Intensive postremission chemotherapy in adults with acute myeloid leukemia. Cancer and Leukemia Group B

BACKGROUND: About 65 percent of previously untreated adults with primary acute myeloid leukemia (AML) enter complete remission when treated with cytarabine and an anthracycline. However, such responses are rarely durable when conventional postremission therapy is administered. Uncontrolled trials have suggested that intensive postremission therapy may prolong these complete remissions. METHODS: We treated 1088 adults with newly diagnosed AML with three days of daunorubicin and seven days of cytarabine and randomly assigned patients who had a complete remission to receive four courses of cytarabine at one of three doses: 100 mg per square meter of body-surface area per day for five days by continuous infusion, 400 mg per square meter per day for five days by continuous infusion, or 3 g per square meter in a 3-hour infusion every 12 hours (twice daily) on days 1, 3, and 5. All patients then received four courses of monthly maintenance treatment. RESULTS: Of the 693 patients who had a complete remission, 596 were randomly assigned to receive postremission cytarabine. After a median follow-up of 52 months, the disease-free survival rates in the three treatment groups were significantly different (P = 0.003). Relative to the 100-mg group, the hazard ratios were 0.67 for the 3-g group (95 percent confidence interval, 0.53 to 0.86) and 0.75 for the 400-mg group (95 percent confidence interval, 0.60 to 0.94). The probability of remaining in continuous complete remission after four years for patients 60 years of age or younger was 24 percent in the 100-mg group, 29 percent in the 400-mg group, and 44 percent in the 3-g group (P = 0.002). In contrast, for patients older than 60, the probability of remaining disease-free after four years was 16 percent or less in each of the three postremission cytarabine groups. CONCLUSIONS: These data support the concept of a dose-response effect for cytarabine in patients with AML who are 60 years of age or younger. The results with the high-dose schedule in this age group are comparable to those reported in similar patients who have undergone allogeneic bone marrow transplantation during a first remission.     

The globally Bi-3-connected property of the honeycomb rectangular torus

The honeycomb rectangular torus is an attractive alternative to existing networks such as mesh-connected networks in parallel and distributed applications because of its low network cost and well-structured connectivity. Assume that m and n are positive even integers with n ? 4. It is known that every honeycomb rectangular torus HReT(m,n) is a 3-regular bipartite graph. We prove that in any HReT(m,n), there exist three internally-disjoint spanning paths joining x and y whenever x and y belong to different partite sets. Moreover, for any pair of vertices x and y in the same partite set, there exists a vertex z in the partite set not containing x and y, such that there exist three internally-disjoint spanning paths of G-{z} joining x and y. Furthermore, for any three vertices x, y, and z of the same partite set there exist three internally-disjoint spanning paths of G-{z} joining x and y if and only if n ? 6 or m = 2.     

C pm MPPAC for manufacturing quality control applied to the precision voltage reference process

The multiprocess performance analysis chart (MPPAC) based on the process capability index C_pm, called C_pm MPPAC, is developed for analysing the manufacturing quality of a group of processes in a multiple process environment. The C_pm MPPAC conveys critical information of multiple processes regarding the departure of the process and process variability from one single chart. Existing research works on MPPAC are restricted to obtaining quality information from one single sample of each process ignoring sampling errors. The information provided from existing MPPAC charts, therefore, is unreliable and misleading and results in incorrect decisions. In this paper, we consider the natural estimator of C_pm based on multiple samples. Based on the natural estimator of C_pm, we consider the sampling errors by providing an explicit formula with the Matlab program to obtain the estimation accuracy of the C_pm. We tabulate the sampling accuracy of C_pm for sample size determination so that the engineers/practitioners can use it for their in-plant applications. An example of multiple precision voltage reference (PVR) processes is presented to illustrate the applicability of C_pm MPPAC for manufacturing quality control.     

Cracking Go

Many of the early computer-chess researchers hailed from the fields of psychology or artificial intelligence and believed that chess programs should mimic human thinking. Specifically, they wanted computers to examine only playing sequences that were meaningful according to some human reasoning process. In computer chess this policy, known as selective search, never really made progress. The reason is that humans are extremely good at recognizing patterns; it is one of the things that we do best. The article focuses on weiqi, an ancient Chinese board game, better known in the West by the Japanese name of Go, whose combinatorial complexity is many orders of magnitude greater than that of chess. Go is played on a board crisscrossed by 19 vertical and 19 horizontal lines whose 361 points of intersection constitute the playing field. The object is to conquer those intersection points.     

