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ImportanceProton radiation therapy (PRT) has reduced radiation-induced toxic effects, such as mucositis and xerostomia, over conventional photon radiation therapy, leading to significantly improved quality of life in patients with head and neck cancers. However, the prevalence of osteoradionecrosis (ORN) of the jaw following PRT in these patients is less clear.ObjectiveTo report the prevalence and clinical characteristics of ORN in patients with oral and oropharyngeal cancer (OOPC) treated with PRT.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis case series reports a single-institution experience (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York) between November 2013 and September 2019 and included 122 radiation therapy–naive patients with OOPC treated with PRT. Data were analyzed from 2013 to 2019.Main Outcomes and MeasuresClinical parameters, including sex, age, comorbidities, tumor histology, concurrent chemotherapy, smoking, comorbidities, and preradiation dental evaluation, were obtained from the medical record. Patients with clinical or radiographic signs of ORN were identified and graded using the adopted modified Glanzmann and Grätz grading system. Characteristics of ORN, such as location, clinical presentation, initial stage at diagnosis, etiology, time to diagnosis, management, and clinical outcome at the last follow-up, were also collected.ResultsOf the 122 patients (mean [SD] age, 63 [13] years; 45 [36.9%] women and 77 [63.1%] men) included in this study, 13 (10.6%) developed ORN following PRT during a median (range) follow-up time of 40.6 (Conclusions and RelevanceIn this case series, the prevalence of ORN following PRT was found to be 10.6%, indicating that ORN remains a clinical challenge even in the era of highly conformal PRT. Clinicians treating patients with OOPC with PRT should be mindful of this complication.

Do patient-reported outcome measures differ among clinical T4 patients undergoing mastectomy with and without reconstruction?Neither reconstruction nor timing of reconstruction were associated with superior outcomes for breast satisfaction, physical well-being of the chest, or psychosocial well-being at any timepoint.

Background: HER2 positive (HER2+) breast cancers harboring downstream MAPK or PI3K pathway alterations manifest persistent downstream signaling on anti-HER2 inhibitors with metastatic patients having worse outcomes on first line trastuzumab and pertuzumab (HP) therapy. However, HER2 antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are not as dependent upon potent signal transduction inhibition to exert their antitumor effects. To further investigate, we sought to determine whether MAPK and/or PI3K alterations affect the biologic or clinical outcomes of patients and models receiving HER2 ADCs. Methods: We performed prospective genomic sequencing using MSK-IMPACT on patients with advanced HER2+ breast cancer who received trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) in the metastatic setting between March 2013 and July 2021. We collected detailed information on clinical outcomes and correlates through our institutional IRB-approved retrieval process. HER2/ER/PR status at the time of metastatic recurrence were defined as per ASCO/CAP guidelines. Cox proportional hazard models were used to determine the association between MAPK and PI3K pathways alterations and progression-free survival (PFS) on T-DM1. Common mutations associated with outcomes were modeled in HER2+ breast cancer cell lines using short hairpin RNAs and CRISPR/Cas9, and the sensitivity to HER2 ADC was evaluated via cell proliferation and xenograft assays. Results: We identified 185 HER2+ breast cancer patients treated with T-DM1 at any line (median: 5) whose primary (N=65) or metastatic (N=120) tumor samples were sequenced. Median age was 55 (range: 20-87). The majority of the patients received T-DM1 in 2nd or 3rd line (52%) and received prior trastuzumab or HER2 TKI in metastatic setting (96%). 74/185 (40%) had de novo metastatic breast cancer and 119/185 (64%) had ER/PR+/HER2+ disease. Pathogenic activating alterations involving the MAPK pathway were observed in 14% of patients with the most frequent alterations being ERBB2 activating mutations (42%) and NF1 loss (34%). PI3K pathway alterations were identified in 42% of the patients, the majority being activating mutations of PIK3CA (87%). MAPK alterations were significantly enriched in the metastatic tumors compared to the treatment-naïve primaries (20% vs 3%, p=0.001), while PI3K alterations were not (44% vs 40%, p=0.6). To reduce the possible confounding resistance mechanisms induced by prior treatment, we restricted the survival analyses to patients who received T-DM1 up to 3rd line of therapy (N=100). On multivariable analysis adjusted for ER/PR status (positive vs negative), stage at the presentation of metastatic disease (de novo metastatic vs recurrence), treatment line and type of sequenced sample (primary vs metastatic), patients with MAPK (N=14) and PI3K (N= 38) alterations had similar PFS compared to wild type (HR 1.20, 95%CI 0.62-2.30, p=0.6 and HR 1.23, 95%CI 0.77-1.95, p=0.4, respectively). Similar results were found in the combined analysis including alterations in either pathway (N=48, HR 1.28, 95%CI 0.81-2.04, p=0.3). To verify the antiproliferative effect of HER2 ADCs on breast cancer cells with MAPK pathway activation, we depleted NF1 in a panel of HER2+ breast cancer cell lines. Consistently, MAPK-altered cell lines were sensitive to FDA-approved HER2 ADCs including trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd). Conclusions: In contrast to H/P therapy, T-DM1 therapy was equally effective in tumors with downstream PI3K or MAPK alterations and wild type tumors. Expanded analysis on a larger cohort, including a subgroup of patients treated with novel HER2 ADCs such as T-DXd will be presented. The characterization of PI3K and MAPK pathways status in metastatic HER2+ breast cancer may inform prioritization of treatment options. Citation Format: Emanuela Ferraro, Anton Safonov, Yuan Chen, Charlie White, Antonio Marra, Mehnaj Ahmed, Barbara Acevedo, Chau T Dang, Shanu Modi, David B. Solit, Larry Norton, Mark E. Robson, Jorge Reis-Filho, Sarat Chandarlapaty, Pedram Razavi. Efficacy of HER2 ADCs against HER2 inhibitor resistance alterations in the PI3K and MAPK pathways in HER2-positive breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2022 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(5 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-02-01.

