Primary fallopian tube cancer in term pregnancy: a case report

PURPOSE

This work aimed to study the features of primary fallopian tube carcinoma during pregnancy and to improve the understanding of clinical gynecologists.

METHODS

The clinical features of a case of primary fallopian tube carcinoma during pregnancy were analyzed.

RESULTS

The final diagnosis was Stage IA fallopian tube cancer after cesarean delivery.

CONCLUSIONS

It is helpful to detect CA-125 level and employ B-mode ultrasound imaging. Patients should undergo routine celiac examinations before gynecological and obstetric procedures (including cesarean section and abdominal hysterotomy) are performed.

Studies on interaction of cucurbit aphid-borne yellow virus proteins using yeast two-hybrid system and bimolecular fluorescence complementation

In this article, yeast two-hybrid system (YTHS) and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) were used to analyze the interactions of cucurbit aphid-borne yellows virus (CABYV)-encoded proteins. P0, P1, P1-2, P3, P4, and P5 were tested by YTHS in all possible pairwise combinations, and only P3/P3 interaction was detected. Results obtained by BiFC further confirmed the self-interaction of P3, and the subcellular localization of reconstituted YFP fluorescence was observed mainly in nuclei of Nicotiana benthamiana leaf epidermal cells. Domains involved in P3/P3 self-interaction were analyzed by YTHS and BiFC using deletion mutants. The results showed that R domain (residues 1-61) in the N-terminus could self-interact, and it also interacted with the S domain (residues 62-199) in the C-terminus of P3. The present work would serve as a molecular basis for further characterization of CABYV proteins, and the regions involved in P3/P3 self-interaction could provide the clue for understanding the capsid assembly pathway of CABYV.

Search for quark compositeness with the dijet centrality ratio in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV

A search for quark compositeness in the form of quark contact interactions, based on hadronic jet pairs (dijets) produced in proton-proton collisions at √s=7 TeV, is described. The data sample of the study corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 2.9 pb(-1) collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. The dijet centrality ratio, which quantifies the angular distribution of the dijets, is measured as a function of the invariant mass of the dijet system and is found to agree with the predictions of the standard model. A statistical analysis of the data provides a lower limit on the energy scale of quark contact interactions. The sensitivity of the analysis is such that the expected limit is 2.9 TeV; because the observed value of the centrality ratio at high invariant mass is below the expectation, the observed limit is 4.0 TeV at the 95% confidence level.

Evidence for ψ' decays into γπ0 and γη

The decays ψ'→γπ(0), γη and γη' are studied using data collected with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII e(+)e(-) collider. The processes ψ'→γπ(0) and ψ'→γη are observed for the first time with signal significances of 4.6σ and 4.3σ, respectively. The branching fractions are determined to be B(ψ'→γπ(0))=(1.58±0.40±0.13)×10(-6), B(ψ'→γη)=(1.38±0.48±0.09)×10(-6), and B(ψ'→γη')=(126±3±8)×10(-6), where the first errors are statistical and the second ones systematic.

Quantification of cerebral blood flow as biomarker of drug effect: arterial spin labeling phMRI after a single dose of oral citalopram

Arterial spin labeling (ASL) allows noninvasive quantification of cerebral blood flow (CBF), which can be used as a biomarker of drug effects in pharmacological magnetic resonance imaging (phMRI). In a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study, we investigated the effects of a single oral dose of citalopram (20 mg) on resting CBF in 12 healthy subjects, using ASL phMRI. Support-vector machine (SVM) analysis detected significant drug-induced reduction in CBF in brain regions including the amygdala, fusiform gyrus, insula, and orbitofrontal cortex. These regions have been shown to have abnormally elevated CBF in patients with major depression, as well as in subjects genetically prone to depression. Mixed-effects analysis on data extracted from selected regions of interest (ROIs) revealed significant drug effect only in serotonergic areas of the brain (z = -4.45, P < 0.005). These results demonstrate the utility of ASL phMRI as a biomarker of pharmacological activity of orally administered drugs in the brain.

Dose Verification of Stereotactic Radiosurgery Treatment for Trigeminal Neuralgia with Presage 3D Dosimetry System

Achieving adequate verification and quality-assurance (QA) for radiosurgery treatment of trigeminal-neuralgia (TGN) is particularly challenging because of the combination of very small fields, very high doses, and complex irradiation geometries (multiple gantry and couch combinations). TGN treatments have extreme requirements for dosimetry tools and QA techniques, to ensure adequate verification. In this work we evaluate the potential of Presage/Optical-CT dosimetry system as a tool for the verification of TGN distributions in high-resolution and in 3D. A TGN treatment was planned and delivered to a Presage 3D dosimeter positioned inside the Radiological-Physics-Center (RPC) head and neck IMRT credentialing phantom. A 6-arc treatment plan was created using the iPlan system, and a maximum dose of 80Gy was delivered with a Varian Trilogy machine. The delivered dose to Presage was determined by optical-CT scanning using the Duke Large field-of-view Optical-CT Scanner (DLOS) in 3D, with isotropic resolution of 0.7mm(3). DLOS scanning and reconstruction took about 20minutes. 3D dose comparisons were made with the planning system. Good agreement was observed between the planned and measured 3D dose distributions, and this work provides strong support for the viability of Presage/Optical-CT as a highly useful new approach for verification of this complex technique.

