532 research outputs found
Outcomes of First-Line Chemotherapy in Patients with Advanced or Metastatic Leiomyosarcoma of Uterine and Non-Uterine Origin
Although leiomyosarcomas (LMSs) form the largest subgroup of soft tissue sarcomas (STSs), the efficacy of chemotherapy in this group is largely unclear, partly because older studies are contaminated with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). In this retrospective study we investigated the outcome of first line chemotherapy in 65 patients with unresectable or metastatic LMS. The overall response rate (ORR) was 18%; and the median progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 3.8 and 9.7 months respectively. No statistically significant differences in outcomes for uterine and non-uterine LMS were found. In non-uterine LMS, however, the PFS and OS seemed to be longer for females than for males, potentially negatively affecting outcomes in this group. If our observations are confirmed in other series, they would suggest that studies performed in STS patients should not only stratify for histological subtype but also for uterine versus non-uterine LMS and for gender
Loops versus lines and the compression stiffening of cells
Both animal and plant tissue exhibit a nonlinear rheological phenomenon known
as compression stiffening, or an increase in moduli with increasing uniaxial
compressive strain. Does such a phenomenon exist in single cells, which are the
building blocks of tissues? One expects an individual cell to compression
soften since the semiflexible biopolymer-based cytoskeletal network maintains
the mechanical integrity of the cell and in vitro semiflexible biopolymer
networks typically compression soften. To the contrary, we find that mouse
embryonic fibroblasts (mEFs) compression stiffen under uniaxial compression via
atomic force microscopy (AFM) studies. To understand this finding, we uncover
several potential mechanisms for compression stiffening. First, we study a
single semiflexible polymer loop modeling the actomyosin cortex enclosing a
viscous medium modeled as an incompressible fluid. Second, we study a
two-dimensional semiflexible polymer/fiber network interspersed with
area-conserving loops, which are a proxy for vesicles and fluid-based
organelles. Third, we study two-dimensional fiber networks with
angular-constraining crosslinks, i.e. semiflexible loops on the mesh scale. In
the latter two cases, the loops act as geometric constraints on the fiber
network to help stiffen it via increased angular interactions. We find that the
single semiflexible polymer loop model agrees well with our AFM experiments
until approximately 35% compressive strain. We also find for the fiber network
with area-conserving loops model that the stress-strain curves are sensitive to
the packing fraction and size distribution of the area-conserving loops,
thereby creating a mechanical fingerprint across different cell types. Finally,
we make comparisons between this model and experiments on fibrin networks
interlaced with beads as well as discuss the tissue-scale implications of
cellular compression stiffening.Comment: 19 pages, 17 figure
Excitations of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a one-dimensional optical lattice
We investigate the low-lying excitations of a stack of weakly-coupled
two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensates that is formed by a one-dimensional
optical lattice. In particular, we calculate the dispersion relations of the
monopole and quadrupole modes, both for the ground state as well as for the
case in which the system contains a vortex along the direction of the lasers
creating the optical lattice. Our variational approach enables us to determine
analytically the dispersion relations for an arbitrary number of atoms in every
two-dimensional condensate and for an arbitrary momentum. We also discuss the
feasibility of experimentally observing our results.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, minor changes,accepted for publication in Phys.
Rev.
Insulator-Superfluid transition of spin-1 bosons in an optical lattice in magnetic field
We study the insulator-superfluid transition of spin-1 bosons in an optical
lattice in a uniform magnetic field. Based on a mean-field approximation we
obtained a zero-temperature phase diagram. We found that depending on the
particle number the transition for bosons with antiferromagnetic interaction
may occur into different superfluid phases with spins aligned along or opposite
to the field direction. This is qualitatively different from the field-free
transition for which the mean-field theory predicts a unique (polar) superfluid
state for any particle number.Comment: 10 pages, 2 eps figure
On the Role of Penning Ionization in Photoassociation Spectroscopy
We study the role of Penning ionization on the photoassociation spectra of
He(^3S)-He(^3S). The experimental setup is discussed and experimental results
for different intensities of the probe laser are shown. For modelling the
experimental results we consider coupled-channel calculations of the crossing
of the ground state with the excited state at the Condon point. The
coupled-channel calculations are first applied to model systems, where we
consider two coupled channels without ionization, two coupled channels with
ionization, and three coupled channels, for which only one of the excited
states is ionizing. Finally, coupled-channel calculations are applied to
photoassociation of He(^3S)-He(^3S) and good agreement is obtained between the
model and the experimental results.Comment: 14 pages, 18 figures, submitted to the special issue on Cold
Molecules of J. Phys.
