325 research outputs found
Propensity-matched analysis of patient-reported outcomes for neoadjuvant chemotherapy prior to radical cystectomy
© 2019, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature. Purpose: To evaluate patient-reported outcomes (PROs) for bladder cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) prior to radical cystectomy (RC) using longitudinal data and propensity-matched scoring analyses. Methods: 155 patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer scheduled for RC completed the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer questionnaires, EORTC QLQ-C30, EORTC QLQ-BLM30, Fear of Recurrence Scale, Mental Health Inventory and Satisfaction with Life Scale within 4 weeks of surgery. A propensity-matched analysis was performed comparing pre-surgery PROs among 101 patients who completed NAC versus 54 patients who did not receive NAC. We also compared PROs pre- and post-chemotherapy for 16 patients who had data available for both time points. Results: In propensity-matched analysis, NAC-treated patients reported better emotional and sexual function, mental health, urinary function and fewer financial concerns compared to those that did not receive NAC. Longitudinal analysis showed increases in fatigue, nausea and appetite loss following chemotherapy. Conclusion: Propensity-matched analysis did not demonstrate a negative effect of NAC on PRO. Several positive associations of NAC were found in the propensity-matched analysis, possibly due to other confounding differences between the two groups or actual clinical benefit. Longitudinal analysis of a small number of patients found small to modest detrimental effects from NAC similar to toxicities previously reported. Our preliminary findings, along with known survival and toxicity data, should be considered in decision-making for NAC
A Nonlinear Unit Root Test in the Presence of an Unknown Break
The Perron test is the most commonly applied procedure to test for a unit root in the presence of a structural break of unknown timing in the trend function. Deriving the Perron-type test regression from an unobserved component model, it is shown that the test regression in fact is nonlinear in coefficient. Taking account of the nonlinearity leads to a test with properties that are exclusively assigned to Schmidt-Phillips LM-type unit root tests
Cognitive networks: brains, internet, and civilizations
In this short essay, we discuss some basic features of cognitive activity at
several different space-time scales: from neural networks in the brain to
civilizations. One motivation for such comparative study is its heuristic
value. Attempts to better understand the functioning of "wetware" involved in
cognitive activities of central nervous system by comparing it with a computing
device have a long tradition. We suggest that comparison with Internet might be
more adequate. We briefly touch upon such subjects as encoding, compression,
and Saussurean trichotomy langue/langage/parole in various environments.Comment: 16 page
The Electronics and Data Acquisition System of the DarkSide Dark Matter Search
It is generally inferred from astronomical measurements that Dark Matter (DM)
comprises approximately 27\% of the energy-density of the universe. If DM is a
subatomic particle, a possible candidate is a Weakly Interacting Massive
Particle (WIMP), and the DarkSide-50 (DS) experiment is a direct search for
evidence of WIMP-nuclear collisions. DS is located underground at the
Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) in Italy, and consists of three
active, embedded components; an outer water veto (CTF), a liquid scintillator
veto (LSV), and a liquid argon (LAr) time projection chamber (TPC). This paper
describes the data acquisition and electronic systems of the DS detectors,
designed to detect the residual ionization from such collisions
Higher harmonic anisotropic flow measurements of charged particles in Pb-Pb collisions at 2.76 TeV
We report on the first measurement of the triangular , quadrangular
, and pentagonal charged particle flow in Pb-Pb collisions at 2.76
TeV measured with the ALICE detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. We show
that the triangular flow can be described in terms of the initial spatial
anisotropy and its fluctuations, which provides strong constraints on its
origin. In the most central events, where the elliptic flow and
have similar magnitude, a double peaked structure in the two-particle azimuthal
correlations is observed, which is often interpreted as a Mach cone response to
fast partons. We show that this structure can be naturally explained from the
measured anisotropic flow Fourier coefficients.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, published version, figures at
http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/387
Observation of the TeV gamma-ray source MGRO J1908+06 with ARGO-YBJ
The extended gamma ray source MGRO J1908+06, discovered by the Milagro air
shower detector in 2007, has been observed for about 4 years by the ARGO-YBJ
experiment at TeV energies, with a statistical significance of 6.2 standard
deviations. The peak of the signal is found at a position consistent with the
pulsar PSR J1907+0602. Parametrizing the source shape with a two-dimensional
Gauss function we estimate an extension \sigma = 0.49 \pm 0.22 degrees,
consistent with a previous measurement by the Cherenkov Array H.E.S.S.. The
observed energy spectrum is dN/dE = 6.1 \pm 1.4 \times 10^-13 (E/4 TeV)^{-2.54
\pm 0.36} photons cm^-2 s^-1 TeV^-1, in the energy range 1-20 TeV. The measured
gamma ray flux is consistent with the results of the Milagro detector, but is
2-3 times larger than the flux previously derived by H.E.S.S. at energies of a
few TeV. The continuity of the Milagro and ARGO-YBJ observations and the stable
excess rate observed by ARGO-YBJ along 4 years of data taking support the
identification of MGRO J1908+06 as the steady powerful TeV pulsar wind nebula
of PSR J1907+0602, with an integrated luminosity above 1 TeV about 1.8 times
the Crab Nebula luminosity.Comment: 6 pages, accepted for pubblication by ApJ. Replaced to correct the
author lis
Two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb collisions at = 2.76 TeV
The first measurement of two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb
collisions at TeV at the Large Hadron Collider is
presented. We observe a growing trend with energy now not only for the
longitudinal and the outward but also for the sideward pion source radius. The
pion homogeneity volume and the decoupling time are significantly larger than
those measured at RHIC.Comment: 17 pages, 5 captioned figures, 1 table, authors from page 12,
published version, figures at
http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/388
Suppression of charged particle production at large transverse momentum in central Pb-Pb collisions at TeV
Inclusive transverse momentum spectra of primary charged particles in Pb-Pb
collisions at = 2.76 TeV have been measured by the ALICE
Collaboration at the LHC. The data are presented for central and peripheral
collisions, corresponding to 0-5% and 70-80% of the hadronic Pb-Pb cross
section. The measured charged particle spectra in and GeV/ are compared to the expectation in pp collisions at the same
, scaled by the number of underlying nucleon-nucleon
collisions. The comparison is expressed in terms of the nuclear modification
factor . The result indicates only weak medium effects ( 0.7) in peripheral collisions. In central collisions,
reaches a minimum of about 0.14 at -7GeV/ and increases
significantly at larger . The measured suppression of high- particles is stronger than that observed at lower collision energies,
indicating that a very dense medium is formed in central Pb-Pb collisions at
the LHC.Comment: 15 pages, 5 captioned figures, 3 tables, authors from page 10,
published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/98
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