Randomized Controlled Trial on Effectiveness of Ultrasonography Screening for Breast Cancer in Women Aged 40–49 (J-START): Research Design

In cancer screening, it is essential to undertake effective screening with appropriate methodology, which should be supported by evidence of a reduced mortality rate. At present, mammography is the only method for breast cancer screening with such evidence. However, mammography does not achieve sufficient accuracy in breasts with high density at ages below 50. Although ultrasonography achieves better accuracy in Breast Cancer detection even in dense breasts, the effectiveness has not been verified. We have planned a randomized controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of ultrasonography in women aged 40–49, with a design to study 50 000 women with mammography and ultrasonography (intervention group), and 50 000 controls with mammography only (control group). The participants are scheduled to take second round screening with the same modality 2 years on. The primary endpoints are sensitivity and specificity, and the secondary endpoint is the rate of advanced breast cancers

Atmospheric gamma-ray observation with the BETS detectorfor calibrating atmospheric neutrino flux calculations

We observed atmospheric gamma-rays around 10 GeV at balloon altitudes (15~25 km) and at a mountain (2770 m a.s.l). The observed results were compared with Monte Carlo calculations to find that an interaction model (Lund Fritiof1.6) used in an old neutrino flux calculation was not good enough for describing the observed values. In stead, we found that two other nuclear interaction models, Lund Fritiof7.02 and dpmjet3.03, gave much better agreement with the observations. Our data will serve for examining nuclear interaction models and for deriving a reliable absolute atmospheric neutrino flux in the GeV region.We observed atmospheric gamma-rays around 10 GeV at balloon altitudes (15~25 km) and at a mountain (2770 m a.s.l). The observed results were compared with Monte Carlo calculations to find that an interaction model (Lund Fritiof1.6) used in an old neutrino flux calculation was not good enough for describing the observed values. In stead, we found that two other nuclear interaction models, Lund Fritiof7.02 and dpmjet3.03, gave much better agreement with the observations. Our data will serve for examining nuclear interaction models and for deriving a reliable absolute atmospheric neutrino flux in the GeV region

Observation of B0->pi0pi0

We report the first observation of the decay B0->pi0pi0, using a 253/fb data sample collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB e+e- collider. The measured branching fraction is BF(B0->pi0pi0) = {2.32 +0.4-0.5(stat) +0.2-0.3(syst)} x 10^-6, with a significance of 5.8 standard deviations including systematic uncertainties. We also make the first measurement of the direct CP violating asymmetry in this mode.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, submitted to ICHEP04, Beijing and Physical Review Letters. v2: a possible pile-up background is checked and a systematic error for it is include

An Upper Bound on the Decay tau -> mu gamma from Belle

We have performed a search for the lepton-flavor-violating decay tau -> mu gamma using a data sample of 86.3fb^{-1} accumulated by the Belle detector at KEK. No evidence for a signal is seen, and we set an upper limit for the branching fraction of B(tau -> mu gamma) < 3.1 x 10^{-7} at the 90% confidence level.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figuresm, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Observation of a narrow charmonium-like state in exclusive B+ -> K+ pi+pi- J/psi decays

We report the observation of a narrow charmonium-like state produced in the exclusive decay process B+ -> K+ pi+pi- J/psi. This state, which decays into pi+pi- J/psi, has a mass of 3872.0+-0.6(stat)+-0.5(syst) MeV, a value that is very near the M_D + M_D* mass threshold. The results are based on an analysis of 152M B-Bbar events collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance in the Belle detector at the KEKB collider. The statistical significance of the signal is in excess of 10 sigma.Comment: 10 pages 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Observation of Large CP Violation and Evidence for Direct CP Violation in B0-->pi+pi- Decays

We report the first observation of CP-violating asymmetries in B0 --> pi+pi- decays based on a 140 fb-1 data sample collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider. We reconstruct one neutral B meson as a B0 --> pi+pi- CP eigenstate and identify the flavor of the accompanying B meson from its decay products. We apply an unbinned maximum likelihood fit to the distribution of the time intervals between the two B meson decay points. The fit yields the CP-violating asymmetry amplitudes Apipi = +0.58+/-0.15(stat)+/-0.07(syst) and Spipi = -1.00+/-0.21(stat)+/-0.07(syst). We rule out the CP-conserving case, Apipi=Spipi=0, at a level of 5.2 standard deviations. We also find evidence for direct CP violation with a significance at or greater than 3.2 standard deviations for any Spipi value.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

A Novel Hypothesis for Thalidomide-Induced Limb Teratogenesis: Redox Misregulation of the NF-κB Pathway

Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the mechanisms of thalidomide teratogenesis, although none adequately accounts for the observed malformations and explains the basis for species specificity. Recent observations that thalidomide increases the production of free radicals and elicits oxidative stress, coupled with new insights into the redox regulation of nuclear transcription factors, lead to the suggestion that thalidomide may act through redox misregulation of the limb outgrowth pathways. Oxidative stress, as marked by glutathione depletion/oxidation and a shift in intracellular redox potential toward the positive, occurs preferentially in limbs of thalidomide-sensitive rabbits, but not in resistant rats. DNA binding of nuclear factor κ-B (NF-κB), a redox-sensitive transcription factor and key regulator of limb outgrowth, was shown to be significantly attenuated in rabbit limb cells and could be restored following the addition of a free radical spin-trapping agent, phenyl N-tert-butyl nitrone. The inability of NF-κB to bind to its DNA promoter results in the failure of limb cells to express fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-10 and twist in the limb progress zone (PZ) mesenchyme, which in turn attenuates expression of FGF-8 in the apical ectodermal ridge (AER). Failure to establish an FGF-10/FGF-8 feedback loop between the PZ and AER results in the truncation of limb outgrowth. We hypothesize that species-selective alterations in redox microenvironment caused by free radical production from thalidomide results in attenuation of the NF-κB-mediated gene expression that is responsible for limb outgrowth.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/63400/1/152308604771978291.pd