Super-Kamiokande data and atmospheric neutrino decay

Neutrino decay has been proposed as a possible solution to the atmospheric neutrino anomaly, in the light of the recent data from the Super-Kamiokande experiment. We investigate this hypothesis by means of a quantitative analysis of the zenith angle distributions of neutrino events in Super-Kamiokande, including the latest (45 kTy) data. We find that the neutrino decay hypothesis fails to reproduce the observed distributions of muons.Comment: 6 pages (RevTeX) + 2 figures (Postscript

Diversity of Salticidae (Arachnida: Araneae) in the historical and natural reserve ‘Martín García Island’, Argentina

From Martín García Island were collected 975 jumping spiders, from five environments, using beating net and manual sampling methods. Saitis variegatus Mello-Leitão, 1941 was the most abundant (24.62%). The sandy xerophilous forest had the highest species richness (23 morphospecies) and jungle showed the greatest spider abundance (n: 384). The sandy area was the least diverse and the last in relative abundance. Salticids represented 16% of the species recorded from Argentina, and the second largest family registered. The spider fauna found could be similar to that of the Southern Brasilian region, as occurs with scorpions. Two genera and two species are new records for Argentina. In addition, three new species of jumping spiders, as well as the discovery of the unknown male and female of two species, were registered. There was no record of cosmopolitan spiders or those with a large distribution range on the Island.Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectore

Endometrial Cancer Risk Prediction According to Indication of Diagnostic Hysteroscopy in Post-Menopausal Women

We conducted a prospective observational study investigating the clinical relevance of endometrial thickness (ET) and abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) on endometrial cancer (EC) risk in a cohort of postmenopausal patients undergoing diagnostic hysteroscopy and endometrial biopsy. Patients were divided into two groups according to the indication of diagnostic hysteroscopy: ET_Group (asymptomatic patients with endometrial thickness 4 mm) and AUB_Group (patients with a history of abnormal uterine bleeding). We further divided the AUB_Group into two subgroups based on endometrial thickness (AUB_Subgroup1: ET < 4 mm; AUB_Subgroup2: ET 4 mm). The primary outcome was the risk of endometrial cancer and atypical hyperplasia according to the indications of diagnostic hysteroscopy (AUB, ET 4 mm or both). The secondary outcome was to determine the best cut-o value of endometrial thickness to predict endometrial cancer in asymptomatic postmenopausal women. The prevalence of endometrial cancer and atypical hyperplasia in AUB_Group and ET_Group was 21% and 6.7% respectively. As well as for EC alone, higher prevalence of both conditions was observed in AUB_Subgroup2 (29.3%) in comparison to AUB_Subgroup1 (10.6%; p < 0.001). In asymptomatic patients the cut-o of endometrial thickness that showed the best sensitivity and specificity to diagnose endometrial cancer (100% and 80% respectively) was 11 mm (AUC of 91.4%; Exp : 1067; CI 95%). In conclusion, considering the high risk of neoplasia, diagnostic hysteroscopy with endometrial biopsy should be mandatory in cases of abnormal uterine bleeding in postmenopausal patients. Moreover, we want to emphasize the need for further evidence stating the clinical relevance of endometrial thickness value in asymptomatic patients and the impact of individual risk factors on endometrial cancer development

Magnetic resonance imaging for deep infiltrating endometriosis: current concepts, imaging technique and key findings

Endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent chronic disease affecting about 10% of reproductive-age women with symptoms like pelvic pain and infertility. Pathologically, it is defined by the presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity responsible for a chronic inflammatory process. For decades the diagnosis of endometriosis was based on surgical exploration and biopsy of pelvic lesions. However, laparoscopy is not a risk-free procedure with possible false negative diagnosis due to an underestimate of retroperitoneal structures such as ureters and nerves. For these reasons nowadays, the diagnosis of endometriosis is based on a noninvasive approach where clinical history, response to therapy and imaging play a fundamental role. Trans-vaginal ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging are suitable for recognizing most of endometriotic lesions; nevertheless, their accuracy is strictly determined by operators’ experience and imaging technique. This review paper aims to make radiologists aware of the diagnostic possibilities of pelvic MRI and familial with the MR acquisition protocols and image interpretation for women with endometriosis

