385 research outputs found
Two Cases of Cerebral Sinus Venous Thrombosis Following Chemotherapy for Non-Seminomatous Germ Cell Tumor
We report on two patients with cerebral sinus venous thrombosis following chemotherapy with cisplatin, bleomycin and etoposide for non-seminomatous germ cell tumor. Headache and neurological deficits were the leading symptoms. Cancer and cisplatin chemotherapy are well-known risk factors for thromboembolic events. The therapeutic strategy is an anticoagulant therapy. Symptoms are usually reversible within weeks under this therapy. Therefore, in patients with testicular cancer and chemotherapy who present with neurological symptoms, cerebral sinus venous thrombosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis
Flexibilisierung der Arbeitsentgelte und BeschÀftigungseffekte : Ergebnisse einer Unternehmensbefragung
Anhaltend hohe Arbeitslosenzahlen in Deutschland werden immer wieder auch auf eine zu rigide Entgeltstruktur zurĂŒckgefĂŒhrt. Diese InflexibilitĂ€t habe ihre Ursache in einem (zu) stark regulierten Arbeitsmarkt. Das deutsche Arbeitsrecht lasse Flexibilisierungen im Entgelt-bereich nicht (oder zumindest nicht hinreichend) zu. Obwohl diese Thesen von Wirtschafts-politikern und Ăkonomen vertreten werden, fehlt es bislang an einer umfassenden theoretischen Aufarbeitung und empirischen ĂberprĂŒfung.
Die in dieser Studie vorgestellten Befragungsergebnisse liefern erstmals reprĂ€sentative Daten fĂŒr rund 38v.H. aller privaten Unternehmen ĂŒber deren Entgeltsysteme - politik. Damit schlieĂt die Studie eine ForschungslĂŒcke zwischen Einzelfallstudien zur Entgeltfindung in den Unternehmen und sektoralen und gesamtwirtschaftlichen Analysen zum Zusammenhang zwischen Entgeltstrukturen und BeschĂ€ftigung.
An der Umfrage haben sich 801 Unternehmen aus dem Industrie- und Dienstleistungsbereich sowie aus dem in den letzten Jahren stark wachsenden Bereich der unternehmensnahen Dienstleistungen beteiligt. Die Studie verdeutlicht das Zusammenwirken rechtlicher und ökonomischer Faktoren bei der Entgeltfindung. HĂ€lt man das Entgeltniveau in Deutschland fĂŒr zu hoch, so legen die Ergebnisse die Vermutung nahe, dass vollbeschĂ€ftigungskonformere Entgeltrelationen - etwa durch eine Verlagerung der Entgeltfindung auf die betriebliche Ebene - nicht so ohne weiteres erreicht werden können. Denn Entgeltstarrheiten lassen sich nur zum Teil auf rechtliche Restriktionen zurĂŒckfĂŒhren. InflexibilitĂ€ten im Entgeltbereich haben auch ökonomische GrĂŒnde, die in der RationalitĂ€t von Arbeitgeber-Arbeitnehmer-Beziehungen liegen, wobei die Umfrageergebnisse auf verstĂ€rkte Anstrengungen zur Flexibilisierung der Entgelte in den Unternehmen hindeuten.
Eine Bestandsaufnahme bestehender VergĂŒtungssysteme zeigt, dass in den fĂŒnf untersuchten Branchen (Chemie, Metall-/Elektroindustrie/Maschinenbau, Handel, Banken und Versicherungen, unternehmensnahe Dienstleister) nur rund 39v.H. der Unternehmen TarifvertrĂ€ge ĂŒberhaupt anwenden. Das könnte den Weg fĂŒr eine experimentelle Entgeltpolitik auf Unternehmensebene frei machen, doch wird der Tarifvertrag um so öfter angewandt, je gröĂer die Belegschaft der einzelnen Unternehmen ist. Insgesamt arbeiten daher ca. 77v.H. aller BeschĂ€ftigten in Unternehmen, die TarifvertrĂ€ge anwenden.
FĂŒr die Gruppe der gering qualifizierten Arbeitnehmer stellten TarifvertrĂ€ge und implizite Kontrakte wesentliche Flexibilisierungshemmnisse dar; fĂŒr hochqualifizierte Arbeitnehmer stehen Personalbeschaffungs- und Einarbeitungskosten sowie betriebsspezifisches Humankapital im Vordergrund. Unternehmen scheinen auch deshalb von Entgeltsenkungen abzusehen, weil dadurch die Gefahr zunimmt, dass die jeweils besten Arbeitnehmer einer jeden Qualifikationsgruppe abwandern und dies negative Signale fĂŒr die Anwerbung neuer Mitarbeiter bedeutet
Quantifying Exchange Forces of a Non-Collinear Magnetic Structure on the Atomic Scale
The large interest in chiral magnetic structures for realization of nanoscale
magnetic storage or logic devices has necessitated methods which can quantify
magnetic interactions at the atomic scale. To overcome the limitations of the
typically used current-based sensing of atomic-scale exchange interactions, a
force-based detection scheme is highly advantageous. Here, we quantify the
atomic-scale exchange force field between a ferromagnetic tip and a cycloidal
spin spiral using our developed combination of current and exchange force
detection. Compared to the surprisingly weak spin polarization, the exchange
force field is more sensitive to atomic-scale variations in the magnetization.
First-principles calculations reveal that the measured atomic-scale variations
in the exchange force originate from different contributions of direct and
indirect (Zener) type exchange mechanisms, depending on the chemical tip
termination. Our work opens the perspective of quantifying different exchange
mechanisms of chiral magnetic structures with atomic-scale precision using 3D
magnetic exchange force field measurements
Flexibilisierung der Arbeitsentgelte und BeschÀftigungseffekte: Ergebnisse einer Unternehmensbefragung
Anhaltend hohe Arbeitslosenzahlen in Deutschland werden immer wieder auch auf eine zu rigide Entgeltstruktur zurĂŒckgefĂŒhrt. Diese InflexibilitĂ€t habe ihre Ursache in einem (zu) stark regulierten Arbeitsmarkt. Das deutsche Arbeitsrecht lasse Flexibilisierungen im Entgeltbereich nicht (oder zumindest nicht hinreichend) zu. Obwohl diese Thesen von Wirtschaftspolitikern und Ăkonomen vertreten werden, fehlt es bislang an einer umfassenden theoretischen Aufarbeitung und empirischen Verifikation. Die in dieser Studie vorgestellten Befragungsergebnisse liefern erstmals reprĂ€sentative Daten fĂŒr rund 38v.H. aller privaten Unternehmen ĂŒber deren Entgeltsysteme und BeschĂ€ftigungspolitik. Damit schlieĂt diese Studie eine ForschungslĂŒcke zwischen Einzelfallstudien zur Entgeltfindung in den Unternehmen und sektoralen und gesamtwirtschaftlichen Analysen zum Zusammenhang zwischen Entgeltstrukturen und BeschĂ€ftigung. Â
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Entanglement and Timing-Based Mechanisms in the Coherent Control of Scattering Processes
The coherent control of scattering processes is considered, with electron
impact dissociation of H used as an example. The physical mechanism
underlying coherently controlled stationary state scattering is exposed by
analyzing a control scenario that relies on previously established entanglement
requirements between the scattering partners. Specifically, initial state
entanglement assures that all collisions in the scattering volume yield the
desirable scattering configuration. Scattering is controlled by preparing the
particular internal state wave function that leads to the favored collisional
configuration in the collision volume. This insight allows coherent control to
be extended to the case of time-dependent scattering. Specifically, we identify
reactive scattering scenarios using incident wave packets of translational
motion where coherent control is operational and initial state entanglement is
unnecessary. Both the stationary and time-dependent scenarios incorporate
extended coherence features, making them physically distinct. From a
theoretical point of view, this work represents a large step forward in the
qualitative understanding of coherently controlled reactive scattering. From an
experimental viewpoint, it offers an alternative to entanglement-based control
schemes. However, both methods present significant challenges to existing
experimental technologies
Contrast-Enhanced CT Density Predicts Response to Sunitinib Therapy in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients.
The first-line therapy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC), sunitinib, exhibits an objective response rate of approximately 30%. Therapeutic alternatives such as other tyrosine kinase inhibitors, VEGF inhibitors, or mTOR inhibitors emphasize the clinical need to predict the patient's response to sunitinib therapy before treatment initiation. In this study, we evaluated the prognostic value of pretreatment portal venous phase contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) mean tumor density on overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and tumor growth in 63 sunitinib-treated mRCC patients. Higher pretreatment CECT tumor density was associated with longer PFS and OS [hazard ratio (HR)=0.968, P=.002, and HR=0.956, P=.001, respectively], and CECT density was inversely correlated with tumor growth (P=.010). Receiver operating characteristic analysis identified two CECT density cut-off values (63.67 HU, sensitivity 0.704, specificity 0.694; and 68.67 HU, sensitivity 0.593, specificity 0.806) which yielded subpopulations with significantly different PFS and OS (P<.001). Pretreatment CECT is therefore a promising noninvasive strategy for response prediction in sunitinib-treated mRCC patients, identifying patients who will derive maximum therapeutic benefit
Quantum inference of states and processes
The maximum-likelihood principle unifies inference of quantum states and
processes from experimental noisy data. Particularly, a generic quantum process
may be estimated simultaneously with unknown quantum probe states provided that
measurements on probe and transformed probe states are available. Drawbacks of
various approximate treatments are considered.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Sclerosing angiomatoid nodular transformation of the spleen: CT, MR, PET, and 99mTc-sulfur colloid SPECT CT findings with gross and histopathological correlation
Sclerosing angiomatoid nodular transformation (SANT) is a benign, proliferative vascular lesion affecting the spleen. Few reports detailing the cross sectional and PET appearance of this lesion are available, and the lesionâs behavior with 99mTc-sulfur colloid scintigraphy is previously unreported. Sclerosing nodular transformation of the spleen shows increased tracer accumulation on positron emission tomography, and a central scar-like appearance with an enhancing capsule and radiating septae on CT and MR studies that reflects the gross and histopathological features of the lesion may be visible. An understanding of this pathological finding may allow prospective recognition of the sclerosing nodular transformation of the spleen on cross sectional imaging studies
Endovascular Stent Treatment for Symptomatic Benign Iliofemoral Venous Occlusive Disease: Long-Term Results 1987â2009
Venous stenting has been shown to effectively treat iliofemoral venous obstruction with good short- and mid-term results. The aim of this study was to investigate long-term clinical outcome and stent patency. Twenty patients were treated with venous stenting for benign disease at our institution between 1987 and 2005. Fifteen of 20 patients (15 female, mean age at time of stent implantation 38 years [range 18â66]) returned for a clinical visit, a plain X-ray of the stent, and a Duplex ultrasound. Four patients were lost to follow-up, and one patient died 277 months after stent placement although a good clinical result was documented 267 months after stent placement. Mean follow-up after stent placement was 167.8 months (13.9 years) (range 71 (6 years) to 267 months [22 years]). No patient needed an additional venous intervention after stent implantation. No significant difference between the circumference of the thigh on the stented side (mean 55.1 cm [range 47.0â70.0]) compared with the contralateral thigh (mean 54.9 cm [range 47.0â70.0]) (p = 0.684) was seen. There was a nonsignificant trend toward higher flow velocities within the stent (mean 30.8 cm/s [range 10.0â48.0]) and the corresponding vein segment on the contralateral side (mean 25.2 cm/s [range 12.0â47.0]) (p = 0.065). Stent integrity was confirmed in 14 of 15 cases. Only one stent showed a fracture, as documented on x-ray, without any impairment of flow. Venous stenting using Wallstents showed excellent long-term clinical outcome and primary patency rate
Extrapulmonary small cell sarcinoma: involvement of the brain without evidence of extracranial malignancy by serial PET/CT scans
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Extrapulmonary small cell carcinoma (EPSCC) involving the brain is a rare manifestation of an uncommon tumor type.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report a 59 year-old Caucasian female diagnosed with an EPSCC involving the left parietal lobe without detectable extracranial primary tumor followed by serial positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging. Histopathological examination at both initial presentation and recurrence revealed small cell carcinoma. Serial PET/CT scans of the entire body failed to reveal any extracranial [<sup>18</sup>F]2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) avid lesions at either diagnosis or follow-up.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Chemotherapy may show a transient response in the treatment of EPSCC. Further studies are needed to help identify optimal treatment strategies. Combination PET/CT technology may be a useful tool to monitor EPSCC and assess for an occult primary malignancy.</p
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