561 research outputs found

    Financialisation at a Watershed in the USA

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    In the period following the Great Recession of 2007-9 the financialisation of the US economy reached a watershed characterised by stagnant financial profits, falling proportions of financial sector and mortgage debt, and rising proportion of public debt. The main macroeconomic indicators of financialisation in the USA show structural breaks that can be dated around the period of the Great Recession. The reliance of households on the formal financial system appears to have weakened for the first time since the early 1980s. The financial sector has lacked the dynamism of the previous three decades becoming more reliant on government. The state has increased its own indebtedness and supported large financial institutions via unconventional monetary policy measures. At the same time, state intervention has tightened the regulatory framework for big banks. The future path of financialisation in the USA will depend heavily on government policy with regard to state debt and financial regulation, although the scope for boosting financialisation is narrow

    Nuclear recoil response of liquid xenon and its impact on solar 8B neutrino and dark matter searches

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    Knowledge of the ionization and scintillation responses of liquid xenon (LXe) to nuclear recoils is crucial for LXe-based dark matter experiments. Current calibrations carry large uncertainties in the low-energy region below ∌3\sim3 keVnr_nr where signals from dark matter particles of <<10 GeV/c2^2 masses are expected. The coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEÎœ\nuNS) by solar 8^8B neutrinos also results in a continuum of nuclear recoil events below 3.0 keVnr_{nr} (99\% of events), which further complicates low-mass dark matter searches in LXe experiments. In this paper, we describe a method to quantify the uncertainties of low-energy LXe responses using published calibration data, followed by case studies to evaluate the impact of yield uncertainties on 8{^8}B searches and low-mass dark matter sensitivity in a typical ton-scale LXe experiment. We conclude that naively omitting yield uncertainties leads to overly optimistic limits by factor ∌2\sim2 for a 6 GeV/c2^2 WIMP mass. Future nuclear recoil light yield calibrations could allow experiments to recover this sensitivity and also improve the accuracy of solar 8{^8}B flux measurements

    Consumer credit in comparative perspective

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    We review the literature in sociology and related fields on the fast global growth of consumer credit and debt and the possible explanations for this expansion. We describe the ways people interact with the strongly segmented consumer credit system around the world—more specifically, the way they access credit and the way they are held accountable for their debt. We then report on research on two areas in which consumer credit is consequential: its effects on social relations and on physical and mental health. Throughout the article, we point out national variations and discuss explanations for these differences. We conclude with a brief discussion of the future tasks and challenges of comparative research on consumer credit.Accepted manuscrip

    Effect of intraperitoneal chemotherapy concentration on morbidity and survival

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    Contains fulltext : 218098.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: Selected patients with colorectal peritoneal metastases are treated with cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). The concentration of intraperitoneal chemotherapy reflects the administered dose and perfusate volume. The aim of this study was to calculate intraperitoneal chemotherapy concentration during HIPEC and see whether this was related to clinical outcomes. METHODS: An observational multicentre study included consecutive patients with colorectal peritoneal metastases who were treated with CRS-HIPEC between 2010 and 2018 at three Dutch centres. Data were retrieved from prospectively developed databases. Chemotherapy dose and total circulating volumes of carrier solution were used to calculate chemotherapy concentrations. Postoperative complications, disease-free and overall survival were correlated with intraoperative chemotherapy concentrations. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression, Cox regression and survival analyses were performed. RESULTS: Of 320 patients, 220 received intraperitoneal mitomycin C (MMC) and 100 received oxaliplatin. Median perfusate volume for HIPEC was 5.0 (range 0.7-10.0) litres. Median intraperitoneal chemotherapy concentration was 13.3 (range 7.0-76.0) mg/l for MMC and 156.0 (91.9-377.6) mg/l in patients treated with oxaliplatin. Grade III or higher complications occurred in 75 patients (23.4 per cent). Median overall survival was 36.9 (i.q.r. 19.5-62.9) months. Intraperitoneal chemotherapy concentrations were not associated with postoperative complications or survival. CONCLUSION: CRS-HIPEC was performed with a wide variation in intraperitoneal chemotherapy concentrations that were not associated with complications or survival

    Forskolin induced swelling (FIS) assay in intestinal organoids to guide eligibility for compassionate use treatment in a CF patient with a rare genotype

