ABSTRACT
Vector mesons are produced copiously in peripheral relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Virtual photons from one ion can fluctuate into quark-antiquark pairs and scatter from the second ion, emerging as vector mesons. The emitter and target are indistinguishable, so emission from the two ions will interfere. Vector mesons have negative parity so the interference is destructive, reducing the production of mesons with small transverse momentum. The mesons are short lived, and decay before emission from the two ions can overlap. However, the decay-product wave functions overlap and interfere since they are produced in an entangled state, providing an example of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox.
ABSTRACT
Mammography and physical examination are currently the most frequently used screening tests for breast cancer. Considering the 85% sensitivity associated with combined mammography and physical examination and a low positive predictive value of 20% to 30% for the diagnosis of breast carcinoma, there is a critical need for a more accurate noninvasive imaging test to improve the sensitivity and specificity of mammography. This study evaluates the role of Tc-99m sestamibi scintimammography as a complementary procedure to conventional mammography for the detection of breast carcinoma. A sample of 157 women (mean age 47.9 years +/- 10.2 years) with 164 lesions appropriate for histologic and cytologic analysis on the basis of suspicious findings on a mammogram and/or physical examination underwent scintimammography. Subsequently, excisional biopsy and/or fine-needle aspiration were performed. There were 52 primary cancers (8 different histopathologic types) and 112 benign breast lesions (6 different histopathologic types). The sensitivity of Tc-99m sestamibi scintimammography for detecting primary breast cancer was 92.3%, and its specificity was 87.5%. Percent-positive and -negative predictive values associated with Tc-99m sestamibi scintimammography in this cohort were 77.4% and 96.0%, respectively.
