Analysis of 116 cases of rectal cancer treated by transanal local excision

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this research was to evaluate the therapeutic effects and prognostic factors of transanal local excision (TAE) for rectal cancer. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 116 cases that underwent TAE for rectal cancer from 1995 to 2008. A Cox regression analysis was used to analyze prognostic factors. RESULTS: The survival times for the patients were from 14 to 160.5 months (median time, 58.5 months). The 5-year and 10-year overall survival rates were 72% and 53%, respectively. In all 16 cases experienced local recurrence (13.8%). Pathological type, recurrence or metastasis, and depth of infiltration (T stage) were the prognostic factors according to the univariate analysis, and the latter two were independent factors affecting patient prognosis. For patients with T1 stage who underwent adjuvant radiotherapy, there was no local recurrence; for those in T2 stage, the local recurrence rate was 14.6%. In addition, there was no difference between the patients who received radiotherapy and those who did not (T1: P = 0.260, T2: P = 0.262 for survival rate and T1: P = 0.480, T2: P = 0.560 for recurrence). CONCLUSIONS: The result of TAE for rectal cancer is satisfactory for T1 stage tumors, but it is not suitable for T2 stage tumors

Spin Momentum–Locked Surface States in Metamaterials without Topological Transition

The photonic analogy of the quantum spin Hall Effect, that is, a photonic topological insulator (PTI), is of great relevance to science and technology in optics based on the promise of scattering‐free surface states. The challenges in realizing such scattering‐free surface states in PTIs and other types of symmetry‐protected topological phases are the result of the exact symmetry needed for creating a pair of time reversal pseudo‐spin states or special boundary conditions, wherein the exact symmetry imposes strict requirements on materials or boundary conditions. Here, it is experimentally demonstrated that scattering‐free edge states can be created with neither the aforementioned exact symmetry requirements for materials nor the topological transitions. This system is constructed by simply placing together regular homogeneous metamaterials, which are characterized by highly different bianisotropies. Of the particular surface states, backward reflection would be deeply suppressed, provided that the related evanescent tail into the bulk regions vanishes shortly and that the pseudo‐spin is not flipped by the scatterers. This work gives an example of constructing scattering‐free surface states in classical systems without strict symmetry protections and may potentially stimulate various novel applications in the future

Multiple myeloma-associated chromosomal translocation activates orphan snoRNA ACA11 to suppress oxidative stress

10.1172/JCI63051Journal of Clinical Investigation12282793-2806JCIN

Roadmap on superoscillations

Superoscillations are band-limited functions with the counterintuitive property that they can vary arbitrarily faster than their fastest Fourier component, over arbitrarily long intervals. Modern studies originated in quantum theory, but there were anticipations in radar and optics. The mathematical understanding—still being explored—recognises that functions are extremely small where they superoscillate; this has implications for information theory. Applications to optical vortices, sub-wavelength microscopy and related areas of nanoscience are now moving from the theoretical and the demonstrative to the practical. This Roadmap surveys all these areas, providing background, current research, and anticipating future developments