14 research outputs found

    A modified quasi-boundary value method for a class of abstract parabolic ill-posed problems

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    We study a final value problem for first-order abstract differential equation with positive self-adjoint unbounded operator coefficient. This problem is ill-posed. Perturbing the final condition, we obtain an approximate nonlocal problem depending on a small parameter. We show that the approximate problems are well posed and that their solutions converge if and only if the original problem has a classical solution. We also obtain estimates of the solutions of the approximate problems and a convergence result of these solutions. Finally, we give explicit convergence rates

    A phase III randomized trial of weight loss to reduce cancer-related fatigue among overweight and obese breast cancer patients: MEDEA Study design

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    BACKGROUND: Elevated body mass index (BMI) represents a risk factor for cancer-related fatigue (CRF). Weight loss interventions are feasible and safe in cancer survivors, leading to improved cardio-metabolic and quality of life (QOL) outcomes and modulating inflammatory biomarkers. Randomized data are lacking showing that a lifestyle intervention aimed at weight loss, combining improved diet, exercise, and motivational counseling, reduces CRF. Motivating to Exercise and Diet, and Educating to healthy behaviors After breast cancer (MEDEA) is a multi-center, randomized controlled trial evaluating the impact of weight loss on CRF in overweight or obese survivors of breast cancer. Herein, we described the MEDEA methodology. METHODS: Patients (N = 220) with stage I-III breast cancer and BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2, within 12 months of primary treatment, and able to walk ≥ 400 m are eligible to enroll. Participants are randomized 1:1 to health education alone vs. a personalized telephone-based weight loss intervention plus health education. Both arms receive a health education program focusing on healthy living. Patients in the intervention arm are paired with an individual lifestyle coach, who delivers the intervention through 24 semi-structured telephone calls over 1 year. Intervention goals include weight loss ≥ 10% of baseline, caloric restriction of 500-1000 Kcal/day, and increased physical activity (PA) to 150 (initial phase) and 225-300 min/week (maintenance phase). The intervention is based on the social cognitive theory and is adapted from the Breast Cancer Weight Loss trial (BWEL, A011401). The primary endpoint is the difference in self-reported CRF (EORTC QLQ-C30) between arms. Secondary endpoints include the following: QOL (EORTC QLQ-C30, -BR45, -FA12), anxiety, and depression (HADS); weight and BMI, dietary habits and quality, PA, and sleep; health care costs (hospital-admissions, all-drug consumption, sick leaves) and cost-effectiveness (cost per quality-adjusted life-year); and patient motivation and satisfaction. The primary analysis of MEDEA will compare self-reported CRF at 12 months post-randomization between arms, with 80.0% power (two-sided α = 0.05) to detect a standardized effect size of 0.40. DISCUSSION: MEDEA will test the impact of a weight loss intervention on CRF among overweight or obese BC survivors, potentially providing additional management strategies and contributing to establish weight loss support as a new standard of clinical care. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04304924. © 2022. The Author(s).Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

    Why Innovative Design Requires New Scientific Foundations for Manageable Identities of Systems

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    International audienceWhen can we state that things are identical or different? This is a key issue in structuring humans' representations and making plausible predictions with potentially major implications, as demonstrated in high-tech industries such as those studied here. The identity of things is not a natural and absolute relationship just waiting to be stated once and for all. Rather, it is an artificial and short-lived one, relative to available knowledge or experience, and should be memorized as such using well-suited semantics. Standard rationality enables designers to manage consistent identities according to a fixed state of understanding only. If that state is updated to reflect current changes of things or environments coupled with innovation, they must adopt a relevant non standard rationality based on new scientific foundations
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