Evaluation of the burden of HPV-related hospitalizations as a useful tool to increase awareness: 2007–2017 data from the sicilian hospital discharge records

In light of the implementation of human papillomavirus (HPV) prevention strategies, epidemiological studies in different geographical areas are required in order to assess the impact of HPV-related diseases. The purpose of the present study was to describe the burden of HPV-related hospitalizations in Sicily. A retrospective observational study estimated 43,531 hospitalizations attributable to HPV from 2007 to 2017. During the observed period, there was a decrease for all HPV-related conditions with a higher reduction, among neoplasms, for cervical cancer (annual percent change (APC) = −9.9%, p < 0.001). The median age for cervical cancer was 45 years old, with an increasing value from 43 to 47 years (p < 0.001). The age classes with greater decreases in hospital admissions for invasive cancers were women aged 35 years or more (APC range from −5.5 to −9.86) and 25–34 years old (APC = −11.87, p < 0.001) for women with cervical carcinoma in situ. After ten years for vaccine introduction and sixteen years for cervical cancer screening availability, a relatively large decrease in hospital admissions for cervical cancer and other HPV-related diseases in Sicily was observed. Some clinical characteristics of hospitalization, such as increasing age, are suggestive clues for the impact of preventive strategies, but further research is needed to confirm this relationship

Association of the Individual and Context Inequalities on the Breastfeeding: A Study from the Sicily Region

Despite the advantages of breastfeeding being widely recognized, the economic level can have an influence on breastfeeding rates, with rich women breastfeeding longer than poor in high-income countries. In Italy, socio-economic differences affect breastfeeding start and continuation among most deprived people, such as in Southern Italy. The objective of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of the initiation and continuation of exclusive breastfeeding and its association with the levels of socio-economic deprivation in Sicily. A prospective cohort study with a two-phase survey in three breastfeeding detection times was conducted. Overall, 1,055 mothers were recruited with a mean age of 31 years. Breastfeeding decreased from 86% during hospitalization to 69% at the first month and 42% at the sixth month, yet at the same time, exclusive breastfeeding increased from 34% to 38% during hospitalization to the first month and went down to 20.2% at the sixth month. The adjusted multivariate analysis showed no association with individual inequalities. On the other hand, the context inequalities had a significant association with the risk of not following exclusive breastfeeding in the deprived class (odds ratio (OR): 2.08, confidence interval (CI) 95% 1.01-4.27) and in the very deprived class (OR: 1.83, CI 95% 1.00-3.38) at the six-month survey. These results indicate that the context inequalities begin to emerge from the return home of the mother and the child

Dissipation of the 3^He A-B Transition

A rigorous hydrodynamic theory of the A-B transition is presented. All dissipative processes are considered. At low interface velocities, those occurring on hydrodynamic length scales, not considered hitherto, are most probably the dominant ones.Comment: 13 pages, REVTeX, 2 figures, ITP-UH 13/9

A Quantitative Comparison of Opacities Calculated Using the Distorted- Wave and R\boldsymbol{R}-Matrix Methods

The present debate on the reliability of astrophysical opacities has reached a new climax with the recent measurements of Fe opacities on the Z-machine at the Sandia National Laboratory \citep{Bailey2015}. To understand the differences between theoretical results, on the one hand, and experiments on the other, as well as the differences among the various theoretical results, detailed comparisons are needed. Many ingredients are involved in the calculation of opacities; deconstructing the whole process and comparing the differences at each step are necessary to quantify their importance and impact on the final results. We present here such a comparison using the two main approaches to calculate the required atomic data, the $R$-Matrix and distorted-wave methods, as well as sets of configurations and coupling schemes to quantify the effects on the opacities for the $Fe\ XVII$ and $Ni\ XIV$ ions.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

Variational approach for electrolyte solutions: from dielectric interfaces to charged nanopores

A variational theory is developed to study electrolyte solutions, composed of interacting point-like ions in a solvent, in the presence of dielectric discontinuities and charges at the boundaries. Three important and non-linear electrostatic effects induced by these interfaces are taken into account: surface charge induced electrostatic field, solvation energies due to the ionic cloud, and image charge repulsion. Our variational equations thus go beyond the mean-field theory. The influence of salt concentration, ion valency, dielectric jumps, and surface charge is studied in two geometries. i) A single neutral air-water interface with an asymmetric electrolyte. A charge separation and thus an electrostatic field gets established due to the different image charge repulsions for coions and counterions. Both charge distributions and surface tension are computed and compared to previous approximate calculations. For symmetric electrolyte solutions close to a charged surface, two zones are characterized. In the first one, with size proportional to the logarithm of the coupling parameter, strong image forces impose a total ion exclusion, while in the second zone the mean-field approach applies. ii) A symmetric electrolyte confined between two dielectric interfaces as a simple model of ion rejection from nanopores. The competition between image charge repulsion and attraction of counterions by the membrane charge is studied. For small surface charge, the counterion partition coefficient decreases with increasing pore size up to a critical pore size, contrary to neutral membranes. For larger pore sizes, the whole system behaves like a neutral pore. The prediction of the variational method is also compared with MC simulations and a good agreement is observed.Comment: This version is accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. E

Bubble Growth in Superfluid 3-He: The Dynamics of the Curved A-B Interface

We study the hydrodynamics of the A-B interface with finite curvature. The interface tension is shown to enhance both the transition velocity and the amplitudes of second sound. In addition, the magnetic signals emitted by the growing bubble are calculated, and the interaction between many growing bubbles is considered.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figures, LaTeX, ITP-UH 11/9

HD 65949: Rosetta Stone or Red Herring

HD 65949 is a late B star with exceptionally strong Hg II at 3984[A], but it is not a typical HgMn star. The Re II spectrum is of extraordinary strength. Abundances, or upper limits are derived here for 58 elements based on a model with Teff = 13100K, and log(g) = 4.0. Even-Z elements through nickel show minor deviations from solar abundances. Anomalies among the odd-Z elements through copper are mostly small. Beyond the iron peak, a huge scatter is found. The abundance pattern of the heaviest elements resembles the N=126 r-process peak of solar material, though not in detail. We find a significant correlation of the abundance excesses with second ionization potentials for elements with Z > 30. This indicates the relevance of photospheric or near-photospheric processes. We explore a model with mass accretion of exotic material followed by the more commonly accepted differentiation by diffusion. That model leads to a number of predictions which challenge future work. Likely primary and secondary masses are near 3.3 and 1.6 M(solar), with a separation of ca. 0.25 AU. New atomic structure calculations are presented in two appendices.Comment: Accepted by MNRAS: 16 pages, 5 figure

Radiative and Auger decay data for modelling nickel K lines

Radiative and Auger decay data have been calculated for modelling the K lines in ions of the nickel isonuclear sequence, from Ni$^+$ up to Ni$^{27+}$. Level energies, transition wavelengths, radiative transition probabilities, and radiative and Auger widths have been determined using Cowan's Hartree--Fock with Relativistic corrections (HFR) method. Auger widths for the third-row ions (Ni$^+$--Ni$^{10+}$) have been computed using single-configuration average (SCA) compact formulae. Results are compared with data sets computed with the AUTOSTRUCTURE and MCDF atomic structure codes and with available experimental and theoretical values, mainly in highly ionized ions and in the solid state.Comment: submitted to ApJS. 42 pages. 12 figure