Relapse primary central nervous system lymphoma successfully consolidated with allogeneic stem cell transplantation with thiotepa/busulfan/fludarabine conditioning

Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is generally characterized by a poor prognosis and frequent relapsing disease. Consolidation therapy in the upfront setting usually consists of an autologous stem cell transplantation. We report the case of a 19-year-old Caucasian male who had previously undergone an allogeneic stem cell transplantation with complete engraftment for the treatment of juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia when he was 1 year old. He presented with two episodes of (donor-derived) PCNSL from allogeneic stem cells; however, after induction chemotherapy, he failed to harvest stem cells for the consolidation with autologous stem cell transplantation. He was consolidated successfully with a second allogeneic stem cell transplantation with another donor after conditioning with thiotepa, busulfan, and fludarabine

P523 Survey to identify patient characteristics, treatment preferences and impact of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) on quality of life across 7 countries in Europe

Abstract Background The treatment paradigm for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is becoming increasingly diverse and complex. It is suggested that engaging patients through shared decision-making optimises treatment selection in line with clinical need and patient preference and expectations. This patient survey aimed to explore patients' preferences towards attributes of currently available advanced therapies for IBD as well as the impact of IBD on patients' quality of life (QoL) across 7 countries in Europe. The demographic profile of the study cohort and findings on the patient-rated impact of IBD on QoL are reported here. Methods An online, cross-sectional survey (October 2020 to January 2021) enrolling adults aged ≥18 years who self-reported having and being previously/currently treated for Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC) was conducted across Europe (France, the UK, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands). Patient perspectives on IBD care and preferences regarding specific attributes of existing treatment options were explored using the Carenity platform and via partnerships with local organisations. This descriptive analysis evaluated the demographic and clinical profile of respondents, treatment management and impact on QoL. Results Overall, 686 patients (CD: 360; UC: 326) across 7 countries completed the survey. Among CD and UC patients, respectively, 71.9% and 57.7% were females; mean age (range) was 48.0 (19.0–77.0) and 50.0 (19.0–82.0) years; and mean disease duration (range) was 13.6 (0.2–49.1) and 11.0 (0.1–68.7) years. Overall, 37.5% of CD patients reported fistulising CD, and 9.4% (CD) and 10.1% (UC) of patients had a stoma or pouch; 76.7% (CD) and 78.5% (UC) of patients were being treated for IBD. Approximately 50.0% of patients with IBD were full-time or part-time employed at the time of survey. Abdominal pain, fatigue, and stool frequency were ranked by 83%, 79%, and 73% patients with CD, respectively, as the symptoms most impacting QoL; 79%, 71%, and 61% patients ranked energy status, general well-being and daily activities, respectively, as the most impacted aspects. Abdominal pain, stool frequency and fatigue were ranked by 73%, 72% and 67% patients with UC, respectively, as the symptoms most impacting QoL; the most impacted aspects were similar to those of patients with CD. Patients in both groups prioritised general well-being, energy status and daily activities as aspects for improvement through treatment. Conclusion This large European survey highlights the most impactful symptoms and QoL aspects from the patient perspective. These findings can support clinical decision-making and treatment strategies to improve treatment outcomes and patient QoL

Hybrid quantum computing with ancillas

In the quest to build a practical quantum computer, it is important to use efficient schemes for enacting the elementary quantum operations from which quantum computer programs are constructed. The opposing requirements of well-protected quantum data and fast quantum operations must be balanced to maintain the integrity of the quantum information throughout the computation. One important approach to quantum operations is to use an extra quantum system - an ancilla - to interact with the quantum data register. Ancillas can mediate interactions between separated quantum registers, and by using fresh ancillas for each quantum operation, data integrity can be preserved for longer. This review provides an overview of the basic concepts of the gate model quantum computer architecture, including the different possible forms of information encodings - from base two up to continuous variables - and a more detailed description of how the main types of ancilla-mediated quantum operations provide efficient quantum gates.Comment: Review paper. An introduction to quantum computation with qudits and continuous variables, and a review of ancilla-based gate method

Impact of a Formal Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Curriculum: A Prospective, Controlled Trial

