The prevention of lower urinary tract symptoms (PLUS) research consortium: A transdisciplinary approach toward promoting bladder health and preventing lower urinary tract symptoms in women across the life course

Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are highly prevalent in women, and are expected to impose a growing burden to individuals and society as the population ages. The predominance of research related to LUTS has focused on underlying pathology, disease mechanisms, or the efficacy of treatments for women with LUTS. Although this research has been vital for helping to reduce or ameliorate LUTS conditions, it has done little to prevent the onset of LUTS. Health promotion and prevention require an expansion of scientific inquiry beyond the traditional paradigm of studying disease mechanisms and treatment to the creation of an evidence base to support recommendations for bladder health promotion and, in turn, prevention of LUTS. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) introduced the concept of prevention as an important priority for women's urologic research as a prelude to supporting the formation of the Prevention of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (PLUS) research consortium. In this article, we introduce the PLUS research consortium to the scientific community; share the innovative paradigms by which the consortium operates; and describe its unique research mission: to identify factors that promote bladder health across the life course and prevent the onset of LUTS in girls and women

CoGeNT: A Search for Low-Mass Dark Matter using p-type Point Contact Germanium Detectors

CoGeNT employs p-type point-contact (PPC) germanium detectors to search for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). By virtue of its low energy threshold and ability to reject surface backgrounds, this type of device allows an emphasis on low-mass dark matter candidates (wimp mass of about 10 GeV/c2). We report on the characteristics of the PPC detector presently taking data at the Soudan Underground Laboratory, elaborating on aspects of shielding, data acquisition, instrumental stability, data analysis, and background estimation. A detailed background model is used to investigate the low energy excess of events previously reported, and to assess the possibility of temporal modulations in the low-energy event rate. Extensive simulations of all presently known backgrounds do not provide a viable background explanation for the excess of low-energy events in the CoGeNT data, or the previously observed temporal variation in the event rate. Also reported on for the first time is a determination of the surface (slow pulse rise time) event contamination in the data as a function of energy. We conclude that the CoGeNT detector technology is well suited to search for the annual modulation signature expected from dark matter particle interactions in the region of WIMP mass and coupling favored by the DAMA/LIBRA resultsComment: 20 pages, 31 figures. Several figures have been added, including an updated allowed region (both 90% and 99% confidence level contours) based on this analysis. There is also the addition of a Pb-210 background estimat

Creative thinking as an innovative approach to tackle nutrition in times of economic crises

An interactive session ‘Let’s cook something up’ organised by the European Nutrition Leadership Platform (ENLP – www.enlp.eu.com) during the 20th International Congress of Nutrition (ICN) organised in Granada, Spain, showed how an innovative approach to parallel sessions can be a meaningful tool in formulating solutions to current nutritional challenges. The key objective of the session was to provide a proof-of-concept that even in the context of a large conference such as the ICN, with approximately 4250 attendants, one can utilise innovative and active learning techniques to get a message across and work towards solutions rather than using the traditional ‘chalk and talk’ method. There is a huge potential for innovation at these types of conferences in creating an environment that encourages interaction by breaking down the boundaries of authority and placing the focus on sharing knowledge with enjoyment. To provide such a proof-of-concept, the context of nutrition during times of economic crises was chosen to guide the session

UK National Audit of Early Syphilis Management. Case-notes audit: contact tracing, information giving, follow-up and outcomes

Contact tracing was provided for 683/781 (87%, regional range 57–97%) cases, and identified 997 traceable contacts of whom 511 (51%) were seen, short of the recommended standard of 60%. However, the performance range for this standard was 26–70%, with seven regions achieving 60% or more. Of 511, 215 (42%, range 3–73%) contacts had syphilis. Treatment completion was recorded for 691 (88%, range 71–100%) cases, and resolution of lesions for 348/469 (74%, range 40–96%) cases. Nationally, 419/764 (55%, range 37–70%) cases were recorded as having a two dilution (four-fold) or greater decrease in non-treponemal test titre within 3–6 months after treatment; not achieving this titre decrease was mainly attributable to non-attendance for follow-up and failure of titre levels to fall. Follow-up of infectious syphilis in UK genitourinary medicine clinics is poor and falls far short of that recommended by National Guidelines. Only 16 (2%) cases had follow-up at intervals approximating to 1, 2, 3, 6 and 12 months, and only 312 (40%, range 5–61%) cases attended at least two follow-up visits. Only 17 (7%) of all 236 oral treatments (including switches to oral treatment), and 33 (27%) of 123 cases with HIV infection were recorded as designated annual follow-up. Further work is needed to determine factors that account for the wide variation between regions in contact tracing and follow-up performance

Human Factors and Behavioral Performance Challenges for Lunar Surface Exploration

As the agency focuses on lunar missions, it is important to revisit the human factors and behavioral performance (HFBP) challenges for long duration exploration missions. We outline the important factors from the Apollo program, the long duration experience gained onboard International Space Station (ISS), and HFBP research applicable to exploration-class missions

