scholarly journals The halo model as a versatile tool to predict intrinsic alignments

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Cristina Fortuna ◽  
Henk Hoekstra ◽  
Benjamin Joachimi ◽  
Harry Johnston ◽  
Nora Elisa Chisari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Power Spectra ◽  
Stage Iv ◽  
Stage Iii ◽  
Radial Dependence ◽  
Additional Parameter ◽  
Small Scales ◽  
Cosmic Shear ◽  
Galaxy Populations ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Intrinsic alignments (IAs) of galaxies are an important contaminant for cosmic shear studies, but the modelling is complicated by the dependence of the signal on the source galaxy sample. In this paper, we use the halo model formalism to capture this diversity and examine its implications for Stage-III and Stage-IV cosmic shear surveys. We account for the different IA signatures at large and small scales, as well for the different contributions from central/satellite and red/blue galaxies, and we use realistic mocks to account for the characteristics of the galaxy populations as a function of redshift. We inform our model using the most recent observational findings: we include a luminosity dependence at both large and small scales and a radial dependence of the signal within the halo. We predict the impact of the total IA signal on the lensing angular power spectra, including the current uncertainties from the IA best-fits to illustrate the range of possible impact on the lensing signal: the lack of constraints for fainter galaxies is the main source of uncertainty for our predictions of the IA signal. We investigate how well effective models with limited degrees of freedom can account for the complexity of the IA signal. Although these lead to negligible biases for Stage-III surveys, we find that, for Stage-IV surveys, it is essential to at least include an additional parameter to capture the redshift dependence.

The Effect of Celiac Neurolysis and Splanchnicectomy on Survival in Unresectable Pancreatic Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Linhan Ye ◽  
Stephan Schorn ◽  
Ilaria Pergolini ◽  
Okan Safak ◽  
Elke Demir ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Pancreatic Cancer ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Stage Iv ◽  
Stage Iii ◽  
Cochrane Library ◽  
Unresectable Pancreatic Cancer ◽  
Relevant Effect ◽  
The Impact

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Intractable pancreatic pain is one of the most common symptoms of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Celiac neurolysis (CN) and splanchnicectomy were already described as effective methods to manage abdominal pain in unresectable PDAC, but their impact on overall survival (OS) has not yet been established. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> We aimed to investigate the impact of CN and splanchnicectomy on the survival of patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> A systematic review of PubMed and Cochrane Library according to predefined searching terms was conducted in March 2020. Hazard ratios (HR) of OS data were calculated using the Mantel-Haenszel model for random effects or fixed effects. <b><i>Result:</i></b> Four randomized-controlled trials (RCTs) and 2 non-RCTs with a total of 2,507 patients were identified. The overall pooled HR did not reveal any relevant effect of CN and splanchnicectomy on OS (HR: 1.03; 95% CI: 0.81–1.32), which was also underlined by the sensitivity analysis of RCTs (HR: 1.0; 95% CI: 0.72–1.39) and non-RCTs (HR: 1.07; 95% CI: 0.71–1.63). However, subgroup analyses depending on tumor stage revealed that CN or splanchnicectomy was associated with a worsened OS in AJCC (American Joint Committee on Cancer) stage III patients with unresectable PDAC (HR: 1.22; 95% CI: 1.03–1.45), but nor for AJCC stage IV patients (HR: 1.27; 95% CI: 0.9–1.80). <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Although only few data are currently available, this systematic review with meta-analysis showed that in unresectable PDAC, CN or splanchnicectomy is associated with a worsened survival in stage III PDAC patients, with no effect on stage IV PDAC patients. These data call for caution in the usage of CN or splanchnicectomy in stage III PDAC and for further studies addressing this observation.

Surgical Management of Advanced Adrenocortical Carcinoma: A 21-year Population-based Analysis

2013 ◽  
Vol 79 (10) ◽  
pp. 1115-1118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thuy B. Tran ◽  
Douglas Liou ◽  
Vijay G. Menon ◽  
Nicholas N. Nissen
Keyword(s):  
Surgical Resection ◽  
Adrenocortical Carcinoma ◽  
Univariate Analysis ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Stage Iv ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Stage Iii ◽  
Dismal Prognosis ◽  
Advanced Stages ◽  
The Impact

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare endocrine malignancy with a dismal prognosis. When diagnosed in advanced stages of the disease, the outcomes of surgical resection are not well understood. The objective of this study is to determine the impact of surgery in patients with advanced ACC. Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database, we identified patients diagnosed with Stage III and IVACC between 1988 and 2009. A total of 320 patients with Stage III and IV disease were included in our analysis. In patients treated with surgical resection, the Stage III 1- and 5-year survival rates were 77 and 40 per cent, respectively, whereas the Stage IV 1- and 5-year survival rates were 54 and 27.6 per cent, respectively. Patients treated without surgery had poor survival at 1 year for both Stage III (13%) and Stage IV (16%) ( P < 0.01 compared with the surgical groups). Lymph node dissection was performed in 26 per cent of the patients with advanced ACC and was associated with improved survival in univariate analysis of Stage IV patients. Overall, our results indicate that favorable survival outcomes can be achieved even in patients with Stage III and IV disease and surgery should be considered in patients with advanced ACC.

