Capecitabine as second-line treatment for metastatic cholangiocarcinoma: A report of two cases

Background: The management of recurrent, metastatic cholangiocarcinoma still remains a problem since this tumor entity is classified as chemotherapy-resistant. When advanced or metastatic disease is diagnosed, the therapeutic efforts are essentially directed toward palliation. Patients and Methods: We report on 2 patients suffering from metastatic cholangiocarcinoma. Both had received previous chemotherapy for metastatic disease, including hepatic artery infusion {[}5-fluorouracil (5-FU)/folinic acid (FA) and oxaliplatin] and a combination therapy consisting of 5-FU/FA and gemcitabine. Since a progression of the disease was diagnosed, both patients were started on oral capecitabine at a daily dose of 2,500 mg/m(2) in 2 divided doses for 2 weeks, followed by 1 week rest. Results: Capecitabine was tolerated well and severe side effects were not observed. A stop of progression, documented by imaging procedures and tumor marker kinetics, was achieved in both patients. Conclusion: Capecitabine could potentially be used for second-line treatment in patients with progressive metastatic cholangiocarcinoma

Weekly irinotecan in a patient with metastatic colorectal cancer on hemodialysis due to chronic renal failure

Background: The cytotoxic treatment of patients suffering from advanced or metastatic cancer undergoing hemodialysis due to chronic renal failure still remains a problem, since for those patients pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic data on most cytotoxic agents are lacking. Case Report: We report a 45-year-old male who suffered from chronic renal failure and was diagnosed with stage-3 colorectal cancer (CRC) in February 2000. After surgical removal of the tumor an adjuvant chemotherapy of dose-reduced i.v. bolus 5-fluorouracil and folinic acid was begun (Mayo protocol). Due to excessive gastrointestinal toxicity, therapy was discontinued after the first cycle. In April 2000 liver metastases were diagnosed. The patient was then put on a weekly schedule of dose-reduced CPT-11 (50 mg/m(2), 80 mg total). No hematological or non-hematological toxicity grade 3/4 was observed. Due to excellent tolerability and lack of severe side effects the dose was increased up to 80 mg/m2 (140 mg total) weekly. A dose escalation to 100 mg/m(2) (180 mg total) resulted in severe diarrhea (grade 4). Within 2 months of treatment the patient achieved a lasting partial remission until April 2001 (12 months). A significant progression of hepatic metastases required an alternative treatment regimen beginning in July 2001 (HAI, hepatic artery infusion). Conclusion: This case report demonstrates the feasibility and efficacy of a weekly treatment with dose-reduced CPT-11 in a patient with metastatic CRC on hemodialysis due to chronic renal failure

A New and Unifying Approach to Spin Dynamics and Beam Polarization in Storage Rings

With this paper we extend our studies [1] on polarized beams by distilling tools from the theory of principal bundles. Four major theorems are presented, one which ties invariant fields with the notion of normal form, one which allows one to compare different invariant fields, and two that relate the existence of invariant fields to the existence of certain invariant sets and relations between them. We then apply the theory to the dynamics of spin-1/2 and spin-1 particles and their density matrices describing statistically the particle-spin content of bunches. Our approach thus unifies the spin-vector dynamics from the T-BMT equation with the spin-tensor dynamics and other dynamics. This unifying aspect of our approach relates the examples elegantly and uncovers relations between the various underlying dynamical systems in a transparent way

The coevolution of toxin and antitoxin genes drives the dynamics of bacterial addiction complexes and intragenomic conflict

Bacterial genomes commonly contain ‘addiction’ gene complexes that code for both a toxin and a corresponding antitoxin. As long as both genes are expressed, cells carrying the complex can remain healthy. However, loss of the complex (including segregational loss in daughter cells) can entail death of the cell. We develop a theoretical model to explore a number of evolutionary puzzles posed by toxin–antitoxin (TA) population biology. We first extend earlier results demonstrating that TA complexes can spread on plasmids, as an adaptation to plasmid competition in spatially structured environments, and highlight the role of kin selection. We then considered the emergence of TA complexes on plasmids from previously unlinked toxin and antitoxin genes. We find that one of these traits must offer at least initially a direct advantage in some but not all environments encountered by the evolving plasmid population. Finally, our study predicts non-transitive ‘rock-paper-scissors’ dynamics to be a feature of intragenomic conflict mediated by TA complexes. Intragenomic conflict could be sufficient to select deleterious genes on chromosomes and helps to explain the previously perplexing observation that many TA genes are found on bacterial chromosomes

