Abstract Background Gynaecological cancers are associated with high rates of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Studies on ambulatory cancer patients do not support thromboprophylaxis during chemotherapy. ...Approximately 6–7% of gynaecological cancer patients suffer a postoperative VTE despite Low Molecular Weight Heparin prophylaxis (LMWH). Large cancer studies have shown that Calibrated Automated Thrombogram (CAT) and Microparticles (MP) assays may be useful in predicting VTE but data on gynaecological cancer patients is scarce. Objective Our objective was to identify whether the CAT assay and MP functional assays have potential as biomarkers predictive of VTE in gynaecological cancer patients. Patients and methods Gynaecological cancer patients were investigated before surgery (n = 146) and at 5, 14 and 42 days post-surgery (n = 78). Fourteen additional patients were investigated before chemotherapy and after 3 and 6 cycles of therapy. Thrombin generation was measured before and after addition of thrombomodulin. Results Patients with clear cell cancer (CCC) of the ovary and patients with endometrial cancer had higher ETP and peak thrombin compared with patients with benign disease. Patients who developed VTE (n = 8) following surgery had enhanced thrombin generation prior to surgery which persisted during the post-operative period despite LMWH prophylaxis. Both neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy showed increased thrombin generation following addition of thrombomodulin. There were no differences in MP levels during the study. Conclusions CAT assay shows potential as a promising biomarker for the prediction of VTE in gynaecological cancer patients. The identification of high risk patients combined with individualised LMWH prophylaxis might reduce VTE in this high risk group.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Assessment of right ventricular function by 2-dimensional echocardiography (2DECHO) is difficult because of its complex shape. Real-time 3-dimensional echocardiography (RT3DECHO) may be superior.
...End-diastolic volume, end-systolic volume, stroke volume, and ejection fraction obtained by 2DECHO, RT3DECHO short-axis disk summation (DS), and RT3DECHO apical rotation were compared with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in 71 healthy individuals.
RT3DECHO DS showed less volume underestimation compared with 2DECHO and RT3DECHO apical rotation. Test-retest variability for RT3DECHO DS end-diastolic volume, end-systolic volume, stroke volume, and ejection fraction were 3.3%, 8.7%, 10%, and 10.3%, respectively. Normal reference ranges of indexed volumes (mean +/- 2SD) for right ventricular end-diastolic volume, end-systolic volume, stroke volume, and ejection fraction were 38.6 to 92.2 mL/m(2), 7.8 to 50.6 mL/m(2), 22.5 to 42.9 mL/m(2), and 38.0% to 65.3%, respectively, for women and 47.0 to 100 mL/m(2), 23.0 to 52.6 mL/m(2), 14.2 to 48.4 mL/m(2), and 29.9% to 58.4%, respectively, for men.
RT3DECHO DS is superior to RT3DECHO apical rotation and 2DECHO for right ventricular quantification, and performs acceptably when compared with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in healthy individuals.
Objective
To investigate human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing and p16/Ki‐67 staining for detecting cervical intraepithelial grade 2 or worse (CIN2+) and CIN3 in women referred to colposcopy with ...minor abnormal cervical cytology low‐grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL) and atypical squamous cells of undermined significance (ASC‐US). The clinical performance of both tests was evaluated as stand‐alone tests and combined, for detection CIN2+ and CIN3 over 2 years.
Methods
ThinPrep® liquid‐based cytology (LBC) specimens were collected from 1349 women with repeat LSIL or ASC‐US. HPV DNA was performed using Hybrid Capture. Where adequate material remained (n = 471), p16/Ki‐67 overexpression was assessed. Clinical performance for detection of histologically diagnosed CIN2+ and CIN3 was calculated.
Results
Approximately 62.2% of the population were positive for HPV DNA, and 30.4% were positive for p16/Ki‐67. p16/Ki‐67 showed no significant difference in positivity between LSIL and ASC‐US referrals (34.3% versus 28.6%; P = 0.189). Women under 30 years had a higher rate of p16/Ki‐67 compared to those over 30 years (36.0% versus 26.6%; P = 0.029). Overall HPV DNA testing produced a high sensitivity for detection of CIN3 of 95.8% compared to 79.2% for p16/Ki‐67. In contrast, p16/Ki‐67 expression offered a higher specificity, 75.2% versus 40.4% for detection of CIN3. Combining p16/Ki‐67 with HPV DNA improved the accuracy in distinguishing between CIN3 and <CIN3. The absolute risk of CIN3 increased from 15.6% in women who were HPV DNA positive to 27% in women positive for HPV DNA and p16/Ki‐67. Those negative for HPV DNA and p16/Ki‐67 had a low risk of 1.2% of CIN3.
Conclusion
The addition of p16/Ki‐67 to HPV DNA testing leads to a more accurate stratification of CIN in women presenting with minor cytological abnormalities.
