The role of stereotactic radiosurgery in the multimodal management of growth hormone–secreting pituitary adenomas

Growth hormone (GH)–secreting pituitary adenomas represent a common source of GH excess in patients with acromegaly. Whereas surgical extirpation of the culprit lesion is considered first-line treatment, as many as 19% of patients develop recurrent symptoms due to regrowth of previously resected adenomatous tissue or to continued growth of the surgically inaccessible tumor. Although medical therapies that suppress GH production can be effective in the management of primary and recurrent acromegaly, these therapies are not curative, and lifelong treatment is required for hormonal control. Stereotactic radiosurgery has emerged as an effective adjunctive treatment modality, and is an appealing alternative to conventional fractionated radiation therapy. The authors reviewed the growing body of literature concerning the role of radiosurgical procedures in the treatment armamentarium of acromegaly, and identified more than 1350 patients across 45 case series. In this review, the authors report that radiosurgery offers true hormonal normalization in 17% to 82% of patients and tumor growth control in 37% to 100% of cases across all series, while minimizing adverse complications. As a result, stereotactic radiosurgery represents a safe and effective treatment option in the multimodal management of primary or recurrent acromegaly secondary to GH-secreting pituitary adenomas

Analyticity and the NcN_c counting rule of SS matrix poles

By studying $\pi\pi$ scattering amplitudes in the large $N_c$ limit, we clarify the $N_c$ dependence of the $S$ matrix pole position. It is demonstrated that analyticity and the $N_c$ counting rule exclude the existence of $S$ matrix poles with ${\cal M}, \Gamma\sim O(1)$. Especially the properties of $\sigma$ and $f_0(980)$ with respect to the $1/N_c$ expansion are discussed. We point out that in general tetra-quark resonances do not exist.Comment: This paper replaces hep-ph/0412175. The latter is withdraw

Charge Fluctuations in the Edge States of N-S hybrid Nano-Structures

In this work we show how to calculate the equilibrium and non-equilibrium charge fluctuations in a gated normal mesoscopic conductor which is attached to one normal lead and one superconducting lead. We then consider an example where the structure is placed in a high magnetic field, such that the transport is dominated by edge states. We calculate the equilibrium and non-equilibrium charge fluctuations in the gate, for a single edge state, comparing our results to those for the same system, but with two normal leads. We then consider the specific example of a quantum point contact and calculate the charge fluctuations in the gate for more than one edge state.Comment: 4 pages with 1 figure. In published version the high magnetic field dynamics of the holes is treated incorrectly. An erratum is in preparatio

Classification of irreducible quasifinite modules over map Virasoro algebras

We give a complete classification of the irreducible quasifinite modules for algebras of the form Vir \otimes A, where Vir is the Virasoro algebra and A is a Noetherian commutative associative unital algebra over the complex numbers. It is shown that all such modules are tensor products of generalized evaluation modules. We also give an explicit sufficient condition for a Verma module of Vir \otimes A to be reducible. In the case that A is an infinite-dimensional integral domain, this condition is also necessary.Comment: 25 pages. v2: Minor changes, published versio

Weak randomness completely trounces the security of QKD

In usual security proofs of quantum protocols the adversary (Eve) is expected to have full control over any quantum communication between any communicating parties (Alice and Bob). Eve is also expected to have full access to an authenticated classical channel between Alice and Bob. Unconditional security against any attack by Eve can be proved even in the realistic setting of device and channel imperfection. In this Letter we show that the security of QKD protocols is ruined if one allows Eve to possess a very limited access to the random sources used by Alice. Such knowledge should always be expected in realistic experimental conditions via different side channels

A one-channel conductor in an ohmic environment: mapping to a TLL and full counting statistics

It is shown that a one-channel mesoscopic conductor in an ohmic environment can be mapped to the problem of a backscattering impurity in a Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid (TLL). This allows to determine non perturbatively the effect of the environment on $I-V$ curves, and to find an exact relationship between dynamic Coulomb blockade and shot noise. We investigate critically how this relationship compares to recent proposals in the literature. The full counting statistics is determined at zero temperature.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, shortened version for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Spin Dynamical Properties of the Layered Perovskite La1.2Sr1.8Mn2O7

Inelastic neutron-scattering measurements were performed on a single crystal of the layered colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) material La1.2Sr1.8Mn2O7 (Tc ~ 120K). We found that the spin wave dispersion is almost perfectly two-dimensional with the in-plane spin stiffness constant D ~ 151meVA. The value is similar to that of similarly doped La1-xSrxMnO3 though its Tc is three times higher, indicating a large renormalization due to low dimensionality. There exist two branches due to a coupling between layers within a double-layer. The out-of-plane coupling is about 30% of the in-plane coupling though the Mn-O bond lengths are similar.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures J. Phys. Chem. Solids in pres

Cross-link governed dynamics of biopolymer networks

Cytoskeletal networks of biopolymers are cross-linked by a variety of proteins. Experiments have shown that dynamic cross-linking with physiological linker proteins leads to complex stress relaxation and enables network flow at long times. We present a model for the mechanical properties of transient networks. By a combination of simulations and analytical techniques we show that a single microscopic timescale for cross-linker unbinding leads to a broad spectrum of macroscopic relaxation times, resulting in a weak power-law dependence of the shear modulus on frequency. By performing rheological experiments, we demonstrate that our model quantitatively describes the frequency behavior of actin network cross-linked with $\alpha$-Actinin-$4$ over four decades in frequency.Comment: 4 page

Non-universal gaugino masses from non-singlet F-terms in non-minimal unified models

In phenomenological studies of low-energy supersymmetry, running gaugino masses are often taken to be equal near the scale of apparent gauge coupling unification. However, many known mechanisms can avoid this universality, even in models with unified gauge interactions. One example is an F-term vacuum expectation value that is a singlet under the Standard Model gauge group but transforms non-trivially in the symmetric product of two adjoint representations of a group that contains the Standard Model gauge group. Here, I compute the ratios of gaugino masses that follow from F-terms in non-singlet representations of SO(10) and E_6 and their sub-groups, extending well-known results for SU(5). The SO(10) results correct some long-standing errors in the literature.Comment: 13 page