231 research outputs found
Electronic structure, phase stability and chemical bonding in ThAl and ThAlH
We present the results of theoretical investigation on the electronic
structure, bonding nature and ground state properties of ThAl and
ThAlH using generalized-gradient-corrected first-principles
full-potential density-functional calculations. ThAlH has been reported
to violate the "2 \AA rule" of H-H separation in hydrides. From our total
energy as well as force-minimization calculations, we found a shortest H-H
separation of 1.95 {\AA} in accordance with recent high resolution powder
neutron diffraction experiments. When the ThAl matrix is hydrogenated, the
volume expansion is highly anisotropic, which is quite opposite to other
hydrides having the same crystal structure. The bonding nature of these
materials are analyzed from the density of states, crystal-orbital Hamiltonian
population and valence-charge-density analyses. Our calculation predicts
different nature of bonding for the H atoms along and . The strongest
bonding in ThAlH is between Th and H along which form dumb-bell
shaped H-Th-H subunits. Due to this strong covalent interaction there is very
small amount of electrons present between H atoms along which makes
repulsive interaction between the H atoms smaller and this is the precise
reason why the 2 {\AA} rule is violated. The large difference in the
interatomic distances between the interstitial region where one can accommodate
H in the and planes along with the strong covalent interaction
between Th and H are the main reasons for highly anisotropic volume expansion
on hydrogenation of ThAl.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure
A radium assay technique using hydrous titanium oxide adsorbent for the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory
As photodisintegration of deuterons mimics the disintegration of deuterons by
neutrinos, the accurate measurement of the radioactivity from thorium and
uranium decay chains in the heavy water in the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory
(SNO) is essential for the determination of the total solar neutrino flux. A
radium assay technique of the required sensitivity is described that uses
hydrous titanium oxide adsorbent on a filtration membrane together with a
beta-alpha delayed coincidence counting system. For a 200 tonne assay the
detection limit for 232Th is a concentration of 3 x 10^(-16) g Th/g water and
for 238U of 3 x 10^(-16) g U/g water. Results of assays of both the heavy and
light water carried out during the first two years of data collection of SNO
are presented.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
Efficacy and Safety of Nivolumab Plus Ipilimumab in Patients With Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma Previously Treated With Sorafenib The CheckMate 040 Randomized Clinical Trial
IMPORTANCE Most patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are diagnosed with
advanced disease not eligible for potentially curative therapies; therefore, new treatment
options are needed. Combining nivolumab with ipilimumab may improve clinical outcomes
compared with nivolumab monotherapy.
OBJECTIVE To assess efficacy and safety of nivolumab plus ipilimumab in patients with
advanced HCC who were previously treated with sorafenib.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS CheckMate 040 is a multicenter, open-label,
multicohort, phase 1/2 study. In the nivolumab plus ipilimumab cohort, patients were
randomized between January 4 and September 26, 2016. Treatment group information was
blinded after randomization. Median follow-up was 30.7 months. Data cutoff for this analysis
was January 2019. Patients were recruited at 31 centers in 10 countries/territories in Asia,
Europe, and North America. Eligible patients had advanced HCC (with/without hepatitis B or
C) previously treated with sorafenib. A total of 148 patients were randomized (50 to arm A
and 49 each to arms B and C).
INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized 1:1:1 to either nivolumab 1 mg/kg plus ipilimumab 3
mg/kg, administered every 3 weeks (4 doses), followed by nivolumab 240 mg every 2 weeks
(arm A); nivolumab 3 mg/kg plus ipilimumab 1 mg/kg, administered every 3 weeks (4 doses),
followed by nivolumab 240 mg every 2 weeks (arm B); or nivolumab 3 mg/kg every 2 weeks
plus ipilimumab 1 mg/kg every 6 weeks (arm C).
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Coprimary end points were safety, tolerability, and objective
response rate. Duration of response was also measured (investigator assessed with the
Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors v1.1).
RESULTS Of 148 total participants, 120 were male (81%). Median (IQR) age was 60
(52.5-66.5). At data cutoff (January 2019), the median follow-up was 30.7 months (IQR,
29.9-34.7). Investigator-assessed objective response rate was 32% (95% CI, 20%-47%) in
arm A, 27% (95% CI, 15%-41%) in arm B, and 29% (95% CI, 17%-43%) in arm C. Median
(range) duration of response was not reached (8.3-33.7+) in arm A and was 15.2 months
(4.2-29.9+) in arm B and 21.7 months (2.8-32.7+) in arm C. Any-grade treatment-related
adverse events were reported in 46 of 49 patients (94%) in arm A, 35 of 49 patients (71%) in
arm B, and 38 of 48 patients (79%) in arm C; there was 1 treatment-related death (arm A;
grade 5 pneumonitis).
