Long-term follow-up and risk factors for outcomes after related HLA-identical cord blood transplantation for patients with malignancies. An analysis on behalf of Eurocord-EBMT

Transplantation and immunomodulatio

Long-term follow-up and factors influencing outcomes after related HLA-identical cord blood transplantation for patients with malignancies: an analysis on behalf of Eurocord-EBMT

We analyzed risk factors influencing outcomes after related (R) human leukocyte antigen-identical cord blood transplantation (CBT) for 147 patients with malignancies reported to Eurocord-European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation. CBT has been performed since 1990; median follow-up was 6.7 years. Median patient age was 5 years. Acute leukemia was the most frequent diagnosis (74%). At CBT, 40 patients had early, 70 intermediate, and 37 advanced disease. CB grafts contained a median of 4.1 x 10(7)/kg total nucleated cells (TNCs) after thawing. The cumulative incidence (CI) of neutrophil recovery was 90% at day +60. CIs of acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) were 12% and 10% at 2 years, respectively. At 5 years, CIs of nonrelapse mortality and relapse were 9% and 47%, respectively; the probability of disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival were 44% and 55%, respectively. Among other factors, higher TNCs infused was associated with rapid neutrophil recovery and improved DFS. The use of methotrexate as GVHD prophylaxis decreased the CI of engraftment. Patients without advanced disease had improved DFS. These results support banking and use of CB units for RCBT. Cell dose, GVHD prophylaxis not including methotrexate, and disease status are important factors for outcomes after RCBT. (Blood. 2010; 116(11): 1849-1856)Transplantation and immunomodulatio

Mathematical modeling of lithium batteries

Early work on modeling lithium batteries, performed prior to the ready availability of high-speed digital computers, used simplified models neglecting kinetic or cencentration effects, assuming constant properties, or neglecting the separator, in order to obtain a close approximation to battery behavior within the limits of computational power available at the time. Today's computers can easily simulate the entire cell sandwich model, and simply present the model in the best form developed to date in section 3, followed by considerations of special situations which are not essential to the basic modeling framework. Simplifying cases which have contributed to our understanding of the lithium battery are presented in section 5. Finally, we discuss applications of modeling, such as interpreting experimental data and optimizing geometric parameters