1,545 research outputs found
Adjuvant chemotherapy and survival among patients 70 years of age and younger with node-negative breast cancer and the 21-gene recurrence score of 26-30
BACKGROUND: The benefits of chemotherapy in node-negative, hormone receptor-positive, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative breast cancer patients with the 21-gene recurrence score (RS) of 18-30, particularly those with RS 26-30, are not known.
METHODS: Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data, we retrospectively identified 29,137 breast cancer patients with the 21-gene RS of 18-30 diagnosed between 2004 and 2015. Mortality risks according to the RS and chemotherapy use were compared by the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox\u27s proportional hazards model.
RESULTS: Among the breast cancer patients with the RS 18-30, 21% of them had RS 26-30. Compared to breast cancer patients with RS 18-25, patients with RS 26-30 had more aggressive tumor characteristics and chemotherapy use and increased risk of breast cancer-specific mortality and overall mortality. In breast cancer patients who were aged ≤ 70 years and had RS of 26-30, chemotherapy administration was associated with a 32% lower risk of breast cancer-specific mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 0.68; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.47-0.99) and a 42% lower risk of overall mortality (HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.44-0.76). Survival benefits were most pronounced in breast cancer patients who were younger or had grade III tumor.
CONCLUSIONS: The 21-gene RS of 18-30 showed heterogeneous outcomes, and the RS 26-30 was a significant prognostic factor for an increased risk of mortality. Adjuvant chemotherapy could improve the survival of node-negative, hormone receptor-positive, and HER2-negative breast cancer patients with the 21-gene RS 26-30 and should be considered for patients, especially younger patients or patients with high-grade tumors
Gate induced g-factor control and dimensional transition for donors in multi-valley semiconductors
The dependence of the g-factors of semiconductor donors on applied electric
and magnetic fields is of immense importance in spin based quantum computation
and in semiconductor spintronics. The donor g-factor Stark shift is sensitive
to the orientation of the electric and magnetic fields and strongly influenced
by the band-structure and spin-orbit interactions of the host. Using a
multimillion atom tight-binding framework the spin-orbit Stark parameters are
computed for donors in multi-valley semiconductors, silicon and germanium.
Comparison with limited experimental data shows good agreement for a donor in
silicon. Results for gate induced transition from 3D to 2D wave function
confinement show that the corresponding g-factor shift in Si is experimentally
observable.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Atomistic simulations of adiabatic coherent electron transport in triple donor systems
A solid-state analogue of Stimulated Raman Adiabatic Passage can be
implemented in a triple well solid-state system to coherently transport an
electron across the wells with exponentially suppressed occupation in the
central well at any point of time. Termed coherent tunneling adiabatic passage
(CTAP), this method provides a robust way to transfer quantum information
encoded in the electronic spin across a chain of quantum dots or donors. Using
large scale atomistic tight-binding simulations involving over 3.5 million
atoms, we verify the existence of a CTAP pathway in a realistic solid-state
system: gated triple donors in silicon. Realistic gate profiles from commercial
tools were combined with tight-binding methods to simulate gate control of the
donor to donor tunnel barriers in the presence of cross-talk. As CTAP is an
adiabatic protocol, it can be analyzed by solving the time independent problem
at various stages of the pulse - justifying the use of time-independent
tight-binding methods to this problem. Our results show that a three donor CTAP
transfer, with inter-donor spacing of 15 nm can occur on timescales greater
than 23 ps, well within experimentally accessible regimes. The method not only
provides a tool to guide future CTAP experiments, but also illuminates the
possibility of system engineering to enhance control and transfer times.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
Orbital Stark effect and quantum confinement transition of donors in silicon
Adiabatic shuttling of single impurity bound electrons to gate induced
surface states in semiconductors has attracted much attention in recent times,
mostly in the context of solid-state quantum computer architecture. A recent
transport spectroscopy experiment for the first time was able to probe the
Stark shifted spectrum of a single donor in silicon buried close to a gate.
Here we present the full theoretical model involving large-scale quantum
mechanical simulations that was used to compute the Stark shifted donor states
in order to interpret the experimental data. Use of atomistic tight-binding
technique on a domain of over a million atoms helped not only to incorporate
the full band structure of the host, but also to treat realistic device
geometries and donor models, and to use a large enough basis set to capture any
number of donor states. The method yields a quantitative description of the
symmetry transition that the donor electron undergoes from a 3D Coulomb
confined state to a 2D surface state as the electric field is ramped up
adiabatically. In the intermediate field regime, the electron resides in a
superposition between the states of the atomic donor potential and that of the
quantum dot like states at the surface. In addition to determining the effect
of field and donor depth on the electronic structure, the model also provides a
basis to distinguish between a phosphorus and an arsenic donor based on their
Stark signature. The method also captures valley-orbit splitting in both the
donor well and the interface well, a quantity critical to silicon qubits. The
work concludes with a detailed analysis of the effects of screening on the
donor spectrum.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, journa
Optimization of metal dispersion in doped graphitic materials for hydrogen storage
The noncovalent hydrogen binding on transition-metal atoms dispersed on carbon clusters and graphene is studied with the use of the pseudopotential density-functional method. It is found that the presence of acceptorlike states in the absorbents is essential for enhancing the metal adsorption strength and for increasing the number of hydrogen molecules attached to the metal atoms. Particular configurations of boron substitutional doping are found to be very efficient for providing such states and thus enhancing storage capacity. Optimal doping conditions are suggested based on our calculations for the binding energy and ratio between metal and hydrogen molecules.open714
Mapping donor electron wave function deformations at sub-Bohr orbit resolution
Quantum wave function engineering of dopant-based Si nano-structures reveals
new physics in the solid-state, and is expected to play a vital role in future
nanoelectronics. Central to any fundamental understanding or application is the
ability to accurately characterize the deformation of the electron wave
functions in these atom-based structures through electromagnetic field control.
We present a method for mapping the subtle changes that occur in the electron
wave function through the measurement of the hyperfine tensor probed by 29Si
impurities. Our results show that detecting the donor electron wave function
deformation is possible with resolution at the sub-Bohr radius level.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, and 1 tabl
Stark tuning of the charge states of a two-donor molecule in silicon
Gate control of phosphorus donor based charge qubits in Si is investigated
using a tight-binding approach. Excited molecular states of P2+ are found to
impose limits on the allowed donor separations and operating gate voltages. The
effects of surface (S) and barrier (B) gates are analyzed in various voltage
regimes with respect to the quantum confined states of the whole device.
Effects such as interface ionization, saturation of the tunnel coupling,
sensitivity to donor and gate placement are also studied. It is found that
realistic gate control is smooth for any donor separation, although at certain
donor orientations the S and B gates may get switched in functionality. This
paper outlines and analyzes the various issues that are of importance in
practical control of such donor molecular systems.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure
Environment and Its Influence on Health and Demographics in South Korea
As the prevalence of overweight and obesity has been increasing in South Korea, it is critical to better understand possible associations between environmental surroundings and general health status. We characterize key health test readings and basic demographic information from 10,816 South Koreans, obtained from two Ubiquitous Healthcare (U-Healthcare) centers that have distinct surrounding neighborhood characteristics. One is located in a rural area in Busan, the other is located in an urban area in Daegu surrounded by a highly crowded residential and commercial business area. We analyze comprehensive health data sets, including blood pressure, body mass index, pulse rate, and body fat percentage from December 2013 to December 2014 to study differences in overall health test measurements between users of rural and urban U-Healthcare centers. We conduct multiple regression analyses to evaluate differences in general health status between the two centers, adjusting for confounding factors. We report statistical evidence of differences in blood pressure at the two locations. As local residents are major users, the result indicates that the environmental surroundings of the centers can influence the demographics of the users, the type of health tests in demand, and the users’ health status. We further envision that U-Healthcare centers will provide public users with an opportunity for enhancing their current health, which could potentially be used to prevent them from developing chronic diseases, while providing surveillance healthcare data
Pharmacological correction of obesity-induced autophagy arrest using calcium channel blockers
Autophagy deregulation during obesity contributes to the pathogenesis of diverse metabolic disorders. However, without understanding the molecular mechanism of obesity interference in autophagy, development of therapeutic strategies for correcting such defects in obese individuals is challenging. Here we show that a chronic increase of the cytosolic calcium concentration in hepatocytes during obesity and lipotoxicity attenuates autophagic flux by preventing the fusion between autophagosomes and lysosomes. As a pharmacological approach to restore cytosolic calcium homeostasis in vivo, we administered the clinically approved calcium channel blocker verapamil to obese mice. Such treatment successfully increases autophagosome–lysosome fusion in liver, preventing accumulation of protein inclusions and lipid droplets and suppressing inflammation and insulin resistance. As calcium channel blockers have been safely used in clinics for the treatment of hypertension for more than 30 years, our results suggest they may be a safe therapeutic option for restoring autophagic flux and treating metabolic pathologies in obese patients. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5834
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