Open triple-branched stent graft applied to patient of acute type a aortic dissection with Aberrant Right Subclavian Artery

A 57-year-old Chinese male patient presented with Standford type A aortic dissection with an aberrant right subclavian artery (ARSA). At operation, the ascending aorta was replaced by a mono–branch vascular prosthesis with the branch bypassing to the ARSA; the triple-branched stent graft was inserted into the true lumen of the arch and proximal descending aorta (covering the origin of the ARSA) with each sidearm graft being positioned into the aortic branches; and then its proximal end was sutured to mono–branched vascular prosthesis. Follow-up computed tomography angiography showed false lumen of the dissection disappeared with satisfactory position of the triple-branched stent graft

miLBP: a robust and fast modality-independent 3D LBP for multimodal deformable registration

PURPOSE: Computer-assisted intervention often depends on multimodal deformable registration to provide complementary information. However, multimodal deformable registration remains a challenging task. METHODS: This paper introduces a novel robust and fast modality-independent 3D binary descriptor, called miLBP, which integrates the principle of local self-similarity with a form of local binary pattern and can robustly extract the similar geometry features from 3D volumes across different modalities. miLBP is a bit string that can be computed by simply thresholding the voxel distance. Furthermore, the descriptor similarity can be evaluated efficiently using the Hamming distance. RESULTS: miLBP was compared to vector-valued self-similarity context (SSC) in artificial image and clinical settings. The results show that miLBP is more robust than SSC in extracting local geometry features across modalities and achieved higher registration accuracy in different registration scenarios. Furthermore, in the most challenging registration between preoperative magnetic resonance imaging and intra-operative ultrasound images, our approach significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art methods in terms of both accuracy ([Formula: see text] ) and speed (29.2 s for one case). CONCLUSIONS: Registration performance and speed indicate that miLBP has the potential of being applied to the time-sensitive intra-operative computer-assisted intervention

ROR-γ drives androgen receptor expression and represents a therapeutic target in castration-resistant prostate cancer.

The androgen receptor (AR) is overexpressed and hyperactivated in human castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). However, the determinants of AR overexpression in CRPC are poorly defined. Here we show that retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor γ (ROR-γ) is overexpressed and amplified in metastatic CRPC tumors, and that ROR-γ drives AR expression in the tumors. ROR-γ recruits nuclear receptor coactivator 1 and 3 (NCOA1 and NCOA3, also known as SRC-1 and SRC-3) to an AR-ROR response element (RORE) to stimulate AR gene transcription. ROR-γ antagonists suppress the expression of both AR and its variant AR-V7 in prostate cancer (PCa) cell lines and tumors. ROR-γ antagonists also markedly diminish genome-wide AR binding, H3K27ac abundance and expression of the AR target gene network. Finally, ROR-γ antagonists suppressed tumor growth in multiple AR-expressing, but not AR-negative, xenograft PCa models, and they effectively sensitized CRPC tumors to enzalutamide, without overt toxicity, in mice. Taken together, these results establish ROR-γ as a key player in CRPC by acting upstream of AR and as a potential therapeutic target for advanced PCa

RORγ is a targetable master regulator of cholesterol biosynthesis in a cancer subtype.

Tumor subtype-specific metabolic reprogrammers could serve as targets of therapeutic intervention. Here we show that triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) exhibits a hyper-activated cholesterol-biosynthesis program that is strongly linked to nuclear receptor RORγ, compared to estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. Genetic and pharmacological inhibition of RORγ reduces tumor cholesterol content and synthesis rate while preserving host cholesterol homeostasis. We demonstrate that RORγ functions as an essential activator of the entire cholesterol-biosynthesis program, dominating SREBP2 via its binding to cholesterol-biosynthesis genes and its facilitation of the recruitment of SREBP2. RORγ inhibition disrupts its association with SREBP2 and reduces chromatin acetylation at cholesterol-biosynthesis gene loci. RORγ antagonists cause tumor regression in patient-derived xenografts and immune-intact models. Their combination with cholesterol-lowering statins elicits superior anti-tumor synergy selectively in TNBC. Together, our study uncovers a master regulator of the cholesterol-biosynthesis program and an attractive target for TNBC

