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Stage D (stage + d)
Selected AbstractsCHRONOLOGY OF THE LAST GLACIATION IN CENTRAL STRAIT OF MAGELLAN AND BAHÍA INÚTIL, SOUTHERNMOST SOUTH AMERICAGEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES A: PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, Issue 2 2005R.D. McCULLOCH ABSTRACT. Glacier fluctuations in the Strait of Magellan tell of the climatic changes that affected southern latitudes at c. 53,55°S during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and Late-glacial/Holocene transition. Here we present a revised chronology based on cosmogenic isotope analysis, 14C assays, amino acid racemisation and tephrochronology. We unpick the effect of bedrock-derived lignite which has affected many 14C dates in the past and synthesise new and revised dates that constrain five glacier advances (A to E). Advance A is prior to the LGM. LGM is represented by Advance B that reached and largely formed the arcuate peninsula Juan Mazia. Carbon-14and 10Be dating show it occurred after 31 250 cal yrs BP and culminated at 25 200,23 100 cal yrs BP and was then followed by the slightly less extensive advance C sometime before 22 400,20 300 cal yrs BP. This pattern of an early maximum is found elsewhere in South America and more widely. Stage D, considerably less extensive, culminated sometime before 17 700,17 600 cal yrs BP and was followed by rapid and widespread glacier retreat. Advance E, which dammed a lake, spanned 15 500,11770 cal yrs BP. This latter advance overlaps the Bølling-Allerød interstadials and the glacier retreat occurs during the peak of the Younger Dryas stadial in the northern hemisphere. However, the stage E advance coincides with the Antarctic Cold Reversal (c. 14800,12700 cal yrs BP) and may indicate that some millennial-scale climatic fluctuations in the Late-glacial period are out of phase between the northern and southern hemispheres. [source] ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY OF HEATED CORNSTARCH,WATER MIXTURESJOURNAL OF FOOD PROCESS ENGINEERING, Issue 6 2009EDUARDO MORALES-SANCHEZ ABSTRACT Electrical conductivity (EC) of cornstarch,water mixtures in the range 10:90 to 70:30 (w/w) was studied as a function of temperature. An external resistive heating system equipped with an electronic device capable of monitoring EC in real time was used and EC of the mixtures was measured while heated at a rate of 5C/min. Results showed that EC went through four different temperature-dependent stages (A, B, C and D). Stage B (41C to 64C) showed a lower EC increasing rate when compared with that of Stage A (from 25C to 41C), probably as a result of starch granule swelling. In Stage C (64C to 78C), EC behavior was found to be dependent on water content. When water content was more than 50%, the value for EC increased. On the other side, EC decreased when water content was less than 50%. Stage C was related to starch gelatinization, according to differential scanning calorimetry results obtained in this study. In Stage D (78C to 92C), a steady increase in EC was observed, probably as a result of the total solubilization of starch in water. It was concluded that Stage C in EC graphs corresponded to cornstarch gelatinization, so it might be possible to use EC monitoring as an alternative technique to measure cornstarch thermal characteristics with different contents of water. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Electrical conductivity can be used as an adequate technique to monitor gelatinization, granule swelling and phase change of starch as a function of temperature in corn starch,water mixtures with a wide range of water contents. With this technique, it is also possible to calculate important thermal parameters, such as the beginning and end of the gelatinization and the energy activation for the heating process of cornstarch. This can lead to a better design and control of important industrial corn processes such as alkaline cooking. [source] Reliability of collecting colorectal cancer stage information from pathology reports and general practitioners in QueenslandAUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 4 2008Lauren J. Krnjacki Objective: To investigate the reliability of collecting colorectal stage information from pathology reports and general practitioners in Queensland, Australia. Methods: A longitudinal study of colorectal cancer survivors conducted in 2003 and 2004 (n=1966, response rate=57%) obtained stage information from clinical specialists (n=1334), general practitioners (GP) (n=1417) and by extracting stage from pathology reports (n=1484). Reliability of stage information was determined by comparing stage from GPs and pathology reports with that reported by the clinical specialists, using