219 research outputs found
Biosensors in clinical practice : focus on oncohematology
Biosensors are devices that are capable of detecting specific biological analytes and converting their presence or concentration into some electrical, thermal, optical or other signal that can be easily analysed. The first biosensor was designed by Clark and Lyons in 1962 as a means of measuring glucose. Since then, much progress has been made and the applications of biosensors are today potentially boundless. This review is limited to their clinical applications, particularly in the field of oncohematology. Biosensors have recently been developed in order to improve the diagnosis and treatment of patients affected by hematological malignancies, such as the biosensor for assessing the in vitro pre-treatment efficacy of cytarabine in acute myeloid leukemia, and the fluorescence resonance energy transfer-based biosensor for assessing the efficacy of imatinib in chronic myeloid leukemia. The review also considers the challenges and future perspectives of biosensors in clinical practice
An unusual type of myeloid sarcoma localization following myelofibrosis : a case report and literature review
Myeloid Sarcoma (MS) is a rare malignancy that can present as an isolated disease or more frequently in association with or following acute myeloid leukemia or other myeloid neoplasms and rarely following myelofibrosis. Since molecular pathogenesis and prognostic factors of MS are not well understood, its prognosis remains poor even in the era of novel agents and target therapies. We report the case of a patient with MS following myelofibrosis with multiple subcutaneous, cutaneous and muscle localizations; the latter has been reported in the literature as anecdotal. In this way we aimed to enhance the understanding of this disease
Changes in the incidence of candidemia and related mortality in patients with hematologic malignancies in the last ten years. A SEIFEM 2015-B report
The Pierre Auger Observatory III: Other Astrophysical Observations
Astrophysical observations of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays with the Pierre
Auger ObservatoryComment: Contributions to the 32nd International Cosmic Ray Conference,
Beijing, China, August 201
Highlights from the Pierre Auger Observatory
The Pierre Auger Observatory is the world's largest cosmic ray observatory.
Our current exposure reaches nearly 40,000 km str and provides us with an
unprecedented quality data set. The performance and stability of the detectors
and their enhancements are described. Data analyses have led to a number of
major breakthroughs. Among these we discuss the energy spectrum and the
searches for large-scale anisotropies. We present analyses of our X
data and show how it can be interpreted in terms of mass composition. We also
describe some new analyses that extract mass sensitive parameters from the 100%
duty cycle SD data. A coherent interpretation of all these recent results opens
new directions. The consequences regarding the cosmic ray composition and the
properties of UHECR sources are briefly discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures, talk given at the 33rd International Cosmic Ray
Conference, Rio de Janeiro 201
Measurement of the Depth of Maximum of Extensive Air Showers above 10^18 eV
We describe the measurement of the depth of maximum, Xmax, of the
longitudinal development of air showers induced by cosmic rays. Almost four
thousand events above 10^18 eV observed by the fluorescence detector of the
Pierre Auger Observatory in coincidence with at least one surface detector
station are selected for the analysis. The average shower maximum was found to
evolve with energy at a rate of (106 +35/-21) g/cm^2/decade below 10^(18.24 +/-
0.05) eV and (24 +/- 3) g/cm^2/decade above this energy. The measured
shower-to-shower fluctuations decrease from about 55 to 26 g/cm^2. The
interpretation of these results in terms of the cosmic ray mass composition is
briefly discussed.Comment: Accepted for publication by PR
High Incidence of Invasive Fungal Diseases in Patients with FLT3-Mutated AML Treated with Midostaurin: Results of a Multicenter Observational SEIFEM Study
The potential drug-drug interactions of midostaurin may impact the choice of antifungal (AF) prophylaxis in FLT3-positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. To evaluate the incidence of invasive fungal diseases (IFD) during the treatment of FLT3-mutated AML patients and to correlate it to the different AF prophylaxis strategies, we planned a multicenter observational study involving 15 SEIFEM centers. One hundred fourteen patients treated with chemotherapy + midostaurin as induction/reinduction, consolidation or both were enrolled. During induction, the incidence of probable/proven and possible IFD was 10.5% and 9.7%, respectively; no statistically significant difference was observed according to the different AF strategy adopted. The median duration of neutropenia was similar in patients with or without IFD. Proven/probable and possible IFD incidence was 2.4% and 1.8%, respectively, during consolidation. Age was the only risk factor for IFD (OR, 95% CI, 1.10 [1.03–1.19]) and complete remission achievement after first induction the only one for survival (OR, 95% CI, 5.12 [1.93–13.60]). The rate of midostaurin discontinuation was similar across different AF strategies. The IFD attributable mortality during induction was 8.3%. In conclusion, the 20.2% overall incidence of IFD occurring in FLT3-mutated AML during induction with chemotherapy + midostaurin, regardless of AF strategy type, was noteworthy, and merits further study, particularly in elderly patients
Anisotropy and chemical composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays using arrival directions measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory
The Pierre Auger Collaboration has reported evidence for anisotropy in the
distribution of arrival directions of the cosmic rays with energies
eV. These show a correlation with the distribution
of nearby extragalactic objects, including an apparent excess around the
direction of Centaurus A. If the particles responsible for these excesses at
are heavy nuclei with charge , the proton component of the
sources should lead to excesses in the same regions at energies . We here
report the lack of anisotropies in these directions at energies above
(for illustrative values of ). If the anisotropies
above are due to nuclei with charge , and under reasonable
assumptions about the acceleration process, these observations imply stringent
constraints on the allowed proton fraction at the lower energies
Update on the correlation of the highest energy cosmic rays with nearby extragalactic matter
Data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory through 31 August 2007 showed
evidence for anisotropy in the arrival directions of cosmic rays above the
Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuz'min energy threshold, \nobreak{eV}. The
anisotropy was measured by the fraction of arrival directions that are less
than from the position of an active galactic nucleus within 75 Mpc
(using the V\'eron-Cetty and V\'eron catalog). An updated
measurement of this fraction is reported here using the arrival directions of
cosmic rays recorded above the same energy threshold through 31 December 2009.
The number of arrival directions has increased from 27 to 69, allowing a more
precise measurement. The correlating fraction is , compared
with expected for isotropic cosmic rays. This is down from the early
estimate of . The enlarged set of arrival directions is
examined also in relation to other populations of nearby extragalactic objects:
galaxies in the 2 Microns All Sky Survey and active galactic nuclei detected in
hard X-rays by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope. A celestial region around the
position of the radiogalaxy Cen A has the largest excess of arrival directions
relative to isotropic expectations. The 2-point autocorrelation function is
shown for the enlarged set of arrival directions and compared to the isotropic
expectation.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physics on 31 August 201
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