Effectiveness of opportunistic screening for cancer of the cervix uteri

The incidence and mortality of uterine cervical cancer in the Maltese Islands has remained relatively constant in medical records of the last few decades. The aim of this study was to determine the cervical cancer screening history and other characteristics of the invasive cervical cancer cases diagnosed in Malta between 1992 and 2002, from a review of their medical records. Only 5% of the cases reviewed had had regular cervical smears prior to the diagnosis of the invasive lesion. Well organised national cancer screening programmes overseas indicate that if less than 70% of the target population (ages 20 to 65 for cervix) is regularly screened, the incidence and mortality will not decrease.1 In Malta, cervical screening is opportunistic and the percentage and sectors of the target population being screened is unknown. A national study is needed to quantify the number of women undergoing cervical screening and to assess how much of the relevant target population is being screened.peer-reviewe

New insights for the description of magnetic correlations inferred from muSR

Whenever a compound exhibits a spontaneous muSR oscillation, long-range magnetic ordering is usually inferred. Here we show that some caution is required. The coherence length needs not to be large for a spontaneous muon spin precession to be observed. Establishing the incommensurate nature of a magnetic structure, solely based on muSR measurements, may not be reliable. The absence of a spontaneous muon precession at low temperature does not mean that the system under investigation does not display long-range magnetic ordering. The relaxation measured in zero and longitudinal field in the quasi-static limit is usually analyzed in the framework of the strong-collision model, the static polarization function being taken to be the famous Kubo-Toyabe function. This might not be satisfactory if short-range correlation effects are strong. Here we propose a method based on the maximum entropy concept and reverse Monte Carlo technique which gives results consistent with those obtained in 2013 by analytical means for the considered example.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Muon Spin Rotation, Relaxation and Resonance, Grindelwald, Switzerland, 1-6 June 201

The time dependence of muon spin relaxation spectra and spin correlation functions

The existing theory of the microscopic interpretation of the dynamical contribution to zero-field muon depolarization spectra in a longitudinal geometry is developed. The predicted relaxation of the muon depolarization is calculated from two forms of the spin correlation function. First, when the spin correlation function has an exponential form with a single wave vector dependent relaxation rate is considered, it is shown that this form of the spin correlation function reproduces the slow and fast fluctuation limits of stochastic spin theory regardless of the choice of microscopic spin model. Second, if the spin correlation function is a homogeneous scaling function (such as a power-law decay with time), as suggested by the mode-coupling theory of spin dynamics, this results in a stretched exponential relaxation of the muon spectra. For simple spin diffusion, the muon spectra are shown to be relax with a root-exponential form.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

Fragmentation and Limits to Dynamical Scaling in Viscous Coarsening: An Interrupted in situ X-Ray Tomographic Study

X-Ray microtomography was used to follow the coarsening of the structure of a ternary silicate glass experiencing phase separation in the liquid state. The volumes, surfaces, mean and Gaussian curvatures of the domains of minority phase were measured after reconstruction of the 3D images and segmentation. A linear growth law of the characteristic length scale $\ell \sim t$ was observed. A detailed morphological study was performed. While dynamical scaling holds for most of the geometrical observables under study, a progressive departure from scaling invariance of the distributions of local curvatures was evidenced. The latter results from a gradual fragmentation of the structure in the less viscous phase that also leads to a power-law size distribution of isolated domains

Reassessment of late quaternary bison diminution on the Great Plains of North America

The sex of animal remains from paleozoological contexts can offer information of prehistoric faunal exploitation and spatiotemporal changes in body size. Traditional approaches to sex determination use multiple univariate statistical analysis of bone measurements to distinguish males, females, and subadult individuals. Multivariate statistical analyses offer an alternative, quantitative method to capture the same information that is not dependent on relatively subjective analysts’ assessments. A large sample of bison data published by (M. E. Hill, Jr., et al. 2008) illustrate the potential of this method for future research. The proximate cause of reduction in the overall size of late Quaternary bison is the focus of continued debate. Some researchers contend that size reduction did not occur despite well documented changes in climate and vegetation, while others link directional change in body size to changes in forage quality and availability or human predation. Historically, assessments of bison size have used standard measurements, ratio diagrams, univariate and bivariate plots, and summary statistics 1) to distinguish males and females; and 2) to generate mean body size data. Application of various multivariate methods to 1,600+ calcanea from 40+ localities is used to eliminate the subjectivity of sex determination and, in turn, supply a refined understanding of spatio-temporal patterns in bison body size. Results confirm that late Pleistocene animals were substantially larger than their late Holocene counterparts

Effectiveness of blood transfusions and risk factors for mortality in children aged from 1 month to 4 years at the Bon Marche Hospital, Bunia, Democratic Republic of Congo

Objective  To assess the effectiveness of blood transfusions in a hospital of north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Methods  Prospective study of children admitted for severe anaemia. During admission, data were collected on clinical condition and haemoglobin levels, before and after blood transfusion. A linear regression model was built to explore factors associated with haemoglobin level after transfusion. Risk factors for mortality were explored through multivariate logistic regression. Results  Haemoglobin level (Hb) was below 4 g/dl in 35% (230/657), between 4 and 6 g/dl in 58% (348/657) and at least 6 g/dl in another 6% (43/657) of the transfused children. A transfusion of 15 ml/kg of whole blood increased the Hb from 4.4 to 7.8 g/dl. Haemoglobin level after transfusion was associated with baseline Hb, quantity of delivered blood and history of previous transfusions. Overall case-fatality rate was 5.6% (37/657). Risk factors for deaths were co-morbidities such as chest infection, meningitis or malnutrition, Hb ≥ 6 g/dl, impaired consciousness or jugular venous distention on admission, and provenance. Conclusion  Transfusion was a frequent practice, the use of which could clearly have been rationalised. While indications should be restricted, quantities of transfused blood should be adapted to needs

Zero field muon spin lattice relaxation rate in a Heisenberg ferromagnet at low temperature

We provide a theoretical framework to compute the zero field muon spin relaxation rate of a Heisenberg ferromagnet at low temperature. We use the linear spin wave approximation. The rate, which is a measure of the spin lattice relaxation induced by the magnetic fluctuations along the easy axis, allows one to estimate the magnon stiffness constant.Comment: REVTeX 3.0 manuscript, 5 pages, no figure. Published in Phys. Rev. B 52, 9155 (1995

Screening of internationally adopted children

Currently, we have no local generally agreed guidelines for the examination of children adopted overseas. Out of 163 adopted children, who were brought into Malta between January 1991 and June 1992, 140 (86%) were seen at the children’s Outpatient Department, St. Luke’s Hospital. They were clinically examined and screened for hepatitis, H.I.V. infection, syphilis and tuberculosis. The results obtained showed that screening revealed important illness in a considerable number of these children. Standardised mandatory screening tests should be introduced for all internationally adopted children.peer-reviewe