Casimir forces are of fundamental interest because they originate from quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field. Apart from controlling this force via the optical properties of materials, a ...number of novel geometries have been proposed to generate repulsive and/or non-monotonic Casimir forces between bodies separated by vacuum gaps. Experimental realization of these geometries, however, is hindered by the difficulties in alignment when the bodies are brought into close proximity. Here, using an on-chip platform with integrated force sensors and actuators, we circumvent the alignment problem and measure the Casimir force between two surfaces with nanoscale protrusions. We demonstrate that the force depends non-monotonically on the displacement. At some displacements, the Casimir force leads to an effective stiffening of the nanomechanical spring. Our findings pave the way for exploiting the Casimir force in nanomechanical systems using structures of complex and non-conventional shapes.
Background
Hepatic resection and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) are treatment options for early‐stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Whether tumour recurrence and long‐term survival favour either ...treatment has not been established. This randomized trial aimed to test the hypothesis that RFA is superior to hepatic resection in terms of lower tumour recurrence rate and better long‐term survival.
Methods
Patients with early‐stage HCC (solitary tumour no larger than 5 cm; or no more than 3 tumours, each 3 cm or smaller) were randomized into hepatic resection and RFA groups. Demographic and clinical characteristics, and short‐ and long‐term outcome measures were compared between groups. Primary and secondary outcome measures were overall tumour recurrence and survival respectively.
Results
Clinicopathological data were similar in the two groups, which each contained 109 patients. The RFA group had a shorter treatment duration, less blood loss and shorter hospital stay than the resection group. Mortality and morbidity rates were similar in the two groups. The overall tumour recurrence rate was similar in the resection and RFA groups (71·3 versus 81·7 per cent respectively). The 1‐, 3‐, 5‐ and 10‐year overall survival rates were 94·5, 80·6, 66·5 and 47·6 per cent respectively in the resection group, compared with 95·4, 82·3, 66·4 and 41·8 per cent in the RFA group (P = 0·531). Corresponding disease‐free survival rates were 74·1, 50·9, 41·5 and 31·9 per cent in the resection group, and 70·6, 46·6, 33·6 and 18·6 per cent in the RFA group (P = 0·072).
Conclusion
RFA for early‐stage HCC is not superior to hepatic resection, in terms of tumour recurrence, overall survival and disease‐free survival. Registration number: HKUCTR‐10 (http://www.hkuctr.com).
Radiofrequency ablation is not superior
Pulsars are remarkable objects that emit across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, providing a powerful probe of the interstellar medium. In this study, we investigate the relation between ...dispersion measure (DM) and X-ray absorption column density N sub(H) using 68 radio pulsars detected at X-ray energies with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory or XMM-Newton. We find a best-fit empirical linear relation of N sub(H) (ProQuest: Formulae and/or non-USASCII text omitted) DM (pc cm super(-3)), which corresponds to an average ionization of (ProQuest: Formulae and/or non-USASCII text omitted), confirming the ratio of one free electron per 10 neutral hydrogen atoms commonly assumed in the literature. We also compare different N sub(H) estimates and note that some N sub(H) values obtained from X-ray observations are higher than the total Galactic H I column density along the same line of sight, while the optical extinction generally gives the best N sub(H) predictions.
Plasma-derived cell-free tumor DNA (ctDNA) constitutes a potential surrogate for tumor DNA obtained from tissue biopsies. We posit that massively parallel sequencing (MPS) analysis of ctDNA may help ...define the repertoire of mutations in breast cancer and monitor tumor somatic alterations during the course of targeted therapy.
A 66-year-old patient presented with synchronous estrogen receptor-positive/HER2-negative, highly proliferative, grade 2, mixed invasive ductal–lobular carcinoma with bone and liver metastases at diagnosis. DNA extracted from archival tumor material, plasma and peripheral blood leukocytes was subjected to targeted MPS using a platform comprising 300 cancer genes known to harbor actionable mutations. Multiple plasma samples were collected during the fourth line of treatment with an AKT inhibitor.
Average read depths of 287x were obtained from the archival primary tumor, 139x from the liver metastasis and between 200x and 900x from ctDNA samples. Sixteen somatic non-synonymous mutations were detected in the liver metastasis, of which 9 (CDKN2A, AKT1, TP53, JAK3, TSC1, NF1, CDH1, MML3 and CTNNB1) were also detected in >5% of the alleles found in the primary tumor sample. Not all mutations identified in the metastasis were reliably identified in the primary tumor (e.g. FLT4). Analysis of ctDNA, nevertheless, captured all mutations present in the primary tumor and/or liver metastasis. In the longitudinal monitoring of the patient, the mutant allele fractions identified in ctDNA samples varied over time and mirrored the pharmacodynamic response to the targeted therapy as assessed by positron emission tomography–computed tomography.
This proof-of-principle study is one of the first to demonstrate that high-depth targeted MPS of plasma-derived ctDNA constitutes a potential tool for de novo mutation identification and monitoring of somatic genetic alterations during the course of targeted therapy, and may be employed to overcome the challenges posed by intra-tumor genetic heterogeneity.
www.clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01090960.
