1,003 research outputs found
Severe vocal cord dysfunction resistant to all current therapeutic interventions
SummaryVocal cord dysfunction (VCD) is characterised by paradoxical vocal cord adduction during inspiration or throughout the respiratory cycle, it results in wheeze, stridor, cough and dyspnoea. Although asthma and VCD can coexist, patients with VCD are frequently misdiagnosed with refractory asthma. It can severely restrict an individual's level of activity and effective therapeutic control can be difficult to achieve. We report the case of a patient who was treated with all available therapeutic interventions, including intralaryngeal botulinum toxin injection, but failure resulted in a permanent trachesotomy
Fluid-membrane tethers: minimal surfaces and elastic boundary layers
Thin cylindrical tethers are common lipid bilayer membrane structures,
arising in situations ranging from micromanipulation experiments on artificial
vesicles to the dynamic structure of the Golgi apparatus. We study the shape
and formation of a tether in terms of the classical soap-film problem, which is
applied to the case of a membrane disk under tension subject to a point force.
A tether forms from the elastic boundary layer near the point of application of
the force, for sufficiently large displacement. Analytic results for various
aspects of the membrane shape are given.Comment: 12 page
Normal Coordinates Describing Coupled Oscillations in the Gravitational Field
The motion of a local source inducing small oscillations in the gravitational
field is investigated and shown to exhibit pure rotational kinetic energy.
Should the net affect of these slow, revolving oscillations cause large-scale
rotations in spacetime it would certainly result in anomalous celestial
accelerations. When this angular rotational frequency of spacetime is applied
to the anomalous acceleration of the Pioneer 10/11 spacecrafts, the correlation
is promising.Comment: General Relativity and Gravitation Ref.: Ms. No. GERG-D-06-00077R1
accepted for publication October 06, 200
B-cell activating factor (BAFF) plasma level at the time of chronic GvHD diagnosis is a potential predictor of non-relapse mortality
Biological markers for risk stratification of chronic GvHD (cGvHD) could improve the care of patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Increased plasma levels of B-cell activating factor (BAFF), chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 9 (CXCL9) and elafin have been associated with the diagnosis, but not with outcome in patients with cGvHD. We evaluated the association between levels of these soluble proteins, measured by ELISA at the time of cGvHD diagnosis and before the initiation of therapy, with non-relapse-mortality (NRM). Based on the log-transformed values, factor levels were divided into tertiles defined respectively as low, intermediate, and high levels. On univariable analysis, BAFF levels were significantly associated with NRM, whereas CXCL9 and elafin levels were not. Both low (⩽2.3 ng/mL, hazard ratio (HR)=5.8, P=0.03) and high (>5.7 ng/mL, HR=5.4, P=0.03) BAFF levels were associated with a significantly higher NRM compared with intermediate BAFF level. The significant effect of high or low BAFF levels persisted in multivariable analysis. A subset of cGvHD patients had persistently low BAFF levels. In conclusion, our data show that BAFF levels at the time of cGvHD diagnosis are associated with NRM, and also are potentially useful for risk stratification. These results warrant confirmation in larger studies
Half-metallic antiferromagnets in thiospinels
We have theoretically designed the half-metallic (HM) antiferromagnets (AFMs)
in thiospinel systems, and , based on the electronic structure
studies in the local-spin-density approximation (LSDA). We have also explored
electronic and magnetic properties of parent spinel compounds of the above
systems; and are found to be HM
ferromagnets in their cubic spinel structures, while is a
ferrimagnetic insulator. We have discussed the feasibility of material
synthesis of HM-AFM thiospinel systems.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
On the spherical-axial transition in supernova remnants
A new law of motion for supernova remnant (SNR) which introduces the quantity
of swept matter in the thin layer approximation is introduced. This new law of
motion is tested on 10 years observations of SN1993J. The introduction of an
exponential gradient in the surrounding medium allows to model an aspherical
expansion. A weakly asymmetric SNR, SN1006, and a strongly asymmetric SNR,
SN1987a, are modeled. In the case of SN1987a the three observed rings are
simulated.Comment: 19 figures and 14 pages Accepted for publication in Astrophysics &
Space Science in the year 201
Structural Probe of a Glass Forming Liquid: Generalized Compressibility
We introduce a new quantity to probe the glass transition. This quantity is a
linear generalized compressibility which depends solely on the positions of the
particles. We have performed a molecular dynamics simulation on a glass forming
liquid consisting of a two component mixture of soft spheres in three
dimensions. As the temperature is lowered (or as the density is increased), the
generalized compressibility drops sharply at the glass transition, with the
drop becoming more and more abrupt as the measurement time increases. At our
