Hydrogeological studies for radiological monitoring of shallow groundwater in the Eurex plant of Saluggia (Vercelli, Italy)

In 2004, contaminated water was found inside the safety interspace around the spent fuel pool; therefore, an ample monitoring programme of the structure, soils and shallow groundwater was started in order to detect any radioactive leakage into the environment. A first group of piezometers was installed. In the one nearest to the pool, an anomalous activity of (90)Sr ( approximately 10(-2) Bq l(-1)) was found, calling for the following actions: gradual enlarging of the monitoring network, implementation of in situ permeability tests and groundwater tracer test and study of groundwater mobility of the main radionuclides contained in the pool water: (90)Sr, (137)Cs, (241)Am and (239/240)Pu. Because (90)Sr is the only artificial radionuclide detected in groundwater, this study mainly focused on this one. All the investigations demonstrated that (90)Sr coming from the pool is not detectable any longer just some tens of metres from the building and allow the correlation of (90)Sr concentration to flow and water-table fluctuations. Moreover, such a wide mass of hydrogeological and radiological data allows the estimation of an environmental value for environmental radiological significance.

Oestrogen receptor 1 mRNA is a prognostic factor in ovarian cancer patients treated with neo-adjuvant chemotherapy: determination by array and kinetic PCR in fresh tissue biopsies

Oestrogen receptors (ESRs) regulate the growth and differentiation of normal ovarian epithelia. However, to date their role as biomarkers in the clinical setting of ovarian cancer remains unclear. In view of potential endocrine treatment options, we tested the role of ESR1 mRNA expression in ovarian cancer in the context of a neo-adjuvant chemotherapy trial. Study participants had epithelial ovarian or peritoneal carcinoma unsuitable for optimal upfront surgery and were treated with neo-adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy before surgery. RNA was isolated from frozen tumour biopsies before treatment. RNA expression of ESR1 was determined by microarray and reverse transcriptase kinetic PCR technologies. The prognostic value of ESR1 was tested using univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models, Kaplan-Meier survival statistics and the log-rank test. ESR1 positively correlates with proliferation markers and histopathological grading. ESR1 was a significant predictor of survival as a continuous variable in the univariate Cox regression analysis. In multivariate analysis, elevated baseline ESR1 mRNA levels predicted prolonged progression-free survival (P=0.041) and overall survival (P=0.01) after neo-adjuvant chemotherapy, independently of pathological grade and age. We conclude that pretreatment ESR1 mRNA is associated with tumour growth and is a strong prognostic factor in ovarian cancer, independent of the strongest clinical parameters used in clinical routine. We suggest that ESR1 mRNA status should be considered in order to minimize possible confounding effects in ovarian cancer clinical trials, and that early treatment with anti-hormonal agents based on reliable hormone receptor status determination is worth investigating.

Charged Kaon interferometric probes of space-time evolution in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[S(NN)]=200 GeV

Bose-Einstein correlations of charged kaons are used to probe Au+Au collisions at sqrt[S(NN)]=200 GeV and are compared to charged pion probes, which have a larger hadronic scattering cross section. Three-dimensional Gaussian source radii are extracted, along with a one-dimensional kaon emission source function. The centrality dependences of the three Gaussian radii are well described by a single linear function of N(part)1/3 with a zero intercept. Imaging analysis shows a deviation from a Gaussian tail at r greater than or approximately equal to 10 fm, although the bulk emission at lower radius is well described by a Gaussian. The presence of a non-Gaussian tail in the kaon source reaffirms that the particle emission region in a heavy-ion collision is extended, and that similar measurements with pions are not solely due to the decay of long-lived resonances.

