Indications and limitations of chemotherapy and targeted agents in non-small cell lung cancer brain metastases.

Lung cancer is characterized by the highest incidence of solid tumor-related brain metastases, which are reported with a growing incidence during the last decade. Prognostic assessment may help to identify subgroups of patients that could benefit from more aggressive therapy of metastatic disease, in particular when central nervous system is involved. The recent sub-classification of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) into molecularly-defined "oncogene-addicted" tumors, the emergence of effective targeted treatments in molecularly defined patient subsets, global improvement of advanced NSCLC survival as well as the availability of refined new radiotherapy techniques are likely to impact on outcomes of patients with brain dissemination. The present review focuses on key evidence and research strategies for systemic treatment of patients with central nervous system involvement in non-small cell lung cancer.

Prospective randomized study of two cryopreservation policies avoiding embryo selection: the pronucleate stage leads to a higher cumulative delivery rate than the early cleavage stage.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the cumulative live birth rates obtained after cryopreservation of either pronucleate (PN) zygotes or early-cleavage (EC) embryos. DESIGN: Prospective randomized study. SETTING: University hospital. PATIENT(S): Three hundred eighty-two patients, involved in an IVF/ICSI program from January 1993 to December 1995, who had their supernumerary embryos cryopreserved either at the PN (group I) or EC (group II) stage. For 89 patients, cryopreservation of EC embryos was canceled because of poor embryo development (group III). Frozen-thawed embryo transfers performed up to December 1998 were considered. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Age, oocytes, zygotes, cryopreserved and transferred embryos, damage after thawing, cumulative embryo scores, implantation, and cumulative live birth rates. RESULT(S): The clinical pregnancy and live birth rates were similar in all groups after fresh embryo transfers. Significantly higher implantation (10.5% vs. 5.9%) and pregnancy rates (19.5% vs. 10.9%; P< or = .02 per transfer after cryopreserved embryo transfers were obtained in group I versus group II, leading to higher cumulative pregnancy (55.5% vs. 38.6%; P < or = .002 and live birth rates (46.9% vs. 27.7%; P< or = .0001.Conclusion(s): The transfer of a maximum of three unselected embryos and freezing of all supernumerary PN zygotes can be safely done with significantly higher cumulative pregnancy chances than cryopreserving at a later EC stage.

Audit report on the Iowa Department of Human Services – Targeted Case Management Unit for the year ended June 30, 2013

Audit report on the Iowa Department of Human Services – Targeted Case Management Unit for the year ended June 30, 2013

An overlapping generations approach to price policies in privatehealthcare insurance. The Catalan case

We analyze premium policies and price dispersion among private healthcare insurance firms from an overlapping-generations model. The model shows that firms that apply equal premium to all policyholders and firms that set premiums according to the risk of insured can coexist in the short run, whereas coexistence is unlikely in the long run because it requires the coincidence of economic growth and interest rates. We find support for the model’s results in the Catalan health insurance industry. Keywords: Economic theory, price policies, health insurance, health economics, overlapping-generations. JEL Classifications: I11 / L11 / L23

Review of targeted small business procurement activities for the year ended June 30, 2014

Review of targeted small business procurement activities for the year ended June 30, 2014

Somatostatin Subtype‑2 Receptor-Targeted Metal-Based Anticancer Complexes

Conjugates of a dicarba analogue of octreotide, a potent somatostatin agonist whose receptors are overexpressed on tumor cells, with [PtCl2(dap)] (dap = 1-(carboxylic acid)-1,2-diaminoethane) (3), [(η6-bip)Os(4-CO2-pico)Cl] (bip = biphenyl, pico = picolinate) (4), [(η6-p-cym)RuCl(dap)]+ (p-cym = p-cymene) (5), and [(η6-p-cym)RuCl(imidazole-CO2H)(PPh3)]+ (6), were synthesized by using a solid-phase approach. Conjugates 35 readily underwent hydrolysis and DNA binding, whereas conjugate 6 was inert to ligand substitution. NMR spectroscopy and molecular dynamics calculations showed that conjugate formation does not perturb the overall peptide structure. Only 6 exhibited antiproliferative activity in human tumor cells (IC50 = 63 ± 2 μM in MCF-7 cells and IC50 = 26 ± 3 μM in DU-145 cells) with active participation of somatostatin receptors in cellular uptake. Similar cytotoxic activity was found in a normal cell line (IC50 = 45 ± 2.6 μM in CHO cells), which can be attributed to a similar level of expression of somatostatin subtype-2 receptor. These studies provide new insights into the effect of receptor-binding peptide conjugation on the activity of metal-based anticancer drugs, and demonstrate the potential of such hybrid compounds to target tumor cells specifically.

Immigration and housing: rethinking the role of fiscal policies to manage diversity

We study the two key social issues of immigration and housing in lightof each other and analyse which housing policies work best to distributediversity (racial, economic, cultural) equally across our cities and towns. Inparticular, we compare the impact of direct government expenditure andtax incentives on the housing conditions of immigrants in four Europeancountries: France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. The analysisshows that the different policies which have been adopted in these countrieshave not succeeded in preventing immigrants from being concentratedin certain neighbourhoods. The reason is that housing benefits andtax incentives are normally “spatially blind”. In our opinion, governmentsshould consider immigration indirectly in their housing policies and, forinstance, distribute social housing more evenly across different areas topromote sustainable levels of diversity.

Modeling Merging Behavior at Lane Drops, InTrans Projects 13-466 and 06-277, 2015

In work-zone configurations where lane drops are present, merging of traffic at the taper presents an operational concern. In addition, as flow through the work zone is reduced, the relative traffic safety of the work zone is also reduced. Improving work-zone flow-through merge points depends on the behavior of individual drivers. By better understanding driver behavior, traffic control plans, work zone policies, and countermeasures can be better targeted to reinforce desirable lane closure merging behavior, leading to both improved safety and work-zone capacity. The researchers collected data for two work-zone scenarios that included lane drops with one scenario on the Interstate and the other on an urban arterial roadway. The researchers then modeled and calibrated these scenarios in VISSIM using real-world speeds, travel times, queue lengths, and merging behaviors (percentage of vehicles merging upstream and near the merge point). Once built and calibrated, the researchers modeled strategies for various countermeasures in the two work zones. The models were then used to test and evaluate how various merging strategies affect safety and operations at the merge areas in these two work zones.

Volume-targeted and whole-heart coronary magnetic resonance angiography using an intravascular contrast agent.

PURPOSE: To compare volume-targeted and whole-heart coronary magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) after the administration of an intravascular contrast agent. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Six healthy adult subjects underwent a navigator-gated and -corrected (NAV) free breathing volume-targeted cardiac-triggered inversion recovery (IR) 3D steady-state free precession (SSFP) coronary MRA sequence (t-CMRA) (spatial resolution = 1 x 1 x 3 mm(3)) and high spatial resolution IR 3D SSFP whole-heart coronary MRA (WH-CMRA) (spatial resolution = 1 x 1 x 2 mm(3)) after the administration of an intravascular contrast agent B-22956. Subjective and objective image quality parameters including maximal visible vessel length, vessel sharpness, and visibility of coronary side branches were evaluated for both t-CMRA and WH-CMRA. RESULTS: No significant differences (P = NS) in image quality were observed between contrast-enhanced t-CMRA and WH-CMRA. However, using an intravascular contrast agent, significantly longer vessel segments were measured on WH-CMRA vs. t-CMRA (right coronary artery [RCA] 13.5 +/- 0.7 cm vs. 12.5 +/- 0.2 cm; P < 0.05; and left circumflex coronary artery [LCX] 11.9 +/- 2.2 cm vs. 6.9 +/- 2.4 cm; P < 0.05). Significantly more side branches (13.3 +/- 1.2 vs. 8.7 +/- 1.2; P < 0.05) were visible for the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) on WH-CMRA vs. t-CMRA. Scanning time and navigator efficiency were similar for both techniques (t-CMRA: 6.05 min; 49% vs. WH-CMRA: 5.51 min; 54%, both P = NS). CONCLUSION: Both WH-CMRA and t-CMRA using SSFP are useful techniques for coronary MRA after the injection of an intravascular blood-pool agent. However, the vessel conspicuity for high spatial resolution WH-CMRA is not inferior to t-CMRA, while visible vessel length and the number of visible smaller-diameter vessels and side-branches are improved.