Cooper pair sizes in 11Li and in superfluid nuclei: a puzzle?

We point out a strong influence of the pairing force on the size of the two neutron Cooper pair in $^{11}$Li, and to a lesser extent also in $^6$He. It seems that these are quite unique situations, since Cooper pair sizes of stable superfluid nuclei are very little influenced by the intensity of pairing, as recently reported. We explore the difference between $^{11}$Li and heavier superfulid nuclei, and discuss reasons for the exceptional situation in $^{11}$Li.Comment: 9 pages. To be published in J. of Phys. G special issue on Open Problems in Nuclear Structure (OPeNST

Perspective of turkish medicine students on cancer, cancer treatments, palliative care, and oncologists (ares study): A study of the palliative care working committee of the turkish oncology group (TOG)

Cancer is one of the most common causes of death all over the World (Rahib et al. in Cancer Res 74(11):2913–2921, 2014; Silbermann et al. in Ann Oncol 23(Suppl 3):iii15–iii28, 2012). It is crucial to diagnose this disease early by effective screening methods and also it is very important to acknowledge the community on various aspects of this disease such as the treatment methods and palliative care. Not only the oncologists but every medical doctor should be educated well in dealing with cancer patients. Previous studies suggested various opinions on the level of oncology education in medical schools (Pavlidis et al. in Ann Oncol 16(5):840–841, 2005). In this study, the perspectives of medical students on cancer, its treatment, palliative care, and the oncologists were analyzed in relation to their educational status. A multicenter survey analysis was performed on a total of 4224 medical school students that accepted to enter this study in Turkey. After the questions about the demographical characteristics of the students, their perspectives on the definition, diagnosis, screening, and treatment methods of cancer and their way of understanding metastatic disease as well as palliative care were analyzed. The questionnaire includes questions with answers and a scoring system of Likert type 5 (absolutely disagree = 1, completely agree = 5). In the last part of the questionnaire, there were some words to detect what the words “cancer” and “oncologist” meant for the students. The participant students were analyzed in two study groups; “group 1” (n = 1.255) were phases I and II students that had never attended an oncology lesson, and “group 2” (n = 2.969) were phases III to VI students that had attended oncology lessons in the medical school. SPSS v17 was used for the database and statistical analyses. A value of p < 0.05 was noted as statistically significant. Group 1 defined cancer as a contagious disease (p = 0.00025), they believed that early diagnosis was never possible (p = 0.042), all people with a diagnosis of cancer would certainly die (p = 0.044), and chemotherapy was not successful in a metastatic disease (p = 0.003) as compared to group 2. The rate of the students that believed gastric cancer screening was a part of the national screening policy was significantly more in group 1 than in group 2 (p = 0.00014). Group 2 had a higher anxiety level for themselves or their family members to become a cancer patient. Most of the students in both groups defined medical oncologists as warriors (57% in group 1 and 40% in group 2; p = 0.097), and cancer was reminding them of “death” (54% in group 1 and 48% in group 2; p = 0.102). This study suggested that oncology education was useful for the students’ understanding of cancer and related issues; however, the level of oncology education should be improved in medical schools in Turkey. This would be helpful for medical doctors to cope with many aspects of cancer as a major health care problem in this country. © 2018, American Association for Cancer Education

Protocol for the isotoxic intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): a feasibility study

Introduction The majority of stage III patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are unsuitable for concurrent chemoradiotherapy, the non-surgical gold standard of care. As the alternative treatment options of sequential chemoradiotherapy and radiotherapy alone are associated with high local failure rates, various intensification strategies have been employed. There is evidence to suggest that altered fractionation using hyperfractionation, acceleration, dose escalation, and individualisation may be of benefit. The MAASTRO group have pioneered the concept of ‘isotoxic’ radiotherapy allowing for individualised dose escalation using hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy based on predefined normal tissue constraints. This study aims to evaluate whether delivering isotoxic radiotherapy using intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) is achievable. Methods and analysis Isotoxic IMRT is a multicentre feasibility study. From June 2014, a total of 35 patients from 7 UK centres, with a proven histological or cytological diagnosis of inoperable NSCLC, unsuitable for concurrent chemoradiotherapy will be recruited. A minimum of 2 cycles of induction chemotherapy is mandated before starting isotoxic radiotherapy. The dose of radiation will be increased until one or more of the organs at risk tolerance or the maximum dose of 79.2 Gy is reached. The primary end point is feasibility, with accrual rates, local control and overall survival our secondary end points. Patients will be followed up for 5 years. Ethics and dissemination The study has received ethical approval (REC reference: 13/NW/0480) from the National Research Ethics Service (NRES) Committee North West—Greater Manchester South. The trial is conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and Good Clinical Practice (GCP). The trial results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and presented internationally. Trial registration number NCT01836692; Pre-result