Quantum phase transitions of light
Recently, condensed matter and atomic experiments have reached a length-scale
and temperature regime where new quantum collective phenomena emerge. Finding
such physics in systems of photons, however, is problematic, as photons
typically do not interact with each other and can be created or destroyed at
will. Here, we introduce a physical system of photons that exhibits strongly
correlated dynamics on a meso-scale. By adding photons to a two-dimensional
array of coupled optical cavities each containing a single two-level atom in
the photon-blockade regime, we form dressed states, or polaritons, that are
both long-lived and strongly interacting. Our zero temperature results predict
that this photonic system will undergo a characteristic Mott insulator
(excitations localised on each site) to superfluid (excitations delocalised
across the lattice) quantum phase transition. Each cavity's impressive photon
out-coupling potential may lead to actual devices based on these quantum
many-body effects, as well as observable, tunable quantum simulators. We
explicitly show that such phenomena may be observable in micro-machined diamond
containing nitrogen-vacancy colour centres and superconducting microwave
strip-line resonators.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures (2 in colour
Second-line treatment for acute graft-versus-host disease with mesenchymal stromal cells. a decision model
Objective: No standard second-line treatment exists for acute graft-versus-host disease steroid-refractory (SR-aGvHD), and long-term outcomes remain poor. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have been evaluated as treatment, but no disease model (DM) exists that integrates and extrapolates currently available evidence. The aim of this study was to develop such a DM to describe the natural history of SR-aGvHD and to predict long-term outcomes. Method: The DM was developed in collaboration with experts in haematology-oncology. Subsequently, a model simulation was run. Input parameters for transition and survival estimates were informed by published data of clinical trials on MSC treatment for SR-aGvHD. Parametric distributions were used to estimate long-term survival rates after MSCs. Results: The newly developed DM is a cohort model that consists of eight health states. For the model simulation, we obtained data on 327 patients from 14 published phase II trials. Due to limited evidence, DM structure was simplified and several assumptions had to be made. Median overall survival was 3.2 years for complete response and 0.5 years for no complete response. Conclusion: The DM provides a comprehensive overview on the second-line treatment pathway for aGvHD and enables long-term predictions that can be used to perform a cost-effectiveness analysis comparing any treatment for SR-aGvHD
Transmittivity of a Bose-Einstein condensate on a lattice: interference from period doubling and the effect of disorder
We evaluate the particle current flowing in steady state through a
Bose-Einstein condensate subject to a constant force in a quasi-onedimensional
lattice and to attractive interactions from fermionic atoms that are localized
in various configurations inside the lattice wells. The system is treated
within a Bose-Hubbard tight binding model by an out-of-equilibrium Green's
function approach. A new band gap opens up when the lattice period is doubled
by locating the fermions in alternate wells and yields an interference pattern
in the transmittivity on varying the intensity of the driving force. The
positions of the transmittivity minima are determined by matching the period of
Bloch oscillations and the time for tunnelling across the band gap. Massive
disorder in the distribution of the fermions will wash out the interference
pattern, but the same period doubling of the lattice can be experimentally
realized in a four-beam set-up. We report illustrative numerical results for a
mixture of 87Rb and 40K atoms in an optical lattice created by laser beams with
a wavelength of 763 nm.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure
Image-guided in situ detection of bacterial biofilms in a human prosthetic knee infection model:a feasibility study for clinical diagnosis of prosthetic joint infections
Purpose Due to an increased human life expectancy, the need to replace arthritic or dysfunctional joints by prosthetics is higher than ever before. Prosthetic joints are unfortunately inherently susceptible to bacterial infection accompanied by biofilm formation. Accurate and rapid diagnosis is vital to increase therapeutic success. Yet, established diagnostic modalities cannot directly detect bacterial biofilms on prostheses. Therefore, the present study was aimed at investigating whether arthroscopic optical imaging can accurately detect bacterial biofilms on prosthetic joints. Methods Here, we applied a conjugate of the antibiotic vancomycin and the near-infrared fluorophore IRDye800CW, in short vanco-800CW, in combination with arthroscopic optical imaging to target and visualize biofilms on infected prostheses. Results We show in a human post-mortem prosthetic knee infection model that a staphylococcal biofilm is accurately detected in real time and distinguished from sterile sections in high resolution. In addition, we demonstrate that biofilms associated with the clinically most relevant bacterial species can be detected using vanco-800CW. Conclusion The presented image-guided arthroscopic approach provides direct visual diagnostic information and facilitates immediate appropriate treatment selection
Phase Diagram of Bosonic Atoms in Two-Color Superlattices
We investigate the zero temperature phase diagram of a gas of bosonic atoms
in one- and two-color standing-wave lattices in the framework of the
Bose-Hubbard model. We first introduce some relevant physical quantities;
superfluid fraction, condensate fraction, quasimomentum distribution, and
matter-wave interference pattern. We then discuss the relationships between
them on the formal level and show that the superfluid fraction, which is the
relevant order parameter for the superfluid to Mott-insulator transition,
cannot be probed directly via the matter wave interference patterns. The formal
considerations are supported by exact numerical solutions of the Bose-Hubbard
model for uniform one-dimensional systems. We then map out the phase diagram of
bosons in non-uniform lattices. The emphasis is on optical two-color
superlattices which exhibit a sinusoidal modulation of the well depth and can
be easily realized experimentally. From the study of the superfluid fraction,
the energy gap, and other quantities we identify new zero-temperature phases,
including a localized and a quasi Bose-glass phase, and discuss prospects for
their experimental observation.Comment: 18 pages, 17 figures, using REVTEX
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