The impact of having both cancer and diabetes on patient-reported outcomes: a systematic review and directions for future research

Purpose: This systematic review aims to summarize the current literature regarding potential effects of having both cancer and diabetes on patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and to provide directions for future research. Methods: MEDLINE, The Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and PsycINFO were searched from inception to January 2015. All English peer-reviewed studies that included patients with both cancer and diabetes and assessed PROs were included. All included studies were independently assessed on methodological quality by two investigators. Results: Of the 3553 identified studies, 10 studies were included and all were considered of high (40 %) or adequate (60 %) methodological quality. Eight of the 10 studies focused on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), functioning, or symptoms and 2 studies assessed diabetes self-management. Overall, HRQoL and functioning was lower, and symptoms were higher among patients with both cancer and diabetes as compared to having cancer or diabetes alone. Furthermore, one study reported that diabetes self-management was impaired after chemotherapy. Conclusions: Having both cancer and diabetes resulted in worse PROs compared to having either one of the diseases, however, the considerable heterogeneity of the included studies hampered strong conclusions. Future studies are needed as this research area is largely neglected. As the majority of the included studies focused on HRQoL, future research should address the impact of both diseases on other PROs such as depression, patient empowerment and self-management. Implications for Cancer Survivor: Having both cancer and diabetes might result in worse PROs, however, more research is needed as current evidence is scarce

Most Colorectal Cancer Survivors Live a Large Proportion of Their Remaining Life in Good Health

Purpose Colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnosis reduces life expectancy and decreases patients’ well-being. We sought to assess the determinants of health and functional status and estimate the proportion of remaining life that CRC survivors would spend in good health. Methods Using Sullivan method, healthy life expectancy was calculated based on survival data of 14,849 CRC survivors within a population-based cancer registry in southern Netherlands and quality of life information among a random sample of these survivors (n = 1,291). Results: Overall, albeit short life expectancy (LE at age 50 = 12 years for males and 13 years for females), most CRC survivors spent a large proportion of their remaining life in good health (74 and 77 %, for males and females, respectively). Long-term survivors may expect to live a normal life span (LE at age 50 = 30 years) and spent a large proportion of the remaining life in good health (78 %). In distinction, those with stage IV CRC had less than 2 years to live and spent more than half of their remaining life in poor health. Conclusions: Most CRC patients may expect no compromise on living a healthy life, underlining the importance of early detection. On the other hand, the high proportion of non-healthy years among stage IV CRC survivors confirms the importance of early detection and palliative care. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10552-012-0010-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Critical Current Density and Current Transfer Length of Multifilamentary MgB2 Strands of Various Design

In this paper, a series of high performing PIT MgB2 strands have been prepared. Transport voltage-current measurements were performed to determine the effects of C doping and strand geometry such as filament numbers. The best Jc for our samples was 1.0 × 105 A/cm2 at 4.2 K, 7 T, for a strand using B powder with 3% C addition. The current transfer length (CTL) was also measured for MgB2 short wires with Nb chemical barrier and Monel outer sheath. The CTL ranged from 2-12 mm, and had a correlation with the filament numbers.This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, High Energy Physics grant DE-FG02-95ER40900, and a DOE SBIR.The in-field critical current densities of a set of in situ CTFF-type PIT MgB2 strands have been investigated in terms of C doping level, wire diameter and filament number. The strand with optimal doping level – 3% C achieved the best Jc of 1.0 × 105 A/cm2 at 4.2 K, 7 T. By fitting it with the percolation model, the parameters showed that the Bc2 and the flux pinning strength was improved and the anisotropy ratio was reduced. Increases in filament count did not change Jc, although n-values were higher for the monocore strand. The current transfer length of MgB2 strands with Nb chemical barriers and Monel sheaths increased with filament count. The CTL was less than 3.7 mm for the monocore strand, and it ranged from 2.2-11.8 mm for the 24- filamentary strand D2, depending on the applied field

Quantifying the Covalent Functionalization of Black Phosphorus

A straightforward quantification method to consistently determine the overall functionalization degree of covalently modified two-dimensional (2D) black phosphorus (BP) by Raman spectroscopy has been carried out. Indeed, the successful reductive methylation of the BP lattice using sodium intercalation compounds and exhibiting different functionalization degrees has been demonstrated by 31P-magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectroscopy. Furthermore, the correlation of 31P-MAS NMR spectroscopy and statistical Raman spectroscopy (SRS) revealed the first method to determine the functionalization degree of BP solely by evaluating the intensities of distinct peaks in the Raman spectra of the covalently modified material, in a similar way to the widely employed ID/IG ratio of graphene research

The critical current density of advanced internal-Mg-diffusion-processed MgB2 wires

Recent advances in MgB2 conductors are leading to a new level of performance. Based on the use of proper powders, proper chemistry, and an architecture which incorporates internal Mg diffusion (IMD), a dense MgB2 structure with not only a high critical current density Jc, but also a high engineering critical current density, Je, can be obtained. In this paper, a series of these advanced (or second - generation, "2G") conductors has been prepared. Scanning electron microscopy and associated energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were applied to characterize the microstructures and compositions of the wires, and a dense MgB2 layer structure was observed. The best layer Jc for our sample is 1.07x105 A/cm2 at 10 T, 4.2 K, and our best Je is seen to be 1.67x104 A/cm2 at 10 T, 4.2 K. Optimization of the transport properties of these advanced wires is discussed in terms of B-powder choice, area fraction, and the MgB2 layer growth mechanism.Comment: 13 pages, 3 tables, 7 figures (or 8 pp in published version