Muon-anti-neutrino <---> electron-anti-neutrino mixing: analysis of recent indications and implications for neutrino oscillation phenomenology

We reanalyze the recent data from the Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND) experiment, that might indicate anti-nu_muanti-nu_e mixing. This indication is not completely excluded by the negative results of established accelerator and reactor neutrino oscillation searches. We quantify the region of compatibility by means of a thorough statistical analysis of all the available data, assuming both two-flavor and three-flavor neutrino oscillations. The implications for various theoretical scenarios and for future oscillation searches are studied. The relaxation of the LSND constraints under different assumptions in the statistical analysis is also investigated.Comment: 17 pages (RevTeX) + 9 figures (Postscript) included with epsfig.st

Three-flavor atmospheric neutrino anomaly

We investigate the indications of flavor oscillations that come from the anomalous flavor composition of the atmospheric neutrino flux observed in some underground experiments. We study the information coming from the neutrino-induced $\mu$-like and $e$-like events both in the sub-GeV energy range (Kamiokande, IMB, Fr{\'e}jus, and NUSEX experiments) and in the multi-GeV energy range (Kamiokande experiment). First we analyze all the data in the limits of pure $\nu_\mu\leftrightarrow\nu_\tau$ and $\nu_\mu\leftrightarrow\nu_e$ oscillations. We obtain that $\nu_\mu\leftrightarrow\nu_e$ oscillations provide a better fit, in particular to the multi-GeV data. Then we perform a three-flavor analysis in the hypothesis of dominance of one neutrino square mass difference, $m^2$, implying that the neutrino mixing is parametrized by two angles, $(\psi,\,\phi)\in[0,\,\pi/2]$. We explore the space $(m^2,\,\psi,\,\phi)$ exhaustively, and find the regions favored by the oscillation hypothesis. The results are displayed in a form suited to the comparison with other flavor oscillation searches at accelerator, reactor, and solar $\nu$ experiments. In the analysis, we pay particular attention to the earth matter effects, to the correlation of the uncertainties, and to the symmetry properties of the oscillation probability.Comment: 25 pages (RevTeX) + 12 figures, requires epsfig.sty. All the figures are bitmapped. Postscript figures with full resolution are available at ftp://ftp.sns.ias.edu/pub/lisi/atmpaper

Effectiveness of benralizumab in severe eosinophilic asthma: Distinct sub-phenotypes of response identified by cluster analysis.

Background: Benralizumab is effective in severe eosinophilic asthma (SEA), but suboptimal responses are observed in some patients. Although several factors have been associated with benralizumab response, no cluster analysis has yet been undertaken to identify different responsiveness sub-phenotypes. Objective: To identify SEA sub-phenotypes with differential responsiveness to benralizumab. Methods: One hundred and five patients diagnosed with SEA who had completed 6&nbsp;months of benralizumab treatment were included in a hierarchical cluster analysis based on a set of clinical variables that can be easily collected in routine practice (age, age at disease onset, disease length, allergen sensitization status, blood eosinophil count, IgE levels, FEV1% predicted, nasal polyposis, bronchiectasis). Results: Four clusters were identified: Clusters 2 and 3 included patients with high levels of both IgE and eosinophils (type-2 biomarkers high), whereas Clusters 1 and 4 included patients with only one type-2 biomarker at a high level: IgE in Cluster 1 and eosinophils in Cluster 4. Clusters 2 and 3 (both type-2 biomarkers high) showed the highest response rate to benralizumab in terms of elimination of exacerbations (79% and 80% respectively) compared to Clusters 1 and 4 (52% and 60% respectively). When super-response (the absence of exacerbation without oral corticosteroid use) was assessed, Cluster 2, including patients with more preserved lung function than the other clusters, but comparable exacerbation rate, oral corticosteroid use and symptom severity, was the most responsive cluster (87.5% of patients). Conclusions: Our cluster analysis identified benralizumab differential response sub-phenotypes in SEA, with the potential of improving disease treatment and precision management

