Background & Aims: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging technique that produces high-resolution cross-sectional images in vivo. The aim of this study was to establish the sensitivity and ...specificity of OCT for diagnosing specialized intestinal metaplasia (SIM). Methods: OCT was used to image the stomach and esophagus of 121 patients. A total of 288 biopsycorrelated OCT images were acquired. OCT criteria for SIM were formulated by analyzing 75 images of SIM. The SIM image criteria were retrospectively tested by applying them to images of gastric, squamous, SIM, and cardiac epithelium. The criteria were then tested prospectively to determine the sensitivity and specificity of OCT for diagnosing SIM. Results: OCT images of SIM are characterized by (1) absence of the layered structure of normal squamous epithelium and the vertical “pit and crypt” morphology of gastric mucosa, (2) disorganized architecture with inhomogeneous tissue contrast and an irregular mucosal surface, and (3) presence of submucosal glands. These criteria were 100% sensitive and 93% specific for SIM when applied retrospectively and 97% sensitive and 92% specific when tested prospectively. Conclusions: OCT is highly sensitive and specific for SIM and may aid in the diagnosis and surveillance of this preneoplastic lesion.
The objective of this study was to compare the carbon (C) budgets of two similar-aged boreal black spruce (Picea mariana Mill. BSP) forest communities: closed-canopy black spruce with feathermoss ...ground cover (BSFM) on moderately drained soils and open-canopy black spruce with Sphagnum ground cover (BSSP) on poorly drained soils. C content, soil surface carbon dioxide ( CO2) flux$({\rm R}_{{\rm S}})$, heterotrophic respiration$({\rm R}_{{\rm H}})$, net primary production (NPP), and net ecosystem production (NEP) were measured or estimated. The total C content for the two communities$({\rm BSFM},\ 113\ {\rm Mg}\ {\rm C}\ {\rm ha}^{-1};{\rm BSSP},\ 107\ {\rm Mg}\ {\rm C}\ {\rm ha}^{-1})$did not differ significantly (P = 0.95). However, annual${\rm R}_{{\rm S}}$was significantly greater (P < 0.0001) for the BSFM$(564\ {\rm g}\ {\rm C}\ {\rm m}^{-2}\ {\rm y}^{-1})$than the BSSP$(319\ {\rm g}\ {\rm C}\ {\rm m}^{-2}\ {\rm y}^{-1})$community. The greater${\rm R}_{{\rm H}}$in the BSFM$(440\ {\rm g}\ {\rm C}\ {\rm m}^{-2}\ {\rm y}^{-1})$than the BSSP community$(264\ {\rm g}\ {\rm C}\ {\rm m}^{-2}\ {\rm y}^{-1})$and the higher peat C content for the BSSP$(84\ {\rm Mg}\ {\rm C}\ {\rm ha}^{-1})$than the BSFM$(34\ {\rm Mg}\ {\rm C}\ {\rm ha}^{-1})$community provided evidence that the BSSP community had a lower decomposition rate than the BSFM community. NEP was significantly (P = 0.04) more negative for the BSFM community$(-222\pm 35\ {\rm g}\ {\rm C}\ {\rm m}^{-2}\ {\rm y}^{-1})$than the BSSP community$(-128\pm 14\ {\rm g}\ {\rm C}\ {\rm m}^{-2}\ {\rm y}^{-1})$, but both communities were C sources to the atmosphere. The results from this study illustrate the influence of small differences in edaphic conditions on ecosystem C accumulation.
The projected background for the CUORE experiment Alduino, C.; Avignone, F. T.; Azzolini, O. ...
The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields,
08/2017, Letnik:
77, Številka:
8
Journal Article
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The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) is designed to search for neutrinoless double beta decay of
130
Te with an array of 988 TeO
2
bolometers operating at temperatures ...around 10 mK. The experiment is currently being commissioned in Hall A of Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy. The goal of CUORE is to reach a 90% C.L. exclusion sensitivity on the
130
Te decay half-life of 9
×
10
25
years after 5 years of data taking. The main issue to be addressed to accomplish this aim is the rate of background events in the region of interest, which must not be higher than 10
-
2
counts/keV/kg/year. We developed a detailed Monte Carlo simulation, based on results from a campaign of material screening, radioassays, and bolometric measurements, to evaluate the expected background. This was used over the years to guide the construction strategies of the experiment and we use it here to project a background model for CUORE. In this paper we report the results of our study and our expectations for the background rate in the energy region where the peak signature of neutrinoless double beta decay of
130
Te is expected.
