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Keloids and Hypertrophic Scars: Update and Future Directions
Summary: The development of cutaneous pathological scars, namely, hypertrophic scars (HSs) and keloids, involves complex pathways, and the exact mechanisms by which they are initiated, evolved, and regulated remain to be fully elucidated. The generally held concepts that keloids and HSs represent “aberrant wound healing” or that they are “characterized by hyalinized collagen bundles” have done little to promote their accurate clinicopathological classification or to stimulate research into the specific causes of these scars and effective preventative therapies. To overcome this barrier, we review here the most recent findings regarding the pathology and pathogenesis of keloids and HSs. The aberrations of HSs and keloids in terms of the inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling phases of the wound healing process are described. In particular, the significant roles that the extracellular matrix and the epidermal and dermal layers of skin play in scar pathogenesis are examined. Finally, the current hypotheses of pathological scar etiology that should be tested by basic and clinical investigators are detailed. Therapies that have been found to be effective are described, including several that evolved directly from the aforementioned etiology hypotheses. A better understanding of pathological scar etiology and manifestations will improve the clinical and histopathological classification and treatment of these important lesions
Visual Performance of Tecnis ZM900 Diffractive Multifocal IOL after 2500 Implants: A 3-Year Followup
Purpose. To evaluate visual performance for near, intermediate, and distant vision; complaints of photic phenomena, and patient satisfaction with the new diffractive multifocal IOL used in eyes which underwent phacoemulsification. Methods. Two thousand and five hundred consecutive eyes undergoing Tecnis ZM900 multifocal IOL implantation were included in this retrospective analysis. The minimum followup of 3 months was required after the surgery. Patients were assessed for uncorrected near visual acuity (UNVA) at a fixed distance (33 cm), uncorrected intermediate visual acuity (UIVA) at 60 cm, and uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA). Using a subjective questionnaire, patients satisfaction, their independence from using glasses, and the perception of glare and halo phenomena were also evaluated at the last follow-up. Results. Two thousand and five hundred eyes of 1558 patients underwent cataract surgery and Tecnis ZM900 multifocal IOL implantation. Four hundred and eighty seven patients (31.3%) were men, and 1071 (68.7%) were women. The mean age of the patients was 66.17 years. A UDVA of 20/30 or better was achieved by 85% of eyes. A UNVA of J1 was achieved by 93.7% of eyes and that of J2 or better was achieved by 98%. A UIVA of J4 or better was achieved by 65% and J5 or better was achived by more than 82.8% of the eyes in the study. Glare and halos were reported as severe by only 6.1% and 2.12% of patients, respectively. Ninety seven percent reported complete spectacle independence and 88% stated that they are totally satisfied with their quality of vision and would choose to have the same lens implanted again after the first implant. Five percent of the eyes in the study needed a second procedure (enhancement) to achieve a better visual result. No patient underwent lens exchange. Conclusion. Excellent near, intermediate, and distant vision was observed in patients implanted with the Tecnis ZM900 diffractive multifocal IOL. Spectacle independence and a minimum occurrence of photic phenomena make this IOL an excellent option in patients with cataract
Characterizing Interdisciplinarity of Researchers and Research Topics Using Web Search Engines
Researchers' networks have been subject to active modeling and analysis.
Earlier literature mostly focused on citation or co-authorship networks
reconstructed from annotated scientific publication databases, which have
several limitations. Recently, general-purpose web search engines have also
been utilized to collect information about social networks. Here we
reconstructed, using web search engines, a network representing the relatedness
of researchers to their peers as well as to various research topics.
