Evaluation of Optical and Acoustical Properties of BaSrTiO Thin Film Material Library via Conjugation of Picosecond Laser Ultrasonics with X-ray Diffraction, Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy, Electron Probe Micro Analysis, Scanning Electron and Atomic Force Microscopies.

Wide-range continuous spatial variation of the film composition in lateral compositionally graded epitaxial films requires the development of high throughput measurement techniques for their local and non-destructive characterization with the highest possible spatial resolution. Here we report on the first application of the picosecond laser ultrasonics (PLU) technique for the evaluation of acoustical and optical parameters of lateral compositionally graded film, the BaSrTiO (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) material library. The film was not dedicatedly prepared for its opto-acousto-optic evaluation by PLU, exhibiting significant lateral variations in thickness and surface roughness.

Breast cancer screening in women with cerebral palsy: Could care delivery be improved?

Background: Women with disabilities (WWD) have reported lower mammography rates than the general population, however rates for women with cerebral palsy (CP) have not been specifically studied.

Objective: To evaluate mammography rates in women with CP and to identify strengths and barriers with their screening experience.

Methods: Women with CP 40 years or older (n = 118) participating in a prospective cross-sectional survey were queried regarding screening status, imaging modality, and accommodation needs and availability.

Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline: Autologous Breast Reconstruction with DIEP or Pedicled TRAM Abdominal Flaps.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons commissioned a multistakeholder Work Group to develop recommendations for autologous breast reconstruction with abdominal flaps. A systematic literature review was performed and a stringent appraisal process was used to rate the quality of relevant scientific research. The Work Group assigned to draft this guideline was unable to find evidence of superiority of one technique over the other (deep inferior epigastric perforator versus pedicled transverse rectus abdominis musculocutaneous flap) in autologous tissue reconstruction of the breast after mastectomy.

Gene Methylation and Cytological Atypia in Random Fine-Needle Aspirates for Assessment of Breast Cancer Risk.

Methods to determine individualized breast cancer risk lack sufficient sensitivity to select women most likely to benefit from preventive strategies. Alterations in DNA methylation occur early in breast cancer. We hypothesized that cancer-specific methylation markers could enhance breast cancer risk assessment.

Clinical outcomes with the MammoSite radiation therapy system: results of a prospective trial.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to report the treatment-induced adverse events and cosmetic and treatment outcomes of accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) delivered with the MammoSite radiation therapy system (RTS) in breast cancer patients undergoing breast-conserving therapy (BCT).

Methods: This is a prospective clinical trial that was approved by the institutional review board. The study included female breast cancer patients undergoing breast-conserving therapy in the form of surgery and APBI delivered with the MammoSite RTS.

Hormonal determinants of nipple aspirate fluid yield among breast cancer cases and screening controls.

Background: Nipple aspiration fluid (NAF) use as a biosample is limited by the variable yield across studies. We investigated the endocrine determinants of yield in an ongoing breast cancer case-control study.

Methods: One-hundred and eighteen women yielding ≥2 μL NAF and 120 non-yielders were included; serum hormones were measured; differences in median hormones were assessed using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test.

Structural and functional consequences of c-N-Ras constitutively associated with intact mitochondria.

We demonstrate that both c-N-Ras and c-K(B)-Ras are constitutively associated with purified mitochondria. c-K(B)-Ras is associated with the mitochondrial outer membrane, and c-N-Ras is associated with both the outer membrane and inner mitochondrial compartments. The mitochondrial morphology is abnormal in both c-N-Ras negative and K-Ras negative cells.

Tyk2 tyrosine kinase expression is required for the maintenance of mitochondrial respiration in primary pro-B lymphocytes.

Tyk2, a member of the Jak family of protein tyrosine kinases, is critical for the biological actions of alpha/beta interferon (IFN-alpha/beta). Although Tyk2(-/-) mice are phenotypically normal, they exhibit abnormal responses to inflammatory challenges in a variety of cells isolated from Tyk2(-/-) mice. The reported phenotypic alterations in both Tyk2-null cells and mice are consistent with the possibility that the expression of this tyrosine kinase may regulate mitochondrial function.

Growth factor-dependent AKT activation and cell migration requires the function of c-K(B)-Ras versus other cellular ras isoforms.

K-Ras-negative fibroblasts are defective in their steady-state expression of MMP-2. This occurs through c-K(B)-Ras dependent regulation of basal levels of AKT activity. In this report, we have extended those studies to demonstrate that in the absence of K-Ras expression, PDGF-BB fails to induce significant AKT activation, although this was not the case in N-Ras-negative cells.

Digital and screen-film mammography: comparison of image acquisition and interpretation times.

Objective: The objective of our study was to compare acquisition times and interpretation times of screening examinations using screen-film mammography and soft-copy digital mammography.

