561 research outputs found
Financialisation at a Watershed in the USA
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
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
keV where signals from dark matter particles of 10 GeV/c masses are
expected. The coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CENS) by solar
B neutrinos also results in a continuum of nuclear recoil events below 3.0
keV (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
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 for a 6 GeV/c WIMP mass. Future
nuclear recoil light yield calibrations could allow experiments to recover this
sensitivity and also improve the accuracy of solar B flux measurements
Consumer credit in comparative perspective
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 worldâmore 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
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
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
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 -emitter
Kr which is an intrinsic contamination of the xenon. For the XENON1T
experiment a concentration of natural krypton in xenon Kr/Xe < 200
ppq (parts per quadrillion, 1 ppq = 10 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 6.410 with thermodynamic stability at process
speeds above 3 kg/h. The resulting concentration of 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 Xe with XENON100
Two-neutrino double electron capture is a rare nuclear decay where two
electrons are simultaneously captured from the atomic shell. For 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 Xe using
7636 kgd 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
yr. We also evaluated the sensitivity of the XENON1T experiment, which is
currently being commissioned, and find a sensitivity of
yr after an exposure of 2 tyr.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Metachronous peritoneal metastases in patients with pT4b colon cancer: An international multicenter analysis of intraperitoneal versus retroperitoneal tumor invasion
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
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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