Yttrium-90 Selective Internal Radiation Therapy with Glass Microspheres for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Current and Updated Literature Review.

Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common primary liver cancer and it represents the majority of cancer-related deaths in the world. More than 70% of patients present at an advanced stage, beyond potentially curative options. Ytrrium-90 selective internal radiation therapy (Y90-SIRT) with glass microspheres is rapidly gaining acceptance as a potential therapy for intermediate and advanced stage primary hepatocellular carcinoma and liver metastases. The technique involves delivery of Y90 infused glass microspheres via the hepatic arterial blood flow to the appropriate tumor. The liver tumor receives a highly concentrated radiation dose while sparing the healthy liver parenchyma due to its preferential blood supply from portal venous blood. There are two commercially available devices: TheraSphere® and SIR-Spheres®. Although, Y90-SIRT with glass microspheres improves median survival in patients with intermediate and advanced hepatocellular carcinoma and has the potential to downstage hepatocellular carcinoma so that the selected candidates meet the transplantable criteria, it has not gained widespread acceptance due to the lack of large randomized controlled trials. Currently, there are various clinical trials investigating the use of Y90-SIRT with glass microspheres for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma and the outcomes of these trials may result in the incorporation of Y90-SIRT with glass microspheres into the treatment guidelines as a standard therapy option for patients with intermediate and advanced stage hepatocellular carcinoma

Online home appliance control using EEG-Based brain-computer interfaces

Brain???computer interfaces (BCIs) allow patients with paralysis to control external devices by mental commands. Recent advances in home automation and the Internet of things may extend the horizon of BCI applications into daily living environments at home. In this study, we developed an online BCI based on scalp electroencephalography (EEG) to control home appliances. The BCI users controlled TV channels, a digital door-lock system, and an electric light system in an unshielded environment. The BCI was designed to harness P300 andN200 components of event-related potentials (ERPs). On average, the BCI users could control TV channels with an accuracy of 83.0% ?? 17.9%, the digital door-lock with 78.7% ?? 16.2% accuracy, and the light with 80.0% ?? 15.6% accuracy, respectively. Our study demonstrates a feasibility to control multiple home appliances using EEG-based BCIs

Nanoscale manipulation of the Mott insulating state coupled to charge order in 1T-TaS2

Quantum states of strongly correlated electrons are of prime importance to understand exotic properties of condensed matter systems and the controllability over those states promises unique electronic devices such as a Mott memory. As a recent example, a ultrafast switching device was demonstrated using the transition between the correlated Mott insulating state and a hidden-order metallic state of a layered transition metal dichalcogenides 1T-TaS2. However, the origin of the hidden metallic state was not clear and only the macroscopic switching by laser pulse and carrier injection was reported. Here, we demonstrate the nanoscale manipulation of the Mott insulating state of 1T-TaS2. The electron pulse from a scanning tunneling microscope switches the insulating phase locally into a metallic phase which is textured with irregular domain walls in the charge density wave (CDW) order inherent to this Mott state. The metallic state is a novel correlated phase near the Mott criticality with a coherent feature at the Fermi energy, which is induced by the moderate reduction of electron correlation due to the decoherence in CDW. This work paves the avenue toward novel nanoscale electronic devices based on correlated electrons.Comment: Corrected typo

Role of G{alpha}12 and G{alpha}13 as Novel Switches for the Activity of Nrf2, a Key Antioxidative Transcription Factor

G{alpha}12 and G{alpha}13 function as molecular regulators responding to extracellular stimuli. NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is involved in a protective adaptive response to oxidative stress. This study investigated the regulation of Nrf2 by G{alpha}12 and G{alpha}13. A deficiency of G{alpha}12, but not of G{alpha}13, enhanced Nrf2 activity and target gene transactivation in embryo fibroblasts. In mice, G{alpha}12 knockout activated Nrf2 and thereby facilitated heme catabolism to bilirubin and its glucuronosyl conjugations. An oligonucleotide microarray demonstrated the transactivation of Nrf2 target genes by G{alpha}12 gene knockout. G{alpha}12 deficiency reduced Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK)-dependent Nrf2 ubiquitination required for proteasomal degradation, and so did G{alpha}13 deficiency. The absence of G{alpha}12, but not of G{alpha}13, increased protein kinase C {delta} (PKC {delta}) activation and the PKC {delta}-mediated serine phosphorylation of Nrf2. G{alpha}13 gene knockout or knockdown abrogated the Nrf2 phosphorylation induced by G{alpha}12 deficiency, suggesting that relief from G{alpha}12 repression leads to the G{alpha}13-mediated activation of Nrf2. Constitutive activation of G{alpha}13 promoted Nrf2 activity and target gene induction via Rho-mediated PKC {delta} activation, corroborating positive regulation by G{alpha}13. In summary, G{alpha}12 and G{alpha}13 transmit a JNK-dependent signal for Nrf2 ubiquitination, whereas G{alpha}13 regulates Rho-PKC {delta}-mediated Nrf2 phosphorylation, which is negatively balanced by G{alpha}12