Measurement of bottom versus charm as a function of transverse momentum with electron-hadron correlations in p + p collisions at square root of s = 200 GeV

The momentum distribution of electrons from semileptonic decays of charm and bottom quarks for midrapidity |y|<0.35 in p+p collisions at square root of s=200 GeV is measured by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider over the transverse momentum range 2<pT<7 GeV/c. The ratio of the yield of electrons from bottom to that from charm is presented. The ratio is determined using partial D/D-->e(+/-)K(-/+)X (K unidentified) reconstruction. It is found that the yield of electrons from bottom becomes significant above 4 GeV/c in pT. A fixed-order-plus-next-to-leading-log perturbative quantum chromodynamics calculation agrees with the data within the theoretical and experimental uncertainties. The extracted total bottom production cross section at this energy is sigma(bb)=3.2(-1.1)(+1.2)(stat)(-1.3)(+1.4)(syst)mub.

Gluon-spin contribution to the proton spin from the double-helicity asymmetry in inclusive pi0 production in polarized p+p collisions at [sqrt]s=200 GeV

The double helicity asymmetry in neutral pion production for pT=1 to 12 GeV/c was measured with the PHENIX experiment to access the gluon-spin contribution, DeltaG, to the proton spin. Measured asymmetries are consistent with zero, and at a theory scale of micro2=4 GeV2 a next to leading order QCD analysis gives DeltaG[0.02,0.3]=0.2, with a constraint of -0.7<DeltaG[0.02,0.3]<0.5 at Deltachi2=9 (approximately 3sigma) for the sampled gluon momentum fraction (x) range, 0.02 to 0.3. The results are obtained using predictions for the measured asymmetries generated from four representative fits to polarized deep inelastic scattering data. We also consider the dependence of the DeltaG constraint on the choice of the theoretical scale, a dominant uncertainty in these predictions.

Effect of six courses of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on pathological complete remission in advanced ovarian cancer

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Background: The role and the duration of NACT in ovarian cancer are debated. A randomized trial comparing upfront surgery versus 3 courses of NACT (Vergote 2008) demonstrated similar survival, but less morbidity in favor of NACT. However, pathological complete remissions (pCR) were rare and 68% of pts still had lesions greater than 2 cm after 3 courses of NACT. The rate of pCR correlates with a better survival in other tumors, such as breast cancer, and its rate is higher after 6–8 courses of NACT. We conducted this study to verify the incidence of optimal pathological remission after 6 courses of NACT. Methods: Eligible pts had stage IIIC-IV EOC unsuitable for optimal upfront surgery and were treated with 6 cycles of carboplatin AUC 5 and paclitaxel 175 mg/sm, every 3 weeks before surgery. We considered as optimal pathological responders: 1) the pts with absence of cancer cells in surgical specimens, and 2) the pts with no macroscopic residual after surgery and with only small clusters or individual cancer cells in surgical specimens. All the other cases were considered as pathological nonresponders, even if a relevant shrinkage of tumor burden and an optimal surgical debulking were obtained. Results: 35 stage IIIC/IV pts were enrolled; 33 (94%) completed 6 courses of NACT. We observed 18 (51%) pathological responders, and 17 pathological nonresponders (as defined above). Overall, in 20 (57%) pts the goal of no residual tumor after surgery was achieved. After a median follow-up of 21 mo.s, 21 pts progressed (median PFS 15 mo.s) and 10 pts died. As expected, pts with tumor residual after surgery less than 1 cm survived significantly longer than patients with a greater residual (p .0005). The median overall survival was longer in pathological responders (median not reached) vs nonresponders (19.8 mo.s) (p.03). Conclusions: In our study an optimal pathological response occurred in 51% of cases after 6 cycles of carboplatin-paclitaxel, doubling the results described in the literature with 3 courses of NACT. Given that an optimal pathological response correlates with a longer survival compared to a sub-optimal one, a randomized study of 6 vs 3 courses of NACT in order to verify if the increase in pathological response rate will translate into a survival benefit is warranted.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Deep pelvic endometriosis (Adamyan IV stage): Multidisciplinary laparoscopic treatments

