996 research outputs found
An unusual hotspot in a young woman with Hodgkin's lymphoma
A young woman has started cancer treatment because of a Hodgkin's lymphoma. After four months of chemotherapy, a PET scan showed an unexplained hotspot in the right lower abdomen. This was later explained by an unsuspected pregnancy. Our case emphasizes the importance of a pregnancy test in all women in the reproductive age before starting cancer treatmen
Determining the structure of Ru(0001) from low-energy electron diffraction of a single terrace
While a perfect hcp (0001) surface has three-fold symmetry, the diffraction
patterns commonly obtained are six-fold symmetric. This apparent change in
symmetry occurs because on a stepped surface, the atomic layers on adjacent
terraces are rotated by 180 degrees. Here we use a Low-Energy Electron
Microscope to acquire the three-fold diffraction pattern from a single hcp Ru
terrace and measure the intensity-vs-energy curves for several diffracted
beams. By means of multiple scattering calculations fitted to the experimental
data with a Pendry R-factor of 0.077, we find that the surface is contracted by
3.5(+-0.9) at 456 K.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures. Corrected some typos, added more details.
Accepted for publication in Surface Science (Letters
Transient backbending behavior in the Ising model with fixed magnetization
The physical origin of the backbendings in the equations of state of finite
but not necessarily small systems is studied in the Ising model with fixed
magnetization (IMFM) by means of the topological properties of the observable
distributions and the analysis of the largest cluster with increasing lattice
size. Looking at the convexity anomalies of the IMFM thermodynamic potential,
it is shown that the order of the transition at the thermodynamic limit can be
recognized in finite systems independently of the lattice size. General
statistical mechanics arguments and analytical calculations suggest that the
backbending in the caloric curve is a transient behaviour which should not
converge to a plateau in the thermodynamic limit, while the first order
transition is signalled by a discontinuity in other observables.Comment: 24 pages, 11 figure
Long-Time Behavior of Macroscopic Quantum Systems: Commentary Accompanying the English Translation of John von Neumann's 1929 Article on the Quantum Ergodic Theorem
The renewed interest in the foundations of quantum statistical mechanics in
recent years has led us to study John von Neumann's 1929 article on the quantum
ergodic theorem. We have found this almost forgotten article, which until now
has been available only in German, to be a treasure chest, and to be much
misunderstood. In it, von Neumann studied the long-time behavior of macroscopic
quantum systems. While one of the two theorems announced in his title, the one
he calls the "quantum H-theorem", is actually a much weaker statement than
Boltzmann's classical H-theorem, the other theorem, which he calls the "quantum
ergodic theorem", is a beautiful and very non-trivial result. It expresses a
fact we call "normal typicality" and can be summarized as follows: For a
"typical" finite family of commuting macroscopic observables, every initial
wave function from a micro-canonical energy shell so evolves that for
most times in the long run, the joint probability distribution of these
observables obtained from is close to their micro-canonical
distribution.Comment: 34 pages LaTeX, no figures; v2: minor improvements and additions. The
English translation of von Neumann's article is available as arXiv:1003.213
Holographic analysis of diffraction structure factors
We combine the theory of inside-source/inside-detector x-ray fluorescence
holography and Kossel lines/x ray standing waves in kinematic approximation to
directly obtain the phases of the diffraction structure factors. The influence
of Kossel lines and standing waves on holography is also discussed. We obtain
partial phase determination from experimental data obtaining the sign of the
real part of the structure factor for several reciprocal lattice vectors of a
vanadium crystal.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitte
High Risk of Advanced Colorectal Neoplasia in Patients With Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis Associated With Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Cellular mechanisms in basic and clinical gastroenterology and hepatolog
Next-generation sequencing-based genome diagnostics across clinical genetics centers: Implementation choices and their effects
Implementation of next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS) technology into routine diagnostic genome care requires strategic choices. Instead of theoretical discussions on the consequences of such choices, we compared NGS-based diagnostic practices in eight clinical genetic centers in the Netherlands, based on genetic testing of nine pre-selected patients with cardiomyopathy. We highlight critical implementation choices, including the specific contributions of laboratory and medical specialists, bioinformaticians and researchers to diagnostic genome care, and how these affect interpretation and reporting of variants. Reported pathogenic mutations were consistent for all but one patient. Of the two centers that were inconsistent in their diagnosis, one reported to have found 'no causal variant', thereby underdiagnosing this patient. The other provided an alternative diagnosis, identifying another variant as causal than the other centers. Ethical and legal analysis showed that informed consent procedures in all centers were generally adequate for diagnostic NGS applications that target a limited set of genes, but not for exome- and genome-based diagnosis. We propose changes to further improve and align these procedures, taking into account the blurring boundary between diagnostics and research, and specific counseling options for exome- and genome-based diagnostics. We conclude that alternative diagnoses may infer a certain level of 'greediness' to come to a positive diagnosis in interpreting sequencing results. Moreover, there is an increasing interdependence of clinic, diagnostics and research departments for comprehensive diagnostic genome care. Therefore, we invite clinical geneticists, physicians, researchers, bioinformatics experts and patients to reconsider their role and position in future diagnostic genome care
Evidence for an Excess of Soft Photons in Hadronic Decays of Z^0
Soft photons inside hadronic jets converted in front of the DELPHI main
tracker (TPC) in events of qqbar disintegrations of the Z^0 were studied in the
kinematic range 0.2 < E_gamma < 1 GeV and transverse momentum with respect to
the closest jet direction p_T < 80 MeV/c. A clear excess of photons in the
experimental data as compared to the Monte Carlo predictions is observed. This
excess (uncorrected for the photon detection efficiency) is (1.17 +/- 0.06 +/-
0.27) x 10^{-3} gamma/jet in the specified kinematic region, while the expected
level of the inner hadronic bremsstrahlung (which is not included in the Monte
Carlo) is (0.340 +/- 0.001 +/- 0.038) x 10^{-3} gamma/jet. The ratio of the
excess to the predicted bremsstrahlung rate is then (3.4 +/- 0.2 +/- 0.8),
which is similar in strength to the anomalous soft photon signal observed in
fixed target experiments with hadronic beams.Comment: 37 pages, 9 figures, Accepted by Eur. Phys. J.
Consecutive negative findings on colonoscopy during surveillance predict a low risk of advanced neoplasia in patients with inflammatory bowel disease with long-standing colitis: results of a 15-year multicentre, multinational cohort study
Cellular mechanisms in basic and clinical gastroenterology and hepatolog
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