demonstration of the capability of NASA's Vertical Motion Simulator to simulate two alternative motion base designs for the National Advanced Driving simulator (NADS) is reported. The VMS is located at ARC. The motion base conditions used in this demonstration were as follows: (1) a large translational motion base; and (2) a motion base design with limited translational capability. The latter had translational capability representative of a typical synergistic motion platform. These alternatives were selected to test the prediction that large amplitude translational motion would result in a lower incidence or severity of simulator induced sickness (SIS) than would a limited translational motion base. A total of 10 drivers performed two tasks, slaloms and quick-stops, using each of the motion bases. Physiological, objective, and subjective measures were collected. No reliable differences in SIS between the motion base conditions was found in this demonstration. However, in light of the cost considerations and engineering challenges associated with implementing a large translation motion base, performance of a formal study is recommended

Trends in Cancer Mortality in 15 Industrialized Countries, 1969-1986

Background: Assessing trends in cancer provides a means for gauging progress against the disease, estimating future demands for care and treatment, and suggesting clues about shifting causal factors that may account for the more recent changes. Purpose: This study was designed to evaluate trends in the major sites of cancer associated with high mortality rates in 15 industrialized countries. To highlight differences among regions, we grouped these countries into six geographic areas: United States, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, East Asia, Oceania, and Nordic countries. In addition, cancer mortality trends in these regions were compared with incidence patterns in the United States. Methods: Data provided by the World Health Organization were used to evaluate age-specific mortality trends from 1969 through 1986 for lung, breast, prostate, stomach, and colorectal cancers and for all other sites considered as a group. We also assembled and analyzed data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program of the National Cancer Institute for the same sites and age groups from 1973 through 1986. Results: Over the period 1969 through 1986, recorded cancer mortality in persons aged 45 years and older in the six regions studied has increased for lung, breast, and prostate cancers in most age groups, while the decline in stomach cancer mortality is substantial. The increase in lung cancer deaths in men aged 45-54 years has slowed greatly or reversed in all areas except Eastern Europe and East Asia. Trends for intestinal cancer vary by age and region. For all other sites considered as a group, increases have occurred for persons older than 64 years in most regions. In Eastern Europe, there are disturbingly high rates and rapid increases for several of the major forms of cancer in persons aged 45-54 years. In general, trends for cancer incidence in the United States parallel those for mortality. For intestinal cancer, however, incidence has increased while mortality has declined. Conclusions: The trends we report cannot be explained solely by changes in cigarette smoking or aging. Other causes of changes in cancer incidence and mortality need to be determined. Implications: The increasing and decreasing trends in mortality from and incidence of cancer that we found are important for health care planning and may also suggest opportunities for research in cancer prevention. [J Natl Cancer Inst 84: 313-320, 1992

Oral contraceptive use and risk of breast cancer among women with a family history of breast cancer: a prospective cohort study

Family history of breast cancer is an established risk factor for breast cancer. In addition, there is evidence that oral contraceptive use may be associated with a moderate increase in breast cancer risk. The three cohort studies that have investigated the relationship between oral contraceptive use and breast cancer risk among women with a family history of breast cancer have yielded mixed results, possibly due to the relatively small sample sizes employed and/or differences in the selection of covariates for inclusion in multivariate models. Therefore, we examined the association between oral contraceptive use and breast cancer risk in a large cohort study in Canada. The cohort consisted of the 27,318 women in the Canadian National Breast Screening Study who reported a family history of breast cancer on enrolment into the study. Linkages to national mortality and cancer databases yielded data on deaths and cancer incidence, with follow-up ending between 1998 and 2000, depending upon the province. During a mean of 16.0 years of follow-up, we observed 1707 incident cases of breast cancer among women with any history of breast cancer of which 795 cases occurred among women with a mother, sister, and/or daughter with breast cancer. Among women with any family history of breast cancer, ever use of oral contraceptives was associated with a 12% reduction in risk of breast cancer (95% confidence interval [CI]=0.73–1.07), and there was an inverse trend with increasing duration of use of borderline statistical significance (ptrend=0.03). Although we also observed a 25% lower risk of breast cancer associated with oral contraceptive use of greater than 84 months versus never use among women with a first degree relative with breast cancer, this finding was not statistically significant (95% CI=0.47–1.19, ptrend=0.48). Our data raise the possibility that relatively long duration of oral contraceptive use may be inversely associated with risk among women with a family history of breast cancer

