248 research outputs found
Nanoscale changes in chromatin organization represent the initial steps of tumorigenesis: a transmission electron microscopy study
BACKGROUND: Nuclear alterations are a well-known manifestation of cancer. However, little is known about the early, microscopically-undetectable stages of malignant transformation. Based on the phenomenon of field cancerization, the tissue in the field of a tumor can be used to identify and study the initiating events of carcinogenesis. Morphological changes in nuclear organization have been implicated in the field of colorectal cancer (CRC), and we hypothesize that characterization of chromatin alterations in the early stages of CRC will provide insight into cancer progression, as well as serve as a biomarker for early detection, risk stratification and prevention. METHODS: For this study we used transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images of nuclei harboring pre-neoplastic CRC alterations in two models: a carcinogen-treated animal model of early CRC, and microscopically normal-appearing tissue in the field of human CRC. We quantify the chromatin arrangement using approaches with two levels of complexity: 1) binary, where chromatin is separated into areas of dense heterochromatin and loose euchromatin, and 2) grey-scale, where the statistics of continuous mass-density distribution within the nucleus is quantified by its spatial correlation function. RESULTS: We established an increase in heterochromatin content and clump size, as well as a loss of its characteristic peripheral positioning in microscopically normal pre-neoplastic cell nuclei. Additionally, the analysis of chromatin density showed that its spatial distribution is altered from a fractal to a stretched exponential. CONCLUSIONS: We characterize quantitatively and qualitatively the nanoscale structural alterations preceding cancer development, which may allow for the establishment of promising new biomarkers for cancer risk stratification and diagnosis. The findings of this study confirm that ultrastructural changes of chromatin in field carcinogenesis represent early neoplastic events leading to the development of well-documented, microscopically detectable hallmarks of cancer
Measurements of Charmless Hadronic b->s Penguin Decays in the pi+pi-K+pi- Final State and First Observation of B0 -> rho0K+pi-
We report measurements of charmless hadronic B^0 decays into the pi+pi-K+pi+
final state. The analysis uses a sample of 657x10^6 BBbar pairs collected with
the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider at the Y(4S)
resonance. The decay B^0 -> rho0 Kpi is observed for the first time; the
significance is 5.0sigma and the corresponding partial branching fraction for
M_Kpi in (0.75,1.20) GeV/c^2 is [2.8 +- 0.5(stat) +-0.5(syst)] x 10^{-6}. We
also obtain the first evidence for B^0 -> f0Kpi with 3.5sigma significance and
for B^0 -> pi+pi-K*0 with 4.5sigma significance. For the two-body decays B^0 ->
rho0K*0 and B^0 -> f0K*0, the significances are 2.7sigma and 2.5sigma,
respectively, and the upper limits on the branching fractions are 3.4x10^{-6}
and 2.2x10^{-6} at 90% confidence level.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. accepted by PRD(RC
Evidence of time-dependent CP violation in the decay B0 to D*+D*-
We report a measurement of the CP-odd fraction and the time-dependent CP
violation in B0 to D*+D*- decays, using 657.10^6 BBbar events collected at the
Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy
e+e- collider. We measure a CP-odd fraction of
Rperp=0.125+/-0.043(stat)+/-0.023(syst). From the distributions of the
proper-time intervals between a B0to D*+D*- decay and the other B meson in the
event, we obtain evidence of CP violation with measured parameters
AD*+D*-=0.15+/-0.13(stat)+/-0.04(syst) and
SD*+D*-=-0.96+/-0.25(stat)-0.16+0.13(syst).Comment: Published in PR
Observation of B+ -> Dbar*0 tau+ nu_tau and Evidence for B+ -> Dbar^0 tau+ nu_tau at Belle
We present measurements of B+ -> Dbar*0 tau+ nu_tau and B+ -> Dbar^0 tau+
nu_tau decays in a data sample of 657 x 10^6 BBbar pairs collected with the
Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider. We find
446^{+58}_{-56} events of the decay B+ -> Dbar*0 tau+ nu_tau with a
significance of 8.1 standard deviations, and 146^{+42}_{-41} events of the
decay B+ -> Dbar0 tau+ nu_tau with a significance of 3.5 standard deviations.
