784 research outputs found
Dealing with death in cancer care: should the oncologist be an amicus mortis?
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this recordThe way death is (not) dealt with is one of the main determinants of the current crisis of
cancer care. The tendency to avoid discussions about terminal prognoses and to create
unrealistic expectations of fighting death is seriously harming patients, families, healthcare
professionals, and the delivery of high quality and equitable care. Drawing on different
literature sources, we explore key dimensions of the taboo of death: medical; policy; cultural.
We suggest that the oncologist, from a certain moment, could take on the role of amicus
mortis, a classical figure in the past times, and thus accompanying patients towards the end of
their life through palliation, and linking them to psychosocial, and ethical/existential
resources. This presupposes the implementation of Supportive Care in Cancer, and the ethical
idea of relational autonomy based on understanding patientsâ needs considering their sociocultural contexts. It is also key to encourage public conversations beyond the area of
medicine to re-integrate death into life
Explicit BCJ Numerators from Pure Spinors
We derive local kinematic numerators for gauge theory tree amplitudes which
manifestly satisfy Jacobi identities analogous to color factors. They naturally
emerge from the low energy limit of superstring amplitudes computed with the
pure spinor formalism. The manifestation of the color--kinematics duality is a
consequence of the superstring computation involving no more than (n-2)!
kinematic factors for the full color dressed n-point amplitude. The bosonic
part of these results describe gluon scattering independent on the number of
supersymmetries and captures any N^kMHV helicity configuration after
dimensional reduction to D=4 dimensions.Comment: 32 pages, harvma
The Structure of n-Point One-Loop Open Superstring Amplitudes
In this article we present the worldsheet integrand for one-loop amplitudes
in maximally supersymmetric superstring theory involving any number n of
massless open string states. The polarization dependence is organized into the
same BRST invariant kinematic combinations which also govern the leading string
correction to tree level amplitudes. The dimensions of the bases for both the
kinematics and the associated worldsheet integrals is found to be the unsigned
Stirling number S_3^{n-1} of first kind. We explain why the same combinatorial
structures govern on the one hand finite one-loop amplitudes of equal helicity
states in pure Yang Mills theory and on the other hand the color tensors at
quadratic alpha prime order of the color dressed tree amplitude.Comment: 75 pp, 8 figs, harvmac TeX, v2: published versio
Conservative treatment of fractures of the clavicle
Background: In the treatment of clavicle fractures, the choice of procedure depends on the possibility of restoring
the anatomical functional integrity of the shoulder.
Methods: We examined 71 patients (51 males and 20 females, mean age 38.9 years) who were affected by clavicle
fracture sequelae. Demographic and clinical data and the site of the lesion were recorded for each partecipant. The
dissatisfaction of the patient was determined by the presence of 1 or more affirmative answers on the Simple
Shoulder Test. The Constant Shoulder Score was also included in the functional and clinical exams. We measured
the length of the healthy clavicle and the previously fractured clavicle, and we expressed the difference in length
in mm and in percentage shortening. We then examined the correlations between the shortening of the bone
and the clinical and functional outcomes of the patients.
Results: Sixty patients had a lesion of the diaphysis, 8 patients had a lesion of the lateral third of the clavicle, and
3 patients had a lesion of the medial third of the clavicle. The mean Constant Shoulder Score was 77.9, and 51 of
the 71 patients were satisfied with their treatment. Radiography showed a mean clavicle shortening of 10 mm
(mean percentage 6.5%). In the 20 dissatisfied patients, the mean clavicle shortening was 15.2 mm (9.7%). In these
patients, we found a highly significant association between dissatisfaction with treatment and the amount of bone
shortening, (p < 0.0001), as well as with a diaphyseal location (p < 0.05) and with the female sex (p = 0.004). No
other variable related to the patient, the type of treatment or the fracture characteristics correlated with the
treatment outcome.
