401 research outputs found
Lower 68 Ga-DOTATOC Uptake in Non-Functioning Pituitary Neuroendocrine Tumors Compared to Normal Pituitary Gland - a Proof-of-Concept Study
OBJECTIVES: 68 Ga-DOTATOC PET targets somatostatin receptors (SSTRs) and is well established for the detection of SSTR-expressing tumors, such as gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors. Pituitary adenomas, recently designated as pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs), also express SSTRs, but there has been no previous evaluations of 68 Ga-DOTATOC PET in PitNET patients. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the diagnostic properties of 68 Ga-DOTATOC PET in the most common PitNET, i.e. non-functioning (NF)-PitNET. DESIGN/METHODS: NF-PitNET patients (n = 9) and controls (n = 13) were examined preoperatively with 68 Ga-DOTATOC PET for 45 min after tracer injection in dynamic list mode. Tumor specimens were collected during surgery in patients. MRI and PET images were co-registered using PMOD software. The maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax ) was analyzed in manually outlined regions of interest (ROC) around the tumor in patients and around the pituitary gland in controls. Immunohistochemical analyses were conducted on tumor specimens for assessment of tumor cell type and SSTR expression. RESULTS: Median SUVmax (IQR) was lower in patients than in controls (3.9 [3.4-8.5] vs 14.1 [12.5-15.9]; P < .01]. In ROC analysis, the area under the curve was 0.87 (P < .01) for SUVmax , with 78% sensitivity and 92% specificity. Immunohistochemical analysis showed NF-PitNETs were of gonadotroph (n = 7) and corticotroph (n = 2) origin. SSTR expression was high for SSTR3, low-to-moderate for SSTR2, and low for SSTR1 and SSTR5. CONCLUSIONS: This proof-of-concept study shows that 68 Ga-DOTATOC PET can be used to differentiate between normal pituitary tissue and NF-PitNET
Green's functions for parabolic systems of second order in time-varying domains
We construct Green's functions for divergence form, second order parabolic
systems in non-smooth time-varying domains whose boundaries are locally
represented as graph of functions that are Lipschitz continuous in the spatial
variables and 1/2-H\"older continuous in the time variable, under the
assumption that weak solutions of the system satisfy an interior H\"older
continuity estimate. We also derive global pointwise estimates for Green's
function in such time-varying domains under the assumption that weak solutions
of the system vanishing on a portion of the boundary satisfy a certain local
boundedness estimate and a local H\"older continuity estimate. In particular,
our results apply to complex perturbations of a single real equation.Comment: 25 pages, 0 figur
Microbial risk assessment of drinking water based on hydrodynamic modelling of pathogen concentrations in source water
Norovirus contamination of drinking water sources is an important cause of waterborne disease outbreaks. Knowledge on pathogen concentrations in source water is needed to assess the ability of a drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) to provide safe drinking water. However, pathogen enumeration in source water samples is often not sufficient to describe the source water quality. In this study, the norovirus concentrations were characterised at the contamination source, i.e. in sewage discharges. Then, the transport of norovirus within the water source (the river Gota alv in Sweden) under different loading conditions was simulated using a hydrodynamic model. Based on the estimated concentrations in source water, the required reduction of norovirus at the DWTP was calculated using quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA). The required reduction was compared with the estimated treatment performance at the DWTP. The average estimated concentration in source water varied between 4.8 x 10(2) and 7.5 x 10(3) genome equivalents L-1; and the average required reduction by treatment was between 7.6 and 8.8 Log(10). The treatment performance at the DWTP was estimated to be adequate to deal with all tested loading conditions, but was heavily dependent on chlorine disinfection, with the risk of poor reduction by conventional treatment and slow sand filtration. To our knowledge, this is the first article to employ discharge-based QMRA, combined with hydrodynamic modelling, in the context of drinking water. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Ecological speciation in European whitefish is driven by a large-gaped predator
Lake-dwelling fish that form species pairs/flocks characterized by body size divergence are important model systems for speciation research. Although several sources of divergent selection have been identified in these systems, their importance for driving the speciation process remains elusive. A major problem is that in retrospect, we cannot distinguish selection pressures that initiated divergence from those acting later in the process. To address this issue, we studied the initial stages of speciation in European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) using data from 358 populations of varying age (26-10,000 years). We find that whitefish speciation is driven by a large-growing predator, the northern pike (Esox lucius). Pike initiates divergence by causing a largely plastic differentiation into benthic giants and pelagic dwarfs: ecotypes that will subsequently develop partial reproductive isolation and heritable differences in gill raker number. Using an eco-evolutionary model, we demonstrate how pike's habitat specificity and large gape size are critical for imposing a between-habitat trade-off, causing prey to mature in a safer place or at a safer size. Thereby, we propose a novel mechanism for how predators may cause dwarf/giant speciation in lake-dwelling fish species.Peer reviewe
Climate warming, marine protected areas and the ocean-scale integrity of coral reef ecosystems
Coral reefs have emerged as one of the ecosystems most vulnerable to climate variation and change. While the contribution
of a warming climate to the loss of live coral cover has been well documented across large spatial and temporal scales, the
associated effects on fish have not. Here, we respond to recent and repeated calls to assess the importance of local
management in conserving coral reefs in the context of global climate change. Such information is important, as coral reef
fish assemblages are the most species dense vertebrate communities on earth, contributing critical ecosystem functions
and providing crucial ecosystem services to human societies in tropical countries. Our assessment of the impacts of the
1998 mass bleaching event on coral cover, reef structural complexity, and reef associated fishes spans 7 countries, 66 sites
and 26 degrees of latitude in the Indian Ocean. Using Bayesian meta-analysis we show that changes in the size structure,
diversity and trophic composition of the reef fish community have followed coral declines. Although the ocean scale
integrity of these coral reef ecosystems has been lost, it is positive to see the effects are spatially variable at multiple scales,
with impacts and vulnerability affected by geography but not management regime. Existing no-take marine protected areas
still support high biomass of fish, however they had no positive affect on the ecosystem response to large-scale disturbance.
