Gravity as Gauge Theory Squared: A Ghost Story.

The Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin (BRST) transformations and equations of motion of a gravity-two-form-dilaton system are derived from the product of two Yang-Mills theories in a BRST covariant form, to linear approximation. The inclusion of ghost fields facilitates the separation of the graviton and dilaton. The gravitational gauge fixing term is uniquely determined by those of the Yang-Mills factors which can be freely chosen. Moreover, the resulting gravity-two-form-dilaton Lagrangian is anti-BRST invariant and the BRST and anti-BRST charges anticommute as a direct consequence of the formalism.

Elderly kidney transplant recipient with intermittent fever: a case report of leishmaniasis with acute kidney injury during liposomal amphotericin B therapy.

We present a case report of visceral leishmaniasis in an elderly kidney transplant recipient (age, 73 years) with high intermittent fever in the 2 months before admission. Symptoms started 16 years after transplant. The patient received appropriate treatment with liposomal amphotericin and experienced transient increases in serum creatinine levels. Progression to dialysis was avoided with short duration of therapy (5 consecutive days, plus 1 more dose 1 week apart, a schedule alternative to 15-21 days [supported by the literature]) and a temporary reduction in tacrolimus exposure. After 4 months, recurrence of symptoms without other explanation required a second bone marrow aspirate; it revealed the persistence of amastigote forms. Visceral leishmaniasis is a potentially life-threatening infection; to the best of our knowledge, this is the oldest transplanted patient with a case of leishmaniasis described in the literature.

Prognostic implications of the lymph node count after neoadjuvant treatment for rectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy on the lymph node yield of rectal cancer surgery. METHODS: Data for patients who underwent neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery for resectable rectal cancer from June 1992 to June 2009 were reviewed. The primary outcomes measured were the number of lymph nodes retrieved, their status, and patient survival. RESULTS: In total, 345 patients underwent neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery, and 95 patients had surgery alone. Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy decreased both the median (range) number of lymph nodes retrieved (7 (1-33) versus 12.5 (0-44) respectively; P < 0.001) and the number of positive lymph nodes (0 (0-11) versus 0 (0-16); P = 0.001). After neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, the number of retrieved lymph nodes was inversely correlated with tumour regression, and with the interval between treatment and surgery. The 5-year overall and disease-free survival rates were 86.5 and 79.1 per cent respectively. After neoadjuvant therapy, lymph node status was found to be an independent predictor of survival, whereas the number of retrieved lymph nodes did not represent a prognostic factor for either overall or disease-free survival. CONCLUSION: Low lymph node count after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for rectal cancer does not signify an inadequate resection or understaging, but represents an increased sensitivity to the treatment.

Current laparoscopic management of inflammatory bowel disease.

Since the introduction of laparoscopic surgery in the management of colorectal disease in the early '90s, minimally invasive techniques have gained popularity. While good quality studies have been published in the literature on laparoscopy for colorectal cancer, evidence supporting the use of minimally invasive surgery for inflammatory bowel disease is lacking. This patient population represents a challenge to the colorectal surgeon even in conventional open surgery and this has limited the widespread application of minimally invasive techniques especially in Crohn's disease. Laparoscopic ileocecal resection for Crohn's disease is the most performed minimally invasive procedure in the field of inflammatory bowel disease, with promising short-term outcomes but with still some concerns related to prolonged operative times and overall costs. For ulcerative colitis the magnitude of restorative procedures has also restricted the use of minimally invasive approaches to highly specialized tertiary referral centers. The benefits of performing restorative procedures laparoscopically for ulcerative colitis are less obvious based on the limited reports available in the literature with adequate follow-up for assessing long-term outcomes, and controversies still remains about the need for a staged approach in the era of biologic therapy. Nevertheless, surgeons are actively working in an effort to obviate to the current technical limitations of laparoscopy, and to further minimize surgical trauma. In this manuscript we will present the current evidence supporting the use of laparoscopy and minimally invasive techniques in inflammatory bowel disease and present the future direction of development and research.

Surgical issues after neoadjuvant treatment for gastric cancer.

