Weight loss intervention trials in women with breast cancer: A systematic review

Obesity has been associated with poor health outcomes in breast cancer survivors. Thus, weight loss is recommended for overweight and obese survivors. We systematically reviewed studies (published up to July 2013) that evaluated behaviourally based, weight loss interventions in women with breast cancer exclusively. Completed randomized trials, single-arm trials and ongoing trials were reviewed. Within-group and between-group differences for weight loss were extracted, as was data on secondary outcomes, i.e. clinical biomarkers, patient-reported outcomes, adverse events. Ten completed randomized trials, four single-arm trials and five ongoing trials were identified. Statistically significant within-group weight loss was observed over periods of 2 to 18 months in 13 of the 14 trials, with six randomized and two single-arm trials observing mean weight loss ≥5%. Clinical biomarkers, psychosocial and patient-reported outcomes were measured in a small number of studies. No serious adverse events were reported. Only two trials assessed maintenance of intervention effects after the end-of-intervention and none reported on cost-effectiveness. The studies included in this review suggest that weight loss is feasible to achieve and is safe in women following treatment for breast cancer. Future studies should assess (and be powered for) a range of biomarker and patient-reported outcomes, and be designed to inform translation into practice

A surface oxidised Fe-S catalyst for the liquid phase hydrogenation of CO₂

Rapidly increasing anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO_{2}) emissions, coupled with irreversible climate change and depleting fossil fuel reserves, have significantly increased the drive for CO_{2} utilisation. Iron sulfide as a catalyst for the hydrogenation of CO_{2} has been discussed in the literature for decades, especially in an origin-of-life context, but little experimental evidence exists in the literature for its feasibility. Here we report the catalytic properties of pyrrhotite (Fe_{1−x}S) for the hydrogenation of CO_{2} into formate. Advanced material characterisation methods in combination with computational studies have allowed us to identify surface S–Fe–O moieties as active sites for the reaction

The Future of Neutrino Mass Measurements: Terrestrial, Astrophysical, and Cosmological Measurements in the Next Decade. Highlights of the NuMass 2013 Workshop. Milano, Italy, February 4 - 7, 2013

The third Workshop of the NuMass series ("The Future of Neutrino Mass Measurements: Terrestrial, Astrophysical, and Cosmological Measurements in the Next Decade: NuMass 2013") was held at Dipartimento di Fisica "G. Occhialini, University of Milano-Bicocca in Milano, Italy, on 4-7 February 2013. The goal of this international workshop was to review the status and future of direct and indirect neutrino mass measurements in the laboratory as well as from astrophysical and cosmological observations. This paper collects most of the contributions presented during the Workshop

Photonuclear reactions of actinides in the giant dipole resonance region

Photonuclear reactions at energies covering the giant dipole resonance (GDR) region are analyzed with an approach based on nuclear photoabsorption followed by the process of competition between light particle evaporation and fission for the excited nucleus. The photoabsorption cross section at energies covering the GDR region is contributed by both the Lorentz type GDR cross section and the quasideuteron cross section. The evaporation-fission process of the compound nucleus is simulated in a Monte-Carlo framework. Photofission reaction cross sections are analyzed in a systematic manner in the energy range of $\sim$ 10-20 MeV for the actinides $^{232}$Th, $^{238}$U and $^{237}$Np. Photonuclear cross sections for the medium-mass nuclei $^{63}$Cu and $^{64}$Zn, for which there are no fission events, are also presented. The study reproduces satisfactorily the available experimental data of photofission cross sections at GDR energy region and the increasing trend of nuclear fissility with the fissility parameter $Z^2/A$ for the actinides.Comment: 4 pages including 2 tables and 1 figur

EUROnu-WP6 2010 Report

This is a summary of the work done by the Working Package 6 (Physics) of the EU project "EUROnu" during the second year of activity of the project.Comment: 82 pages, 51 eps figure

Neutrino hierarchy from CP-blind observables with high density magnetized detectors

High density magnetized detectors are well suited to exploit the outstanding purity and intensities of novel neutrino sources like Neutrino Factories and Beta Beams. They can also provide independent measurements of leptonic mixing parameters through the observation of atmospheric muon-neutrinos. In this paper, we discuss the combination of these observables from a multi-kton iron detector and a high energy Beta Beam; in particular, we demonstrate that even with moderate detector granularities the neutrino mass hierarchy can be determined for $\theta_{13}$ values greater than 4$^\circ$.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures. Added a new section discussing systematic errors (sec 5.2); sec.5.1 and 4 have been extended. Version to appear in EPJ

A minimal Beta Beam with high-Q ions to address CP violation in the leptonic sector

In this paper we consider a Beta Beam setup that tries to leverage at most existing European facilities: i.e. a setup that takes advantage of facilities at CERN to boost high-Q ions (8Li and 8B) aiming at a far detector located at L = 732 Km in the Gran Sasso Underground Laboratory. The average neutrino energy for 8Li and 8B ions boosted at \gamma ~ 100 is in the range E_\nu = [1,2] GeV, high enough to use a large iron detector of the MINOS type at the far site. We perform, then, a study of the neutrino and antineutrino fluxes needed to measure a CP-violating phase delta in a significant part of the parameter space. In particular, for theta_13 > 3 deg, if an antineutrino flux of 3 10^19 useful 8Li decays per year is achievable, we find that delta can be measured in 60% of the parameter space with 6 10^18 useful 8B decays per year.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, added references and corrected typo

Surface Oxidized Fe-S catalyst for the Liquid Phase Hydrogenation of CO2

Rapidly increasing anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, coupled with irreversible climate change and depleting fossil fuels reserves, has significantly increased the drive for CO2 utilization. Iron sulfide as a catalyst for the hydrogenation of CO2 has been discussed in the literature for decades, especially in an origin-of-life context, however little experimental evidence exists in the literature for its feasibility. Here we report the catalytic properties of pyrrhotite (Fe1-xS) for the hydrogenation of CO2 into formate under mild, alkaline conditions at 125 oC and 20 bar (CO2:H2, 1:1). Controlled surface oxidation of pyrrhotite, via high temperature calcination, increased the surface oxygen species that in turn resulted in an increased catalytic activity, with the optimum calcination temperature being 200 oC. X-ray based characterisation methods in combination with computational studies, allowed us to identify surface S-Fe-O moieties as active sites for the reaction