Hormonal and reproductive factors and risk of glioma: A prospective cohort study

The etiology of glioma, the most commonly diagnosed malignant brain tumor among adults in the United States, is poorly understood. Given the lower incidence rate of glioma in women than in men, it has been hypothesized that reproductive and hormonal factors may be involved in the etiology of glioma. We conducted a secondary analysis of data from the National Breast Screening Study, which included 89,835 Canadian women, aged 40–59 years at recruitment between 1980 and 1985. Linkages to national cancer and mortality databases yielded data on cancer incidence and deaths from all causes, respectively, with follow‐up ending between 1998 and 2000. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between hormonal and reproductive factors and risk of glioma. During a mean of 16.4 years of follow‐up, we observed 120 incident glioma cases. Compared with women with a relatively early age at menarche (≤12 years), women who were 13–14 years of age at menarche had a 64% increased risk of glioma (95% CI = 1.01–2.65), and women who were older than 14 years of age at menarche had a 66% increased risk of glioma (95% CI = 0.86–3.20, p trend = 0.06). Age at first live birth, parity, menopausal status, use of oral contraceptive, and use of hormone replacement therapy were not associated with altered glioma risk in our study population. Additional prospective studies are needed to confirm our findings

Risk factors for thyroid cancer: A prospective cohort study

Given the higher incidence rate of thyroid cancer among women compared to men and evidence that smoking and alcohol consumption may be inversely related to thyroid cancer risk, we examined thyroid cancer risk in association with menstrual, reproductive, and hormonal factors, and cigarette and alcohol consumption, in a prospective cohort study of 89,835 Canadian women aged 40–59 at recruitment who were enrolled in the National Breast Screening Study (NBSS). Linkages to national cancer and mortality databases yielded data on cancer incidence and deaths from all causes, respectively, with follow-up ending between 1998 and 2000. Cox proportional hazards models (using age as the time scale) were used to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the association between each of the potential risk factors and risk of thyroid cancer overall and by the main histologic subtypes. During a mean of 15.9 years of follow-up, we observed 169 incident thyroid cancer cases. There was no evidence of altered overall thyroid cancer risk with any of the menstrual, reproductive, or hormonal factors. There was evidence of a decreased risk of papillary thyroid cancer among women with 5 or more live births (vs. nulliparous). Age at which smoking commenced, duration of smoking, number of cigarettes smoked per day, pack-years of smoking, and alcohol consumption were not associated with altered thyroid cancer risk. The present study provides little support for associations with hormonal factors, smoking, or alcohol consumption, but there is a need for additional prospective data

Cigarette smoking and risk of glioma: A prospective cohort study

The etiology of glioma, the most commonly diagnosed malignant brain tumor among adults in the United States, is poorly understood. N‐nitroso compounds are known carcinogens, which are found in cigarette smoke and can induce gliomas in rats. On this basis, it has been hypothesized that cigarette smoking may be associated with an increased risk of glioma. We investigated the association between cigarette smoking and glioma risk in the National Breast Screening Study, which included 89,835 Canadian women aged 40–59 years at recruitment between 1980 and 1985. Linkages to national cancer and mortality databases yielded data on cancer incidence and deaths from all causes, respectively, with follow‐up ending between 1998 and 2000. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between cigarette smoking and risk of glioma. During a mean of 16.4 years of follow‐up, we observed 120 incident glioma cases. Among ever smokers, women who reported having quit smoking had a 51% increase in the risk of glioma compared with never smokers (HR = 1.51, 95% CI = 0.97–2.34), while current smokers did not appear to have an increase in risk. When the association with former smokers was further examined by years since quitting, women who had quit smoking \u3e10 years before baseline were at a decreased risk of glioma compared with women who had quit within the 10 years prior to baseline (HR = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.29–1.07), indicating that the association between former smokers and glioma may be driven by women, who recently quit smoking. Compared with nonsmokers, the duration of cigarette smoking, the number of cigarettes smoked per day and pack‐years of smoking were associated with increased glioma risk, although the increases in risk were relatively modest. The present study provides some support for a positive association between cigarette smoking and the risk of glioma

Cigarette smoking and risk of glioma: A prospective cohort study

The etiology of glioma, the most commonly diagnosed malignant brain tumor among adults in the United States, is poorly understood. N‐nitroso compounds are known carcinogens, which are found in cigarette smoke and can induce gliomas in rats. On this basis, it has been hypothesized that cigarette smoking may be associated with an increased risk of glioma. We investigated the association between cigarette smoking and glioma risk in the National Breast Screening Study, which included 89,835 Canadian women aged 40–59 years at recruitment between 1980 and 1985. Linkages to national cancer and mortality databases yielded data on cancer incidence and deaths from all causes, respectively, with follow‐up ending between 1998 and 2000. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between cigarette smoking and risk of glioma. During a mean of 16.4 years of follow‐up, we observed 120 incident glioma cases. Among ever smokers, women who reported having quit smoking had a 51% increase in risk of glioma compared with never smokers (HR = 1.51, 95% CI = 0.97–2.34), while current smokers did not appear to have an increase in risk. When the association with former smokers was further examined by years since quitting, women who had quit smoking \u3e10 years before baseline were at a decreased risk of glioma compared with women who had quit within the 10 years prior to baseline (HR = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.29–1.07), indicating that the association between former smokers and glioma may be driven by women, who recently quit smoking. Compared with nonsmokers, duration of cigarette smoking, number of cigarettes smoked per day and pack‐years of smoking were associated with increased glioma risk, although the increases in risk were relatively modest. The present study provides some support for a positive association between cigarette smoking and risk of glioma