Relatedness between researchers and research topics was characterized by
visibility boost-increase of a researcher's visibility by focusing on a
particular topic. It was observed that researchers who had high visibility
boosts by the same research topic tended to be close to each other in their
network. We calculated correlations between visibility boosts by research
topics and researchers' interdisciplinarity at individual level (diversity of
topics related to the researcher) and at social level (his/her centrality in
the researchers' network). We found that visibility boosts by certain research
topics were positively correlated with researchers' individual-level
interdisciplinarity despite their negative correlations with the general
popularity of researchers. It was also found that visibility boosts by
network-related topics had positive correlations with researchers' social-level
interdisciplinarity. Research topics' correlations with researchers'
individual- and social-level interdisciplinarities were found to be nearly
independent from each other. These findings suggest that the notion of
"interdisciplinarity" of a researcher should be understood as a
multi-dimensional concept that should be evaluated using multiple assessment
means.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in PLoS On
Calculation of the Alpha--Particle Ground State within the Hyperspherical Harmonic Basis
The problem of calculating the four--nucleon bound state properties for the
case of realistic two- and three-body nuclear potentials is studied using the
hyperspherical harmonic (HH) approach. A careful analysis of the convergence of
different classes of HH functions has been performed. A restricted basis is
chosen to allow for accurate estimates of the binding energy and other
properties of the 4He ground state. Results for various modern two-nucleon and
two- plus three-nucleon interactions are presented. The 4He asymptotic
normalization constants for separation in 2+2 and 1+3 clusters are also
computed.Comment: 29 pages, 4 figures, 11 tables, revtex
Realistic shell-model calculations: current status and open problems
The main steps involved in realistic shell-model calculations employing
two-body low-momentum interactions are briefly reviewed. The practical value of
this approach is exemplified by the results of recent calculations and some
remaining open questions and directions for future research are discussed.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, contribution to J. Phys G, Special Issue, Focus
Section: Open Problems in Nuclear Structur
First observation of the hyper superheavy hydrogen 6{\Lambda}H
Three candidate events of the neutron-rich hypernucleus 6{\Lambda}H were
uniquely identified in the FINUDA experiment at DA{\Phi}NE, Frascati, by
observing {\pi}+ mesons from the (K-stop,{\pi}+) production reaction on 6Li
targets, in coincidence with {\pi}-mesons from 6{\Lambda}H \rightarrow
6He+{\pi}- weak decay. Details of the experiment and the analysis of its data
are reported, leading to an estimate of (2.9\pm2.0)\cdot10-6/K- stop for the
6{\Lambda}H production rate times the two-body {\pi}- weak decay branching
ratio. The 6{\Lambda}H binding energy with respect to 5H + {\Lambda} was
determined jointly from production and decay to be B{\Lambda} = (4.0 \pm 1.1)
MeV, assuming that 5H is unbound with respect to 3H + 2n by 1.7 MeV. The
binding energy determined from production is higher, in each one of the three
events, than that determined from decay, with a difference of (0.98 \pm 0.74)
MeV here assigned to the 0+g.s. \rightarrow 1+ excitation. The consequences of
this assignment to {\Lambda} hypernuclear dynamics are briefly discussed.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures, version matching published Nuclear Physics A
manuscrip
Sequential Dose-Dense Doxorubicin and Ifosfamide in Advanced Soft-Tissue Sarcoma Patients in an Out-Patient-Basis Schedule
Aims. This phase II study explored activity/safety of front-line dose-dense chemotherapy in high-grade STS (soft tissue sarcoma) patients and tested ezrin as prognostic factor. Patients and Methods. The protocol consisted of three cycles of doxorubicin (DOXO) 30 mg/m2 on days 1–3 every 2 weeks, followed by three cycles of ifosfamide (IFO) 2.5 g/m2 two hours a day on days 1–5 every 3 weeks, with GCSF support. Ezrin was assessed immunohistochemically. Results. Twenty patients, 13 metastatic and 7 locally advanced, were enrolled. Median age was 39 years (25–60). Median dose intensities were 42 mg/m2/week and 3.6 g/m2/week for DOXO and IFO, respectively. Grade 3/4 toxicities occurred in 18 patients. Response rate was 15% (3 of 20) by RECIST. Patients younger than 45 years with locally advanced disease and synovial histology presented longer survival. A trend towards longer survival was observed among ezrin-positive patients. Conclusions. This dose-dense schedule should not be routinely used due to its high frequency of toxic events; however, a sequential strategy with DOXO and IFO may benefit selected patients and should be further explored with lower doses. The role of ezrin as a prognostic marker should be confirmed in a larger group of patients
First measurement of kaonic helium-3 X-rays
The first observation of the kaonic 3He 3d - 2p transition was made using
slow K- mesons stopped in a gaseous 3He target. The kaonic atom X-rays were
detected with large-area silicon drift detectors using the timing information
of the K+K- pairs of phi-meson decays produced by the DAFNE e+e- collider. The
strong interaction shift of the kaonic 3He 2p state was determined to be -2+-2
(stat)+-4 (syst) eV.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.
The K^- \alpha scattering length and the reaction dd \to \alpha K^+ K^-
We present predictions for the the K^- \alpha scattering length obtained
within the framework of the multiple scattering approach. Evaluating the pole
position of the K^- \alpha scattering amplitude within the zero range
approximation, we find a loosely bound K^- \alpha state with a binding energy
of E_R = -2 ... -7 MeV and a width \Gamma_R = 11 ... 18 MeV. We propose to
measure the K^- \alpha scattering length through the final state interaction
between the \alpha and K^- meson produced in the reaction dd \to \alpha K^+
K^-. It is found that the K^-\alpha invariant mass distribution from this
reaction at energies near the threshold provides a new tool to determine the
s-wave K^- \alpha scattering length.Comment: 6 pages, 3 PS figure
Correlated pairs from the reaction
Correlated pairs emitted after the absorption of negative kaons
at rest in light nuclei and are
studied. -hyperons and deuterons are found to be preferentially
emitted in opposite directions. The invariant mass spectrum of
shows a bump whose mass is 32516 MeV/c. The bump mass (binding
energy), width and yield are reported. The appearance of a bump is discussed in
the realm of the [] clustering process in nuclei. The experiment was
performed with the FINUDA spectrometer at DANE (LNF).Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.
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