Existence of a nontrivial solution is established, via variational methods, for a system of weakly coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations. The main goal is to obtain a positive solution, of minimal ...action if possible, with all vector components not identically zero. Generalizations for nonautonomous systems are considered.
Some bacteria like
Listeria monocytogenes,
Shigella and
Rickettsia Rickettsii can move inside the host cell thanks to an actin tail. In this paper a one-dimensional model for the motion of these ...bacteria, introduced by B. Bazaliy, Y. Bazaliy, and A. Friedman (2007) in
2, is studied. In particular, the model is a system of partial differential equation with two moving boundaries for which we prove the existence of a travelling wave solution.
The incidence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivations in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) receiving autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is relatively low. However, the recent increased use ...of novel agents, such as bortezomib and/or immunomodulators, before transplant, has led to an increasing incidence of Herpesviridae family virus infections. The aim of the study was to establish the incidence of post‐engraftment symptomatic CMV reactivations in MM patients receiving ASCT, and to compare this incidence with that of patients treated with novel agents or with conventional chemotherapy before transplant. The study was a survey of 80 consecutive patients who underwent ASCT after treatment with novel agents (Group A). These patients were compared with a cohort of 89 patients treated with VAD regimen (vincristine, doxorubicin, and dexamethasone) before ASCT (Group B). Overall, 7 patients (4.1%) received an antiviral treatment for a symptomatic CMV reactivation and 1 died. The incidence of CMV reactivations was significantly higher in Group A than in Group B (7.5% vs. 1.1%; P = 0.048). When compared with Group B, the CMV reactivations observed in Group A were significantly more frequent in patients who received bortezomib, whether or not associated with immunomodulators (9.4% vs. 1.1%; P = 0.019), but not in those treated with immunomodulators only (3.7% vs. 1.1%; P = 0.396). These results suggest that MM patients treated with bortezomib‐based regimens are at higher risk of developing a symptomatic CMV reactivation after ASCT.
Abstract Therapy-related acute promyelocytic leukemia (t-APL) has been reported as a late complication of exposure to radiotherapy and/or chemotherapeutic agents targeting DNA topoisomerase II. We ...have analyzed in t-APL novel gene mutations recently associated with myeloid disorders. Unlike previous reports in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), our results showed neither IDHs nor TET2 mutations in t-APL. However we found an R882H mutation in the DNMT3A gene in a patient with t-APL suggesting a possible role of this alteration in the pathogenesis of t-APL.
Between January 1985 and December 1992, 104 consecutive patients with symptomatic myelofibrosis with myeloid metaplasia (MMM) splenic enlargement > 5 cm and/or transfusional requirement or Hb < 10 ...g/dl and/or white blood cell (WBC) count > 20 × 109/l and/or platelets > 1·0 × 109/l received low‐dose Melphalan (2·5 mg/3 times/week) to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of this approach. Among 99 evaluable patients, 66 (66·7%) achieved a response after a median time of 6·7 months: 26 (26·3%) had a normalization of all clinical and haematological parameters (complete response, CR) and 40 (40·4%) showed an improvement > 50% (partial response, PR). Thirty‐three patients (33·3%) were resistant. Reversible haematological toxicity was the most common complication. Median durations of CR and PR were 28·4 and 26 months respectively: median survival of CR + PR patients was 71·2 months (95%CI: 33·8–108·7) versus 36·5 months (95%CI: 24·5–48·5) for the non‐responders (log‐rank test, P = 0·002). In the multivariate analysis, the following variables were significantly associated with a shorter survival: anaemia hazard risk (HR) = 2·7, WBC count > 20 × 109/l (HR = 2·4) and not achieving any type of response, either partial or complete (HR = 3·9). In conclusion, Melphalan could be a promising first‐line option for MMM patients with clinical or haematological symptoms requiring treatment.