longest measurement times, the drop occurs approximately at the mode coupling
temperature . The drop in the linear generalized compressibility occurs at
the same temperature as the peak in the specific heat. By examining the
inherent structure energy as a function of temperature, we find that our
results are consistent with the kinetic view of the glass transition in which
the system falls out of equilibrium. We find no size dependence and no evidence
for a second order phase transition though this does not exclude the
possibility of a phase transition below the observed glass transition
temperature. We discuss the relation between the linear generalized
compressibility and the ordinary isothermal compressibility as well as the
static structure factor.Comment: 18 pages, Latex, 26 encapsulated postscript figures, revised paper is
shorter, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Stein's method on Wiener chaos
We combine Malliavin calculus with Stein's method, in order to derive
explicit bounds in the Gaussian and Gamma approximations of random variables in
a fixed Wiener chaos of a general Gaussian process. We also prove results
concerning random variables admitting a possibly infinite Wiener chaotic
decomposition. Our approach generalizes, refines and unifies the central and
non-central limit theorems for multiple Wiener-It\^o integrals recently proved
(in several papers, from 2005 to 2007) by Nourdin, Nualart, Ortiz-Latorre,
Peccati and Tudor. We apply our techniques to prove Berry-Ess\'een bounds in
the Breuer-Major CLT for subordinated functionals of fractional Brownian
motion. By using the well-known Mehler's formula for Ornstein-Uhlenbeck
semigroups, we also recover a technical result recently proved by Chatterjee,
concerning the Gaussian approximation of functionals of finite-dimensional
Gaussian vectors.Comment: 39 pages; Two sections added; To appear in PTR
Equivalence of 2 effective graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis regimens: Results of a prospective double-blind randomized trial
AbstractWe have previously demonstrated a decrease in the incidence of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) with the addition of methotrexate (MTX) to cyclosporine (CSP) and prednisone (PSE) chemotherapy in patients with leukemia. We have now completed a prospective randomized trial comparing the 3-drug regimen (CSP/MTX/PSE, including 3 doses of MTX) to the standard 2-drug regimen (CSP/MTX, including 4 doses of MTX) to investigate the benefit of PSE used up front for the prevention of acute and chronic GVHD. In the trial, 193 patients were randomized and 186 were included in the final analysis. All patients received a bone marrow graft from a fully histocompatible sibling donor. The preparatory regimen consisted of fractionated total-body irradiation (fTBI) and etoposide in all but 13 patients, who received fTBI and cyclophosphamide. The patients were randomized to receive either CSP/MTX/PSE or CSP/MTX. The 2 groups were well balanced with respect to diagnosis, disease stage, age, donor-recipient sex, and parity. In an intent-to-treat analysis, the incidence of acute GVHD was 18% (95% confidence interval [CI] 12-28) for the CSP/MTX/PSE group compared with 20% (CI 10-26) for the CSP/,MTX group (P = .60), with a median follow up of 2.2 years. Overall survival was 65% for those receiving CSP/MTX/PSE and 72% for those receiving CSP/MTX (P = .10); the relapse rate was 15% for the CSP/MTX/PSE group and 12% for the CSP/MTX group (P = .83). The incidence of chronic GVHD was similar (46% versus 52%; P = .38), with a follow-up of 0.7 to 6.0 years. Of interest, 21 patients went off study due to GVHD (5 in the CSP/MTX/PSE group and 16 in the CSP/MITX group [P = .02]), and 11 patients went off study because of alveolar hemorrhage (3 in the CSP/MTX/PSE group and 8 in the CSP/MTX group [P = .22]). The addition of PSE did not result in a higher incidence of infectious complications, bacterial (66% versus 58%), viral (77% versus 66%), or fungal (20% versus 20%), in those receiving CSP/MTX/PSE versus CSP/MTX, respectively. These data suggest that the addition of PSE was associated with a somewhat lower incidence of early posttransplantation complications but did not have a positive impact on the incidence of acute or chronic GVHD or event-free or overall survival.Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 2000;6(3):254-61
White paper on guidelines concerning enteric nervous system stem cell therapy for enteric neuropathies.
Over the last 20 years, there has been increasing focus on the development of novel stem cell based therapies for the treatment of disorders and diseases affecting the enteric nervous system (ENS) of the gastrointestinal tract (so-called enteric neuropathies). Here, the idea is that ENS progenitor/stem cells could be transplanted into the gut wall to replace the damaged or absent neurons and glia of the ENS. This White Paper sets out experts' views on the commonly used methods and approaches to identify, isolate, purify, expand and optimize ENS stem cells, transplant them into the bowel, and assess transplant success, including restoration of gut function. We also highlight obstacles that must be overcome in order to progress from successful preclinical studies in animal models to ENS stem cell therapies in the clinic
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