4,247 research outputs found
‘Should I get a PSA test?’ – the question is not that simple
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/113754/1/tre484.pd
Effects of an Integrative Mind-Body-Medicine Group Program on Breast Cancer Patients During Chemotherapy: An Observational Study.
Background: Breast cancer is one of the leading cancers in women in the Western world. Cancer treatment, especially chemotherapy, is often associated with physical and psychosocial side effects.
Objective: To improve the quality of life and manage side effects, a new integrative mind-body-medicine group concept for breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy was developed and pilot tested.
Methods: Breast cancer patients participated in a 66 hours mind-body-medicine group program tailored to the needs of cancer patients during chemotherapy. The program was integrated into standard care encompassing mindfulness training, yoga, moderate exercise, nutrition, complementary self-help strategies, cognitive restructuring, and acupuncture. Quality of life (EORTC QLQ-C30), depression and anxiety (HADS), stress (PSS-10), and fatigue (BFI) were assessed before and after the program, as well as satisfaction and safety. Analyses were carried out on exploratory basis with paired samples t-tests.
Results: Fifty-seven female patients, aged 51.3±10.5 years, with breast cancer diagnoses were enrolled. After completing the program, global EORTC quality of life was improved (D=9.5; 95%-CI=[2.9|16.1]; p=.005), although the EORTC-symptom scales assessing fatigue (D=9.9; 95%-CI=[1|18.8]; p=.030), nausea (D=7.1; 95%- CI=[0.6|13.6]; p=.031), and dyspnea (D=12.5; 95%-CI=[2.9|22.1]; p=.011) were found to be increased. Stress (D=-3.5; 95%-CI=[-5|-2.1]; p=.000), anxiety (D=-3.8; 95%-CI=[-4.9|-2.7]; p=.000) and depression (D=-3.9; 95%-CI=[-4.9|-2.8]; p=.000) were also found to be significantly reduced. Regarding the severity of (D=0.2; 95%- CI=[-0.8|0.5]; p=.644) and the impairment due to fatigue (D=0.1; 95%-CI=[-0.8|0.6]; p=.696), no significant worsening was observed. Patients were satisfied with the program. No serious adverse events were reported.
Conclusion: Breast cancer patients benefit from an integrative mind-body-medicine group program during chemotherapy regarding the quality of life and psychological symptoms. Randomized controlled trials are warranted
Heat Capacity of PbS: Isotope Effects
In recent years, the availability of highly pure stable isotopes has made
possible the investigation of the dependence of the physical properties of
crystals, in particular semiconductors, on their isotopic composition.
Following the investigation of the specific heat (, ) of monatomic
crystals such as diamond, silicon, and germanium, similar investigations have
been undertaken for the tetrahedral diatomic systems ZnO and GaN (wurtzite
structure), for which the effect of the mass of the cation differs from that of
the anion. In this article we present measurements for a semiconductor with
rock salt structure, namely lead sulfide. Because of the large difference in
the atomic mass of both constituents (= 207.21 and (=32.06 a.m.u., for the natural isotopic abundance) the effects of varying
the cation and that of the anion mass are very different for this canonical
semiconductor. We compare the measured temperature dependence of , and the corresponding derivatives with respect to ( and
), with \textit{\textit{ab initio}} calculations based on the
lattice dynamics obtained from the local density approximation (LDA) electronic
band structure. Quantitative deviations between theory and experiment are
attributed to the absence of spin-orbit interaction in the ABINIT program used
for the electronic band structure calculations.Comment: 17 pages including 10 Fig
Lordoplasty: report on early results with a new technique for the treatment of vertebral compression fractures to restore the lordosis
Cement augmentation using PMMA cement is known as an efficient treatment for osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures with a rapid release of pain in most patients and prevention of an ongoing kyphotic deformity of the vertebrae treated. However, after a vertebroplasty there is no chance to restore vertebral height. Using the technique of kyphoplasty a certain restoration of vertebral body height can be achieved. But there is a limitation of recovery due to loss of correction when deflating the kyphoplastic ballon and before injecting the cement. In addition, the instruments used are quite expensive. Lordoplasty is another technique to restore kyphosis by indirect fracture reduction as it is used with an internal fixateur. The fractured and the adjacent vertebrae are instrumented with bone cannulas bipediculary and the adjacent vertebrae are augmentated with cement. After curing of the cement the fractured vertebra is reduced by applying a lordotic moment via the cannulas. While maintaining the pretension the fractured vertebra is reinforced. We performed a prospective trial of 26 patients with a lordoplastic procedure. There was a pain relief of about 87% and a significant decrease in VAS value from 7.3 to 1.9. Due to lordoplasty there was a significant and permanent correction in vertebral and segmental kyphotic angle about 15.2 degrees and 10.0 degrees , respectively and also a significant restoration in anterior and mid vertebral height. Lordoplasty is a minimal invasive technique to restore vertebral body height. An immediate relief of pain is achieved in most patients. The procedure is safe and cost effective
Observation of a low-lying metastable electronic state in highly charged lead by Penning-trap mass spectrometry
Highly charged ions (HCIs) offer many opportunities for next-generation clock
research due to the vast landscape of available electronic transitions in
different charge states. The development of XUV frequency combs has enabled the
search for clock transitions based on shorter wavelengths in HCIs. However,
without initial knowledge of the energy of the clock states, these narrow
transitions are difficult to be probed by lasers. In this Letter, we provide
experimental observation and theoretical calculation of a long-lived electronic
state in Nb-like Pb which could be used as a clock state. With the mass
