Mitoxantrone is superior to doxorubicin in a multiagent weekly regimen for patients older than 60 with high-grade lymphoma: results of a BNLI randomized trial of PAdriaCEBO versus PMitCEBO

A prospective, multicenter, randomized trial was undertaken to compare the efficacy and toxicity of adriamycin with mitoxantrone within a 6-drug combination chemotherapy regimen for elderly patients (older than 60 years) with high-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma (HGL) given for a minimum of 8 weeks. A total of 516 previously untreated patients aged older than 60 years were randomized to receive 1 of 2 anthracycline-containing regimens: adriamycin, 35 mg/m2 intravenously (IV) on day 1 (n = 259), or mitoxantrone, 7 mg/m2 IV on day 1 (n = 257); with prednisolone, 50 mg orally on days 1 to 14; cyclophosphamide, 300 mg/m2 IV on day 1; etoposide, 150 mg/m2 IV on day 1; vincristine, 1.4 mg/m2 IV on day 8; and bleomycin, 10 mg/m2 IV on day 8. Each 2-week cycle was administered for a minimum of 8 weeks in the absence of progression. Forty-three patients were ineligible for analysis. The overall and complete remission rates were 78% and 60% for patients receiving PMitCEBO and 69% and 52% for patients receiving PAdriaCEBO (P = .05, P = .12, respectively). Overall survival was significantly better with PMitCEBO than PAdriaCEBO (P = .0067). However, relapse-free survival was not significantly different (P = .16). At 4 years, 28% of PAdriaCEBO patients and 50% of PMitCEBO patients were alive (P = .0001). Ann Arbor stage III/IV, World Health Organization performance status 2-4, and elevated lactate dehydrogenase negatively influenced overall survival from diagnosis. In conclusion, the PMitCEBO 8-week combination chemotherapy regimen offers high response rates, durable remissions, and acceptable toxicity in elderly patients with HGL

Lattice-switch Monte Carlo

We present a Monte Carlo method for the direct evaluation of the difference between the free energies of two crystal structures. The method is built on a lattice-switch transformation that maps a configuration of one structure onto a candidate configuration of the other by `switching' one set of lattice vectors for the other, while keeping the displacements with respect to the lattice sites constant. The sampling of the displacement configurations is biased, multicanonically, to favor paths leading to `gateway' arrangements for which the Monte Carlo switch to the candidate configuration will be accepted. The configurations of both structures can then be efficiently sampled in a single process, and the difference between their free energies evaluated from their measured probabilities. We explore and exploit the method in the context of extensive studies of systems of hard spheres. We show that the efficiency of the method is controlled by the extent to which the switch conserves correlated microstructure. We also show how, microscopically, the procedure works: the system finds gateway arrangements which fulfill the sampling bias intelligently. We establish, with high precision, the differences between the free energies of the two close packed structures (fcc and hcp) in both the constant density and the constant pressure ensembles.Comment: 34 pages, 9 figures, RevTeX. To appear in Phys. Rev.

Revised analyses of decommissioning for the reference boiling water reactor power station. Effects of current regulatory and other considerations on the financial assurance requirements of the decommissioning rule and on estimates of occupational radiation exposure - main report. Final report

The NRC staff is in need of updated bases documentation that will assist them in assessing the adequacy of the licensee submittals, from the viewpoint of both the planned actions, including occupational radiation exposure, and the probable costs. The purpose of this reevaluation study is to update the needed bases documentation. This report presents the results of a review and reevaluation of the PNL 1980 decommissioning study of the Washington Public Power Supply System`s Washington Nuclear Plant Two (WNP-2), which is a boiling water reactor (BWR), located at Richland, Washington, including all identifiable factors and cost assumptions which contribute significantly to the total cost of decommissioning the plant for the DECON, SAFSTOR, and ENTOMB decommissioning alternatives. These alternatives now include an initial 5-7 year period during which time the spent fuel is stored in the spent fuel pool prior to beginning major disassembly or extended safe storage of the plant. Included for information (but not part of the license termination cost) is an estimate of the cost to demolish the decontaminated and clean structures on the site and to restore the site to a {open_quotes}green field{close_quotes} condition. This report also includes consideration of the NRC requirement that decontamination and decommissioning activities leading to termination of the nuclear license be completed within 60 years of final reactor shutdown, consideration of packaging and disposal requirements for materials whose radionuclide concentrations exceed the limits for Class C low- level waste (i.e., Greater-Than-Class C), and reflects 1993 costs for labor, materials, transport, and disposal activities. Sensitivity of the total license termination cost to the disposal costs at different low-level radioactive waste disposal sites, to different depths of contaminated concrete surface removal within the facilities, and to different transport distances is also examined

