Microfluidic-based immunohistochemistry for breast cancer diagnosis: a comparative clinical study.

Breast cancer is a highly heterogeneous disease. The efficacy of tailored therapeutic strategies relies on the precise detection of diagnostic biomarkers by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Therefore, considering the increasing incidence of breast cancer cases, a concomitantly time-efficient and accurate diagnosis is clinically highly relevant. Microfluidics is a promising innovative technology in the field of tissue diagnostic, enabling for rapid, reliable, and automated immunostaining. We previously reported the microfluidic-based HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) detection in breast carcinomas to greatly correlate with the HER2 gene amplification level. Here, we aimed to develop a panel of microfluidic-based IHC protocols for prognostic and therapeutic markers routinely assessed for breast cancer diagnosis, namely HER2, estrogen/progesterone receptor (ER/PR), and Ki67 proliferation factor. The microfluidic IHC protocol for each marker was optimized to reach high staining quality comparable to the standard procedure, while concomitantly shortening the staining time to 16 min-excluding deparaffinization and antigen retrieval step-with a turnaround time reduction up to 7 folds. Comparison of the diagnostic score on 50 formaldehyde-fixed paraffin-embedded breast tumor resections by microfluidic versus standard staining showed high concordance (overall agreement: HER2 94%, ER 95.9%, PR 93.6%, Ki67 93.7%) and strong correlation (ρ coefficient: ER 0.89, PR 0.88, Ki67 0.87; p < 0.0001) for all the analyzed markers. Importantly, HER2 genetic reflex test for all discordant cases confirmed the scores obtained by the microfluidic technique. Overall, the microfluidic-based IHC represents a clinically validated equivalent approach to the standard chromogenic staining for rapid, accurate, and automated breast cancer diagnosis

STUDY ON THE FRUIT MORPHOLOGY OF MAPANIA SPECIES (CYPERACEAE) EASTERN NORTH OF SARAWAK

The study of fruit morphology of Mapania species from Eastern North of Sarawak is presented in this paper. The samples were collected from various localities in the Eastern North of Sarawak, includes Lambir Hills National Park (LHNP), Bukit Sembiling Nature Reserve (BSNR), Ulu Mentawai, Mulu National Park (UMMNP), Long Banga (LB) and Tama Abu Production Forest (TAPF). Matured fruits were obtained by dissecting the spike. Morphological characteristics were observed use USB Portable Microscopes (500x) and parameters were measured use digital caliper. The morphological characteristics were compared and analyzed. Fruits of M. meditensis were the biggest (9 mm long, 4.25 mm diam.) and the smallest fruit was M. debilis (2.45 mm long, 1.5 mm diam.). Overall the fruit morphological was very useful to differentiate the species level particularly the sizes, exocarp appearance and the present of costae

d-Wave Spin Density Wave phase in the Attractive Hubbard Model with Spin Polarization

We investigate the possibility of unconventional spin density wave (SDW) in the attractive Hubbard model with finite spin polarization. We show that pairing and density fluctuations induce the transverse d-wave SDW near the half-filling. This novel SDW is related to the d-wave superfluidity induced by antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations, in the sense that they are connected with each other through Shiba's attraction-repulsion transformation. Our results predict the d-wave SDW in real systems, such as cold Fermi atom gases with population imbalance and compounds involving valence skipper elements

Computer-controlled closed-loop norepinephrine infusion system for automated control of mean arterial pressure in dogs under isoflurane-induced hypotension: a feasibility study

Introduction: Intra-operative hypotension is a common complication of surgery under general anesthesia in dogs and humans. Computer-controlled closed-loop infusion systems of norepinephrine (NE) have been developed and clinically applied for automated optimization of arterial pressure (AP) and prevention of intra-operative hypotension in humans. This study aimed to develop a simple computer-controlled closed-loop infusion system of NE for the automated control of the mean arterial pressure (MAP) in dogs with isoflurane-induced hypotension and to validate the control of MAP by the developed system. Methods: NE was administered via the cephalic vein, whereas MAP was measured invasively by placing a catheter in the dorsal pedal artery. The proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller in the negative feedback loop of the developed system titrated the infusion rate of NE to maintain the MAP at the target value of 60 mmHg. The titration was updated every 2 s. The performance of the developed system was evaluated in six laboratory Beagle dogs under general anesthesia with isoflurane. Results: In the six dogs, when the concentration [median (interquartile range)] of inhaled isoflurane was increased from 1.5 (1.5-1.5)% to 4 (4-4)% without activating the system, the MAP was lowered from 95 (91-99) to 41 (37-42) mmHg. In contrast, when the concentration was increased from 1.5 (1.0-1.5)% to 4 (4-4.8)% for a 30-min period and the system was simultaneously activated, the MAP was temporarily lowered from 92 (89-95) to 47 (43-49) mmHg but recovered to 58 (57-58) mmHg owing to the system-controlled infusion of NE. If the acceptable target range for MAP was defined as target MAP ±5 mmHg (55 ≤ MAP ≤65 mmHg), the percentage of time wherein the MAP was maintained within the acceptable range was 96 (89-100)% in the six dogs during the second half of the 30-min period (from 15 to 30 min after system activation). The median performance error, median absolute performance error, wobble, and divergence were - 2.9 (-4.7 to 1.9)%, 2.9 (2.0-4.7)%, 1.3 (0.8-1.8)%, and - 0.24 (-0.34 to -0.11)%·min-1, respectively. No adverse events were observed during the study period, and all dogs were extubated uneventfully. Conclusion: This system was able to titrate the NE infusion rates in an accurate and stable manner to maintain the MAP within the predetermined target range in dogs with isoflurane-induced hypotension. This system can be a potential tool in daily clinical practice for the care of companion dogs

NOTES ON THE GENUS MAPANIA (MAPANIOIDEA; CYPERACEAE) FROM TAMA ABU, SARAWAK

A list of Mapania species from Tama Abu PF of Heart of Borneo (HoB) area is presented in this paper. Tama Abu PF is considered fairly rich with Mapania species. Nine taxa were recorded of which one species is still undetermined

PROVISIONAL CHECKLIST OF GINGERS FROM TAMA ABU PF

Zingiberaceae species are a diverse group of rhizomatous, aromatic perennial herbs with the centre of diversity in South-east Asia. The Zingiberaceae diversity in the Tama Abu Production Forest (TAPF) documented in this paper is a result of the survey during the Heart of Borneo (HoB) Scientific Expedition 2017. A total of 44 species belonging to 12 genera and 2 tribes were collected and recorded. The tribe Alpinieae represented by 8 genera and 30 species whilst tribe Zingiberaea with 4 genera and 14 species. Amomum anomalum, Amomum dimorphum, Etlingera brevilabrum, Etlingera coccinea, Globba atrosanguinea, Hornstedtia havilandii, Plagiostachys strobilifera and Zingiber sp. nov. are considered as common

Two-Particle-Self-Consistent Approach for the Hubbard Model

Even at weak to intermediate coupling, the Hubbard model poses a formidable challenge. In two dimensions in particular, standard methods such as the Random Phase Approximation are no longer valid since they predict a finite temperature antiferromagnetic phase transition prohibited by the Mermin-Wagner theorem. The Two-Particle-Self-Consistent (TPSC) approach satisfies that theorem as well as particle conservation, the Pauli principle, the local moment and local charge sum rules. The self-energy formula does not assume a Migdal theorem. There is consistency between one- and two-particle quantities. Internal accuracy checks allow one to test the limits of validity of TPSC. Here I present a pedagogical review of TPSC along with a short summary of existing results and two case studies: a) the opening of a pseudogap in two dimensions when the correlation length is larger than the thermal de Broglie wavelength, and b) the conditions for the appearance of d-wave superconductivity in the two-dimensional Hubbard model.Comment: Chapter in "Theoretical methods for Strongly Correlated Systems", Edited by A. Avella and F. Mancini, Springer Verlag, (2011) 55 pages. Misprint in Eq.(23) corrected (thanks D. Bergeron

Quantum dynamics in ultra-cold atomic physics

We review recent developments in the theory of quantum dynamics in ultra-cold atomic physics, including exact techniques, but focusing on methods based on phase-space mappings that are appli- cable when the complexity becomes exponentially large. These phase-space representations include the truncated Wigner, positive-P and general Gaussian operator representations which can treat both bosons and fermions. These phase-space methods include both traditional approaches using a phase-space of classical dimension, and more recent methods that use a non-classical phase-space of increased dimensionality. Examples used include quantum EPR entanglement of a four-mode BEC, time-reversal tests of dephasing in single-mode traps, BEC quantum collisions with up to 106 modes and 105 interacting particles, quantum interferometry in a multi-mode trap with nonlinear absorp- tion, and the theory of quantum entropy in phase-space. We also treat the approach of variational optimization of the sampling error, giving an elementary example of a nonlinear oscillator

Electronic Structure Calculation by First Principles for Strongly Correlated Electron Systems

Recent trends of ab initio studies and progress in methodologies for electronic structure calculations of strongly correlated electron systems are discussed. The interest for developing efficient methods is motivated by recent discoveries and characterizations of strongly correlated electron materials and by requirements for understanding mechanisms of intriguing phenomena beyond a single-particle picture. A three-stage scheme is developed as renormalized multi-scale solvers (RMS) utilizing the hierarchical electronic structure in the energy space. It provides us with an ab initio downfolding of the global band structure into low-energy effective models followed by low-energy solvers for the models. The RMS method is illustrated with examples of several materials. In particular, we overview cases such as dynamics of semiconductors, transition metals and its compounds including iron-based superconductors and perovskite oxides, as well as organic conductors of kappa-ET type.Comment: 44 pages including 38 figures, to appear in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. as an invited review pape