Multi-mJ, kHz, 2.1-μm OPCPA for high-flux soft X-ray high-harmonic radiation

We report on a multi-mJ 2.1-μm OPCPA system operating at a 1-kHz repetition rate, pumped by a picosecond cryogenic Yb:YAG pump laser, and the phase-matched high-flux high-harmonic soft X-ray generation

The Relationship between Qi Deficiency, Cancer-related Fatigue and Quality of Life in Cancer Patients

AbstractBackgroundQi (氣 qì) refers to the vital energy of the body in Traditional Chinese medicines (TCM). Qi deficiency (氣虛 qì xū) is the most common symptom in cancer patients according to the concept of TCM. We hypothesized that cancer patients with Qi deficiency suffer from poor quality of life (QOL) and fatigue.MethodAmong the 256 registered cancer patients screened at our outpatient clinic, a total of 198 were enrolled. The inclusion criteria were (1) age between 18 and 70years, (2) cancer diagnosis confirmed by the professional physician, (3) being Chinese, and (4) Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status rating (PSR)≤3. The major outcome is the difference in QOL score in cancer patients with and without Qi deficiency.ResultsThe initial results showed statistically significant differences in WHO-QOL scores in physical, psychological, and social domains between the groups with and without Qi deficiency as well as the groups with and without cancerrelated fatigue (CRF). All patients with CRF present were also diagnosed as Qi deficient. In addition, among the patients with no CRF, 39.9% (69/173) were diagnosed as suffering from Qi deficiency, which led to poor QOL.ConclusionsThe present study showed statistically significant difference in WHO-QOL scores in physical, psychological, and social domains between the groups with and without Qi deficiency as well as the groups with and without CRF. Cancer patients diagnosed with Qi deficiency or CRF have poor QOL. The concept of Qi deficiency in TCM might be applied to cancer health care

Numerical investigation of scale effect of various injection diameters on interaction in cold kerosene-fueled supersonic flow

Abstract: The incident shock wave generally has a strong effect on the transversal injection field in cold kerosene-fueled supersonic flow, possibly due to its affecting the interaction between incoming flow and fuel through various operation conditions. This study is to address scale effect of various injection diameters on the interaction between incident shock wave and transversal cavity injection in a cold kerosene-fueled scramjet combustor. The injection diameters are separately specified as from 0.5 to 1.5mm in 0.5mm increments when other performance parameters, including the injection angle, velocity and pressure drop are all constant. A combined three dimensional Couple Level Set & Volume of Fluids (CLSVOF) approach with an improved K-H & R-T model is used to characterize penetration height, span expansion area, angle of shock wave and sauter mean diameter (SMD) distribution of the kerosene droplets with/without considering evaporation. Our results show that the injection orifice surely has a great scale effect on the transversal injection field in cold kerosene-fueled supersonic flows. Our findings show that the penetration depth, span angle and span expansion area of the transverse cavity jet are increased with the injection diameter, and that the kerosene droplets are more prone to breakup and atomization at the outlet of the combustor for the orifice diameter of 1.5mm. The calculation predictions are compared against the reported experimental measurements and literatures with good qualitative agreement. The simulation results obtained in this study can provide the evidences for better understanding the underlying mechanism of kerosene atomization in cold supersonic flow and scramjet design improvement

Designing primers and evaluation of the efficiency of propidium monoazide – Quantitative polymerase chain reaction for counting the viable cells of Lactobacillus gasseri and Lactobacillus salivarius

