Microfluidic-based immunohistochemistry for breast cancer diagnosis: a comparative clinical study.

Breast cancer is a highly heterogeneous disease. The efficacy of tailored therapeutic strategies relies on the precise detection of diagnostic biomarkers by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Therefore, considering the increasing incidence of breast cancer cases, a concomitantly time-efficient and accurate diagnosis is clinically highly relevant. Microfluidics is a promising innovative technology in the field of tissue diagnostic, enabling for rapid, reliable, and automated immunostaining. We previously reported the microfluidic-based HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) detection in breast carcinomas to greatly correlate with the HER2 gene amplification level. Here, we aimed to develop a panel of microfluidic-based IHC protocols for prognostic and therapeutic markers routinely assessed for breast cancer diagnosis, namely HER2, estrogen/progesterone receptor (ER/PR), and Ki67 proliferation factor. The microfluidic IHC protocol for each marker was optimized to reach high staining quality comparable to the standard procedure, while concomitantly shortening the staining time to 16 min-excluding deparaffinization and antigen retrieval step-with a turnaround time reduction up to 7 folds. Comparison of the diagnostic score on 50 formaldehyde-fixed paraffin-embedded breast tumor resections by microfluidic versus standard staining showed high concordance (overall agreement: HER2 94%, ER 95.9%, PR 93.6%, Ki67 93.7%) and strong correlation (ρ coefficient: ER 0.89, PR 0.88, Ki67 0.87; p < 0.0001) for all the analyzed markers. Importantly, HER2 genetic reflex test for all discordant cases confirmed the scores obtained by the microfluidic technique. Overall, the microfluidic-based IHC represents a clinically validated equivalent approach to the standard chromogenic staining for rapid, accurate, and automated breast cancer diagnosis

STUDY ON THE FRUIT MORPHOLOGY OF MAPANIA SPECIES (CYPERACEAE) EASTERN NORTH OF SARAWAK

The study of fruit morphology of Mapania species from Eastern North of Sarawak is presented in this paper. The samples were collected from various localities in the Eastern North of Sarawak, includes Lambir Hills National Park (LHNP), Bukit Sembiling Nature Reserve (BSNR), Ulu Mentawai, Mulu National Park (UMMNP), Long Banga (LB) and Tama Abu Production Forest (TAPF). Matured fruits were obtained by dissecting the spike. Morphological characteristics were observed use USB Portable Microscopes (500x) and parameters were measured use digital caliper. The morphological characteristics were compared and analyzed. Fruits of M. meditensis were the biggest (9 mm long, 4.25 mm diam.) and the smallest fruit was M. debilis (2.45 mm long, 1.5 mm diam.). Overall the fruit morphological was very useful to differentiate the species level particularly the sizes, exocarp appearance and the present of costae

d-Wave Spin Density Wave phase in the Attractive Hubbard Model with Spin Polarization

We investigate the possibility of unconventional spin density wave (SDW) in the attractive Hubbard model with finite spin polarization. We show that pairing and density fluctuations induce the transverse d-wave SDW near the half-filling. This novel SDW is related to the d-wave superfluidity induced by antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations, in the sense that they are connected with each other through Shiba's attraction-repulsion transformation. Our results predict the d-wave SDW in real systems, such as cold Fermi atom gases with population imbalance and compounds involving valence skipper elements

NOTES ON THE GENUS MAPANIA (MAPANIOIDEA; CYPERACEAE) FROM TAMA ABU, SARAWAK

A list of Mapania species from Tama Abu PF of Heart of Borneo (HoB) area is presented in this paper. Tama Abu PF is considered fairly rich with Mapania species. Nine taxa were recorded of which one species is still undetermined

PROVISIONAL CHECKLIST OF GINGERS FROM TAMA ABU PF

Zingiberaceae species are a diverse group of rhizomatous, aromatic perennial herbs with the centre of diversity in South-east Asia. The Zingiberaceae diversity in the Tama Abu Production Forest (TAPF) documented in this paper is a result of the survey during the Heart of Borneo (HoB) Scientific Expedition 2017. A total of 44 species belonging to 12 genera and 2 tribes were collected and recorded. The tribe Alpinieae represented by 8 genera and 30 species whilst tribe Zingiberaea with 4 genera and 14 species. Amomum anomalum, Amomum dimorphum, Etlingera brevilabrum, Etlingera coccinea, Globba atrosanguinea, Hornstedtia havilandii, Plagiostachys strobilifera and Zingiber sp. nov. are considered as common

