Applicability of the orientation average formula in heavy-ion fusion reactions of deformed nuclei

In heavy-ion fusion reactions involving a well deformed nucleus, one often assumes that the orientation of the target nucleus does not change during the reaction. We discuss the accuracy of this procedure by analyzing the excitation function of the fusion cross section and the fusion barrier distribution in the reactions of $^{154}$Sm target with various projectiles ranging from $^{12}$C to $^{40}$Ar. It is shown that the approximation gradually looses its accuracy with increasing charge product of the projectile and target nuclei because of the effects of finite excitation energy of the target nucleus. The relevance of such inaccuracy in analyzing the experimental data is also discussed.Comment: 5 pages and 3 figure

Screening effects on neutrino-nucleus reactions

Tours symposium on nuclear physics VI : Tours 2006, Tours, France 5-8 September 2006 / editors, M. Arnould ... [et al.

Drug retention rates and relevant risk factors for drug discontinuation due to adverse events in rheumatoid arthritis patients receiving anticytokine therapy with different target molecules

Objective: To compare reasons for discontinuation and drug retention rates per reason among anticytokine therapies, infliximab, etanercept and tocilizumab, and the risk of discontinuation of biological agents due to adverse events (AE) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Method: This prospective cohort study included Japanese RA patients who started infliximab (n=412, 636.0 patientyears (PY)), etanercept (n=442, 765.3 PY), or tocilizumab (n=168, 206.5 PY) as the first biological therapy after their enrolment in the Registry of Japanese Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients for Long-term Safety (REAL) database. Drug retention rates were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. To compare risks of drug discontinuation due to AE for patients treated with these biological agents, the Cox proportional hazard model was applied. Results: The authors found significant differences among the three therapeutic groups in demography, clinical status, comorbidities and usage of concomitant drugs. Development of AE was the most frequent reason for discontinuation of biological agents in the etanercept and tocilizumab groups, and the second most frequent reason in the infliximab group. Discontinuation due to good control was observed most frequently in the infliximab group. Compared with etanercept, the use of infliximab (HR 1.69; 95% CI 1.14 to 2.51) and tocilizumab (HR 1.98; 95% CI 1.04 to 3.76) was significantly associated with a higher risk of discontinuation of biological agents due to AE. Conclusions: Reasons for discontinuation are significantly different among biological agents. The use of infliximab and tocilizumab was significantly associated with treatment discontinuation due to AE compared with etanercept