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficiency of using propidium monoazide (PMA) real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to count the viable cells of Lactobacillus gasseri and Lactobacillus salivarius in probiotic products. Based on the internal transcription spacer and 23S rRNA genes, two primer sets specific for these two Lactobacillus species were designed. For a probiotic product, the total deMan Rogosa Sharpe plate count was 8.65±0.69 log CFU/g, while for qPCR, the cell counts of L. gasseri and L. salivarius were 8.39±0.14 log CFU/g and 8.57±0.24 log CFU/g, respectively. Under the same conditions, for its heat-killed product, qPCR counts for L. gasseri and L. salivarius were 6.70±0.16 log cells/g and 7.67±0.20 log cells/g, while PMA-qPCR counts were 5.33±0.18 log cells/g and 5.05±0.23 log cells/g, respectively. For cell dilutions with a viable cell count of 8.5 log CFU/mL for L. gasseri and L. salivarius, after heat killing, the PMA-qPCR count for both Lactobacillus species was near 5.5 log cells/mL. When the PMA-qPCR counts of these cell dilutions were compared before and after heat killing, although some DNA might be lost during the heat killing, significant qPCR signals from dead cells, i.e., about 4–5 log cells/mL, could not be reduced by PMA treatment. Increasing PMA concentrations from 100 μM to 200 μM or light exposure time from 5 minutes to 15 minutes had no or, if any, only minor effect on the reduction of qPCR signals from their dead cells. Thus, to differentiate viable lactic acid bacterial cells from dead cells using the PMA-qPCR method, the efficiency of PMA to reduce the qPCR signals from dead cells should be notable

Clinical Impacts of Delayed Diagnosis of Hirschsprung’s Disease in Newborn Infants

BackgroundAsian infants are at a higher risk of having Hirschsprung’s disease (HD). Although HD is surgically correctable, serious and even lethal complications such as Hirschsprung’s-associated enterocolitis (HAEC) can still occur. The aim of this study was to investigate the risk factors of HAEC, and the clinical impacts of delayed diagnosis of HD in newborn infants.Patients and methodsBy review of medical charts in a medical center in Taiwan, 51 cases of neonates with HD between 2002 and 2009 were collected. Patients were divided into two groups based on the time of initial diagnosis: Group I, diagnosis made within 1 week after birth, and Group II after 1 week. Clinical features including demographic distribution, presenting features of HD, short-term and long-term complications related to HD were compared between the two groups of patients.ResultsThere were 25 patients in Group I and 19 in Group II. Group II patients had more severe clinical signs and symptoms of HAEC than Group I patients. The incidence of preoperative HAEC was 12% in Group I and 63% in Group II (adjusted odds ratio = 12.81, confidence interval = 2.60–62.97). Patients with preoperative HAEC were more likely to develop adhesive bowel obstruction after operation (33% vs. 3%, p = 0.013) and failure to thrive (33% vs. 3%, p = 0.013). Also, patients with long-segment or total colonic aganglionosis were at risk of developing both postoperative HAEC (85% vs. 29%, p = 0.001) and failure to thrive (39% vs. 3%, p = 0.002).ConclusionIn our study, we found that delayed diagnosis of HD beyond 1 week after birth significantly increases the risk of serious complications in neonatal patients. Patients with long-segment or total colonic aganglionosis have higher risk of postoperative HAEC and failure to thrive. Patients with preoperative HAEC are more likely to have adhesive bowel obstruction and failure to thrive

High-order harmonic generation in Xe, Kr, and Ar driven by a 2.1-\mu m source: high-order harmonic spectroscopy under macroscopic effects

We experimentally and numerically study the atomic response and pulse propagation effects of high-order harmonics generated in Xe, Kr, and Ar driven by a 2.1-\mu m infrared femtosecond light source. The light source is an optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier, and a modified strong-field approximation and 3-dimensional pulse propagation code are used for the numerical simulations. The extended cutoff in the long-wavelength driven high-harmonic generation has revealed the spectral shaping of high-order harmonics due to the atomic structure (or photo-recombination cross-section) and the macroscopic effects, which are the main factors of determining the conversion efficiency besides the driving wavelength. Using precise numerical simulations to determine the macroscopic electron wavepacket, we are able to extract the photo-recombination cross-sections from experimental high-order harmonic spectra in the presence of macroscopic effects. We have experimentally observed that the macroscopic effects shift the observed Cooper minimum of Kr from 80 eV to 60-70 eV and wash out the Cooper minimum of Ar. Measured high-harmonic conversion efficiencies per harmonic near the cutoff are ~10^{-9} for all three gases.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figure

Effects of spray angle variation on mixing in a cold supersonic combustor with kerosene fuel

