A phase II study of weekly neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by radical chemoradiation for locally advanced cervical cancer

Background: We investigated the feasibility of dose-dense neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) with paclitaxel and carboplatin before radical chemoradiation (CRT) and assessed the response rate to such a regimen. Methods: CxII is a single-arm phase II trial of 46 patients, with locally advanced cervical cancer (stage Ib2-IVa). Patients received dose-dense carboplatin (AUC2) and paclitaxel (80 mg m−2) weekly for six cycles followed by CRT (40 mg m−2 of weekly cisplatin, 50.4 Gy, 28 fractions plus brachytherapy). The primary end point was response rate 12 weeks post-CRT. Results: Baseline characteristics were: median age at diagnosis 43 years; 72% squamous, 22% adenocarcinoma and 7% adenosquamous histologies; FIGO stage IB2 (11%), II (50%), III (33%), IV (7%). Complete or partial response rate was 70% (95% CI: 54–82) post-NACT and 85% (95% CI: 71–94) post-CRT. The median follow-up was 39.1 months. Overall and progression-free survivals at 3 years were 67% (95% CI: 51–79) and 68% (95% CI: 51–79), respectively. Grade 3/4 toxicities were 20% during NACT (11% haematological, 9% non-haematological) and 52% during CRT (haematological: 41%, non-haematological: 22%). Conclusion: A good response rate is achieved by dose-dense weekly NACT with carboplatin and paclitaxel followed by radical CRT. This treatment regimen is feasible as evidenced by the acceptable toxicity of NACT and by the high compliance to radiotherapy (98%)

Effect of acute pesticide exposure on bee spatial working memory using an analogue of the radial-arm maze

Pesticides, including neonicotinoids, typically target pest insects by being neurotoxic. Inadvertent exposure to foraging insect pollinators is usually sub-lethal, but may affect cognition. One cognitive trait, spatial working memory, may be important in avoiding previously-visited flowers and other spatial tasks such as navigation. To test this, we investigated the effect of acute thiamethoxam exposure on spatial working memory in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris, using an adaptation of the radial-arm maze (RAM). We first demonstrated that bumblebees use spatial working memory to solve the RAM by showing that untreated bees performed significantly better than would be expected if choices were random or governed by stereotyped visitation rules. We then exposed bees to either a high sub-lethal positive control thiamethoxam dose (2.5ng-1 bee), or one of two low doses (0.377 or 0.091ng-1) based on estimated field-realistic exposure. The high dose caused bees to make more and earlier spatial memory errors and take longer to complete the task than unexposed bees. For the low doses, the negative effects were smaller but statistically significant, and dependent on bee size. The spatial working memory impairment shown here has the potential to harm bees exposed to thiamethoxam, through possible impacts on foraging efficiency or homing

The great melting pot. Common sole population connectivity assessed by otolith and water fingerprints

Quantifying the scale and importance of individual dispersion between populations and life stages is a key challenge in marine ecology. The common sole (Solea solea), an important commercial flatfish in the North Sea, Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, has a marine pelagic larval stage, a benthic juvenile stage in coastal nurseries (lagoons, estuaries or shallow marine areas) and a benthic adult stage in deeper marine waters on the continental shelf. To date, the ecological connectivity among these life stages has been little assessed in the Mediterranean. Here, such an assessment is provided for the first time for the Gulf of Lions, NW Mediterranean, based on a dataset on otolith microchemistry and stable isotopic composition as indicators of the water masses inhabited by individual fish. Specifically, otolith Ba/Ca and Sr/Ca profiles, and delta C-13 and delta O-18 values of adults collected in four areas of the Gulf of Lions were compared with those of young-of-the-year collected in different coastal nurseries. Results showed that a high proportion of adults (>46%) were influenced by river inputs during their larval stage. Furthermore Sr/Ca ratios and the otolith length at one year of age revealed that most adults (similar to 70%) spent their juvenile stage in nurseries with high salinity, whereas the remainder used brackish environments. In total, data were consistent with the use of six nursery types, three with high salinity (marine areas and two types of highly saline lagoons) and three brackish (coastal areas near river mouths, and two types of brackish environments), all of which contributed to the replenishment of adult populations. These finding implicated panmixia in sole population in the Gulf of Lions and claimed for a habitat integrated management of fisherie

Historicising Material Agency: from Relations to Relational Constellations

Relational approaches have gradually been changing the face of archaeology over the last decade: analytically, through formal network analysis; and interpretively, with various frameworks of human-thing relations. Their popularity has been such, however, that it threatens to undermine their relevance. If everyone agrees that we should understand past worlds by tracing relations, then ‘finding relations’ in the past becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Focusing primarily on the interpretive approaches of material culture studies, this article proposes to counter the threat of irrelevance by not just tracing human-thing relations, but characterising how sets of relations were ordered. Such ordered sets are termed ‘relational constellations’. The article describes three relational constellations and their consequences based on practices of fine ware production in the Western Roman provinces (first century BC – third century AD): the fluid, the categorical, and the rooted constellation. Specifying relational constellations allows reconnecting material culture to specific historical trajectories, and offers scope for meaningful cross-cultural comparisons. As such a small theoretical addition based on the existing toolbox of practice-based approaches and relational thought can impact on historical narratives, and can save relational frameworks from the danger of triviality.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10816-015-9244-