Super-Kamiokande atmospheric neutrino data, zenith distributions, and three-flavor oscillations

We present a detailed analysis of the zenith angle distributions of atmospheric neutrino events observed in the Super-Kamiokande (SK) underground experiment, assuming two-flavor and three-flavor oscillations (with one dominant mass scale) among active neutrinos. In particular, we calculate the five angular distributions associated to sub-GeV and multi-GeV \mu-like and e-like events and to upward through-going muons, for a total of 30 accurately computed observables (zenith bins). First we study how such observables vary with the oscillation parameters, and then we perform a fit to the experimental data as measured in SK for an exposure of 33 kTy (535 days). In the two-flavor mixing case, we confirm the results of the SK Collaboration analysis, namely, that \nu_\mu\nu_\tau oscillations are preferred over \nu_\mu\nu_e, and that the no oscillation case is excluded with high confidence. In the three-flavor mixing case, we perform our analysis with and without the additional constraints imposed by the CHOOZ reactor experiment. In both cases, the analysis favors a dominance of the \nu_\mu\nu_\tau channel. Without the CHOOZ constraints, the amplitudes of the subdominant \nu_\munu_e and \nu_e\nu_\tau transitions can also be relatively large, indicating that, at present, current SK data do not exclude sizable \nu_e mixing by themselves. After combining the CHOOZ and SK data, the amplitudes of the subdominant transitions are constrained to be smaller, but they can still play a nonnegligible role both in atmospheric and other neutrino oscillation searches. In particular, we find that the \nu_e appearance probability expected in long baseline experiments can reach the testable level of ~15%.Comment: 35 pages (RevTeX), including 20 ps figures (with epsfig.sty

FRI0110 Methotrexate monotherapy in real life: a drug survival analysis. comparison between very early arthritis and early arthritis cohorts

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Relationship between the prevalence of subclinical tenosynovitis and treatment in patients with RA in clinical remission: STARTER study

Objective: This study is a sub-analysis from the patient cohort of the STARTER (Sonographic Tenosynovitis Assessment in RheumaToid arthritis patiEnts in Remission) study. The aim was to evaluate differences in ultrasound-detected joint and/or tendon involvement between patients receiving therapies based on a combination of conventional synthetic DMARDs (csDMARDs) and biologic DMARDs (bDMARDs) and those who were treated with either csDMARDs or bDMARDs in monotherapy. Material and methods: Four hundred and twenty-seven consecutive patients with a diagnosis of RA were recruited between October 2013 and June 2014. They were divided into three subgroups based on their therapy at baseline: patients with bDMARD in monotherapy, patients with csDMARD in monotherapy and patients in combination therapy (csDMARD + bDMARD). At baseline, 6 months and 12 months, a clinical examination (28 joint count) and an ultrasound evaluation were performed in each patient. A score of grey-scale (GS) and power Doppler (PD) synovitis and tenosynovitis was calculated based on the OMERACT scoring systems. Results: Two hundred and fifty-six patients completed the observation period: 48 patients from the bDMARD group (18.75%), 152 patients from the csDMARD group (59.38%) and 56 patients from csDMARD + bDMARD group (21.88%). The analysis showed that GS tenosynovitis and PD tenosynovitis are better controlled in combination therapy than they are ith csDMARD alone (P=0.025 and P=0.047, respectively); for PD synovitis, there was a better response in those who were treated with the combination therapy when compared with the patients receiving csDMARD (P=0.01) or bDMARD (P=0.02) alone. Conclusions: The analysis showed a lower prevalence of subclinical inflammatory manifestations detected with ultrasound imaging in those patients treated with the combination therapy than in those in monotherapy