The design of a neutron source capable of producing 24 and 70keV neutron beams with narrow energy spread is presented. The source exploits near-threshold kinematics of the 7Li (p,n)7Be reaction while ...taking advantage of the interference ‘notches’ found in the scattering cross-sections of iron. The design was implemented and characterized at the Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Alternative filters such as vanadium and manganese are also explored and the possibility of studying the response of different materials to low-energy nuclear recoils using the resultant neutron beams is discussed.
Increasing the dose intensity of cytotoxic therapy by shortening the intervals between cycles, or by giving individual drugs sequentially at full dose rather than in lower-dose concurrent treatment ...schedules, might enhance efficacy.
To clarify the relative benefits and risks of dose-intense and standard-schedule chemotherapy in early breast cancer, we did an individual patient-level meta-analysis of trials comparing 2-weekly versus standard 3-weekly schedules, and of trials comparing sequential versus concurrent administration of anthracycline and taxane chemotherapy. The primary outcomes were recurrence and breast cancer mortality. Standard intention-to-treat log-rank analyses, stratified by age, nodal status, and trial, yielded dose-intense versus standard-schedule first-event rate ratios (RRs).
Individual patient data were provided for 26 of 33 relevant trials identified, comprising 37 298 (93%) of 40 070 women randomised. Most women were aged younger than 70 years and had node-positive disease. Total cytotoxic drug usage was broadly comparable in the two treatment arms; colony-stimulating factor was generally used in the more dose-intense arm. Combining data from all 26 trials, fewer breast cancer recurrences were seen with dose-intense than with standard-schedule chemotherapy (10-year recurrence risk 28·0% vs 31·4%; RR 0·86, 95% CI 0·82–0·89; p<0·0001). 10-year breast cancer mortality was similarly reduced (18·9% vs 21·3%; RR 0·87, 95% CI 0·83–0·92; p<0·0001), as was all-cause mortality (22·1% vs 24·8%; RR 0·87, 95% CI 0·83–0·91; p<0·0001). Death without recurrence was, if anything, lower with dose-intense than with standard-schedule chemotherapy (10-year risk 4·1% vs 4·6%; RR 0·88, 95% CI 0·78–0·99; p=0·034). Recurrence reductions were similar in the seven trials (n=10 004) that compared 2-weekly chemotherapy with the same chemotherapy given 3-weekly (10-year risk 24·0% vs 28·3%; RR 0·83, 95% CI 0·76–0·91; p<0·0001), in the six trials (n=11 028) of sequential versus concurrent anthracycline plus taxane chemotherapy (28·1% vs 31·3%; RR 0·87, 95% CI 0·80–0·94; p=0·0006), and in the six trials (n=6532) testing both shorter intervals and sequential administration (30·4% vs 35·0%; RR 0·82, 95% CI 0·74–0·90; p<0·0001). The proportional reductions in recurrence with dose-intense chemotherapy were similar and highly significant (p<0·0001) in oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive and ER-negative disease and did not differ significantly by other patient or tumour characteristics.
Increasing the dose intensity of adjuvant chemotherapy by shortening the interval between treatment cycles, or by giving individual drugs sequentially rather than giving the same drugs concurrently, moderately reduces the 10-year risk of recurrence and death from breast cancer without increasing mortality from other causes.
Cancer Research UK, Medical Research Council.
We present the optical and infrared identifications of the 266 radio sources detected at 20 cm with the Very Large Array in the Chandra Deep Field-South. Using deep i-band Advanced Camera for ...Surveys, R-band Wide Field Imager, K-band SOFI NTT, K-band ISAAC VLT and Spitzer imaging data, we are able to find reliable counterparts for 254 (image95%) VLA sources. Twelve radio sources remain unidentified, and three of them are 'empty fields.' Using literature and our own data we are able to assign redshifts to 186 (image70%) radio sources: 108 are spectroscopic redshifts and 78 are reliable photometric redshifts. Based on the rest-frame colors and morphological distributions of the host galaxies, we find evidences for a change in the submillijansky radio source population: (1) above sim0.08 mJy early-type galaxies are dominating and (2) at flux densities below sim0.08 mJy, starburst galaxies become dominant.
