236 research outputs found
Endocrine therapy in prostate cancer: time for reappraisal of risks, benefits and cost-effectiveness?
In the 70 years following the first description of the benefits of surgical castration, despite advances in medical therapy e.g. cabazitaxel, enzalutamide, abiraterone, androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) remains the cornerstone of treatment for advanced prostate cancer. However, with increasing numbers of men undergoing PSA testing, the disease is being diagnosed earlier and the costs of ADT, with uncertain survival benefits and associated risks, have risen dramatically. Clinical studies of potent novel agents have shown survival benefits in advanced disease, but timing, risks and cost-effectiveness of treatment remain controversial. As new agents enter clinical practice, a comprehensive research strategy is essential to optimise benefits whilst minimising harm
Universal Extra Dimensions and Kaluza Klein Bound States
We study the bound states of the Kaluza-Klein (KK) excitations of quarks in
certain models of Universal Extra Dimensions. Such bound states may be detected
at future lepton colliders in the cross section for the pair production of
KK-quarks near threshold. For typical values of model parameters, we find that
"KK-quarkonia" have widths in the 10 - 100 MeV range, and production cross
sections of order a few picobarns for the lightest resonances. Two body decays
of the constituent KK-quarks lead to distinctive experimental signatures. We
point out that such KK resonances may be discovered before any of the higher KK
modes.Comment: 21 pages LaTeX, 9 eps figure
A radium assay technique using hydrous titanium oxide adsorbent for the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory
As photodisintegration of deuterons mimics the disintegration of deuterons by
neutrinos, the accurate measurement of the radioactivity from thorium and
uranium decay chains in the heavy water in the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory
(SNO) is essential for the determination of the total solar neutrino flux. A
radium assay technique of the required sensitivity is described that uses
hydrous titanium oxide adsorbent on a filtration membrane together with a
beta-alpha delayed coincidence counting system. For a 200 tonne assay the
detection limit for 232Th is a concentration of 3 x 10^(-16) g Th/g water and
for 238U of 3 x 10^(-16) g U/g water. Results of assays of both the heavy and
light water carried out during the first two years of data collection of SNO
are presented.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
Constraints on Decaying Dark Matter from Fermi Observations of Nearby Galaxies and Clusters
We analyze the impact of Fermi gamma-ray observations (primarily
non-detections) of selected nearby galaxies, including dwarf spheroidals, and
of clusters of galaxies on decaying dark matter models. We show that the fact
that galaxy clusters do not shine in gamma rays puts the most stringent limits
available to-date on the lifetime of dark matter particles for a wide range of
particle masses and decay final states. In particular, our results put strong
constraints on the possibility of ascribing to decaying dark matter both the
increasing positron fraction reported by PAMELA and the high-energy feature in
the electron-positron spectrum measured by Fermi. Observations of nearby dwarf
galaxies and of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) do not provide as strong limits as
those from galaxy clusters, while still improving on previous constraints in
some cases.Comment: 27 pages, 5 figures, submitted to JCAP, revised version with some
additions and correction
Physiologic-Based Cord Clamping Maintains Core Temperature vs. Immediate Cord Clamping in Near-Term Lambs
Background: Physiologic-based cord clamping (PBCC) involves deferring umbilical
cord clamping until after lung aeration. It is unclear if infant is at risk of becoming
hypothermic during PBCC.
Objectives: To test if PBCC would maintain core temperature more effectively than
immediate cord clamping (ICC).
Design: At 0.93 gestation, fetal lambs were surgically exteriorized and instrumented
from pregnant ewes under general anesthesia. Prior to the start of the experiment,
lambs were thoroughly dried, placed on hot water bottles, and core temperature
was continuously monitored using a rectal thermometer. PBCC lambs (n = 21),
received intermittent positive pressure ventilation (iPPV) for ≥5 min prior to umbilical
cord clamping. In ICC lambs (n = 23), iPPV commenced within 60 s after umbilical
cord clamping. iPPV was provided with heated/humidified gas. Lambs were moved
under a radiant warmer after umbilical cord clamping. Additional warmth was provided
using a plastic overlay, hairdryer, and extra water bottles, as needed. Two-way mixed
and repeated measures one-way ANOVAs were used to compare temperature changes
between and within a single group, respectively, over time.
Results: Basal fetal parameters including core temperature were similar between
groups. ICC lambs had a significant reduction in temperature compared to PBCC lambs
(p < 0.001), evident by 1 min (p = 0.002). ICC lambs decreased temperature by 0.51â—¦C
(± 0.42) and 0.79◦C (± 0.55) at 5 and 10 min respectively (p <
Constraints on Low-Mass WIMP Interactions on 19F from PICASSO
Recent results from the PICASSO dark matter search experiment at SNOLAB are
reported. These results were obtained using a subset of 10 detectors with a
total target mass of 0.72 kg of 19F and an exposure of 114 kgd. The low
backgrounds in PICASSO allow recoil energy thresholds as low as 1.7 keV to be
obtained which results in an increased sensitivity to interactions from Weakly
Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) with masses below 10 GeV/c^2. No dark
matter signal was found. Best exclusion limits in the spin dependent sector
were obtained for WIMP masses of 20 GeV/c^2 with a cross section on protons of
sigma_p^SD = 0.032 pb (90% C.L.). In the spin independent sector close to the
low mass region of 7 GeV/c2 favoured by CoGeNT and DAMA/LIBRA, cross sections
larger than sigma_p^SI = 1.41x10^-4 pb (90% C.L.) are excluded.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Phys. Lett.
Abrupt weaning type combined to stress during late pregnancy in sheep present economic losses on carcass and low testicular development in lambs
This study investigates the combined effect of the progressive or abrupt weaning after the stress during middle and late pregnancy on performance and development of lambs. Twenty-four male lambs were used, born from 18 Santa Ines ewes that were divided into three experimental groups. Pregnant ewes were submitted to the application of Lipolysaccharides E. coli (LPS) during the 70 th day of pregnancy (Ig; n=12) or at the 120 th day (Fg; n=8). Animals were kept as control (Cg; n=14). Lambs born in a 6 day interval were subjected to two types of weaning (Pw: progressive weaning; Aw: abrupt weaning at 45 days of age). Lamb data, including testicular development, yield carcass and economic cost were analyzed. Means were compared by F test and Student's t test (P0.05). The highest yields in gross margin was observed for the Cg group and the lowest for Fg (P0.05). On lambs’ testicular weight, Cg average value was higher than Fg (P0.05). The combined effect of LPS challenge as a simulated disease process during late pregnancy and abrupt weaning change the testicular weight and the yield carcass, resulting in economic losses
Lorentz breaking Effective Field Theory and observational tests
Analogue models of gravity have provided an experimentally realizable test
field for our ideas on quantum field theory in curved spacetimes but they have
also inspired the investigation of possible departures from exact Lorentz
invariance at microscopic scales. In this role they have joined, and sometime
anticipated, several quantum gravity models characterized by Lorentz breaking
phenomenology. A crucial difference between these speculations and other ones
associated to quantum gravity scenarios, is the possibility to carry out
observational and experimental tests which have nowadays led to a broad range
of constraints on departures from Lorentz invariance. We shall review here the
effective field theory approach to Lorentz breaking in the matter sector,
present the constraints provided by the available observations and finally
discuss the implications of the persisting uncertainty on the composition of
the ultra high energy cosmic rays for the constraints on the higher order,
analogue gravity inspired, Lorentz violations.Comment: 47 pages, 4 figures. Lecture Notes for the IX SIGRAV School on
"Analogue Gravity", Como (Italy), May 2011. V.3. Typo corrected, references
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