Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the esophagus: report of two cases and review of the Chinese literature

Squamous cell carcinoma is the major pathology type of esophageal cancer in China, where adenocarcinoma is rare and adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is more rare comparing to the western countries. We report the surgical and pathologic findings of two cases of primary ACC of the esophagus, and review of the Chinese literature of this tumor. VIRTUAL SLIDES: The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/150758223884324

Mass spectra of bottom-charm baryons

In this paper, we investigate the mass spectra of bottom-charm baryons systematically, where the relativistic quark model and the infinitesimally shifted Gaussian basis function method are employed. Our calculation shows that the $\rho$-mode appears lower in energy than the other excited modes. According to this feature, the allowed quantum states are selected and a systematic study of the mass spectra for $\Xi_{bc}^{'}$ ($\Xi_{bc}$) and $\Omega_{bc}^{'}$ ($\Omega_{bc}$) families is performed. The root mean square radii and quark radial probability density distributions of these baryons are analyzed as well. Next, the Regge trajectories in the $(J,M^{2})$ plane are successfully constructed based on the mass spectra. At last, we present the structures of the mass spectra, and analyze the difficulty and opportunity in searching for the ground states of bottom-charm baryons in experiment.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, 6 tables. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2210.1308

Mass spectra of double-bottom baryons

Based on the relativistic quark model and the infinitesimally shifted Gaussian basis function method, we investigate the mass spectra of double bottom baryons systematically. In the $\rho$-mode which appears lower in energy than the other excited modes, we obtain the allowed quantum states and perform a systematic study of the mass spectra of the $\Xi_{bb}$ and $\Omega_{bb}$ families. We analyze the root mean square radii and quark radial probability density distributions to deeply understand the structure of the heavy baryons. Meanwhile, the mass spectra allow us to successfully construct the Regge trajectories in the $(J,M^{2})$ plane. We also predict the masses of the ground states of double bottom baryons and discuss the differences between the structures of our spectra and those from other theoretical methods. At last, the shell structure of the double bottom baryon spectra is shown, from which one could get a bird's-eye view of the mass spectra.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, 5 tables. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2207.0416

Sub-percentage measure of distances to redshift of 0.1 by a new cosmic ruler

Distance-redshift diagrams probe expansion history of the Universe. We show that the stellar mass-binding energy (massE) relation of galaxies proposed in our previous study offers a new distance ruler at cosmic scales. By using elliptical galaxies in the main galaxy sample of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7, we construct a distance-redshift diagram over the redshift range from 0.05 to 0.2 with the massE ruler. The best-fit dark energy density is 0.675+-0.079 for flat Lambda-CDM, consistent with those by other probes. At the median redshift of 0.11, the median distance is estimated to have a fractional error of 0.34%, much lower than those by supernova (SN) Ia and baryonic acoustic oscillation (BAO) and even exceeding their future capability at this redshift. The above low-z measurement is useful for probing dark energy that dominates at the late Universe. For a flat dark energy equation of state model (flat wCDM), the massE alone constrains w to an error that is only a factor of 2.2, 1.7 and 1.3 times larger than those by BAO, SN Ia, and cosmic microwave background (CMB), respectively.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, MNRAS in press. The cosmoSIS modules for the massE ruler is at https://astronomy.nju.edu.cn/DFS//file/2022/07/02/20220702161632756vbde28.zi

The \ion{H}{I}-rich Ultra-diffuse Galaxies follow the Extended Schmidt Law

The \ion{H}{I}-rich ultra-diffuse galaxies (HUDGs) offer a unique case for studies of star formation laws (SFLs) as they host low star formation efficiency (SFE) and low-metallicity environments where gas is predominantly atomic. We collect a sample of six HUDGs in the field and investigate their location in the extended Schmidt law($\Sigma_{\text {SFR }} \propto \left(\Sigma_{\text{star}}^{0.5} \Sigma_{\text{gas}}\right)^{1.09}$). They are consistent with this relationship well (with deviations of only 1.1 sigma). Furthermore, we find that HUDGs follow the tight correlation between the hydrostatic pressure in the galaxy mid-plane and the quantity on the x-axis ($\rm log(\Sigma_{star}^{0.5}\Sigma_{gas})$) of the extended Schmidt law. This result indicates that these HUDGs can be self-regulated systems that reach the dynamical and thermal equilibrium. In this framework, the stellar gravity compresses the disk vertically and counteracts the gas pressure in the galaxy mid-plane to regulate the star formation as suggested by some theoretical models.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