A graph G=(V,E) is called a pairwise compatibility graph (PCG) if there exists a tree T, a positive edge weight function w on T, and two non-negative real numbers dmin≤dmax, such that each leaf lu of ...T corresponds to a vertex u∈V and there is an edge (u,v)∈E if and only if dmin≤dT,w(lu,lv)≤dmax where dT,w(lu,lv) is the sum of the weights of the edges on the unique path from lu to lv in T.
In this paper we analyze the class of PCGs in relation to two particular subclasses resulting from the cases where the constraints on the distance between the pairs of leaves concern only dmax (LPG) or only dmin (mLPG). In particular, we show that the union of LPG and mLPG classes does not coincide with the whole class of PCGs, their intersection is not empty, and that neither of the classes LPG and mLPG is contained in the other.
Finally, we study the closure properties of the classes PCG, mLPG and LPG, under some common graph operations. In particular, we consider the following operations: adding an isolated or universal vertex, adding a pendant vertex, adding a false or a true twin, taking the complement of a graph and taking the disjoint union of two graphs.
Background and aims
Anagrelide is a drug effective in reducing platelet counts in essential thrombocythemia (ET) and Ph1‐negative myeloproliferative neoplasms. The aim of this study was to evaluate ...the real‐life use of anagrelide in patients with ET followed over 25 years at the Haematological Institutes belonging to “Ph1‐negative Myeloproliferative Neoplasms Latium Group.”
Patients and methods
Eligibility criteria were diagnosis of ET and treatment with anagrelide. Data were collected through an ad hoc case report form.
Results
One hundred and fifty patients received anagrelide for a median time of 7.4 years (0.1‐23.2). Anagrelide was administered as first‐line therapy in 34.7% of patients, as second‐line in 52% and as third‐line in 13.3%: 85.4% responded to therapy. Sixty‐eight/136 evaluable patients reported side effects: palpitations, peripheral vasodilation, anaemia, diarrhoea and gastric distress. Fourteen thrombotic (arterial 10, venous 4) and 51 bleeding events (minor 48, major 3) occurred. Sixteen/150 (10.6%) patients developed secondary myelofibrosis and 3/150 (2%) an acute myeloid leukaemia.
Conclusions
In our experience, anagrelide is an effective drug in reducing platelet levels in a high percentage of patients with ET. It is especially addressed to younger people. A careful assessment of the thrombotic risk and monitoring of cardiac function, at diagnosis and during follow‐up, is mandatory.
The incidence of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) increases with age, but it is unclear how the characteristics of the disease vary with age. In children, where CML is very rare, it presents with more ...aggressive features, including huge splenomegaly, higher cell count and higher blast cell percentage.
To investigate if after childhood the disease maintains or loses these characteristics of aggressiveness, we analyzed 2784 adult patients, at least 18 years old, registered by GIMEMA CML WP over a 40-year period.
Young adults (YAs: 18–29 years old) significantly differed from adults (30–59 years old) and elderly patients (at least 60 years old) particularly for the frequency of splenomegaly (71%, 63% and 55%, P < 0.001), and the greater spleen size (median value: 4.5, 3.0 and 1.0cm, P < 0.001). According to the EUTOS score, that is age-independent, high-risk patients were more frequent among YAs, than among adult and elderly patients (18%, 9% and 6%, P < 0.001). In tyrosine kinase inhibitors-treated patients, the rates of complete cytogenetic and major molecular response were lower in YAs, and the probability of transformation was higher (16%, 5% and 7%, P = 0.011).
The characteristics of CML or the host response to leukemia differ with age. The knowledge of these differences and of their causes may help to refine the treatment and to improve the outcome.
NCT00510926, NCT00514488, NCT00769327, NCT00481052.
In this paper we show the weak lower semicontinuity of some classes of functionals, using the concentration-compactness principle of P. L. Lions. These functionals involve an integral term, and we do ...not know whether it can be handled by the De Giorgi theorem. The semicontinuity result allows us to prove several existence results for quasilinear elliptic equations.
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