Psychophysical functioning and quality of life in 94 patients affected by oropharyngeal cancer and treated with different therapeutic approaches.

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 6039-6039
Author(s):  
Fulvia Pedani ◽  
Mario Airoldi ◽  
Massimiliano Garzaro ◽  
Riccardo Torta ◽  
Luca Raimondo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Psychological Functioning ◽  
Depression Scale ◽  
Stage Iv ◽  
Stage Iii ◽  
Lower Percentage ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Anxiety Depression ◽  
The Impact

6039 Background: The treatment of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) may heavily affect patient’s quality of life (QoL). Aim of our study was the evaluation of the impact of different treatments on physical and psychological functioning and on QoL of patients affected by stage III-IV disease. Methods: The enrolled sample was composed by 94 OSCC patients divided into 3 subgroups based on treatment modalities: surgery + adjuvant radiotherapy (S + RT: 30 patients), exclusive concomitant chemo-radiotherapy (CT + RT: 30 patients) and exclusive chemotherapy (CT) in 34 patients not suitable for surgery and/or radiotherapy. Psycho-oncological assessment included: Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS), Montgomery-Asberg Depression Scale (MADRS), Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer scale (MINI-MAC), EORTC QLQ C-30 questionnaire with the specific module Head and Neck 35 (H&N35). Results: The 60 patients primarily treated with S + RT or CT + RT presented superimposeable clinical and tumour characteristics while those treated with exclusive CT were affected by stage IV disease and in the 90% of cases underwent to previous treatment exclusive or combined treatment such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. In the following table, data about physical and psychological functioning and on QoL of the 3 subgroups of patients are summarized. Conclusions: In stage III-IV OSCC treatments have a strong influence on QoL and coping styles. Patients treated with CT + RT were characterized by a lower percentage of self-reported anxiety and depression and higher EORTC Global QoL score. More than one third of patients treated with S + RT had overt symptoms of anxiety and depression. Stage IV patients treated with palliative CT had elevated level of anxiety, depression and low quality of life. Auto-evaluation is less effective in depression assessment. The role of concomitant psychological supportive care should be evaluated in these patients treated with different approaches. [Table: see text]

scholarly journals Euclid preparation

2020 ◽  
Vol 635 ◽  
pp. A139 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
P. Paykari ◽  
T. Kitching ◽  
H. Hoekstra ◽  
R. Azzollini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cosmological Parameters ◽  
Power Spectra ◽  
Parameter Estimates ◽  
Point Spread ◽  
Spread Function ◽  
Modelling Uncertainties ◽  
Systematic Effects ◽  
Imperfect Knowledge ◽  
Cosmic Shear ◽  
The Impact

Aims. Our aim is to quantify the impact of systematic effects on the inference of cosmological parameters from cosmic shear. Methods. We present an “end-to-end” approach that introduces sources of bias in a modelled weak lensing survey on a galaxy-by-galaxy level. We propagated residual biases through a pipeline from galaxy properties at one end to cosmic shear power spectra and cosmological parameter estimates at the other end. We did this to quantify how imperfect knowledge of the pipeline changes the maximum likelihood values of dark energy parameters. Results. We quantify the impact of an imperfect correction for charge transfer inefficiency and modelling uncertainties of the point spread function for Euclid, and find that the biases introduced can be corrected to acceptable levels.

scholarly journals 310 The effect of pretreatment with G-CSF prior to dendritic cell collection during the phase IIb trial of an autologous DC-based vaccine for advanced, resectable melanoma

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (Suppl 3) ◽  
pp. A337-A337
Author(s):  
Anne O’Shea ◽  
Robert Chick ◽  
Guy Clifton ◽  
Timothy Vreeland ◽  
Lexy Adams ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dendritic Cell ◽  
Subgroup Analysis ◽  
Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Disease Free Survival ◽  
Stage Iv ◽  
Phase Iii ◽  
Stage Iii ◽  
Tumor Lysate ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
The Impact

