1,054 research outputs found
Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in second remission of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a population-based case control study from the Nordic countries
To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links fieldThis study compares allogeneic BMT with conventional chemotherapy for childhood ALL in second remission. Seventy-five children were transplanted between July 1981 and December 1995. For each patient two control patients matching the following criteria were selected from the Nordic database of ALL: (1) time of diagnosis, (2) T vs. non-T ALL, (3) site of relapse, (4) initial risk group, (5) sex and (6) relapse or =6 months after cessation of therapy. The minimal time of follow-up was 24 months. Mortality rate in CR2, leukemic relapse rate and the proportion in continued second remission were 16/75 (21%), 22/75 (29%) and 37/75 (50%), respectively. P2.-EFS for the BMT group was significantly better than that for the control group (0.40 vs. 0.23, P = 0.02). Children transplanted for bone marrow relapses in particular had a higher P2.-EFS (0.35 vs. 0.15 for the control group, P<0.01). Also, children grafted for early BM relapses had a higher P2.-EFS (0.32 vs. 0.11 for the control group P = 0.01). The outcome was similar when children were transplanted after early or late relapse. Also, there was no difference in outcome between the BMT and the chemotherapy group for children with late relapses. We conclude that allogeneic BMT with an HLA-identical sibling donor or other family donor should be performed in children relapsing in bone marrow during therapy or within 6 months of discontinuing therapy
Recommendations from the ERASÂź Society for standards for the development of enhanced recovery after surgery guidelines
BackgroundERASÂź Society guidelines are holistic, multidisciplinary tools designed to improve outcomes after surgery. The enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) approach was initially developed for colorectal surgery and has been implemented successfully across a large number of settings, resulting in improved patient outcomes. As the ERAS approach is increasingly being adopted worldwide and new guidelines are being generated for new populations, there is a need to define an ERASÂź Society guideline and the methodology that should be followed in its development.MethodsThe ERASÂź Society recommended approach for developing new guidelines is based on the creation of multidisciplinary guideline development groups responsible for defining topics, planning the literature search, and assessing the quality of the evidence.ResultsClear definitions for the elements of an ERAS guideline involve multimodal and multidisciplinary approaches impacting on multiple patient outcomes. Recommended methodology for guideline development follows a rigorous approach with systematic identification and evaluation of evidence, and consensusâbased development of recommendations. Guidelines should then be evaluated and reviewed regularly to ensure that the best and most upâtoâdate evidence is used consistently to support surgical patients.ConclusionThere is a need for a standardized, evidenceâinformed approach to both the development of new ERASÂź Society guidelines, and the adaptation and revision of existing guidelines
Abundance Analysis of HE2148-1247, A Star With Extremely Enhanced Neutron Capture Elements
Abundances for 27 elements in the very metal poor dwarf star HE2148-1247 are
presented, including many of the neutron capture elements. We establish that
HE2148-1247 is a very highly s-process enhanced star with anomalously high Eu
as well, Eu/H about half Solar, demonstrating the large addition of heavy
nuclei at [Fe/H] = -2.3 dex. Ba and La are enhanced by a somewhat larger factor
and reach the solar abundance, while Pb significantly exceeds it. Ba/Eu is ten
times the solar r-process ratio but much less than that of the s-process,
indicating a substantial r-process addition as well. C and N are also very
highly enhanced. We have found that HE2148-1247 is a radial velocity variable.
The C, N and the s-process element enhancements thus presumably were produced
through mass transfer from a former AGB binary companion. The large enhancement
of heavy r-nuclides also requires an additional source as this is far above any
inventory in the ISM at such low [Fe/H]. We further hypothesize that accretion
onto the white dwarf from the envelope of the star caused accretion induced
collapse of the white dwarf, forming a neutron star, which then produced heavy
r-nuclides and again contaminated its companion. (abridged)Comment: Accepted by the Astrophysical Journal. Companion paper by Qian and
Wasserburg follow
Isotope shift in the electron affinity of chlorine
The specific mass shift in the electron affinity between ^{35}Cl and ^{37}Cl
has been determined by tunable laser photodetachment spectroscopy to be
-0.51(14) GHz. The isotope shift was observed as a difference in the onset of
the photodetachment process for the two isotopes. In addition, the electron
affinity of Cl was found to be 29138.59(22) cm^{-1}, giving a factor of 2
improvement in the accuracy over earlier measurements. Many-body calculations
including lowest-order correlation effects demonstrates the sensitivity of the
specific mass shift and show that the inclusion of higher-order correlation
effects would be necessary for a quantitative description.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, LaTeX2e, amsmat
Fundamental Strings in Open String Theory at the Tachyonic Vacuum
We show that the world-volume theory on a D-p-brane at the tachyonic vacuum
has solitonic string solutions whose dynamics is governed by the Nambu-Goto
action of a string moving in (25+1) dimensional space-time. This provides
strong evidence for the conjecture that at this vacuum the full (25+1)
dimensional Poincare invariance is restored. We also use this result to argue
that the open string field theory at the tachyonic vacuum must contain closed
string excitations.Comment: LaTeX file, 16 pages, references and clarification adde
Exact boundary conditions in numerical relativity using multiple grids: scalar field tests
Cauchy-Characteristic Matching (CCM), the combination of a central 3+1 Cauchy
code with an exterior characteristic code connected across a time-like
interface, is a promising technique for the generation and extraction of
gravitational waves. While it provides a tool for the exact specification of
boundary conditions for the Cauchy evolution, it also allows to follow
gravitational radiation all the way to infinity, where it is unambiguously
defined.
We present a new fourth order accurate finite difference CCM scheme for a
first order reduction of the wave equation around a Schwarzschild black hole in
axisymmetry. The matching at the interface between the Cauchy and the
characteristic regions is done by transfering appropriate characteristic/null
variables. Numerical experiments indicate that the algorithm is fourth order
convergent. As an application we reproduce the expected late-time tail decay
for the scalar field.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures. Included changes suggested by referee
Towards a tensionless string field theory for the N=(2,0) CFT in d=6
We describe progress in using the field theory of tensionless strings to
arrive at a Lagrangian for the six-dimensional conformal
theory. We construct the free part of the theory and propose an ansatz for the
cubic vertex in light-cone superspace. By requiring closure of the
supersymmetry algebra, we fix the cubic vertex up to two parameters.Comment: 46 pages, 2 figures. V2: references added; minor changes and
improvement
Kinky D-branes and straight strings of open string tachyon effective theory
In this letter we construct the kink D1-brane super D-helix solution and its
T-dual the D2-brane supertube using the effective action of non-BPS tachyonic
D-branes . In the limit of zero angular momentum, both types of solutions
collapse to zero radius, giving rise respectively to a degenerate string
configuration corresponding to a particle travelling with the speed of light
and to a static straight string configuration. These solutions share all the
properties of fundamental strings and do not have the pathological behavior of
other solutions previously found in this context. A short discussion on the
``generalized gauge transformations'' suggested by Sen is used to justify the
validity of our approach.Comment: 10 pages, latex, typos corrected and references adde
Tidal Volume Single Breath Washout of Two Tracer Gases - A Practical and Promising Lung Function Test
Small airway disease frequently occurs in chronic lung diseases and may cause ventilation inhomogeneity (VI), which can be assessed by washout tests of inert tracer gas. Using two tracer gases with unequal molar mass (MM) and diffusivity increases specificity for VI in different lung zones. Currently washout tests are underutilised due to the time and effort required for measurements. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a simple technique for a new tidal single breath washout test (SBW) of sulfur hexafluoride (SF(6)) and helium (He) using an ultrasonic flowmeter (USFM)
- âŠ