Alessandro Parisi

Electromagnetic signals from bare strange stars

The crystalline color superconducting phase is believed to be the ground state of deconfined quark matter for sufficiently large values of the strange quark mass. This phase has the remarkable property of being more rigid than any known material. It can therefore sustain large shear stresses, supporting torsional oscillations of large amplitude. The torsional oscillations could lead to observable electromagnetic signals if strange stars have a crystalline color superconducting crust. Indeed, considering a simple model of strange star with a bare quark matter surface, it turns out that a positive charge is localized in a narrow shell about ten Fermi thick beneath the star surface. The electrons needed to neutralize the positive charge of quarks spill in the star exterior forming an electromagnetically bounded atmosphere hundreds of Fermi thick. When a torsional oscillation is excited, for example by a stellar glitch, the positive charge oscillates with typical kHz frequencies, for a crust thickness of about one-tenth of the stellar radius, to hundreds of Hz, for a crust thickness of about nine-tenths of the stellar radius. Higher frequencies, of the order of few GHz, can be reached if the star crust is of the order of few centimeters thick. We estimate the emitted power considering emission by an oscillating magnetic dipole, finding that it can be quite large, of the order of

Torsional oscillations of nonbare strange stars

10^{45}

Family history of cancer as surrogate predictor for immunotherapy with anti-PD1/PD-L1 agents: preliminary report of the FAMI-L1 study

erg/s for a thin crust. The associated relaxation times are very uncertain, with values ranging between microseconds and minutes, depending on the crust thickness. The radiated photons will be in part absorbed by the electronic atmosphere, but a sizable fraction of them should be emitted by the star.

Multicentric retrospective analysis of platinum-pemetrexed regimens as first-line therapy in non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer patients: A “snapshot” from clinical practice: Platinum-pemetrexed for NSCLC

Strange stars are one of the possible compact stellar objects that can be formed after a supernova collapse. We consider a model of strange star having an inner core in the color-flavor locked phase surmounted by a crystalline color superconducting layer. These two phases constitute the {it quarksphere}, which we assume to be the largest and heaviest part of the strange star. The next layer consists of standard nuclear matter forming a ionic crust, hovering on the top of the quarksphere and prevented from falling by a strong dipolar electric field. The dipolar electric field arises because quark matter is confined in the quarksphere by the strong interaction, but electrons can leak outside forming a few hundreds Fermi thick electron layer separating the ionic crust from the underlying quark matter. The ionic matter and the crystalline color superconducting matter constitute two electromagnetically coupled crust layers. We study the torsional oscillations of these two layers. Remarkably, we find that if a fraction larger than

Single-institution study of correlations between skeletal muscle mass, its density, and clinical outcomes in non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with first-line chemotherapy: Muscle mass and radiodensity in NSCLC

10^{-4}

Timed‑flat infusion of 5‑fluorouracil with docetaxel and oxaliplatin as first‑line treatment of gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma: A single institution experience with the FD/FOx regimen

of the energy of a Vela-like glitch is conveyed to a torsional oscillation, the ionic crust will likely break. The reason is that the very rigid and heavy crystalline color superconducting crust layer will absorb only a small fraction of the glitch energy, leading to a large amplitude torsional oscillation of the ionic crust.

The possible different roles of denosumab in prevention and cure breast cancer bone metastases: A ‘hypothesis‑generator’ study from clinical practice

AIMnTumors related to hereditary susceptibility seem to have an immunosensitive phenotype.nnnMATERIALS & METHODSnWe conducted a multicenter retrospective study, to investigate if family history of cancer, multiple neoplasms and early onset of cancer could be related to clinical outcomes of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy. Activity and efficacy data of 211 advanced cancer patients (kidney, non-small-cell lung cancer, melanoma, urothelium, colorectal and HeN), treated at seven Italian centers with anti-PD-1/PD-L1 agents, were analyzed.nnnRESULTSnIn this preliminary report at multivariate analyses, positive family history of cancer showed a statistically significant relationship with a better objective response rate (pxa0=xa00.0024), disease control rate (pxa0=xa00.0161), median time to treatment failure (pxa0=xa00.0203) and median overall survival (pxa0=xa00.0221). Diagnosis of multiple neoplasms significantly correlates only to a better disease control rate, while interestingly non-early onset of cancer and sex (in favor of female patients) showed significant correlation with a better median overall survival (pxa0=xa00.0268 and pxa0=xa00.0272, respectively).nnnCONCLUSIONnThis pilot study seems to individuate easily available patients features as possible predictive surrogates of clinical benefit for anti-PD-1/PD-L1 treatments. These preliminary results need to be confirmed with a greater sample size, in prospective trials with immunotherapy.

Where are we with treatment options after first line in small cell lung cancer?—report of two opposite cases treated with CAPTEM regimen and possible perspectives

The major challenge for treating non‐squamous (non‐Sq) non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients without actionable biomarkers is the actual selection of proper treatment, weighing expected clinical outcomes and safety profile.

Safe Administration of Ipilimumab, Pembrolizumab, and Nivolumab in a Patient with Metastatic Melanoma, Psoriasis, and a Previous Guillain–Barré Syndrome

Sarcopenia and muscle tissue degradation are hallmarks of the majority of chronic diseases, including non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A computed tomography scan could be an easy modality to estimate the skeletal muscle mass through cross‐sectional image analysis at the level of the third lumbar vertebra.

Topical menthol for treatment of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy

To date, there is no consensus regarding first‑line chemotherapy for patients with HER2‑negative, locally advanced/metastatic gastric cancer (a/m GC). In the present study we reported a retrospective case‑series of patients treated with a weekly regimen containing timed‑flat infusion of 5‑fluorouracil (TFI/5‑FU), docetaxel and oxaliplatin. From June 2007 to July 2017, 32 consecutive a/m GC patients were treated with first‑line standard (st) or modulated (mod) FD/FOx regimen: Weekly 12xa0h (from 10.00xa0p.m. to 10.00xa0a.m.) TFI/5‑FU for two consecutive nights at 900xa0mg/m2/day, associated to weekly alternating docetaxel, 50xa0mg/m2 and oxaliplatin, 80xa0mg/m2. The median age of the patients was 60xa0years and their Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group‑performance status (ECOG‑PS) was as follows: i)xa0ECOG‑PS 0/1, (n=28, 87.5%); and ii)xa0ECOG‑PS 2 (n=4, 12.5%). Patient activity, efficacy and safety data were collected and subgroup analyses were conducted among patients treated with st and mod FD/FOx. In the intention‑to‑treat (ITT) analysis, the objective response rate (ORR) was 75% (95%xa0CI, 53‑90) and the disease control rate (DCR) was 87.5% (95%xa0CI, 67.6‑97.3). After a median follow‑up of 16xa0months, median progression‑free survival (PFS) and median overall survival (OS) were 14.0 andxa019.0xa0months, respectively. The received dose‑intensities were ~80% of the standard doses for each agent. The most relevant treatment‑related gradexa03 adverse events were: Neutropenia (40.6%), asthenia (18.7%) and diarrhea (18.7%). The only treatment‑related grade 4 adverse event was neutropenia (9.3%). No febrile neutropenia was observed and none of the patients died as a result of adverse events. FD/FOx regimen appeared to be a feasible option as a first‑line treatment of a/m GC patients, especially in case of high‑tumor burden, with the need of rapid tumor shrinkage and disease‑related symptoms palliation.