Gastric carcinoma is one of the most frequent malignancies in the world and its clinical behavior depends on the metastatic potential of the tumour. Particularly, lymphatic metastasis is one of the main predictor of tumour recurrence and survival and current pathologic staging systems reflect the concept that lymphatic spread is the most relevant prognostic factor in patients resected with curative intent. This is deducted by the observation that two thirds of gastric cancers in the western world present at an advanced stage, with nearly 85% of tumors accompanied by lymph node metastasis at diagnosis. To date most therapeutic efforts are directed toward individualization of therapeutic protocols, tailoring the extent of resection integrated by the administration of preoperative and postoperative treatment. The goal of such strategies is to improve prognosis towards the achievement of a curative resection (R0-resection) with minimal morbidity and mortality, with better postoperative quality of life. A brief review of literature about preoperative therapy for gastric carcinoma will be herein illustrated. The rationale and the general drawbacks of preoperative treatments will be both discussed in order to demonstrate its value in terms of safety and efficacy.

Compliance with hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal Sicilian women.

OBJECTIVE: To verify the compliance with hormone replacement therapy (HRT) over 2 years in a population of postmenopausal women in East Sicily. STUDY DESIGN: Patients starting hormonal therapy for the first time were enrolled in this study. A telephone survey was then conducted after 3, 6, 12 and 24 months and the reasons for any discontinuation were recorded. RESULTS: Of a total of 138 women who agreed to be enrolled in this prospective longitudinal study 72 were still taking the treatment after 1 year and only 56 at the end of the study, although only three patients reported that they had experienced no benefit. CONCLUSIONS: Type of work, surgical menopause and previous use of oral contraceptives were significantly statistically associated with better HRT compliance. Side effects and fear of breast cancer, which we maintain is exaggerated by the women and their family doctors, were the commonest reasons for early discontinuation of the hormonal treatment.

[T-downstaging after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in locally advanced gastric carcinoma]. / T-downstaging dopo chemioterapia neoadiuvante nel carcinoma gastrico localmente avanzato.

Only a limited number of trials on neoadjuvant chemotherapy for resectable advanced gastric cancer have been planned or conducted up to date, still in recent years this treatment strategy has been considered by many the most promising tool in order to improve survival of locally advanced tumors of the stomach. Aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical significance and the possible impact on survival of tumor downstaging after neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by D2-gastrectomy in an accurately staged and thoroughly selected group of 30 locally advanced gastric cancer patients, with a complete follow-up of at least 3 years. In our series, T-downstaging was observed in 43.3% of patients; this parameter, along with other known prognostic factors, was found to be significantly associated with survival (p <0.05). Moreover, T-downstaging induced by preoperative chemotherapy was significantly associated with absence of residual tumor (R0) and no lymph node metastases (ypN0) (p <0.05). At multivariate analysis, R0-resection was the only independent prognostic factor (HR 9.439, p <0.0001). According to our results we feel encouraged to consider neoadjuvant chemotherapy a promising modality for increasing the R0-percentage by tumor downstaging.

New Evidence for the Complex Structure of the Red Giant Branch in omega Centauri.

We report on the complex structure of the red giant branch (RGB) of omega Centauri, based on a new wide-field and wide-color baseline B and I photometry. Our color-magnitude diagram (CMD) shows the presence of multiple populations along this branch; in particular, we discovered an anomalous branch (RGB-a), which appears to be well separated from the bulk of the RGB stars. On the basis of our CMD and from the previous literature, we conclude that (1) these stars, clearly identified as a separate population in our CMD, represent the extreme metal-rich extension (&sqbl0;Ca&solm0;H&sqbr0;>-0.3) of the stellar content of omega Cen and show anomalous abundances of s-process elements (as Ba and Zr) as well; (2) they are physical members of the omega Cen system; (3) they comprise approximately 5% of the stars of the whole system; and (4) this component and the metal intermediate one (-0.4>&sqbl0;Ca&solm0;H&sqbr0;>-1) have been found to share the same spatial distribution, both of them differing significantly from the most metal-poor one (&sqbl0;Ca&solm0;H&sqbr0;<-1). This last piece evidence supports the hypothesis that metal-rich components could belong to an independent (proto?) stellar system captured in the past by omega Cen.