Thermoelectric imaging of structural disorder in epitaxial graphene

Heat is a familiar form of energy transported from a hot side to a colder side of an object, but not a notion associated with microscopic measurements of electronic properties. A temperature difference within a material causes charge carriers, electrons or holes, to diffuse along the temperature gradient inducing a thermoelectric voltage. Here we show that local thermoelectric measurements can yield high sensitivity imaging of structural disorder on the atomic and nanometre scales. The thermopower measurement acts to amplify the variations in the local density of states at the Fermi-level, giving high differential contrast in thermoelectric signals. Using this imaging technique, we uncovered point defects in the first layer of epitaxial graphene, which generate soliton-like domain wall line patterns separating regions of the different interlayer stacking of the second graphene layer.Comment: Main Text (19 pages including 5 figures) + Supplementary Information (6 pages including 10 figures, simplified version

A petal breakstrength meter for Arabidopsis abscission studies

BACKGROUND: Abscission is the regulated dropping of plant organs, such as leaves or flower petals. This process involves a break down of the cell wall between layers of cells in the abscission zone, causing the organ to become detached. The model plant Arabidopsis thaliana undergoes floral organ abscission. Various experimental methods have been used to study Arabidopsis floral organ abscission, including measuring the petal breakstrength, or the amount of force required to pull a petal from the receptacle. Petal breakstrength provides a quantitative insight into the physical integrity of the petal abscission zone. RESULTS: We developed a petal breakstrength meter that allows rapid data acquisition on a personal computer. We present the design of the device and show its utility in measuring Arabidopsis petal breakstrength for abscission studies. CONCLUSION: This petal breakstrength meter should enable researchers to perform the petal breakstrength assay as a routine part of the characterization of environmental and genetic factors affecting abscission

Multiple Classifier Fusion using k-Nearest Localized Templates

Abstract. This paper presents a method for combining classifiers that uses knearest localized templates. The localized templates are estimated from a training set using C-means clustering algorithm, and matched to the decision profile of a new incoming sample by a similarity measure. The sample is assigned to the class which is most frequently represented among the k most similar templates. The appropriate value of k is determined according to the characteristics of the given data set. Experimental results on real and artificial data sets show that the proposed method performs better than the conventional fusion methods

Leveling with Step Potential in Damascene Cu Electrodeposition

Organic leveler-free leveling, issued in damascene Cu electrodeposition for uniform Cu patterning by the chemical mechanical polishing process, was investigated using a potentiostatic step function. A perfectly leveled Cu surface was obtained with applying a positive step potential. The distribution of locally adsorbed bis 3–sulfopropyl disulfide SPS , which was the main cause of the formation of topographic variation on the wafer surface, was modified by the use of a positive step potential. The redistribution of adsorbed SPS was a result of desorption of SPS through the dissolution occurring during the step time. Desorbed SPS was then readsorbed uniformly on the Cu surface after a step time, resulting in a flat Cu surface. Electrochemical linear sweep voltammetry and chronoamperometry analyses revealed a decrease in current, which meant the desorption of SPS on Cu surface was caused by the dissolution of Cu. By varying the step potential and step time, it was confirmed that at least 6 nm of the Cu layer should be dissolved for effective desorption of SPS and successful leveling.This work was supported by KOSEF through the Research Center for Energy Conversion and Storage RCECS and by the Institute of Chemical Processes ICP

Chiroptical signal enhancement in quasi-null-polarization-detection geometry: Intrinsic limitations

Despite its unique capability of distinguishing molecular handedness, chiroptical spectroscopy suffers from the weak-signal problem, which has restricted more extensive applications. The quasi-null-polarization-detection (QNPD) method has been shown to be useful for enhancing the chiroptical signal. Here, the underlying enhancement mechanism in the QNPD method combined with a heterodyne detection scheme is elucidated. It is experimentally demonstrated that the optical rotatory dispersion signal can be amplified by a factor of similar to 400, which is the maximum enhancement effect achievable with our femtosecond laser setup. The upper limit of the QNPD enhancement effect of chiroptical measurements could, in practice, be limited by imperfection of the polarizer and finite detection sensitivity. However, we show that there exists an intrinsic limit in the enhancement with the QNPD method due to the weak but finite contribution from the homodyne chiroptical signal. This is experimentally verified by measuring the optical rotation of linearly polarized light with the QNPD scheme. We further provide discussions on the connection between this intrinsic limitation in the QNPD scheme for enhanced detection of weak chiroptical signals and those in optical enantioselectivity and Raman optical activity with a structured chiral field. We anticipate that the present work could be useful in further developing time-resolved nonlinear chiroptical spectroscopy.111Nsciescopu

Identification of marbling-related candidate genes in M-longissimus dorsi of high- and low marbled Hanwoo (Korean native cattle) steers

This study was conducted to identify marbling-related candidate genes in M. longissimus dorsi of high- and low-marbled Hanwoo. The longissimus dorsi muscles were selected for gene expression from eight Hanwoo steer carcasses based on crude fat content. In the analysis of variance, gene expression of five candidate genes, FABP4, SCD, PPARγ, Titin and Nebulin was determined to be significantly different between high- and low-marbled Hanwoo steers (P < 0.0001). The Pik-4 and CaMK II genes were also shown to have a significant effect on crude fat content (P < 0.01). In the analysis of the differential expression between high- and low marbled groups, FABP4 gene expression was approximately 2 times higher in the high marbled group relative to the low marbled group. However, the PPAR y and SCD gene were highly expressed in the low marbled group. In addition, Titin and Nebulin were highly expressed in the low marbled group when placed under relatively high shear force. Finally, the Pik-4 and CaMKII gene also displayed a high expression pattern in the low marbled grou