Water Chemisorption and Reconstruction of the MgO Surface

The observed reactivity of MgO with water is in apparent conflict with theoretical calculations which show that molecular dissociation does not occur on a perfect (001) surface. We have performed ab-initio total energy calculations which show that a chemisorption reaction involving a reconstruction to form a (111) hydroxyl surface is strongly preferred with Delta E = -90.2kJ/mol. We conclude that protonation stabilizes the otherwise unstable (111) surface and that this, not the bare (001), is the most stable surface of MgO under ambient conditions.Comment: RevTeX, 4 pages, 1 Encapsulated Postscript Figur

Erasmus Language students in a British University – a case study

Students’ assessment of their academic experience is actively sought by Higher Education institutions, as evidenced in the National Student Survey introduced in 2005. Erasmus students, despite their growing numbers, tend to be excluded from these satisfaction surveys, even though they, too, are primary customers of a University. This study aims to present results from bespoke questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with a sample of Erasmus students studying languages in a British University. These methods allow us insight into the experience of these students and their assessment as a primary customer, with a focus on language learning and teaching, university facilities and student support. It investigates to what extent these factors influence their levels of satisfaction and what costs of adaptation if any, they encounter. Although excellent levels of satisfaction were found, some costs affect their experience. They relate to difficulties in adapting to a learning methodology based on a low number of hours and independent learning and to a guidance and support system seen as too stifling. The results portray this cohort’s British University as a well-equipped and well-meaning but ultimately overbearing institution, which may indicate that minimising costs can eliminate some sources of dissatisfaction

International education: a force for peace and cross-cultural understanding?

This paper discusses the notion that the international sojourn has the potential to transform sojourners into cultural mediators who carry the power to improve global relations. A year-long ethnographic study of the adjustment experiences of international postgraduate students in England revealed a universal early enthusiasm for cross-cultural contact that was matched by a widespread adoption of segregated patterns of interacting. The most common friendship networks were described by bonds with conationals, and yet all students attested to an increase in their cultural learning and mindfulness by the end of the sojourn. Nevertheless, intercultural competence was maximised only in those few students who pursued a multicultural strategy of interaction, leading the researcher to call on Higher Education Institutions to instigate policies to encourage lasting cross-cultural contact

Tumor-derived interleukin-10 as a prognostic factor in stage III patients undergoing adjuvant treatment with an autologous melanoma cell vaccine.

OBJECTIVES: Interleukin-10 (IL-10) downregulates T-cell-mediated immune responses. We studied the association between IL-10 production by freshly isolated melanoma cell suspensions in vitro and overall survival in patients undergoing adjuvant treatment with a vaccine prepared from the same autologous melanoma cells modified with a hapten, dinitrophenyl (DNP). METHODS: Forty-four patients with cutaneous melanoma (29 stage III and 15 stage IV) were prospectively evaluated. Tumor cells were extracted from metastatic deposits for production of DNP-modified autologous melanoma cell vaccine. Small aliquots of the melanoma cell suspensions were separated prior to vaccine processing and cultured overnight for IL-10 production. Based on a blind assessment of the distribution of IL-10 levels in the culture supernatants, a cutoff of 200 pg/ml was used to define high versus low IL-10 producers. Cox regression model was used for multivariate analysis. Overall survival was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and survival curves were compared with the log-rank test. RESULTS: Out of 44 patients, 29 were low and 15 were high IL-10 producers. The median OS was significantly worse for high compared with low IL-10 producers (10.5 months vs. 42 months; P = 0.022). In stage III patients, the multivariate hazard ratio for high versus low IL-10 producers was 2.92 (95% CI, 1.04-8.20; P = 0.041). The corresponding hazard ratio in stage IV patients was 0.92 (95% CI, 1.04-8.20; P = 0.888). CONCLUSIONS: High IL-10 production in the tumor microenvironment could be a determinant of clinical outcomes in stage III melanoma patients receiving autologous melanoma cell vaccine

An umbrella review of candidate predictors of response, remission, recovery, and relapse across mental disorders

