Sonographically Guided Core Biopsy of the Breast: Comparison of 14-Gauge Automated Gun and 11-Gauge Directional Vacuum-Assisted Biopsy Methods

OBJECTIVE: To compare the outcomes of 14-gauge automated biopsy and 11-gauge vacuum-assisted biopsy for the sonographically guided core biopsies of breast lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed all sonographically guided core biopsies performed from January 2002 to February 2004. The sonographically guided core biopsies were performed with using a 14-gauge automated gun on 562 breast lesions or with using an 11-gauge vacuum-assisted device on 417 lesions. The histologic findings were compared with the surgical, imaging and follow-up findings. The histologic underestimation rate, the repeat biopsy rate and the false negative rates were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: A repeat biopsy was performed on 49 benign lesions because of the core biopsy results of the high-risk lesions (n = 24), the imaging-histologic discordance (n = 5), and the imaging findings showing disease progression (n = 20). The total underestimation rates, according to the biopsy device, were 55% (12/22) for the 14-gauge automated gun biopsies and 36% (8/22) for the 11-gauge vacuum-assisted device (p = 0.226). The atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) underestimation (i.e., atypical ductal hyperplasia at core biopsy and carcinoma at surgery) was 58% (7/12) for the 14-gauge automated gun biopsies and 20% (1/5) for the 11-gauge vacuum-assisted biopsies. The ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) underestimation rate (i.e., ductal carcinoma in situ upon core biopsy and invasive carcinoma found at surgery) was 50% (5/10) for the 14-gauge automated gun biopsies and 41% (7/17) for the 11-gauge vacuum-assisted biopsies. The repeat biopsy rates were 6% (33/562) for the 14-gauge automated gun biopsies and 3.5% (16/417) for the 11-gauge vacuum-assisted biopsies. Only 5 (0.5%) of the 979 core biopsies were believed to have missed the malignant lesions. The false-negative rate was 3% (4 of 128 cancers) for the 14-gauge automated gun biopsies and 1% (1 of 69 cancers) for the 11-gauge vacuum-assisted biopsies. CONCLUSION: The outcomes of the sonographically guided core biopsies performed with the 11-gauge vacuum-assisted device were better than those outcomes of the biopsies performed with the 14-gauge automated gun in terms of underestimation, rebiopsy and the false negative rate, although these differences were not statistically significant.This study is supported by KISTEP and the Ministry of Science and Technology, Korea

Metabolic engineering of Clostridium acetobutylicum for the production of butyl butyrate

Butyl butyrate is widely used as a fragrance additive for foods and beverages. The first step in the currently used process is the production of precursors, including butanol and butyrate, from petroleum using chemical catalysts, followed by the conversion of precursors to butyl butyrate by immobilized lipase. In this work, we engineered Clostridium acetobutylicum for the selective, one-step production of butyl butyrate from glucose. C. acetobutylicum ATCC 824, possessing a strong carbon flux that yields butanol and butyryl-CoA, was selected as a host and was engineered by introducing alcohol acyltransferases (AATs) from Fragaria x ananassa (strawberry) or Malus sp. (apple). Batch culture of the engineered C. acetobutylicum strain CaSAAT expressing the strawberry SAAT gene produced 50.07\ua0mg/L of butyl butyrate with a selectivity of 84.8% of total esters produced. Also, the engineered C. acetobutylicum strain CaAAAT expressing the apple AAAT gene produced 40.60\ua0mg/L of butyl butyrate with a selectivity of 87.4%. This study demonstrated the feasibility of the one-step fermentation of butyl butyrate from glucose in the engineered C. acetobutylicum, as a proof of concept

Evaluation of NaCl and KCl Salting Effects on Technological Properties of Pre- and Post-Rigor Chicken Breasts at Various Ionic Strengths

The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of NaCl and KCl salting on technological properties of pre- and post-rigor chicken breasts at various ionic strengths. The following factorial arrangement was used: 2 salt types (NaCl and KCl) × 2 rigor statuses (pre- and post-rigor) × 4 ionic strengths (0.086, 0.171, 0.257, and 0.342). Hot-boned and ground chicken breasts were salted within 30 min postmortem after slaughter (pre-rigor salting) or 24 h postmortem (post-rigor salting) with varying concentrations of NaCl (0.50%, 1.00%, 1.50%, and 2.00%) or KCl (0.64%, 1.28%, 1.91%, and 2.55%) corresponding to the four ionic strengths. KCl caused higher pH value in salted chicken breasts than NaCl (p < 0.05). However, KCl decreased total and myofibrillar protein solubilities in post-rigor salted chicken breasts compared to NaCl (p < 0.05), but those were similar to pre-rigor chicken breasts, regardless of the salt type (p > 0.05). Different salt types had no significant impact on cooking loss and textural properties. This study shows that NaCl and KCl had similar effects on technological properties at the same ionic strength (within 0.342), but the use of KCl may have the possibility to decrease protein solubility, depending on rigor status of raw meat at the different salting time

Metabolic engineering of the genus Clostridium for butanol production

Clostridium is a genus of Gram-positive, rod shape, spore-forming obligate anaerobe. Recently, Clostridium has been attracted as a host for bio-based chemical production, due to its diversity of substrate utilization and the production ability for metabolites which can be used as a building block for chemical production. Especially, butanol produced from Clostridium has been considered as an alternative fuel. As a transportation fuel, butanol has a higher energy density and lower hygroscopicity compared to ethanol, the first generation biofuel. Recently, metabolic engineering of Clostridium has been massively conducted for butanol production. In this study, the metabolic engineering strategy of Clostridium for butanol production has been reviewed with a brief perspective

Control of magnetoelectric coupling in the Co2Y-type hexaferrites

We comprehensively investigated the magnetic, ferroelectric, and ME properties of Ba2-xSrxCo2(Fe1-yAly)(12)O-22 single crystals in broad doping ranges of Sr (1.0 <= x <= 1.8) and Al (0.00 <= y <= 0.08). Most of the investigated compounds exhibit an intriguing coexistence of two apparently competing magnetic phases: a transverse conical (TC) and alternating longitudinal conical (ALC) spin structure. The magnetic properties show that the Ba0.2Sr1.8Co2(Fe0.96Al0.04)(12)O-22 crystal has the highest ordering temperature and largest volume fraction of the ALC phase at zero H; further, after the application of an in-plane H, it exhibits a maximized volume fraction of the metastable TC phase, resulting in the highest ME susceptibility and electric polarization at all temperatures below 300 K. Our findings demonstrate that securing the thermal stability of the ALC phase is a crucial prerequisite to achieve optimized ME coupling in Co2Y-type hexaferrites, pointing to a general strategy applicable to other hexaferrites as well

Wafer-scale programmed assembly of one-atom-thick crystals

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Intrachain Delocalization Effect of Charge Carriers on the Charge-Transfer State Dynamics in Organic Solar Cells

We studied the charge-generation mechanism in low-bandgap polymer (P4TNTz-2F)-fullerene bulk heterojunction (BHJ) organic solar cells (OSCs) using transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy. The highly crystalline nanowire structure of P4TNTz-2F in a blend film prepared with chlorobenzene (CB) and 1,8-diiodooctane (DIO) induced more long-lived charge carriers than those in a blend film prepared with CB only. Pump-wavelength-dependent TA data revealed that the increased charge-delocalization by the intrachain ordering of P4TNTz-2F in the blend film prepared with CB/DIO is the key factor to increasing the OSC efficiency. The intrachain charge-delocalization increased the charge-transfer (CT) state lifetime and suppressed geminate recombination losses, resulting in the efficient dissociation of CT states into free carriers. Our findings provide new insights into the excited-state dynamics study of BHJ blends, which can serve as a good guide for the development of novel OSC materials.11Nsciescopu