Serum biomarkers for the prediction of hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of global cancer death. Major etiologies of HCC relate to chronic viral infections as well as metabolic conditions. The survival rate of people with HCC is very low and has been attributed to late diagnosis with limited treatment options. Combining ultrasound and the biomarker alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is currently one of the most widely used screening combinations for HCC. However, the clinical utility of AFP is controversial, and the frequency and operator-dependence of ultrasound lead to a variable degree of sensitivity and specificity across the globe. In this review, we summarize recent developments in the search for non-invasive serum biomarkers for early detection of HCC to improve prognosis and outcome for patients. We focus on tumor-associated protein markers, immune mediators (cytokines and chemokines), and micro-RNAs in serum or circulating extracellular vesicles and examine their potential for clinical application.Fil: Debes, José D.. Erasmus MC Rotterdam; Países Bajos. University of Minnesota; Estados UnidosFil: Romagnoli, Pablo Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra. Grupo Vinculado Centro de Investigación en Medicina Traslacional Severo R. Amuchástegui - Cimetsa | Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra. Grupo Vinculado Centro de Investigación en Medicina Traslacional Severo R. Amuchástegui - Cimetsa | Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra. Grupo Vinculado Centro de Investigación en Medicina Traslacional Severo R. Amuchástegui - Cimetsa; Argentina. Instituto Universitario de Ciencias Biomédicas de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Prieto, Jhon. Centro de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas; ColombiaFil: Arrese, Marco. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; ChileFil: Mattos, Angelo Z.. Universidade Federal de Ciencias Da Saúde de Porto Alegre; BrasilFil: Boonstra, André. Erasmus MC Rotterdam; Países Bajo

First results of the Am-241(n,f) cross section measurement at the Experimental Area 2 of the n_TOF facility at CERN

This research is co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Social Fund-ESF) through the Operational Programme Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning in the context of the project "Strengthening Human Resources Research Potential via Doctorate Research" (MIS-5000432), implemented by the State Scholarships Foundation (IKY). Also, the authors would like to acknowledge the support of the European Commission under the CHANDA project (7th Framework Programme).Feasibility, design and sensitivity studies on innovative nuclear reactors that could address the issue of nuclear waste transmutation using fuels enriched in minor actinides, require high accuracy cross section data for a variety of neutron-induced reactions from thermal energies to several tens of MeV. The isotope Am-241 (T-1/2= 433 years) is present in high-level nuclear waste (HLW), representing about 1.8 % of the actinide mass in spent PWR UOx fuel. Its importance increases with cooling time due to additional production from the beta-decay of Pu-241 with a half-life of 14.3 years. The production rate of 241Am in conventional reactors, including its further accumulation through the decay of Pu-241 and its destruction through transmutation/incineration are very important parameters for the design of any recycling solution. In the present work, the Am-241(n,f) reaction cross-section was measured using Micromegas detectors at the Experimental Area 2 of the n_TOF facility at CERN. For the measurement, the U-235(n,f) and U-238(n,f) reference reactions were used for the determination of the neutron flux. In the present work an overview of the experimental setup and the adopted data analysis techniques is given along with preliminary results.European Union (European Social Fund-ESF) through the Operational Programme Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning MIS-5000432European Commission under the CHANDA project (7th Framework Programme

Reaction of the Halo Nucleus 11Be on Heavy Targets at Energies Around the Coulomb Barrier

New data for the reaction 11Be on 197Au at Elab=31.9 MeV are presented. The angular distributions of the inelastically scattered 11Be and the 10Be fragments coming from the 11Be dissociation have been extracted and compared with semiclassical and coupled-channels calculations in an angular range θlab=13∘–46∘ for the detected Be fragment.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación FPA2009-07387, FPA2009-07653, FPA2009-08848, FPA2012-32443 and CPAN CSD2007-00042Nuclear Astrophysics Virtual Institute (VH-VI-417

Scattering of the Halo Nucleus 11Be on 197Au at Energies around the Coulomb Barrier

Angular distributions of the elastic, inelastic, and breakup cross sections of the halo nucleus 11Be on197 Au were measured at energies below (Elab =31.9 MeV) and around (39.6 MeV) the Coulomb barrier. These three channels were unambiguously separated for the first time for reactions of 11Be on a high-Z target at low energies. The experiment was performed at TRIUMF (Vancouver, Canada). The differential cross sections were compared with three different calculations: semiclassical, inert-core continuum-coupled-channels and continuum-coupled-channels ones with including core deformation. These results show conclusively that the elastic and inelastic differential cross sections can only be accounted for if core-excited admixtures are taken into account. The cross sections for these channels strongly depend on the β (E1) distribution in 11Be, and the reaction mechanism is sensitive to the entanglement of core and halo degrees of freedom in 11Be.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad FPA2015-64969-P, FIS2014-53448-C2-1-P, FPA2013-47327-c02-01-R, FPA2012-32443, FIS2013-41994-PCentro Nacional de Física de Partículas, Astropartículas y Nuclear CSD2007- 00042European Collaborative Research EUI-2009-04162European Unions 654002Nuclear Astrophysics Virtual Institute VH-VI-417European Commission, Seventh Framework Program 60037