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this randomized clinical trial, nivolumab plus ipilimumab
had manageable safety, promising objective response rate, and durable responses. The arm A
regimen (4 doses nivolumab 1 mg/kg plus ipilimumab 3 mg/kg every 3 weeks then nivolumab
240 mg every 2 weeks) received accelerated approval in the US based on the results of this
study.
TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0165887
Guidelines for chemotherapy of biliary tract and ampullary carcinomas
Few randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with large numbers of patients have been conducted to date in patients with biliary tract cancer, and standard chemotherapy has not been established yet. In this article we review previous studies and clinical trials regarding chemotherapy for unresectable biliary tract cancer, and we present guidelines for the appropriate use of chemotherapy in patients with biliary tract cancer. According to an RCT comparing chemotherapy and best supportive care for these patients, survival was significantly longer and quality of life was significantly better in the chemotherapy group than in the control group. Thus, chemotherapy for patients with biliary tract cancer seems to be a significant treatment of choice. However, chemotherapy for patients with biliary tract cancer should be indicated for those with unresectable, locally advanced disease or distant metastasis, or for those with recurrence after resection. That is why making the diagnosis of unresectable disease should be done with greatest care. As a rule, pathological diagnosis, including cytology or histopathological diagnosis, is preferable. Chemotherapy is recommended in patients with a good general condition, because in patients with general deterioration, such as those with a performance status of 2 or 3 or those with insufficient biliary decompression, the benefit of chemotherapy is limited. As chemotherapy for unresectable biliary tract cancer, the use of gemcitabine or tegafur/gimeracil/oteracil potassium is recommended. As postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy, no effective adjuvant therapy has been established at the present time. It is recommended that further clinical trials, especially large multi-institutional RCTs (phase III studies) using novel agents such as gemcitabine should be performed as soon as possible in order to establish a standard treatment
The integrated Sachs-Wolfe Effect -- Large Scale Structure Correlation
We discuss the correlation between late-time integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW)
effect in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature anisotropies and
the large scale structure of the local universe. This correlation has been
proposed and studied in the literature as a probe of the dark energy and its
physical properties. We consider a variety of large scale structure tracers
suitable for a detection of the ISW effect via a cross-correlation. In addition
to luminous sources, we suggest the use of tracers such as dark matter halos or
galaxy clusters. A suitable catalog of mass selected halos for this purpose can
be constructed with upcoming wide-field lensing and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ)
effect surveys. With multifrequency data, the presence of the ISW-large scale
structure correlation can also be investigated through a cross-correlation of
the frequency cleaned SZ and CMB maps. While convergence maps constructed from
lensing surveys of the large scale structure via galaxy ellipticities are less
correlated with the ISW effect, lensing potentials that deflect CMB photons are
strongly correlated and allow, probably, the best mechanism to study the
ISW-large scale structure correlation with CMB data alone.Comment: 10 Pages, PRD submitte
The SPTPoL extended cluster survey
We describe the observations and resultant galaxy cluster catalog from the 2770 deg2 SPTpol Extended Cluster Survey (SPT-ECS). Clusters are identified via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect and confirmed with a combination of archival and targeted follow-up data, making particular use of data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). With incomplete follow-up we have confirmed as clusters 244 of 266 candidates at a detection significance Ο â„ 5 and an additional 204 systems at 4 4 threshold, and 10% of their measured SZ flux. We associate SZ-selected clusters, from both SPT-ECS and the SPT-SZ survey, with clusters from the DES redMaPPer sample, and we find an offset distribution between the SZ center and central galaxy in general agreement with previous work, though with a larger fraction of clusters with significant offsets. Adopting a fixed Planck-like cosmology, we measure the optical richness-SZ mass (l - M) relation and find it to be 28% shallower than that from a weak-lensing analysis of the DES data-a difference significant at the 4Ï level-with the relations intersecting at λ = 60. The SPT-ECS cluster sample will be particularly useful for studying the evolution of massive clusters and, in combination with DES lensing observations and the SPT-SZ cluster sample, will be an important component of future cosmological analyses
Planck early results XVII : Origin of the submillimetre excess dust emission in the Magellanic Clouds
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