Background: Few small studies have confirmed the feasibility of laparoscopic colorectal resection for Deep Infiltrating Endometriosis (DIE), albeit with a wide range of complications. Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate retrospectively the feasibility and clinical outcome of laparoscopic segmental bowel resection for DIE. Methods: We have retrospectively reviewed the data of patients undergoing laparoscopic rectosigmoidal resection for bowel endometriosis from January 2000 and June 2008. Data analysis included age, preoperative symptoms, operative procedure, operating room time, intraoperative and postoperative complication, length of stay and Quality of life. Results: 56 colorectal laparoscopic resection for DIE were performed. No conversion occurred. There were no intraoperative complication; 35 patients had a temporary ileostomy and 15 required reoperation for major complication. Conclusion: DIE should be managed in specialised centers with a multidisciplinary equipe; it represents a difficult surgery which require a high surgeon skill and it must be practiced considering both the risks and the benefits.

Suppression pattern of neutral pions at high transverse momentum in Au + Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=200 GeV and constraints on medium transport coefficients

For Au + Au collisions at 200 GeV, we measure neutral pion production with good statistics for transverse momentum, pT, up to 20 GeV/c. A fivefold suppression is found, which is essentially constant for 5 < pT < 20 GeV/c. Experimental uncertainties are small enough to constrain any model-dependent parametrization for the transport coefficient of the medium, e.g., q in the parton quenching model. The spectral shape is similar for all collision classes, and the suppression does not saturate in Au + Au collisions.

Onset of pi(0) suppression studied in Cu+Cu collisions at sqrt S NN=22.4, 62.4, and 200 GeV

Neutral pion transverse momentum (p(T)) spectra at midrapidity (|y| less than or approximately 0.35) were measured in Cu+Cu collisions at sqrt[s(NN)]=22.4, 62.4, and 200 GeV. Relative to pi_(0) yields in p+p collisions scaled by the number of inelastic nucleon-nucleon collisions (N(coll) the pi_(0) yields for p(T) more than or approximately 2 GeV/c in central Cu+Cu collisions are suppressed at 62.4 and 200 GeV whereas an enhancement is observed at 22.4 GeV. A comparison with a jet-quenching model suggests that final state parton energy loss dominates in central Cu+Cu collisions at 62.4 and 200 GeV, while the enhancement at 22.4 GeV is consistent with nuclear modifications in the initial state alone.

J/psi production in sqrt s_NN=200 GeV Cu+Cu collisions

Yields for J/psi production in Cu+Cu collisions at sqrt s_NN=200 GeV have been measured over the rapidity range |y|<2.2 and compared with results in p+p and Au+Au collisions at the same energy. The Cu+Cu data offer greatly improved precision over existing Au+Au data for J/psi production in collisions with small to intermediate numbers of participants, in the range where the quark-gluon plasma transition threshold is predicted to lie. Cold nuclear matter estimates based on ad hoc fits to d+Au data describe the Cu+Cu data up to N_part approximately 50, corresponding to a Bjorken energy density of at least 1.5 GeV/fm(3).

Particle-species dependent modification of jet-induced correlations in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV

Measurements in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV of jet correlations for a trigger hadron at intermediate transverse momentum (p_{T,trig}) with associated mesons or baryons at lower p_{T,assoc} indicate strong modification of the away-side jet. The ratio of jet-associated baryons to mesons increases with centrality and p_{T,assoc}. For the most central collisions, the ratio is similar to that for inclusive measurements. This trend is incompatible with in-vacuum fragmentation but could be due to jetlike contributions from correlated soft partons, which recombine upon hadronization.

Source breakup dynamics in Au + Au collisions at sqrt[s(NN)]=200 GeV via three-dimensional two-pion source imaging

A three-dimensional correlation function obtained from midrapidity, low p(T), pion pairs in central Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s(NN)]=200 GeV is studied. The extracted model-independent source function indicates a long range tail in the directions of the pion pair transverse momentum (out) and the beam (long). A proper breakup time tau(0) ~ 9 fm/c and a mean proper emission duration Delta tau ~ 2 fm/c, leading to sizable emission time differences ({|Delta t(LCM)|} approximately 12 fm/c), are required to allow models to be successfully matched to these tails. The model comparisons also suggest an outside-in "burning" of the emission source reminiscent of many hydrodynamical models.