Conclusions: In the literature, measurements of the shortening of the bone segment following a fracture range
between 15 and 23 mm, and marked shortening is correlated with the failure of conservative treatment. However,
these data need to be reinterpreted in light of the physiological variability of the clavicle length, which ranges
from 140 to 158 mm in the healthy population. Shortening of the bone by more than 9.7% should be the cut-off
for predicting failure of conservative treatment
Protein coalitions in a core mammalian biochemical network linked by rapidly evolving proteins
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cellular ATP levels are generated by glucose-stimulated mitochondrial metabolism and determine metabolic responses, such as glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) from the β-cells of pancreatic islets. We describe an analysis of the evolutionary processes affecting the core enzymes involved in glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in mammals. The proteins involved in this system belong to ancient enzymatic pathways: glycolysis, the TCA cycle and oxidative phosphorylation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identify two sets of proteins, or protein coalitions, in this group of 77 enzymes with distinct evolutionary patterns. Members of the glycolysis, TCA cycle, metabolite transport, pyruvate and NADH shuttles have low rates of protein sequence evolution, as inferred from a human-mouse comparison, and relatively high rates of evolutionary gene duplication. Respiratory chain and glutathione pathway proteins evolve faster, exhibiting lower rates of gene duplication. A small number of proteins in the system evolve significantly faster than co-pathway members and may serve as rapidly evolving adapters, linking groups of co-evolving genes.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results provide insights into the evolution of the involved proteins. We find evidence for two coalitions of proteins and the role of co-adaptation in protein evolution is identified and could be used in future research within a functional context.</p
Extracellular Tau Oligomers Produce An Immediate Impairment of LTP and Memory
Non-fibrillar soluble oligomeric forms of amyloid-\u3b2 peptide (oA\u3b2) and tau proteins are likely to play a major role in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The prevailing hypothesis on the disease etiopathogenesis is that oA\u3b2 initiates tau pathology that slowly spreads throughout the medial temporal cortex and neocortices independently of A\u3b2, eventually leading to memory loss. Here we show that a brief exposure to extracellular recombinant human tau oligomers (oTau), but not monomers, produces an impairment of long-term potentiation (LTP) and memory, independent of the presence of high oA\u3b2 levels. The impairment is immediate as it raises as soon as 20\u2009min after exposure to the oligomers. These effects are reproduced either by oTau extracted from AD human specimens, or naturally produced in mice overexpressing human tau. Finally, we found that oTau could also act in combination with oA\u3b2 to produce these effects, as sub-toxic doses of the two peptides combined lead to LTP and memory impairment. These findings provide a novel view of the effects of tau and A\u3b2 on memory loss, offering new therapeutic opportunities in the therapy of AD and other neurodegenerative diseases associated with A\u3b2 and tau pathology
Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS
has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions
at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection
criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined.
For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a
muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the
whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4,
while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The
efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than
90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall
momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The
transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity
for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be
better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions
of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS
has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions
at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection
criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined.
For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a
muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the
whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4,
while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The
efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than
90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall
momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The
transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity
for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be
better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions
of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
X-ray emission from the Sombrero galaxy: discrete sources
We present a study of discrete X-ray sources in and around the
bulge-dominated, massive Sa galaxy, Sombrero (M104), based on new and archival
Chandra observations with a total exposure of ~200 ks. With a detection limit
of L_X = 1E37 erg/s and a field of view covering a galactocentric radius of ~30
kpc (11.5 arcminute), 383 sources are detected. Cross-correlation with Spitler
et al.'s catalogue of Sombrero globular clusters (GCs) identified from HST/ACS
observations reveals 41 X-rays sources in GCs, presumably low-mass X-ray
binaries (LMXBs). We quantify the differential luminosity functions (LFs) for
both the detected GC and field LMXBs, whose power-low indices (~1.1 for the
GC-LF and ~1.6 for field-LF) are consistent with previous studies for
elliptical galaxies. With precise sky positions of the GCs without a detected
X-ray source, we further quantify, through a fluctuation analysis, the GC LF at
fainter luminosities down to 1E35 erg/s. The derived index rules out a
faint-end slope flatter than 1.1 at a 2 sigma significance, contrary to recent
findings in several elliptical galaxies and the bulge of M31. On the other
hand, the 2-6 keV unresolved emission places a tight constraint on the field
LF, implying a flattened index of ~1.0 below 1E37 erg/s. We also detect 101
sources in the halo of Sombrero. The presence of these sources cannot be
interpreted as galactic LMXBs whose spatial distribution empirically follows
the starlight. Their number is also higher than the expected number of cosmic
AGNs (52+/-11 [1 sigma]) whose surface density is constrained by deep X-ray
surveys. We suggest that either the cosmic X-ray background is unusually high
in the direction of Sombrero, or a distinct population of X-ray sources is
present in the halo of Sombrero.Comment: 11 figures, 5 tables, ApJ in pres
Azimuthal anisotropy of charged particles at high transverse momenta in PbPb collisions at sqrt(s[NN]) = 2.76 TeV
The azimuthal anisotropy of charged particles in PbPb collisions at
nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 2.76 TeV is measured with the CMS
detector at the LHC over an extended transverse momentum (pt) range up to
approximately 60 GeV. The data cover both the low-pt region associated with
hydrodynamic flow phenomena and the high-pt region where the anisotropies may
reflect the path-length dependence of parton energy loss in the created medium.
The anisotropy parameter (v2) of the particles is extracted by correlating
charged tracks with respect to the event-plane reconstructed by using the
energy deposited in forward-angle calorimeters. For the six bins of collision
centrality studied, spanning the range of 0-60% most-central events, the
observed v2 values are found to first increase with pt, reaching a maximum
around pt = 3 GeV, and then to gradually decrease to almost zero, with the
decline persisting up to at least pt = 40 GeV over the full centrality range
measured.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
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