Twenty-six cases of Blastoschizomyces capitatus infection were diagnosed in 25 patients at 7 tertiary care hematology units in Spain over a 10-year period. Most patients (92%) had acute leukemia and ...developed infection during a period of severe and prolonged neutropenia. Two patients had esophagitis, and the rest had invasive infection. Fungemia (20 cases) was a common finding, with frequent visceral dissemination. The 30-day mortality associated with this infection was 52%, compared with 57% among patients with systemic infection. In a univariate analysis, the following 3 variables had a positive impact on 30-day survival: removal of the central venous catheter within 5 days after the onset of infection (P = .02), a good performance status (P = .003), and receipt of systemic prophylactic or empirical antifungal therapy before infection onset (P = .006). Outcome for neutropenic patients with B. capitatus infection is still poor. Rapid removal of the central venous catheter and novel antifungal therapies are recommended for treatment of this rare infection.
Gamma-ray spectrometers for environmental radiation monitoring on field routinely record short-duration spectra. Under normal conditions, these spectra are the sum of a constant background plus ...photo-peaks from natural emitters, and their resulting bremsstrahlung and Compton scattering radiation. For each monitor, the constant background is specific to the monitor components and the composition of the soil and of the surroundings. On the other hand, the spectrum of the natural gamma-ray emitters also depends on the aspects above, but may also have variable intensity owing to aerosol scavenging in case of rain.
We present a case of a large network of detectors where it is unpractical to perform dedicated simulations or measurements of calibration sources. To overcome this difficulty, we propose a method to remotely and systematically extract fundamental spectra. For each spectrum we measure the activity concentration of natural emitters. Then, for each channel, the activity concentration of each natural emitter constitute the coefficients of an equation, where the unknowns are the fundamental spectra of the natural emitters and of the constant background. After repeated measurements, we can construct an over-determined system of equations that is solvable as a non-negative least-squares problem. As a result of the least-squares minimization we obtain the separate spectra of the constant background and of the most relevant natural gamma-ray emitters.
This method allows to produce highly specific fundamental spectra for each monitor. This improves the characterization of each monitor and allows to accurately reconstruct subsequently measured spectra using the Full Spectrum Analysis.
•We remotely analyze thousands of gamma-ray spectra from spectrometers at different locations and varying configuration.•We produce detector-specific fundamental spectra without simulations nor calibration sources.•We reconstruct subsequent spectra with a linear combination of the fundamental spectra with excellent accuracy.
Background
On March 14, 2020, a state of alarm was declared in Spain due to the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Beyond this date, COVID-19 in the country changed the practice of oncologic care.
Objective
Since ...recurrent hospital visits were a potential risk factor for contagion, the aim of this prospective observational study was to analyze the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in the health care of patients with lymphoma.
Methods
All data were obtained from the electronic medical record. Variables such as age, sex, reason of the visit, use of the patient portal, changes in management, enrollment in clinical trials, and COVID-19 infection were recorded.
Results
In all, 290 patients visited the lymphoma clinic, totaling 437 appointments. The median age was 66 (range 18-94) years, and 157 (54.1%) patients were male. Of them, 214 (73.8%) patients had only 1 visit to the clinic. Only 23 (7.9%) patients did not have access to the patient portal. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, 78 (26.9%) patients remained in active treatment, 35 (12.1%) experienced delays in their treatments, and 6 (2.1%) experienced treatment discontinuation. During the follow-up, only 7 (2.4%) patients had a COVID-19 infection (6 cases with confirmed polymerase chain reaction test and 1 case with clinical suspicion). Despite the implementation of telemedicine strategies to avoid visits to the hospital, 66 (22.8%) patients had in-person visits at the lymphoma clinic. Patients who attended in-person consultations were younger than those who preferred telemedicine consultations (62 vs 66 years; P=.10) and had less use of the patient portal (17/224, 7.6% vs 6/66, 9%; P=.10), although these differences did not reach statistical significance. Patients who attended in-person visits were more likely to have had only 1 visit to the hospital (29/66, 43.9% vs 185/224, 82.6%; P<.001). Regarding the reason of in-person consultations, more patients were on active treatment in comparison to those using telemedicine resources (37/66, 56.1% vs 42/224, 18.3%; P<.001). Patients with a preference for telemedicine strategies had more surveillance visits (147/224, 65.6% vs 24/66, 36.4%; P<.001). Regarding treatment modifications, more treatment delays (29/224, 12.9% vs 6/66, 9.1%; P=.10) and more definite treatment discontinuations (6/224, 2.7% vs 0/66, 0%; P=.10) were seen in patients using telemedicine resources when compared to patients attending in-person visits, although these differences did not reach statistical significance. Regarding the type of therapy, patients attending in-person visits were more likely to receive an intravenous treatment rather than those using telemedicine (23/66, 62.2% vs 17/224, 40.5%; P<.001).
