171 research outputs found
In Vitro Photothermal Destruction of Cancer Cells Using Gold Nanorods and Pulsed-Train Near-Infrared Laser
We present a novel pulsed-train near-IR diode laser system with real-time temperature monitoring of the laser-heated cancer cell mixed in gold nanorod solution. Near-IR diode laser at 808ânm matching the gold nanorod absorption peak (with an aspect ratio about 4.0) was used in this study. Both surface and volume temperatures were measured and kept above 43°C, the temperature for cancer cells destruction. The irradiation time needed in our pulsed-train system with higher laser fluence for killing the cancel cells is about 1â3 minutes, much shorter than conventional methods (5â10 minutes). Cell viabilities in gold nanorod mixed and controlled solutions are studied by green fluorescence
Proton-Boron Fusion Yield Increased by Orders of Magnitude with Foam Targets
A novel intense beam-driven scheme for high yield of the tri-alpha reaction
11B(p,{\alpha})2{\alpha} was investigated. We used a foam target made of
cellulose triacetate (TAC, C_9H_{16}O_8) doped with boron. It was then heated
volumetrically by soft X-ray radiation from a laser heated hohlraum and turned
into a homogenous, and long living plasma. We employed a picosecond laser pulse
to generate a high-intensity energetic proton beam via the well-known Target
Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA) mechanism. We observed up to 10^{10}/sr
{\alpha} particles per laser shot. This constitutes presently the highest yield
value normalized to the laser energy on target. The measured fusion yield per
proton exceeds the classical expectation of beam-target reactions by up to four
orders of magnitude under high proton intensities. This enhancement is
attributed to the strong electric fields and nonequilibrium thermonuclear
fusion reactions as a result of the new method. Our approach shows
opportunities to pursue ignition of aneutronic fusion
An optimized shortâterm steroid therapy for chronic drugâinduced liver injury: A prospective randomized clinical trial
Background and AimsThe use of corticosteroids in chronic drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is an important issue. Our previous randomized controlled trial showed that patients with chronic DILI benefited from a 48-week steroid stepwise reduction (SSR) regimen. However, it remains unclear whether a shorter course of therapy can achieve similar efficacy. In this study, we aimed to assess whether a 36-week SSR can achieve efficacy similar to that of 48-week SSR.MethodsA randomized open-label trial was performed. Eligible patients were randomly assigned to the 36- or 48-week (1:1) SSR group. Liver biopsies were performed at baseline and at the end of treatment. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients with relapse rate (RR). The secondary outcomes were improvement in liver histology and safety.ResultsOf the 90 participants enrolled, 84 (87.5%) completed the trial, and 62 patients (68.9%) were women. Hepatocellular damage was observed in 53.4% of the cohort. The RR was 7.1% in the 36-week SSR group but 4.8% in the 48-week SSR group, as determined by per-protocol set analysis (pâ=â1.000). Significant histological improvements in histological activity (93.1% vs. 92.9%, pâ=â1.000) and fibrosis (41.4% vs. 46.4%, pâ=â.701) were observed in both the groups. Biochemical normalization time did not differ between the two groups. No severe adverse events were observed.ConclusionsBoth the 36- and 48-week SSR regimens demonstrated similar biochemical response and histological improvements with good safety, supporting 36-week SSR as a preferable therapeutic choice (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03266146)
Real-time Monitoring for the Next Core-Collapse Supernova in JUNO
Core-collapse supernova (CCSN) is one of the most energetic astrophysical
events in the Universe. The early and prompt detection of neutrinos before
(pre-SN) and during the SN burst is a unique opportunity to realize the
multi-messenger observation of the CCSN events. In this work, we describe the
monitoring concept and present the sensitivity of the system to the pre-SN and
SN neutrinos at the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO), which is
a 20 kton liquid scintillator detector under construction in South China. The
real-time monitoring system is designed with both the prompt monitors on the
electronic board and online monitors at the data acquisition stage, in order to
ensure both the alert speed and alert coverage of progenitor stars. By assuming
a false alert rate of 1 per year, this monitoring system can be sensitive to
the pre-SN neutrinos up to the distance of about 1.6 (0.9) kpc and SN neutrinos
up to about 370 (360) kpc for a progenitor mass of 30 for the case
of normal (inverted) mass ordering. The pointing ability of the CCSN is
evaluated by using the accumulated event anisotropy of the inverse beta decay
interactions from pre-SN or SN neutrinos, which, along with the early alert,
can play important roles for the followup multi-messenger observations of the
next Galactic or nearby extragalactic CCSN.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figure
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Joint analysis of three genome-wide association studies of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in Chinese populations
We conducted a joint (pooled) analysis of three genome-wide association studies (GWAS) 1-3 of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in ethnic Chinese (5,337 ESCC cases and 5,787 controls) with 9,654 ESCC cases and 10,058 controls for follow-up. In a logistic regression model adjusted for age, sex, study, and two eigenvectors, two new loci achieved genome-wide significance, marked by rs7447927 at 5q31.2 (per-allele odds ratio (OR) = 0.85, 95% CI 0.82-0.88; P=7.72x10â20) and rs1642764 at 17p13.1 (per-allele OR= 0.88, 95% CI 0.85-0.91; P=3.10x10â13). rs7447927 is a synonymous single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in TMEM173 and rs1642764 is an intronic SNP in ATP1B2, near TP53. Furthermore, a locus in the HLA class II region at 6p21.32 (rs35597309) achieved genome-wide significance in the two populations at highest risk for ESSC (OR=1.33, 95% CI 1.22-1.46; P=1.99x10â10). Our joint analysis identified new ESCC susceptibility loci overall as well as a new locus unique to the ESCC high risk Taihang Mountain region
Aldolase B inhibits metastasis through TenâEleven Translocation 1 and serves as a prognostic biomarker in hepatocellular carcinoma
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