Prostate cancer treatment with Irreversible Electroporation (IRE): Safety, efficacy and clinical experience in 471 treatments.

BackgroundIrreversible Electroporation (IRE) is a novel image-guided tissue ablation technology that induces cell death via very short but strong pulsed electric fields. IRE has been shown to have preserving properties towards vessels and nerves and the extracellular matrix. This makes IRE an ideal candidate to treat prostate cancer (PCa) where other treatment modalities frequently unselectively destroy surrounding structures inducing severe side effects like incontinence or impotence. We report the retrospective assessment of 471 IRE treatments in 429 patients of all grades and stages of PCa with 6-year maximum follow-up time.Material and findingsThe patient cohort consisted of low (25), intermediate (88) and high-risk cancers (312). All had multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging, and 199 men had additional 3D-mapping biopsy for diagnostic work-up prior to IRE. Patients were treated either focally (123), sub-whole-gland (154), whole-gland (134) or for recurrent disease (63) after previous radical prostatectomy, radiation therapy, etc. Adverse effects were mild (19.7%), moderate (3.7%) and severe (1.4%), never life-threatening. Urinary continence was preserved in all cases. IRE-induced erectile dysfunction persisted in 3% of the evaluated cases 12 months post treatment. Mean transient IIEF-5-Score reduction was 33% within 12-month post IRE follow-up and 15% after 12 months. Recurrences within the follow-up period occurred in 10% of the treated men, 23 in or adjacent to the treatment field and 18 outside the treatment field (residuals). Including residuals for worst case analysis, Kaplan Maier estimation on recurrence rate at 5 years resulted in 5.6% (CI95: 1.8-16.93) for Gleason 6, 14.6% (CI95: 8.8-23.7) for Gleason 7 and 39.5% (CI95: 23.5-61.4) for Gleason 8-10.ConclusionThe results indicate comparable efficacy of IRE to standard radical prostatectomy in terms of 5-year recurrence rates and better preservation of urogenital function, proving the safety and suitability of IRE for PCa treatment. The data also shows that IRE, besides focal therapy of early PCa, can also be used for whole-gland ablations, in patients with recurrent PCa, and as a problem-solver for local tumor control in T4-cancers not amenable to surgery and radiation therapy anymore

Field-Dependent Hall Effect in Single Crystal Heavy Fermion YbAgGe below 1K

We report the results of a low temperature (T >= 50 mK) and high field (H <= 180 kOe) study of the Hall resistivity in single crystals of YbAgGe, a heavy fermion compound that demonstrates field-induced non-Fermi-liquid behavior near its field-induced quantum critical point. Distinct features in the anisotropic, field-dependent Hall resistivity sharpen on cooling down and at the base temperature are close to the respective critical fields for the field-induced quantum critical point. The field range of the non-Fermi-liquid region decreases on cooling but remains finite at the base temperature with no indication of its conversion to a point for T -> 0. At the base temperature, the functional form of the field-dependent Hall coefficient is field direction dependent and complex beyond existing simple models thus reflecting the multi-component Fermi surface of the material and its non-trivial modification at the quantum critical point

Titanium Nitride and Nitrogen Ion Implanted Coated Dental Materials

Titanium nitride and/or nitrogen ion implanted coated dental materials have been investigated since the mid-1980s and considered in various applications in dentistry such as implants, abutments, orthodontic wires, endodontic files, periodontal/oral hygiene instruments, and casting alloys for fixed restorations. Multiple methodologies have been employed to create the coatings, but detailed structural analysis of the coatings is generally lacking in the dental literature. Depending on application, the purpose of the coating is to provide increased surface hardness, abrasion/wear resistance, esthetics, and corrosion resistance, lower friction, as well as greater beneficial interaction with adjacent biological and material substrates. While many studies have reported on the achievement of these properties, a consensus is not always clear. Additionally, few studies have been conducted to assess the efficacy of the coatings in a clinical setting. Overall, titanium nitride and/or nitrogen ion implanted coated dental materials potentially offer advantages over uncoated counterparts, but more investigation is needed to document the structure of the coatings and their clinical effectiveness

Experimental investigation of the competing orders and quantum criticality in hole- and electron-doped cuprate superconductors

We investigate the issues of competing orders and quantum criticality in cuprate superconductors via experimental studies of the high-field thermodynamic phase diagrams and the quasiparticle tunneling spectroscopy. Substantial field-induced quantum fluctuations are found in all cuprates investigated, and the corresponding correlation with quasiparticle spectra suggest that both electron- (n-type) and hole-doped (p-type) cuprate superconductors are in close proximity to a quantum critical point that separates a pure superconducting (SC) phase from a phase consisting of coexisting SC and a competing order. We further suggests that the relevant competing order is likely a spin-density wave (SDW) or a charge density wave (CDW), which can couple efficiently to an in-plane Cu-O bond stretching longitudinal optical (LO) phonon mode in the p-type cuprates but not in the n-type cuprates. This cooperative interaction may account for the pseudogap phenomenon above T, only in the p-type cuprate superconductors

Anisotropic Hc2 of K0.8Fe1.76Se2 determined up to 60 T

The anisotropic upper critical field, Hc2(T), curves for K0.8Fe1.76Se2 are determined over a wide range of temperatures down to 1.5 K and magnetic fields up to 60 T. Anisotropic initial slopes of Hc2 ~ -1.4 T/K and -4.6 T/K for magnetic field applied along c-axis and ab-plane, respectively, were observed. Whereas the c-axis Hc2|c(T) increases quasi-linearly with decreasing temperature, the ab-plane Hc2|ab(T) shows a flattening, starting near 25 K above 30 T. This leads to a non-monotonic temperature dependence of the anisotropy parameter \gamma= Hc2|ab/Hc2|c. The anisotropy parameter is ~ 2 near Tc ~ 32 K and rises to a maximum \gamma ~ 3.6 around 27 K. For lower temperatures, \gamma decreases with T in a linear fashion, dropping to \gamma ~ 2.5 by T ~ 18 K. Despite the apparent differences between the K0.8Fe1.76Se2 and (Ba0.55K0.45)Fe2As2 or Ba(Fe0.926Co0.074)2As2, in terms of the magnetic state and proximity to an insulating state, the Hc2(T) curves are remarkably similar.Comment: slightly modified version, accepted to PRB, Rapid Communication

Magnetoelectric effects in an organo-metallic quantum magnet

We observe a bilinear magnetic field-induced electric polarization of 50 $\mu C/m^2$ in single crystals of NiCl$_2$-4SC(NH$_2$)$_2$ (DTN). DTN forms a tetragonal structure that breaks inversion symmetry, with the highly polar thiourea molecules all tilted in the same direction along the c-axis. Application of a magnetic field between 2 and 12 T induces canted antiferromagnetism of the Ni spins and the resulting magnetization closely tracks the electric polarization. We speculate that the Ni magnetic forces acting on the soft organic lattice can create significant distortions and modify the angles of the thiourea molecules, thereby creating a magnetoelectric effect. This is an example of how magnetoelectric effects can be constructed in organo-metallic single crystals by combining magnetic ions with electrically polar organic elements.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure

Low temperature specific heat of the heavy fermion superconductor PrOs4_4Sb12_{12}

We report the magnetic field dependence of the low temperature specific heat of single crystals of the first Pr-based heavy fermion superconductor PrOs$_4$Sb$_{12}$. The low temperature specific heat and the magnetic phase diagram inferred from specific heat, resistivity and magnetisation provide compelling evidence of a doublet ground state and hence superconductivity mediated by quadrupolar fluctuations. This establishes PrOs$_4$Sb$_{12}$ as a very strong contender of superconductive pairing that is neither electron-phonon nor magnetically mediated.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure