12,575 research outputs found

    Induction chemotherapy in locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck: role, controversy, and future directions.

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    BackgroundThe value of induction chemotherapy (ICT) remains under investigation despite decades of research. New advancements in the field, specifically regarding the induction regimen of choice, have reignited interest in this approach for patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (LA SCCHN). Sufficient evidence has accumulated regarding the benefits and superiority of TPF (docetaxel, cisplatin, and fluorouracil) over the chemotherapy doublet cisplatin and fluorouracil. We therefore sought to collate and interpret the available data and further discuss the considerations for delivering ICT safely and optimally selecting suitable post-ICT regimens.DesignWe nonsystematically reviewed published phase III clinical trials on TPF ICT in a variety of LA SCCHN patient populations conducted between 1990 and 2017.ResultsTPF may confer survival and organ preservation benefits in a subgroup of patients with functionally inoperable or poor-prognosis LA SCCHN. Additionally, patients with operable disease or good prognosis (who are not candidates for organ preservation) may benefit from TPF induction in terms of reducing local and distant failure rates and facilitating treatment deintensification in selected populations. The safe administration of TPF requires treatment by a multidisciplinary team at an experienced institution. The management of adverse events associated with TPF and post-ICT radiotherapy-based treatment is crucial. Finally, post-ICT chemotherapy alternatives to cisplatin concurrent with radiotherapy (i.e. cetuximab or carboplatin plus radiotherapy) appear promising and must be investigated further.ConclusionsTPF is an evidence-based ICT regimen of choice in LA SCCHN and confers benefits in suitable patients when it is administered safely by an experienced multidisciplinary team and paired with the optimal post-ICT regimen, for which, however, no consensus currently exists

    Predicting Intermediate Storage Performance for Workflow Applications

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    Configuring a storage system to better serve an application is a challenging task complicated by a multidimensional, discrete configuration space and the high cost of space exploration (e.g., by running the application with different storage configurations). To enable selecting the best configuration in a reasonable time, we design an end-to-end performance prediction mechanism that estimates the turn-around time of an application using storage system under a given configuration. This approach focuses on a generic object-based storage system design, supports exploring the impact of optimizations targeting workflow applications (e.g., various data placement schemes) in addition to other, more traditional, configuration knobs (e.g., stripe size or replication level), and models the system operation at data-chunk and control message level. This paper presents our experience to date with designing and using this prediction mechanism. We evaluate this mechanism using micro- as well as synthetic benchmarks mimicking real workflow applications, and a real application.. A preliminary evaluation shows that we are on a good track to meet our objectives: it can scale to model a workflow application run on an entire cluster while offering an over 200x speedup factor (normalized by resource) compared to running the actual application, and can achieve, in the limited number of scenarios we study, a prediction accuracy that enables identifying the best storage system configuration

    POSTURAl CONTROL STRATEGIES IN DANCERS AND NON DANCERS

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    Postural stability is typically measured by assessing total excursions of either the center of pressure or whole body center of mass. One problem with measures such as these is that interpretations or postural stability are typically made without references to any stability boundaries. Further, postural control studies are typically on'y conducted on individuals with balance impairments and compared to healthy controls. Little research has been conducted on athletes with high levels of postural control. This study compares the postural dynamics of elite balancers with matched control subjects using stability measures that take into account the stability boundaries of different postures

    Preparation, Characterization And Tests Of Incorporation In Stem Cells Of Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide

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    Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) have been produced and used as contrast-enhancing agents in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for diagnostic use in a wide range of maladies including cardiovascular, neurological disorders, and cancer. The reasons why these SPIONs are attractive for medical purposes are based on their important and unique features. The large surface area of the nanoparticles and their manipulation through an external magnetic field are features that allow their use for carrying a large number of molecules such as biomolecules or drugs. In this scenario, the present work reports on the synthesis and characterization of SPIONs and in vitro MRI experiments to increase their capacity as probes for MRI applications on stem cells therapy. Initially, the SPIONs were prepared through the co-precipitation method using ferrous and ferric chlorides in acidic solution. The SPIONs were coated with two thiol molecules such as mercaptosuccinic acid (MSA) and cysteine (Cys) (molar ratio SPIONs: ligand = 1: 20), leading to the formation of a stable aqueous dispersion of thiolated nanoparticles (SH-SPIONs). The SH-SPIONs were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). The results showed that the SH-SPIONs have a mean diameter of 14 nm and display superparamagnetic behavior at room temperature. Preliminary tests of incorporation of SH-SPIONs were evaluated stem cells. The results showed that the thiolated nanoparticles have no toxic effects for stem cells and successfully internalized and enhance the contrast in MRI.61
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