A comparison of toxicity profiles between the lower and standard dose capecitabine in breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Capecitabine 1,000 mg/m2 bid × 14 days every 21 days (14/21) has been reported to have similar efficacy but more favorable toxicity profile than the approved dosage of 1,250 mg/m2. However, a dose-toxicity relationship of capecitabine in breast cancer patients has not been fully elucidated. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare a safety profile between capecitabine starting dose of 1,000 and 1,250 mg/m2 bid

Dual Interpretations of Pion Clouds at RHIC

A gauge theory of pions interacting with rho-mesons at elevated temperatures is used to calculate the pressure in a hot pion gas. No reference is made to the pion's status as a QCD Goldstone boson. The role of the pion is merely that of a carrier of an SU(2) symmetry, gauged to create a vector-meson interaction, the rho playing the role of the interacting vector particle. The results are in rough agreement with much more elaborate calculations, both of the purely hadronic variety, and those that invoke quark-gluon degrees of freedom. The quark-gluon and purely hadronic calculations seemingly lead to very similar predictions which are in accord with receent data from RHIC. The results motivate the question as to whether the two descriptions are dual to each other in the sense of being alternate models, each sufficient to explain the observed data.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures (2 eps files, 1 ps file) + a figure that uses metafont package feynmf, also forwarded. Open with "latex feynmf.ins". See http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/help/Catalogue/entries/feynmf.html 9/6/06 replaced figure 2 with scaled version of sam

Optical amplification enhancement in photonic crystals

Improving and controlling the efficiency of a gain medium is one of the most challenging problems of laser research. By measuring the gain length in an opal based photonic crystal doped with laser dye, we demonstrate that optical amplification is more than twenty-fold enhanced along the Gamma-K symmetry directions of the face centered cubic photonic crystal. These results are theoretically explained by directional variations of the density of states, providing a quantitative connection between density of the states and light amplification

Common Mistakes in Anthurium Blight Control Pracitices: An Aid to Anthurium Blight Management

Recommendations for practices to control anthurium blight included propagation with tissue culture, daily renewal of disinfestation solution, caution in applying fertilizer, nematode control, midday irrigation, drainage improvement, frequent roguing, and keeping medium pH between 5.5 and 7

Safety and Tolerability of PD‐1/PD‐L1 Inhibitors Compared with Chemotherapy in Patients with Advanced Cancer: A Meta‐Analysis

BACKGROUND: Compared with chemotherapy, significant improvement in survival outcomes with the programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) inhibitors nivolumab and pembrolizumab and the programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor atezolizumab has been shown in several types of advanced solid tumors. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare safety and tolerability between PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors and chemotherapy. METHODS: PubMed and American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) databases were searched 1966 to September 2016. Eligible studies included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing single-agent U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors (nivolumab, pembrolizumab, or atezolizumab) with chemotherapy in cancer patients reporting any all-grade (1-4) or high-grade (3-4) adverse events (AEs), all- or high-grade treatment-related symptoms, hematologic toxicities and immune-related AEs, treatment discontinuation due to toxicities, or treatment-related deaths. The summary incidence, relative risk, and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. RESULTS: A total of 3,450 patients from 7 RCTs were included in the meta-analysis: 4 nivolumab, 2 pembrolizumab, and 1 atezolizumab trials. The underlying malignancies included were non-small cell lung cancer (4 trials) and melanoma (3 trials). Compared with chemotherapy, the PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors had a significantly lower risk of all- and high-grade fatigue, sensory neuropathy, diarrhea and hematologic toxicities, all-grade anorexia, nausea, and constipation, any all- and high-grade AEs, and treatment discontinuation. There was an increased risk of all-grade rash, pruritus, colitis, aminotransferase elevations, hypothyroidism, and hyperthyroidism, and all- and high-grade pneumonitis with PD1/PD-L1 inhibitors. CONCLUSION: PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors are overall better tolerated than chemotherapy. Our results provide further evidence supporting the favorable risk/benefit ratio for PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors. The Oncologist 2017;22:470-479 IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare summary toxicity endpoints and clinically relevant adverse events between programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1)/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors and chemotherapy. PD1/PD-L1 inhibitors were associated with a lower risk of treatment-related symptoms (fatigue, anorexia, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, and sensory neuropathy) but a higher risk of immune-related adverse events (AEs). Summary toxicity endpoints favor PD1/PD-L1 inhibitors (any all- and high-grade AEs and treatment discontinuation). PD1/PD-L1 inhibitors are overall better tolerated than chemotherapy. In addition to efficacy data from trials, our findings provide useful information for clinicians for well-balanced discussions with their patients on the risks and benefits of treatment options for advanced cancer

Towards an Axiomatic Formulation of Noncommutative Quantum Field Theory

We propose new Wightman functions as vacuum expectation values of products of field operators in the noncommutative space-time. These Wightman functions involve the $\star$-product among the fields, compatible with the twisted Poincar\'e symmetry of the noncommutative quantum field theory (NC QFT). In the case of only space-space noncommutativity ($\theta_{0i}=0$), we prove the CPT theorem using the noncommutative form of the Wightman functions. We also show that the spin-statistics theorem, demonstrated for the simplest case of a scalar field, holds in NC QFT within this formalism.Comment: 16 pages, version to appear in J. Math. Phy

Pt-incorporated anatase TiO2(001) surface for solar cell applications : First-principles density functional theory calculations

First-principles density functional theory calculations were carried out to determine the low energy geometries of anatase TiO$_2$(001) with Pt implants in the sublayers as substitutional and interstitial impurities as well as on the surface in the form of adsorbates. We investigated the effect of such a systematic Pt incorporation in the electronic structure of this surface for isolated and interacting impurities with an emphasis on the reduction in the band gap to visible region. Comprehensive calculations, for 1x1 surface, showed that Pt ions at interstitial cavities result in local segregation, forming metallic wires inside, while substitution for bulk Ti and adsorption drives four strongly dispersed impurity states from valence-bands up in the gap with a narrowing of ~1.5 eV. Hence, such a contiguous Pt incorporation drives anatase into infrared regime. Pt substitution for the surface Ti, on the other hand, metallizes the surface. Systematic trends for 2x2 surface revealed that Pt can be encapsulated inside to form stable structures as a result of strong Pt-O interactions as well as the adsorptional and substitutional cases. Dilute impurities considered for 2x2 surface models exhibit flat-like defect states driven from the valence bands narrowing the energy gap suitable to obtain visible light responsive titania.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables. to appear on Phys. Rev

Fullerene based devices for molecular electronics

We have investigated the electronic properties of a C_60 molecule in between carbon nanotube leads. This problem has been tackled within a quantum chemical treatment utilizing a density functional theory-based LCAO approach combined with the Landauer formalism. Owing to low-dimensionality, electron transport is very sensitive to the strength and geometry of interfacial bonds. Molecular contact between interfacial atoms and electrodes gives rise to a complex conductance dependence on the electron energy exhibiting spectral features of both the molecule and electrodes. These are attributed to the electronic structure of the C_60 molecule and to the local density of states of the leads, respectively.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Physica