The rate of hypo-osmotic challenge influences regulatory volume decrease (RVD) and mechanical properties of articular chondrocytes

Zhao Wang is funded on a China Scholarships PhD Studentship. Jerome Irianto was supported on a project grant from The Wellcome Trust (ref no. 084717)

Diagnostics in patients suspect for breast cancer in The Netherlands

The goal of this study was to describe the variation in hospital-based diagnostic care activities for patients with symptomatology suspect for breast cancer in The Netherlands. Two cohorts were included: the 'benign' cohort (30,334 women suspected of, but without breast cancer) and the 'malignant' cohort (2236 breast cancer patients). Hospital-based financial data was combined with tumor data (malignant cohort) from The Netherlands Cancer Registry. Patterns within diagnostic pathways were analyzed. Factors influencing the number of visits and number of diagnostic care activities until diagnosis were identified in the malignant cohort with multivariable Cox and Poisson regression models. Compared to patients with benign diagnosis, patients with malignant disease received their diagnosis less frequently in one day, after an equal average number of hospital visits and higher average number of diagnostic activities. Factors increasing the number of diagnostic care activities were the following: lower age and higher cM-and cN-stages. Factors increasing the number of days until (malignant) diagnosis were as follows: higher BIRADS-score, screen-detected and higher cN-and cT-stages. Hospital of diagnosis influenced both number of activities and days to diagnosis. The diagnostic care pathway of patients with malignant disease required more time and diagnostic activities than benign disease and depends on hospital, tumor and patient characteristics.Imaging- and therapeutic targets in neoplastic and musculoskeletal inflammatory diseas

Folding polymers with pendant hydrogen bonding motifs in water : the effect of polymer length and concentration on the shape and size of single-chain polymeric nanoparticles

A set of random copolymers based on a benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxamide functional methacrylate (BTAMA) and oligoethylene glycol methacrylate (oEGMA) with different degrees of polymerization (DP, from 110 to 450) and a 10 mol % loading of BTAMA were prepared using RAFT polymerizations. The pendant BTA units encode for the formation of helical aggregates via 3-fold hydrogen bonding while the oligoethylene glycol side chains provide solubility in water. The copolymers were characterized with size exclusion chromatography, 1H NMR spectroscopy, circular dichroism spectroscopy, light scattering, and small angle neutron and X-ray scattering. In dilute aqueous solutions, the copolymers fold intramolecularly and form single chain polymeric nanoparticles (SCPNs) in water. Variable temperature CD spectroscopy showed that the cooling curves are independent of the chain length, indicating a lack of cooperativity in the folding of these copolymers. Scattering studies revealed that the SCPNs have an asymmetric shape. An increase in DP results in an increase of the aspect ratio, while the cross-sectional diameter remains the same at around 3 nm. The elongated shape of the SCPN is proposed to account for the noncooperative folding observed using CD spectroscopy, as such a shape results in a constant local BTA concentration as the copolymer increases in length

Large-Scale Programmable Integrated Photonics

A comparison of scaling trends between CMOS and photonic integrated circuits (PIC) shows a need for programmable integrated photonics. Looking beyond current technologies we offer a perspective of nonvolatile and programmable photonic platforms as a route to large scale integration (LSI) photonics