We aimed to identify diagnosis-specific/transdiagnostic/transoutcome multivariable candidate predictors (MCPs) of key outcomes in mental disorders. We conducted an umbrella review (protocol  link ), searching MEDLINE/Embase (19/07/2022), including systematic reviews of studies reporting on MCPs of response, remission, recovery, or relapse, in DSM/ICD-defined mental disorders. From published predictors, we filtered MCPs, validating MCP criteria. AMSTAR2/PROBAST measured quality/risk of bias of systematic reviews/individual studies. We included 117 systematic reviews, 403 studies, 299,888 individuals with mental disorders, testing 796 prediction models. Only 4.3%/1.2% of the systematic reviews/individual studies were at low risk of bias. The most frequently targeted outcome was remission (36.9%), the least frequent was recovery (2.5%). Studies mainly focused on depressive (39.4%), substance-use (17.9%), and schizophrenia-spectrum (11.9%) disorders. We identified numerous MCPs within disorders for response, remission and relapse, but none for recovery. Transdiagnostic MCPs of remission included lower disease-specific symptoms (disorders = 5), female sex/higher education (disorders = 3), and quality of life/functioning (disorders = 2). Transdiagnostic MCPs of relapse included higher disease-specific symptoms (disorders = 5), higher depressive symptoms (disorders = 3), and younger age/higher anxiety symptoms/global illness severity/ number of previous episodes/negative life events (disorders = 2). Finally, positive trans-outcome MCPs for depression included less negative life events/depressive symptoms (response, remission, less relapse), female sex (response, remission) and better functioning (response, less relapse); for schizophrenia, less positive symptoms/higher depressive symptoms (remission, less relapse); for substance use disorder, marital status/higher education (remission, less relapse). Male sex, younger age, more clinical symptoms and comorbid mental/physical symptoms/disorders were poor prognostic factors, while positive factors included social contacts and employment, absent negative life events, higher education, early access/intervention, lower disease-specific and comorbid mental and physical symptoms/conditions, across mental disorders. Current data limitations include high risk of bias of studies and extraction of single predictors from multivariable models. Identified MCPs can inform future development, validation or refinement of prediction models of key outcomes in mental disorders

Clinical significance of preoperative serum interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein level in breast cancer patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Breast cancer is a disease that continues to plague females during their entire lifetime. IL-6 and CRP are found to be elevated in various inflammatory and malignant diseases and their levels are found to correlate with the extent of the disease. The primary objective of this study was to determine the preoperative serum levels of IL-6 and CRP in breast carcinoma, and to correlate them with the staging of the disease and the prognosis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>59 female patients admitted for breast cancer were identified for the study and were subjected to thorough evaluation. Serum levels of IL-6 were assessed via Enzyme-Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay (ELISA), and CRP was measured via immunoturbidimetry. Histological findings included tumour size, lymph node (LN) metastasis, and tumour staging. Relevant investigations were made to find out the presence of distant metastasis. Statistical analysis of the data was then processed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Increases in cancer invasion and staging are generally associated with increases in preoperative serum IL-6 levels. IL-6 and CRP levels correlated with LN metastasis (P < 0.001, P < 0.001) and TNM stage (P < 0.001, P < 0.001). Tumour invasion and the presence of distant metastasis is associated with higher IL-6 levels (P = 0.001, P = 0.009). When we established the cutoff value for IL-6 level (20.55 pg/dl) by ROC curve, we noted a significant difference in overall survival (OS; P = 0.008). However, CRP evidenced no significance with regard to patient's OS levels. Serum IL-6 levels were correlated positively with CRP levels (r2 = 0.579, P < 0.01)</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Serum levels of IL-6 correlates well with the extent of tumor invasion, LN metastasis, distant metastasis and TNM staging thus enveloping all aspects of breast cancer.</p

Axitinib after Sunitinib in Metastatic Renal Cancer: Preliminary Results from Italian "Real-World" SAX Study.

