Tobacco smoking increases the risk of high-grade dysplasia and cancer among patients with Barrett's esophagus

Background & Aims: Esophageal adenocarcinoma arises from Barrett's esophagus (BE); patients with this cancer have a poor prognosis. Identification of modifiable lifestyle factors that affect the risk of progression from BE to esophageal adenocarcinoma might prevent its development. We investigated associations among body size, smoking, and alcohol use with progression of BE to neoplasia. Methods: We analyzed data from patients with BE identified from the population-based Northern Ireland BE register, diagnosed between 1993 and 2005 with specialized intestinal metaplasia (n = 3167). Data on clinical, demographic, and lifestyle factors related to diagnosis of BE were collected from hospital case notes. We used the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry to identify which of these patients later developed esophageal adenocarcinoma, adenocarcinomas of the gastric cardia, or esophageal high-grade dysplasia. Cox proportional hazards models were used to associate lifestyle factors with risk of progression.
Results: By December 31, 2008, 117 of the patients with BE developed esophageal high-grade dysplasia or adenocarcinomas of the esophagus or gastric cardia. Current tobacco smoking was significantly associated with an increased risk of progression (hazard ratio = 2.03; 95% confidence interval, 1.29-3.17) compared with never smoking, and across all strata of smoking intensity. Alcohol consumption was not related to risk of progression. Measures of body size were infrequently reported in endoscopy reports, and body size was not associated with risk of progression.
Conclusions: Smoking tobacco increases the risk of progression to cancer or high-grade dysplasia 2-fold among patients with BE, compared with patients with BE that have never smoked. Smoking cessation strategies should be considered for patients with BE.

Influence of molten-state annealing on the phase structure and crystallization behaviour of high impact polypropylene copolymer

The phase structure evolution of high impact polypropylene copolymer (IPC) during molten-state annealing and its influence on crystallization behaviour were studied. An entirely different architecture of the IPC melt was observed after being annealed, and this architecture resulted in variations of the crystallization behaviour. In addition, it was found that the core-shell structure of the dispersed phase was completely destroyed and the sizes of the dispersed domains increased sharply after being annealed at 200 degrees C for 200 min. Through examination of the coarseness of the phase morphology using phase contrast microscopy (PCM), it was found that a co-continuous structure and an abnormal 'sea-island' structure generally appeared with an increase in annealing time. The original matrix PP component appeared as a dispersed phase, whereas the copolymer components formed a continuous 'sea-island' structure. This change is ascribed to the large tension induced by solidification at the phase interface and the great content difference between the components. When the temperature was reduced the structure reverted to its original form. With increasing annealing time, the spherulite profiles became more defined and the spherulite birefringence changed from vague to clear. Overall crystallization rates and nucleation densities decreased, but the spherulite radial growth rates remained almost constant, indicating that molten-state annealing mainly affects the nucleation ability of IPC, due to a coarsened microstructure and decreased interface area. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

SULFOXIDES OF HIGH ENANTIOPURITY FROM BACTERIAL DIOXYGENASE-CATALYZED OXIDATION

Selected strains of the bacterium Pseudomonas putida (previously shown to effect dioxygenase-catalysed asymmetric cis-dihydroxylation of alkenes) have been found to yield chiral sulfoxides from the corresponding sulfides with a strong preference for the (R)- or (S)-configurations but without evidence of sulfone formation; similar results obtained using an Escherichia coli clone (pKST11, containing the Tod C1 C2 B and A genes encoding toluene dioxygenase from P. putida NCIMB 11767) are again consistent with a stereoselective dioxygenase-catalysed sulfoxidation.

An evaluation of the effect of altering nutrition and nutritional strategies in early lactation on reproductive performance and estrous behavior of high-yielding Holstein-Friesian dairy cows

Reproductive performance in the high-yielding dairy cow has severely decreased in the last 40 yr. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of 4 nutritional strategies in improving the reproductive performance of high-yielding dairy cows. It was hypothesized that offering cows a high-starch ration in early lactation would enhance the onset of luteal activity, and that decreasing the severity of negative energy balance in the early postcalving period would improve reproductive parameters. Nutritional regimens aimed at improving fertility were applied to 96 Holstein-Friesian dairy animals. Upon calving, animals were allocated in a balanced manner to one of 4 dietary treatments. Primiparous animals were balanced according to live weight, body condition score and calving date. Multiparous animals were balanced according to parity, previous lactation milk yield, liveweight, body condition score and calving date. Treatment 1 was based on an industry best practice diet (control) to contain 170 g of crude protein/kg of dry matter. Treatment 2 was an individual cow feeding strategy, whereby the energy balance (EB) of individual animals was managed so as to achieve a predetermined target daily EB profile (+/- 10 MJ/d). Treatment 3 was a high-starch/high-fat combination treatment, whereby an insulinogenic (high-starch) diet was offered in early lactation to encourage cyclicity and followed by a lipogenic (low-starch, high-fat) diet to promote embryo development. Treatment 4 was a low-protein diet, containing 140 g of crude protein/kg of dry matter, supplemented with protected methionine at an inclusion level of 40 g per animal per day. The nutritional strategies implemented in this study had no statistically significant effects on cow fertility measures, which included the onset of luteal activity, conception rate, in-calf rate, and the incidence of atypical cycles. The individual cow feeding strategy improved EB in early lactation but had no benefit on conception rate to first insemination. However, conception rate to second insemination, 100-d pregnancy rate (from the commencement of breeding), and overall pregnancy rate tended to be higher in this group. The high-starch/high-fat treatment tended to decrease the proportion of delayed ovulations and increase the proportion of animals cycling by d 50 postcalving. Animals that failed to conceive to first insemination had a significantly longer luteal phase in the first cycle postpartum and a longer inter-ovulatory interval in the second cycle postpartum. With regards to estrous behavior, results indicate that as the size of the sexually active group increased, the intensity of estrus and the expression of mounting or attempting to mount another cow also increased. Furthermore, cows that became pregnant displayed more intense estrous behavior than cows that failed to become pregnant.

