An occupational therapy fall reduction home visit program for community-dwelling older adults in Hong Kong after an emergency department visit for a fall

202303 bckwAccepted ManuscriptSelf-fundedPublishe

Combined-modality treatment for isolated recurrences of breast carcinoma: Update on 30 years of experience at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and assessment of prognostic factors

BACKGROUND. In three prospective, single-arm studies, the authors previously showed an improved outcome for anthracycline-naïve patients with isolated sites of recurrent breast carcinoma (BC) who were treated with doxorubicin-based chemotherapy after local therapy (surgery and/or radiotherapy). In the current report, the initial results are presented from a Phase II trial of docetaxel (100 mg/m2 every 21 days for 6 cycles) given after local therapy for recurrent BC (Stage IV BC with no evidence of clinically measurable disease) in patients who received prior adjuvant anthracycline-based chemotherapy, and the authors provide an update of the 3 previous studies. An analysis of prognostic factors for these patients also is presented. METHODS. Eligibility criteria for all studies included histologic proof of recurrent BC that had been resected and/or irradiated with curative intent. Survival was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Univariate survival analyses were performed to test for associations between patient characteristics and outcome (log-rank test). Cox proportional hazards models were used to determine the multivariable correlations between patient characteristics and outcome. RESULTS. The median follow-up for the docetaxel-based trial (n = 26 patients) was 45 months. Early outcomes for this study are promising. The median disease-free survival (DFS) was 44 months, and the 3-year DFS and overall survival (OS) rates were 58% and 87%, respectively. In the 3 doxorubicin-based studies, the median follow-up was 121.5 months for all living patients, and the estimated 20-year DFS and OS rates were both 26%. On multivariable analysis of patients from all 4 studies, the only significant prognostic factor for DFS and OS (P = 0.0006) was the number of involved axillary lymph nodes at initial diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS. A proportion of patients with isolated BC recurrences achieved prolonged DFS with combined-modality treatment. Patients who receive anthracycline-based chemotherapy at primary diagnosis may benefit from local treatment followed by docetaxel-based chemotherapy for isolated recurrences. The only significant independent prognostic factor was the number of involved axillary lymph nodes at initial diagnosis. © 2005 American Cancer Society.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Role of topography in the behavior of the matric suction of unsaturated fill slopes

[[abstract]]This paper presents the result of a field study on the influence of topography on the distribution of the matric suction of the soil in unsaturated slopes subjected to rainfall. The matric suction was measured in the lower, middle and upper parts of planar, ridge-like and gullied slopes before and after two significant rainfall events. Jet-filled tensiometers were used for depths of >1.2 m and the filter paper method at depths of <0.9 m. It was found that in the dry season the matric suction of the soil at a shallow depth in the gullied slope is significantly less than that in the planar and ridge-like slopes while following a rainfall event the decrease in the matric suction is smallest in the gullied slope and greatest in the ridge-like slope, irrespective of the amount of the accumulated precipitation