The high jugular bulb: report of five cases and a review of the literature

The jugular bulb varies widely in position and dimensions. A high jugular bulb is not an uncommon finding in temporal bones. Besides our five cases with different clinical manifestations, we review 52 cases diagnosed clinically and published previously in the English literature. The high jugular bulb occurs more often on the right temporal bone. Certain pathologic conditions, such as an abnormal bone formation, an aberrant sinusojugular system, or decreased pneumatization of the mastoid bone, may predispose an individual to its occurrence. Most people with this anatomical variation remain asymptomatic. However, various otologic problems and symptoms may be attributed to this condition. A high resolution computed tomography scan is the most convenient diagnostic tool at present. Law projection plain mastoid radiography may reveal a high jugular bulb in certain cases, providing a preoperative warning to an otologic surgeon. An exploratory tympanotomy is not suggested for those with a high jugular bulb with a conductive hearing loss, while jugular vein ligation has been reported to have good results in alleviating intractable pulsatile tinnitus. For most asymptomatic patients, regular long-term follow-up is recommended.     

Drag on two co-axial rigid spheres moving normal to a plane: Newtonian and Carreau fluids

The boundary effect and the presence of a nearby entity on the drag of a rigid entity is investigated by considering the movement of two identical, rigid, coaxial spheres normal to a plane in both a Newtonian and a Carreau fluid at a low to medium large Reynolds number. The parameters key to the phenomenon under consideration, including the nature of the fluid, the separation distance between two spheres, the distance between the near sphere and the plane, and the Reynolds number, on the drag coefficient are discussed. We show that the influence of a boundary on the drag coefficient is more important than that of the nature of a fluid and that of the separation distance between two spheres. The variation of the drag coefficient as a function of Reynolds number for a Carreau fluid is similar to that for a Newtonian fluid. Due to the shear-thinning nature of the former the drag coefficient in the former is smaller than that in the latter. The influence of the index parameter of a Carreau fluid becomes appreciable only if the Carreau number is sufficiently large. Correlations between the drag coefficient and the key parameters of a system are developed for the case when the Reynolds number is smaller than l.     

Random sampling, randomization, and equivalence of contrasted groups in psychotherapy outcome research.

Random sampling and random assignment (randomization) are some of the most popular methods of equating contrasted groups on pre-existing nuisance variables. However, the small samples typically used in psychotherapy outcome studies raise some questions about the extent to which these methods eliminate the pretreatment nonequivalence of groups in this area of research. This article identifies conditions under which equivalence is likely (and unlikely) to be attained with simple random sampling and randomization in psychotherapy efficacy studies of the kind examined in recent meta-analyses. Some consequences of nonequivalence are viewed as manifestations of Simpson's paradox. Misinterpretations of estimates of the relative efficacy of treatments are expected in view of belief in the law of small numbers. The minimum sample sizes needed to protect against nonequivalence are compared with those needed to satisfy several other criteria. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Muscle mass and fat mass in relation to bone mineral density in very old men and women: the Framingham Heart Study

Aim of the study was investigate the cross-sectional relationship between body composition and bone mineral density (BMD) in very old men and women. The study sample consisted of 504 women and 285 men, aged 72-93 yr, participating in examination 22 (1992-1993) of the Framingham Heart Study. Total body BMD, regional BMD, and soft-tissue body composition was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Both muscle mass and percentage body fat were positively associated with total body BMD in women. After adjustment for age, physical activity, smoking status, estrogen use, and thiazide use, BMD increased with increasing tertile of muscle mass (p = 0.007) and with increasing tertile of percentage body fat (p = 0.0001) in women. In men muscle mass, not percentage body fat, was positively associated with BMD. After adjustment for potential confounders, BMD remained associated with muscle mass only (p = 0.02). These results were similar for leg BMD and arm BMD. The study suggests that the influence of muscle and fat mass on bone mineral density is different between very old men and women.