Objective To assess the impact of implementing a dedicated Patient Safety and Quality Improvement (PSQI) curriculum for otolaryngology residents. Methods Residents in two otolaryngology residency programs were recruited to participate in the study. Residents at institution A (intervention group) participated in a formal, newly developed, year-long PSQI curriculum. Residents at institution B (control group) participated in traditional, morbidity, and mortality conference-based PSQI education, with no formal curriculum in place. Curriculum participants completed anonymous surveys to assess learner satisfaction. Validated instruments were administered to assess for changes in resident confidence in the ability to develop PSQI projects, their attitudes toward patient safety, and PSQI-related knowledge. The number and quality of PSQI-related resident projects were also assessed. Results Survey responses demonstrated excellent learner satisfaction with the curriculum. Based on validated instrument-based responses, both programs demonstrated similar confidence scores (P = 0.05), safety attitudes (P = 0.82), and PSQI knowledge (P = 0.29) at the beginning of the year. The residents of institution A demonstrated significant improvement in confidence (P = 0.00009) and knowledge (P = 0.0006) after completing the curriculum, with no improvement noted for residents at institution B in either confidence (P = 0.06) or knowledge (P = 0.79). Neither program demonstrated improvement in attitudes toward patient safety at the end of the year-long curriculum. Conclusion Implementing a formal curriculum dedicated to PSQI led to an improvement in PSQI-related project development confidence and PSQI knowledge. Attitudes toward safety did not improve over the course of a year. Longer-term studies involving multiple institutions and other interventions are needed to evaluate the impact and duration of changes that occur. Level of Evidence 1b Laryngoscope, 129:1100–1106, 201

On the Dynamics and Information Content of Implied Volatility: A Bivariate Time Series Perspective

A new research design is introduced for the empirical analysis of the relationship between implied volatility and ex-post realized volatility. The dynamics of volatility are emphasized, and the analysis is cast in terms of non-overlapping data, so that exactly one implied and one realized volatility estimate pertain to each period under consideration. The conclusions from the empirical analysis when using our design are significantly different from those previously reached. Recent literature indicates that implied volatility contains little information about future volatility, beyond that contained in the history of realized volatility. We show that on the contrary, implied volatility efficiently predicts future realized volatility and in particular subsumes the information content of past realized volatility

On the Dynamics and Information Content of Implied Volatility: A Bivariate Time Series Perspective

A new research design is introduced for the empirical analysis of the relationship between implied volatility and ex-post realized volatility. The dynamics of volatility are emphasized, and the analysis is cast in terms of non-overlapping data, so that exactly one implied and one realized volatility estimate pertain to each period under consideration. The conclusions from the empirical analysis when using our design are significantly different from those previously reached. Recent literature indicates that implied volatility contains little information about future volatility, beyond that contained in the history of realized volatility. We show that on the contrary, implied volatility efficiently predicts future realized volatility and in particular subsumes the information content of past realized volatility

Certainty Closure: Reliable Constraint Reasoning with Incomplete or Erroneous Data

Constraint Programming (CP) has proved an effective paradigm to model and solve difficult combinatorial satisfaction and optimisation problems from disparate domains. Many such problems arising from the commercial world are permeated by data uncertainty. Existing CP approaches that accommodate uncertainty are less suited to uncertainty arising due to incomplete and erroneous data, because they do not build reliable models and solutions guaranteed to address the user's genuine problem as she perceives it. Other fields such as reliable computation offer combinations of models and associated methods to handle these types of uncertain data, but lack an expressive framework characterising the resolution methodology independently of the model. We present a unifying framework that extends the CP formalism in both model and solutions, to tackle ill-defined combinatorial problems with incomplete or erroneous data. The certainty closure framework brings together modelling and solving methodologies from different fields into the CP paradigm to provide reliable and efficient approches for uncertain constraint problems. We demonstrate the applicability of the framework on a case study in network diagnosis. We define resolution forms that give generic templates, and their associated operational semantics, to derive practical solution methods for reliable solutions.Comment: Revised versio

How we treat patients with leptomeningeal metastases

The goal of treatment of leptomeningeal metastasis is to improve survival and to maintain quality of life by delaying neurological deterioration. Tumour-specific therapeutic options in