Hints for Small Disks around Very Low Mass Stars and Brown Dwarfs

The properties of disks around brown dwarfs and very low mass stars (hereafter VLMOs) provide important boundary conditions on the process of planet formation and inform us about the numbers and masses of planets than can form in this regime. We use the Herschel Space Observatory PACS spectrometer to measure the continuum and [O I] 63 μm line emission toward 11 VLMOs with known disks in the Taurus and Chamaeleon I star-forming regions. We fit radiative transfer models to the spectral energy distributions of these sources. Additionally, we carry out a grid of radiative transfer models run in a regime that connects the luminosity of our sources with brighter T Tauri stars. We find that VLMO disks with sizes 1.3-78 au, smaller than typical T Tauri disks, fit well the spectral energy distributions assuming that disk geometry and dust properties are stellar mass independent. Reducing the disk size increases the disk temperature, and we show that VLMOs do not follow previously derived disk temperature-stellar luminosity relationships if the disk outer radius scales with stellar mass. Only 2 out of 11 sources are detected in [O I] despite a better sensitivity than was achieved for T Tauri stars, suggesting that VLMO disks are underluminous. Using thermochemical models, we show that smaller disks can lead to the unexpected [O I] 63 μm nondetections in our sample. The disk outer radius is an important factor in determining the gas and dust observables. Hence, spatially resolved observations with ALMA—to establish if and how disk radii scale with stellar mass—should be pursued further. Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA

Preoperative Localization of a Gastrin-Secreting Tumour by Total Body Imaging with 111Indium-Labelled Pentatreotide

A 41-year-old female presented with persistent diarrhea, and was diagnosed with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome when her gastrin level was greater than 3000 ng/L. All modalities for preoperative localization of her gastrinoma were unsuccessful, including transabdominal and endoscopic ultrasound, computed tomography, pancreatic angiogram, selective transhepatic portal venous sampling and magnetic resonance imaging. The gastrin-secreting tumour was visualized using the somatostatin analogue pentatreotide labelled with 111Indium, combined with gamma camera imaging. A successful resection of the tumour resulted in the normalization of serum gastrin levels 3.5 years after presentation. A discussion of the merits and sensitivities of these tests for preoperative localization of gastrin-secreting tumours will be presented

PaperPuppy: Sniffing the Trail of Semantic Web Publications

Abstract. PaperPuppy is a system designed to allow the exploration and analysis of a network of ISWC conference authors and publications. Using proceeding data from the first four ISWC conferences, we show co-authorship, citation, institutional affiliation, co-depiction in photographs, and other connections supported by the underlying ontologies. We demonstrate the rich browsing experience with the PaperPuppy site, and support it with a variety of cutting-dge Semantic Web tools.

The association between smoking and breast cancer characteristics and outcome

Abstract Background Smoking is associated with an increased incidence of hormone receptor positive breast cancer. Data regarding worse breast cancer outcome in smokers are accumulating. Current literature regarding the impact of smoking on breast cancer characteristics is limited. We evaluated the impact of smoking on breast cancer characteristics and outcome. Methods This was a retrospective single center study. All women diagnosed from 4/2005 through 3/2012 and treated in our institute for early, estrogen receptor positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) negative breast cancer, whose tumors were sent for Oncotype DX analysis were included. Medical records were reviewed for demographics, clinico-pathological parameters, treatment and outcome. Data regarding smoking were retrieved according to patients’ history at the first visit in the oncology clinic. Patients were grouped and compared according to smoking history (ever smokers vs. never smokers), smoking status (current vs. former and never smokers) and smoking intensity (pack years ≥30 vs. the rest of the cohort). Outcomes were adjusted in multivariate analyses and included age, menopausal status, ethnicity, tumor size, nodal status and grade. Results A total of 662 women were included. 28.2% had a history of smoking, 16.6% were current smokers and 11.3% were heavy smokers. Smoking had no impact on tumor size, nodal involvement and Oncotype DX recurrence score. Angiolymphatic and perineural invasion rates were higher in current smokers than in the rest of the cohort (10.4% vs. 5.1%, p = 0.045, 8.3% vs. 3.5%, p = 0.031, respectively). Smoking had no other impact on histological characteristics. Five-year disease free survival and overall survival rates were 95.7% and 98.5%, respectively. Smoking had no impact on outcomes. Adjusted disease free survival and overall survival did not influence the results. Conclusions Smoking had no clinically significant influence on tumor characteristics and outcome among women with estrogen receptor positive, HER2 negative, early breast cancer. As the study was limited to a specific subgroup of the breast cancer population in this heterogeneous disease and since smoking is a modifiable risk factor for the disease, further research is required to clarify the possible impact of smoking on breast cancer