A Hybrid Microwave-Optical Applicator for Local Muscle Warming and Monitoring

Local warming of human tissue causes vasodilation and therefore blood volume to increase. Such thermal blood volume response allows the assessment of microcirculation in tissue, providing clinically important information. The deep warming is provided by a novel microwave applicator, which has a annular-ring microstrip patch operating at 2450 MHz with a superstrate interface layer to improve the coupling of electromagnetic (EM) waves into the skin. The design is based on computer simulations of specific absorption rate (SAR) and thermal distribution of the EM waves in a biological medium. The simulation results show that the applicator can elevate the muscle temperature by 3 to 4^{\circ}\mathrm{C}. The thermal response is measured by an integrated optical probe which measures tissue oxygenation changes in deep tissue using the near infrared spectroscopy technique

Bypass of mutagenic O 6 -Carboxymethylguanine DNA Adducts by Human Y- and B-Family Polymerases

The generation of chemical alkylating agents from nitrosation of glycine and bile acid conjugates in the gastrointestinal tract is hypothesized to initiate carcinogenesis. O6-carboxymethylguanine (O6-CMG) is a product of DNA alkylation derived from nitrosated glycine. Although the tendency of the structurally related adduct O6-methylguanine to code for the misincoporation of TTP during DNA replication is well-established, the impact of the presence of the O6-CMG adduct in a DNA template on the efficiency and fidelity of translesion DNA synthesis (TLS) by human DNA polymerases (Pols) has hitherto not been described. Herein, we characterize the ability of the four human TLS Pols η, ι, κ, and ζ and the replicative Pol δ to bypass O6-CMG in a prevalent mutational hot-spot for colon cancer. The results indicate that Pol η replicates past O6-CMG, incorporating dCMP or dAMP, whereas Pol κ incorporates dCMP only, and Pol ι incorporates primarily dTMP. Additionally, the subsequent extension step was carried out with high efficiency by TLS Pols η, κ, and ζ, while Pol ι was unable to extend from a terminal mismatch. These results provide a first basis of O6-CMG-promoted base misincorporation by Y- and B-family polymerases potentially leading to mutational signatures associated with colon cancer

Familial cancer risk in family members and spouses of patients with early-onset head and neck cancer

Background Reported patterns of familial aggregation of head and neck cancer (HNC) vary greatly, with many studies hampered by the limited number of subjects. Methods Altogether 923 early-onset ( Results Of all early-onset HNC families, only 21 (2.3%) had familial HNC cancers at any age and less than five familial early onset HNC cancers among first-degree relatives. The cumulative risk of HNC for siblings by age 60 (0.52%) was at population level (0.33%). No increased familial risk of early-onset HNC could be discerned in family members (SIR 2.68, 95% CI 0.32-9.68 for first-degree relatives). Conclusions Our study indicates that the cumulative and relative familial risk of early-onset HNC is modest in the Finnish population and, at most, only a minor proportion of early-onset HNCs are due solely to inherited genetic mutations.Peer reviewe

The radar signature of the Wind Lens: a less disruptive wind turbine?

We study the radar signature of a new type of wind turbine, named the Wind Lens. This design includes a flanged shroud around the turbine which concentrates the wind flow past the turbine blades and hence improves the efficiency. The design also offers improved safety, and reduces acoustic noise. Furthermore, it may offer a significantly lower radar signature, which may make the design much more attractive for use in situations where conventional wind turbine designs may disturb the operation of radars. We present the results of an experimental trial, carried out in the UK, to measure the Radar Cross Section (RCS) of a 5 kW Wind Lens turbine prototype and we provide a reference database that can be used for comparing the Wind Lens RCS with that of conventional turbines. We investigate methods to further reduce the Wind Lens RCS and present the results of a time-varying Doppler analysis. Results show that the addition of a metallic mesh around the shroud obscures the rotating blades, and hence mitigates the RCS by 15 dBm2, at angles where the radar interference is highest

Effect of insurance status and distance from treatment center on the overall survival of patients with non-small cell lung caner treated in an academic center

e17557 Background: A large proportion of patients withcancer treated in academic centers do not have insurance and they travel from far distances to get medical care. We have retrospectively analyzed the outcome of 230 patients with non small cell lung caner in our cancer center and evaluated the effect of insurance status and their distances from our center on overall survival. These patients have traveled from many different regional cities to our center since mid-1996 to November 2008. Methods: We have performed a multivariate analysis on 230 patients with all stages of non small cell lung cancer correcting for sex, race, age, comorbidity, stage of cancer, body mass index, histology, chemotherapy, performance status, smoking history, distance from our center and insurance status. The distance ranged from 0.4 to 343 miles with mean of 69 (standard deviation of 71) . Age ranged from 30 to 89 with a mean number of 57 (standard deviation of 10).Insurance status was divided into 3 categories of no insurance, medicaid and with insurance. Chi square test was used to compare the distribution of the stages of lung cancer patients with other categorial variables. The log rank test was used to compare the survival of different categorical variables and Cox proportional regression was used for multivariate analysis of overall survival. Results: There were no statistical significant differences on overall survival considering distance of travel or insurance status.(P value for distance was 0.505 and for insurance it was 0.648). Smokers and patients with a poor performance status (ECOG 3 and 4) had a statiatically significant worse overall survival. (P value for smoking was 0.0036 and p value for ECOG equal or above 4 was &lt;0.0001). Conclusions: The results from our study indicate that travel distance and payer status do not effect overall survival in lung cancer patients at our center. No significant financial relationships to disclose. </jats:p