spectrometer Pentatrap, the excitation energy of this metastable state is
directly determined as a mass difference at an energy of 31.2(8) eV,
corresponding to one of the most precise relative mass determinations to date
with a fractional uncertainty of . This experimental result
agrees within 1 with two partially different \textit{ab initio}
multi-configuration Dirac-Hartree-Fock calculations of 31.68(13) eV and
31.76(35) eV, respectively. With a calculated lifetime of 26.5(5.3) days, the
transition from this metastable state to the ground state bears a quality
factor of and allows for the construction of a HCI clock
with a fractional frequency instability of
Post-quantum cryptography
Cryptography is essential for the security of online communication, cars and implanted medical devices. However, many commonly used cryptosystems will be completely broken once large quantum computers exist. Post-quantum cryptography is cryptography under the assumption that the attacker has a large quantum computer; post-quantum cryptosystems strive to remain secure even in this scenario. This relatively young research area has seen some successes in identifying mathematical operations for which quantum algorithms offer little advantage in speed, and then building cryptographic systems around those. The central challenge in post-quantum cryptography is to meet demands for cryptographic usability and flexibility without sacrificing confidence.</p
Ten-year outcomes of a randomised trial of laparoscopic versus open surgery for colon cancer
Background: Laparoscopic surgery for colon cancer is associated with improved recovery and similar cancer outcomes at 3 and 5 years in comparison with open surgery. However, long-term survival rates have rarely been reported. Here, we present survival and recurrence rates of the Dutch patients included in the COlon cancer Laparoscopic or Open Resection (COLOR) trial at 10-year follow-up.
Methods: Between March 1997 and March 2003, patients with non-metastatic colon cancer were recruited by 29 hospitals in eight countries and randomised to either laparoscopic or open surgery. Main inclusion criterion for the COLOR trial was solitary adenocarcinoma of the left or right colon. The primary outcome was disease-free survival at 3 years, and secondary outcomes included overall survival and recurrence. The 10-year follow-up data of all Dutch patients were collected. Analysis was by intention-to-treat. The trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT00387842).
Results: In total, 1248 patients were randomised, of which 329 were Dutch. Fifty-eight Dutch patients were excluded and 15 were lost to follow-up, leaving 256 patients for 10-year analysis. Median follow-up was 112 months. Disease-free survival rates were 45.2 % in the laparoscopic group and 43.2 % in the open group (difference 2.0 %; 95 % confidence interval (CI) −10.3 to 14.3; p = 0.96). Overall survival rates were 48.4 and 46.7 %, respectively (difference 1.7 %; 95 % CI −10.6 to 14.0; p = 0.83). Stage-specific analysis revealed similar survival rates for both groups. Sixty-two patients were diagnosed with recurrent disease, accounting for 29.4 % in the laparoscopic group and 28.2 % in the open group (difference 1.2 %; 95 % CI −11.1 to 13.5; p = 0.73). Seven patients had port- or wound-site recurrences (laparoscopic n
Evolutionary relationships between Rhynchosporium lolii sp. nov. and other Rhynchosporium species on grass.
Copyright: 2013 King et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are creditedThe fungal genus Rhynchosporium (causative agent of leaf blotch) contains several host-specialised species, including R. commune (colonising barley and brome-grass), R. agropyri (couch-grass), R. secalis (rye and triticale) and the more distantly related R. orthosporum (cocksfoot). This study used molecular fingerprinting, multilocus DNA sequence data, conidial morphology, host range tests and scanning electron microscopy to investigate the relationship between Rhynchosporium species on ryegrasses, both economically important forage grasses and common wild grasses in many cereal growing areas, and other plant species. Two different types of Rhynchosporium were found on ryegrasses in the UK. Firstly, there were isolates of R. commune that were pathogenic to both barley and Italian ryegrass. Secondly, there were isolates of a new species, here named R. lolii, that were pathogenic only to ryegrass species. R. lolii was most closely related to R. orthosporum, but exhibited clear molecular, morphological and host range differences. The species was estimated to have diverged from R. orthosporum ca. 5735 years before the present. The colonisation strategy of all of the different Rhynchosporium species involved extensive hyphal growth in the sub-cuticular regions of the leaves. Finally, new species-specific PCR diagnostic tests were developed that could distinguish between these five closely related Rhynchosporium species.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio
High tie versus low tie in rectal surgery: comparison of anastomotic perfusion
Item does not contain fulltextPURPOSE: Both "high tie" (HT) and "low tie" (LT) are well-known strategies in rectal surgery. The aim of this study was to compare colonic perfusion after HT to colonic perfusion after LT. METHODS: Patients undergoing rectal resection for malignancy were included. Colonic perfusion was measured with laser Doppler flowmetry, immediately after laparotomy on the antimesenterial side of the colon segment that was to become the afferent loop (measurement A). This measurement was repeated after rectal resection (measurement B). The blood flow ratios (B/A) were compared between the HT group and the LT group. RESULTS: Blood flow was measured in 33 patients, 16 undergoing HT and 17 undergoing LT. Colonic blood flow slightly decreased in the HT group whereas the flow increased in the LT group. The blood flow ratio was significantly higher in the LT group (1.48 vs. 0.91; p = 0.04), independent of the blood pressure. CONCLUSION: This study shows the blood flow ratio to be higher in the LT group. This suggests that anastomoses may benefit from better perfusion when LT is performed
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