Two-Particle-Self-Consistent Approach for the Hubbard Model

Even at weak to intermediate coupling, the Hubbard model poses a formidable challenge. In two dimensions in particular, standard methods such as the Random Phase Approximation are no longer valid since they predict a finite temperature antiferromagnetic phase transition prohibited by the Mermin-Wagner theorem. The Two-Particle-Self-Consistent (TPSC) approach satisfies that theorem as well as particle conservation, the Pauli principle, the local moment and local charge sum rules. The self-energy formula does not assume a Migdal theorem. There is consistency between one- and two-particle quantities. Internal accuracy checks allow one to test the limits of validity of TPSC. Here I present a pedagogical review of TPSC along with a short summary of existing results and two case studies: a) the opening of a pseudogap in two dimensions when the correlation length is larger than the thermal de Broglie wavelength, and b) the conditions for the appearance of d-wave superconductivity in the two-dimensional Hubbard model.Comment: Chapter in "Theoretical methods for Strongly Correlated Systems", Edited by A. Avella and F. Mancini, Springer Verlag, (2011) 55 pages. Misprint in Eq.(23) corrected (thanks D. Bergeron

Quantum dynamics in ultra-cold atomic physics

We review recent developments in the theory of quantum dynamics in ultra-cold atomic physics, including exact techniques, but focusing on methods based on phase-space mappings that are appli- cable when the complexity becomes exponentially large. These phase-space representations include the truncated Wigner, positive-P and general Gaussian operator representations which can treat both bosons and fermions. These phase-space methods include both traditional approaches using a phase-space of classical dimension, and more recent methods that use a non-classical phase-space of increased dimensionality. Examples used include quantum EPR entanglement of a four-mode BEC, time-reversal tests of dephasing in single-mode traps, BEC quantum collisions with up to 106 modes and 105 interacting particles, quantum interferometry in a multi-mode trap with nonlinear absorp- tion, and the theory of quantum entropy in phase-space. We also treat the approach of variational optimization of the sampling error, giving an elementary example of a nonlinear oscillator

Electronic Structure Calculation by First Principles for Strongly Correlated Electron Systems

Recent trends of ab initio studies and progress in methodologies for electronic structure calculations of strongly correlated electron systems are discussed. The interest for developing efficient methods is motivated by recent discoveries and characterizations of strongly correlated electron materials and by requirements for understanding mechanisms of intriguing phenomena beyond a single-particle picture. A three-stage scheme is developed as renormalized multi-scale solvers (RMS) utilizing the hierarchical electronic structure in the energy space. It provides us with an ab initio downfolding of the global band structure into low-energy effective models followed by low-energy solvers for the models. The RMS method is illustrated with examples of several materials. In particular, we overview cases such as dynamics of semiconductors, transition metals and its compounds including iron-based superconductors and perovskite oxides, as well as organic conductors of kappa-ET type.Comment: 44 pages including 38 figures, to appear in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. as an invited review pape

Is Malaysia’s banded langur, Presbytis femoralis femoralis, actually Presbytis neglectus neglectus? Taxonomic revision with new insights on the radiation history of the Presbytis species group in Southeast Asia

The disjunct distribution of Presbytis femoralis subspecies across Sumatra (P. f. percura), southern (P. f. femoralis) and northern (P. f. robinsoni) Peninsular Malaysia marks the unique vicariance events in the Sunda Shelf. However, the taxonomic positions and evolutionary history of P. f. femoralis are unresolved after decades of research. To elucidate this evolutionary history, we analyzed 501 base pairs of the mitochondrial HVSI gene from 25 individuals representing Malaysia’s banded langur, with the addition of 29 sequences of Asian Presbytis from Genbank. Our results revealed closer affinity of P. f. femoralis to P. m. mitrata and P. m. sumatrana while maintaining the monophyletic state of P. f. femoralis as compared to P. f. robinsoni. Two central theses were inferred from the results; (1) P. f. femoralis does not belong in the same species classification as P. f. robinsoni, and (2) P. f. femoralis is the basal lineage of the Presbytis in Peninsular Malaysia. Proving the first hypothesis through genetic analysis, we reassigned P. f. femoralis of Malaysia to Presbytis neglectus (Schlegel’s banded langur) (Schlegel in Revue Methodique, Museum d’Histoire Naturelle des Pays-Bas 7:1, 1876) following the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (article 23.3). The ancestors of P. neglectus are hypothesized to have reached southern Peninsular Malaysia during the Pleistocene and survived in refugium along the western coast. Consequently, they radiated upward, forming P. f. robinsoni and P. siamensis resulting in the highly allopatric distribution in Peninsular Malaysia. This study has successfully resolved the taxonomic position of P. neglectus in Peninsular Malaysia while providing an alternative biogeographic theory for the Asian Presbytis