Focusing Dynamics of High-Energy Density, Laser-Driven Ion Beams

The dynamics of the focusing of laser-driven ion beams produced from concave solid targets was studied. Most of the ion beam energy is observed to converge at the center of the cylindrical targets with a spot diameter of 30 mu m, which can be very beneficial for applications requiring high beam energy densities. Also, unbalanced laser irradiation does not compromise the focusability of the beam. However, significant filamentation occurs during the focusing, potentially limiting the localization of the energy deposition region by these beams at focus. These effects could impact the applicability of such high-energy density beams for applications, e. g., in proton-driven fast ignition.

Observation of high transient gain in the germanium x-ray laser at 19.6 nm

The transient-excitation pumping scheme, in which a picosecond duration pulse rapidly heats the plasma preformed by a low-intensity nanosecond pulse, was used to pump the Ne-like germanium, J = 0-1 transition at 19.6 nm. A small-signal gain coefficient of 30 cm(-1) was measured for targets less than or equal to 5 mm long. (C) 1998 Optical Society of America.

The Type Ia supernova 2004s, a clone of SN 2001el, and the optimal photometric bands for extinction estimation

We present optical (UBVRI) and near-IR (YJHK) photometry of the normal Type Ia supernova (SN) 2004S. We also present eight optical spectra and one near-IR spectrum of SN 2004S. The light curves and spectra are nearly identical to those of SN 2001el. This is the first time we have seen optical and IR light curves of two Type Ia SNe match so closely. Within the one parameter family of light curves for normal Type Ia SNe, that two objects should have such similar light curves implies that they had identical intrinsic colors and produced similar amounts of Ni-56. From the similarities of the light-curve shapes we obtain a set of extinctions as a function of wavelength that allows a simultaneous solution for the distance modulus difference of the two objects, the difference of the host galaxy extinctions, and RV. Since SN 2001el had roughly an order of magnitude more host galaxy extinction than SN 2004S, the value of R-V = 2.15(-0.22)(+0.24) pertains primarily to dust in the host galaxy of SN 2001el. We have also shown via Monte Carlo simulations that adding rest-frame J-band photometry to the complement of BVRI photometry of Type Ia SNe decreases the uncertainty in the distance modulus by a factor of 2.7. A combination of rest-frame optical and near-IR photometry clearly gives more accurate distances than using rest-frame optical photometry alone.

Infrared spectrum of an extremely cool white-dwarf star

White dwarfs are the remnant cores of stars that initially had masses of less than 8 solar masses. They cool gradually over billions of years, and have been suggested(1,2) to make up much of the 'dark matter' in the halo of the Milky way. But extremely cool white dwarfs have proved difficult to detect, owing to both their faintness and their anticipated similarity in colour to other classes of dwarf stars. Recent improved models(3-5) indicate that white dwarfs are much more blue than previously supposed, suggesting that the earlier searches may have been looking for the wrong kinds of objects. Here we report an infrared spectrum of an extremely cool white dwarf that is consistent with the new models. We determine the star's temperature to be 3,500 +/- 200 K, making it the coolest known white dwarf. The kinematics of this star indicate that it is in the halo of the Milky Way, and the density of such objects implied by the serendipitous discovery of this star is consistent with white dwarfs dominating the dark matter in the halo.

Coherent Control of High Harmonic Generation via Dual-Gas Multijet Arrays

High harmonic generation (HHG) is a central driver of the rapidly growing field of ultrafast science. We present a novel quasiphase-matching (QPM) concept with a dual-gas multijet target leading, for the first time, to remarkable phase control between multiple HHG sources (> 2) within the Rayleigh range. The alternating jet structure with driving and matching zones shows perfect coherent buildup for up to six QPM periods. Although not in the focus of the proof-of-principle studies presented here, we achieved competitive conversion efficiencies already in this early stage of development.

Controlling the divergence of high harmonics from solid targets: a route toward coherent harmonic focusing

Harmonic generation from relativistically oscillating plasma surfaces formed during the interaction of high contrast lasers with solid-density targets has been shown to be an efficient source of extreme ultraviolet (XUV) and X-ray radiation. Recent work has demonstrated that the exceptional coherence properties of the driving laser can be mirrored in the emitted radiation, permitting diffraction limited performance and attosecond phase locking of the harmonic radiation. These unique properties may allow the coherent harmonic focusing (CHF) of high harmonics generated from solid density targets to intensities on the order of the Schwinger limit of 10(29) W cm(-2) with laser systems available in the near future [Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 115002 (2004)] and thus pave the way for unique experiments exploring the nonlinear properties of vacuum on ultra-fast timescales. In this paper we investigate experimentally as well as numerically the prospect of focusing high harmonics under realistic experimental conditions and demonstrate, using particle in cell (PIC) simulations, that precise control of the wavefronts and thus the focusability of the generated harmonics is possible with pre-shaped targets.