Abstract: Effective fuel injection and mixing is of particular importance for scramjet engines to be operated reliably because the fuel must be injected into high-speed crossflow and mixed with the supersonic air at an extremely short time-scale. This study numerically characterizes an injection jet under different spray angles in a cold kerosene-fueled supersonic flow and thus assesses the effects of the spray angle on the mixing between incident shock wave and transverse cavity injection. A detailed computational fluid dynamics model is developed in accordance with the real scramjet combustor. Next, the spray angles are designated as 45º, 90º, and 135º respectively with the other constant operational conditions (such as the injection diameter, velocity and pressure). Next, a combination of a three dimensional Couple Level Set & Volume of Fluids with an improved Kelvin-Helmholtz & Rayleigh-Taylor model is used to investigate the interaction between kerosene and supersonic air. The numerical predictions are focused on penetration depth, span expansion area, angle of shock wave and sauter mean diameter distribution of the kerosene droplets with or without evaporation. Finally, validation has been implemented by comparing the calculated to the measured in literature with good qualitative agreement. Results show that no matter whether the evaporation is considered, the penetration depth, span-wise angle and expansion area of the kerosene droplets are all increased with the spray angle, and most especially, that the size of the kerosene droplets is surely reduced with the spray angle increase. These calculations are beneficial to better understand the underlying atomization mechanism in the cold kerosene-fueled supersonic flow and hence provide insights into scramjet design improvement

The Potential Utility of Curcumin in the Treatment of HER-2-Overexpressed Breast Cancer: An In Vitro and In Vivo Comparison Study with Herceptin

HER-2 is an important oncoprotein overexpressed in about 15–25% of breast cancers. We hypothesized that the ability of curcumin to downregulate HER-2 oncoprotein and inhibit the signal transduction pathway of PI3K/Akt, MAPK, and NF-κB activation may be important in the treatment of HER-2-overexpressed breast cancer. To examine the effect of curcumin on breast cancer cells, MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, MCF-10A, BT-474, and SK-BR-3-hr (a herceptin resistant strain from SK-BR-3) cells were used for in vitro analysis. The in vivo effect of curcumin on HER-2-overexpressed breast cancer was investigated with the HER-2-overexpressed BT-474 xenograft model. Cell growth, cell cycle change, the antimobility effect, signal transduction, and xenograft volume analysis between groups treated with herceptin and/or curcumin were tested. Curcumin decreased the cell growth of various breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, MCF-10A, BT-474, and SK-BR-3-hr). In Western blot analysis, the phosphorylation of Akt, MAPK, and expression of NF-κB were reduced in BT-474 cells, but not in SK-BR-3-hr cells, after treatment with herceptin. When treated with curcumin, the HER-2 oncoprotein, phosphorylation of Akt, MAPK and expression of NF-κB were decreased in both BT-474 and SK-BR-3-hr cells. In the BT-474 xenograft model, though not as much as herceptin, curcumin did effectively decrease the tumor size. The combination of curcumin with herceptin was not better than herceptin alone; however, the combination of taxol and curcumin had an antitumor effect comparable with taxol and herceptin. The results suggested that curcumin has potential as a treatment for HER-2-overexpressed breast cancer

Effect of Supplementation of Tanshinone IIA and Sodium Tanshinone IIA Sulfonate on the Anticancer Effect of Epirubicin: An In Vitro Study

Tanshinone IIA (Tan IIA) and sodium tanshinone IIA sulfonate (STS) were found to have protective effects on cardiomyocyte against adriamycin-induced damage and may be used clinically. It is unclear whether the supplementation of STS or Tan IIA would affect the anticancer activity of anthracycline. To evaluate the effect of Tan IIA or STS on the anticancer of epirubicin, the cell viability, apoptosis, Akt expression, and uptake of epirubicin after supplementation of Tan IIA or STS in the epirubicin-treated BT-20 cells were measured and compared. Tan IIA inhibited BT-20 cell growth and induced apoptosis in a time- and dose-dependent manner. When Tan IIA was used with epirubicin, an increase of BT-20 cells apoptosis was accompanied by the decreasing phosphorylation of Akt. STS had no effect on the cell viability of BT-20 cells. However, when used with epirubicin, STS decreased the epirubicin-induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis in BT-20 cells. The antagonistic effect of STS on epirubicin-induced cytotoxicity in BT-20 cells occurred concomitantly with the reduced epirubicin uptake and the increased phosphorylation of Akt. STS decreased the uptake of epirubicin in BT-20 cells and blocked epirubicin-induced apoptosis through activation of Akt