Conclusions
Telemedicine such as patient portals are feasible strategies in the management of patients with lymphoma during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a reduction of in-person visits to the hospital and a very low contagion rate.
Australia currently faces a skill shortage in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) professions unlikely to improve if the current trend of low enrolments in high-level mathematics ...in secondary school continues. Many factors seem to contribute to this trend, and amongst them, research recognises student a
ttitudes
towards mathematics and careers in STEM. Research also shows that teachers and classroom practices are key agents to change these attitudes. This paper examines teachers’ perceptions of students’ attitudes towards mathematics and careers in STEM, as well as classroom practices emanating from those perceptions. Combining data from two studies, a large-scale survey and an intervention, we argue three main points: (1) student attitudes and teachers’ perceptions of those attitudes quite clearly differ, (2) targeted interventions showing links between mathematics and careers in STEM can have an influence on students’ perceptions of STEM careers and (3) an implementation of classroom ability grouping based on standardised test scores can be disadvantageous to students who have a natural inclination towards STEM and positive attitudes towards mathematics.
Improving student achievement through professional development (PD) is both highly sought-after and elusive. This four-arm randomised controlled trial evaluated effects of Quality Teaching Rounds ...(QTR), a pedagogy-focused form of PD, on mathematics, reading, and science outcomes for elementary students (n = 5478). Outcomes at baseline and 8-month follow-up were compared for QTR, QTR trainer-led, peer-observation, and wait-list control groups. Students in the QTR group made 25% more progress in mathematics than the control group (g = 0.12, 95% CI: 0.07–0.17). This result supports QTR as a form of PD with significant potential for wider impact.
•A four-arm randomised controlled trial examining PD effects on student achievement.•PD intervention was pedagogy-focused Quality Teaching Rounds (QTR).•QTR has significant impact on students’ mathematics achievement.•PLCs undertaking peer observation insufficient for growth in achievement.•QTR is a powerful form of PD with significant potential for wider impact.
In this paper we study the evolution of locative relative adverbs from Classical to Late Latin and Early Romance Languages. The focus is posed on a corpus of Iberian chartae from the 9th-10th ...centuries. Key words: morphosyntax, locative relative adverbs, Latin Language, Romance Languages
Purpose
Therapeutic options for cancer patients have increased in the last years, although drugs resistance problem remains unresolved. Genetic background in individual susceptibility to cancer ...treatment could influence the therapy responses. The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility of using blood 4 genes (
AEG-1
,
BRCA-1
,
REV3L
and
TYMS
) expression levels as a predictor of the efficacy of pemetrexed therapy in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
Methods
Sixteen patients from the Medical Oncology Department at “12 de Octubre” Hospital, were included in the study. Total mRNA was isolated from blood samples, and gene expression was analyzed by RT-qPCR. A panel of lung tumor cell lines were used in cell proliferation tests and siRNA-mediated silencing assays.
Results
Similarity between blood gene expression levels and protein expression in matched tumor tissue was observed in 54.54% (
REV3L
) and 81.81% (
TYMS
) of cases. Gene expression of
REV3L
and
TYMS
in blood correlated directly and inversely, respectively, with progression-free survival and overall survival in the patients from our cohort. In tumor cell lines, the knockdown of
REV3L
conferred resistance to pemetrexed treatment, and the
TYMS
silencing increased the pemetrexed sensitivity of tumor cells.
Conclusions
The use of peripheral blood samples for expression quantification of interest genes is an affordable method with promising results in the evaluation of response to pemetrexed treatment. Therefore, expression levels of
REV3L
and
TYMS
genes might be used as predictive biomarkers in advanced NSCLC patients.
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