CXCR5+PD-1+ follicular helper CD8 T cells control B cell tolerance

Many autoimmune diseases are characterized by the production of autoantibodies. The current view is that CD4+ T follicular helper (Tfh) cells are the main subset regulating autoreactive B cells. Here we report a CXCR5+PD1+ Tfh subset of CD8+ T cells whose development and function are negatively modulated by Stat5. These CD8+ Tfh cells regulate the germinal center B cell response and control autoantibody production, as deficiency of Stat5 in CD8 T cells leads to an increase of CD8+ Tfh cells, resulting in the breakdown of B cell tolerance and concomitant autoantibody production. CD8+ Tfh cells share similar gene signatures with CD4+ Tfh, and require CD40L/CD40 and TCR/MHCI interactions to deliver help to B cells. Our study thus highlights the diversity of follicular T cell subsets that contribute to the breakdown of B-cell tolerance

Changes in Nitric Oxide Level and Thickness Index of Synovial Fluid in Osteoarthritis Patients following Intraarticular Injection of Sodium Hyaluronate

Purpose: To monitor the changes in nitric oxide levels and synovium thickness index in synovial fluid following intra-articular injection of sodium hyaluronate.Methods: One hundred patients diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the knee from April 2014 to January 2015 in The Third Hospital of Jinan, Jinan, Shandong, China were selected and categorized into three phases; namely, mild, moderate and severe. Patients received a 20 mL sodium hyaluronate injection into the articular cavity of the knee once per week for 15 weeks, with continuous observation. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) scores were recorded after five weeks. A total of 56 patients (78 knees) remaining in serious condition after 5 weeks were divided into mild, moderate, and severe groups and treated with sodium hyaluronate once a week. Internationally reorganized VAS and WOMAC scores were adopted as clinical observation indices to indicate the curative effect of sodium hyaluronate among the 56 patients after 15 weeks of treatment. The conditions of the patients in the two phases were compared.Results: After 5 weeks of treatment, treatment effective rate in the mild, moderate and severe groups was 72.92, 66.10 and 28.57 %, respectively, with an overall effective rate of 78 %. After 15 weeks of treatment, treatment effective rate in mild, moderate, and severe groups was 96.77, 95.45 and 66.67 %, respectively, with an overall effective rate of 67.95 %.Conclusions: Clinically curative effect of sodium hyaluronate is significant for mild and moderate phase patients after intra-articular injection of sodium hyaluronate, while the effect is insignificant in severe patients. Thus, sodium hyaluronate can effectively improve nitric oxide levels in synovial fluid, reduce synovium thickness, enhances articular cavity lubrication and effectively alleviates disease severity.Keywords: Osteoarthritis, Knee, Intra-articular injection, Sodium hyaluronate, Nitric oxide, Synovium thickness, WOMA

Resonant Andreev reflections in superconductor-carbon-nanotube devices

Resonant Andreev reflection through superconductor-carbon-nanotube devices was investigated theoretically with a focus on the superconducting proximity effect. Consistent with a recent experiment, we find that for high transparency devices on-resonance, the Andreev current is characterized by a large value and a resistance dip; low-transparency off-resonance devices give the opposite result. We also give evidence that the observed low-temperature transport anomaly may be a natural result of Andreev reflection process

Performance of the CMS Cathode Strip Chambers with Cosmic Rays

The Cathode Strip Chambers (CSCs) constitute the primary muon tracking device in the CMS endcaps. Their performance has been evaluated using data taken during a cosmic ray run in fall 2008. Measured noise levels are low, with the number of noisy channels well below 1%. Coordinate resolution was measured for all types of chambers, and fall in the range 47 microns to 243 microns. The efficiencies for local charged track triggers, for hit and for segments reconstruction were measured, and are above 99%. The timing resolution per layer is approximately 5 ns