Home parenteral nutrition (HPN) is increasingly prescribed for patients with advanced cancer. This therapy improves free-fat mass, quality of life and survival, but it is not free from complications, ...especially catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs). The use of commercial multichamber bags in HPN has not been extensively explored in oncologic patients and their association with complications is not well known. In this prospective cohort study, we included 130 patients with advanced cancer and HPN. We compared the effects of individual compounded bags (n = 87) vs. commercial multichamber bags (n = 43) on complications. There were no differences in any complication, including thrombosis (
> 0.05). There were 0.28 episodes of CRBSI per 1000 catheter days in the individual compounded bag group and 0.21 in the multichamber bag group (
> 0.05). A total of 34 patients were weaned off HPN, 22 with individual bags and 12 with multichamber bags (
= 0.749). Regarding survival when on HPN, the group with individual bags showed a median of 98 days (95% CI of 49-147), whereas those with multichamber bags showed a median of 88 days (95% CI of 43-133 (
= 0.913)). In conclusion, commercial multichamber bags for HPN in patients with advanced cancer are non-inferior when compared to individual compounded bags in terms of complications.
Neutrinos were assumed to be massless particles until the discovery of the neutrino oscillation process. This phenomenon indicates that the neutrinos have non-zero masses and the mass eigenstates ...(ν1, ν2, ν3) are mixtures of their flavour eigenstates (νe, νμ, ντ). The oscillations between different flavour eigenstates are described by three mixing angles (θ12, θ23, θ13), two differences of the squared neutrino masses of the ν2/ν1 and ν3/ν1 pairs and a charge conjugation parity symmetry violating phase δCP. The Double Chooz experiment, located near the Chooz Electricité de France reactors, measures the oscillation parameter θ13 using reactor neutrinos. Here, the Double Chooz collaboration reports the measurement of the mixing angle θ13 with the new total neutron capture detection technique from the full data set, yielding sin2(2θ13) = 0.105 ± 0.014. This measurement exploits the multidetector configuration, the isoflux baseline and data recorded when the reactors were switched off. In addition to the neutrino mixing angle measurement, Double Chooz provides a precise measurement of the reactor neutrino flux, given by the mean cross-section per fission 〈σf〉 = (5.71 ± 0.06) × 10−43 cm2 per fission, and reports an empirical model of the distortion in the reactor neutrino spectrum.The Double Chooz collaboration reports the neutrino oscillation parameter θ13 from a measurement of the disappearance of reactor anti-electron neutrinos with the total neutron capture technique.
ProtoDUNE-DP is a <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">6\times 6\times 6\,\,\text{m}^{3} </tex-math></inline-formula> liquid argon time-projection-chamber operated at the CERN Neutrino ...Platform in 2019-2020 as a prototype of the dual phase concept for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) far detector. The photon detection system (PDS) is based on 36 8-in photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) and allows triggering on the scintillation light signals produced by cosmic rays and other charged particles traversing the detector. The acquisition and calibration software specifically developed for the ProtoDUNE-DP PDS is described in this article. This software controls the high-voltage power supplies, the calibration system, and the PDS DAQ. It has been developed with Qt Creator and features different operation modes and a graphical user interface. This software has already been validated and used during the ProtoDUNE-DP operation.
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NT) followed by radical surgery is the standard treatment for locally advanced gastric cancer (GC). The incidence of sarcopenia in upper gastrointestinal tract malignancies ...is very high, and it may be increased after NT. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of NT on body composition. A retrospective study of patients with locally advanced GC undergoing gastrectomy who had received NT in a tertiary hospital between 2012 and 2019 was conducted. CT measured the skeletal muscle index, total psoas area, and visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue before and after NT. Of the 180 gastrectomies for GC, 61 patients received NT. During NT, changes in body composition were observed with a decrease in the skeletal muscle mass index (SMMI −2.5%; p < 0.001), and these changes were significantly greater in men (SMMI −10.55%). Before surgery, patients who received NT presented 15% more sarcopenia than those without NT (p = 0.048). In conclusion, patients with locally advanced gastric cancer who receive NT have significant changes in body composition during chemotherapy. These changes, which are at the expense of a loss of muscle mass, lead to an increased incidence of pre-surgical sarcopenia.
This paper describes a procedure for the validation of alpha-particle sources (exempt unsealed sources) to be used in experimental setups with liquefied gases at cryogenic temperatures (down to ...−196 °C) and high vacuum. These setups are of interest for the development and characterization of neutrino and dark matter detectors based on liquid argon, among others. Due to the high purity requirements, the sources have to withstand high vacuum and cryogenic temperatures for extended periods. The validation procedure has been applied to 241Am sources produced by electrodeposition.
•A method to validate electrodeposited 241Am alpha-particle sources for use under high vacuum and cryogenic temperatures has been developed.•Electrodeposited alpha-particle sources from aqueous electrolytes containing sulphate ions were validated for use at cryogenic temperatures.•Electrodeposited alpha-particle sources from aqueous electrolytes containing sulphate ions were validated for use at high vacuum.
A precise quantitative measurement of the effect of low magnetic fields in Hamamatsu R7081 photomultipliers has been performed. These large-area photomultipliers will be used in the Double Chooz ...neutrino experiment. A magnetic shielding has been developed for these photomultipliers. Its design and performance is also reported in this paper.
A
bstract
The Double Chooz experiment presents improved measurements of the neutrino mixing angle
θ
13
using the data collected in 467.90 live days from a detector positioned at an average distance ...of 1050 m from two reactor cores at the Chooz nuclear power plant. Several novel techniques have been developed to achieve significant reductions of the backgrounds and systematic uncertainties with respect to previous publications, whereas the efficiency of the
ν
¯
e
signal has increased. The value of
θ
13
is measured to be sin
2
2
θ
13
= 0.090
− 0.029
+ 0.032
from a fit to the observed energy spectrum. Deviations from the reactor
ν
¯
e
prediction observed above a prompt signal energy of 4 MeV and possible explanations are also reported. A consistent value of
θ
13
is obtained from a fit to the observed rate as a function of the reactor power independently of the spectrum shape and background estimation, demonstrating the robustness of the
θ
13
measurement despite the observed distortion.
Liquid argon time projection chambers (TPC) are widely used in neutrino oscillation and dark matter experiments. Detection of scintillation light in liquid argon TPC’s is challenging because of its ...short wavelength, in the VUV range, and the cryogenic temperatures (∼86 K) at which the sensors must operate. Wavelength shifters (WLS) are typically needed to take advantage of the high Photon Detection Efficiency (PDE) in the visible range of most of photondetectors. The Hamamatsu VUV4 S13370–6075CN SiPMs can directly detect VUV light without the use of WLS, which main benefit is an improved PDE at these short wavelengths, but also the visible light from WLS. The manufacturer (Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.) provides a complete characterization of these devices at room temperature; however, previous studies have indicated a decrease of the PDE at cryogenic temperature for VUV light. In this work, we present the measurement of the PDE of VUV4 SiPMs at cryogenic temperature for different wavelengths in the range 270, 570 nm. A dedicated measurement at 127 nm is also shown.
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