Characteristics and treatments of large cystic brain metastasis: radiosurgery and stereotactic aspiration.

Brain metastasis represents one of the most common causes of intracranial tumors in adults, and the incidence of brain metastasis continues to rise due to the increasing survival of cancer patients. Yet, the development of cystic brain metastasis remains a relatively rare occurrence. In this review, we describe the characteristics of cystic brain metastasis and evaluate the combined use of stereotactic aspiration and radiosurgery in treating large cystic brain metastasis. The results of several studies show that stereotactic radiosurgery produces comparable local tumor control and survival rates as other surgery protocols. When the size of the tumor interferes with radiosurgery, stereotactic aspiration of the metastasis should be considered to reduce the target volume as well as decreasing the chance of radiation induced necrosis and providing symptomatic relief from mass effect. The combined use of stereotactic aspiration and radiosurgery has strong implications in improving patient outcomes

Charge ordering, ferroelectric, and magnetic domains in LuFe2O4 observed by scanning probe microscopy

LuFe2O4 is a multiferroic system which exhibits charge order, ferroelectricity, and ferrimagnetism simultaneously below similar to 230 K. The ferroelectric/charge order domains of LuFe2O4 are imaged with both piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) and electrostatic force microscopy (EFM), while the magnetic domains are characterized by magnetic force microscopy (MFM). Comparison of PFM and EFM results suggests that the proposed ferroelectricity in LuFe2O4 is not of usual displacive type but of electronic origin. Simultaneous characterization of ferroelectric/charge order and magnetic domains by EFM and MFM, respectively, on the same surface of LuFe2O4 reveals that both domains have irregular patterns of similar shape, but the length scales are quite different. The domain size is approximately 100 nm for the ferroelectric domains, while the magnetic domain size is much larger and gets as large as 1 mu m. We also demonstrate that the origin of the formation of irregular domains in LuFe2O4 is not extrinsic but intrinsic. (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.open11116sciescopu

Internet Customer Segmentation Using Web Log Data

The objective of this paper is to analyze web transaction log data that reveal customer behavior in the Internet channel, and to provide a useful online customer segmentation scheme. To achieve this, we analyze the relationship between the behavior of customers for online pet shops and revenue. We use the decision-tree method as a data-mining technique, and clustering analysis to segment customers.  We perform the study in two stages. First, we investigate the web transaction data of both the member customers and nonmember customers of a Korean online pet shop. Second, we narrow down the study focus and analyze only the member customers’ demographic data and their web transaction data. As a result, we obtain several meaningful segments based on customers’ transaction behavior and demographic characteristics. We use web log data to analyze customer transaction behavior and log-in information to analyze customer demographic characteristics. We discuss some strategic implications, for online shopping mall marketing, suggested by the acquired market segments

Spinal Cord Infarction in a Patient Undergoing Veno-arterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation

Spinal cord infarction is an uncommon, but serious disorder characterized by severe motor impairment and bladder and bowel dysfunction. Spinal cord infarction is likely caused by hypoperfusion at the thoraco-lumbar spinal cord due to diverse reasons. An 81-year-old woman without motor or neurologic dysfunction presented with cardiogenic shock due to acute myocardial infarction. We performed veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA ECMO) to maintain adequate organ perfusion. Lower limb weakness was noted on day 1 of ECMO support. Although the symptom persisted, we could not carry out further evaluation because of her hemodynamic instability. After removal of ECMO, spinal magnetic resonance imaging was performed and showed a signal abnormality extending from the level of T5 to the conus medullaris. The patient underwent conservative management, but eventually experienced limb paralysis. Herein, we report a case of spinal cord infarction in a patient with myocardial infarction during VA ECMO support

Identification of Vulnerable Plaque in a Stented Coronary Segment 17 Years after Implantation Using Optical Coherence Tomography

A patient presented with exertional chest pain two months prior to admission. Coronary angiography revealed a subocclusive stenosis within the boundaries of the stent. Optical coherence tomography showed remarkable intimal growth inside the stent, which demonstrated a heterogeneous appearance including low-intensity areas. These findings were congruent with the morphology of fibroatheroma in the native coronary artery and suggested that new atherosclerotic progression of the intima within the stent had occurred over 17 years following bare metal stent implantation. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the most delayed instances of a bare metal stent restenosis described in the medical literature

High-Power Diode-Pumped Short Pulse Lasers Based on Yb:KGW Crystals for Industrial Applications

A diode-pumped, ultrafast Yb:KYW laser system utilizing chirped-pulse amplification (CPA) in a dual-slab regenerative amplifier (RA) with spectral shaping of seeding pulse from a master oscillator (MO) has been developed. A train of compressed pulses with pulse length of 181 fs, repetition rate up to 500 kHz, and average power exceeding 15 W after compression and pulse picker was achieved

Trehalose Glycopolymer Enhances Both Solution Stability and Pharmacokinetics of a Therapeutic Protein

Biocompatible polymers such as poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) have been successfully conjugated to therapeutic proteins to enhance their pharmacokinetics. However, many of these polymers, including PEG, only improve the in vivo lifetimes and do not protect proteins against inactivation during storage and transportation. Herein, we report a polymer with trehalose side chains (PolyProtek) that is capable of improving both the external stability and the in vivo plasma half-life of a therapeutic protein. Insulin was employed as a model biologic, and high performance liquid chromatography and dynamic light scattering confirmed that addition of trehalose glycopolymer as an excipient or covalent conjugation prevented thermal or agitation-induced aggregation of insulin. The insulin-trehalose glycopolymer conjugate also showed significantly prolonged plasma circulation time in mice, similar to the analogous insulin-PEG conjugate. The insulin-trehalose glycopolymer conjugate was active as tested by insulin tolerance tests in mice and retained bioactivity even after exposure to high temperatures. The trehalose glycopolymer was shown to be non-toxic to mice up to at least 1.6 mg/kg dosage. These results together suggest that the trehalose glycopolymer should be further explored as an alternative to PEG for long circulating protein therapeutics