a weighted kappa. Results: GPs and pathology reports each had a similar level of agreement with clinical specialists, with kappa scores of 0.77 (0.75-0.80) (n=1042) and 0.78 (0.75-0.81) (n=1152), respectively. Results were similar when restricting to records staged by all three methods (n=847). GPs had similar levels of agreement with clinical specialists within each stage, although pathology reports tended to under-stage patients in Stage D (0.37). Collapsing stage into two categories (A or B, C or D) increased the reliability estimates from the pathology reports to 0.91 (0.88-0.93), but there was little change in GP estimates 0.79 (0.75-0.83). Conclusions: Extractions from pathology reports are a valid source of broad stage information for colorectal cancer. Implications: In the absence of clinical stage data, access to pathology records by population-based cancer registries enables a more accurate assessment of survival inequalities in colorectal cancer survival. [source] Serum active hepatocyte growth factor (AHGF) in benign prostatic disease and prostate cancerTHE PROSTATE, Issue 4 2009Kenji Yasuda Abstract BACKGROUND Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is secreted as an inactive single-chain precursor called pro-HGF. Pro-HGF is converted to an active two-chain form by HGF activator and matriptase. We attempted to clarify whether serum levels of active HGF (AHGF) could be used as a marker of prostate cancer. METHODS Serum levels of AHGF and total HGF (THGF; pro-HGF,+,AHGF) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 38 patients with benign prostatic disease and 160 patients with prostate cancer. RESULTS Serum levels of AHGF in patients with untreated prostate cancer (0.37,± 0.12 ng/ml) were significantly higher than those in patients with benign prostatic disease (0.28,±,0.08 ng/ml) (P,=,0.0001). Serum AHGF levels were increased in patients with stage D or D3 compared with stage B. In addition, there were significant differences in serum AHGF levels between patients with well-differentiated and poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. Furthermore, the mean serum AHGF/THGF ratio in patients with stage D3 prostate cancer was significantly higher than that in patients with stage B. CONCLUSIONS AHGF may be a potential tumor marker for prostate cancer. Further studies in large groups of patients are needed to define the clinical value of AHGF. Prostate 69:346,351, 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Extent of disease burden determined with magnetic resonance imaging of the bone marrow is predictive of survival outcome in patients with multiple myelomaCANCER, Issue 1 2010Sikander Ailawadhi MD Abstract BACKGROUND: Multiple myeloma (MM) remains an incurable cancer. Treatment often is initiated at the time patients experience a progressive increase in tumor burden. The authors of this report investigated magnetic resonance imaging of the bone marrow (BM-MRI) as a novel approach to quantify disease burden and validated a staging system by correlating BM-MRI with common clinical and laboratory parameters. METHODS: The extent of bone marrow involvement was evaluated by BM-MRI. Clinical and laboratory parameters were assessed in patients with active MM, and correlations between variables were assessed statistically. Bone marrow involvement by BM-MRI was defined as stage A (0%), stage B (<10%), stage C (10%-50%), and stage D (>50%). RESULTS: In total, 170 consecutive patients were evaluated (77 women and 93 men), including 144 patients who had active MM. The median age was 61 years (age range, 35-83 years). Advance stage disease (stage >I) based on Durie-Salmon (DS) staging or International Staging System (ISS) criteria was observed in 122 patients (84%) and 77 patients (53%), respectively. Lytic bone disease was noted in 120 patients (83%). There was a significant association between BM-MRI involvement and DS stage (P = .0006), ISS stage (P = .0001), the presence of lytic bone disease (P < .0001) and mean ,-2 microglobulin levels (P < .0001). Among the patients with previously untreated MM, there was a significant association between BM-MRI stage and overall survival (OS) (univariate P = .013; multivariate P = .045). Plasmacytosis on bone marrow biopsy at diagnosis was not predictive of OS (P = .91). CONCLUSIONS: BM-MRI is a novel approach for quantifying disease burden in patients with MM. The current investigation in a large cohort of nontransplantion MM patients demonstrated that the extent of bone marrow involvement determined by BM-MRI correlates accurately with other conventional parameters of disease burden and can independently predict survival in patients with MM at the time of initial diagnosis. Cancer 2010. © 2010 American Cancer Society. [source] | ||||||||||