Quadrupole Collective States in a Large Single-J Shell

We discuss the ability of the generator coordinate method (GCM) to select collective states in microscopic calculations. The model studied is a single-$j$ shell with hamiltonian containing the quadrupole-quadrupole interaction. Quadrupole collective excitations are constructed by means of the quadrupole single-particle operator. Lowest collective bands for $j$=31/2 and particle numbers $N$=4,6,8,10,12, and $14$ are found. For lower values of $j$, exact solutions are obtained and compared with the GCM results.Comment: submitted for publication in Phys. Rev. C, revtex, 28 pages, 15 PostScript figures available on request from [email protected], preprint No. IFT/17/9

Protocol for PIT: a phase III trial of prophylactic irradiation of tracts in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma following invasive chest wall intervention.

INTRODUCTION: Histological diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma requires an invasive procedure such as CT-guided needle biopsy, thoracoscopy, video-assisted thorascopic surgery (VATs) or thoracotomy. These invasive procedures encourage tumour cell seeding at the intervention site and patients can develop tumour nodules within the chest wall. In an effort to prevent nodules developing, it has been widespread practice across Europe to irradiate intervention sites postprocedure--a practice known as prophylactic irradiation of tracts (PIT). To date there has not been a suitably powered randomised trial to determine whether PIT is effective at reducing the risk of chest wall nodule development. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: In this multicentre phase III randomised controlled superiority trial, 374 patients who can receive radiotherapy within 42 days of a chest wall intervention will be randomised to receive PIT or no PIT. Patients will be randomised on a 1:1 basis. Radiotherapy in the PIT arm will be 21 Gy in three fractions. Subsequent chemotherapy is given at the clinicians' discretion. A reduction in the incidence of chest wall nodules from 15% to 5% in favour of radiotherapy 6 months after randomisation would be clinically significant. All patients will be followed up for up to 2 years with monthly telephone contact and at least four outpatient visits in the first year. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: PIT was approved by NRES Committee North West-Greater Manchester West (REC reference 12/NW/0249) and recruitment is currently on-going, the last patient is expected to be randomised by the end of 2015. The analysis of the primary end point, incidence of chest wall nodules 6 months after randomisation, is expected to be published in 2016 in a peer reviewed journal and results will also be presented at scientific meetings and summary results published online. A follow-up analysis is expected to be published in 2018. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN04240319; NCT01604005; Pre-results

Ballistic matter waves with angular momentum: Exact solutions and applications

An alternative description of quantum scattering processes rests on inhomogeneous terms amended to the Schroedinger equation. We detail the structure of sources that give rise to multipole scattering waves of definite angular momentum, and introduce pointlike multipole sources as their limiting case. Partial wave theory is recovered for freely propagating particles. We obtain novel results for ballistic scattering in an external uniform force field, where we provide analytical solutions for both the scattering waves and the integrated particle flux. Our theory directly applies to p-wave photodetachment in an electric field. Furthermore, illustrating the effects of extended sources, we predict some properties of vortex-bearing atom laser beams outcoupled from a rotating Bose-Einstein condensate under the influence of gravity.Comment: 42 pages, 8 figures, extended version including photodetachment and semiclassical theor

Dexamethasone and supportive care with or without whole brain radiotherapy in treating patients with non-small cell lung cancer with brain metastases unsuitable for resection or stereotactic radiotherapy (QUARTZ): results from a phase 3, non-inferiority, randomised trial