Axitinib is an oral angiogenesis inhibitor, currently approved for treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) after failure of prior treatment with Sunitinib or cytokine. The present study is an Italian Multi-Institutional Retrospective Analysis that evaluated the outcomes of Axitinib, in second-line treatment of mRCC. The medical records of 62 patients treated with Axitinib, were retrospectively reviewed. The Progression Free Survival (PFS), the Overall Survival (OS), the Objective Response Rate (ORR), the Disease Control Rate (DCR), and the safety profile of axitinib and sunitinib–axitinib sequence, were the primary endpoint. The mPFS was 5.83 months (95% CI 3.93–7.73 months). When patients was stratified by Heng score, mPFS was 5.73, 5.83, 10.03 months according to poor, intermediate, and favorable risk group, respectively. The mOS from the start of axitinib was 13.3 months (95% CI 8.6–17.9 months); the observed ORR and DCR were 25 and 71%, respectively. When stratified patients by subgroups defined by duration of prior therapy with Sunitinib (≤ vs. >median duration), there was a statistically significant difference in mPFS with 8.9 (95% CI 4.39–13.40 months) vs. 5.46 months (95% CI 4.04–6.88 months) for patients with a median duration of Sunitinib >13.2 months. DCR and ORR to previous Sunitinib treatment was associated with longer statistically mPFS, 7.23 (95% CI 3.95–10.51 months, p = 0.01) and 8.67 (95% CI 4.0–13.33 months, p = 0.008) vs. 2.97 (95% CI 0.65–5.27 months, p = 0.01) and 2.97 months (95% CI 0.66–5.28 months, p = 0.01), respectively. Overall Axitinib at standard schedule of 5 mg bid, was well-tolerated. The most common adverse events of all grades were fatig (25.6%), hypertension (22.6%), gastro-intestinal disorders (25.9%), and hypothyroidism (16.1%). The sequence Sunitinib–Axitinib was well-tolerated without worsening in side effects, with a median OS of 34.7 months (95% CI 18.4–51.0 months). Our results are consistent with the available literature; this retrospective analysis confirms that Axitinib is effective and safe in routine clinical practice

Germinal BRCA1-2 pathogenic variants (gBRCA1-2pv) and pancreatic cancer: epidemiology of an Italian patient cohort

Objective: Germline BRCA1-2 pathogenic variants (gBRCApv) increase the risk of pancreatic cancer and predict for response to platinating agents and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors. Data on worldwide gBRCApv incidence among pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients are sparse and describe a remarkable geographic heterogeneity. The aim of this study is to analyze the epidemiology of gBRCApv in Italian patients. Materials and methods: Patients of any age with pancreatic adenocarcinoma, screened within 3 months from diagnosis for gBRCApv in Italian oncologic centers systematically performing tests without any selection. For the purposes of our analysis, breast, ovarian, pancreas, and prostate cancer in a patient’s family history was considered as potentially BRCAassociated. Patients or disease characteristics were examined using the c2 test or Fisher’s exact test for qualitative variables and the Student's t-test or ManneWhitney test for continuous variables, as appropriate. Results: Between June 2015 and May 2020, 939 patients were tested by 14 Italian centers; 492 (52%) males, median age 62 years (range 28-87), 569 (61%) metastatic, 273 (29%) with a family history of potentially BRCA-associated cancers. gBRCA1-2pv were found in 76 patients (8.1%; 9.1% in metastatic; 6.4% in non-metastatic). The gBRCA2/ gBRCA1 ratio was 5.4 : 1. Patients with gBRCApv were younger compared with wild-type (59 versus 62 years, P ¼ 0.01). The gBRCApv rate was 17.1% among patients &lt;40 years old, 10.4% among patients 41-50 years old, 9.2% among patients 51-60 years old, 6.7% among patients aged 61-70 years, and 6.2% among patients &gt;70 years old (none out of 94 patients &gt;73 years old). gBRCApv frequency in 845 patients &lt;74 years old was 9%. Patients with/without a family history of potentially BRCA-associated tumors had 14%/6% mutations. Conclusion: Based on our findings of a gBRCApv incidence higher than expected in a real-life series of Italian patients with incident PDAC, we recommend screening all PDAC patients &lt;74 years old, regardless of family history and stage, due to the therapeutic implications and cancer risk prevention in patients' relatives. Key words: germline BRCA, epidemiology, pancreatic cancer genetics, familial cance

Electromagnetic Meson Production in the Nucleon Resonance Region

Recent experimental and theoretical advances in investigating electromagnetic meson production reactions in the nucleon resonance region are reviewed.Comment: 75 pages, 42 figure