Elliptic flow for phi mesons and (anti)deuterons in Au+Au collisions at square root of sNN=200 GeV

Differential elliptic flow (v(2)) for phi mesons and (anti)deuterons (d)d is measured for Au+Au collisions at square root of sNN=200 GeV. The v(2) for phi mesons follows the trend of lighter pi+/- and K+/- mesons, suggesting that ordinary hadrons interacting with standard hadronic cross sections are not the primary driver for elliptic flow development. The v(2) values for (d)d suggest that elliptic flow is additive for composite particles. This further validation of the universal scaling of v(2) per constituent quark for baryons and mesons suggests that partonic collectivity dominates the transverse expansion dynamics.

Response to primary chemotherapy (CHT) in advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients (pts) and molecular characterization of CHT-resistant tumor cell populations: Findings from the Arianna 02 Project

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Background: Despite a high response rate to CHT the prognosis of pts with advanced EOC remains poor. The molecular analysis of pre- and post-CHT tumor specimen may enable the identification of CHT resistant tumor cell populations and thereby lead to adapted treatment options. Methods: Stage III-IV EOC pts diagnosed by laparoscopy and biopsy and not suitable for optimal debulking surgery were eligible. Gene-expression profiles generated from total RNA using the Affymetrix U133A oligonucleotide microarray containing over 22,000 probe sets were obtained at diagnosis and on surgical specimens after 6 courses of primary carboplatin/paclitaxel CHT. Initial comparative analysis focused on proliferative and invasive tumor activity, and on growth factor- and hormone receptors expression. Results: 30 pts were enrolled and data were analyzed according to response to CHT and to time to relapse after surgery. Initial expression analysis results reveal that the quantitative determination of growth factor- and hormone receptors in pre- and post-treatment samples can be used to discriminate responders from non-responders and relates to clinical outcome. Moreover, multiple CHT-resistant tumor cell populations displayed pronounced estrogen receptor expression suggesting a role of hormone receptors in the development of CHT resistance. Conclusions: While hormonal therapies are used in the treatment of other endocrine related tumors, they are not approved for the treatment of EOC. Treatment of EOC cell lines with estrogens down-regulates GnRH activity and promotes cell growth, while tamoxifen has an opposite effect. However, further biological data are lacking in this setting and only few clinical trials have addressed this possibility so far. We have found that the expression of hormone receptors in vivo persists in CHT-resistant tumor cell populations after CHT for EOC. We suggest that hormone receptor activity contributes to the initial development of CHT resistance; hence endocrine therapies particularly in an early setting may be advantageous to a subset of pts and are worth studying.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Relevance of circulating tumor cells (CTC) in the progression of metastatic breast cancer

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Background: metastatic breast cancer is an incurable disease. Molecular tumor staging methods are required for a better therapeutic approach. Patients and Methods: eight mL blood samples were drawn from 20 patients (pts) (mean age 61.9±9) with metastatic breast cancer at the time of the beginning of a new chemo- or hormonal treatment line. Median follow-up was 7±4.5 months. Twenty- five female healthy blood donor volunteers were used as controls. Blood samples were screened for the presence of circulating tumor cells (CTC) with a quantitative PCR method using molecular probes for human mammaglobin (hMAM) and cytokeratin 19 (CK19). Relative quantification of hMAM and CK19 RNA was obtained using a blood sample infected with known concentrations of MDA-MB453 cells as calibrator. Results: none of the healthy controls was hMAM positive while the cut-off for CK19 was calculated as the mean value of the controls plus two standard deviations. Nine of 20 (45%) pts were hMAM positive, 15/20 (75%) CK19 positive, while 18/20 (90%) pts were positive for at least one marker (CTC positive). Among the 14 (70%) pts who had a disease progression 7 died. Seven of 9 hMAM positive (78%) and 11/15 (73%) CK19 positive pts had disease progression. All the 14 pts who had disease progression were CTC positive while the only 2 CTC negative pts were free from progression at the time of last follow-up. Conclusions: (1) Multiple (hMAM, CK19) rather than single marker detection should be preferred for CTC blood screening in breast cancer. (2) Combined hMAM and CK19 evaluation might identify pts at higher risk of tumor progression and might be useful for stratification and decision making in metastatic breast cancer pts.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Hypoxia-induced p21waf and p27 regulation in c-myc immortalized cells

