Hematopoetic stem cell transplantation for solid tumors in Europe

Background: Hematopoetic stem cell transplants (HSCT) are discussed as treatment options for patients with solid tumors. Transplant numbers have changed substantially over the last decade, few controlled studies are available and different opinions prevail. Objective information on current practice is needed. Patients and methods: Data from 27 902 HSCT for solid tumors (2% allogeneic, 98% autologous), collected by the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) activity survey from 1991 to 2002 were used to assess trends, transplant rates and coefficient of variation of transplant rates in Europe. Results: Transplant numbers increased from 536 in 1991 to 4154 in 1997 and decreased to 1913 in 2002. Indications were neuroblastoma (2504 HSCT; 9%), glioma (662 HSCT; 2%), soft tissue sarcoma (1253 HSCT; 4%), germ cell cancer (3291 HSCT; 12%), breast cancer (13 524 HSCT; 48%), Ewing's sarcoma (1896 HSCT; 7%), lung cancer (387 HSCT; 1%), ovarian cancer (845 HSCT; 3%) and other solid tumors (3540 HSCT; 14%). Allogeneic cells were used in <20 cases up to 1997; since then allogeneic HSCT increased to 159 in 2002, mainly for renal cell carcinoma. Low coefficients of variation in transplant rates (<60%) are observed for Ewing's sarcoma (<56.5%), suggesting consensus for this indication. Conclusions: These data give an overview on current practice of HSCT for solid tumors in Europe. They provide objective information for health-care providers and patient counsellin

What if the Higgs couplings to W and Z bosons are larger than in the Standard Model?

We derive a general sum rule relating the Higgs coupling to W and Z bosons to the total cross section of longitudinal gauge boson scattering in I=0,1,2 isospin channels. The Higgs coupling larger than in the Standard Model implies enhancement of the I=2 cross section. Such an enhancement could arise if the Higgs sector is extended by an isospin-2 scalar multiplet including a doubly charged, singly charged, and another neutral Higgs.Comment: 11 pages, no figures. v2: comments and references added. v3: early QCD references adde

Charge dynamics and "ferromagnetism" of A1-xLaxB6 (A=Ca and Sr)

Ferromagnetism has been reported recently in La-doped alkaline-earth hexaborides, A1-xLaxB6 (A=Ca, Sr, and Ba). We have performed the reflectivity, Hall resistivity, and magnetization measurements of A1-xLaxB6. The results indicate that A1-xLaxB6 can be regarded as a simple doped semimetal, with no signature of an excitonic state as suggested by several theories. It is also found that the surface of as-grown samples (10 micrometer in thickness) has a different electronic structure from a bulk one, and a fairly large number of paramagnetic moments are confined in this region. After eliminating these paramagnetic moments at the surface, we could not find any evidence of an intrinsic ferromagnetic moment in our samples, implying the possibility that the ferromagnetism of A1-xLaxB6 reported so far is neither intrinsic.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure

Emergent Antiferromagnetism Out Of The Hidden-order" State In Uru2si2: High Magnetic Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance To 40 T."

Very high field (29)Si-NMR measurements using a fully (29)Si-enriched URu(2)Si(2) single crystal were carried out in order to microscopically investigate the hidden order (HO) state and adjacent magnetic phases in the high field limit. At the lowest measured temperature of 0.4 K, a clear anomaly reflecting a Fermi surface instability near 22 T inside the HO state is detected by the (29)Si shift, (29)K(c). Moreover, a strong enhancement of (29)K(c) develops near a critical field H(c) ≃ 35.6 T, and the ^{29}Si-NMR signal disappears suddenly at H(c), indicating the total suppression of the HO state. Nevertheless, a weak and shifted (29)Si-NMR signal reappears for fields higher than H(c) at 4.2 K, providing evidence for a magnetic structure within the magnetic phase caused by the Ising-type anisotropy of the uranium ordered moments.11223640

Status of cosmic-ray antideuteron searches

The precise measurement of cosmic-ray antiparticles serves as important means for identifying the nature of dark matter. Recent years showed that identifying the nature of dark matter with cosmic-ray positrons and higher energy antiprotons is difficult, and has lead to a significantly increased interest in cosmic-ray antideuteron searches. Antideuterons may also be generated in dark matter annihilations or decays, offering a potential breakthrough in unexplored phase space for dark matter. Low-energy antideuterons are an important approach because the flux from dark matter interactions exceeds the background flux by more than two orders of magnitude in the low-energy range for a wide variety of models. This review is based on the "dbar14 - dedicated cosmic-ray antideuteron workshop", which brought together theorists and experimentalists in the field to discuss the current status, perspectives, and challenges for cosmic-ray antideuteron searches and discusses the motivation for antideuteron searches, the theoretical and experimental uncertainties of antideuteron production and propagation in our Galaxy, as well as give an experimental cosmic-ray antideuteron search status update. This report is a condensed summary of the article "Review of the theoretical and experimental status of dark matter identification with cosmic-ray antideuteron" (arXiv:1505.07785).Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, ICRC 2015 proceeding

Orbitally defined field-induced electronic state in a Kondo lattice

CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESPCeRhIn5 is a Kondo-lattice prototype in which a magnetic field B* similar or equal to 31 T induces an abrupt Fermi-surface (FS) reconstruction and pronounced in-plane electrical transport anisotropy all within its antiferromagnetic state. Though the antif1011616CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESPCONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP140837/2013-2307668/2015-0309483/2018-22012/04870-72012/05903-62017/10581-1We acknowledge enlightening discussions with F. Ronning, P. F. S. Rosa, M. Smidman, L. Jiao, H. Q. Yuan, D. J. Garcia, C. Rettori, and N. Curro. Work at State University of Campinas (Unicamp) was supported by CNPq (Grants No. 140837/2013-2, No. 307668/20

Trust and normative control in multi-agent systems: an empirical study

Despite relevant insights from socio-economics, little research in multi-agent systems has addressed the interconnections between trust and normative notions such as contracts and sanctions. Focusing our attention on scenarios of betrayal, in this paper we combine the use of trust and sanctions in a negotiation process. We describe a scenario of dyadic relationships between truster agents, which make use of trust and/or sanctions, and trustees characterized by their ability and integrity, which may influence their attitude toward betrayal. Both agent behavior models are inspired in socio-economics literature. Through simulation, we show the virtues and shortcomings of exploiting trust, sanctions and a combination of both

The quantum critical point in CeRhIn_5: a resistivity study

The pressure--temperature phase diagram of CeRhIn_5 has been studied under high magnetic field by resistivity measurements. Clear signatures of a quantum critical point has been found at a critical pressure of p_c = 2.5 GPa. The field induced magnetic state in the superconducting state is stable up to the highest field. At p_c the antiferromagnetic ground-state under high magnetic field collapses very rapidly. Clear signatures of p_c are the strong enhancement of the resistivity in the normal state and of the inelastic scattering term. No clear T2 temperature dependence could be found for pressures above T_c. From the analysis of the upper critical field within a strong coupling model we present the pressure dependence of the coupling parameter lambda and the gyromagnetic ratio g. No signatures of a spatially modulated order parameter could be evidenced. A detailed comparison with the magnetic field--temperature phase diagram of CeCoIn_5 is given. The comparison between CeRhIn_5 and CeCoIn_5 points out the importance to take into account the field dependence of the effective mass in the calculation of the superconducting upper critical field H_c2. It suggests also that when the magnetic critical field H_(0) becomes lower than H_c2 (0)$, the persistence of a superconducting pseudo-gap may stick the antiferromagnetism to H_c2 (0).Comment: 15 pages, 20 figures, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jp