Charge-state-derivation ion detection using a super-conducting nanostructure device for mass spectrometry

Mass spectrometry (MS) is a method of analyzing ions based on their mass/charge (m/z) ratios. The m/z peak identification requires speculation on the ionic unit-charge states. This problem can be solved by using superconducting junction devices to measure the kinetic energies of single molecules. However, the kinetic energy measurement is followed by the dead time of 1-20 µs, which is fatally slow for modern high-resolution time-of-flight (TOF) analyzers. In this paper, we demonstrate that a superconducting nano-stripline detector (SSLD) composed of a 10-nm-thick and 800-nm-wide NbN strip realizes the charge-state derivation, and furthermore satisfies the ideal MS detector specifications such as a nano-second response, a short recovery time, a wide mass range, and no noise.

Search for dijet resonances in 7 TeV pp collisions at CMS

A search for narrow resonances in the dijet mass spectrum is performed using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.9 pb⁻¹ collected by the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Upper limits at the 95% confidence level are presented on the product of the resonance cross section, branching fraction into dijets, and acceptance, separately for decays into quark-quark, quark-gluon, or gluon-gluon pairs. The data exclude new particles predicted in the following models at the 95% confidence level: string resonances, with mass less than 2.50 TeV, excited quarks, with mass less than 1.58 TeV, and axigluons, colorons, and E6 diquarks, in specific mass intervals. This extends previously published limits on these models.

Melatonin inhibits tetraethylammonium-sensitive potassium channels of rod ON type bipolar cells via MT2 receptors in rat retina

By challenging specific receptors, melatonin synthesized and released by photoreceptors regulates various physiological functions in the vertebrate retina. Here, we studied modulatory effects of melatonin on K+ currents of rod-dominant ON type bipolar cells (Rod-ON-BCs) in rat retinal slices by patch-clamp techniques. Double immunofluorescence experiments conducted in isolated cell and retinal section preparations showed that the melatonin MT₂ receptor was expressed in somata, dendrites and axon terminals of rat Rod-ON-BCs. Electrophysiologically, application of melatonin selectively inhibited the tetraethylammonium (TEA)-sensitive K+ current component, but did not show any effect on the 4-aminopyridine (4-AP)-sensitive component. Consistent with the immunocytochemical result, the melatonin effect was blocked by co-application of 4-phenyl-2-propionamidotetralin (4-P-PDOT), a specific MT₂ receptor antagonist. Neither protein kinase A (PKA) nor protein kinase G (PKG) seemed to be involved because both the PKA inhibitor Rp-cAMP and the PKG inhibitor KT5823 did not block the melatonin-induced suppression of the K+ currents. In contrast, application of the phospholipase C (PLC) inhibitor U73122 or the protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor bisindolylmaleimide IV (Bis IV) eliminated the melatonin effect, and when the Ca²+ chelator BAPTA-containing pipette was used, melatonin failed to inhibit the K+ currents. These results suggest that suppression of the TEA-sensitive K+ current component via activation of MT₂ receptors expressed on rat Rod-ON-BCs may be mediated by a Ca²+-dependent PLC/inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP₃/PKC signaling pathway.

Inhibition of cerebellar granule cell turning by alcohol

Ectopic neurons are often found in the brains of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) and fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) patients, suggesting that alcohol exposure impairs neuronal cell migration. Although it has been reported that alcohol decreases the speed of neuronal cell migration, little is known about whether alcohol also affects the turning of neurons. Here we show that ethanol exposure inhibits the turning of cerebellar granule cells in vivo and in vitro. First, in vivo studies using P10 mice demonstrated that a single intraperitoneal injection of ethanol not only reduces the number of turning granule cells but also alters the mode of turning at the EGL-ML border of the cerebellum. Second, in vitro analysis using microexplant cultures of P0-P3 mouse cerebella revealed that ethanol directly reduces the frequency of spontaneous granule cell turning in a dose-dependent manner. Third, the action of ethanol on the frequency of granule cell turning was significantly ameliorated by stimulating Ca(2+) and cGMP signaling or by inhibiting cAMP signaling. Taken together, these results indicate that ethanol affects the frequency and mode of cerebellar granule cell turning through alteration of the Ca(2+) and cyclic nucleotide signaling pathways, suggesting that the abnormal allocation of neurons found in the brains of FASD and FSA patients results, at least in part, from impaired turning of immature neurons by alcohol.