The Pioneer Anomaly

Radio-metric Doppler tracking data received from the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft from heliocentric distances of 20-70 AU has consistently indicated the presence of a small, anomalous, blue-shifted frequency drift uniformly changing with a rate of ~6 x 10^{-9} Hz/s. Ultimately, the drift was interpreted as a constant sunward deceleration of each particular spacecraft at the level of a_P = (8.74 +/- 1.33) x 10^{-10} m/s^2. This apparent violation of the Newton's gravitational inverse-square law has become known as the Pioneer anomaly; the nature of this anomaly remains unexplained. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of the physical properties of the anomaly and the conditions that led to its detection and characterization. We review various mechanisms proposed to explain the anomaly and discuss the current state of efforts to determine its nature. A comprehensive new investigation of the anomalous behavior of the two Pioneers has begun recently. The new efforts rely on the much-extended set of radio-metric Doppler data for both spacecraft in conjunction with the newly available complete record of their telemetry files and a large archive of original project documentation. As the new study is yet to report its findings, this review provides the necessary background for the new results to appear in the near future. In particular, we provide a significant amount of information on the design, operations and behavior of the two Pioneers during their entire missions, including descriptions of various data formats and techniques used for their navigation and radio-science data analysis. As most of this information was recovered relatively recently, it was not used in the previous studies of the Pioneer anomaly, but it is critical for the new investigation.Comment: 165 pages, 40 figures, 16 tables; accepted for publication in Living Reviews in Relativit

First evidence of coherent K+K^{+} meson production in neutrino-nucleus scattering

Neutrino-induced charged-current coherent kaon production, $\nu_{\mu}A\rightarrow\mu^{-}K^{+}A$, is a rare, inelastic electroweak process that brings a $K^+$ on shell and leaves the target nucleus intact in its ground state. This process is significantly lower in rate than neutrino-induced charged-current coherent pion production, because of Cabibbo suppression and a kinematic suppression due to the larger kaon mass. We search for such events in the scintillator tracker of MINERvA by observing the final state $K^+$, $\mu^-$ and no other detector activity, and by using the kinematics of the final state particles to reconstruct the small momentum transfer to the nucleus, which is a model-independent characteristic of coherent scattering. We find the first experimental evidence for the process at $3\sigma$ significance.Comment: added ancillary file with information about the six kaon candidate

Endocrine Effects of Inhaled Corticosteroids in Children

Inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) are widely used as first-line treatment for various chronic respiratory illnesses. Advances in devices and formulations have reduced their local adverse effects. However, as delivery of ICSs to the lungs improves, the systemic absorption increases, and an adverse effect profile similar to, although milder than, oral corticosteroids has emerged. The most serious potential adverse effect is adrenal insufficiency, which can be life threatening. Adrenal insufficiency occurs most in patients taking the highest doses of ICSs but is reported with moderate or even low doses as well. Our recommendations include greater vigilance in testing adrenal function than current standard practice. In patients with diabetes mellitus (types 1 and 2), an increase in glucose levels is likely, and diabetes medication adjustment may be needed when initiating or increasing ICSs. The risk of linear growth attenuation and adverse effects on bone mineral density is generally low but should be considered in the face of additional risk factors. On behalf of the Pediatric Endocrine Society Drugs and Therapeutics Committee, we present a review of the endocrine adverse effects of ICSs in children and offer recommendations relating to testing and referral. Limited data in particular realms diminish the strength of certain recommendations, and clinical judgment continues to be paramount

Major differences in organization and availability of health care and medicines for HIV/TB coinfected patients across Europe

Objectives The aim of the study was to investigate the organization and delivery of HIV and tuberculosis (TB) health care and to analyse potential differences between treatment centres in Eastern (EE) and Western Europe (WE). Methods Thirty-eight European HIV and TB treatment centres participating in the TB:HIV study within EuroCoord completed a survey on health care management for coinfected patients in 2013 (EE: 17 respondents; WE:21; 76% of all TB:HIV centres). Descriptive statistics were obtained for regional comparisons. The reported data on health care strategies were compared with actual clinical practice at patient level via data derived from the TB:HIV study. Results Respondent centres in EE comprised: Belarus (n = 3), Estonia (1), Georgia (1), Latvia (1), Lithuania (1), Poland (4), Romania (1), the Russian Federation (4) and Ukraine (1); those in WE comprised: Belgium (1), Denmark (1), France (1), Italy (7), Spain (2), Switzerland (1) and UK (8). Compared with WE, treatment of HIV and TB in EE are less often located at the same site (47% in EE versus 100% in WE; P < 0.001) and less often provided by the same doctors (41% versus 90%, respectively; P = 0.002), whereas regular screening of HIV-infected patients for TB (80% versus 40%, respectively; P = 0.037) and directly observed treatment (88% versus 20%, respectively; P < 0.001) were more common in EE. The reported availability of rifabutin and second- and third-line anti-TB drugs was lower, and opioid substitution therapy (OST) was available at fewer centres in EE compared with WE (53% versus 100%, respectively; P < 0.001). Conclusions Major differences exist between EE and WE in relation to the organization and delivery of health care for HIV/TB-coinfected patients and the availability of anti-TB drugs and OST. Significant discrepancies between reported and actual clinical practices were found in EE

Single electron detection and spectroscopy via relativistic cyclotron radiation

It has been understood since 1897 that accelerating charges must emit electromagnetic radiation. Cyclotron radiation, the particular form of radiation emitted by an electron orbiting in a magnetic field, was first derived in 1904. Despite the simplicity of this concept, and the enormous utility of electron spectroscopy in nuclear and particle physics, single-electron cyclotron radiation has never been observed directly. Here we demonstrate single-electron detection in a novel radiofrequency spec- trometer. We observe the cyclotron radiation emitted by individual magnetically-trapped electrons that are produced with mildly-relativistic energies by a gaseous radioactive source. The relativistic shift in the cyclotron frequency permits a precise electron energy measurement. Precise beta elec- tron spectroscopy from gaseous radiation sources is a key technique in modern efforts to measure the neutrino mass via the tritium decay endpoint, and this work demonstrates a fundamentally new approach to precision beta spectroscopy for future neutrino mass experiments.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure