Shear viscosity of the A_1-phase of superfluid 3He

The scattering processes between the quasiparticles in spin- up superfluid with the quasiparticles in spin-down normal fluid are added to the other relevant scattering processes in the Boltzmann collision terms. The Boltzmann equation has been solved exactly for temperatures just below T_c_1. The shear viscosity component of the A_1- phase drops as C_1(1-T/T_c_1)^(1/2). The numerical factor C_1 is in fairly good agreement with the experiments

Head-to-head comparison of prostate cancer risk calculators predicting biopsy outcome

Background: Multivariable risk calculators (RCs) predicting prostate cancer (PCa) aim to reduce unnecessary workup (e.g., MRI and biopsy) by selectively identifying those men at risk for PCa or clinically significant PCa (csPCa) (Gleason ≥7). The lack of an adequate comparison makes choosing between RCs difficult for patients, clinicians and guideline developers. We aim to perform a head-to-head comparison of seven well known RCs predicting biopsy outcome. Methods: Our study comprised 7,119 men from ten independent contemporary cohorts in Europe and Australia, who underwent prostate biopsy between 2007 and 2015. We evaluated the performance of the ERSPC RPCRC, Finne, Chun, ProstataClass, Karakiewicz, Sunnybrook, and PCPT 2.0 (HG) RCs in predicting the presence of any PCa and csPCa. Performance was assessed by discrimination, calibration and net benefit analyses. Results: A total of 3,458 (48%) PCa were detected; 1,784 (25%) men had csPCa. No particular RC stood out predicting any PCa: pooled area under the ROC-curve (AUC) ranged between 0.64 and 0.72. The ERSPC RPCRC had the highest pooled AUC 0.77 (95% CI: 0.73-0.80) when predicting csPCa. Decision curve analysis (DCA) showed limited net benefit in the detection of csPCa, but that can be improved by a simple calibration step. The main limitation is the retrospective design of the study. Conclusions: No particular RC stands out when predicting biopsy outcome on the presence of any PCa. The ERSPC RPCRC is superior in identifying those men at risk for csPCa. Net benefit analyses show that a multivariate approach before further workup is advisable.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Conductance of a tunnel point-contact of noble metals in the presence of a single defect

In paper [1] (Avotina et al. Phys. Rev. B,74, 085411 (2006)) the effect of Fermi surface anisotropy to the conductance of a tunnel point contact, in the vicinity of which a single point-like defect is situated, has been investigated theoretically. The oscillatory dependence of the conductance on the distance between the contact and the defect has been found for a general Fermi surface geometry. In this paper we apply the method developed in [1] to the calculation of the conductance of noble metal contacts. An original algorithm, which enables the computation of the conductance for any parametrically given Fermi surface, is proposed. On this basis a pattern of the conductance oscillations, which can be observed by the method of scanning tunneling microscopy, is obtained for different orientations of the surface for the noble metals.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

What is the effect of MRI with targeted biopsies on the rate of patients discontinuing active surveillance? A reflection of the use of MRI in the PRIAS study

Background The reduction of overtreatment by active surveillance (AS) is limited in patients with low-risk prostate cancer (PCa) due to high rates of patients switching to radical treatment. MRI improves biopsy accuracy and could therewith affect inclusion in or continuation of AS. We aim to assess the effect of MRI with target biopsies on the total rate of patients discontinuing AS, and in particular discontinuation due to Grade Group (GG) reclassification. Methods Three subpopulations included in the prospective PRIAS study with GG 1 were studied. Group A consists of patients diagnosed before 2009 without MRI before or during AS. Group B consists of patients diagnosed without MRI, but all patients underwent MRI within 6 months after diagnosis. Group C consists of patients who underwent MRI before diagnosis and during follow-up. We used cumulative incidence curves to estimate the rates of discontinuation. Results In Group A (n = 500), the cumulative probability of discontinuing AS at 2 years is 27.5%; GG reclassification solely accounted for 6.9% of the discontinuation. In Group B (n = 351) these numbers are 30.9 and 22.8%, and for Group C (n = 435) 24.2 and 13.4%. The three groups were not randomized, however, baseline characteristics are highly comparable. Conclusions Performing an MRI before starting AS reduces the cumulative probability of discontinuing AS at 2 years. Performing an MRI after already being on AS increases the cumulative probability of discontinuing AS in comparison to not performing an MRI, especially because of an increase in GG reclassification. These results suggest that the use of MRI could lead to more patients being considered unsuitable for AS. Considering the excellent long-term cancer-specific survival of AS before the MRI era, the increased diagnostic accuracy of MRI could potentially lead to more overtreatment if definitions and treatment options of significant PCa are not adapted.Peer reviewe

Predicting low-risk prostate cancer from transperineal saturation biopsies

Introduction: To assess the performance of five previously described clinicopathological definitions of low-risk prostate cancer (PC). Materials and Methods: Men who underwent radical prostatectomy (RP) for clinical stage ≤T2, PSA \u3c10 ng/mL, Gleason score \u3c8 PC, diagnosed by transperineal template-guided saturation biopsy were included. The performance of five previously described criteria (i.e., criteria 1–5, criterion 1 stringent (Gleason score 6 + ≤5mm total max core length PC + ≤3mm max per core length PC) up to criterion 5 less stringent (Gleason score 6-7 with ≤5% Gleason grade 4) was analysed to assess ability of each to predict insignificant disease in RP specimens (defined as Gleason score ≤6 and total tumour volume \u3c2.5mL, or Gleason score 7 with ≤5% grade 4 and total tumour volume \u3c0.7 mL). Results: 994 men who underwent RP were included. Criterion 4 (Gleason score 6) performed best with area under the curve of receiver operating characteristics 0.792. At decision curve analysis, criterion 4 was deemed clinically the best performing transperineal saturation biopsy-based definition for low-risk PC. Conclusions: Gleason score 6 disease demonstrated a superior trade-off between sensitivity and specificity for clarifying low-risk PC that can guide treatment and be used as reference test in diagnostic studies. prostate cancer screening (PSA), testing practices, United Kingdom, Australia, qualitative stud

Prostate-Specific Antigen Screening in the United States vs in the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer–Rotterdam

Dissemination of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing in the United States coincided with an increasing incidence of prostate cancer, a shift to earlier stage disease at diagnosis, and decreasing prostate cancer mortality. We compared PSA screening performance with respect to prostate cancer detection in the US population vs in the Rotterdam section of the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC–Rotterdam). We developed a simulation model for prostate cancer and PSA screening for ERSPC–Rotterdam. This model was then adapted to the US population by replacing demography parameters with US-specific ones and the screening protocol with the frequency of PSA tests in the US population. We assumed that the natural progression of prostate cancer and the sensitivity of a PSA test followed by a biopsy were the same in the United States as in ERSPC–Rotterdam. The predicted prostate cancer incidence peak in the United States was then substantially higher than the observed prostate cancer incidence peak (13.3 vs 8.1 cases per 1000 man-years). However, the actual observed incidence was reproduced by assuming a substantially lower PSA test sensitivity in the United States than in ERSPC–Rotterdam. For example, for nonpalpable local- or regional-stage cancers (ie, stage T1M0), the estimates of PSA test sensitivity were 0.26 in the United States vs 0.94 in ERSPC–Rotterdam. We conclude that the efficacy of PSA screening in detecting prostate cancer was lower in the United States than in ERSPC–Rotterdam

Engineering of Chinese hamster ovary cell lipid metabolism results in an expanded ER and enhanced recombinant biotherapeutic protein production

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A 16-yr Follow-up of the European Randomized study of Screening for Prostate Cancer

Background: The European Randomized study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) has previously demonstrated that prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening decreases prostate cancer (PCa) mortality. Objective: To determine whether PSA screening decreases PCa mortality for up to 16 yr and to assess results following adjustment for nonparticipation and the number of screening rounds attended. Design, setting, and participants: This multicentre population-based randomised screening trial was conducted in eight European countries. Report includes 182 160 men, followed up until 2014 (maximum of 16 yr), with a predefined core age group of 162 389 men (55-69 yr), selected from population registry. Outcome measurements and statistical analysis: The outcome was PCa mortality, also assessed with adjustment for nonparticipation and the number of screening rounds attended. Results and limitations: The rate ratio of PCa mortality was 0.80 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.72-0.89, p 20 ng/ml (9.9% compared with 4.1% in the second round, p <0.001) and higher PCa mortality (hazard ratio = 1.86, p <0.001) than those detected subsequently. Conclusions: Findings corroborate earlier results that PSA screening significantly reduces PCa mortality, showing larger absolute benefit with longer follow-up and a reduction in excess incidence. Repeated screening may be important to reduce PCa mortality on a population level. Patient summary: In this report, we looked at the outcomes from prostate cancer in a large European population. We found that repeated screening reduces the risk of dying from prostate cancer. (C) 2019 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of European Association of Urology.Peer reviewe