This suggests a need for future conservation and management efforts to identify and protect regional refugia, which should
be integrated into existing management frameworks and combined with policies to improve system-wide resilience to
climate variation and change
Powder Compaction: Compression Properties of Cellulose Ethers
Effective development of matrix tablets requires a comprehensive understanding of different raw material attributes and their impact on process parameters. Cellulose ethers (CE) are the most commonly used pharmaceutical excipients in the fabrication of hydrophilic matrices. The innate good compression and binding properties of CE enable matrices to be prepared using economical direct compression (DC) techniques. However, DC is sensitive to raw material attributes, thus, impacting the compaction process. This article critically reviews prior knowledge on the mechanism of powder compaction and the compression properties of cellulose ethers, giving timely insight into new developments in this field
Le magmatisme de la rĂ©gion de Kwyjibo, Province\ud du Grenville (Canada) : intĂ©rĂȘt pour les\ud minĂ©ralisations de type fer-oxydes associĂ©es
The granitic plutons located north of the Kwyjibo property in Quebecâs Grenville Province are of\ud
Mesoproterozoic age and belong to the granitic Canatiche Complex . The rocks in these plutons are calc-alkalic, K-rich,\ud
and meta- to peraluminous. They belong to the magnetite series and their trace element characteristics link them to\ud
intraplate granites. They were emplaced in an anorogenic, subvolcanic environment, but they subsequently underwent\ud
significant ductile deformation. The magnetite, copper, and fluorite showings on the Kwyjibo property are polyphased\ud
and premetamorphic; their formation began with the emplacement of hydraulic, magnetite-bearing breccias, followed by\ud
impregnations and veins of chalcopyrite, pyrite, and fluorite, and ended with a late phase of mineralization, during\ud
which uraninite, rare earths, and hematite were emplaced along brittle structures. The plutons belong to two families:\ud
biotite-amphibole granites and leucogranites. The biotite-amphibole granites are rich in iron and represent a potential\ud
heat and metal source for the first, iron oxide phase of mineralization. The leucogranites show a primary enrichment in\ud
REE (rare-earth elements), F, and U, carried mainly in Y-, U-, and REE-bearing niobotitanates. They are metamict and\ud
underwent a postmagmatic alteration that remobilized the uranium and the rare earths. The leucogranites could also be\ud
a source of rare earths and uranium for the latest mineralizing events
The Born supremacy: quantum advantage and training of an Ising Born machine
The search for an application of near-term quantum devices is widespread.
Quantum Machine Learning is touted as a potential utilisation of such devices,
particularly those which are out of the reach of the simulation capabilities of
classical computers. In this work, we propose a generative Quantum Machine
Learning Model, called the Ising Born Machine (IBM), which we show cannot, in
the worst case, and up to suitable notions of error, be simulated efficiently
by a classical device. We also show this holds for all the circuit families
encountered during training. In particular, we explore quantum circuit learning
using non-universal circuits derived from Ising Model Hamiltonians, which are
implementable on near term quantum devices.
We propose two novel training methods for the IBM by utilising the Stein
Discrepancy and the Sinkhorn Divergence cost functions. We show numerically,
both using a simulator within Rigetti's Forest platform and on the Aspen-1 16Q
chip, that the cost functions we suggest outperform the more commonly used
Maximum Mean Discrepancy (MMD) for differentiable training. We also propose an
improvement to the MMD by proposing a novel utilisation of quantum kernels
which we demonstrate provides improvements over its classical counterpart. We
discuss the potential of these methods to learn `hard' quantum distributions, a
feat which would demonstrate the advantage of quantum over classical computers,
and provide the first formal definitions for what we call `Quantum Learning
Supremacy'. Finally, we propose a novel view on the area of quantum circuit
compilation by using the IBM to `mimic' target quantum circuits using classical
output data only.Comment: v3 : Close to journal published version - significant text structure
change, split into main text & appendices. See v2 for unsplit version; v2 :
Typos corrected, figures altered slightly; v1 : 68 pages, 39 Figures.
Comments welcome. Implementation at
https://github.com/BrianCoyle/IsingBornMachin
Vital Rates from the Action of Mutation Accumulation
New models for evolutionary processes of mutation accumulation allow hypotheses about the age-specificity of mutational effects to be translated into predictions of heterogeneous population hazard functions. We apply these models to questions in the biodemography of longevity, including proposed explanations of Gompertz hazards and mortality plateaus
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