BackgroundWe have completed a prospective, randomized, multi-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase IIb trial of the tumor lysate, particle loaded, dendritic cell (TLPLDC) vaccine given to prevent recurrences in patients with resected stage III/IV melanoma. During the trial, granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) was administered to some patients to mobilize dendritic cells (DCs) precursors prior to harvest, allowing for similar DC yield with reduced blood draws. This study examines the impact of DC collection methods on vaccine effectiveness.MethodsTLPLDC is produced by loading tumor lysate into pre-prepared yeast cell wall particles (YCWPs) and exposing them to autologous DCs. DC precursors were isolated either by collection of 50–70 mL of blood following pre-administration of 300µg of G-CSF 24–48 hrs prior, or collection of 120 mL of peripheral blood without G-CSF pretreatment based on patient and provider preference. Patients were randomized 2:1 to receive TLPLDC or placebo (DCs exposed to empty YCWPs). 1–1.5 × 106 cells/dose were injected intradermally at 0, 1, 2, 6, 12, and 18 months. Differences in disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed by log rank.ResultsOf 144 patients randomized, 103 received TLPLDC and 41 received placebo. Within the TLPLDC group, 57 received pretreatment with G-CSF (TLPLDC+G-CSF) and 46 did not (TLPLDC–G-CSF). There were no significant clinicopathologic or treatment differences between the three treatment arms. 36-month DFS was significantly better in TLPLDC–G-CSF vs. TLPLDC+G-CSF or placebo (51.8% vs. 23.4% and 27.1% respectively, p=0.027) (figure 1). TLPLDC–G-CSF had correspondingly improved OS (92.9% vs. 62.8% and 72.3% respectively, p=0.022) (figure 2). Subgroup analysis revealed TLPLDC–G-CSF had increased DFS over TLPLDC+G-CSF or placebo in Stage IV (68.6% vs. 18.8% and 0.0% respectively, p=0.058). Similarly, the DFS survival benefit of TLPLDC–G-CSF was enhanced in patients who received prior immunotherapy (IO) (61.9% vs. 11.5% and 35.7% respectively, p=0.007) or checkpoint inhibitors (CPI) (48.5% vs. 10.6% and 37.5% respectively, p=0.039).Abstract 310 Figure 1DFS at 36 monthsAbstract 310 Figure 2OS at 36 monthsConclusionsTLPLDC vaccine created without G-CSF pretreatment significantly improved 36-month DFS and OS compared to TLPLDC+G-CSF or placebo in stage III/IV (resected) melanoma patients. On further subgroup analysis, the increases in OS and DFS were more profound in patients who received additional immune therapies to include CPI. Ongoing evaluation will determine if G-CSF mobilization leads to collection of phenotypically different DCs. Based on these results, we are planning a phase III trial of TLPLDC–G-CSF + CPI vs. placebo + CPI in advanced melanoma post-resection.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials. gov Identifier: NCT02301611Ethics ApprovalThis study was reviewed and approved by the IRB or Independent Ethics Committee (IEC) of each participating center prior to study initiation.

scholarly journals Euclid: The reduced shear approximation and magnification bias for Stage IV cosmic shear experiments

2020 ◽  
Vol 636 ◽  
pp. A95 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. C. Deshpande ◽  
T. D. Kitching ◽  
V. F. Cardone ◽  
P. L. Taylor ◽  
S. Casas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cosmological Parameters ◽  
Stage Iv ◽  
Systematic Effect ◽  
Matrix Formalism ◽  
Angular Power Spectrum ◽  
Sample Covariance ◽  
Systematic Effects ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Cosmic Shear ◽  
The Impact

Context. Stage IV weak lensing experiments will offer more than an order of magnitude leap in precision. We must therefore ensure that our analyses remain accurate in this new era. Accordingly, previously ignored systematic effects must be addressed. Aims. In this work, we evaluate the impact of the reduced shear approximation and magnification bias on information obtained from the angular power spectrum. To first-order, the statistics of reduced shear, a combination of shear and convergence, are taken to be equal to those of shear. However, this approximation can induce a bias in the cosmological parameters that can no longer be neglected. A separate bias arises from the statistics of shear being altered by the preferential selection of galaxies and the dilution of their surface densities in high-magnification regions. Methods. The corrections for these systematic effects take similar forms, allowing them to be treated together. We calculated the impact of neglecting these effects on the cosmological parameters that would be determined from Euclid, using cosmic shear tomography. To do so, we employed the Fisher matrix formalism, and included the impact of the super-sample covariance. We also demonstrate how the reduced shear correction can be calculated using a lognormal field forward modelling approach. Results. These effects cause significant biases in Ωm, σ8, ns, ΩDE, w0, and wa of −0.53σ, 0.43σ, −0.34σ, 1.36σ, −0.68σ, and 1.21σ, respectively. We then show that these lensing biases interact with another systematic effect: the intrinsic alignment of galaxies. Accordingly, we have developed the formalism for an intrinsic alignment-enhanced lensing bias correction. Applying this to Euclid, we find that the additional terms introduced by this correction are sub-dominant.

scholarly journals Boosting GWs in supersolid inflation

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Celoria ◽  
Denis Comelli ◽  
Luigi Pilo ◽  
Rocco Rollo
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Power Spectra ◽  
Linear Structure ◽  
Scalar Fields ◽  
De Sitter ◽  
Diffeomorphism Invariance ◽  
Experimental Bound ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Effective Description ◽  
Interesting Alternative

Abstract Inflation driven by a generic self-gravitating medium is an interesting alternative to study the impact of spontaneous spacetime symmetry breaking during a quasi de-Sitter phase, in particular the 4-dimensional diffeomorphism invariance of GR is spontaneously broken down to I SO(3). The effective description is based on four scalar fields that describe the excitations of a supersolid. There are two phonon-like propagating scalar degrees of freedom that mix non-trivially both at early and late times and, after exiting the horizon, give rise to non-trivial correlations among the different scalar power spectra. The non-linear structure of the theory allows a secondary gravitational waves production during inflation, efficient enough to saturate the present experimental bound and with a blue-tilted spectral index.

scholarly journals Consistency of cosmic shear analyses in harmonic and real space

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Doux ◽  
C Chang ◽  
B Jain ◽  
J Blazek ◽  
H Camacho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
A Priori ◽  
Power Spectra ◽  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Stage Iv ◽  
Real Space ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Dark Energy Survey ◽  
Statistical Fluctuations ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Cosmic Shear

Abstract Recent cosmic shear studies have reported discrepancies of up to 1σ on the parameter ${S_{8}=\sigma _{8}\sqrt{{\Omega _{\rm m}}/0.3}}$ between the analysis of shear power spectra and two-point correlation functions, derived from the same shear catalogs. It is not a priori clear whether the measured discrepancies are consistent with statistical fluctuations. In this paper, we investigate this issue in the context of the forthcoming analyses from the third year data of the Dark Energy Survey (DES-Y3). We analyze DES-Y3 mock catalogs from Gaussian simulations with a fast and accurate importance sampling pipeline. We show that the methodology for determining matching scale cuts in harmonic and real space is the key factor that contributes to the scatter between constraints derived from the two statistics. We compare the published scales cuts of the KiDS, Subaru-HSC and DES surveys, and find that the correlation coefficients of posterior means range from over 80% for our proposed cuts, down to 10% for cuts used in the literature. We then study the interaction between scale cuts and systematic uncertainties arising from multiple sources: non-linear power spectrum, baryonic feedback, intrinsic alignments, uncertainties in the point-spread function, and redshift distributions. We find that, given DES-Y3 characteristics and proposed cuts, these uncertainties affect the two statistics similarly; the differential biases are below a third of the statistical uncertainty, with the largest biases arising from intrinsic alignment and baryonic feedback. While this work is aimed at DES-Y3, the tools developed can be applied to Stage-IV surveys where statistical errors will be much smaller.

The Role of Bone Marrow Examination in the Initial Evaluation of Pediatric Hodgkin’ Disease: The Canadian Perspective.