We report on updated radio imaging observations of the radio remnant of SN 1987A at 9 GHz, taken with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), covering a 25 yr period (1992-2017). We use Fourier ...modeling of the supernova remnant to model its morphology, using both a torus model and a ring model, and find that both models show an increasing flux density and have shown a continuing expansion of the remnant. As found in previous studies, we find that the torus model most accurately fits our data and has shown a change in the remnant expansion at day 9300 210 from 2300 200 km s−1 to 3610 240 km s−1. We have also seen an increase in brightness in the western lobe of the remnant, although the eastern lobe is still the dominant source of emission, unlike what has been observed at contemporary optical and X-ray wavelengths. We expect to observe a reversal in this asymmetry by the year ∼2020, and we note that the southeastern side of the remnant is now beginning to fade, as has also been seen in optical and X-ray data. Our data indicate that high-latitude emission has been present in the remnant from the earliest stages of the shock wave interacting with the equatorial ring around day 5000. However, we find that the emission has become increasingly dominated by the low-lying regions by day 9300, overlapping with the regions of X-ray emission. We conclude that the shock wave is now leaving the equatorial ring, exiting first from the southeast region of the remnant, and is reaccelerating as it begins to interact with the circumstellar medium beyond the dense inner ring.
We report detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) in an asymptomatic, fully vaccinated traveler in a quarantine hotel in Hong Kong, China. The Omicron ...variant was also detected in a fully vaccinated traveler staying in a room across the corridor from the index patient, suggesting transmission despite strict quarantine precautions.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Summary
Background
The results of various studies attempting to assess the risks of venous thromboembolism in liver cirrhosis have been conflicting. Furthermore, although the incidence of venous ...thromboembolism is thought to be low in Asians, the relationship between venous thromboembolism and liver cirrhosis has not been investigated in Asian countries.
Objective
We investigated the risks of venous thromboembolism in cirrhotic patients in Taiwan to evaluate whether the risk is higher than in the general population.
Methods
The data from 1 000 000 National Health Insurance beneficiaries were utilized. All adult beneficiaries were followed from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2010 to identify those who developed venous thromboembolism. Each identified patient with liver cirrhosis was matched with 10 non‐cirrhotic patients on the basis of high‐dimensional propensity score. Cox regression models were applied to compare the hazards of venous thromboembolism in the matched cohorts.
Results
A total of 757 940 patients were enrolled. After matching, 2223 cirrhotic patients and 22 230 non‐cirrhotic patients were selected. The adjusted hazard ratio of venous thromboembolism was significantly increased by having cirrhosis (1.71; 95% confidence interval CI 1.05–2.78). A subgroup analysis revealed a much higher hazard ratio of venous thromboembolism in an advanced cirrhosis subgroup (n = 293) than in a matched non‐cirrhosis subgroup (n = 2930) (4.36; 95% CI 1.36–14.01).
Conclusion
The risk of venous thromboembolism may be higher in Asian patients with cirrhosis than in the general Asian population, especially in those with advanced cirrhosis.
Supernova (SN) explosions are crucial engines driving the evolution of galaxies by shock heating gas, increasing the metallicity, creating dust, and accelerating energetic particles. In 2012 we used ...the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array to observe SN 1987A, one of the best-observed supernovae since the invention of the telescope. We present spatially resolved images at 450 mu m, 870 mu m, 1.4 mm, and 2.8 mm, an important transition wavelength range. Longer wavelength emission is dominated by synchrotron radiation from shock-accelerated particles, shorter wavelengths by emission from the largest mass of dust measured in a supernova remnant (>0.2 M sub(middot in circle)). For the first time we show unambiguously that this dust has formed in the inner ejecta (the cold remnants of the exploded star's core). The dust emission is concentrated at the center of the remnant, so the dust has not yet been affected by the shocks. If a significant fraction survives, and if SN 1987A is typical, supernovae are important cosmological dust producers.
The WWTR1 (protein is known as TAZ)-CAMTA1 (WC) fusion gene defines epithelioid hemangioendothelioma, a malignant vascular cancer. TAZ (transcriptional coactivator with PDZ binding motif) is a ...transcriptional coactivator and end effector of the Hippo tumor suppressor pathway. It is inhibited by phosphorylation by the Hippo kinases LATS1 and LATS2. Such phosphorylation causes cytoplasmic localization, 14-3-3 protein binding and the phorphorylation of a terminal phosphodegron promotes ubiquitin-dependent degradation (the phosphorylation of the different motifs has several effects). CAMTA1 is a putative tumor suppressive transcription factor. Here we demonstrate that TAZ-CAMTA1 (TC) fusion results in its nuclear localization and constitutive activation. Consequently, cells expressing TC display a TAZ-like transcriptional program that causes resistance to anoikis and oncogenic transformation. Our findings elucidate the mechanistic basis of TC oncogenic properties, highlight that TC is an important model to understand how the Hippo pathway can be inhibited in cancer, and provide approaches for targeting this chimeric protein.
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