Commentary : SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in Patients With Cancer at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Wuhan, China

COVID-19; Atenció al càncer; Orientació del pacientCOVID-19; Cuidado del cáncer; Orientación al pacienteCOVID-19; Cancer care; Patient guidanceA Commentary on: SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in Patients With Cancer at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Wuhan, China. By Yu, J., Ouyang, W., Chua, M. L. K., and Xie, C. (2020). JAMA Oncol. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2020.0980:ca_E

Alopecia in a premenopausal breast cancer woman treated with letrozole and triptorelin

Alopecia in a premenopausal breast cancer woman treated with letrozole and triptoreli

Circulating tumor DNA and disease recurrence in early stage breast cancer: From a case-control study to a prospective longitudinal trial

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LOFT - a Large Observatory For x-ray Timing

The high time resolution observations of the X-ray sky hold the key to a number of diagnostics of fundamental physics, some of which are unaccessible to other types of investigations, such as those based on imaging and spectroscopy. Revealing strong gravitational field effects, measuring the mass and spin of black holes and the equation of state of ultradense matter are among the goals of such observations. At present prospects for future, non-focused X-ray timing experiments following the exciting age of RXTE/PCA are uncertain. Technological limitations are unavoidably faced in the conception and development of experiments with effective area of several square meters, as needed in order to meet the scientific requirements. We are developing large-area monolithic Silicon Drift Detectors offering high time and energy resolution at room temperature, which require modest resources and operation complexity (e.g., read-out) per unit area. Based on the properties of the detector and read-out electronics that we measured in the lab, we developed a realistic concept for a very large effective area mission devoted to X-ray timing in the 2-30 keV energy range. We show that effective areas in the range of 10-15 square meters are within reach, by using a conventional spacecraft platform and launcher of the small-medium class.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, 1 table, Proceedings of SPIE Vol. 7732, Paper No. 7732-66, 201

factors influencing acute and late toxicity in the era of adjuvant hypofractionated breast radiotherapy

Abstract Purpose To evaluate toxicity in breast cancer patients treated with anthracycline and taxane based chemotherapy and whole breast hypofractionated radiotherapy, and to identify the risk factors for toxicity. Methods and materials 537 early breast cancer patients receiving hypofractionated radiotherapy after conservative surgery were enrolled from April 2009 to December 2014, in an Italian cancer institute. The dose was 42.4 Gy in 16 daily fractions, 2.65 Gy per fraction. The boost to the tumor bed was administered only in grade III breast cancer patients and in patients with close or positive margins. Acute and late toxicity were prospectively assessed during and after radiotherapy according to RTOG scale. The impact of patients clinical characteristics, performed treatments and dose inhomogeneities on the occurrence of an higher level of acute skin toxicity and late fibrosis has been evaluated by univariate and multivariate analysis. Results The mean age was 74 (range 46–91 yrs). 27% of patients received boost. 22% of cases (n = 119) received also chemotherapy. The median follow-up was 32 months. G1 and G2/G3 acute skin toxicity were 61.3% and 20.5% and G1 and G2/G3 late fibrosis 12.6% and 4.3% respectively. Chemotherapy (p = 0.04), diabetes (p = 0.04) and boost administration (p Conclusions The results of our study, according to the large randomized trials, confirmed that hypofractionated whole breast irradiation is safe, and only the boost administration seems to be an important predictor for toxicity. Chemotherapy does not impact on acute and late skin toxicity

The geometry of the limit of N=2 minimal models

We consider the limit of two-dimensional N=(2,2) superconformal minimal models when the central charge approaches c=3. Starting from a geometric description as non-linear sigma models, we show that one can obtain two different limit theories. One is the free theory of two bosons and two fermions, the other one is a continuous orbifold thereof. We substantiate this claim by detailed conformal field theory computations.Comment: 35 pages, 3 figures; v2 minor corrections, version to be published in J. Phys.

Gut microbiota composition in himalayan and andean populations and its relationship with diet, lifestyle and adaptation to the high-altitude environment

Human populations living at high altitude evolved a number of biological adjustments to cope with a challenging environment characterised especially by reduced oxygen availability and limited nutritional resources. This condition may also affect their gut microbiota composition. Here, we explored the impact of exposure to such selective pressures on human gut microbiota by considering different ethnic groups living at variable degrees of altitude: the high-altitude Sherpa and low-altitude Tamang populations from Nepal, the high-altitude Aymara population from Bolivia, as well as a low-altitude cohort of European ancestry, used as control. We thus observed microbial profiles common to the Sherpa and Aymara, but absent in the low-altitude cohorts, which may contribute to the achievement of adaptation to high-altitude lifestyle and nutritional conditions. The collected evidences suggest that microbial signatures associated to these rural populations may enhance metabolic functions able to supply essential compounds useful for the host to cope with high altitude-related physiological changes and energy demand. Therefore, these results add another valuable piece of the puzzle to the understanding of the beneficial effects of symbiosis between microbes and their human host even from an evolutionary perspective

Incidence of chemotherapy-induced amenorrhea depending on the timing of treatment by menstrual cycle phase in women with early breast cancer

Background: The aim of this study was to characterize the factors associated with chemotherapy-induced amenorrhea (CIA) and to examine whether the phase of the menstrual cycle at chemotherapy start could affect the rate of CIA in premenopausal women with early breast cancer. Methods: CIA was defined as the cessation of menses for at least 3 months during or after chemotherapy. Menstrual phase was defined as days 1-6, follicular phase as days 7-14, luteal phase as days 15-20 and premenstrual phase as days 21-28. Univariate and multivariate predictors of CIA were examined. Results: Among 111 premenopausal women, univariate analysis showed a higher incidence of CIA in patients treated in the follicular phase rather than in other menstrual cycle phases (67.6% compared with 45.5%; P=0.03). The rate of CIA increased with age: 65.2% and 45.8% in patients aged >42 an