Increased diagnosis and detection rates of carcinoma in situ of the breast

The purpose of this study was to identify trends in the diagnosis of carcinoma in situ (CIS) of the breast in the United Kingdom (UK) and the Republic of Ireland (ROI) and to examine the impact of mammography. Data on cases of newly diagnosed CIS of the breast and mode of detection (screen detected or not) were obtained, where available, from regional cancer registries between 1990 and 2007. Age-standardised diagnosis rates for the UK and the ROI, and regional screen detected diagnosis rates were compared by calculating the annual percentage change (APC) over time. The APC of the diagnosis rate amongst women aged 50-64 years (original screening age group) showed a significant 5.9% increase in the UK (1990-2007) and 11.5% increase in the ROI (1994-2007). The rate of diagnosis (50-64 years) stabilized in the UK between 2005 and 2007 and was substantially higher than in other western populations with national screening programmes. The APC of the diagnosis rate amongst those aged 65-69 years showed a significant 12.4% increase in the UK (1990-2007) and 10.3% increase in the ROI (1994-2007). amongst women aged 50-74 years in the UK, approximately 4,300 cases of CIS (˜90% ductal carcinoma in situ) were diagnosed in 2007. Our analyses have shown that screen detected CIS contributed primarily to the increase in diagnosis of CIS of the breast. The high diagnosis rate of screen detected CIS of the breast underlines the need for further research into lesion and patient characteristics that are related to progression of CIS to invasive disease to better target treatment. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Fluorescence (FISH) and chromogenic (CISH) in situ hybridisation in prostate carcinoma cell lines: comparison and use of virtual microscopy

Chromogenic in situ hybridisation (CISH) has become an attractive alternative to fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) due to its permanent stain which is more familiar to pathologists and because it can be viewed using light microscopy, The aim of the present study is to examine reproducibility in the assessment of abnormal chromosome number by CISH in comparison to FISH. Using three prostate cell lines - PNTIA (derived from normal epithelium), LNCAP and DU145 (derived from prostatic carcinoma), chromosomes 7 and 8 were counted in 40 nuclei in FISH preparations (x100 oil immersion) and 100 nuclei in CISH preparations (x40) by two independent observers. The CISH slides were examined using standard fight microscopy and virtual microscopy. Reproducibitity was examined using paired Student's t-test (P

Studies of Microthrix parvicella in situ and in laboratory culture: production and use of specific antibodies

Physiological studies on M. parvicella have been conducted to determine the rate of growth of this organism in pure culture. The organism displayed a doubling time of 128 days despite its profuse abundance in a local Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTW). An extensive survey has been ongoing since February 2000 into the extent of M. parvicella in the WWTW. A suite of monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies has been developed to detect and quantify M. parvicella.

DFT and in situ EXAFS investigation of gold/ceria-zirconia low-temperature water gas shift catalysts: Identification of the nature of the active form of gold

A combined experimental and theoretical investigation of the nature of the active form of gold in oxide-supported gold catalysts for the water gas shift reaction has been performed. In situ extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) experiments have shown that in the fresh catalysts the gold is in the form of highly dispersed gold ions. However, under water gas shift reaction conditions, even at temperatures as low as 100 degrees C, the evidence from EXAFS and XANES is only 14 consistent with rapid, and essentially complete, reduction of the gold to form metallic clusters containing about 50 atoms. The presence of Au-Ce distances in the EXAFS spectra, and the fact that about 15% of the gold atoms can be reoxidized after exposure to air at 150 degrees C, is indicative of a close interaction between a fraction (ca. 15%) of the gold atoms and the oxide support. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations are entirely consistent with this model and suggest that an important aspect of the active and stable form of gold under water gas shift reaction conditions is the location of a partially oxidized gold (Audelta+) species at a cerium cation vacancy in the surface of the oxide support. It is found that even with a low loading gold catalysts (0.2%) the fraction of ionic gold under water gas shift conditions is below the limit of detection by XANES (<5%). It is concluded that under water gas shift reaction conditions the active form of gold comprises small metallic gold clusters in intimate contact with the oxide support.

Speciation of Uranium in Sediments before and after In situ Biostimulation

The success of sequestration-based remediation strategies will depend on detailed information, including the predominant U species present as sources before biostimulation and the products produced during and after in situ biostimulation. We used X-ray absorption spectroscopy to determine the valence state and chemical speciation of U in sediment samples collected at a variety of depths through the contaminant plume at the Field Research Center at Oak Ridge, TN, before and after approximately 400 days of in situ biostimulation, as well as in duplicate bioreduced sediments after 363 days of resting conditions. The results indicate that U(VI) in subsurface sediments was partially reduced to 10–40% U(IV) during biostimulation. After biostimulation, U was no longer bound to carbon ligands and was adsorbed to Fe/Mn minerals. Reduction of U(VI) to U(IV) continued in sediment samples stored under anaerobic condition at <4 °C for 12 months, with the fraction of U(IV) in sediments more than doubling and U concentrations in the aqueous phase decreasing from 0.5-0.74 to <0.1 µM. A shift of uranyl species from uranyl bound to phosphorus ligands to uranyl bound to carbon ligands and the formation of nanoparticulate uraninite occurred in the sediment samples during storage.

Dynamic in situ optical and magneto-optical monitoring of the growth of Co-Pd multilayers

In situ ellipsometry and Kerr polarimetry have been used to follow the continuous evolution of the optical and magneto- optical properties of multiple layers of Co and Pd during their growth. Films were sputter deposited onto a Pd buffer layer on glass substrates up to a maximum of N = 10 bi-layer periods according to the scheme glass/Pd(10)Ar x (0.3Co/3Pd) (nm). Magnetic hysteresis measurements taken during the deposition consistently showed strong perpendicular anisotropy at all stages of film growth following the deposition of a single monolayer of Co. Magneto-optic signals associated with the normal-incidence polar Kerr effect indicated strong polarization of Pd atoms at both Co-Pd and Pd-Co interfaces and that the magnitude of the complex magneto-optic Voigt parameter and the magnetic moment of the Pd decrease exponentially with distance from the interface with a decay constant of 1.1 nm(- 1). Theoretical simulations have provided an understanding of the observations and allow the determination of the ultrathin- film values of the elements of the skew-symmetric permittivity tensor that describe the optical and magneto-optical properties for both CO and Pd. Detailed structure in the observed Kerr ellipticity shows distinct Pd-thickness-dependent oscillations with a spatial period of about 1.6 nm that are believed to be associated with quantum well levels in the growing Pd layer.

Dynamic, in situ optical, magnetic and magneto-optical monitoring of the growth of Co/Au and Pd/Co/Au multilayer systems

The growth of magnetron sputtered Co/Au and Pd/Co/Au superlattices on Au and Pd buffer layers, deposited onto glass substrates, has been monitored optically and magneto-optically in real time, using rotating analyser ellipsometry and Kerr polarimetry, at a wavelength of 633 nm. The magneto-optical traces, combined with ex situ and in situ hysteresis loops, provide a detailed and informative fingerprint of the optical and magnetic properties of the films as they evolve during growth. For Co/Au, oscillations in the polar magneto-optical effect developed during the deposition of An overlayers on Co and these may be attributed to quantum well states. However, the hysteresis measurements show that the magnetic field required to maintain saturation magnetization throughout the experiment was larger than available in situ, introducing a degree of confusion concerning the interpretation of the data. This problem was overcome by the incorporation of Pd layers into the Co/Au structure, thereby eliminating variation in magnetic orientation during growth of the Au layers as a contributory factor to the observations.