2,602 research outputs found
Multiple Myeloma
The clinical, biochemical and immunochemical features of 52 patients suffering from multiple myelomatosis are reported. Three major criteria were used to establish the diagnosis: serum and urine protein chemistry, bone marrow morphology and the radiological appearances of bone. The fact that abnormalities of gamma globulin synthesis were present in 49 of the 52 patients indicates the importance of adequate examination of urine by electrophores's and immunochemical techniques in the early diagnosis of multiple myeloma. Bradshaw's test, which is a simple screening test for fence-Jones proteinuria, was positive in 63% of patients.S. Afr. Med. J., 48, 1023 (1974)
Multiple Myeloma
The results of the use of melphalan in 52 patients with multiple myeloma have been analysed. The median survival of the whole group of patients was 30 months, and of those w:th renal insufficiency only 12,5 months. Bence-lones proteinuria was also a poor prognostic finding,. but only because of its association with renal failure. Patients with Bence-Jones protcinur;a and normal renal function had a median survival of 41 months. Responsiveness to therapy by criteria based on those of the Chronic Leukemial Multip!e Myeloma Task Force could be assessed in 25 patients. Dramatic symptomatic relief occurred in all but one of the responsive patients, but in only one-fifth of those who did not respond to therapy.S. Afr. Med. J., 48, 1026 (1974
Resonances in an external field: the 1+1 dimensional case
Using non-relativistic effective field theory in 1+1 dimensions, we
generalize Luescher's approach for resonances in the presence of an external
field. This generalized approach provides a framework to study the
infinite-volume limit of the form factor of a resonance determined in lattice
simulations.Comment: 13 pages, 2 postscript figure
Determining matrix elements and resonance widths from finite volume: the dangerous mu-terms
The standard numerical approach to determining matrix elements of local
operators and width of resonances uses the finite volume dependence of energy
levels and matrix elements. Finite size corrections that decay exponentially in
the volume are usually neglected or taken into account using perturbation
expansion in effective field theory. Using two-dimensional sine-Gordon field
theory as "toy model" it is shown that some exponential finite size effects
could be much larger than previously thought, potentially spoiling the
determination of matrix elements in frameworks such as lattice QCD. The
particular class of finite size corrections considered here are mu-terms
arising from bound state poles in the scattering amplitudes. In sine-Gordon
model, these can be explicitly evaluated and shown to explain the observed
discrepancies to high precision. It is argued that the effects observed are not
special to the two-dimensional setting, but rather depend on general field
theoretic features that are common with models relevant for particle physics.
It is important to understand these finite size corrections as they present a
potentially dangerous source of systematic errors for the determination of
matrix elements and resonance widths.Comment: 26 pages, 13 eps figures, LaTeX2e fil
Confounders in the assessment of the renal effects associated with low-level urinary cadmium: an analysis in industrial workers
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Associations of proteinuria with low-level urinary cadmium (Cd) are currently interpreted as the sign of renal dysfunction induced by Cd. Few studies have considered the possibility that these associations might be non causal and arise from confounding by factors influencing the renal excretion of Cd and proteins.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We examined 184 healthy male workers (mean age, 39.5 years) from a zinc smelter (n = 132) or a blanket factory (n = 52). We measured the concentrations of Cd in blood (B-Cd) and the urinary excretion of Cd (U-Cd), retinol-binding protein (RBP), protein HC and albumin. Associations between biomarkers of metal exposure and urinary proteins were assessed by simple and multiple regression analyses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The medians (interquartile range) of B-Cd (μg/l) and U-Cd (μg/g creatinine) were 0.80 (0.45-1.16) and 0.70 (0.40-1.3) in smelter workers and 0.66 (0.47-0.87) and 0.55 (0.40-0.90) in blanket factory workers, respectively. Occupation had no influence on these values, which varied mainly with smoking habits. In univariate analysis, concentrations of RBP and protein HC in urine were significantly correlated with both U-Cd and B-Cd but these associations were substantially weakened by the adjustment for current smoking and the residual influence of diuresis after correction for urinary creatinine. Albumin in urine did not correlate with B-Cd but was consistently associated with U-Cd through a relationship, which was unaffected by smoking or diuresis. Further analyses showed that RBP and albumin in urine mutually distort their associations with U-Cd and that the relationship between RBP and Cd in urine was almost the replicate of that linking RBP to albumin</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Associations between proteinuria and low-level urinary Cd should be interpreted with caution as they appear to be largely driven by diuresis, current smoking and probably also the co-excretion of Cd with plasma proteins.</p
The preliminary lattice QCD calculation of meson decay width
We present a direct lattice QCD calculation of the meson decay width
with the s-wave scattering phase shift for the isospin pion-kaon () system. We employ a special finite size formula, which is the extension of
the Rummukainen-Gottlieb formula for the system in the moving frame, to
calculate the scattering phase, which indicates a resonance around
meson mass. Through the effective range formula, we extract the effective
coupling constant GeV and
decay width MeV. Our simulations are done with the MILC
gauge configurations with flavors of the "Asqtad" improved staggered
dynamical sea quarks on a lattice at and lattice spacing fm.Comment: To make it concise. arXiv admin note: text overlap with
arXiv:1110.1422, but much of v1 text overlap with articles by same and other
authors remove
Substellar and low-mass dwarf identification with near-infrared imaging space observatories
AIMS: We aim to evaluate the near-infrared colors of brown dwarfs as observed
with four major infrared imaging space observatories: the Hubble Space
Telescope (HST), the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the Euclid mission, and
the WFIRST telescope.
METHODS: We used the SPLAT SPEX/ISPEX spectroscopic library to map out the
colors of the M-, L-, and T-type dwarfs. We have identified which color-color
combination is optimal for identifying broad type and which single color is
optimal to then identify the subtype (e.g., T0-9). We evaluated each
observatory separately as well as the narrow-field (HST and JWST) and
wide-field (Euclid and WFIRST) combinations.
RESULTS: The Euclid filters perform poorly typing brown dwarfs and WFIRST
performs only marginally better, despite a wider selection of filters. WFIRST's
W146 and F062 combined with Euclid's Y-band discriminates somewhat better
between broad brown dwarf categories. However, subtyping with any combination
of Euclid and WFIRST observations remains uncertain due to the lack of medium
or narrow-band filters. We argue that a medium band added to the WFIRST filter
selection would greatly improve its ability to preselect brown dwarfs its
imaging surveys.
CONCLUSIONS: The HST filters used in high-redshift searches are close to
optimal to identify broad stellar type. However, the addition of F127M to the
commonly used broad filter sets would allow for unambiguous subtyping. An
improvement over HST is one of two broad and medium filter combinations on
JWST: pairing F140M with either F150W or F162M discriminates very well between
subtypes
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