932 research outputs found
Mutational Analysis in Pediatric Thyroid Cancer and Correlations with Age, Ethnicity, and Clinical Presentation.
BackgroundWell-differentiated thyroid cancer (WDTC) incidence in pediatrics is rising, most being papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). The objective of the study was to assess the prevalence of different mutations in pediatric WDTC and correlate the genotype with the clinical phenotype.MethodsThis is a single-center retrospective study. Thyroid tissue blocks from 42 consecutive pediatric WDTC patients who underwent thyroidectomy between 2001 and 2013 were analyzed at Quest Diagnostics for BRAF(V600E), RAS mutations (N,K,H), and RET/PTC and PAX8/PPARγ rearrangements, using validated molecular methods. Thyroid carcinomas included PTC, follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC), and follicular variant of PTC (FVPTC).ResultsThirty-nine samples (29 females) were genotyped. The mean age at diagnosis was 14.7 years (range 7.9-18.4 years), and most were Hispanic (56.4%) or Caucasian (35.9%). The mean follow-up period was 2.9 years. Mutations were noted in 21/39 (53.8%), with both BRAF(V600E) (n = 9), and RET/PTC (n = 6) detected only in PTC. Mutations were detected in 2/5 FTC (PAX8/PPARγ and NRAS) and 3/6 FVPTC cases (PAX8/PPARγ). Of 28 PTC patients, 57.1% had mutations: 32.1% with BRAF(V600E), 21.4% with RET/PTC, and 3.6% with NRAS. Of patients with BRAF(V600E), 77.8% were Hispanic and 88.9% were >15 years, while all RET/PTC-positive patients were ≤15 years (p = 0.003). Tumor size, lymph node involvement, and distant metastasis at diagnosis (or soon after (131)I ablation) did not vary significantly based on the mutation.ConclusionsBRAF(V600E) was the most common mutation, especially in older and Hispanic adolescents. A larger, ethnically diverse pediatric cohort followed long term will enable the genotypic variability, clinical presentation, and response to therapy to be better assessed
Electromagnetically induced transparency in cold 85Rb atoms trapped in the ground hyperfine F = 2 state
We report electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in cold 85Rb atoms,
trapped in the lower hyperfine level F = 2, of the ground state 5
(Tiwari V B \textit{et al} 2008 {\it Phys. Rev.} A {\bf 78} 063421). Two steady
state -type systems of hyperfine energy levels are investigated using
probe transitions into the levels F = 2 and F = 3 of the
excited state 5 in the presence of coupling transitions F = 3
F = 2 and F = 3 F = 3, respectively. The
effects of uncoupled magnetic sublevel transitions and coupling field's Rabi
frequency on the EIT signal from these systems are studied using a simple
theoretical model.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure
How to be causal: time, spacetime, and spectra
I explain a simple definition of causality in widespread use, and indicate
how it links to the Kramers Kronig relations. The specification of causality in
terms of temporal differential eqations then shows us the way to write down
dynamical models so that their causal nature /in the sense used here/ should be
obvious to all. To extend existing treatments of causality that work only in
the frequency domain, I derive a reformulation of the long-standing Kramers
Kronig relations applicable not only to just temporal causality, but also to
spacetime "light-cone" causality based on signals carried by waves. I also
apply this causal reasoning to Maxwell's equations, which is an instructive
example since their casual properties are sometimes debated.Comment: v4 - add Appdx A, "discrete" picture (not in EJP); v5 - add Appdx B,
cause classification/frames (not in EJP); v7 - unusual model case; v8 add
reference
Precautionary Regulation in Europe and the United States: A Quantitative Comparison
Much attention has been addressed to the question of whether Europe or the United States adopts a more precautionary stance to the regulation of potential environmental, health, and safety risks. Some commentators suggest that Europe is more risk-averse and precautionary, whereas the US is seen as more risk-taking and optimistic about the prospects for new technology. Others suggest that the US is more precautionary because its regulatory process is more legalistic and adversarial, while Europe is more lax and corporatist in its regulations. The flip-flop hypothesis claims that the US was more precautionary than Europe in the 1970s and early 1980s, and that Europe has become more precautionary since then. We examine the levels and trends in regulation of environmental, health, and safety risks since 1970. Unlike previous research, which has studied only a small set of prominent cases selected non-randomly, we develop a comprehensive list of almost 3,000 risks and code the relative stringency of regulation in Europe and the US for each of 100 risks randomly selected from that list for each year from 1970 through 2004. Our results suggest that: (a) averaging over risks, there is no significant difference in relative precaution over the period, (b) weakly consistent with the flip-flop hypothesis, there is some evidence of a modest shift toward greater relative precaution of European regulation since about 1990, although (c) there is a diversity of trends across risks, of which the most common is no change in relative precaution (including cases where Europe and the US are equally precautionary and where Europe or the US has been consistently more precautionary). The overall finding is of a mixed and diverse pattern of relative transatlantic precaution over the period
A Search for Sigma^0_5, N^0_5 and Theta^++ Pentaquark States
A high-resolution (sigma_instr. = 1.5 MeV) search for narrow states (Gamma <
10 MeV) with masses of M_x approx 1500-1850 MeV in ep -> e'K^+ X, e'K^- X and
e' pi^+ X electroproduction at small angles and low Q^2 was performed. These
states would be candidate partner states of the reported Theta^+(1540)
pentaquark. No statistically significant signal was observed in any of the
channels at 90% C.L. Upper limits on forward production were determined to be
between 0.7% and 4.2% of the Lambda(1520) production cross section, depending
on the channel and the assumed mass and width of the state.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. C, update with responses
to referee suggestion
Probing the high momentum component of the deuteron at high Q^2
The d(e,e'p) cross section at a momentum transfer of 3.5 (GeV/c)^2 was
measured over a kinematical range that made it possible to study this reaction
for a set of fixed missing momenta as a function of the neutron recoil angle
theta_nq and to extract missing momentum distributions for fixed values of
theta_nq up to 0.55 GeV/c. In the region of 35 (deg) <= theta_nq <= 45 (deg)
recent calculations, which predict that final state interactions are small,
agree reasonably well with the experimental data. Therefore these experimental
reduced cross sections provide direct access to the high momentum component of
the deuteron momentum distribution in exclusive deuteron
electro-disintegration.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
Measurement of the 12C(e,e'p)11B Two-Body Breakup Reaction at High Missing Momentum Values
The five-fold differential cross section for the 12C(e,e'p)11B reaction was
determined over a missing momentum range of 200-400 MeV/c, in a kinematics
regime with Bjorken x > 1 and Q2 = 2.0 (GeV/c)2. A comparison of the results
and theoretical models and previous lower missing momentum data is shown. The
theoretical calculations agree well with the data up to a missing momentum
value of 325 MeV/c and then diverge for larger missing momenta. The extracted
distorted momentum distribution is shown to be consistent with previous data
and extends the range of available data up to 400 MeV/c.Comment: 12 pages, 1 table and 3 figures for submission to Journal Physics
Scaling Tests of the Cross Section for Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering
We present the first measurements of the \vec{e}p->epg cross section in the
deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) regime and the valence quark region.
The Q^2 dependence (from 1.5 to 2.3 GeV^2) of the helicity-dependent cross
section indicates the twist-2 dominance of DVCS, proving that generalized
parton distributions (GPDs) are accessible to experiment at moderate Q^2. The
helicity-independent cross section is also measured at Q^2=2.3 GeV^2. We
present the first model-independent measurement of linear combinations of GPDs
and GPD integrals up to the twist-3 approximation.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables. Text shortened for publication.
References added. One figure remove
- …