This small national prospective study suggests that the addition of p16 / Ki‐67 to HPV DNA could be used to stratify women with recurrent borderline or low grade cytological abnormalities to determine who should attend colposcopy.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract
Construction of the new all-silicon Inner Tracker (ITk), developed by the ATLAS collaboration to be
able to track charged particles produced at the High-Luminosity LHC, started in 2020 and ...is expected to
continue till 2028. The ITk detector will include 18,000 highly segmented and radiation hard n+-in-p
silicon strip sensors (ATLAS18), which are being manufactured by Hamamatsu Photonics. Mechanical and electrical characteristics of produced sensors are measured upon their delivery at several institutes participating in a complex Quality Control (QC) program. The QC tests performed on each individual sensor check the overall integrity and quality of the sensor.
During the QC testing of ATLAS18 strip sensors, an increased number of sensors that
failed the electrical tests was observed. In particular, IV measurements indicated an early breakdown,
while large areas containing several tens or hundreds of neighbouring strips with low interstrip isolation
were identified by the Full strip tests, and leakage current instabilities were measured in a long-term leakage current stability setup. Moreover, a high surface electrostatic charge reaching a level of several hundreds of volts per inch was measured on a large number of sensors and on the plastic sheets, which
mechanically protect these sensors in their paper envelopes. Accumulated data indicates a clear
correlation between observed electrical failures and the sensor charge-up.
To mitigate the above-described issues, the QC testing sites significantly modified the sensor handling
procedures and introduced sensor recovery techniques based on irradiation of the sensor surface with UV
light or application of intensive flows of ionized gas. In this presentation, we will describe the setups
implemented by the QC testing sites to treat silicon strip sensors affected by static charge and
evaluate the effectiveness of these setups in terms of improvement of the sensor performance.
This book examines how young people understand and live politics, using innovative research methods. It treats age, class, gender and ethnicity as political 'lived experiences'. It concludes that ...young people are alienated, rather than apathetic, and that their interests and concerns are rarely addressed within mainstream political institutions.
Aims. We present observations and analysis of time-series spectroscopy and photometry of the pulsating subdwarf B star PG 1219+534 (KY UMa). Subdwarf B stars are blue horizontal branch stars that ...have shed most of their hydrogen envelopes. Pulsating subdwarf B stars allow a probe into this interesting phase of evolution. Methods. Low-resolution spectra were obtained at the Nordic Optical Telescope and Kitt Peak National Observatory, and photometric observations were obtained at MDM and Baker observatories in 2006. We extracted radial velocity and equivalent width variations from several Balmer and He I lines in individual spectra. The pulsation frequencies were separated via phase binning to detect line-profile variations in Balmer and helium lines, which were subsequently matched to atmospheric models to infer effective temperature and gravity changes throughout the pulsation cycle. Results. From the photometry we recovered the four previously observed frequencies and detected a new fifth frequency. From the spectra we directly measured radial velocity and equivalent width variations for the four main frequencies and from atmospheric models. We successfully inferred temperature and gravity changes for these four frequencies. We compared amplitude ratios and phase differences of these quantities and searched for outliers that could be identified as high-degree modes. These are the first such measurements for a “normal” amplitude pulsating subdwarf B star, indicating that spectroscopic studies can benefit the majority of pulsating subdwarf B stars.
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FMFMET, NUK, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract only
Background:
Left ventricular (LV) mass is an important prognostic factor for predicting cardiac morbidity and mortality. LV mass to volume ratio (M/V) by CMR has been shown to relate to ...adverse outcomes in several settings. However, the relevance of this M/V has not been established for post-MI arrhythmias. We evaluated the use of 3D echo (3D) LV M/V in predicting event free survival in post-MI patients meeting the MADIT II criteria, and compared it to EDV and ESV indexed to the body surface area (EDVi, ESVi).
Methods:
Forty patients (35 males, mean age 69.6y) meeting the MADIT II criteria for implantable defibrillator (ICD) placement with an EF of ≤30% were imaged and followed up for a mean of 472 days for adverse events (ventricular fibrillation or sustained ventricular tachycardia, and appropriate ICD discharges). Patients had 3D within 24 hours of ICD implantation. EDVi, ESVi and LV mass were determined and M/V calculated. Receiver operator curves (ROC) were used to determine the associations between M/V, EDVi, ESVi and adverse events.
Results
: Mean indexed LV mass was 109.7 g. Mean EDVi, ESVi were 123.3 ml/m
2
and 93.4ml/m
2
. The adverse event rate was 25% (10/40 patients). ROC curve analysis showed that M/V was significantly associated with adverse events(p = 0.002) while EDVi (p=0.12) and ESVi (p=0.08) were not. Patients with higher M/V were more likely to have events than those with smaller M/V (area under the curve = 0.74, sensitivity 80%, specificity 67%).
Conclusion:
3D derived LV M/V is useful for determining risk of adverse events in high-risk post-MI patients who meet the MADIT II criteria.
M/V is superior to 3D EDV, ESV for prediction of arrhythmic events this high risk population.
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