New charge-transfer states in blends of ZnPC with F8ZnPC

With the aim of pushing the knowledge and understanding on mixed films of organic semiconductors forward, blends of ZnPC and F8ZnPC in different ratios are manufactured. The films have a polycrystalline structure, as indicated by electron diffraction profiles and infrared-spectroscopy. Photoluminescence data show completely different spectra for the blends, compared to the pure materials, which can be ascribed to the suppressing of excimer formation and the appearance of a new charge-transfer excitation between the two different molecules in the blends. This new excitation can also be seen in optical absorption. Momentum dependent measurements of the electronic excitations by electron energy-loss spectroscopy confirm the localized character of the new charge-transfer excitation in the blends. Our experimental data help understand the important issue of donor/acceptor coupling in organic semiconductors

Safety and efficacy of transarterial chemoembolization with degradable starch microspheres (DSM-TACE) in the treatment of secondary liver malignancies

Purpose: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of degradable starch microspheres (DSM) as embolic agents in transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) in the treatment of secondary liver metastases. Methods: This was a national, multicenter observational study. Primary endpoints were safety and treatment response according to Modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (mRECIST) criteria. Results: A total of 77 DSM-TACE procedures were performed in 20 patients. Minor immediate adverse events (AEs) were epigastric pain with an incidence of 45.5% (35/77), and nausea and vomiting at an incidence of 23.4% (18/77). Delayed minor AEs were epigastric pain in 13/77 (16.9%) treatments and nausea and vomiting in 10 (13.0%) treatments. No severe AEs were documented. Therapeutic efficacy of DSM-TACE procedures according to mRECIST was as follows: complete response 0/77, partial response 17/77, stable disease 33/77 and progressive disease 6/77, no data was available for 21/77 treatments. Overall, objective response was achieved in 8 of 20 patients (40.0%). Conclusion: DSM as embolic agent for TACE is safe in the treatment of liver metastases. An objective response in 40.0% of patients and disease control in 64.9% of procedures was achieved, and this should lead to further evaluation of DSM-TACE as treatment option for nonresectable liver metastases

Long-term survival after percutaneous irreversible electroporation of inoperable colorectal liver metastases

Background: For colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) that are not amenable to surgery or thermal ablation, irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a novel local treatment modality and additional option. Methods: This study is a retrospective long-term follow-up of patients with CRLM who underwent IRE as salvage treatment. Results: Of the 24 included patients, 18(75.0%) were male, and the median age was 57 (range: 28-75) years. The mean time elapsed from diagnosis to IRE was 37.9 +/- 37.3 months. Mean overall survival was 26.5 months after IRE (range: 2.5-69.2 months) and 58.1 months after diagnosis (range: 14.8-180.1 months). One-, three-, and five-year survival rates after initial diagnosis were 100.0%, 79.2%, and 41.2%; after IRE, the respective survival rates were 79.1%, 25.0%, and 8.3%. There were no statistically significant differences detected in survival after IRE with respect to gender, age, T- or N-stage at the time of diagnosis, size of metastases subject to IRE, number of hepatic lesions, or time elapsed between IRE and diagnosis. Conclusion: For nonresectable CRLM, long-term survival data emphasize the value of IRE as a new minimally invasive local therapeutic approach in multimodal palliative treatment, which is currently limited to systemic or regional therapies in this setting

Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) with degradable starch microspheres (DSM) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC): multi-center results on safety and efficacy

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the 3rd leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. The majority of HCCs are diagnosed in a stage that is not eligible for curative resection. For intermediate stage HCC, transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is the recommended treatment. We evaluated the safety and efficacy of DSM (degradable starch microspheres) as embolic agent in transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) for the treatment of intermediate stage, non-resectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods and Findings: A national, multi-center observational study on the safety and efficacy of DSM-TACE for the treatment of intermediate HCC was conducted. The recruitment period for the study was from January 2010 to June 2014. The primary endpoints were safety and treatment response according to the mRECIST criteria. A total of 179 DSM-TACE procedures in 50 patients were included in the analysis. The therapeutic efficacy assessed with mRECIST was as follows: complete response (n=1; 2 %), 21 partial response (42 %), 13 stable disease (26 %), 9 progressive disease (18 %), and 6 incomplete data (12 %). Thus, the objective response rate was 44% (n=22) and disease control rate was 70% (n=35). A total of 76 immediate adverse events (AE) and 2 severe adverse events (SAE) were recorded. Forty-eight percent of patients (n=24) did not encounter any immediate AE/SAE. Between treatments, a total of 66 AE and one SAE were recorded. Twenty-four patients (48 %) did not encounter any AE/SAE in between treatments. Conclusion: The use of DSM as a TACE embolic agent appears to be safe for the treatment of HCC and has promising efficacy

Fludarabine modulates composition and function of the T cell pool in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia

The combination of cytotoxic treatment with strategies for immune activation represents an attractive strategy for tumour therapy. Following reduction of high tumour burden by effective cytotoxic agents, two major immune-stimulating approaches are being pursued. First, innate immunity can be activated by monoclonal antibodies triggering antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. Second, tumour-specific T cell responses can be generated by immunization of patients with peptides derived from tumour antigens and infused in soluble form or loaded onto dendritic cells. The choice of cytotoxic agents for such combinatory regimens is crucial since most substances such as fludarabine are considered immunosuppressive while others such as cyclophosphamide can have immunostimulatory activity. We tested in this study whether fludarabine and/or cyclophosphamide, which represent a very effective treatment regimen for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, would interfere with a therapeutic strategy of T cell activation. Analysis of peripheral blood samples from patients prior and during fludarabine/cyclophosphamide therapy revealed rapid and sustained reduction of tumour cells but also of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. This correlated with a significant cytotoxic activity of fludarabine/cyclophosphamide on T cells in vitro. Unexpectedly, T cells surviving fludarabine/cyclophosphamide treatment in vitro had a more mature phenotype, while fludarabine-treated T cells were significantly more responsive to mitogenic stimulation than their untreated counterparts and showed a shift towards TH1 cytokine secretion. In conclusion, fludarabine/cyclophosphamide therapy though inducing significant and relevant T cell depletion seems to generate a micromilieu suitable for subsequent T cell activation

Search for Higgs bosons produced via vector-boson fusion and decaying into bottom quark pairs in √s =13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the bb ¯ decay of the Standard Model Higgs boson produced through vector-boson fusion is presented. Three mutually exclusive channels are considered: two all-hadronic channels and a photon-associated channel. Results are reported from the analysis of up to 30.6 fb −1 of pp data at s √ =13 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measured signal strength relative to the Standard Model prediction from the combined analysis is 2.5 +1.4 −1.3 for inclusive Higgs boson production and 3.0 +1.7 −1.6 for vector-boson fusion production only

Measurement of jet fragmentation in Pb+Pb and pp collisions at √s NN =5.02 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents a measurement of jet fragmentation functions in 0.49 nb −1 of Pb+Pb collisions and 25 pb −1 of pp collisions at √ sNN =5.02 TeV collected in 2015 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. These measurements provide insight into the jet quenching process in the quark-gluon plasma created in the aftermath of ultra-relativistic collisions between two nuclei. The modifications to the jet fragmentation functions are quantified by dividing the measurements in Pb+Pb collisions by baseline measurements in pp collisions. This ratio is studied as a function of the transverse momentum of the jet, the jet rapidity, and the centrality of the collision. In both collision systems, the jet fragmentation functions are measured for jets with transverse momentum between 126 GeV and 398 GeV and with an absolute value of jet rapidity less than 2.1. An enhancement of particles carrying a small fraction of the jet momentum is observed, which increases with centrality and with increasing jet transverse momentum. Yields of particles carrying a very large fraction of the jet momentum are also observed to be enhanced. Between these two enhancements of the fragmentation functions a suppression of particles carrying an intermediate fraction of the jet momentum is observed in Pb+Pb collisions. A small dependence of the modifications on jet rapidity is observed

Genetic correlations and genome-wide associations of cortical structure in general population samples of 22824 adults

Cortical thickness, surface area and volumes vary with age and cognitive function, and in neurological and psychiatric diseases. Here we report heritability, genetic correlations and genome-wide associations of these cortical measures across the whole cortex, and in 34 anatomically predefined regions. Our discovery sample comprises 22,824 individuals from 20 cohorts within the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium and the UK Biobank. We identify genetic heterogeneity between cortical measures and brain regions, and 160 genome-wide significant associations pointing to wnt/β-catenin, TGF-β and sonic hedgehog pathways. There is enrichment for genes involved in anthropometric traits, hindbrain development, vascular and neurodegenerative disease and psychiatric conditions. These data are a rich resource for studies of the biological mechanisms behind cortical development and aging

Search for pair production of heavy vectorlike quarks decaying into hadronic final states in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search is presented for the pair production of heavy vectorlike quarks, T¯T or B¯B, that decay into final states with jets and no reconstructed leptons. Jets in the final state are classified using a deep neural network as arising from hadronically decaying W/Z bosons, Higgs bosons, top quarks, or background. The analysis uses data from the ATLAS experiment corresponding to 36.1  fb−1 of proton-proton collisions with a center-of-mass energy of √s=13  TeV delivered by the Large Hadron Collider in 2015 and 2016. No significant deviation from the Standard Model expectation is observed. Results are interpreted assuming the vectorlike quarks decay into a Standard Model boson and a third-generation-quark, T→Wb,Ht,Zt or B→Wt,Hb,Zb, for a variety of branching ratios. At 95% confidence level, the observed (expected) lower limit on the vectorlike B -quark mass for a weak-isospin doublet (B, Y) is 950 (890) GeV, and the lower limits on the masses for the pure decays B→Hb and T→Ht, where these results are strongest, are 1010 (970) GeV and 1010 (1010) GeV, respectively

Search for lepton-flavor-violating decays of the Z boson into a τ lepton and a light lepton with the ATLAS detector

For abstract see published article