The latter signal provides the first evidence for this decay mode. The measured
branching fractions are B(B+ -> Dbar*0 tau+ nu_tau)=(2.12^{+0.28}_{-0.27}
(stat) +- 0.29 (syst)) % and B(B+ -> Dbar0 tau+ nu_tau)=(0.77 +- 0.22 (stat) +-
0.12 (syst)) %.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Performance studies of the Belle II Silicon Vertex Detector with data taken at the DESY test beam in April 2016
Belle II is a multipurpose detector currently under construction which will be operated at the next generation B-factory SuberKEKB in Japan. Its main devices for the vertex reconstruction are the Silicon Vertex Detector (SVD) and the Pixel Detector (PXD). In April 2016 a sector of the Belle II SVD and PXD have been tested in a beam of high energetic electrons at the test beam facility at DESY Hamburg (Germany). We report here the results for the hit efficiency estimation and the measurement of the resolution for the Belle II silicon vertex etector. We find that the hit efficiencies are on average above 99.5% and that the measured resolution is within the expectations
Performance studies of the Belle II Silicon Vertex Detector with data taken at the DESY test beam in April 2016
Belle II is a multipurpose detector currently under construction which will be operated at the next generation B-factory SuberKEKB in Japan. Its main devices for the vertex reconstruction are the Silicon Vertex Detector (SVD) and the Pixel Detector (PXD). In April 2016 a sector of the Belle II SVD and PXD have been tested in a beam of high energetic electrons at the test beam facility at DESY Hamburg (Germany). We report here the results for the hit efficiency estimation and the measurement of the resolution for the Belle II silicon vertex etector. We find that the hit efficiencies are on average above 99.5% and that the measured resolution is within the expectations
The Belle II SVD detector
The Silicon Vertex Detector (SVD) is one of the main detectors in the Belle II experiment at KEK, Japan. In combination with a pixel detector, the SVD determines precise decay vertex and low-momentum track reconstruction. The SVD ladders are being developed at several institutes. For the development of the tracking algorithm as well as the performance estimation of the ladders, beam tests for the ladders were performed. We report an overview of the SVD development, its performance measured in the beam test, and the prospect of its assembly and commissioning until installation
Observation of and Evidence for
We report the first observation of and first
evidence for , which are CP eigenstate decay modes.
These results are obtained from of data collected at
the resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB
collider. We measure the branching fractions with a significance of , and
with a significance of . The last error
listed is due to uncertainty in the number of produced pairs.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables, published in PR
Measurement of the CP-violation Parameter sin2 with a New Tagging Method at the Resonance
We report a measurement of the CP-violation parameter sin2 at the
resonance using a new tagging method, called "-
tagging." In decays containing a neutral meson, a charged
, and a charged pion, the neutral is reconstructed in the
CP-eigenstate decay channel. The initial flavor of the neutral meson at the
moment of the decay is opposite to that of the charged and
may thus be inferred from the charge of the pion without reconstructing the
charged . From the asymmetry between - and - tagged
yields, we determine sin2 = 0.57 0.58(stat)
0.06(syst). The results are based on 121 fb of data recorded by the
Belle detector at the KEKB collider.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures (submitted to PRL
Observation of
We report the first observation of the decays . The data sample of fb used in this analysis corresponds
to million pairs, collected at the resonance by
the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy collider. We
observe and excesses of events for the two decay
modes and measure the branching fractions of and to be
and ,
respectively, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are
systematic. These results are not compatible with the predictions based on the
generalized factorization approach. In addition, a threshold enhancement in the
di-baryon () system is observed, consistent with that observed
in similar decays.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures and 3 tables, submitted to PR
- …