Pulsating tandem microbubble for localized and directional single-cell membrane poration.

The interaction of laser-generated tandem microbubble (maximum diameter of about 50  μm) with single (rat mammary carcinoma) cells is investigated in a 25-μm liquid layer. Antiphase and coupled oscillation of the tandem microbubble leads to the formation of alternating, directional microjets (with max microstreaming velocity of 10  m/s) and vortices (max vorticity of 350 000  s{-1}) in opposite directions. Localized and directional membrane poration (200 nm to 2  μm in pore size) can be produced by the tandem microbubble in an orientation and proximity-dependent manner, which is absent from a single oscillating microbubble of comparable size and at the same stand-off distance.

Evaluation of an epithelial plasticity biomarker panel in men with localized prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND: Given the potential importance of epithelial plasticity (EP) to cancer metastasis, we sought to investigate biomarkers related to EP in men with localized prostate cancer (PC) for the association with time to PSA recurrence and other clinical outcomes after surgery. METHODS: Men with localized PC treated with radical prostatectomy at the Durham VA Medical Center and whose prostatectomy tissues were included in a tissue microarray (TMA) linked to long-term outcomes. We performed immunohistochemical studies using validated antibodies against E-cadherin and Ki-67 and mesenchymal biomarkers including N-cadherin, vimentin, SNAIL, ZEB1 and TWIST. Association studies were conducted for each biomarker with baseline clinical/pathologic characteristics an risk of PSA recurrence over time. RESULTS: Two hundred and five men contributed TMA tissue and had long-term follow-up (median 11 years). Forty-three percent had PSA recurrence; three died of PC. The majority had high E-cadherin expression (86%); 14% had low/absent E-cadherin expression. N-cadherin was rarely expressed (<4%) and we were unable to identify an E-to-N-cadherin switch as independently prognostic. No associations with clinical risk group, PSA recurrence or Gleason sum were noted for SNAIL, ZEB1, vimentin or TWIST, despite heterogeneous expression between patients. We observed an association of higher Ki-67 expression with Gleason sum (P=0.043), National Comprehensive Cancer Network risk (P=0.013) and PSA recurrence (hazard ratio 1.07, P=0.016). CONCLUSIONS: The expression of EP biomarkers in this cohort of men with a low risk of PC-specific mortality was not associated with aggressive features or PSA relapse after surgery.

Accurate localized resolution of identity approach for linear-scaling hybrid density functionals and for many-body perturbation theory

© 2015 IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.A key component in calculations of exchange and correlation energies is the Coulomb operator, which requires the evaluation of two-electron integrals. For localized basis sets, these four-center integrals are most efficiently evaluated with the resolution of identity (RI) technique, which expands basis-function products in an auxiliary basis. In this work we show the practical applicability of a localized RI-variant ('RI-LVL'), which expands products of basis functions only in the subset of those auxiliary basis functions which are located at the same atoms as the basis functions. We demonstrate the accuracy of RI-LVL for Hartree-Fock calculations, for the PBE0 hybrid density functional, as well as for RPA and MP2 perturbation theory. Molecular test sets used include the S22 set of weakly interacting molecules, the G3 test set, as well as the G2-1 and BH76 test sets, and heavy elements including titanium dioxide, copper and gold clusters. Our RI-LVL implementation paves the way for linear-scaling RI-based hybrid functional calculations for large systems and for all-electron many-body perturbation theory with significantly reduced computational and memory cost.

Single-photon tunneling via localized surface plasmons

Strong evidence of a single-photon tunneling effect, a direct analog of single-electron tunneling, has been obtained in the measurements of light tunneling through individual subwavelength pinholes in a gold film covered with a layer of polydiacetylene. The transmission of some pinholes reached saturation because of the optical nonlinearity of polydiacetylene at a very low light intensity of a few thousand photons per second. This result is explained theoretically in terms of a "photon blockade," similar to the Coulomb blockade phenomenon observed in single-electron tunneling experiments. Single-photon tunneling may find applications in the fields of quantum communication and information processing.