The Volumetric Extended-Schmidt Law: A Unity Slope

We investigate the extended-Schmidt (ES) law in volume densities ($\rho_{\rm SFR}$ $\propto$ $(\rho_{\rm gas}\rho_{\rm star}^{0.5})^{\alpha^{\rm VES}}$) for spatially-resolved regions in spiral, dwarf, and ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs), and compare to the volumetric Kennicutt-Schmidt (KS) law ($\rho_{\rm SFR}$ $\propto$ $\rho_{\rm gas}^{\alpha^{\rm VKS}}$). We first characterize these star formation laws in individual galaxies using a sample of 11 spirals, finding median slopes $\alpha^{\rm VES}$=0.98 and $\alpha^{\rm VKS}$=1.42, with a galaxy-to-galaxy rms fluctuation that is substantially smaller for the volumetric ES law (0.18 vs 0.41). By combining all regions in spirals with those in additional 13 dwarfs and one UDG into one single dataset, it is found that the rms scatter of the volumetric ES law at given x-axis is 0.25 dex, also smaller than that of the volumetric KS law (0.34 dex). At the extremely low gas density regime as offered by the UDG, the volumetric KS law breaks down but the volumetric ES law still holds. On the other hand, as compared to the surface density ES law, the volumetric ES law instead has a slightly larger rms scatter, consistent with the scenario that the ES law has an intrinsic slope of $\alpha^{\rm VES} \equiv$1 but the additional observational error of the scale height increases the uncertainty of the volume density. The unity slope of the ES law implies that the star formation efficiency (=$\rho_{\rm SFR}$/$\rho_{\rm gas}$) is regulated by the quantity that is related to the $\rho_{\rm star}^{0.5}$.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, accepted by MNRA

Maintenance of Sorafenib following combined therapy of three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy/intensity-modulated radiation therapy and transcatheter arterial chemoembolization in patients with locally advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: a phase I/II study

BACKGROUND: Three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3DCRT)/intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) combined with or without transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) for locally advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has shown favorable outcomes in local control and survival of locally advanced HCC. However, intra-hepatic spreading and metastasis are still the predominant treatment failure patterns. Sorafenib is a multikinase inhibitor with effects against tumor proliferation and angiogenesis. Maintenance Sorafenib would probably prevent or delay the intrahepatic and extrahepatic spread of HCC after radiotherapy, which provides the rationale for the combination of these treatment modalities. METHODS AND DESIGN: Patients with solitary lesion (bigger than 5 cm in diameter) histologically or cytologically confirmed HCC receive TACE (1-3 cycles) plus 3DCRT/IMRT 4-6 weeks later. Maintenance Sorafenib will be administered only for the patients with non-progression disease 4 to 6 weeks after the completion of radiotherapy. The dose will be 400 mg, p.o., twice a day. Sorafenib will be continuously given for 12 months unless intolerable toxicities and/or tumor progression. If no more than 3 patients discontinue Sorafenib treatment who experience dose-limiting toxicity after necessary dose modification and delay and/or radiation-induced liver disease in the first 15 enrolled patients, the study will recruit second fifteen patients for further evaluating safety and efficacy of treatment. Hypothesis of the current study is that Sorafenib as a maintenance therapy after combined therapy of 3DCRT/IMRT and TACE is safe and superior to radiotherapy combined with TACE alone in terms of time to progression (TTP), progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in comparison to historical data. DISCUSSION: A recent meta-analysis showed TACE in combination with radiotherapy, improved the survival and the tumor response of patients, and was thus more therapeutically beneficial. In this study, local therapy for HCC is the combination of TACE and radiotherapy. Radiation exposure as a kind of stress might induce the compensatory activations of multiple intracellular signaling pathway mediators, such as PI3K, MAPK, JNK and NF-kB. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was identified as one factor that was increased in a time- and dose-dependent manner after sublethal irradiation of HCC cells in vitro, translating to enhanced intratumor angiogenesis in vivo. Therefore, Sorafenib-mediated blockade of the Raf/MAPK and VEGFR pathways might enhance the efficacy of radiation, when Sorafenib is followed sequentially as a maintenance modality. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00999843.

Surgical management of 142 cases of split cord malformations associated with osseous divide

Objectives To investigate the key surgical points in treating split cord malformations associated with osseous divide and scoliosis (SCM-OD-S). Materials and methods The surgical options and methods of a total of 142 SCM-OD-S cases were retrospectively analyzed, and the surgical precautions and imaging diagnosis were also discussed. Results The 142 patients were performed osseous divide resection plus dural sac molding, which achieved good results and no serious complication such as spinal cord and nerve injury occurred; certain symptoms such as urination-defecation disorders, muscle strength subsidence, Pes Cavus, and toe movement disorder in partial patients achieved various degrees of relief, and it also created good conditions for next-step treatment against scoliosis. Conclusions The diagnosis of SCM-OD mainly depended on imaging inspection, routine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) combined with computed tomography (CT) 3D reconstruction, which can comprehensively evaluate the types and features of diastematomyelia as well as other concomitant diseases. SCM alone needed no treatment, but surgery will be the only means of treating SCM-OD. Intraoperatively removing osseous divide step-by-step, as well as carefully freeing the spinal cord and remodeling the dural sac, can lay good foundations for relieving tethered cord, improving neurological symptoms, and further scoliosis orthomorphia, thus particularly exhibiting importance for the growth and development of adolescents