Diffusion Tensor Imaging for Assessment of Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Patients With Breast Cancer.

In this study, the prognostic significance of tumor metrics derived from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was evaluated in patients with locally advanced breast cancer undergoing neoadjuvant therapy. DTI and contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging were acquired at 1.5 T in 34 patients before treatment and after 3 cycles of taxane-based therapy (early treatment). Tumor fractional anisotropy (FA), principal eigenvalues (λ1, λ2, and λ3), and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were estimated for tumor regions of interest drawn on DTI data. The association between DTI metrics and final tumor volume change was evaluated with Spearman rank correlation. DTI metrics were investigated as predictors of pathological complete response (pCR) by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Early changes in tumor FA and ADC significantly correlated with final tumor volume change post therapy (ρ = -0.38, P = .03 and ρ = -0.71, P < .001, respectively). Pretreatment tumor ADC was significantly lower in the pCR than in the non-pCR group (P = .04). At early treatment, patients with pCR had significantly higher percent changes of tumor λ1, λ2, λ3, and ADC than those without pCR. The AUCs for early percent changes in tumor FA and ADC were 0.60 and 0.83, respectively. The early percent changes in tumor eigenvalues and ADC were the strongest DTI-derived predictors of pCR. Although early percent change in tumor FA had a weak association with pCR, the significant correlation with final tumor volume change suggests that this metric changes with therapy and may merit further evaluation

Dynamic Loading Induced Settlement of Strip Foundation on Geogrid-Reinforced Clay

Laboratory model tests to determine the load. The variation of the maximum permanent supported by geogrid-reinforced saturated clay and subjected to a low-frequency cyclic load are presented. In conducting the test, the foundation was initially subjected to an allowable static load. The cyclic load was then super-imposed over the static permanent settlement of a surface strip foundation settlement with the intensity of the static load and the intensity of the amplitude of the cyclic load are also presented

THE EFFECT OF STRENGTH TRAINING ON THE TORQUE OF THE ANKLE JOINT FOR A DOWN SYNDROME

INTRODUCTION: People suffering Down syndrome have many problems that are associated with atrophy of their muscles. Because of this atrophy they tend to walk flat footed and over abduct during the initial part of the swing phase, also they tend to over-flex both at the hip and knee joint. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of strength training on the torque of the ankle joint for a Down syndrome

Prefrontal cortex-driven dopamine signals in the striatum show unique spatial and pharmacological properties

Dopamine (DA) signals in the striatum are critical for a variety of vital processes, including motivation, motor learning, and reinforcement learning. Striatal DA signals can be evoked by direct activation of inputs from midbrain DA neurons (DANs) as well as cortical and thalamic inputs to the striatum. In this study, we show that in vivo optogenetic stimulation of prelimbic (PrL) and infralimbic (IL) cortical afferents to the striatum triggers an increase in extracellular DA concentration, which coincides with elevation of striatal acetylcholine (ACh) levels. This increase is blocked by a nicotinic ACh receptor (nAChR) antagonist. Using single or dual optogenetic stimulation in brain slices from male and female mice, we compared the properties of these PrL/IL-evoked DA signals with those evoked by stimulation from midbrain DAN axonal projections. PrL/IL-evoked DA signals are undistinguishable from DAN evoked DA signals in their amplitudes and electrochemical properties. However, PrL/IL-evoked DA signals are spatially restricted and preferentially recorded in the dorsomedial striatum. PrL/IL-evoked DA signals also differ in their pharmacological properties, requiring activation of glutamate and nicotinic ACh receptors. Thus, both in vivo and in vitro results indicate that cortical evoked DA signals rely on recruitment of cholinergic interneurons, which renders DA signals less able to summate during trains of stimulation and more sensitive to both cholinergic drugs and temperature. In conclusion, cortical and midbrain inputs to the striatum evoke DA signals with unique spatial and pharmacological properties that likely shape their functional roles and behavioral relevance.Fil: Adrover, Martín Federico. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; Argentina. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Shin, Jung Hoon. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Quiroz, Cesar. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Ferré, Sergi. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Lemos, Julia C.. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Alvarez, Veronica A.. National Institutes of Health; Estados Unido

Kondo-like behaviors in magnetic and thermal properties of single crystal Tm5Si2Ge2

We grew the single crystal of stoichiometric Tm5Si2.0Ge2.0 using a Bridgeman method and performed XRD, EDS, magnetization, ac and dc magnetic susceptibilities, specific heat, electrical resistivity and XPS experiments. It crystallizes in orthorhombic Sm5Ge4-type structure. The mean valence of Tm ions in Tm5Si2.0Ge2.0 is almost trivalent. The 4f states is split by the crystalline electric field. The ground state exhibits the long range antiferromagnetic order with the ferromagnetically coupled magnetic moments in the ac plane below 8.01 K, while the exited states exhibit the reduction of magnetic moment and magnetic entropy and -log T-behaviors observed in Kondo materials.Comment: 8 pages, 13 figure

Plasma-Induced Frequency Chirp of Intense Femtosecond Lasers and Its Role in Shaping High-Order Harmonic Spectral Lines

We investigate the self-phase modulation of intense femtosecond laser pulses propagating in an ionizing gas and its effects on collective properties of high-order harmonics generated in the medium. Plasmas produced in the medium are shown to induce a positive frequency chirp on the leading edge of the propagating laser pulse, which subsequently drives high harmonics to become positively chirped. In certain parameter regimes, the plasma-induced positive chirp can help to generate sharply peaked high harmonics, by compensating for the dynamically-induced negative chirp that is caused by the steep intensity profile of intense short laser pulses.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure