Land Subsidence Caused by Groundwater Exploitation in Yunlin, Taiwan

Source: ICHE Conference Archive - https://mdi-de.baw.de/icheArchive

Isolated pancreatic metastasis from rectal cancer: a case report and review of literature

Isolated pancreatic metastases from a non-pancreatic primary malignancy are very rare. Studies have shown that resection of metastases is of proven benefit in some types of tumors. We report a case of 76-year-old Taiwanese woman with rectal adenocarcinoma treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and abdominoperineal resection 2 years ago presenting with an asymptomatic mass at the pancreatic tail on a routine follow up abdominal computed tomography scan. The patient underwent distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy under the preoperative impression of a primary pancreatic malignancy. Histological examination of the surgical specimen showed metastatic adenocarcinoma. Immunohistochemical studies confirmed the diagnosis of pancreatic metastasis from rectal adenocarcinoma. Postoperative chemotherapy in the form of oral capecitabine was given. The patient is alive and disease free 12 months after the surgery. In a patient presenting with a pancreatic mass with history of a non-pancreatic malignancy, a differential diagnosis of pancreatic metastasis should be considered. Surgical resection of a solitary pancreatic mass is justified not only to get the definitive diagnosis but also to improve the survival

Hepatocellular carcinoma detected by regular surveillance: Does timely confirmation of diagnosis matter?

AbstractBackgroundAlthough current guidelines recommended surveillance of hepatocellular carcinoma, prognosis in patients undergoing enhanced follow-up has yet to be evaluated.AimsExamine outcomes of hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosed during enhanced follow-up.MethodsDuring 2010–2012, 194 patients underwent ultrasonography surveillance were diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma and divided into: (A) immediate diagnosis (N=105, 54.1%) after positive ultrasonography, (B) enhanced follow-up: (N=38, 19.6%) for initial negative recall procedures, (C) late call back: (N=28, 14.4%) recall procedures were deferred after positive ultrasonography, and (D) beyond ultrasonography: (N=23, 11.9%) surveillance ultrasonography had been negative.ResultsMedian time from positive ultrasonography to confirmation of hepatocellular carcinoma were 9.5 months (2–67) in the Group B and 6.5 months (3–44) in the Group C. Stage distribution and 3-year survival rates were similar amongst all Groups. Surveillance intervals longer than 6 months were associated with the non-curative stage (3.7% vs. 12.5%, p=0.04). Nine (4.6%) patients underwent surveillance were diagnosed as Barcelona-Clinic Liver Cancer stage C.ConclusionEnhanced follow-up by current guidelines is appropriate that treatment can be deferred until a definite diagnosis. Despite optimal surveillance interval and recall policies, few non-curative stage diagnoses seemed inevitable under current standard of care

Identification of Postoperative Prognostic MicroRNA Predictors in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Comparison of microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles in the noncancerous liver tissues adjacent to hepatocelluar carcinomas (HCCs) was a strategy to identify postoperative prognostic predictors in this study. Expression profiles of 270 miRNAs were determined in the paraneoplastic liver tissues of 12 HCC patients with known postoperative prognosis. A panel of candidate miRNA predictors was identified. The prognostic predictive value of these candidate miRNAs was then verified in 216 postoperative HCC patients. Univariate analysis identified 8 and 3 miRNA predictors for recurrence-free (RFS) and overall (OS) survivals, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed high expression levels of miR-155 (HR, 2.002 [1.324–3.027]; P = .001), miR-15a (HR, 0.478 [0.248–0.920]; P = .027), miR-432 (HR, 1.816 [1.203–2.740]; P = .015), miR-486-3p (HR, 0.543 [0.330–0.893]; P = .016), miR-15b (HR, 1.074 [1.002–1.152]; P = .043) and miR-30b (HR, 1.102 [1.025–1.185]; P = .009) were significantly associated with RFS. When clinicopathological predictors were included, multivariate analysis revealed that tumor number and miR-432, miR-486-3p, and miR-30b expression levels remained significant as independent predictors for RFS. Additionally, expression knockdown of miR-155 in J7 and Mahlavu hepatoma cells resulted in decreased cell growth and enhanced cell death in xenograft tumors, suggesting an oncogenic effect of miR-155. In conclusion, significant prognostic miRNA predictors were identified through examination of miRNA expression levels in paraneoplastic liver tissues. Functional analysis of a miRNA predictor, miR-155, suggested that the prognostic miRNA predictors identified under this strategy could serve as potential molecular targets for anticancer therapy

Aberrant KDM5B expression promotes aggressive breast cancer through MALAT1 overexpression and downregulation of hsa-miR-448

Relative expression of KDM5B, MALAT1, SNAIL, Vimentin and miR 448 normalized against GAPDH in MCF10A WT, MCF10A OE, MDA-MB-231 WT and MDA-MB-231 KD cells. Data are representative of 3 independent experiments and analyzed by student’s t-test. All data are shown as mean ± SEM. WT, wild type; OE, KDM5B overexpressed; KD, knockdown using shKDM5B clone II. (DOCX 519 kb

Sudakov effects in BBNS approach

The end-point singularity is an unsolved problem in BBNS approach. Incorporating the partonic transverse momentum and the Sudakov form factor, this problem can be solved model-independently. We discuss the Sudakov effects in BBNS approach. The BBNS approach is compared with the modified PQCD approach. The main idea of Sudakov form factor is briefly discussed. Our conclusion is that the twist-3 contribution for the hard spectator scattering is numerically not important in $B\to \pi\pi$ decays, compared with the twist-2 contribution.Comment: 16 pages, Latex, two figures, some typos correcte

An earthquake slip zone is a magnetic recorder

International audienceDuring an earthquake, the physical and the chemical transformations along a slip zone lead to an intense deformation within the gouge layer of a mature fault zone. Because the gouge contains ferromagnetic minerals, it has the capacity to behave as a magnetic recorder during an earthquake. This constitutes a conceivable way to identify earthquakes slip zones. In this paper, we investigate the magnetic record of the Chelungpu fault gouge that hosts the principal slip zone of the Chi-Chi earthquake (Mw 7.6, 1999, Taiwan) using Taiwan Chelungpu-fault Drilling Project core samples. Rock magnetic investigation pinpoints the location of the Chi-Chi mm-thick principal slip zone within the 16-cm thick gouge at ~1 km depth. A modern magnetic dipole of Earth magnetic field is recovered throughout this gouge but not in the wall rocks nor in the two other adjacent fault zones. This magnetic record resides essentially in two magnetic minerals; magnetite in the principal slip zone, and neoformed goethite elsewhere in the gouge. We propose a model where magnetic record: 1) is preserved during inter-seismic time, 2) is erased during co-seismic time and 3) is imprinted during post-seismic time when fluids cooled down. We suggest that the identification of a stable magnetic record carried by neoformed goethite may be a signature of friction-heating process in seismic slip zone