725 Background: Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) has a modest signal in the treatment of patients with genomically unselected pancreatic cancer (PDAC). Synergistic effects of combined radiotherapy and ICB are postulated. Preliminary results of a phase 1/2 trial of anti-PD-L1 antibody durvalumab (D) and SABR in locally advanced (LA) and borderline resectable PDAC (Tuli, AACR; 2019; Abstr B58), noted SABR and D to be safe and tolerable following induction chemotherapy. We sought to further evaluate the tolerability and efficacy of D and SABR, in LA PDAC. Methods: A single-arm, open-label phase 2 trial was conducted at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK). Key eligibility: histologically confirmed LA unresectable PDAC, with stable or responding disease following 4-6 months (m) of FOLFIRINOX (FFX), ECOG 0-2. Therapy: D and SABR; D dosed on day 1 750mg x 4 doses Q14 days, and subsequently 1500mg Q 28 days x 11 doses (1 year total), or until progression of disease (POD), or limiting toxicity. All patients received MRI adaptive ablative radiation, 50Gy in 5 fractions between doses 1 and 2 of D. Primary endpoint: 6-m progression free survival (6 m PFS) by RECIST v1.1. Secondary endpoints were Duration of Response, Overall Response Rate (ORR), CA 19-9 response, rates of downstaging/resection, and survival outcomes (overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS)) calculated from date of enrolment. OS and PFS were estimated using Kaplan-Meier method. Pre- and on-treatment tissue, blood and microbiome samples were collected to evaluate tumor-intrinsic and peripheral immunogenomic correlates of response. Results: Between 09/2020 and 05/2022, N = 18 enrolled. Median age 67.5 years (IQR; 62.5, 71.5), 28% (5/18) female. Baseline Performance Status: N = 8 (44%) ECOG 0; N = 10 (56%) ECOG 1. Tumor location: Head/uncinate N = 9 (50%), body N = 7 (39%), neck N = 2 (11%). Median # doses FFX prior to enrolment: 8.5 (IQR; 8.0- 11.0). At median follow-up of 13.8 m, 6-m PFS: 62% (95% CI 43%, 91%). Median PFS: 10.2 m (95% CI; 5.03, NA) and median OS 17.2 m (95% CI; 12.98, NA). Disease progression (any time) N = 12, of which local POD in N = 7 (58%). N = 3 completed maintenance D; N = 5 on active treatment. ORR: N = 17 (94.4%) stable disease (95% CI; 64.6%, 99.4%). Toxicity endpoints of special interest: Grade 3 ICB-related: in N = 4 patients; diarrhea N = 2; elevated AST/ALT N = 2; G3 lipase elevation N = 1; attribution uncertain. Conclusions: D and SABR following FFX in LA PDAC had an encouraging 6-m PFS of 62% (43-91%) and a tolerable safety profile. Immuno-genomic analyses of correlative biospecimens is underway. Funding support AstraZeneca. Clinical trial information: NCT03245541 .

