University of Saint Mary

About: University of Saint Mary is a education organization based out in Leavenworth, Kansas, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Galaxy. The organization has 2276 authors who have published 2399 publications receiving 58990 citations. The organization is also known as: University of St. Mary & University of St Mary.

Concomitant boost radiotherapy and multidrug chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant treatment of locally advanced rectal cancer: results of a phase II study

Abstract: Background. An intensifi ed multidrug chemotherapy regimen (raltitrexed plus oxaliplatin, Tom-Ox) plus concomitant boost radiotherapy, in the neoadjuvant treatment of locally advanced rectal cancer patients, was shown feasible in our previous study. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effi cacy in terms of pathologic complete response to pre-operative therapy. Material and methods : A Phase II study was designed and clinical stage T3-T4 and/ or N 1 patients were treated with concomitant boost radiotherapy (55 Gy/5 weeks) plus concurrent chemotherapy (Tom-Ox). The primary endpoint was the assessment of effi cacy in terms of clinical and pathologic response to pre-operative therapy. According to the Gehan ’ s design study, 25 patients were enrolled. Toxicity was assessed according to the RTOG-EORTC and CTCAE v.3.0 criteria. Results : Twenty-fi ve consecutive patients were treated. Twenty-two of the 25 (88%) patients had a partial clinical response at the time of preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Only one patient showed progressive systemic disease at pre-surgical revaluation and was subjected only to biopsy to evaluate pathological response. Twenty-four patients (96%) underwent surgery. Overall, pathologic complete response was observed in eight patients (32%; CI 0.95:12 ‐ 55%) and only microscopic tumor foci (pTmic) in two patients (pT0-mic: 40%; CI 0.95:18 ‐ 63%). Nineteen patients (76%) showed tumor down-staging. Proctitis and/or diarrhea were the most frequent acute side effects experienced. Eighteen patients had grade 1 ‐ 2 toxicity (77%); whereas two patients experienced grade 3 toxicity (8%). Two-year Local control and actuarial Disease Free Survival were 100% and 91%, respectively. Conclusion. An intensifi ed regimen of concomitant boost radiotherapy plus concurrent raltitrexed and oxaliplatin, can be safely administered in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. This regimen produces high rates of pathological complete response. Based on available data, this type of treatment could be offered to patients

FTY720 preserved islet β-cell mass by inhibiting apoptosis and increasing survival of β-cells in db/db mice.

Abstract: Background FTY720, an analogue of sphingosine-1-phosphate, has shown potential in the treatment of several autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes and systemic lupus erythematosus. It prevents development or cure of autoimmune diabetes in animal models. Recently, we reported that FTY720 also prevents development of diabetes in db/db mice by β-cell regeneration in vivo. This study investigated the effect of FTY720 on apoptosis in β-cells in db/db mice treated with FTY720 16 weeks. Methods Six week old female db/db mice were divided into control and FTY720 groups. FTY720 (10 mg/kg) was orally administrated daily. Body weights and fasting glucose levels were measured once a week after overnight fasting. After 16 weeks of treatment, oral glucose and insulin tolerance tests were performed, serum insulin levels and insulin contents in pancreas were determined, and then all mice were subjected to physiological and histological analyses. Results FTY720-treated mice showed normal fasting glucose levels, improved glucose tolerance with normal insulin sensitivity and restored β-cell function to produce and secret insulin. Pancreas histology revealed that FTY720 prevented islet damage and preserved β-cell mass by inhibiting apoptosis and increasing β-cell survival in pancreatic islets. Conclusions We concluded that early intervention with FTY720 in db/db mice can prevent development of diabetes through preserving β-cell mass by inhibiting apoptosis and increasing survival of islet β-cells. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Atmospheric models of red giants with massive scale NLTE

Abstract: We present plane-parallel and spherical LTE and NLTE atmospheric models of a variety of stellar parameters of the red giant star Arcturus (alpha Boo, HD124897, HR5340) and study their ability to fit the measured absolute flux distribution. Our NLTE models include tens of thousands of the strongest lines in NLTE, and we investigate separately the effects of treating the light metals and the Fe group elements Fe and Ti in NLTE. We find that the NLTE effects of Fe group elements on the model structure and flux distribution are much more important than the NLTE effects of all the light metals combined, and serve to substantially increases the violet and near UV flux level as a result of NLTE Fe over-ionization. Both the LTE and NLTE models predict significantly more flux in the blue and UV bands than is observed. We find that within the moderately metal-poor metallicity range, the effect of NLTE on the overall UV flux level decreases with decreasing metallicity. These results suggest that there may still be important UV opacity missing from the models. We find that models of solar metallicity giants of similar spectral type to Arcturus fit well the observed flux distributions of those stars from the red to the near UV band. This suggests that the blue and near UV flux discrepancy is metallicity dependent, increasing with decreasing metallicity.