Verilog Modeling of Transmission Line for USB 2.0 High-Speed PHY Interface

A Verilog model is proposed for transmission lines to perform the all-Verilog simulation of high-speed chip-to-chip interface system, which reduces the simulation time by around 770 times compared to the mixed-mode simulation. The single-pulse response of transmission line in SPICE model is converted into that in Verilog model by converting the full-scale analog signal into an 11-bit digital code after uniform time sampling. The receiver waveform of transmission line is calculated by adding or subtracting the single-pulse response in Verilog model depending on the transmitting digital code values with appropriate time delay. The application of this work to a USB 2.0 high-speed PHY interface reduces the simulation time to less than three minutes with error less than 5% while the mixed-mode simulation takes more than two days for the same circuit.X1133Ysciescopu

Vulvar Skin Metastasis of Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma

In this study, we examined a case where lung cancer metastasized to the vulvar area. A 79-year-old woman that was a heavy smoker was referred to our department with a short (two-week) history of dyspnea, and with a painful nodule on her right labium majora, which she had noticed almost three years earlier. Histopathologically, the specimen appeared as a poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. The chest X-ray, chest computerized tomography scan, and percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy via bronchoscopy revealed squamous cell carcinoma in the right upper lobe of the lung. Based on these clinical and histopathological findings, we concluded that her condition was skin metastasis at the right labium majora from the lung cancer, which occurs very rarely

Clinical application of genomic profiling to find druggable targets for adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients with metastasis

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.Background: Although adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancers are characterized by biological features and clinical outcomes distinct from those of other age groups, the molecular profile of AYA cancers has not been well defined. In this study, we analyzed cancer genomes from rare types of metastatic AYA cancers to identify driving and/or druggable genetic alterations. Methods: Prospectively collected AYA tumor samples from seven different patients were analyzed using three different genomics platforms (whole-exome sequencing, whole-transcriptome sequencing or OncoScan (TM)). Using well-known bioinformatics tools (bwa, Picard, GATK, MuTect, and Somatic Indel Detector) and our annotation approach with open access databases (DAVID and DGIdb), we processed sequencing data and identified driving genetic alterations and their druggability. Results: The mutation frequencies of AYA cancers were lower than those of other adult cancers (median = 0.56), except for a germ cell tumor with hypermutation. We identified patient-specific genetic alterations in candidate driving genes: RASA2 and NF1 (prostate cancer), TP53 and CDKN2C (olfactory neuroblastoma), FAT1, NOTCH1, and SMAD4 (head and neck cancer), KRAS (urachal carcinoma), EML4-ALK (lung cancer), and MDM2 and PTEN (liposarcoma). We then suggested potential drugs for each patient according to his or her altered genes and related pathways. By comparing candidate driving genes between AYA cancers and those from all age groups for the same type of cancer, we identified different driving genes in prostate cancer and a germ cell tumor in AYAs compared with all age groups, whereas three common alterations (TP53, FAT1, and NOTCH1) in head and neck cancer were identified in both groups. Conclusion: We identified the patient-specific genetic alterations and druggability of seven rare types of AYA cancers using three genomics platforms. Additionally, genetic alterations in cancers from AYA and those from all age groups varied by cancer type.

A De Novo Centric Fission of Chromosome 11 in a Patient with Recurrent Miscarriages

We report on a de novo centric fission of chromosome 11 in a healthy female referred for chromosome analysis due to recurrent miscarriages. Both fission products were mitotically stable. This centric fission of chromosome 11 appears to have no clinical significance for this patient other than recurrent miscarriages

Different outcomes between iso-osmolar and low-osmolar contrast media in acute myocardial infarction with renal impairment

Background: The selection of appropriate contrast media (CM) remains an important issue in terms of renal preservation in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and renal impairment scheduled for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We compared the clinical outcomes of patients with AMI and renal impairment, depending on the CM type (iso-osmolar CM [IOCM] vs. low-osmolar CM [LOCM]) that was used during PCI. Methods: From the Convergent Registry of Catholic and Chonnam University for Acute Myocardial Infarction, 3174 post-PCI patients with AMI and renal impairment were subdivided into two groups (IOCM [n = 2101] and LOCM [n = 1073]). Results: Regarding in-hospital clinical outcomes, the IOCM group had a higher peak creatinine (Cr) level and lower “Cr differential” than the LOCM group. A higher proportion of dialysis was noted in the IOCM group. In 30-day clinical outcomes, the IOCM group showed higher incidence of new-onset heart failure (HF) but lower incidence of revascularization than the LOCM group. The differences in in-hospital and 30-day clinical outcomes were attenuated after inverse probability of treatment weighting, except for new-onset HF. All other variables in 30-day clinical outcomes, including all-cause death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular accidents, stent thrombosis, and any dialysis events, were similar between the two groups. Conclusions: Iso-osmolar CM use did not prevent future incidence of dialysis compared to LOCM use in AMI patients with renal impairment

A systems approach to prion disease

Prions cause transmissible neurodegenerative diseases and replicate by conformational conversion of normal benign forms of prion protein (PrPC) to disease-causing PrPSc isoforms. A systems approach to disease postulates that disease arises from perturbation of biological networks in the relevant organ. We tracked global gene expression in the brains of eight distinct mouse strain–prion strain combinations throughout the progression of the disease to capture the effects of prion strain, host genetics, and PrP concentration on disease incubation time. Subtractive analyses exploiting various aspects of prion biology and infection identified a core of 333 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that appeared central to prion disease. DEGs were mapped into functional pathways and networks reflecting defined neuropathological events and PrPSc replication and accumulation, enabling the identification of novel modules and modules that may be involved in genetic effects on incubation time and in prion strain specificity. Our systems analysis provides a comprehensive basis for developing models for prion replication and disease, and suggests some possible therapeutic approaches

Radiofrequency Ablation of Benign Thyroid Nodules and Recurrent Thyroid Cancers: Consensus Statement and Recommendations

Thermal ablation using radiofrequency is a new, minimally invasive modality employed as an alternative to surgery in patients with benign thyroid nodules and recurrent thyroid cancers. The Task Force Committee of the Korean Society of Thyroid Radiology has developed recommendations for the optimal use of radiofrequency ablation for thyroid nodules. These recommendations are based on a comprehensive analysis of the current literature, the results of multicenter studies, and expert consensus