ONE COULD ARGUE that the current financial meltdown has been lurking behind every corner—that with each new height of global wealth, voices of reason warned that the bottom would surely fall out. P...

The final chapter deals with building your blogging business by bringing in more bloggers to work for you. It addresses knowing when to bring in more help, compensation, reasons to bring in additional bloggers, and how to be an effective blogger boss. Techniques for finding and hiring good bloggers are discussed. Methods for managing team communication and workflow are presented. The issue of firing when needed is discussed. Finally, communication via telephone and face-to-face meetings is discussed.

This chapter addresses blog content in detail. It offers tips and advice on how to find appropriate news items and other topic material, and how to mix information and news with opinion and humor. Issues such as fact-checking, readability, blog structure, the news pyramid, and journalistic terminology are discussed. The need to start a continuing conversation with readers is addressed. Using an RSS reader to create a personal collection of news sources is explained in detail. The use of sources such as Twitter, Google Trends, press releases, conferences/trade shows, dinners/events, tipsters, and Google News is discussed. Product reviews are discussed as an appropriate blog topic. The chapter concludes with 10 questions for a blogger to ask him/herself before posting.

This chapter covers three important aspects of professional blogging: building traffic through use of tools such as SEO and social media; making money from blogging through ads and others means; and measuring the success of a blog using tools such as Google Analytics and Woopra. Search engine optimization (SEO) is discussed in detail, covering keywords, on-page optimization, backlinks, and content. Ways to leverage social media to promote your blog are presented, with emphasis on Twitter and Facebook. Analytics are discussed as the means to know if your blog is doing well. Google Analytics, Woopra, compete.com, and Chartbeat.com are presented and their features compared. The authors talk about several ways to make money from blogging, emphasizing various techniques for handling advertising such as Adsense, affiliate sales, personal ads, and networks. Merchandising, “donate” buttons, and indirect ways to make money are also covered.

Blog journalism is presented as both different from and similar to traditional journalism in this chapter. It offers a detailed look at writing techniques that apply specifically to blogging. It addresses knowing how often and when to post, writing effective headlines, writing ledes, and grammar (including the top five grammar errors). A number of common issues in blog writing are presented and discussed, such as repetition, choosing the most important details to write about, and using cliches. The different types of post are described: short posts, reviews, features, lists, commentary, infographics, polls/quizzes, and how-tos. Tips for effective use of graphics and comedy are discussed. The chapter ends with some short tips for better blogging.

This chapter introduces the fundamental concepts of blogging, covering basic definitions and a brief history of blogging. It explores the differences between traditional journalism and blogging, pointing out the skills and traits needed to become a successful blogger. Four questions are presented that all “wannabe” bloggers should ask themselves, addressing passion, interest, expertise, commitment, and other traits that are essential. Finally, two rules are discussed as essential to follow, as part of a blogging plan: always be blogging, and post consistently.

