Aharonov-Bohm Oscillations in Photoluminescence from Charged Exciton in Quantum Tubes

The oscillation of photoluminescence peak energies is observed in InAs quantum tubes depending on the magnetic flux through the tube. The oscillation is shown to be due to the Aharonov-Bohm effect of a charged exciton in a quantum tube. No quadratic shift in photoluminescence peak energies is observed, which is a characteristic feature of a thin quantum tube with a single channel surrounding the magnetic flux through the tube.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

Encrusted Ureteral Stent Retrieval Using Flexible Ureteroscopy with a Ho: YAG Laser

A 23-year-old female had bilateral ureteral stents placed due to bilateral renal stones and hydronephrosis. The bilateral ureteral stents were changed every 3 months. A kidney ureter bladder (KUB) film showed left encrustation along the ureteral stent thus necessitating removal; however, the ureteral stent could not be removed cystoscopically. The ureteral stent was, therefore, extracted using flexible ureteroscopy (URS) with a holmium (Ho): yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) laser

Aberrantly methylated genes in human papillary thyroid cancer and their association with BRAF/RAS mutation

Cancer arises through accumulation of epigenetic and genetic alteration. Aberrant promoter methylation is a common epigenetic mechanism of gene silencing in cancer cells. We here performed genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation of promoter regions by Infinium HumanMethylation27 BeadChip, using 14 clinical papillary thyroid cancer samples and 10 normal thyroid samples. Among the 14 papillary cancer cases, 11 showed frequent aberrant methylation, but the other three cases showed no aberrant methylation at all. Distribution of the hypermethylation among cancer samples was non-random, which implied existence of a subset of preferentially methylated papillary thyroid cancer. Among 25 frequently methylated genes, methylation status of six genes (HIST1H3J, POU4F2, SHOX2, PHKG2, TLX3, HOXA7) was validated quantitatively by pyrosequencing. Epigenetic silencing of these genes in methylated papillary thyroid cancer cell lines was confirmed by gene re-expression following treatment with 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine and trichostatin A, and detected by real-time RT-PCR. Methylation of these six genes was validated by analysis of additional 20 papillary thyroid cancer and 10 normal samples. Among the 34 cancer samples in total, 26 cancer samples with preferential methylation were significantly associated with mutation of BRAF/RAS oncogene (P = 0.04, Fisher's exact test). Thus, we identified new genes with frequent epigenetic hypermethylation in papillary thyroid cancer, two subsets of either preferentially methylated or hardly methylated papillary thyroid cancer, with a concomitant occurrence of oncogene mutation and gene methylation. These hypermethylated genes may constitute potential biomarkers for papillary thyroid cancer

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction studies of guanidinoacetate methyltransferase from rat liver

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://scripts.iucr.org/cgi-bin/paper?S0907444999010318.Guanidinoacetate methyltransferase is the enzyme which catalyzes the last step of creatine biosynthesis. The enzyme is found ubiquitously and in abundance in the livers of all vertebrates. Recombinant rat-liver guanidinoacetate methyltransferase has been crystallized with guanidinoacetate and S-adenosylhomocysteine. The crystals belong to the monoclinic space group P21, with unit-cell parameters a = 54.8, b = 162.5, c = 56.1 Å, [beta] = 96.8 (1)° at 93 K, and typically diffract beyond 2.8 Å

Effects of Statin versus the Combination of Ezetimibe plus Statin on Serum Lipid Absorption Markers in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome

Background. The use of statins is essential for aggressive lipid-lowering treatment in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients with dyslipidemia. Recently, elevation of sitosterol, a lipid absorption marker, was reported to be associated with premature atherosclerosis. The purpose of the present study was to examine the impact of ezetimibe, a selective intestinal cholesterol transporter inhibitor, in ACS patients. Methods. A total of 197 ACS patients were randomized to pitavastatin + ezetimibe (n=100) or pitavastatin (n=97). Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and sitosterol levels were evaluated on admission and after 12 weeks. Results. After 12 weeks, the pitavastatin + ezetimibe group showed a significantly greater decrease of sitosterol (baseline versus after 12 weeks; 2.9 ± 2.5 versus 1.7 ± 1.0 ng/mL, P<0.001) than the pitavastatin group (2.7 ± 1.5 versus 3.0 ± 1.4 ng/mL). The baseline sitosterol level was significantly higher in patients with achieved LDL-C levels ≥ 70 mg/dL than in patients with levels < 70 mg/dL (3.2 ± 2.5 versus 2.4 ± 1.3 ng/mL, P=0.006). Conclusions. Ezetimibe plus statin therapy in ACS patients with dyslipidemia decreased LDL-C and sitosterol levels more than statin therapy solo. Sitosterol Elevation was a predictor of poor response to aggressive lipid-lowering treatment in ACS patients

Oncogenic FGFR1 mutation and amplification in common cellular origin in a composite tumor with neuroblastoma and pheochromocytoma

Neuroblastoma (NB) and pheochromocytoma (PCC) are derived from neural crest cells (NCCs); however, composite tumors with NB and PCC are rare, and their underlying molecular mechanisms remain unknown. To address this issue, we performed exome and transcriptome sequencing with formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples from the NB, PCC, and mixed lesions in a patient with a composite tumor. Whole-exome sequencing revealed that most mutations (80%) were shared by all samples, indicating that NB and PCC evolved from the same clone. Notably, all samples harbored both mutation and focal amplification in the FGFR1 oncogene, resulting in an extraordinarily high expression, likely to be the main driver of this tumor. Transcriptome sequencing revealed undifferentiated expression profiles for the NB lesions. Considering that a metastatic lesion was also composite, most likely, the primitive founding lesions should differentiate into both NB and PCC. This is the first reported case with composite-NB and PCC genetically proven to harbor an oncogenic FGFR1 alteration of a common cellular origin