The Relativistic Continuum Hartree–Bogoliubov (RCHB) theory, which properly takes into account the pairing correlation and the coupling to (discretized) continuum via Bogoliubov transformation in a ...microscopic and self-consistent way, has been reviewed together with its new interpretation of the halo phenomena observed in light nuclei as the scattering of particle pairs into the continuum, the prediction of the exotic phenomena — giant halos in nuclei near neutron drip line, the reproduction of interaction cross sections and charge-changing cross sections in light exotic nuclei in combination with the Glauber theory, better restoration of pseudo-spin symmetry in exotic nuclei, predictions of exotic phenomena in hypernuclei, and new magic numbers in superheavy nuclei, etc. Recent investigations on new effective interactions, the density dependence of the interaction strengths, the RMF theory on the Woods–Saxon basis, the single-particle resonant states, and the resonant BCS (rBCS) method for the pairing correlation, etc. are also presented in some detail.
As Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) grows to become a good alternative for radio-resistant tumours, long preparation and irradiation time limit the number of treatments possible. To resolve this ...issue, this work aims to propose implementing a compact accelerator-based neutron generator which can provide multiple neutron beams of at least 109/s/cm2 for multi-port BNCT, while maintaining low gamma and fast-neutron contamination.
This study applies a 50 MeV proton beam at a realizable current of 500 μA from an AVF cyclotron with a W target to sustain a high neutron yield for multiple extractions. A beam shaping assembly (BSA) is also studied to moderate and shape the neutron beam for BNCT. A cylindrical BSA surrounding the W target is proposed to make multiple gates extraction plausible. The BSA consists of a moderator assembly (Fe, AlF3 and Teflon), Pb reflector, Li thermal neutron filter (TNF), and borated-polyethylene coupled with Pb which act as neutron and gamma shielding. The proposed design managed to deliver about 2 × 109 epithermal-neutron/cm2/s with satisfactory beam quality at 4 ports for multiple BNCT. Thus, the neutron generator for multi-port BNCT proposed in this study has been proven to be feasible.
Because durable response to programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) inhibition is limited to a subset of melanoma patients, new predictive biomarkers could have clinical utility. We hypothesize that ...pretreatment tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) profiles could be associated with response.
Pretreatment whole tissue sections from 94 melanoma patients treated with anti-PD-1 therapy were profiled by multiplex immunofluorescence to perform TIL quantification (CD4, CD8, CD20) and assess TIL activation (CD3, GZMB, Ki67). Two independent image analysis technologies were used: inForm (PerkinElmer) to determine cell counts, and AQUA to measure protein by quantitative immunofluorescence (QIF). TIL parameters by both methodologies were correlated with objective response or disease control rate (ORR/DCR) by RECIST 1.1 and survival outcome.
Pretreatment lymphocytic infiltration, by cell counts or QIF, was significantly higher in complete or partial response than in stable or progressive disease, particularly for CD8 (
< 0.0001). Neither TIL activation nor dormancy was associated with outcome. CD8 associations with progression-free survival (HR > 3) were independently significant in multivariable analyses and accounted for similar CD3 associations in anti-PD-1-treated patients. CD8 was not associated with melanoma prognosis in the absence of immunotherapy. Predictive performance of CD8 cell count (and QIF) had an area under the ROC curve above 0.75 (ORR/DCR), which reached 0.83 for ipilimumab plus nivolumab.
Pretreatment lymphocytic infiltration is associated with anti-PD-1 response in metastatic melanoma. Quantitative TIL analysis has potential for application in digital precision immuno-oncology as an "indicative" companion diagnostic.
Sex hormones regulate many autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, including asthma. As adults, asthma prevalence is 2-fold greater in women compared to men. The number of group 2 innate lymphoid cells ...(ILC2) is increased in patients with asthma, and we investigate how testosterone attenuates ILC2 function. In patients with moderate to severe asthma, we determine that women have an increased number of circulating ILC2 compared to men. ILC2 from adult female mice have increased IL-2-mediated ILC2 proliferation versus ILC2 from adult male mice, as well as pre-pubescent females and males. Further, 5α-dihydrotestosterone, a hormone downstream of testosterone, decreases lung ILC2 numbers and IL-5 and IL-13 expression from ILC2. In vivo, testosterone attenuated Alternaria-extract-induced IL-5+ and IL-13+ ILC2 numbers and lung eosinophils by intrinsically decreasing lung ILC2 numbers, as well as by decreasing expression of IL-33 and thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), ILC2-stimulating cytokines. Collectively, these findings provide a foundational understanding of sexual dimorphism in ILC2 function.
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•The number of ILC2 is increased in women with asthma compared to men with asthma•Sex hormones regulate IL-2-dependent ILC2 proliferation and cytokine expression•Testosterone intrinsically and extrinsically attenuates ILC2 airway inflammation
Women have higher asthma prevalence compared to men, and ILC2 are increased in patients with asthma. Cephus et al. show that women with asthma have higher circulating ILC2 numbers compared to men with asthma. Testosterone negatively regulates ILC2 proliferation and cytokine expression, as well as ILC2-mediated allergic airway inflammation.
We present a search for a neutral, long-lived particle L that is produced in e+e- collisions and decays at a significant distance from the e+e- interaction point into various flavor combinations of ...two oppositely charged tracks. The analysis uses an e+e- data sample with a luminosity of 489.1 fb-1 collected by the BABAR detector at the γ (4S), γ (3S), and γ (2S) resonances and just below the γ (4S). Fitting the two-track mass distribution in search of a signal peak, we do not observe a significant signal, and set 90% confidence level upper limits on the product of the L production cross section, branching fraction, and reconstruction efficiency for six possible two-body L decay modes as a function of the L mass. The efficiency is given for each final state as a function of the mass, lifetime, and transverse momentum of the candidate, allowing application of the upper limits to any production model. In addition, upper limits are provided on the branching fraction B(B→XsL), where Xs is a strange hadronic system.
When carbon is ignited off-centre in a CO core of a super-asymptotic giant branch star, its burning in a convective shell tends to propagate to the centre. Whether the C flame will actually be able ...to reach the centre depends on the efficiency of extra mixing beneath the C convective shell. Whereas thermohaline mixing is too inefficient to interfere with the C-flame propagation, convective boundary mixing can prevent the C burning from reaching the centre. As a result, a C-O-Ne white dwarf (WD) is formed, after the star has lost its envelope. Such a 'hybrid' WD has a small CO core surrounded by a thick ONe zone. In our 1D stellar evolution computations, the hybrid WD is allowed to accrete C-rich material, as if it were in a close binary system and accreted H-rich material from its companion with a sufficiently high rate at which the accreted H would be processed into He under stationary conditions, assuming that He could then be transformed into C. When the mass of the accreting WD approaches the Chandrasekhar limit, we find a series of convective Urca shell flashes associated with high abundances of 23Na and 25Mg. They are followed by off-centre C ignition leading to convection that occupies almost the entire star. To model the Urca processes, we use the most recent well-resolved data for their reaction and neutrino-energy loss rates. Because of the emphasized uncertainty of the convective Urca process in our hybrid WD models of Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) progenitors, we consider a number of their potentially possible alternative instances for different mixing assumptions, all of which reach a phase of explosive C ignition, either off or in the centre. Our hybrid SN Ia progenitor models have much lower C-to-O abundance ratios at the moment of the explosive C ignition than their pure CO counterparts, which may explain the observed diversity of the SNe Ia.
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