New prognostic factors in chronic myeloid leukaemia

The tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib mesylate (IM) has proved a major advance in the management of patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) but about 15% of patients do not achieve complete cytogenetic responses (CCyR) (primary resistance) and a further 15-20% of those who do achieve CCyR eventually lose their response (secondary resistance). The best characterised mechanism of resistance is the expansion of a Ph-positive clone bearing an amino-acid substitution in the BCR-ABL1 kinase domain (KD). We screened over 300 CML patients for KD mutations and demonstrated that detection of a mutation after achieving CCyR is an independent prognostic factor for the loss of response and disease progression regardless of the level of mutant clone. In contrast this study found no difference in the level of IM-induced reduction of phospho-Crkl in diagnostic CD34+ cells from patients who achieved CCyR compared with those who failed to achieve such response. However, I also studied levels of human organic cation transporter 1 (hOCT1), a membrane protein responsible for facilitating entry of IM into cells. I showed that the level of hOCT1 at diagnosis predicted for 3 or more log reduction in BCR-ABL1 transcript level in the patients who achieved CCyR. I investigated the incidence of polymorphisms in the TP53 and MDM2 genes and showed an association between the TP53 P72R SNP and earlier age of onset of CML and an association between the MDM2 309 SNP and Sokal score in CML patients. Finally, I used array comparative genomic hybridisation to compare patterns in blood specimens obtained from 20 CML patients before treatment with patterns obtained from the same patients after induction of CCyR with IM; I showed aberrant patterns in several specific genes, most commonly NAMPT/PBEF1 on chromosome 7. I concluded that the results of these studies provided strong evidence that CML at diagnosis was a heterogeneous disease and that methods could be further refined to develop a model that would predict response to a given dose of IM

Prefect Transfer of Quantum States on Spin Chain with Dzyaloshinskii- Moriya interaction in inhomogeneous Magnetic field

In this work, we use the Hamiltonian of a modified Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya model and investigate the perfect transfer of the quantum state on the spin networks. In this paper, we calculate fidelity in which fidelity depends on magnetic field and another parameters. Then, by using the numerical analysis we show that the fidelity of the transferred state is determined by magnetic field $B$, exchange coupling $J$ and the Dzyaloshinskii- Moriya interaction $D$. We also found that the perfect transfer of the quantum state is possible with condition $B \gg \Gamma^2\omega^{N/2}$ where $\Gamma =((J+iD)/2)$ and $\omega=\Gamma^*/ \Gamma$.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Usporedba negativnih emocija, slike o tijelu, spolnih shema i seksualne funkcije u žena s rakom dojke i zdravih žena

Aim: The aim of this research was the comparison between negative emotions, body image, sexual schemas and sexual function in women with breast cancer after mastectomy and healthy women. Method: The study included 105 married women diagnosed with breast cancer. After enrolment the participants filled the following questionnaires: Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ), Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scales (DASS-21), Questionnaire of cognitive schema activation in sexual context (QCSASC), Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI). After the two groups were matched in age and education, these questionnaires were administered to the control group of 100 healthy women. Descriptive statistics and t-test were used in data analysis. Results: Results indicate a significant difference between the total score of sexual dysfunction (p<0.002), body image (p<0.001), sexual schema (p<0.001) between the breast cancer group and healthy group. The two groups did not have a significant difference in negative emotions. Conclusion: The results of the current study are similar to the previous studies and can be useful for prevention of mood disorders and sexual dysfunction associated with breast cancer, in order to improve psychological treatment of women with breast cancer.Cilj istraživanja je usporedba negativnih emocija, slike o tijelu, spolnih shema i seksualne funkcije žena s rakom dojke nakon mastektomije i zdravih žena. Za istraživanje je odabrano 105 udanih žena s rakom dojke. Nakon odabira kandidatkinje su ispunile sljedeće upitnike: multidimenzionalni upitnik o korelatima zadovoljstva tijelom (MBSRQ), skale za depresiju, anksioznost, stres (DASS-21), upitnik o aktivaciji kognitivnih shema u seksualnom kontekstu (QCSASC) i indeks ženske seksualne funkcije (FSFI). U skladu s dobi i obrazovanjem ispitanica, upitnici su podijeljeni kontrolnoj skupini od 100 zdravih žena; podaci su analizirani pomoću deskriptivne statistike i t-testa. Rezultati ukazuju na značajnu razliku u ukupnom rezultatu seksualne disfunkcije (p<0/002), slike o tjelu (p<0/001), spolnoj shemi (p<0/001) između zdrave skupine i skupine s rakom. Između skupina nije otkrivena značajna razlika u negativnim osjećajima. Rezultat ovog istraživanja sličan je onima iz prethodnih istraživanja te može biti koristan u daljnjem istraživanju prevencije i liječenja raka dojke u svrhu poboljšanja kvalitete psihološke pomoći u liječenju žena s rakom dojke

Corifollitropin-α compared to daily r-FSH in for patients undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection: Clinical trial study

Background:&nbsp;The current treatment regimen for ovarian stimulation in Intracytoplasmic&nbsp;sperm injection (ICSI) patients is daily injections of Gonadotropins. Recombinant DNA&nbsp;technologies have produced a new recombinant molecule that is a long-acting Follicle&nbsp;Stimulating Hormone (FSH), named corifollitropin alfa. A single injection of long-acting&nbsp;FSH can replace seven daily FSH injections during the first week of controlled ovarian&nbsp;stimulation (COS) and can make assisted reproduction more patients-friendly. There is&nbsp;limited data with different results in this area. Objective:&nbsp;To compare the effectiveness of long-acting FSH vs. daily r-FSH in terms of&nbsp;&nbsp;pregnancy and safety outcomes in women undergoing ICSI cycles. Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial study, 109 women who were the candidates&nbsp;&nbsp;for ICSI at azzahra hospital were divided in two groups. The first group received 150 units of daily Gonal-f from second or third day of menstruation. The second group received a 150IU corifollitropin alfa on the second or third day of mensuration, and the treatment continued from day eighth of stimulation with Gonal-f based on the ultrasound finding. Both the groups received GnRH antagonist from fifth day of stimulation. Two groups were compared in terms of number of dominant follicles, number of oocytes, stimulation duration, total number of embryos, number of transferred embryos, and success rate of pregnancy. Results:&nbsp;No significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of&nbsp;stimulation duration, number of follicles, number of oocytes, total number of embryos,&nbsp;and number of transferred embryos. Moreover, pregnancy outcomes including&nbsp;chemical pregnancy rate (positive pregnancy test), clinical pregnancy rate (detection&nbsp;of fetal heart), the rate of ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome, multiple-pregnancy,&nbsp;ectopic pregnancy, and miscarriage didn’t have a significant difference between the&nbsp;two groups. Conclusion:&nbsp;As corifollitropin alfa was as effective as r-FSH, it could be used as an alternative to ovulation stimulation method in patients undergoing ICSI. Key words: Corifollitropin alfa, Gonal-F, Pregnancies, r-FSH