2,586 research outputs found

    Efficacy of eribulin in breast cancer: a short report on the emerging new data

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    Eribulin is a novel microtubule-targeting agent that is approved for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer who have previously received treatment with an anthracycline and a taxane in either the adjuvant or metastatic setting. Eribulin induces mitotic catastrophe leading to cell death but has other important antitumor effects, including reversal of epithelial–mesenchymal transition and remodeling of the tumor vasculature. Eribulin was licensed for the treatment of advanced breast cancer based on results from two large randomized Phase III clinical trials. Current clinical trials of eribulin for breast cancer are evaluating response to treatment earlier in the patient pathway and in combination with other therapeutic agents. This review provides a short overview of emerging new data on the mode of action of eribulin in breast cancer

    Failure phenomena in two-dimensional multi-fibre microcomposites, Part 2: A Raman spectroscopic study into the influence of inter-fibre spacing on stress concentrations

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    Raman spectroscopy is used to determine the influence of inter-fibre spacing on the stress concentration factor (SCF) resulting from a fibre break in a two-dimensional (2-D) carbon/epoxy microcomposite. Microcomposites with an inter-fibre spacing varying from 0.8–19.0 fibre diameters (f) have been investigated. The SCF was found to decrease from a value of 1.26 at an inter-fibre spacing of 0.8f to a value of 1.06 at an inter-fibre spacing of 10.4f. The experimentally found variation of SCF with inter-fibre spacing was compared to some analytical models available in the literature. It was found that none of the models is able to describe the experimental data adequately. The effect of the SCF on the failure process is also discussed. At relatively small inter-fibre spacings the SCF is sufficiently high to cause further fibre failure in neighbouring fibres resulting in alignment of fibre breaks. At increasing inter-fibre spacing the decrease in SCF results in a decreasing influence of the initial fibre break on the progressive fibre failure process and the failure process becomes more random

    Improving the measurement of QALYs in dementia: Developing patient- and carer-reported health state classification systems using Rasch analysis

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    Objectives: Cost-utility analysis is increasingly used to inform resource allocation. This requires a means of valuing health states before and after intervention. Although generic measures are typically used to generate values, these do not perform well with people with dementia. We report the development of a health state classification system amenable to valuation for use in studies of dementia, derived from the DEMQOL system, a measure of health-related quality of life in dementia by patient self-report (DEMQOL) and carer proxy-report (DEMQOL-Proxy). Methods: Factor analysis was used to determine the dimensional structure of DEMQOL and DEMQOL-Proxy. Rasch analysis was subsequently used to investigate item performance across factors in terms of item-level ordering, functioning across subgroups, model fit and severity-range coverage. This enabled the selection of one item from each factor for the classification system. A sample of people with a diagnosis of mild/moderate dementia (n=644) and a sample of carers of those with mild/moderate dementia (n=683) were used. Results: Factor analysis found different 5-factor solutions for DEMQOL and DEMQOL-Proxy. Following item reduction and selection using Rasch analysis, a 5-dimension classification for DEMQOL and a 4-dimension classification for DEMQOL-Proxy were developed. Each item contained 4 health state levels. Conclusion: Combining Rasch and classical psychometric analysis is a valid method of selecting items for dementia health state classifications from both the patient and carer perspectives. The next stage is to obtain preference weights so that the measure can be used in the economic evaluation of treatment, care and support arrangements for dementia

    Young Measures Generated by Ideal Incompressible Fluid Flows

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    In their seminal paper "Oscillations and concentrations in weak solutions of the incompressible fluid equations", R. DiPerna and A. Majda introduced the notion of measure-valued solution for the incompressible Euler equations in order to capture complex phenomena present in limits of approximate solutions, such as persistence of oscillation and development of concentrations. Furthermore, they gave several explicit examples exhibiting such phenomena. In this paper we show that any measure-valued solution can be generated by a sequence of exact weak solutions. In particular this gives rise to a very large, arguably too large, set of weak solutions of the incompressible Euler equations.Comment: 35 pages. Final revised version. To appear in Arch. Ration. Mech. Ana

    Superconducting Properties of MgCNi3 Films

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    We report the magnetotransport properties of thin polycrystalline films of the recently discovered non-oxide perovskite superconductor MgCNi3. CNi3 precursor films were deposited onto sapphire substrates and subsequently exposed to Mg vapor at 700 C. We report transition temperatures (Tc) and critical field values (Hc2) of MgCNi3 films ranging in thickness from 7.5 nm to 100 nm. Films thicker than ~40 nm have a Tc ~ 8 K, and an upper critical field Hc2 ~ 14 T, which are both comparable to that of polycrystalline powders. Hall measurements in the normal state give a carrier density, n =-4.2 x 10^22 cm^-3, that is approximately 4 times that reported for bulk samples.Comment: submitted to PR

    Osteopoikilosis: Pain as a Presenting Symptom in Three Family Members

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    Osteopoikilosis is a rare asymptomatic sclerosing bony dysplasia of benign origin. It is usually found incidentally on radiological examinations. Familial occurrence indicates a genetic milieu with autosomal dominant pattern. Here, we present a case report of a young woman suffering from pelvic pain due to osteopoikilosis (OPK). The same disorder was later found in her son and daughter
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