Background. It remains unknown whether there is any important clinical advantage to the use of either a bioprosthetic or mechanical valve for patients with native or prosthetic valve endocarditis.
...Methods. Between 1964 and 1995, 306 patients underwent valve replacement for left-sided native (209 patients) or prosthetic (97 patients) valve endocarditis. Mechanical valves were implanted in 65 patients, bioprostheses in 221 patients, and homografts in 20 patients.
Results. Operative mortality was 18 ± 2% and was independent of replacement valve type (
p > 0.74). Long-term survival was superior for patients with native valve endocarditis (44 ± 5% at 20 years) compared with those with prosthetic valve endocarditis (16 ± 7% at 20 years) (
p < 0.003). Survival was independent of valve type (
p > 0.27). The long-term freedom from reoperation for patients who received a biologic valve who were younger than 60 years of age was low (51 ± 5% at 10 years, 19 ± 6% at 15 years). For patients older than 60 years, however, freedom from reoperation with a biological valve (84 ± 7% at 15 years) was similar to that for all patients with mechanical valves (74 ± 9% at 15 years) (
p > 0.64).
Conclusions. Mechanical valves are most suitable for younger patients with native valve endocarditis; however, tissue valves are acceptable for patients greater than 60 years of age with native or prosthetic valve infections and for selected younger patients with prosthetic valve infections because of their limited life expectancy.
We describe in detail the methods used to obtain the lower bound on the lifetime of neutrinoless double-beta (0 nu beta beta) decay in Te-130 and the associated limit on the effective Majorana mass ...of the neutrino using the CUORE-0 detector. CUORE-0 is a bolometric detector array located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso that was designed to validate the background reduction techniques developed for CUORE, a next-generation experiment scheduled to come online in 2016. CUORE-0 is also a competitive 0 nu beta beta decay search in its own right and functions as a platform to further develop the analysis tools and procedures to be used in CUORE. These include data collection, event selection and processing, as well as an evaluation of signal efficiency. In particular, we describe the amplitude evaluation, thermal gain stabilization, energy calibration methods, and the analysis event selection used to create our final 0 nu beta beta search spectrum. We define our high level analysis procedures, with emphasis on the new insights gained and challenges encountered. We outline in detail our fitting methods near the hypothesized 0 nu beta beta decay peak and catalog the main sources of systematic uncertainty. Finally, we derive the 0 nu beta beta decay half-life limits previously reported for CUORE-0, T-1/2(0 nu) > 2.7 x 10(24) yr, and in combination with the Cuoricino limit, T-1/2(0 nu) > 4.0 x 10(24) yr.
Chronic pain can result in anxiety, depression and reduced quality of life. However, its effects on cognitive abilities have remained unclear although many studies attempted to psychologically ...profile chronic pain. We hypothesized that performance on an emotional decision-making task may be impaired in chronic pain since human brain imaging studies show that brain regions critical for this ability are also involved in chronic pain. Chronic back pain (CBP) patients, chronic complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) patients, and normal volunteers (matched for age, sex, and education) were studied on the Iowa Gambling Task, a card game developed to study emotional decision-making. Outcomes on the gambling task were contrasted to performance on other cognitive tasks. The net number of choices made from advantageous decks after subtracting choices made from disadvantageous decks on average was 22.6 in normal subjects (n = 26), 13.4 in CBP patients (n = 26), and -9.5 in CRPS patients (n = 12), indicating poor performance in the patient groups as compared to the normal controls (P < 0.004). Only pain intensity assessed during the gambling task was correlated with task outcome and only in CBP patients (r = -0.75, P < 0.003). Other cognitive abilities, such as attention, short-term memory, and general intelligence tested normal in the chronic pain patients. Our evidence indicates that chronic pain is associated with a specific cognitive deficit, which may impact everyday behavior especially in risky, emotionally laden, situations.
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