Age and Prostate-Specific Antigen Level Prior to Diagnosis Predict Risk of Death from Prostate Cancer.

A single early prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level has been correlated with a higher likelihood of prostate cancer diagnosis and death in younger men. PSA testing in older men has been considered of limited utility. We evaluated prostate cancer death in relation to age and PSA level immediately prior to prostate cancer diagnosis. Using the Veterans Affairs database, we identified 230,081 men aged 50-89 years diagnosed with prostate cancer and at least one prior PSA test between 1999 and 2009. Prostate cancer-specific death over time was calculated for patients stratified by age group (e.g., 50-59 years, through 80-89 years) and PSA range at diagnosis (10 ranges) using Kaplan-Meier methods. Risk of 10-year prostate cancer mortality across age and PSA was compared using log-rank tests with a Bonferroni adjustment for multiple testing. 10.5% of men diagnosed with prostate cancer died of cancer during the 10-year study period (mean follow-up = 3.7 years). Higher PSA values prior to diagnosis predict a higher risk of death in all age groups (p < 0.0001). Within the same PSA range, older age groups are at increased risk for death from prostate cancer (p < 0.0001). For PSA of 7-10 ng/mL, cancer-specific death, 10 years after diagnosis, increased from 7% for age 50-59 years to 51% for age 80-89 years. Men older than 70 years are more likely to die of prostate cancer at any PSA level than younger men, suggesting prostate cancer remains a significant problem among older men (even those aged 80+) and deserves additional study

Variabilities and uncertainties in characterising water transport kinetics in glassy and ultraviscous aerosol

A comprehensive assessment of the accuracy with which water transport in viscous aerosol can be measured and predicted is provided.</p

Impact of Type 2 diabetes prevention programmes based on risk identification and lifestyle intervention intensity strategies: a cost-effectiveness analysis

Aim To develop a cost-effectiveness model to compare Type 2 diabetes prevention programmes that target different at-risk population subgroups through lifestyle interventions of varying intensity. Methods An individual patient simulation model simulated the development of diabetes in a representative sample of adults without diabetes from the UK population. The model incorporates trajectories for HbA1c, 2-h glucose, fasting plasma glucose, BMI, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol. In the model, patients can be diagnosed with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, microvascular complications of diabetes, cancer, osteoarthritis and depression, or can die. The model collects costs and utilities over a lifetime horizon. The perspective is the UK National Health Service and Personal Social Services. We used the model to evaluate the population-wide impact of targeting a lifestyle intervention of varying intensity to six population subgroups defined as at high risk for diabetes. Results The intervention produces 0.0020 to 0.0026 incremental quality-adjusted life-years and saves £15 to £23 per person in the general population, depending on the subgroup targeted. Cost-effectiveness increases with intervention intensity. The most cost-effective options were to target South-Asian people and those with HbA1c levels > 42 mmol/mol (6%). Conclusion The model indicates that diabetes prevention interventions are likely to be cost-saving. The criteria for selecting at-risk individuals differentially has an impact on diabetes and cardiovascular disease outcomes, and on the timing of costs and benefits. The model is not currently able to account for potential differential uptake or efficacy between subgroups. These findings have implications for deciding who should be targeted for diabetes prevention interventions.NIH

SPHR Diabetes Prevention Model: Detailed Description of Model Background, Methods, Assumptions and Parameters

Type-2 diabetes is a complex disease with multiple risk factors and health consequences whose prevention is a major public health priority. We have developed a microsimulation model written in the R programming language that can evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a comprehensive range of different diabetes prevention interventions, either in the general population or in subgroups at high risk of diabetes. Within the model individual patients with different risk factors for diabetes follow metabolic trajectories (for body mass index, cholesterol, systolic blood pressure and glycaemia), develop diabetes, complications of diabetes and related disorders including cardiovascular disease and cancer, and eventually die. Lifetime costs and quality-adjusted life-years are collected for each patient. The model allows assessment of the wider social impact on employment and the equity impact of different interventions. Interventions may be population-based, community-based or individually targeted, and administered singly or layered together. The model is fully enabled for probabilistic sensitivity analysis (PSA) to provide an estimate of decision uncertainty. This discussion paper provides a detailed description of the model background, methods and assumptions, together with details of all parameters used in the model, their sources and distributions for PSA

Bremsstrahlung in Alpha-Decay

We present the first fully quantum mechanical calculation of photon radiation accompanying charged particle decay from a barrier resonance. The soft-photon limit agrees with the classical results, but differences appear at next-to-leading-order. Under the conditions of alpha-decay of heavy nuclei, the main contribution to the photon emission stems from Coulomb acceleration and may be computed analytically. We find only a small contribution from the tunneling wave function under the barrier.Comment: 12 pages, 2 Postscript figure

Comparison of Coulomb Blockade Thermometers with the International Temperature Scale PLTS-2000

The operation of the primary Coulomb blockade thermometer (CBT) is based on a measurement of bias voltage dependent conductance of arrays of tunnel junctions between normal metal electrodes. Here we report on a comparison of a CBT with a high accuracy realization of the PLTS-2000 temperature scale in the range from 0.008 K to 0.65 K. An overall agreement of about 1% was found for temperatures above 0.25 K. For lower temperatures increasing differences are caused by thermalization problems which are accounted for by numerical calculations based on electron-phonon decoupling.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Adenosine infusion increases plasma levels of VEGF in humans

BACKGROUND: Many in vitro studies have shown that adenosine (Ado) can induce vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mRNA and protein expression and stimulate endothelial proliferation. In the present study, we seek to determine whether Ado can increase circulating levels of VEGF protein in the intact human. METHODS: Five outpatients 49.3 ± 6.7 years of age and weighing 88.2 ± 8.5 kg were selected. They were given a 6 min intravenous infusion of Ado (0.14 mg kg(-1 )min(-1)) in conjunction with sestamibi myocardial perfusion scans. Mean blood pressure (MBP, calculated from systolic and diastolic values) and heart rate (HR) were determined before Ado infusion and every 2 min for the next 10 min. Plasma VEGF concentrations (ELISA) were determined immediately before Ado infusion and 1 h, 2 h, and 8 h after the infusion. RESULTS: Plasma VEGF concentration averaged 20.3 ± 2.0 pg ml(-1 )prior to Ado infusion, and increased to 62.7 ± 18.1 pg ml(-1 )at 1 h post- infusion (p < 0.01). VEGF plasma concentration returned to basal levels 2 h after infusion (23.3 ± 3.4 pg ml(-1)). MBP averaged 116 ± 7 mmHg and heart rate averaged 70 ± 7 prior to Ado infusion. MBP decreased by a maximum of ~22% and HR increased by a maximum of ~17% during the infusion. CONCLUSION: We conclude from these preliminary findings that intravenous infusion of adenosine can increase plasma levels of VEGF in humans

2011-2012 Master Class - Members of the President\u27s Own United States Marine Band (Chamber Music)

https://spiral.lynn.edu/conservatory_masterclasses/1060/thumbnail.jp