This chapter discusses the two-way communication aspects of blog journalism, pointing out the major differences between blogging and traditional journalism in this area. The authors point out that blog readers serve as copyeditor, fact checker, and “crabby boss,” responding immediately to each post. Rules for conversational blogging are presented and discussed. A case study of the Gizmodo blog site’s approach to regulating comments is given. Methods for moderating anonymous commenters are discussed, along with pros and cons of each. Methods of controlling spam are also presented.

Basic skills needed for successful blogging are covered in this chapter, including reading for topics and news, writing styles, writing quantity, interviewing, taking notes, editing, and HTML layout. Useful tips for taking appropriate blog photographs and video are included, as well as how to best use imagery in a blog. Some fundamentals of Photoshop specific to blogging are addressed. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of video interviewing styles.

This chapter presents and discusses the tools needed for getting started in blogging. These include software and services available, many free to users. Topics discussed include basic HTML, domain name selection and registration, ready-made blogging platforms and the advantages/disadvantages of each, and hosting on your own server. The chapter also presents the basic equipment needed for successful blogging, including internet connection, image editing software, digital camera, camcorder, collaboration software, audio recording gear, voice recognition software, and “go bag.”

newVideoPlayer("curvedlcd.flv", 475, 286,"gizmodo_ces_2008.png"); The sighting: We can't have one of these Alienware curved monitors until the second half of this year, but until then, we've been abducted by its four nearly seamless and sharp screens of DLP goodness. Lit by LEDs, this 2880x900 monster is well over three feet wide and is said to have an other-worldly .02ms response time, great for gaming. The Soylent Green: You can see the seams between this monitor's four segments, but the Alienware humanoids tell us that flaw will be gone by the time this craft lands on Earth. The blacks look a bit washed out to our eyes, too. Price is yet to be determined. galleryPost('alienwaremonitor2', 9, ''); [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

newVideoPlayer("xpslcd.flv", 475, 286,"gizmodo_ces_2008.png"); The shining: We told you all about that "http://gizmodo.com/339805/ultra+pretty-dell-crystal-lcd-monitor-now-available"> gorgeous Dell Crystal monitor when it was officially shipped last week, and now we laid our own eyes on its exquisite beauty. It's even prettier up close, with deep blacks, crispy sharpness and Technicolor hues that thrilled even the most jaded of our team. Just look at how thin and beauteous it is, from all sides. Insert wolf whistle sound effect here! Dull Ache: The dang thing costs $1200, for a 1680x1050 22-inch display. Maybe it'll be on sale someday. "utf-8"> galleryPost('dellcrystalmonitor', 8, ''); [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Skinny: Encased in copper, this Eclipse CD7200 mkII audio head end for your car is strictly high-end. The catch: i Pod songs and playlists show up on screen, but for that you'll be buying an optional connector. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

newVideoPlayer("celestron2.flv", 475, 376,"gizmodo_ces_2008.png"); Match Made in the Heavens: You saw the Celestron SkyScout a while ago , and now here's a scope on which to mount it. See galaxies with the SkyScout Scope's high-power eyepiece, or get your bearings with its included its low-power counterpart. But It'll Cost Ya: To use this with the excellent $400 Celestron SkyScout spotter, you have to buy one of those, too. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

newVideoPlayer("beer_cooler_robot.flv", 475, 376,"gizmodo_ces_2008.png"); The Skinny: No more yelling across the room, ordering the kids to bring you that brewski when you have an RC Cooler from Inter Active Toy. The Catch: It runs on eight C batteries, but they are said to last for six hours of continuous use. We just wish it were rechargeable, with its own little charging garage. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Goodyear, that name you're accustomed to seeing on tires, has decided to jump into the GPS game, sticking its familiar brand name onto navigation devices. Hey, they have something to do with cars, don't they? The company has pulled a Garmin on us, brand spamming with an entire product line of eight different GPS units that'll roll out at CES, and ship in Q2 of this year. They're calling them "rugged" for reasons we can't fathom. Anyway, they'll have a remote control you can stick within easy reach, letting you push a button to answer your Bluetooth-enabled cellphone. Spend a bit more, and you can hook up with MSN Direct for traffic and weather reports. No pricing was announced yet. This all sounds familiar. Check out the spec list of the entire bunch: galleryPost('goodyeargps', 8, ''); [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Gefen says it's figured out exactly how to move HDMI signals over the coaxial cable that already exists in many homes all over the world. The company plans to show the technology at CES next week that it says will ship in April. Gefen has been working on this tech that could make it much easier to move HDTV signals all over your house for a while, in fact, we saw a working demonstration of HDMI over coax at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention last April. But there's a twist that makes it a lot more convenient. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We've seen big digital picture frames before, but Smartparts takes the prize for biggest one yet: a 32-inch digital picture frame that'll be rolling out at CES 2008. The 16:9 LCD panel has a resolution of 1366x768, which might look pretty good if you don't get too close. It has another neat twist, the ability to feed any picture to the printer of your choice for a hard copy of your pics. Since most cameras shoot in 4:3, though, we would have rather had a 4:3 frame, but still, if size matters to you, this is might be the frame you've been waiting for. Look for this big bruiser to hit stores in February for $899. [ Smartparts ] [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Syntax-Brillian's 47" Olevia LCD (pictured here) is riding high on the kudos it got from Wired , and now the company builds on those laurels with a line of LCD displays with 120Hz technology along with 1080p resolution. Olivia is doing a full-blown rollout of the line, with five sizes from 42 inches to 65 inches. If their price/performance is even better than the whopper 65-inch Olevia 265TFHD which you can now find for as little as $5,500 , this is going to be worth a close look. We'll take a close gander at them at CES and see if their 120Hz technology actually makes a difference. [ Syntax-Brillian ] [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Dell has flaunted this gorgeous monitor for a while in various trade shows and press events, always saying that it's just a design concept and not available yet. That all changes now, because the 22-inch Dell Crystal LCD display is suddenly a real product. Just in time for CES, this beauty is set to ship in the next few days, and even though its spec list isn't as high-end as we had hoped, it's still so pretty, if it were smaller we'd want to wear it as a necklace. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This Starry Night Sleep Technology Bed by Leggett & Platt (NYSE:LEG) looks like the crib of the century, and we're not even finished with the first decade yet. First of all, it keeps an eye on what you're doing all night long, diagnosing your movement and breathing patterns, and even sensing that buzz-saw snoring that keeps everybody in the house awake all night. It claims to be able to reduce snoring in mild to moderate cases by elevating your torso a few degrees. Good luck with that. But that's just the beginning of this complete lap of luxury, equipped with gadgets from head-to-toe. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Apple might be working on a dynamic keyboard with OLEDs behind each movable key. Apple's patent application for this OLED keyboard hid in the background since March of last year, and the exciting thing is it looks a whole lot like Art Lebedev's as-yet-unreleased Optimus keyboard . While this kind of flexibility is right in line with Apple's latest keyboard exploits, we're wondering how the company will be able to make the price anywhere near reasonable, since Lebedev has continuously tried to get us used to the idea of spending over a thousand dollars on such a keyboard. Apple could pull off a cheap OLED keyboard, and here's how: galleryPost('appleoled', 2, ''); [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Apple's Mac OS X had a good year last year, according to Net Applications. Market share for OS X climbed to 7.31% for the month of December, 2007, up from 6.38% in February, a 14.57% increase. How about the Windows OSes? Why, they're at a paltry 91.79 % of the market. [ Net Applications ] [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Skinny: The HydroPak replaces batteries and generators with cartridges that can sit on the shelf for ages, activated with water for 12 hours of power. They're quiet with zero emissions, and each $20 dry cartridge cranks out a lot more than any battery can—400 Watts through an AC outlet and two USB ports. The Catch: The device costs $400 and it's still in beta, although that's a lot cheaper than other fuel cell products. But it's a real product, rolling out first next week at CES, and samples will be available in February. [ Millennium Cell (pdf)] [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