Blood ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 110 (11) ◽  
pp. 2326-2326
Author(s):  
David C. Simpson ◽  
Jun Gao ◽  
Conrad V. Fernandez ◽  
Margaret Yhap ◽  
Victoria E. Price ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bone Marrow ◽  
Bone Marrow Involvement ◽  
Stage Iv ◽  
Bone Marrow Examination ◽  
Pet Scan ◽  
Stage I ◽  
Stage Ii ◽  
Stage Iii ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Hodgkin’s Disease (HD) is the most common lymphoma affecting young adults and teenagers. Bone marrow involvement is rare but if present, infers Stage IV disease and an inferior outcome. Adult studies have suggested that bone marrow examination (BME) may not be necessary unless certain risk factors are present. However, some pediatric centers continue to perform BME routinely on all children with HD. BME is invasive and generally performed under conscious sedation in children. We validated and administered an internet-based survey to examine the practice of all Canadian pediatric oncologists regarding BME in children with HD. We also retrospectively evaluated the impact of routine BME on the HD patients treated at our institution over the past 27 years. Forty-three percent of eligible physicians (n=93) completed the survey and 16 of a total of 17 Canadian pediatric oncology centers were represented. BME universally consisted of bilateral bone marrow aspirates and trephine biopsies. Routine BME for Stage III and IV disease was consistently practised nationally (by 92% and 97% of respondents, respectively). By contrast, 54% and 70% of respondents reported performing routine BME in low stage (Stage I and II) disease, respectively. Respondents were more likely to report performing routine BME in low stage patients, if their pediatric hematology/oncology training was entirely outside Canada (p=0.04 for Stage I and p=0.07 for Stage II) and if they practiced at smaller centers (p=0.05 for Stage I and p=0.03 for Stage II). There were no differences in practice regarding BME associated with the number of years in practice or the number of patients seen annually by the respondent. If not part of routine staging for all patients, BME was more likely performed if there were “B” symptoms, cytopenias, and/or bulky disease. Most respondents (95%) would proceed with BME following a positive PET scan. In the review of local institutional practice, 62 patients with HD and BME were eligible for analysis. Only 4 patients (6.5%) had a positive BME. No patient with otherwise low stage disease was found to have bone marrow involvement. Two patients, who would have been assigned as Stage III disease, were upstaged to Stage IV due to their BME. Comparison of staging with and without BME demonstrated no significant difference. Hemoglobin level was found to be the to be the only significant risk factor for marrow involvement based on univariate analysis(put in statisticp=0.006). Age, gender, histologic subtype, presence of “B” symptoms, and other blood parameters (white count, platelets, ESR and transaminases) were not significant factors. Practice regarding BME in children with low stage HD is highly variable across Canada. Bone marrow examination in pediatric patients with low stage HD should be abandoned, unless there is a specific indication to do so (for example positive PET scan or unexplained anemia). Moreover, BME does not appear to add any additional therapeutic direction for higher stage patients.

Which side is better? The impact of primary tumor side in early stage colorectal cancer (CRC).

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e15106-e15106
Author(s):  
Margaret Lee ◽  
Andrew Mackinlay ◽  
Christine Semira ◽  
Antonio Jose Jimeno ◽  
Belinda Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Adjuvant Therapy ◽  
Primary Tumor ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Stage Iv ◽  
Stage I ◽  
Stage Ii ◽  
Stage Iii ◽  
Early Stage Disease ◽  
Stage Iv Disease ◽  
The Impact

e15106 Background: Multiple studies have indicated the prognostic and potential predictive significance of primary tumor side in metastatic CRC. To date, the few studies examining its impact in early stage disease have either combined data across multiple stages or restricted analysis to overall survival (OS) data. A by stage analysis of the impact of tumor side on recurrence risk is critical if it is to impact adjuvant therapy decisions. Methods: We examined data from a multi-site Australian registry of consecutive patients diagnosed from 2003-2016. Tumors at and distal to the splenic flexure, including the rectum, were considered a left primary (LP). Rectal patients treated with initial chemoradiation were excluded. Clinico-pathologic and outcome data were examined. Data analysis was provided by the healthcare group at IBM Research Australia. Results: A total of 6123 patients were identified, of which 1046 (17.1%) had initial stage I, 1892 (30.9%) had stage II, 1708 (27.9%) had stage III, and 1477 (24.1%) had stage IV disease. Most patients were male (55.2%), and had a LP (n = 3818, 62.4%). Median age at diagnosis was 68.8 years, was higher in patients with a right primary (RP) (71.6 versus 67.0 years for LP, p < 0.001), with more females in the RP group (51.1% vs 41.0% for LP, p < 0.001). The proportion of RP varied by stage, highest in stage II (44.9%), lowest in stage IV (31.5%). For all stage IV disease, including metachronous cases, OS was worse with a RP (HR 1.32, 95% CI 1.14-1.53). For early stage cases, distant recurrence free survival (DRFS) was similar for RP vs LP for stage I (HR 0.63, 95% CI 0.32-1.23), better for stage II RP (HR 0.72, 95% CI 0.55-0.95) and worse for stage III RP disease (HR 1.22, 1.01-1.48). OS did not differ for RP vs LP for stage I or II disease, but was worse for stage III disease with a RP (HR 1.39, 95% CI 1.13-1.70). Furthermore, post recurrence survival was poorer in stage III RP disease (HR 1.61, 95% CI 1.33-1.96). Conclusions: Primary tumor side has potential as an important prognostic marker in early stage CRC. Our novel finding of a variable impact by stage indicate that an assessment of cohorts where recurrence data is available is critical to fully understanding the implications of tumor side for adjuvant therapy decision making.

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