First experiment: Fragmentation of ions relevant for space and therapy

Nuclear fragmentation processes are relevant in different fields of basic research and applied physics and are of particular interest for tumor therapy and for space radiation protection applications. The FIRST (Fragmentation of Ions Relevant for Space and Therapy) experiment at SIS accelerator of GSI laboratory in Darmstadt, has been designed for the measurement of different ions fragmentation cross sections at different energies between 100 and 1000 MeV/nucleon. The experiment is performed by an international collaboration made of institutions from Germany, France, Italy and Spain. The experimental apparatus is partly based on an already existing setup made of the ALADIN magnet, the MUSIC IV TPC, the LAND2 neutron detector and the TOFWALL scintillator TOF system, integrated with newly designed detectors in the interaction Region (IR) around the carbon removable target: a scintillator Start Counter, a Beam Monitor drift chamber, a silicon Vertex Detector and a Proton Tagger for detection of light fragments emitted at large angles (KENTROS). The scientific program of the FIRST experiment started on summer 2011 with the study of the 400 MeV/nucleon 12C beam fragmentation on thin (8mm) carbon target

Ampliación de la distribución geográfica y estado de conservación de Ctenoblepharys adspersa (Tschudi, 1845)

We extend the geographical distribution of Ctenoblepharys adspersa (Liolaemidae) an endemic and threatened lizard species from the Peruvian desert. Our new record extends the known species distribution ca. 60 km (straight line) east-southeastern from the eastemost record at Paracas National Reserve. We recorded two new type of habitat for C. adspersa that reach to the Pacific foothills and identified the native plants associated to its habitats. Moreover, we review the conservation status and the challenges that facing it, highlighted that most of its populations are vulnerable to the impacts on their habitat caused by the development of urban and agricultural infrastructure.Ampliamos la distribución geográfica de Ctenoblepharys adspersa (Liolaemidae), una especie de saurio endémico y amenazado del desierto peruano. Nuestro nuevo registro extiende la distribucion de esta especie en 60 km (línea recta) de la localidad más oriental previamente conocida, la Reserva Nacional de Paracas. Registramos dos tipos de hábitat nuevos para C. adspersa al interior de las estribaciones andinas e identificamos las plantas nativas asociadas a sus hábitats. Además, revisamos el estado de conservación de esta especie y los desafíos que implican su conservación, resaltando que la mayoría de las poblaciones son vulnerables a los impactos en su hábitat producto del desarrollo de infraestructura urbana y/o agrícol

Easily Multiplexable Immunoplatform to Assist Heart Failure Diagnosis through Amperometric Determination of Galectin-3

This work reports the first electrochemical immunoassay involving magnetic microbeads (MBs) for the determination of galectin-3 (Gal-3), a β-galactosidase-binding lectin that acts as mediator of heart failure (HF). MBs-captured sandwich-type immune complexes and amperometric detection at disposable screen-printed carbon electrodes were used. The immunoplatform showed a detection limit of 8.3 pg mL−1, good reproducibility, and excellent selectivity. The endogenous concentration of Gal-3 in human plasma from HF patients was determined with results in agreement with those obtained using ELISA. The multiplexing feasibility of the developed immunoplatform was demonstrated for the simultaneous determination of Gal-3 and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP).Fil: Piguillem Palacios, Sofía Viviana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Química de San Luis. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Química de San Luis; Argentina. Universidad Complutense de Madrid; EspañaFil: María Gamella. Universidad Complutense de Madrid; EspañaFil: García de Frutos, Pablo. INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES BIOMEDICAS AUGUST PI I SUNYER (IDIBAPS);Fil: Batlle, Montserrat. No especifíca;Fil: Yáñez Sedeño, Paloma. Universidad Complutense de Madrid; EspañaFil: Messina, Germán Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Química de San Luis. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Química de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Fernández Baldo, Martín Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Química de San Luis. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Química de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Campuzano, Susana. Universidad Complutense de Madrid; EspañaFil: Pedrero, María. Universidad Complutense de Madrid; EspañaFil: Pingarrón, José M.. Universidad Complutense de Madrid; Españ

Subwavelength-engineered metamaterial devices for integrated photonics

The engineering of subwavelength grating metamaterials has become an essential design strategy in silicon photonics. The lithographic segmentation of integrated waveguides at the subwavelength scale enables the synthesis of on-chip metamaterials and provides control over optical properties such as mode delocalization, wavelength dispersion, and anisotropy. At the near-infrared wavelengths of the 1.55-μm telecom band, a range of subwavelength-based devices with unprecedented performance has been demonstrated, including couplers, filters, and polarization-handling structures. In this invited paper, we review the foundations of anisotropic subwavelength grating metamaterials and discuss our latest advances in five new subwavelength-enhanced devices: a millimeter-long optical antenna that is evanescently coupled to diffractive lateral segments, thereby achieving a record far-field beam width of 0.1º in silicon; a multi-line integrated Bragg filter also using lateral loading segments, which produces 20 non-uniformly spaced spectral notches with a 3-dB linewidth as low as 210 pm; a low-loss curved wavelength demultiplexer; a segmented multi-mode interference coupler based on novel bricked subwavelength gratings, yielding a 1-dB bandwidth exceeding 140 nm; and a suspended waveguide platform with low propagation loss at mid-infrared wavelengths.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Estimation of annual average daily traffic with optimal adjustment factors

This study aimed to estimate the annual average daily traffic in inter-urban networks determining the best correlation (affinity) between the short period traffic counts and permanent traffic counters. A bi-level optimisation problem is proposed in which an agent in an upper level prefixes the affinities between short period traffic counts and permanent traffic counters stations and looks to minimise the annual average daily traffic calculation error while, in a lower level, an origin–destination (O–D) trip matrix estimation problem from traffic counts is solved. The proposed model is tested over the well-known Sioux-Falls network and applied to a real case of Cantabria (Spain) regional road network. The importance of determining appropriate affinity and the effect of localisation of permanent traffic counters stations are discussed