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Background: Hypoxia is an adaptative response to tissue damage whose mechanisms have not been yet characterized. From a clinical viewpoint, tumours with more necrosis, an indicator of severe hypoxic stress, are often resistant to conventional treatment. Moreover, numerous tumours overexpressed c-myc which strongly enforces proliferation in oxygen deprived conditions. Evidences showed that c-myc blocked cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (CDKI) through a complex network of interactions inducing proliferation and G0-S transition. We examined whether Rat-1 immortalized fibroblasts underwent cell cycle arrest p21waf- and p27- mediated in response to O2-deprivation. Materials and Methods: c-myc null cells (-/-) were derived by gene targeting from an immortalized but otherwise non- transformed Rat-1 fibroblast cell line. Oxygen deprivation conditions (0.2% and 1% O2) were achieved in a humidified anaerobic workstation at 37 °C for 6 or 24 hours. Protein concentration was determined by the Lawry assay method. Immunoblots for c-myc and p21waf and p27 were performed. Results: c-myc (+/+) samples collected after 6 hours of hypoxia, which were supposed to be slowly proliferating, showed lower p21waf and p27 levels than c-myc (-/-). Over 24 hours of hypoxia, cell cultures were supposed to be oxygen-dependent and we found higher CDKI levels in c-myc (+/+) cells. Discussion: Our data could explain same resistance mechanisms of tumours cells. In fact, 6 hours O2-deprived-cells, which are unable to supply autonomous O2 support (neo-angiogenesis, in vivo), downregulated p21waf and p27 expression to overcome CDKI cell-cycle arrest. When the cells acquired O2-dependent growth mechanism, low O2 level induced c-myc mediated p21waf and p27 up-regulation to induce cell cycle arrest. Despite the up-regulation of CDKI, PS 341 (a proteasome inhibitors) has been demonstrated to induce apoptosis. Our data kindly encouraging trials on the use of p21waf and p27 stabilizers (like PS 341) in those tumours which overexpressed c-myc.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

System size and energy dependence of jet-induced hadron pair correlation shapes in Cu+Cu and Au+Au collisions at square root sNN=200 and 62.4 GeV

We present azimuthal angle correlations of intermediate transverse momentum (1-4 GeV/c) hadrons from dijets in Cu+Cu and Au+Au collisions at square root sNN=62.4 and 200 GeV. The away-side dijet induced azimuthal correlation is broadened, non-Gaussian, and peaked away from Delta phi=pi in central and semicentral collisions in all the systems. The broadening and peak location are found to depend upon the number of participants in the collision, but not on the collision energy or beam nuclei. These results are consistent with sound or shock wave models, but pose challenges to Cherenkov gluon radiation models.

J/psi production versus transverse momentum and rapidity in p+p collisions at square root s=200 GeV

J/psi production in p+p collisions at square root s=200 GeV has been measured by the PHENIX experiment at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider over a rapidity range of -2.2<y<2.2 and a transverse momentum range of 0<pT<9 GeV/c. The size of the present data set allows a detailed measurement of both the pT and the rapidity distributions and is sufficient to constrain production models. The total cross section times the branching ratio is Bll sigma pp J/psi=178+/-3stat+/-53sys+/-18norm nb.