Copper cable theft: revisiting the price–theft hypothesis

Objectives: To test the commonly espoused but little examined hypothesis that fluctuations in the price of metal are associated with changes in the volume of metal theft. Specifically, we analyze the relationship between the price of copper and the number of police recorded 'live’ copper cable thefts from the British railway network (2006 to 2012)

500 TeV gamma rays from Hercules X-1

A signal (chance probability = .0002) with the 1.24 s period of Hercules X-1 has been observed using the Utah Fly's Eye. The signal's relatively long period and high shower energy conflict with some popular models of particle acceleration by pulsars. Optical and X-ray data suggest a picture in which energetic particles produce multi-TeV gamma rays by collisions with Hercules X-1's accretion disk

Pion Production from Baked-Alaska Disoriented Chiral Condensate

We study the various stages of the evolution of chiral condensates disoriented via the ``baked-alaska'' mechanism, in which the condensates are described as the products of external sources localized on the light cone. Our analysis is based on the classical equations of motion of either the linear or the nonlinear sigma model. We use the associated framework of coherent states and, especially, their source functions to make the connection to the distribution functions for the produced particles. We also compare our classical approach with a mean-field calculation which includes a certain class of quantum corrections.Comment: replaced to correct misspelling of author's nam

The SUSY EW-like corrections to top pair production in photon-photon collisions

We studied the one-loop contributions of the gaugino-Higgsino-sector to the process of top-pair production via $\gamma \gamma$ fusion at NLC in frame of the Minimal Supersymmetric Model(MSSM). We find that the corrections to $\gamma \gamma \to t\bar{t}$ and $e^+ e^- \to \gamma \gamma \to t\bar{t}$ are found to be significant and can approach to a few percent and one percent, respectively. Furthermore, the dependences of the corrections on the supersymmetric parameters are also investigated. The corrections are not sensitive to $M_{SU(2)}$ (or $|\mu|$) when $M_{SU(2)}~>>~|\mu|$ (or $|\mu|~>>~M_{SU(2)}$) and are weakly dependent on the $\tan{\beta}$ with $M_Q$ (or $|\mu|$) being large enough. But they are sensitive to the c.m.s. energy of the incoming photons.Comment: LaTex, 33 pages, 8 Eps figuer

Hadronic observables from SIS to SPS energies - anything strange with strangeness ?

We calculate $p, \pi^\pm, K^\pm$ and $\Lambda$(+$\Sigma^0$) rapidity distributions and compare to experimental data from SIS to SPS energies within the UrQMD and HSD transport approaches that are both based on string, quark, diquark ($q, \bar{q}, qq, \bar{q}\bar{q}$) and hadronic degrees of freedom. The two transport models do not include any explicit phase transition to a quark-gluon plasma (QGP). It is found that both approaches agree rather well with each other and with the experimental rapidity distributions for protons, $\Lambda$'s, $\pi^\pm$ and $K^\pm$. Inspite of this apparent agreement both transport models fail to reproduce the maximum in the excitation function for the ratio $K^+/\pi^+$ found experimentally between 11 and 40 A$\cdot$GeV. A comparison to the various experimental data shows that this 'failure' is dominantly due to an insufficient description of pion rapidity distributions rather than missing 'strangeness'. The modest differences in the transport model results -- on the other hand -- can be attributed to different implementations of string formation and fragmentation, that are not sufficiently controlled by experimental data for the 'elementary' reactions in vacuum.Comment: 46 pages, including 15 eps figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.

Endocrine disruptors and spontaneous premature labor: a case control study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Premature labor is a poorly understood condition. Estrogen is thought to play a key role and therefore the labor process may be affected by endocrine disruptors. We sought to determine whether or not an environmental toxicant, DDE, or dietary derived endocrine disruptors, daidzein and genistein, are associated with spontaneous preterm labor.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cases were defined as primiparous patients having a preterm delivery at or before 35 weeks following the spontaneous onset of labor. Controls were defined as primiparous women who delivered on the same day as the cases but at term gestation.</p> <p>Over approximately 1 year, 26 cases and 52 controls were recruited. Subjects agreed to have blood tests on day one postpartum for DDE and for the phytoestrogens genistein and daidzein.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean concentration of DDE was similar in the case and control groups: 4.29 vs 4.32 ng/g lipid p = .85. In the case group, 13/26 had detectable levels of daidzein (range 0.20 – 1.56 ng/ml) compared to 25/52 controls (range 0.21 – 3.26 ng/ml). The mean concentration of daidzein was similar in cases compared to controls: 0.30 vs .34 ng/ml p = 0.91. Of the case group,14/26 had detectable levels of genistein (range 0.20 – 2.19 ng/ml) compared to 32/52 controls (range 0.21 – 2.55 ng/ml). The mean concentration of genistein was similar in cases compared to controls: 0.39 vs 0.31 ng/ml, p = 0.61.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The serum levels of DDE in this population were found to be low.</p> <p>There appears to be no relationship between serum concentrations of DDE, daidzein, and genistein and spontaneous preterm labor in our population. The inability to identify an effect may be related to the comparatively low concentrations of DDE in our population and the rapid and variable reduction of phytoestrogens from women in labor.</p

