New and emerging therapeutic options for malignant pleural mesothelioma: review of early clinical trials.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare tumor that is challenging to control. Despite some benefit from using the multimodality-approach (surgery, combination chemotherapy and radiation), survival remains poor. However, current research produced a list of potential therapies. Here, we summarize significant new preclinical and early clinical developments in treatment of MPM, which include mesothelin specific antibody and toxin therapies, interleukin-4 (IL-4) receptor toxins, dendritic cell vaccines, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and gene-based therapies. In addition, several local modalities such as photodynamic therapy, postoperative lavage using betadine, and cryotherapy for local recurrence, have also shown to be effective for local control of disease

Matter-wave grating distinguishing conservative and dissipative interactions

We propose an optical grating for matter waves that separates molecules depending on whether their interaction with the light is conservative or dissipative. Potential applications include fundamental tests of quantum mechanics, measurement of molecular properties and the ability to selectively prepare matter waves with different internal temperatures

Chirality and the angular momentum of light

Chirality is exhibited by objects that cannot be rotated into their mirror images. It is far from obvious that this has anything to do with the angular momentum of light, which owes its existence to rotational symmetries. There is nevertheless a subtle connection between chirality and the angular momentum of light. We demonstrate this connection and, in particular, its significance in the context of chiral light–matter interactions

The Rosary

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/6129/thumbnail.jp

Regional body composition in college-aged Caucasians from anthropometric measures

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Quantitating fat and lean tissue in isolated body regions may be helpful or required in obesity and health-outcomes research. However, current methods of regional body composition measurement require specialized, expensive equipment such as that used in computed tomography or dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Simple body size or circumference measurement relationships to body composition have been developed but are limited to whole-body applications. We investigated relationships between body size measurements and regional body composition.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using DEXA technology we determined the fat and lean tissue composition for six regions of the body in predominantly Caucasian, college-aged men (n = 32) and women (n = 67). Circumference measurements as well as body weight and height were taken for each individual. Equations relating body measurements to a respective regional fat and lean mass were developed using multiple regression analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Multiple regression R²values ranged from 0.4451 to 0.8953 and 0.1697 to 0.7039 for regional fat and lean mass relationships to body measurements, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The equations developed in this study offer a simple way of estimating regional body composition in a college-aged adult population. The parameters used in the equations are common body measurements that can be obtained with the use of a measuring tape and weight scale.</p

Immune Checkpoint Blockade and Adaptive Immune Resistance in Cancer

The clinical success of immune checkpoint blockers is a pivotal advancement for treating an increasing number of cancer types. However, immune checkpoint blockers still rarely induce complete remission and show little to no therapeutic efficacy in a significant percentage of cancer patients. Efforts are now underway to identify biomarkers that accurately predict which patients benefit from immune checkpoint blockers. Moreover, adaptive immune resistance can develop in tumors during treatment with immune checkpoint blockers. These adaptive resistance mechanisms in tumors might be disrupted by combining adjunctive immunotherapies, which could potentially improve the therapeutic efficacy of immune checkpoint blockers. This chapter discusses the mechanism of action of cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) and programmed death-1/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) immune checkpoint blockers and biomarkers that might predict clinical responses to these drugs. Lastly, ongoing research on mechanisms of tumor adaptive resistance could facilitate rationale design of adjunctive immunotherapies that can be synergistically combined with immune checkpoint blockers to more effectively treat cancer

Average motion of emerging solar active region polarities I: Two phases of emergence

Our goal is to constrain models of active region formation by tracking the average motion of active region polarity pairs as they emerge onto the surface. We measured the motion of the two main opposite polarities in 153 emerging active regions (EARs) using line-of-sight magnetic field observations from the Solar Dynamics Observatory Helioseismic Emerging Active Region (SDO/HEAR) survey (Schunker et al. 2016). We first measured the position of each of the polarities eight hours after emergence and tracked their location forwards and backwards in time. We find that, on average, the polarities emerge with an east-west orientation and the separation speed between the polarities increases. At about 0.1 days after emergence, the average separation speed reaches a peak value of 229 +/- 11 m/s, and then starts to decrease, and about 2.5 days after emergence the polarities stop separating. We also find that the separation and the separation speed in the east-west direction are systematically larger for active regions with higher flux. Our results reveal two phases of the emergence process defined by the rate of change of the separation speed as the polarities move apart. Phase 1 begins when the opposite polarity pairs first appear at the surface, with an east-west alignment and an increasing separation speed. We define Phase 2 to begin when the separation speed starts to decrease, and ends when the polarities have stopped separating. This is consistent with the picture of Chen, Rempel, & Fan (2017): the peak of a flux tube breaks through the surface during Phase 1. During Phase 2 the magnetic field lines are straightened by magnetic tension, so that the polarities continue to move apart, until they eventually lie directly above their anchored subsurface footpoints.Comment: accepted A&

Assessment of intra and interregional genetic variation in the Eastern Red-backed Salamander, Plethodon cinereus, via analysis of novel microsatellite markers

The red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) has long-served as a model system in ecology, evolution, and behavior, and studies surveying molecular variation in this species have become increasingly common over the past decade. However, difficulties are commonly encountered when extending microsatellite markers to populations that are unstudied from a genetic perspective due to high levels of genetic differentiation across this species’ range. To ameliorate this issue, we used 454 pyrosequencing to identify hundreds of microsatellite loci. We then screened 40 of our top candidate loci in populations in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio—including an isolated island population ~ 4.5 km off the shore of Lake Erie (South Bass Island). We identified 25 loci that are polymorphic in a well-studied region of Virginia and 11 of these loci were polymorphic in populations located in the genetically unstudied regions of Ohio and Pennsylvania. Use of these loci to examine patterns of variation within populations revealed that South Bass Island has low diversity in comparison to other sites. However, neither South Bass Island nor isolated populations around Cleveland are inbred. Assessment of variation between populations revealed three well defined genetic clusters corresponding to Virginia, mainland Ohio/Pennsylvania, and South Bass Island. Comparisons of our results to those of others working in various parts of the range are consistent with the idea that differentiation is lower in regions that were once glaciated. However, these comparisons also suggest that well differentiated isolated populations in the formerly glaciated portion of the range are not uncommon. This work provides novel genetic resources that will facilitate population genetic studies in a part of the red-backed salamander’s range that has not previously been studied in this manner. Moreover, this work refines our understanding of how neutral variation is distributed in this ecologically important organism

Chiral rotational spectroscopy

We introduce chiral rotational spectroscopy, a technique that enables the determination of the orientated optical activity pseudotensor components $B_{XX}$, $B_{YY}$ and $B_{ZZ}$ of chiral molecules, in a manner that reveals the enantiomeric constitution of a sample and provides an incisive signal even for a racemate. Chiral rotational spectroscopy could find particular use in the analysis of molecules that are chiral solely by virtue of their isotopic constitution and molecules with multiple chiral centers. A basic design for a chiral rotational spectrometer together with a model of its functionality is given. Our proposed technique offers the more familiar polarizability components $\alpha_{XX}$, $\alpha_{YY}$ and $\alpha_{ZZ}$ as by-products, which could see it find use even for achiral molecules