Materials And Methods: Technologist study acquisition time from examination initiation to release of the screenee was measured for both screen-film and digital mammography (100 cases each) in routine clinical practice. The total interpretation time for screening mammography was also measured for 183 hard-copy screen-film cases and 181 soft-copy digital cases interpreted by a total of seven breast imaging radiologists, four experienced breast imagers, and three breast imaging fellows.

Ductal lavage findings in women with mammographic microcalcifications undergoing biopsy.

Background: We designed a prospective study to assess the likelihood that early lesions presenting as mammographic calcifications could be accessed for cytological diagnosis by ductal lavage (DL).

Methods: Consenting women with calcifications (Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System 4 or 5) underwent DL of fluid-yielding ducts (FYDs) before stereotactic core or excisional biopsy. The DL catheter was used to inject .

Psychosocial correlates of recreational ecstasy use among college students.

College students' ecstasy (MDMA) use increased significantly in recent years, yet little is known about these students. In this study, the authors used the Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Studies (CORE) survey to compare 29 college students who had used ecstasy and other illicit drugs with 90 students who had used marijuana and no other illicit drugs. They noted differences in age, frequency of alcohol and marijuana use, average age of onset of marijuana use, frequency of negative consequences associated with substance use, perceptions of peer norms' drug use, perceived peer acceptance of substance use, and risk perception of substance use.

Ductal lavage findings in women with known breast cancer undergoing mastectomy.

Background: Ductal lavage has the potential to detect cancer by sampling breast epithelium in asymptomatic high-risk women. To assess the utility of ductal lavage as a cancer diagnostic test, we investigated the association between ductal lavage cytologic findings and histologic findings in women with known breast cancer undergoing mastectomy.

Methods: Ductal lavage was performed in the operating room before mastectomy on 44 breasts from 32 women with known cancer and on eight breasts from seven women undergoing prophylactic mastectomy, two with occult malignancy.

Prediction of breast cancer size by ultrasound, mammography and core biopsy.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy and non-surgical tumor ablation rely upon imaging studies to determine tumor size. In this study the accuracy of ultrasound (US) mammography and core biopsy in determining tumor size was examined in 202 patients with Stages I and II breast cancer. The most accurate single modality for determining tumor size was mammography with a correlation coefficient of 0.

Physical inactivity and percent breast density among Hispanic women.

Results of epidemiologic studies suggest an inverse association between breast cancer risk and physical activity; this is one of the few modifiable breast cancer risk factors identified to date. However, only 2 previous studies assessed the association between physical activity and the extent of mammographically-detected fibroglandular breast density, a marker of breast cancer risk. Moreover, there has been no study of physical inactivity and percent breast density, nor a study of this relationship in Hispanic women, who are less physically active than non-Hispanic whites.

Associations of breast cancer risk factors with breast density in Hispanic women.

Although there has been much research on the factors associated with breast density, most studies did not include Hispanic women or relied on semiquantitative methods of assessing density. Using data from the Chicago Breast Health Project, which targeted Hispanic women and assessed density quantitatively using full-field digital mammography, we assessed cross-sectional associations of breast cancer risk factors with percentage of breast density. Between November 2000 and June 2002, 296 Hispanic women recruited from three community health centers in Chicago, Illinois completed a health and lifestyle questionnaire, had their height and weight measured, and underwent screening mammography.

The effect of ipsilateral whole breast ultrasonography on the surgical management of breast carcinoma.

Background: Patients can be selected for breast conservation therapy using mammography and physical examination. Whole breast ultrasonography has been shown to identify lesions not seen on mammography. This study sought to determine how often whole breast ultrasonography changes the surgical management of breast cancer.

K-ras regulates the steady-state expression of matrix metalloproteinase 2 in fibroblasts.

Fibroblasts constitutively express matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2), which specifically cleaves type IV collagen, a major structural component of basement membranes. The level of MMP-2 expression was not altered by serum withdrawal, suggesting that MMP-2 expression is regulated by a series of steady-state conditions that impinge on the MMP-2 promoter. Expression of a dominant-negative Ras protein significantly inhibited MMP-2 transcription, thereby suggesting a role for steady-state Ras function in the regulation of MMP-2 expression.

Cellular N-Ras promotes cell survival by downregulation of Jun N-terminal protein kinase and p38.

Cellular N-Ras provides a steady-state antiapoptotic signal, at least partially through the regulation of phosphorylated Akt and Bad levels. Fibroblasts lacking c-N-Ras expression are highly sensitive to the induction of apoptosis by a variety of agents. Reduction of pBad and pAkt levels using a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor was not sufficient to sensitize the control cell population to the high level of apoptosis observed in the N-Ras knockout cell lines, suggesting that c-N-Ras provides at least one other antiapoptotic signal.