Listening to the voices of women suffering perinatal psychological distress

This article suggests that transactional analysis can be an effective treatment approach for women suffering from mental health conditions and the emotional and life disturbances that may occur during the perinatal period. It offers a brief introduction to perinatal psychological distress followed by a description of the use of transactional analysis psychotherapy for this condition. The article outlines a new model for a research project that aims to ascertain women’s views on the helpfulness of the treatment and to gain a better understanding of the stigma often associated with perinatal mental health issues. The author argues for the necessity of qualitative research to assess the efficacy of transactional-analysis-based treatment and to increase our knowledge about the change process in transactional analysis psychotherapy with this client population as well as to inform future transactional analysis treatment protocols

Work and family: associations with long-term sick-listing in Swedish women – a case-control study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The number of Swedish women who are long-term sick-listed is high, and twice as high as for men. Also the periods of sickness absence have on average been longer for women than for men. The objective of this study was to investigate the associations between factors in work- and family life and long-term sick-listing in Swedish women.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This case-control study included 283 women on long-term sick-listing ≥90 days, and 250 female referents, randomly chosen, living in five counties in Sweden. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses with odds ratios were calculated to estimate the associations between long-term sick-listing and factors related to occupational work and family life.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Long-term sick-listing in women is associated with self-reported lack of competence for work tasks (OR 2.42 1.23–11.21 log reg), workplace dissatisfaction (OR 1.89 1.14–6.62 log reg), physical workload above capacity (1.78 1.50–5.94), too high mental strain in work tasks (1.61 1.08–5.01 log reg), number of employers during work life (OR 1.39 1.35–4.03 log reg), earlier part-time work (OR 1.39 1.18–4.03 log reg), and lack of influence on working hours (OR 1.35 1.47–3.86 log reg). A younger age at first child, number of children, and main responsibility for own children was also found to be associated with long-term sick-listing. Almost all of the sick-listed women (93%) wanted to return to working life, and 54% reported they could work immediately if adjustments at work or part-time work were possible.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Factors in work and in family life could be important to consider to prevent women from being long-term sick-listed and promote their opportunities to remain in working life. Measures ought to be taken to improve their mobility in work life and control over decisions and actions regarding theirs lives.</p

Alteration of proliferation and apoptotic markers in normal and premalignant tissue associated with prostate cancer

BACKGROUND: Molecular markers identifying alterations in proliferation and apoptotic pathways could be particularly important in characterizing high-risk normal or pre-neoplastic tissue. We evaluated the following markers: Ki67, Minichromosome Maintenance Protein-2 (Mcm-2), activated caspase-3 (a-casp3) and Bcl-2 to determine if they showed differential expression across progressive degrees of intraepithelial neoplasia and cancer in the prostate. To identify field effects, we also evaluated whether high-risk expression patterns in normal tissue were more common in prostates containing cancer compared to those without cancer (supernormal), and in histologically normal glands adjacent to a cancer focus as opposed to equivalent glands that were more distant. METHODS: The aforementioned markers were studied in 13 radical prostatectomy (RP) and 6 cystoprostatectomy (CP) specimens. Tissue compartments representing normal, low grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (LGPIN), high grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN), as well as different grades of cancer were mapped on H&E slides and adjacent sections were analyzed using immunohistochemistry. Normal glands within 1 mm distance of a tumor focus and glands beyond 5 mm were considered "near" and "far", respectively. Randomly selected nuclei and 40 × fields were scored by a single observer; basal and luminal epithelial layers were scored separately. RESULTS: Both Ki-67 and Mcm-2 showed an upward trend from normal tissue through HGPIN and cancer with a shift in proliferation from basal to luminal compartment. Activated caspase-3 showed a significant decrease in HGPIN and cancer compartments. Supernormal glands had significantly lower proliferation indices and higher a-casp3 expression compared to normal glands. "Near" normal glands had higher Mcm-2 indices compared to "far" glands; however, they also had higher a-casp3 expression. Bcl-2, which varied minimally in normal tissue, did not show any trend across compartments or evidence for field effects. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that proliferation and apoptosis are altered not only in preneoplastic lesions but also in apparently normal looking epithelium associated with cancer. Luminal cell expression of Mcm-2 appears to be particularly promising as a marker of high-risk normal epithelium. The role of apoptotic markers such as activated caspase-3 is more complex, and might depend on the proliferation status of the tissue in question