The implications of the regional haze rule on renewable and wind energy development on Native American lands in the west: Working paper series--02-21

A study conducted at Northern Arizona University investigated the barriers and opportunities facing Native American tribes in the west when considering development of their renewable energy resources in order to reduce regional haze. This paper summarizes some of the findings of that work with special attention to wind energy. Background information is presented concerning the regional haze rule and the western regional air partnership, and some of the circumstances surrounding development of tribal energy resources. An assessment of tribal energy issues revealed that many Native American tribes are interested in developing their renewable resources. However, this development should occur within the context of maintaining and strengthening their cultural, social, economic, and political integrity. Furthermore, it is shown that Native American lands possess an abundant wind resource. A list of potential actions in which tribes may participate prior to or during development of their wind or renewable resources is provided

Current and future role of instrumentation and monitoring in the performance of transport infrastructure slopes

Instrumentation is often used to monitor the performance of engineered infrastructure slopes. This paper looks at the current role of instrumentation and monitoring, including the reasons for monitoring infrastructure slopes, the instrumentation typically installed and parameters measured. The paper then investigates recent developments in technology and considers how these may change the way that monitoring is used in the future, and tries to summarize the barriers and challenges to greater use of instrumentation in slope engineering. The challenges relate to economics of instrumentation within a wider risk management system, a better understanding of the way in which slopes perform and/or lose performance, and the complexities of managing and making decisions from greater quantities of data

An analysis of the FIR/RADIO Continuum Correlation in the Small Magellanic Cloud

The local correlation between far-infrared (FIR) emission and radio-continuum (RC) emission for the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is investigated over scales from 3 kpc to 0.01 kpc. Here, we report good FIR/RC correlation down to ~15 pc. The reciprocal slope of the FIR/RC emission correlation (RC/FIR) in the SMC is shown to be greatest in the most active star forming regions with a power law slope of ~1.14 indicating that the RC emission increases faster than the FIR emission. The slope of the other regions and the SMC are much flatter and in the range of 0.63-0.85. The slopes tend to follow the thermal fractions of the regions which range from 0.5 to 0.95. The thermal fraction of the RC emission alone can provide the expected FIR/RC correlation. The results are consistent with a common source for ultraviolet (UV) photons heating dust and Cosmic Ray electrons (CRe-s) diffusing away from the star forming regions. Since the CRe-s appear to escape the SMC so readily, the results here may not provide support for coupling between the local gas density and the magnetic field intensity.Comment: 19 pages, 7 Figure

Dissipation and noise in adiabatic quantum pumps

We investigate the distribution function, the heat flow and the noise properties of an adiabatic quantum pump for an arbitrary relation of pump frequency $\omega$ and temperature. To achieve this we start with the scattering matrix approach for ac-transport. This approach leads to expressions for the quantities of interest in terms of the side bands of particles exiting the pump. The side bands correspond to particles which have gained or lost a modulation quantum $\hbar \omega$. We find that our results for the pump current, the heat flow and the noise can all be expressed in terms of a parametric emissivity matrix. In particular we find that the current cross-correlations of a multiterminal pump are directly related a to a non-diagonal element of the parametric emissivity matrix. The approach allows a description of the quantum statistical correlation properties (noise) of an adiabatic quantum pump

Beyond the Shade of the Oak Tree: The Recent Growth of Johannine Studies

The recent growth within Johannine studies has developed as a result of several factors. First, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls led to an appreciation of the Jewishness of John’s origin. Second, new approaches to John’s composition have emerged, followed by a larger set of inquiries as to the Johannine tradition’s relation to parallel traditions. This has been accompanied by a fourth interest: the history of the Johannine situation. Fifth, new literary studies have posed new horizons for interpretation, and sixth, theories continue to abound on the identity of the Beloved Disciple. A seventh development involves new ways of conceiving John’s theological features, leading to an eighth: reconsidering John’s historical features and re-envisioning its historical contributions in new perspective