358 research outputs found

    Common-mode rejection in Martin-Puplett spectrometers for astronomical observations at mm-wavelengths

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    The Martin-Puplett interferometer (MPI) is a differential Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS), measuring the difference between spectral brightness at two input ports. This unique feature makes the MPI an optimal zero instrument, able to detect small brightness gradients embeddend in a large common background. In this paper we investigate experimentally the common-mode rejection achievable in the MPI at mm wavelengths, and discuss the use of the instrument to measure the spectrum of cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy

    Diagnostic accuracy of myocardial perfusion imaging with czt technology. Systemic review and meta-analysis of comparison with invasive coronary angiography

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    OBJECTIVES: This study sought to summarize the evidence on stress myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) using cadmium-zinc-telluride (CZT) technology for the diagnosis of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). The CZT cameras are newly introduced, and comparative data with the conventional Anger technology (Anger-MPI) are lacking. BACKGROUND: The diagnostic accuracy of Anger-MPI for detection of angiographically significant CAD is well established; however, less evidence is available on the diagnostic accuracy of CZT-MPI. METHODS: Clinical studies comparing CZT-MPI and invasive coronary angiography were systematically searched and abstracted. Calculations of diagnostic accuracy, including sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios, and diagnostic odds ratio, were obtained with fixed and random effects, reporting point estimates and 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: Based on our search, a total of 16 studies (N = 2,092) were included. The sensitivity of CZT-MPI was 0.84 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.78 to 0.89), whereas the specificity of 0.69 (95% CI: 0.62 to 0.76) was significantly reduced. The positive likelihood ratio was 2.73 (95% CI: 2.21 to 3.39), the negative likelihood ratio was 0.24 (95% CI: 0.17 to 0.31), and the diagnostic odds ratio was 11.93 (95% CI: 7.84 to 17.42). At subgroup and meta-regression analyses, the diagnostic accuracy between D-SPECT and Discovery cameras was similar (p = 0.711) and not impacted upon by smaller sample size studies (p = 0.573). CONCLUSIONS: CZT-MPI has satisfactory sensitivity for angiographically significant CAD, but its suboptimal specificity warrants further development and research

    Bypass of cell cycle arrest induced by transient DNMT1 post-transcriptional silencing triggers aneuploidy in human cells

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Aneuploidy has been acknowledged as a major source of genomic instability in cancer, and it is often considered the result of chromosome segregation errors including those caused by defects in genes controlling the mitotic spindle assembly, centrosome duplication and cell-cycle checkpoints. Aneuploidy and chromosomal instability has been also correlated with epigenetic alteration, however the molecular basis of this correlation is poorly understood.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To address the functional connection existing between epigenetic changes and aneuploidy, we used RNA-interference to silence the <it>DNMT1 </it>gene, encoding for a highly conserved member of the DNA methyl-transferases. DNMT1 depletion slowed down proliferation of near-diploid human tumor cells (HCT116) and triggered G1 arrest in primary human fibroblasts (IMR90), by inducing p53 stabilization and, in turn, p21<sup>waf1 </sup>transactivation. Remarkably, p53 increase was not caused by DNA damage and was not observed after p14-ARF post-transcriptional silencing. Interestingly, DNMT1 silenced cells with p53 or p14-ARF depleted did not arrest in G1 but, instead, underwent DNA hypomethylation and became aneuploid.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results suggest that DNMT1 depletion triggers a p14ARF/p53 dependent cell cycle arrest to counteract the aneuploidy induced by changes in DNA methylation.</p
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