Background Whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) and dexamethasone are widely used to treat brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), although there have been no randomised clinical trials showing that WBRT improves either quality of life or overall survival. Even after treatment with WBRT, the prognosis of this patient group is poor. We aimed to establish whether WBRT could be omitted without a signifi cant eff ect on survival or quality of life. Methods The Quality of Life after Treatment for Brain Metastases (QUARTZ) study is a non-inferiority, phase 3 randomised trial done at 69 UK and three Australian centres. NSCLC patients with brain metastases unsuitable for surgical resection or stereotactic radiotherapy were randomly assigned (1:1) to optimal supportive care (OSC) including dexamethasone plus WBRT (20 Gy in five daily fractions) or OSC alone (including dexamethasone). The dose of dexamethasone was determined by the patients’ symptoms and titrated downwards if symptoms improved. Allocation to treatment group was done by a phone call from the hospital to the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit at University College London using a minimisation programme with a random element and stratifi cation by centre, Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS), gender, status of brain metastases, and the status of primary lung cancer. The primary outcome measure was quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). QALYs were generated from overall survival and patients’ weekly completion of the EQ-5D questionnaire. Treatment with OSC alone was considered noninferior if it was no more than 7 QALY days worse than treatment with WBRT plus OSC, which required 534 patients (80% power, 5% [one-sided] signifi cance level). Analysis was done by intention to treat for all randomly assigned patients. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, number ISRCTN3826061. Findings Between March 2, 2007, and Aug 29, 2014, 538 patients were recruited from 69 UK and three Australian centres, and were randomly assigned to receive either OSC plus WBRT (269) or OSC alone (269). Baseline characteristics were balanced between groups, and the median age of participants was 66 years (range 38–85). Signifi cantly more episodes of drowsiness, hair loss, nausea, and dry or itchy scalp were reported while patients were receiving WBRT, although there was no evidence of a difference in the rate of serious adverse events between the two groups. There was no evidence of a diff erence in overall survival (hazard ratio 1·06, 95% CI 0·90–1·26), overall quality of life, or dexamethasone use between the two groups. The diff erence between the mean QALYs was 4·7 days (46·4 QALY days for the OSC plus WBRT group vs 41·7 QALY days for the OSC group), with two-sided 90% CI of –12·7 to 3·3. Interpretation Although the primary outcome measure result includes the prespecifi ed non-inferiority margin, the combination of the small diff erence in QALYs and the absence of a diff erence in survival and quality of life between the two groups suggests that WBRT provides little additional clinically signifi cant benefi t for this patient group

Kondo Effect of a Magnetic Ion Vibrating in a Harmonic Potential

To discuss Kondo effects of a magnetic ion vibrating in the sea of conduction electrons, a generalized Anderson model is derived. The model includes a new channel of hybridization associated with phonon emission or absorption. In the simplest case of the localized electron orbital with the s-wave symmetry, hybridization with p-waves becomes possible. Interesting interplay among the conventional s-wave Kondo effect and the p-wave one and the Yu-Anderson type Kondo effect is found and the ground state phase diagram is determined by using the numerical renormalization group method. Two different types of stable fixed points are identified and the two-channel Kondo fixed points are generically realized on the boundary.Comment: 15 pages, 17 figures, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 80 (2011) No.6 to be publishe

Description of a strain from an atypical population of Aspergillus parasiticus that produces aflatoxins B only, and the impact of temperature on fungal growth and mycotoxin production

In this study, an atypical strain of Aspergillus parasiticus is described. This strain, reported from Portuguese almonds, was named Aspergillus parasiticus B strain. The strain is herein characterised at the morphological and physiological levels, and compared with the typical A. parasiticus strain and other similar species in section Flavi. Previously published morphological and molecular data support that the B strain is very closely related to the A. parasiticus type strain. However, while A. parasiticus typically produces aflatoxins B and G, B strain produces aflatoxins B only. Furthermore, this atypical strain showed to differ from the typical strain in the fact that higher growth (colony diameter) and strain. This strain can become a major food safety concern in colder regions where the typical A. parasiticus strains are not well adapted.NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000028PEst-OE/EQB/LA0023/2013PEst-OE/AGR/UI0690/201

Antifungal activity of a novel chromene dimer

The activity on Aspergillus spp. growth and on ochratoxin A production of two novel chromene dimers (3) was evaluated. The results of the bioassays indicate that the chromene dimer 3a inhibited mycelia growth by approximately 50% (EC50) at 140.1 μmol L−1 for A. niger, 384.2 μmol L−1 for A. carbonarius, 69.1 μmol L−1 for A. alliaceus and 559.1 μmol L−1 for A. ochraceus. When applied at concentrations of 2 mmol L−1, 3a totally inhibited the growth of all Aspergillus spp. tested. Furthermore, ochratoxin A production by A. alliaceus was reduced by about 94% with a 200 μmol L−1 solution of this compound. A moderate inhibitory effect was observed for the analogous structure 3b on ochratoxin A production but not in mycelia growth. No inhibition was registered for compounds 2a and 2b, used as synthetic precursors of the dimeric species 3.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - SFRH/BD/ 11228/2002