Search for Dark Matter and Supersymmetry with a Compressed Mass Spectrum in the Vector Boson Fusion Topology in Proton-Proton Collisions at root s=8 TeV

Peer reviewe

Oral mucositis and selective elimination of oral flora in head and neck cancer patients receiving radiotherapy: a double-blind randomised clinical trial

Mucositis is an acute inflammation of the oral mucosa because of radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy. All patients receiving radiotherapy in the head and neck region develop oral mucositis. The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of selective oral flora elimination on radiotherapy-induced oral mucositis, in a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial. Sixty-five patients with a malignant tumour in the head and neck regions to be treated with primary curative or postoperative radiotherapy participated in this study. The patients received either the active lozenges of 1 g containing polymyxin E 2 mg, tobramycin 1.8 mg and amphotericin B 10 mg (PTA) (33 patients) or the placebo lozenges (32 patients), four times daily during the full course of radiotherapy. Mucositis, changes in the oral flora, quality of feeding and changes of total body weight were assessed. Mucositis score did not differ between the groups during the first 5 weeks of radiotherapy. Nasogastric tube feeding was needed in six patients (19%) of the placebo group and two patients (6%) of the PTA group (P=0.08). Mean weight loss after 5 weeks of radiation was less in the PTA group (1.3 kg) (s.d.: 3.0) than in the placebo group (2.8 kg) (s.d.: 2.9) (P=0.05). Colonisation index of Candida species and Gram-negative bacilli was reduced in the PTA group and not in the placebo group (P<0.05). No effect on other microorganisms was detected. In conclusion, selective oral flora elimination in head and neck irradiation patients does not prevent the development of severe mucositis. Record 8 of 10 - SilverPlatter MEDLINE(R)

Intraspecific Geographic Variation of Fragrances Acquired by Orchid Bees in Native and Introduced Populations

Male orchid bees collect volatiles, from both floral and non-floral sources, that they expose as pheromone analogues (perfumes) during courtship display. The chemical profile of these perfumes, which includes terpenes and aromatic compounds, is both species-specific and divergent among closely related lineages. Thus, fragrance composition is thought to play an important role in prezygotic reproductive isolation in euglossine bees. However, because orchid bees acquire fragrances entirely from exogenous sources, the chemical composition of male perfumes is prone to variation due to environmental heterogeneity across habitats. We used Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) to characterize the perfumes of 114 individuals of the green orchid bee (Euglossa aff. viridissima) sampled from five native populations in Mesoamerica and two naturalized populations in the southeastern United States. We recorded a total of 292 fragrance compounds from hind-leg extracts, and found that overall perfume composition was different for each population. We detected a pronounced chemical dissimilarity between native (Mesoamerica) and naturalized (U.S.) populations that was driven both by proportional differences of common compounds as well as the presence of a few chemicals unique to each population group. Despite these differences, our data also revealed remarkable qualitative consistency in the presence of several major fragrance compounds across distant populations from dissimilar habitats. In addition, we demonstrate that naturalized bees are attracted to and collect large quantities of triclopyr 2-butoxyethyl ester, the active ingredient of several commercially available herbicides. By comparing incidence values and consistency indices across populations, we identify putative functional compounds that may play an important role in courtship signaling in this species of orchid bee

Characterizing a scientific elite: the social characteristics of the most highly cited scientists in environmental science and ecology

In science, a relatively small pool of researchers garners a disproportionally large number of citations. Still, very little is known about the social characteristics of highly cited scientists. This is unfortunate as these researchers wield a disproportional impact on their fields, and the study of highly cited scientists can enhance our understanding of the conditions which foster highly cited work, the systematic social inequalities which exist in science, and scientific careers more generally. This study provides information on this understudied subject by examining the social characteristics and opinions of the 0.1% most cited environmental scientists and ecologists. Overall, the social characteristics of these researchers tend to reflect broader patterns of inequality in the global scientific community. However, while the social characteristics of these researchers mirror those of other scientific elites in important ways, they differ in others, revealing findings which are both novel and surprising, perhaps indicating multiple pathways to becoming highly cited

Chronic pain and sex differences:Women accept and move, while men feel blue

Purpose The aim of this study is to explore differences between male and female patients entering a rehabilitation program at a pain clinic in order to gain a greater understanding of different approaches to be used in rehabilitation. Method 1371 patients referred to a specialty pain rehabilitation clinic, completed sociodemographic and pain related questionnaires. They rated their pain acceptance (CPAQ-8), their kinesiophobia (TSK), the impact of pain in their life (MPI), anxiety and depression levels (HAD) and quality of life scales: the SF-36, LiSat-11, and the EQ-5D. Because of the large sample size of the study, the significance level was set at the p amp;lt;= .01. Results Analysis by t-test showed that when both sexes experience the same pain severity, women report significantly higher activity level, pain acceptance and social support while men report higher kinesiophobia, mood disturbances and lower activity level. Conclusion Pain acceptance (CPAQ-8) and kinesiophobia (TSK) showed the clearest differences between men and women. Pain acceptance and kinesiophobia are behaviorally defined and have the potential to be changed.Funding Agencies|Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR); Vardal Foundation; RehSAM; AFA insurance, Sweden; Swedish Association for Survivors of Accident and Injury (RTP); Renee Eanders Foundation</p