Survival of localized NSCLC patients without active treatment or treated with SBRT.

BACKGROUND: Little information on the natural history of patients with localized NSCLC is available since many of the studies covering the subject lack information on pathological confirmation, staging procedures and comorbidity. No randomized studies have compared SBRT with no treatment for patients with localized NSCLC. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether SBRT has influence on overall survival for patients with localized NSCLC and investigate the effect of baseline ventilatory lung function on overall survival. MATERIAL AND METHODS: From 2007 to 2013, 136 patients treated with SBRT at Odense University Hospital were prospectively recorded. The thoracic SBRT consisted of three fractions of 15-22 Gy delivered in 9 days. For comparison, a national group of 73 untreated patients in the same time period was extracted from the Danish Lung Cancer Registry. All patients had histologically/cytologically proven NSCLC T1-2N0M0 with a tumour diameter ≤5 cm. RESULTS: The 5-year relative survival was 44% versus 7% for the SBRT and untreated groups, respectively. In a propensity score matched comparison the median overall survival was 47 months versus 11 months for the SBRT and untreated groups, respectively (p < .05). On multivariate analysis, SBRT was significantly associated with improved prognosis while ECOG performance status 2+ and tumour diameter ≥3 cm significantly predicted poorer prognosis. Severe to very severe reduction of forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) did not predict poorer survival for the SBRT treated patients with localized NSCLC. CONCLUSIONS: SBRT offers more favourable survival than no treatment for patients with localized NSCLC. Performance status of 0-1, tumour diameter less than 3 cm and SBRT predicted improved survival. SBRT should not be withheld for patients with localized NSCLC based on poor ventilatory lung function.

Extracorporeal shockwave therapy in the treatment of chronic diabetic foot ulcers: a prospective randomised trial.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) on healing chronic diabetic foot ulcers (DFU). METHOD: Patients with chronic DFUs were randomised (1:1) to receive a series of six ESWT treatments over 3 weeks in combination with standard care or standard care alone. ESWT was performed on DFUs using 250 shocks/cm2 and 500 shocks on arterial beds supplying the ulcer location. RESULTS: We recruited 23 patients, 11 in the intervention group and 12 in the control. Transcutaneous oxygen tension was significantly increased in patients treated with ESWT compared with those receiving standard care alone at 3 weeks (p=0.044). Ulcer area reduction was 34.5% in the intervention group versus 5.6% in the control group at 7 weeks (p=0.387). Within-group analysis revealed a significant reduction of ulcer area in the intervention group (p<0.01), while healing was not demonstrated in the control group (p>0.05) (data tested for trend). CONCLUSION: This randomised study indicates a potential beneficial effect of ESWT on ulcer healing as well as tissue oxygenation. Owing to weaknesses of the study and the fact that ulcer healing was not significantly improved in the intervention group compared with the control group, a larger randomised trial with blinded design is suggested.

Control and understanding of kink formation in InAs-InP heterostructure nanowires.

Nanowire heterostructures are of special interest for band structure engineering due to an expanded range of defect-free material combinations. However, the higher degree of freedom in nanowire heterostructure growth comes at the expense of challenges related to nanowire-seed particle interactions, such as undesired composition, grading and kink formation. To better understand the mechanisms of kink formation in nanowires, we here present a detailed study of the dependence of heterostructure nanowire morphology on indium pressure, nanowire diameter, and nanowire density. We investigate InAs-InP-InAs heterostructure nanowires grown with chemical beam epitaxy, which is a material system that allows for very abrupt heterointerfaces. Our observations indicate that the critical parameter for kink formation is the availability of indium, and that the resulting morphology is also highly dependent on the length of the InP segment. It is shown that kinking is associated with the formation of an inclined facet at the interface between InP and InAs, which destabilizes the growth and leads to a change in growth direction. By careful tuning of the growth parameters, it is possible to entirely suppress the formation of this inclined facet and thereby kinking at the heterointerface. Our results also indicate the possibility of producing controllably kinked nanowires with a high yield.

Indirect measurement of the magnetocaloric effect using a novel differential scanning calorimeter with magnetic field.

A simple and high-sensitivity differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) unit operating under magnetic field has been built for indirect determination of the magnetocaloric effect. The principle of the measuring unit in the calorimeter is based on Peltier elements as heat flow sensors. The high sensitivity of the apparatus combined with a suitable calibration procedure allows very fast and accurate heat capacity measurements under magnetic field to be made. The device was validated from heat capacity measurements for the typical DSC reference material gallium (Ga) and a La(0.67)Ca(0.33)MnO(3) manganite system and the results were highly consistent with previous reported data for these materials. The DSC has a working range from 200 to 340 K and has been tested in magnetic fields reaching 1.8 T. The signal-to-noise ratio is in the range of 10(2)-10(3) for the described experiments. Finally the results have been compared to results from a Quantum Design(R) physical properties measuring system. The configuration of the system also has the advantage of being able to operate with other types of magnets, e.g., permanent magnets or superconducting coils, as well as the ability to be expanded to a wider temperature range.

InAs1-xPx nanowires for device engineering.

We present the growth of homogeneous InAs(1-x)P(x) nanowires as well as InAs(1-x)P(x) heterostructure segments in InAs nanowires with P concentrations varying from 22% to 100%. The incorporation of P has been studied as a function of TBP/TBAs ratio, temperature, and diameter of the wires. The crystal structure of the InAs as well as the InAs(1-x)P(x) segments were found to be wurtzite as determined from high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Furthermore, temperature-dependent electrical transport measurements were performed on individual heterostructured wires to extract the conduction band offset of InAs(1-x)P(x) relative to InAs as a function of composition. From these measurements we extract a value of the linear coefficient of the conduction band versus x of 0.6 eV and a nonlinear coefficient, or bowing parameter, of 0.2 eV. Finally, homogeneous InAs(0.8)P(0.2) nanowires were shown to have a nondegenerate n-type doping and function as field-effect transistors at room temperature.

[Transfusion service of the county of Funen. Organizational and economical aspects of restructuring]. / Fyns amts transfusionsvaesen. Organisatoriske og økonomiske aspekter af en omstrukturering.

The reorganization of the transfusion service in the County of Funen during the period from 1990 to 1996 is described. The professional responsibility for the transfusion service was delegated to the county's only department with specialists in transfusion medicine. The responsibility for economy and personnel remained decentralized. Standard operation procedures for collection and production of blood components and for blood group serology were standardized resulting in higher quality. The number of collections were reduced from 47,000 to 35,000 in spite of an unchanged number of transfused units (approx. 31,000 per year). The outdating was reduced from 35 to 2%. A computer system was implemented resulting in rationalized flow of work and the introduction of a computer crossmatch. From 1997, when the computer system will have been paid for, the county and the university hospital will gain DKK 1.6 million and DKK 2.0 million per year respectively as a result of the reorganization.