Long γ-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most dramatic examples of massive stellar deaths, often associated with supernovae. They release ultra-relativistic jets, which produce non-thermal emission through ...synchrotron radiation as they interact with the surrounding medium. Here we report observations of the unusual GRB 101225A. Its γ-ray emission was exceptionally long-lived and was followed by a bright X-ray transient with a hot thermal component and an unusual optical counterpart. During the first 10 days, the optical emission evolved as an expanding, cooling black body, after which an additional component, consistent with a faint supernova, emerged. We estimate its redshift to be z = 0.33 by fitting the spectral-energy distribution and light curve of the optical emission with a GRB-supernova template. Deep optical observations may have revealed a faint, unresolved host galaxy. Our proposed progenitor is a merger of a helium star with a neutron star that underwent a common envelope phase, expelling its hydrogen envelope. The resulting explosion created a GRB-like jet which became thermalized by interacting with the dense, previously ejected material, thus creating the observed black body, until finally the emission from the supernova dominated. An alternative explanation is a minor body falling onto a neutron star in the Galaxy.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of positron emission tomography with 2-18F fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose compared with computed tomography plus other conventional ...diagnostic studies in patients suspected of having metastatic or recurrent colorectal adenocarcinoma.
The records of 105 patients who underwent 101 computed tomography and 109 2-18F fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography scans for suspected metastatic or recurrent colorectal adenocarcinoma were reviewed. Clinical correlation was confirmed at time of operation, histopathologically, or by clinical course.
The overall sensitivity and specificity of 2-18F fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography in detection of clinically relevant tumor were higher (87 and 68 percent) than for computed tomography plus other conventional diagnostic studies (66 and 59 percent). The sensitivity of 2-18F fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography in detecting mucinous cancer was lower (58 percent; n = 16) than for nonmucinous cancer (92 percent; n = 93). The sensitivity of 2-18F fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography in detecting locoregional recurrence (n = 70) was higher than for computed tomography plus colonoscopy (90 vs. 71 percent, respectively). The sensitivity of 2-18F fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography in detecting hepatic metastasis (n = 101) was higher than for computed tomography (89 vs. 71 percent). The sensitivity of 2-18F fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography in detecting extrahepatic metastases exclusive of locoregional recurrence (n = 101) was higher than for computed tomography plus other conventional diagnostic studies (94 vs. 67 percent). 2-18F fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography altered clinical management in a beneficial manner in 26 percent of cases (26/101) when compared with evaluation by computed tomography plus other conventional diagnostic studies.
2-18F fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography is more sensitive than computed tomography for the detection of metastatic or recurrent colorectal cancer and may improve clinical management in one-quarter of cases. However, 2-18F fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography is not as sensitive in detecting mucinous adenocarcinoma, possibly because of the relative hypocellularity of these tumors.
ABSTRACT
We report on the discovery of Swift J004516.6–734703, a Be/X-ray binary system by the Swift SMC Survey, S-CUBED. Swift J004516.6–734703, or SXP 146.6, was found to be exhibiting a bright ...(∼1037 erg s−1) X-ray outburst on 2020 June 18. The historical UV and IR light-curves from OGLE and Swift/UVOT showed that after a long period of steady brightness, it experienced a significant brightening beginning around 2019 March. This IR/UV rise is likely the signature of the formation of a circumstellar disc, confirmed by the presence of strong an H α line in SALT spectroscopy, that was not previously present. Periodicity analysis of the OGLE data reveals a plausible 426 d binary period, and in X-ray a pulsation period of 146.6 s is detected. The onset of X-ray emission from Swift J004516.6–734703 is likely the signature of a Type-I outburst from the first periastron passage of the neutron star companion through the newly formed circumstellar disc. We note that the formation of the circumstellar disc began at the predicted time of the previous periastron passage, suggesting its formation was spurred by tidal interaction with the neutron star.
Low-grade dysplasia (LGD) is associated with an increased risk of progression in Barrett’s esophagus (BE); however, the diagnosis of LGD is limited by substantial interobserver variability. Multiple ...studies have shown that an objective tissue systems pathology test (TissueCypher Barrett’s Esophagus Test, TSP-9), can effectively predict neoplastic progression in patients with BE. This study aimed to compare the risk stratification performance of the TSP-9 test vs benchmarks of generalist and expert pathology.
A blinded cohort study was conducted in the screening cohort of a randomized controlled trial of patients with BE with community-based LGD. Biopsies from the first endoscopy with LGD were assessed by the TSP-9 test and independently reviewed by 30 pathologists from 5 countries per standard practice. The accuracy of the test and the diagnoses in predicting high-grade dysplasia (HGD) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) were compared.
A total of 154 patients with BE (122 men), mean age 60.9 ± 9.8 years were studied. Twenty-four patients progressed to HGD/EAC within 5 years (median time of 1.7 years) and 130 did not progress to HGD/EAC within 5 years (median 7.8 years follow-up). The TSP-9 test demonstrated higher sensitivity (71% vs mean 63%, range 33%–88% across 30 pathologists), than the pathology review in detecting patients who progressed (P = .01186).
The TSP-9 test outperformed the pathologists in risk stratifying patients with BE with LGD. Care guided by the test can provide an effective solution to variable pathology review of LGD, improving health outcomes by upstaging care to therapeutic intervention for patients at high risk for progression, while reducing unnecessary interventions in low-risk patients.
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A study in the screening cohort of a randomized controlled trial demonstrated that a tissue systems pathology test (TSP-9) objectively risk-stratified patients with Barrett’s esophagus and community-based low-grade dysplasia, whereas a panel of expert and generalist pathologists demonstrated significant interobserver variability. The TSP-9 test outperformed pathology review in predicting neoplastic progression and detected 80.4% of progressors when used as an adjunct to pathology review of low-grade dysplasia. The results of the study indicate that the TSP-9 test provides an objective solution to subjective and variable pathology review and can improve outcomes for patients with an initial diagnosis of low-grade dysplasia by maximizing the identification and early treatment of progressors with eradication therapy and downstaging the management of low-risk patients to a surveillance-only approach.
Striking cessation of cataplexy by opioids Donjacour, Claire E. H. M.; Lammers, Gert Jan; Siegel, Jerome M.
Journal of sleep research,
August 2019, Letnik:
28, Številka:
4
Journal Article
The optical-infrared afterglow of the Large Area Telescope (LAT)-detected long-duration burst, GRB 090902B, has been observed by several instruments. The earliest detection by ROTSE-IIIa occurred 80 ...minutes after detection by the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor instrument on board the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope, revealing a bright afterglow and a decay slope suggestive of a reverse shock origin. Subsequent optical-IR observations followed the light curve for 6.5 days. The temporal and spectral behavior at optical-infrared frequencies is consistent with synchrotron fireball model predictions; the cooling break lies between optical and XRT frequencies {approx}1.9 days after the burst. The inferred electron energy index is p = 1.8 {+-} 0.2, which would however imply an X-ray decay slope flatter than observed. The XRT and LAT data have similar spectral indices and the observed steeper value of the LAT temporal index is marginally consistent with the predicted temporal decay in the radiative regime of the forward shock model. Absence of a jet break during the first 6 days implies a collimation-corrected {gamma}-ray energy E{sub {gamma}} > 2.2 x 10{sup 52} erg, one of the highest ever seen in a long-duration gamma-ray bursts. More events combining GeV photon emission with multiwavelength observations will be required to constrain the nature of the central engine powering these energetic explosions and to explore the correlations between energetic quanta and afterglow emission.
We analyze velocity dispersion profiles for the Draco and Ursa Minor (UMi) dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies based on published and new Keck HIRES spectra for stars in the outer UMi field. Washington ...+ DDO51 filter photometric catalogs provide additional leverage on membership of individual stars and, beyond 0.5 King limiting radii (r sub(lim)), identify bona fide dSph members up to 4.5 times more efficiently than simple color-magnitude diagram selections. Previously reported "cold populations" at r sub(lim) are not obvious in the data and appear only with particular binning; more or less constant and platykurtic dispersion profiles are characteristic of these dSphs to large radii. We report the discovery of UMi stars to at least 2.7r sub(lim) (i.e., 210' or 4 kpc). Even with conservative assumptions, a UMi mass of M > 4.9 x 10 super(8) M sub( )is required to bind these stars, implying an unlikely global mass-to-light ratio of M/L > 900 (M/L) sub( ). We conclude that we have found stars tidally stripped from UMi.
While linear programming (LP) decoding provides more flexibility for finite-length performance analysis than iterative message-passing (IMP) decoding, it is computationally more complex to implement ...in its original form, due to both the large size of the relaxed LP problem and the inefficiency of using general-purpose LP solvers. This paper explores ideas for fast LP decoding of low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes. By modifying the previously reported Adaptive LP decoding scheme to allow removal of unnecessary constraints, we first prove that LP decoding can be performed by solving a number of LP problems that each contains at most one linear constraint derived from each of the parity-check constraints. By exploiting this property, we study a sparse interior-point implementation for solving this sequence of linear programs. Since the most complex part of each iteration of the interior-point algorithm is the solution of a (usually ill-conditioned) system of linear equations for finding the step direction, we propose a preconditioning algorithm to facilitate solving such systems iteratively. The proposed preconditioning algorithm is similar to the encoding procedure of LDPC codes, and we demonstrate its effectiveness via both analytical methods and computer simulation results.
Abstract Current rodent models of neuropathic pain produce pain hypersensitivity in almost all lesioned animals and not all identified experimental effects are pain specific. 18G ...needlestick-nerve-injury (NNI) to one tibial nerve of outbred Sprague–Dawley rats models the phenotype of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), a post-traumatic neuropathic pain syndrome, leaving roughly half of NNI rats with hyperalgesia. We compared endoneurial data from these divergent endophenotypes searching for pathological changes specifically associated with pain-behaviors. Tibial, sural, and common sciatic nerves from 12 NNI rats plus 10 nerves from sham-operated controls were removed 14 days post-surgery for morphometric analysis. PGP9.5+ unmyelinated-fibers were quantitated in plantar hindpaw skin. Distal tibial nerves of NNI rats had endoneurial edema, 30% fewer axons, twice as many mast cells, and thicker blood-vessel walls than uninjured tibial nerves. However the only significant difference between nerves from hyperalgesic versus non-hyperalgesic NNI rats was greater endoneurial edema in hyperalgesic rats ( p < 0.01). We also discovered significant axonal losses in uninjured ipsilateral sural nerves of NNI rats, demonstrating spread of neuropathy to nearby nerves formerly thought spared. Tibial and sural nerves contralateral to NNI had significant changes in endoneurial blood-vessels. Similar pathological changes have been identified in CRPS-I patients. The current findings suggest that severity of endoneurial vasculopathy and inflammation may correlate better with neuropathic pain behaviors than degree of axonal loss. Spread of pathological changes to nearby ipsilateral and contralateral nerves might potentially contribute to extraterritorial pain in CRPS.
Aims
A laboratory study was conducted to evaluate the influence of cocultivation of toxigenic Fusarium (F.) and Alternaria (A.) fungi with respect to growth and mycotoxin production.
Methods and ...Results
Fusarium culmorum Fc13, Fusarium graminearum Fg23 and two Alternaria tenuissima isolates (At18 and At220) were simultaneously or consecutively co‐incubated on wheat kernels in an in vitro test system. Fungal biomass was quantified by determining ergosterol content. Three Fusarium toxins (DON, NIV and ZON) and three Alternaria toxins (AOH, AME and ALT) were analysed by a newly developed HPLC/MS/MS method. In simultaneous cocultures, the fungal biomass was enhanced up to 460% compared with individual cultures; Alternaria toxins were considerably depressed down to <5%. Combining At18 and At220 with Fg23 inhibited the toxin production of both fungal partners. In contrast, Fc13 increased its DON and ZON production in competitive interaction with both A. strains.
Conclusions
The interfungal competitive effects aid the understanding of the processes of competition of both fungi in natural environments and the involvement of mycotoxins as antifungal factors.
Significance and Impact of Study
Cocultivation significantly affects fungal growth and mycotoxin production of phytopathogenic Alternaria and Fusarium strains. The impact of mycotoxins on the interfungal competition is highlighted.
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