9,034 research outputs found
Pregnancy-associated breast cancer - Special features in diagnosis and treatment
For obvious psychological reasons it is difficult to associate pregnancy - a life-giving period of our existence with life-threatening malignancies. Symptoms pointing to malignancy are often ignored by both patients and physicians, and this, together with the greater difficulty of diagnostic imaging, probably results in the proven delay in the detection of breast cancers during pregnancy. The diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer are becoming more and more important, as the fulfillment of the desire to have children is increasingly postponed until a later age associated with a higher risk of carcinoma, and improved cure rates of solid tumors no longer exclude subsequent pregnancies. The following article summarizes the special features of the diagnosis and primary therapy of pregnancy-associated breast cancer with particular consideration of cytostatic therapy
Evaluating Smoking Cessation Interventions and Cessation Rates in Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Background. Tobacco smoking cessation interventions in the oncology population are an important part of comprehensive treatment plan. Objectives. To evaluate through a systematic review smoking cessation interventions and cessation rates in cancer patients. Search Strategy. The literature was searched using Medline, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library (inception to November 2010) by three independent review authors. Selection Criteria. Studies were included if tobacco smoking cessation interventions were evaluated and patients were randomized to usual care or an intervention. The primary outcome measure was cessation rates. Data Collection and Analysis. Two authors extracted data independently for each paper, with disagreements resolved by consensus. Main Results. The systematic review found eight RCTs investigating smoking cessation interventions in the oncology patient population. Pooled relative risks were calculated from two groups of RCTs of smoking cessation interventions based on followup duration. In both groups, the pooled relative risk did not suggest a statistically significant improvement in tobacco cessation compared to usual care. Conclusions. Our review demonstrates that recent interventions in the last decade which are a combination of non-pharmacological and pharmacological approaches yield a statistically significant improvement in smoking cessation rates compared to usual care
Carbon Stars and other Luminous Stellar Populations in M33
The M33 galaxy is a nearby, relatively metal-poor, late-type spiral. Its
proximity and almost face-on inclination means that it projects over a large
area on the sky, making it an ideal candidate for wide-field CCD mosaic
imaging. Photometry was obtained for more than 10^6 stars covering a 74' x 56'
field centered on M33. Main sequence (MS), supergiant branch (SGB), red giant
branch (RGB) and asymptotic giant branch (AGB) populations are identified and
classified based on broad-band V and I photometry. Narrow-band filters are used
to measure spectral features allowing the AGB population to be further divided
into C and M-star types. The galactic structure of M33 is examined using star
counts, colour-colour and colour-magnitude selected stellar populations. We use
the C to M-star ratio to investigate the metallicity gradient in the disk of
M33. The C/M-star ratio is found to increase and then flatten with increasing
galactocentric radius in agreement with viscous disk formation models. The
C-star luminosity function is found to be similar to M31 and the SMC,
suggesting that C-stars should be useful distance indicators. The ``spectacular
arcs of carbon stars'' in M33 postulated recently by Block et al. (2004) are
found in our work to be simply an extension of M33's disk.Comment: 20 pages, 20 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astronomical
Journa
Renormalization approach to many-particle systems
This paper presents a renormalization approach to many-particle systems. By
starting from a bare Hamiltonian with an
unperturbed part and a perturbation ,we define an
effective Hamiltonian which has a band-diagonal shape with respect to the
eigenbasis of . This means that all transition matrix elements are
suppressed which have energy differences larger than a given cutoff
that is smaller than the cutoff of the original Hamiltonian. This
property resembles a recent flow equation approach on the basis of continuous
unitary transformations. For demonstration of the method we discuss an exact
solvable model, as well as the Anderson-lattice model where the well-known
quasiparticle behavior of heavy fermions is derived.Comment: 11 pages, final version, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Critical behaviour of the Rouse model for gelling polymers
It is shown that the traditionally accepted "Rouse values" for the critical
exponents at the gelation transition do not arise from the Rouse model for
gelling polymers. The true critical behaviour of the Rouse model for gelling
polymers is obtained from spectral properties of the connectivity matrix of the
fractal clusters that are formed by the molecules. The required spectral
properties are related to the return probability of a "blind ant"-random walk
on the critical percolating cluster. The resulting scaling relations express
the critical exponents of the shear-stress-relaxation function, and hence those
of the shear viscosity and of the first normal stress coefficient, in terms of
the spectral dimension of the critical percolating cluster and the
exponents and of the cluster-size distribution.Comment: 9 pages, slightly extended version, to appear in J. Phys.
Nitrate- and silicate-competition among antarctic phytoplankton
Natural phytoplankton from antarctic waters in the Drake Passage were used for competition experiments in semicontinuous cultures. The outcome of interspecific competition for silicate and nitrate was studied at a range of Si:N ratios (from 2.6:1 to 425:1) and at three different dilution rates. For five species Monod kinetics of silicate-and nitrate-limited growth has been established. Comparison between theoretical predictions derived from Monod kinetics and the outcome of competition experiments showed only minor deviations. Contrary to literature data, considerable depletion of nitrate was found in antarctic seawater. Both the concentrations of soluble silicate and of nitrate were too low to support maximum growth rates of some of the diatom species under investigation
Collapse of Flux Tubes
The dynamics of an idealized, infinite, MIT-type flux tube is followed in
time as the interior evolves from a pure gluon field to a
plasma. We work in color U(1). pair formation is evaluated
according to the Schwinger mechanism using the results of Brink and Pavel. The
motion of the quarks toward the tube endcaps is calculated by a Boltzmann
equation including collisions. The tube undergoes damped radial oscillations
until the electric field settles down to zero. The electric field stabilizes
the tube against pinch instabilities; when the field vanishes, the tube
disintegrates into mesons. There is only one free parameter in the problem,
namely the initial flux tube radius, to which the results are very sensitive.
Among various quantities calculated is the mean energy of the emitted pions.Comment: 16 pages plus 12 figures. RevTex3. DOE/ER/40427-160N9
Sialendoscopy for the management of obstructive salivary gland disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Objective: To conduct a systematic review with metaanalysis to determine the efficacy and safety of sialendoscopy in the treatment of obstructive diseases of the salivary glands in adults. Data Sources: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library (no lower limit to October 2010). Reference lists were searched for identification of relevant studies. Study Selection: Prospective or retrospective studies of adult patients treated with interventional sialendoscopy for the management of salivary gland obstruction were selected. Outcome measures included rates of success (symptom-free and absence of residual obstruction), sialadenectomy, and complications. Non-English publications were excluded. Data Extraction: Two independent review authors screened eligible studies, extracted relevant data, and resolved discrepancies by consensus when applicable. Weighted pooled proportion, 95% confidence intervals, and test results for heterogeneity are reported. Data Synthesis: Twenty-nine studies were included in the analysis. The weighted pooled proportion of success rates were 0.86 (95% CI, 0.83-0.89) for studies involving 1213 patients undergoing sialendoscopy alone and 0.93 (95% CI, 0.89-0.96) for the 374 patients undergoing sialendoscopy with a combined surgical approach. Outcomes following interventional sialendoscopy for radioiodine-induced sialadenitis were reported in 3 studies, and success rates were variable. Rates of sialadenectomy were low, and few major complications were reported. Conclusion: Findings from the present systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that sialendoscopy is efficacious, safe, and gland preserving for the treatment of obstructive major salivary gland disease
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