Integration of quantitative DCE-MRI and ADC mapping to monitor treatment response in human breast cancer: initial results

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to assess changes in the water apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and in pharmacokinetic parameters obtained from the fast-exchange regime (FXR) modeling of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) during neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eleven patients with locally advanced breast cancer underwent MRI examination prior to and after chemotherapy but prior to surgery. A 1.5-T scanner was used to obtain T1, ADC and DCE-MRI data. DCE-MRI data were analyzed by the FXR model returning estimates of K(trans) (volume transfer constant), v(e) (extravascular extracellular volume fraction) and tau(i) (average intracellular water lifetime). Histogram and correlation analyses assessed parameter changes post-treatment. RESULTS: Significant (P < .05) changes or trends towards significance (P < .10) were seen in all parameters except tau(i), although there was qualitative reduction in tau(i) values post-treatment. In particular, there was reduction (P < .035) in voxels with K(trans) values in the range 0.2-0.5 min(-1) and a decrease (P < .05) in voxels with ADC values in the range 0.99 x 10(-3) to 1.35 x 10(-3) mm2/s. ADC and v(e) were negatively correlated (r = -.60, P < .02). Parameters sensitive to water distribution and geometry (T(1), v(e), tau(i) and ADC) correlated with a multivariable linear regression model. CONCLUSION: The analysis presented here is sensitive to longitudinal changes in breast tumor status; K(trans) and ADC are most sensitive to these changes. Relationships between parameters provide information on water distribution and geometry in the tumor environment.     

CERIC-ERIC,a New Opportunity for Synchrotron and Multi-Technique Research

Anew initiative to facilitate interdisciplinary research on advanced materials, biomaterials, and nanotechnology has begun operation in Europe. CERIC, the Central European Research Infrastructure Consortium, is a partnership between two synchrotrons and seven other advanced, user-based research centers, each in a different country participating in the consortium (see Figure 1).     

Photopolymerization studies of alkyl and aryl ester derivatives of ethyl α-hydroxymethylacrylate

Several new benzoate ester derivatives of ethyl α-hydroxymethylacrylate were synthesized using phase transfer catalysis and found to display unexpectedly rapid photopolymerization; i.e., from 2 to 8 times faster than MMA. New derivatives described here include the 4-fluoro-, 4-trifluoromethyl-, 4-methyl-, 2-hydroxy-, 4-nitro-, 4-methoxy-, 4-cyano-, and 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoate esters along with the parent benzoate ester. Relative reactivities of these monomers in photopolymerizations were compared with those of the nonaromatic formate, acetate, hexanoate, and stearate derivatives. Reactivities of the nonaromatic ester derivatives increased with the length of the side chain while for the more reactive aromatic esters, rates increased in the order 4-methyl-, 4-fluoro- and benzoate < 4-trifluoromethyl- and 2-hydroxy- < 4-cyano- < 4-methoxy- < 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoate. T_gs of the benzoate polymers ranged from 125°C for the 4-fluoro to 163°C for the 4-cyanobenzoate while those of the alkyl ester derivatives ranged from 15 to 78°C. Number average molecular weights of photoinitiated polymers (ca 10,000–20,000) were lower than those found for bulk and solution polymers (20,000—708,000) consistent with higher radical concentrations from photoinitiation. These materials greatly expand the number of candidates available for rapid photocure in thin film and coating applications, especially because their physical properties are those of linear rather than highly crosslinked structures formed from multifunctional systems. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Sharp bounds for decompositions of graphs into complete r-partite subgraphs

If G is a graph on n vertices and r ≥ 2, we let m_r(G) denote the minimum number of complete multipartite subgraphs, with r or fewer parts, needed to partition the edge set, E(G). In determining m_r(G), we may assume that no two vertices of G have the same neighbor set. For such reducedgraphs G, we prove that m_r(G) ≥ log₂ (n + r − 1)/r. Furthermore, for each k ≥ 0 and r ≥ 2, there is a unique reduced graph G = G(r, k) with m_r(G) = k for which equality holds. We conclude with a short proof of the known eigenvalue bound m_r(G) ≥ max{n₊ (G, n₋(G)/(r − 1)}, and show that equality holds if G = G(r, k). © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Charge‐Induced Unzipping of Isolated Proteins to a Defined Secondary Structure

Here we present a combined experimental and theoretical study on the secondary structure of isolated proteins as a function of charge state. In infrared spectra of the proteins ubiquitin and cytochrome c, amide I (C=O stretch) and amide II (N–H bend) bands can be found at positions that are typical for condensed‐phase proteins. For high charge states a new band appears, substantially red‐shifted from the amide II band observed at lower charge states. The observations are interpreted in terms of Coulomb‐driven transitions in secondary structures from mostly helical to extended C₅‐type hydrogen‐bonded structures. Support for this interpretation comes from simple energy considerations as well as from quantum chemical calculations on model peptides. This transition in secondary structure is most likely universal for isolated proteins that occur in mass spectrometric experiments.     

Spontaneous macroscopic spin polarization in independent spinor Bose-Einstein condensates

We present experimental evidence for the spontaneous formation of a macroscopic spin polarization in overlapping regions of two independent Bose-Einstein condensates produced in different hyperfine states of 87Rb. The condensates are independent in the sense that we do not explicitly introduce a relative phase between them. A single "spin-tip" pulse maps the transverse spin polarization into longitudinal spin polarization, and the atomic density distributions are measured with a Stern-Gerlach imaging method. The resulting matter-wave interference patterns are anticorrelated.     

Acoustic attenuation probe for Fermion superfluidity in ultracold-atom gases

Dilute gas Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC's), currently used to cool fermionic atoms in atom traps, can also probe the superfluidity of these fermions. The damping rate of BEC-acoustic excitations (phonon modes), measured in the middle of the trap as a function of the phonon momentum, yields an unambiguous signature of BCS-like superfluidity, provides a measurement of the superfluid gap parameter, and gives an estimate of the size of the Cooper pairs in the BEC-BCS crossover regime. We also predict kinks in the momentum dependence of the damping rate which can reveal detailed information about the fermion quasiparticle dispersion relation.