Tumor innervation and clinical outcome in pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is a highly aggressive malignancy characterized by poor survival, recurrence after surgery and resistance to therapy. Nerves infiltrate the microenvironment of pancreatic cancers and contribute to tumor progression, however the clinicopathological significance of tumor innervation is unclear. In this study, the presence of nerves and their cross-sectional size were quantified by immunohistochemistry for the neuronal markers S-100, PGP9.

The Membrane Protein Sortilin Can Be Targeted to Inhibit Pancreatic Cancer Cell Invasion.

Pancreatic cancer has a dismal prognosis, and there is no targeted therapy against this malignancy. The neuronal membrane protein sortilin is emerging as a regulator of cancer cell development, but its expression and impact in pancreatic cancer are unknown. This study found that sortilin expression was higher in pancreatic cell lines versus normal pancreatic ductal epithelial cells, as shown by Western blot analysis and mass spectrometry.

HIV care and treatment clinic performance following President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief-funded infrastructure improvement in Tanzania.

Purpose: To assess how the infrastructure improvements supported by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) contributed to facility-level quarterly and annual new patient enrolment in HIV care and treatment and antiretroviral therapy (ART) uptake and retention in care.

Methods: Aggregate quarterly and annual facility-based HIV care and treatment data from the CDC-managed PEPFAR Reporting Online and Management Information System database collected between 2005 and 2012 were analysed for the 11 rural and 32 urban facilities that met the eligibility criteria. Infrastructure improvements, including both renovations and new construction, occurred on different dates for the facilities; therefore, data were adjusted such that pre- and post-infrastructure improvements were aligned and date-time was ignored.

Evidence for concerted ring opening and C-Br bond breaking in UV-excited bromocyclopropane.

Photodissociation of gaseous bromocyclopropane via its A-band continuum has been studied at excitation wavelengths ranging from 230 nm to 267 nm. Velocity-map images of ground-state bromine atoms (Br), spin-orbit excited bromine atoms (Br(∗)), and C3H5 hydrocarbon radicals reveal the kinetic energies of these various photofragments. Both Br and Br(∗) atoms are predominantly generated via repulsive excited electronic states in a prompt photodissociation process in which the hydrocarbon co-fragment is a cyclopropyl radical.

Fast sensors for time-of-flight imaging applications.

The development of sensors capable of detecting particles and radiation with both high time and high positional resolution is key to improving our understanding in many areas of science. Example applications of such sensors range from fundamental scattering studies of chemical reaction mechanisms through to imaging mass spectrometry of surfaces, neutron scattering studies aimed at probing the structure of materials, and time-resolved fluorescence measurements to elucidate the structure and function of biomolecules. In addition to improved throughput resulting from parallelisation of data collection - imaging of multiple different fragments in velocity-map imaging studies, for example - fast image sensors also offer a number of fundamentally new capabilities in areas such as coincidence detection.

Electron ionization of SiCl4.

Relative partial ionization cross sections (PICS) for the formation of fragment ions following electron ionization of SiCl(4), in the electron energy range 30-200 eV, have been determined using time-of-flight mass spectrometry coupled with an ion coincidence technique. By this method, the contributions to the yield of each fragment ion from dissociative single, double, and triple ionization, are distinguished. These yields are quantified in the form of relative precursor-specific PICS, which are reported here for the first time for SiCl(4).

Electron ionization of methane: the dissociation of the methane monocation and dication.

Time-of-flight mass spectrometry and two-dimensional coincidence techniques have been used to determine, for the first time, the relative precursor-specific partial ionization cross sections following electron-methane collisions. Precursor-specific partial ionization cross sections quantify the contribution of single, double, and higher levels of ionization to the partial ionization cross section for forming a specific ion (e.g.

Measurements of extinction by aerosol particles in the near-infrared using continuous wave cavity ring-down spectroscopy.

Cavity ring-down spectroscopy using a fiber-coupled continuous wave distributed feedback laser at a wavelength of 1520 nm has been used to measure extinction of light by samples of nearly monodisperse aerosol particles <1 μm in diameter. A model is tested for the analysis of the sample extinction that is based on the Poisson statistics of the number of particles within the intracavity laser beam: variances of measured extinction are used to derive values of the scattering cross section for size-selected aerosol particles, without need for knowledge of the particle number density or sample length. Experimental parameters that influence the performance of the CRD system and the application and limitations of the statistical model are examined in detail.

Electron ionization of acetylene.

Relative partial ionization cross sections and precursor specific relative partial ionization cross sections for fragment ions formed by electron ionization of C2H2 have been measured using time-of-flight mass spectrometry coupled with a 2D ion-ion coincidence technique. We report data for the formation of H+, H+2, C2+, C+/C2+ 2, CH+/C2H+2, CH+2, C+2, and C2H+ relative to the formation of C2H+2, as a function of ionizing electron energy from 30-200 eV. While excellent agreement is found between our data and one set of previously published absolute partial ionization cross sections, some discrepancies exist between the results presented here and two other recent determinations of these absolute partial ionization cross sections.

Molecular precursors to gallium oxide thin films.

The donor-functionalised alkoxides [Et(2)Ga(OR)](2)(R = CH(2)CH(2)NMe(2)(1), CH(CH(2)NMe(2))(2)(2), CH(2)CH(2)OMe (3), CH(CH(3))CH(2)NMe(2)(4), C(CH(3))(2)CH(2)OMe (5)) were synthesised by the 1:1 reaction of Et(3)Ga with ROH in hexane or dichloromethane at room temperature. Reaction of Et(3)Ga with excess ROH in refluxing toluene resulted in the isolation of a 1:1 mixture of [Et(2)Ga(OR)](2) and the ethylgallium bisalkoxide [EtGa(OR)(2)](R = CH(2)CH(2)NMe(2)(6) or CH(CH(3))CH(2)NMe(2)(7)). X-ray crystallography showed that compound 6 is monomeric and this complex represents the first structurally characterised monomeric gallium bisalkoxide.