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    BACKGROUND: Forskolin-induced swelling of patient-derived organoids has been used to measure patient-specific CFTR function and CFTR modulator response. We present a case where CFTR function assessment in intestinal organoids was decisive for a patients' acceptance to a compassionate use program. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 56 years old female with cystic fibrosis compound heterozygous for F508del and a rare CFTR allele (c.3717+5G>T) experienced rapid clinical deterioration. The forskolin-induced swelling assay on her rectal organoids was used to confirm that the rare mutation is a minimal residual function mutation, and that other CFTR modulators would not likely be effective. Based on these two criteria and her clinical status, she was accepted for compassionate use of elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor and showed improvement in all clinical parameters. CONCLUSIONS: This reports describes a first example that intestinal organoids were used to identify a previously unknown CFTR mutation as a minimal function mutation. The individual FIS-based definition of minimal residual function, response to ele/tez/iva and/or lack of response to other CFTR modulating drugs, may thus provide a tool for access to ele/tez/iva treatment for people with rare genotypes

    Removing krypton from xenon by cryogenic distillation to the ppq level

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    The XENON1T experiment aims for the direct detection of dark matter in a cryostat filled with 3.3 tons of liquid xenon. In order to achieve the desired sensitivity, the background induced by radioactive decays inside the detector has to be sufficiently low. One major contributor is the ÎČ\beta-emitter 85^{85}Kr which is an intrinsic contamination of the xenon. For the XENON1T experiment a concentration of natural krypton in xenon nat\rm{^{nat}}Kr/Xe < 200 ppq (parts per quadrillion, 1 ppq = 10−15^{-15} mol/mol) is required. In this work, the design of a novel cryogenic distillation column using the common McCabe-Thiele approach is described. The system demonstrated a krypton reduction factor of 6.4⋅\cdot105^5 with thermodynamic stability at process speeds above 3 kg/h. The resulting concentration of nat\rm{^{nat}}Kr/Xe < 26 ppq is the lowest ever achieved, almost one order of magnitude below the requirements for XENON1T and even sufficient for future dark matter experiments using liquid xenon, such as XENONnT and DARWIN

    Search for Two-Neutrino Double Electron Capture of 124^{124}Xe with XENON100

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    Two-neutrino double electron capture is a rare nuclear decay where two electrons are simultaneously captured from the atomic shell. For 124^{124}Xe this process has not yet been observed and its detection would provide a new reference for nuclear matrix element calculations. We have conducted a search for two-neutrino double electron capture from the K-shell of 124^{124}Xe using 7636 kg⋅\cdotd of data from the XENON100 dark matter detector. Using a Bayesian analysis we observed no significant excess above background, leading to a lower 90 % credibility limit on the half-life T1/2>6.5×1020T_{1/2}>6.5\times10^{20} yr. We also evaluated the sensitivity of the XENON1T experiment, which is currently being commissioned, and find a sensitivity of T1/2>6.1×1022T_{1/2}>6.1\times10^{22} yr after an exposure of 2 t⋅\cdotyr.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

    Metachronous peritoneal metastases in patients with pT4b colon cancer: An international multicenter analysis of intraperitoneal versus retroperitoneal tumor invasion

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    It was hypothesized that colon cancer with only retroperitoneal invasion is associated with a low risk of peritoneal dissemination. This study aimed to compare the risk of metachronous peritoneal metastases (mPM) between intraperitoneal and retroperitoneal invasion

    Search for Event Rate Modulation in XENON100 Electronic Recoil Data

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    We have searched for periodic variations of the electronic recoil event rate in the (2-6) keV energy range recorded between February 2011 and March 2012 with the XENON100 detector, adding up to 224.6 live days in total. Following a detailed study to establish the stability of the detector and its background contributions during this run, we performed an un-binned profile likelihood analysis to identify any periodicity up to 500 days. We find a global significance of less than 1 sigma for all periods suggesting no statistically significant modulation in the data. While the local significance for an annual modulation is 2.8 sigma, the analysis of a multiple-scatter control sample and the phase of the modulation disfavor a dark matter interpretation. The DAMA/LIBRA annual modulation interpreted as a dark matter signature with axial-vector coupling of WIMPs to electrons is excluded at 4.8 sigma.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
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