Drawing induced texture and the evolution of superconductive properties with heat treatment time in powder-in-tube in-situ processed MgB2 strands

Monocore powder-in-tube MgB2 strands were cold-drawn and heat-treated at 600C and 700C for times of up to 71 hours and structure-property relationships examined. Drawing-induced elongation of the Mg particles led, after HT, to a textured macrostructure consisting of elongated polycrystalline MgB2 fibers separated by elongated pores. The superconducting Tc, Jc and Fp were correlated with the macrostructure and grain size. Grain size increased with HT time at both 600C and 700C. Jc and hence Fp decreased monotonically but not linearly with grain size. Overall, it was observed that at 700C, the MgB2 reaction was more or less complete after as little as 30 min; at 600C, full reaction completion did not occur until 71 h. into the HT. Transport, Jct(B) was measured in a perpendicular applied field, and the magnetic critical current densities, Jcm\bot(B) and Jcm{\phi}(B), were measured in perpendicular and parallel (axial) applied fields, respectively. Particularly noticeable was the premature dropoff of Jcm\bot(B) at fields well below the irreversibility field of Jct(B). This effect is attributed to the fibrous macrostructure and its accompanying anisotropic connectivity. Magnetic measurements with the field directed along the strand axis yielded a critical density, Jcm\bot(B), for current flowing transversely to the strand axis that was less than and dropped off more rapidly than Jct(B). In the conventional magnetic measurement, the loop currents that support the magnetization are restricted by the lower of Jct(B) and Jcm{\phi} (B). In the present case the latter, leading to the premature dropoff of the measured Jcm(B) compared to Jct(B) with increasing field. This result is supported by Kramer plots of the Jcm{\phi} (B) and Jct(B) data which lead to an irreversibility field for transverse current that is very much less than the usual transport-measured longitudinal one, Birr,t.Comment: 41 pages, 14 figure

Going beyond (electronic) patient-reported outcomes: harnessing the benefits of smart technology and ecological momentary assessment in cancer survivorship research

Rapid developments in digital mobile and sensor technology have facilitated the active and passive collection of detailed, personalized data in increasingly affordable ways. Researchers may be familiar with the daily diary, portable computers, or the pedometer for the collection of patientreported outcomes (PRO) in cancer survivorship research. Such methods, termed ecological momentary assessment (EMA), have evolved with technological advances, e.g., collecting data or providing interventions (ecological momentary intervention, EMI) via apps or devices such as smartphones. These smart technology-adapted sEMA/ sEMI methods are more widely used in affective disorders or addictive behavior research but are currently still under-utilized in cancer survivorship research. A recent scoping review on the use of active EMA among cancer survivors identified twelve articles published between 1993 and 2018. Most of the included studies in that review used portable computers. This commentary will discuss the utility of sEMA/sEMI in cancer survivorship research and call for action to advance this area of science

Quantifizierung der kovalenten Funktionalisierung von schwarzem Phosphor

Es wurde eine direkte Quantifizierungsmethode zur systematischen Bestimmung des Funktionalisierungsgrades von kovalent modifiziertem zweidimensionalem (2D) schwarzen Phosphor (BP) mittels Raman-Spektroskopie durchgeführt. Die erfolgreiche reduktive Methylierung des BP-Gitters mit unterschiedlichen Funktionalisierungsgraden unter Verwendung von Natrium-Interkalationsverbindungen wurde mittels 31P-MAS-Festkörper-NMR-Spektroskopie nachgewiesen. Darüber hinaus ergab die Korrelation von 31P-MAS NMR-Spektroskopie und statistischer Raman-Spektroskopie (SRS) die erste Methode zur Bestimmung des Funktionalisierungsgrades von BP allein durch die Evaluierung der Intensitätsverhältnisse bestimmter Peaks in den Raman-Spektren des kovalent modifizierten Materials, ähnlich dem bekannten ID/IG-Verhältnisses in der Graphen-Forschung.PNICTOCHEM 804110 (G.A.)PID2019-111742-GA-I00CIDEGENT/2018/00

Search for squarks and gluinos in events with isolated leptons, jets and missing transverse momentum at s√=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The results of a search for supersymmetry in final states containing at least one isolated lepton (electron or muon), jets and large missing transverse momentum with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider are reported. The search is based on proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy s√=8 TeV collected in 2012, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20 fb−1. No significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed. Limits are set on supersymmetric particle masses for various supersymmetric models. Depending on the model, the search excludes gluino masses up to 1.32 TeV and squark masses up to 840 GeV. Limits are also set on the parameters of a minimal universal extra dimension model, excluding a compactification radius of 1/R c = 950 GeV for a cut-off scale times radius (ΛR c) of approximately 30