If you like to keep your eyes on the road while you're driving, the NavStar Voice Navigator can assist you by blurting out turn-by-turn directions with no screen in sight. The 11-oz unit resides in your car's cigarette lighter outlet, and it hooks up with your cellphone, doubling as a speakerphone for hands-free calling. Looks nice, but this could really suck. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

However unbearable your work environment is, it could be worse. For instance, this network/systems administrator in a district courthouse somewhere in Louisiana hates his boss so much that he's apparently stolen her iPod touch right out from under her and now he's selling it on eBay. (NASDAQ:EBAY) "You might think I didn't really take her iPod but it 'came up missing' and nobody in the office knows where it is. She should lock her office more often... I'm just seeking some comfort to what I consider a horrible work environment. Maybe a small vacation to evacuate this heck hole for a week. Hot Springs Arkansas or something." This one has us scratching our heads. Doesn't this perpetrator know that eBay is a public auction site frequented by millions of people? [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) Cruzer Titanium Plus is more than just an ordinary USB drive—it forces you to be responsible by backing up everything you place on it in a secure location far away from that maelstrom you call everyday life. So stick 4GB on board this $60 pocket-sized lifeboat, and as soon as it's able, it automatically sends all that data up to the mother ship, an online backup service that's free for the first six months. After that, you'll have to pay $29.99 per year. SanDisk needs to know one thing, though: Titanium is not a golden color as you see here, guys. Anyway, backing up is a great new year's resolution, so don't wait for this trinket to ship in March to get started. [ SanDisk ] [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There's no shortage of charging stations , but this $49.95 Five Device Recharging Station that starts shipping next week looks especially orderly with its differently sized places at the ready for your various devices. There's four AC outlets, and even two USB ports from which you can gather juice. And, it's all shielded from electro-spikes with a built-in surge protector. Put it on a ledge next to the door. This one might be as handy (and quite a bit neater) than the Chargepod , and might hold us until we can get our hands on one of those Wild Charge wireless charging stations after which we've been lusting. [ Hammacher Schlemmer , via 7 Gadgets ] [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We don't normally go driving around with helium balloons in our cars, so we weren't aware of this strange phenomenon: The dang things go the wrong way when you accelerate and turn! Besides that, we find something likable about the explainer, Robert Krampf, the friendly scientist who seems like the kind of guy from whom you wouldn't mind receiving a balloon or two. [ Experiment of the Week ] [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Info is sketchy thus far, but Nikon lovers will be interested to know that the next lower-end digital SLR from the company might be called the D60, and reportedly will make its debut in Spring 2008. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

If you're too lazy to walk a few steps but still want your dog to get a workout, this Fit Fur Life $1400 dog treadmill lets you get some vicarious exercise, courtesy of Fido's four feet. We're not quite understanding why this is so expensive (other than its maker calling it "the best dog treadmill in the world"), because we've seen a couple of these treadmills before for much less—here's one for $123. We're just wondering, unless your dog is one of those really smart, well-trained and obedient types, how on earth are you going to get him to walk on this thing, especially when you scare the bejeezus out of him by "controlling the terrain?" [Neatorama, via Born Rich] [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A small part of this magic teaspoon's handle is made of Nitinol, a special metal that can remember its shape. That little fact lets you play some crazy tricks, because when you heat it up, it bends to that shape that you bent it into before. So if you put this in your tea, for example, it suddenly and mysteriously starts bending. Run cool water on it, and it moves right back where it was before. This might be great for some of those Uri Geller spoon bending tricks, except this one does all the bending on its own. You better be pretty serious about this, though, because it costs $50.38. [Grand Illusions, via Red Ferret] [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