A detailed and unified treatment of spin-orbit systems using tools distilled from the theory of bundles

We return to our study \cite{BEH} of invariant spin fields and spin tunes for polarized beams in storage rings but in contrast to the continuous-time treatment in \cite{BEH}, we now employ a discrete-time formalism, beginning with the $\rm{Poincar\acute{e}}$ maps of the continuous time formalism. We then substantially extend our toolset and generalize the notions of invariant spin field and invariant frame field. We revisit some old theorems and prove several theorems believed to be new. In particular we study two transformation rules, one of them known and the other new, where the former turns out to be an $SO(3)$-gauge transformation rule. We then apply the theory to the dynamics of spin-$1/2$ and spin-$1$ particle bunches and their density matrix functions, describing semiclassically the particle-spin content of bunches. Our approach thus unifies the spin-vector dynamics from the T-BMT equation with the spin-tensor dynamics and other dynamics. This unifying aspect of our approach relates the examples elegantly and uncovers relations between the various underlying dynamical systems in a transparent way. As in \cite{BEH}, the particle motion is integrable but we now allow for nonlinear particle motion on each torus. Since this work is inspired by notions from the theory of bundles, we also provide insight into the underlying bundle-theoretic aspects of the well-established concepts of invariant spin field, spin tune and invariant frame field. Since we neglect, as is usual, the Stern-Gerlach force, the underlying principal bundle is of product formso that we can present the theory in a fashion which does not use bundle theory. Nevertheless we occasionally mention the bundle-theoretic meaningof our concepts and we also mention the similarities with the geometrical approach to Yang-Mills Theory

An Informal Summary of a New Formalism for Classifying Spin-Orbit Systems Using Tools Distilled from the Theory of Bundles

We give an informal summary of ongoing work which uses tools distilled from the theory of fibre bundles to classify and connect invariant fields associated with spin motion in storage rings. We mention four major theorems. One ties invariant fields with the notion of normal form, the second allows comparison of different invariant fields and the two others tie the existence of invariant fields to the existence of certain invariant sets. We explain how the theorems apply to the spin dynamics of spin-$1/2$ and spin-$1$ particles. Our approach elegantly unifies the spin-vector dynamics from the T-BMT equation with the spin-tensor dynamics and other dynamics and suggests an avenue for addressing the question of the existence of the invariant spin field.Comment: Based on a presentation at Spin2014, The 21st International Symposium on Spin Physics, Beijing, China, October 2014. To be published in the International Journal of Modern Physics, Conference Serie

Environment classification for upland rice production region in Brazil.

The upland rice (UR) cropped area in Brazil has decreased in the last decade. A portion of this can be attributed to the UR breeding program strategy adopted since the 1980s, according to which direct grain selection is targeted primarily to the most suitable areas. New strategies for an improved breeding under non-optimal conditions for UR require detailed characterization of spatial, inter-annual and sub-seasonal climate variability, particularly in relation to types, intensity and timing of drought events during the cropping cycle. This paper used a process-based crop model to support the Brazilian UR breeding program in efforts to adopt a new strategy that accounts for the varying range of environments where UR is currently cultivated

Solar wind data from the MIT plasma experiments on Pioneer 6 and Pioneer 7

Hourly averages are presented of solar wind proton parameters obtained from experiments on the Pioneer 6 and Pioneer 7 spacecraft during the period December 16, 1965 to August 1971. The number of data points available on a given day depends upon the spacecraft-earth distance, the telemetry bit rate, and the ground tracking time allotted to each spacecraft. Thus, the data obtained earlier in the life of each spacecraft are more complete. The solar wind parameters are given in the form of plots and listings. Trajectory information is also given along with a detailed description of the analysis procedures used to extract plasma parameters from the measured data

Structural features of tight-junction proteins

Tight junctions are complex supramolecular entities composed of integral membrane proteins, membrane-associated and soluble cytoplasmic proteins engaging in an intricate and dynamic system of protein-protein interactions. Three-dimensional structures of several tight-junction proteins or their isolated domains have been determined by X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and cryo-electron microscopy. These structures provide direct insight into molecular interactions that contribute to the formation, integrity, or function of tight junctions. In addition, the known experimental structures have allowed the modeling of ligand-binding events involving tight-junction proteins. Here, we review the published structures of tight-junction proteins. We show that these proteins are composed of a limited set of structural motifs and highlight common types of interactions between tight-junction proteins and their ligands involving these motifs