Time to relapse has prognostic value in patients with aggressive lymphoma enrolled onto the Parma trial

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of time to relapse in 188 adult patients with intermediate- or high-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) included on the Parma trial at the time of their first relapse. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The median follow-up of these patients is 102 months after registration onto the Parma study. Time to relapse was calculated from initial diagnosis, and a cutoff of 12 months was used to separate 77 patients defined as early relapse from 111 patients defined as late relapse. RESULTS: Patients with early and late relapses had significantly different overall response rates to salvage therapy with two courses of dexamethasone, high-dose cytarabine, and cisplatin (DHAP; 40% v 69%; P=.00007) and different 8-year survival rates (13% v 29%; P=.00001). Features at relapse with a negative prognostic value in univariate analysis were higher than normal lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) levels, tumor size greater than 5 cm, Ann Arbor stages III to IV, and Karnofsky score less than 80%. Therefore, multivariate analyses were performed. Time to relapse (P=.001) and LDH levels at relapse (P=.003) had independent prognostic value, whereas tumor size did not reach statistical significance in the logistic model that predicted overall response after two courses of DHAP. The study of prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) confirmed the prognostic value of time to relapse (P < .0001 for OS and P=.005 for PFS) independent of response or treatment after two courses of DHAP. CONCLUSION: Time to relapse may be used to stratify patients at time of first relapse of intermediate to high-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.     

0.75 V supply nanowatt resistorless sub-bandgap curvature-compensated CMOS voltage reference

This work presents a resistorless self-biased and small area sub-bandgap voltage reference that works in the nano-ampere consumption range with 0.75 V of power supply. The circuit applies a curvature compensation technique that allows an extended temperature range without compromising the temperature stability. The behavior of the circuit is analytically described, and a design methodology is proposed which allows the separate adjustment of the bipolar junction transistor bias current and its curvature compensation. Simulation results are presented for a 180 nm CMOS process, where a reference voltage of 469 mV is designed, with a temperature coefficient of 5 ppm/°C for the ?40 to 125 °C extended temperature range. The power consumption of the whole circuit is 16.3 nW under a 0.75 V power supply at 27 °C. The estimated silicon area is 0.0053 mm².     

Fabrication of Strained-Si/Strained-Ge Heterostructures on Insulator

Ultrathin strained-Si/strained-Ge heterostructures on insulator have been fabricated using a bond and etch-back technique. The substrate consists of a trilayer of 9 nm strained-Si/4 nm strained-Ge/3 nm strained-Si on a 400-nm-thick buried oxide. The epitaxial trilayer structure was originally grown pseudomorphic to a relaxed Si_0.5Ge_0.5 layer on a donor substrate. Raman analysis of the as-grown and final transferred layer structures indicates that there is little change in the strain in the Si and Ge layers after layer transfer. These ultrathin Si and Ge films have very high levels of strain (∼1.8% biaxial tension and 1.4% compression, respectively), and are suitable for enhanced-mobility field-effect transistor applications.     

Extending the power line LAN up to the neighborhood transformer

This article reports on the performance of audio, video, multimedia, and other high-data-rate in-home networking applications. The article starts by describing the problems encountered in power line communication channels in terms of frequency response and noise characteristics, and explains how in-home power line LANs can be extended to the neighborhood transformer. OFDM physical layers providing speeds of 45 Mb/s and 200 Mb/s as well as QoS and security are introduced. Finally, the results of large tests involving several thousands of nodes are described.     

Human spinal arachnoid villi and granulations

A commercially available recording of Northwestern University Auditory Test No. 6 (N.U. No. 6) produced by Auditec of St. Louis was evaluated in a series of four studies. Interlist equivalence of this version was initially investigated, and then normative intelligibility functions were developed using listerners with normal hearing. Intelligibility functions for the original version of N.U. No. 6. prepared by Northwestern University, were then derived, concurrently with functions of the Auditec version, using (1) a group of listeners with normal hearing; and (2) a group with sensorineural hearing loss. The results demonstrated good interlist equivalence for the Auditec version of N.U. No. 6. The comparative intelligibility functions for the Auditec and Northwestern versions of N.U. No 6 furthermore indicated a difference between the two recordings, but it was concluded that for clinical purposes the two versions may be considered equivalent.     

The solution of a dosimetry problem caused by a mercury shutter

Replies to L. E. Beutler et al (see record 1973-31675-001) who presented data in defense of using the number of patients rather than the number of therapists as the unit of analysis for assessing the reliability of process psychotherapy variables. The present paper presents data suggesting that the Beutler et al interpretation of their research findings is not valid. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)