While sifting through the umpteenth Tech Products of 2007 lists, we stumbled upon this Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) ! Tech list that contains most of the usual suspects, except one of the entries interested us: Voted one of the 10 worst tech products of 2007 were Pear Audio "Anjou" speaker cables, those pieces of wire that cost $7,250 and that one reviewer inexplicably called "danceable." Yahoo referred to our report earlier this year that moved James Randi to offer $1 million to anyone who can tell the difference in a double-blind test between those cables and some run-of-the-mill Monster cables. Alas, while there was lots of talk and bluster, it turned out that Pear Cable wouldn't offer its cables for testing, and nobody was fool enough to spend the $7,250. Certainly not us. See Yahoo's list on the next page. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

HP is cranking out some smoking workstations these days, and the latest Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Xeon quad core processors, affectionately known as the Harpertown chips with 45-nanometer Penryn technology inside, take Windows performance to the next level. HP (NYSE:HPQ) shipped us the fastest workstation they could muster, with a total of eight processor cores, along with a 15,000 RPM SAS (Serial-Attached SCSI) drive on two separate disks, one with Windows XP and the other with Windows Vista, plus a 250GB SATA drive for applications. We opened the box, ran a bunch of benchmarks and our jaws promptly dropped. How much workstation can you get for $8,551? Join us for the smokefest.As soon as Intel released these 5400 series Penryn processors this month, HP sent us this top-of-the-line xw8600 workstation with two of them inside. This expensive machine—aimed at oil and gas explorers, video editors and animators—is not really a gamer's box, but instead showcases the capabilities of these new four-way processors. Our test machine's 3.16GHz quad-core "Harpertown" processors (officially called the Intel Xeon E5460 Quad Core), use Intel's latest 45nm Penryn microarchitecture. Yep, those are as fast as these suckers get. The catch? They each cost $1550 more than the lowest-cost Xeon quad-core chip offered, the 2GHz 5405.Due to their finer geometry (going from 60nm down to 45nm), you get 50% more cache, resulting in 6MB of shared cache between each dual core, totaling 12MB of cache in each processor—that's 24MB total in our test machine. In addition to that, the frontside bus is also running at 1333MHz, giving you a 30% speed boost over its predecessor. Check out this pic (and another larger one in the gallery showing the task manager along with the graphic it's rendering) that tells the story of all eight cores screaming away at the same time, rendering a complex graphic on the CineBench benchmark. Here it's just finished the render:Video editors and scientists like to be able to expand everything inside one of these boxes. Although we had a "paltry" 4GB of RAM inside, you'll be able to cram 128GB up in there as soon as 8GB RAM sticks are available—Q1 of next year, we're told. You can also fill the thing up with storage, using your choice of eight Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) ports or six SATA connections, in addition to FireWire ports on the front and back, and dual Gigabit Ethernet. (You can lash them together for faster networking.) If you wanted to, you could set up a disk array on those SAS ports to get 2GB/sec drive performance. HP included the NVIDIA FX 4600 workstation-class graphics card in the package, but there's room for two PCI Express x16 graphics cards tied together, certain to be a favorite of animators and those oil and gas explorers who need to simulate all kinds of complex graphics. The FX 4600 has 768MB of GDDR3 memory on board, useful for CAD designers working with huge graphics. And yes, it could most definitely play Doom. We especially like this workstation's case. Normally they're staid and gray-looking, but HP stuck on some special sticky graphics that may look a bit cheesy, but are an improvement over the typical plain-Jane exterior. Never mind the visuals, HP's made this an extraordinarily quiet machine too, where even though it's packed with hardware, you can hardly hear it running next to you. We also like its tool-less chassis: Once you get the hang of it, you can take out drives and fans in a snap with nary a screwdriver in sight. Overall, it's an outlandishly configurable and powerful platform, practically begging you to turn it into whatever kind of monster workstation your heart desires. Check out the benchmarks below, and you'll see that this $8,551 machine slam-dunks last year's fastest HP xw8400 workstation:It's fast. Blazingly fast, and on some benchmarks it's a whole lot quicker than last year's model. Its speed is just unreal, and you can feel it with every click. Impressive.... [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]