Failure to Achieve PSA Level ≤I ng/ml Following Neo-Adjuvant LHRHa Therapy Predicts for a Lower Biochemical Control Rate and Overall Survival in Localized Prostate Cancer Treated with Radiotherapy

PURPOSE: To investigate whether failure to suppress the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level to /=2 months of neoadjuvant luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist therapy in patients scheduled to undergo external beam radiotherapy for localized prostate carcinoma is associated with reduced biochemical failure-free survival. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A retrospective case note review of consecutive patients with intermediate- or high-risk localized prostate cancer treated between January 2001 and December 2002 with neoadjuvant hormonal deprivation therapy, followed by concurrent hormonal therapy and radiotherapy was performed. Patient data were divided for analysis according to whether the PSA level in Week 1 of radiotherapy was 1 ng/mL in 52. At a median follow-up of 49 months, the 4-year actuarial biochemical failure-free survival rate was 84% vs. 60% (p = 0.0016) in favor of the patients with a PSA level after neoadjuvant hormonal deprivation therapy of 1 ng/mL at the beginning of external beam radiotherapy after >/=2 months of neoadjuvant luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist therapy have a significantly greater rate of biochemical failure and lower survival rate compared with those with a PSA level of

Modulational instability and localized excitations of dust-ion acoustic waves

Theoretical and numerical studies are carried out of the nonlinear amplitude modulation of dust-ion acoustic waves propagating in an unmagnetized weakly coupled plasma comprised of electrons, positive ions, and charged dust grains, considering perturbations oblique to the carrier wave propagation direction. The stability analysis, based on a nonlinear Schrodinger-type equation, exhibits a wide instability region, which depends on both the angle theta between the modulation and propagation directions and the dust number density n(d). Explicit expressions for the instability increment and threshold are obtained. The possibility and conditions for the existence of different types of localized excitations are also discussed. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.

Maximizing the Localized Relaxation: The Origin of the Outstanding Oxygen Storage Capacity of kappa-Ce2Zr2O8

Pretty vacant: The excellent oxygen storage capacity (OSC) of ?-Ce2Zr2O8 (see picture; Ce gray, Zr green, O red) is shown to be a result of its unique structural features; after removing oxygen atoms, the structural relaxation is local (vacancy shown in brown), and both the localized structural relaxation and the number of localized structural relaxations are maximized.

Genomes of "phiKMV-like viruses" of Pseudomonas aeruginosa contain localized single-strand interruptions

The "phiKMV-like viruses" comprise an important genus of T7 related phages infecting Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The genomes of these bacteriophages have localized single-strand interruptions (nicks), a distinguishing genomic trait previously thought to be unique for T5 related coliphages. Analysis of this feature in the newly sequenced phage fkF77 shows all four nicks to be localized on the non-coding DNA strand. They are present with high frequencies within the phage population and are introduced into the phage DNA at late stages of the lytic cycle. The general consensus sequence in the nicks (5'-CGACxxxxxCCTAoh pCTCCGG-3') was shown to be common among all phiKMV-related phages.

Exact theory for localized envelope modulated electrostatic wavepackets in space and dusty plasmas

Abundant evidence for the occurrence of modulated envelope plasma wave packets is provided by recent satellite missions. These excitations are characterized by a slowly varying localized envelope structure, embedding the fast carrier wave, which appears to be the result of strong modulation of the wave amplitude. This modulation may be due to parametric interactions between different modes or, simply, to the nonlinear (self-)interaction of the carrier wave. A generic exact theory is presented in this study, for the nonlinear self-modulation of known electrostatic plasma modes, by employing a collisionless fluid model. Both cold (zero-temperature) and warm fluid descriptions are discussed and the results are compared. The (moderately) nonlinear oscillation regime is investigated by applying a multiple scale technique. The calculation leads to a Nonlinear Schrodinger-type Equation (NLSE), which describes the evolution of the slowly varying wave amplitude in time and space. The NLSE admits localized envelope (solitary wave) solutions of bright(pulses) or dark- (holes, voids) type, whose characteristics (maximum amplitude, width) depend on intrinsic plasma parameters. Effects like amplitude perturbation obliqueness (with respect to the propagation direction), finite temperature and defect (dust) concentration are explicitly considered. Relevance with similar highly localized modulated wave structures observed during recent satellite missions is discussed.