High expression of cell adhesion molecule 2 unfavorably impacts survival in non-small cell lung cancer patients with brain metastases

Background: Lung cancer is one kind of malignant tumor with a high risk for morbidity and mortality compared to other solid organ malignancies. Brain metastases occur in 30-55% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Prognosis of NSCLC patients with brain metastases is very poor. Our previous study showed that cell adhesion molecule 2 (CADM2) could regulate the development of brain metastasis in NSCLC cells. Therefore, the objective of the study is to evaluate the effect of CADM2 on the prognosis of NSCLC patients with brain metastases.Methods: The expression of CADM2 was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in the tissue of the primary tumor. Patients were followed up and overall survival (OS) was calculated. The relationships between CADM2 and clinicopathological features were analyzed using the chi-square test. Kaplan-Meier analysis was carried out to demonstrate the influence of CADM2 on the OS of patients. Univariate and multivariate Cox analyses were used to determine the prognosis of NSCLC patients with brain metastases.Results: A total of 139 NSCLC patients with brain metastases from the Affiliated Cancer Hospital & Institute of Guangzhou Medical University, treated between January 2015 and December 2017 were evaluated retrospectively. The expression level of CADM2 in patients ranged from 1 to 17.2677, with a median of 6.0772. Chi-square analysis showed that CADM2 gene expression level was not significantly associated with gender, age, tumor location, histological subtype, tumor T stage, extracranial metastasis, or smoking status. However, CADM2 expression was notably associated with risk for lymph node metastasis. The results of the Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that high expression [CADM2 messenger RNA (mRNA) >= 6.0772] of CADM2 was markedly associated with poor prognosis. Univariate and multivariate Cox analyses demonstrated that CADM2 was an independent risk factor for survival in NSCLC patients with brain metastases (P<0.05).Conclusions: CADM2 expression is up-regulated and closely associated with disease progression and poor prognosis in NSCLC patients with brain metastases. CADM2 expression warrants special consideration given its potential prognostic significance that might help inform clinical decision making.Pathogenesis and treatment of chronic pulmonary disease

Galaxy Clusters Associated with Short GRBs. II. Predictions for the Rate of Short GRBs in Field and Cluster Early-Type Galaxies

We determine the relative rates of short GRBs in cluster and field early-type galaxies as a function of the age probability distribution of their progenitors, P(\tau) \propto \tau^n. This analysis takes advantage of the difference in the growth of stellar mass in clusters and in the field, which arises from the combined effects of the galaxy stellar mass function, the early-type fraction, and the dependence of star formation history on mass and environment. This approach complements the use of the early- to late-type host galaxy ratio, with the added benefit that the star formation histories of early-type galaxies are simpler than those of late-type galaxies, and any systematic differences between progenitors in early- and late-type galaxies are removed. We find that the ratio varies from R(cluster)/R(field) ~ 0.5 for n = -2 to ~ 3 for n = 2. Current observations indicate a ratio of about 2, corresponding to n ~ 0 - 1. This is similar to the value inferred from the ratio of short GRBs in early- and late-type hosts, but it differs from the value of n ~ -1 for NS binaries in the Milky Way. We stress that this general approach can be easily modified with improved knowledge of the effects of environment and mass on the build-up of stellar mass, as well as the effect of globular clusters on the short GRB rate. It can also be used to assess the age distribution of Type Ia supernova progenitors.Comment: ApJ accepted versio

Measurement of Z0 decays to hadrons, and a precise determination of the number of neutrino species

We have made a precise measurement of the cross section for e+e---&gt;Z0--&gt;hadrons with the L3 detector at LEP, covering the range from 88.28 to 95.04 GeV. From a fit to the Z0 mass, total width, and the hadronic cross section to be MZ0=91.160 +/- 0.024 (experiment) +/-0.030(LEP) GeV, [Gamma]Z0=2.539+/-0.054 GeV, and [sigma]h(MZ0)=29.5+/-0.7 nb. We also used the fit to the Z0 peak cross section and the width todetermine [Gamma]invisible=0.548+/-0.029 GeV, which corresponds to 3.29+/-0.17 species of light neutrinos. The possibility of four or more neutrino flavors is thus ruled out at the 4[sigma] confidence level.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/28683/3/0000500.pd

ATHENA detector proposal — a totally hermetic electron nucleus apparatus proposed for IP6 at the Electron-Ion Collider

ATHENA has been designed as a general purpose detector capable of delivering the full scientific scope of the Electron-Ion Collider. Careful technology choices provide fine tracking and momentum resolution, high performance electromagnetic and hadronic calorimetry, hadron identification over a wide kinematic range, and near-complete hermeticity. This article describes the detector design and its expected performance in the most relevant physics channels. It includes an evaluation of detector technology choices, the technical challenges to realizing the detector and the R&amp;D required to meet those challenges

A measurement of the Z0 leptonic partial widths and the vector and axial vector coupling constants

We have measured the partial widths of the Z0 into lepton pairs, and the forward-backward charge asymmetry for the process e+e---&gt;[mu]+[mu]- using the L3 detector at LEP. We obtain an average [Gamma]ll of 83.0+/-2.1+/-1.1 MeV.From this result and the asymmetry measurement, we extract the values of the vector and axial vector couplings of the Z0 to leptons: grmv=-0.066-0.027+0.046 and grmA= -0.495-0.007+0.007.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/28666/3/0000483.pd