S-phase fractions of breast carcinomas. Relationships to morphology, estrogen and progesterone receptors, and early recurrence

Analysis of the S-phase fractions (SPF) measured by in vitro thymidine labeling, morphological appearances, and estrogen receptor (ER) assays of primary invasive breast carcinomas demonstrated several interrelationships. Lobular, mucinous, tubular, and adenocystic carcinomas consistently had low SPF and were usually positive for ER. The same was true for the carcinomas of no special histologic type [the not otherwise specified (NOS) group of E. R. Fisher including "infiltrating ductal" and undifferentiated carcinomas] with minimal anaplasia. Medullary, atypical medullary, and morphologically unclassifiable carcinomas with marked nuclear anaplasia nearly always had high SPF and were usually negative for ER. High SPF was associated with advanced stages of carcinoma initially or with early recurrence following mastectomy.     

The influence of light- and heavy-ion irradiation on the structure,resistivity, and superconducting transition temperature of V3Si. A comparative study

Channeling and x-ray diffraction measurements on Kr- and He-irradiated V₃Si single crystals and films reveal different damage levels for fluences in cases where the superconducting transition temperature T _chas been reduced by the same amount. This indicates that only special defect structures are responsible for the T _c-reduction mechanism. In the fluence region where T _cis decreasing, T _ccorrelates with residual resistivity _o, independent of the kind of irradiation. However, at particle fluences where T _csaturation occurs, different saturation values of _o are observed. The exponential decrease and the saturation of T _cwith fluence are explained by a similar behavior of g9_o versus fluence in the damage production and saturation processes. The increase of the lattice parameter is not uniquely dependent on the decrease of T _c, but also on the amount of damage present.     

Frequency multiplexed superconducting quantum interference device readout of large bolometer arrays for cosmic microwave background measurements

A technological milestone for experiments employing transition edge sensor bolometers operating at sub-Kelvin temperature is the deployment of detector arrays with 100s-1000s of bolometers. One key technology for such arrays is readout multiplexing: the ability to read out many sensors simultaneously on the same set of wires. This paper describes a frequency-domain multiplexed readout system which has been developed for and deployed on the APEX-SZ and South Pole Telescope millimeter wavelength receivers. In this system, the detector array is divided into modules of seven detectors, and each bolometer within the module is biased with a unique ～MHz sinusoidal carrier such that the individual bolometer signals are well separated in frequency space. The currents from all bolometers in a module are summed together and pre-amplified with superconducting quantum interference devices operating at 4 K. Room temperature electronics demodulate the carriers to recover the bolometer signals, which are digitized separately and stored to disk. This readout system contributes little noise relative to the detectors themselves, is remarkably insensitive to unwanted microphonic excitations, and provides a technology pathway to multiplexing larger numbers of sensors.     

Efficient data management in a large-scale epidemiology research project

This article describes the concept of a "Central Data Management" (CDM) and its implementation within the large-scale population-based medical research project "Personalized Medicine". The CDM can be summarized as a conjunction of data capturing, data integration, data storage, data refinement, and data transfer. A wide spectrum of reliable "Extract Transform Load" (ETL) software for automatic integration of data as well as "electronic Case Report Forms" (eCRFs) was developed, in order to integrate decentralized and heterogeneously captured data. Due to the high sensitivity of the captured data, high system resource availability, data privacy, data security and quality assurance are of utmost importance. A complex data model was developed and implemented using an Oracle database in high availability cluster mode in order to integrate different types of participant-related data. Intelligent data capturing and storage mechanisms are improving the quality of data. Data privacy is ensured by a multi-layered role/right system for access control and de-identification of identifying data. A well defined backup process prevents data loss. Over the period of one and a half year, the CDM has captured a wide variety of data in the magnitude of approximately 5terabytes without experiencing any critical incidents of system breakdown or loss of data. The aim of this article is to demonstrate one possible way of establishing a Central Data Management in large-scale medical and epidemiological studies.     

Analytic Tangent Irradiance Environment Maps for Anisotropic Surfaces

Environment‐mapped rendering of Lambertian isotropic surfaces is common, and a popular technique is to use a quadratic spherical harmonic expansion. This compact irradiance map representation is widely adopted in interactive applications like video games. However, many materials are anisotropic, and shading is determined by the local tangent direction, rather than the surface normal. Even for visualization and illustration, it is increasingly common to define a tangent vector field, and use anisotropic shading. In this paper, we extend spherical harmonic irradiance maps to anisotropic surfaces, replacing Lambertian reflectance with the diffuse term of the popular Kajiya‐Kay model. We show that there is a direct analogy, with the surface normal replaced by the tangent. Our main contribution is an analytic formula for the diffuse Kajiya‐Kay BRDF in terms of spherical harmonics; this derivation is more complicated than for the standard diffuse lobe. We show that the terms decay even more rapidly than for Lambertian reflectance, going as l^–3, where l is the spherical harmonic order, and with only 6 terms (l = 0 and l = 2) capturing 99.8% of the energy. Existing code for irradiance environment maps can be trivially adapted for real‐time rendering with tangent irradiance maps. We also demonstrate an application to offline rendering of the diffuse component of fibers, using our formula as a control variate for Monte Carlo sampling.     

Correlation between machining direction,cutter geometry and step-over distance in 3-axis milling: Application to milling by zones

Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) occupies an increasingly important role in engineering with all it has to offer in terms of new possibilities and improving designer/manufacturer productivity. The present study addresses machining of free-form surfaces on a 3-axis NC machine tool. There have recently been a large number of studies devoted to planning tool paths on free-form surfaces with various strategies being adopted. These strategies are intended to increase efficiency by reducing the overall length of machining. Often, the choice of the cutter is arbitrary and the work focuses on planning. In order to boost productivity, the present work offers assistance in choosing the cutting tool, the machining direction and cutting by surface zones, adopting a milling strategy by parallel planes. To do so, a comparison is made between milling using a spherical end milling cutter and a torus end milling cutter with the same outer radius. This comparison relates to the radius of curvature of the trace left by the cutter at the point of contact between the tool and the workpiece in relation to the direction of feed motion.     

Superconductivity,structural disorder,and phase transitions in ion-irradiated Nb3Al films

Thin films of single-phase A15 Nb₃Al were irradiated with protons and nitrogen ions. X-ray intensity analysis revealed a decrease of the Bragg-Williams long-range order parameterS and an increase of the average displacement amplitude of the atomsU in the fluence region where a decrease of the superconducting transition temperatureT _c was observed. The functional dependence ofT _c onS andU was found to depend on the ion species used for irradiation. After irradiation with 10¹⁶ N²⁺ / cm² the A15 phase transformed into an A2 phase. Furnace annealing caused a retransformation into the A15 phase with improved superconducting properties.     

NMR studies of single crystals of H2. V. NMR anisotropy and order parameter distribution ofX (ortho)≤0.55

We report a study of the NMR line shapes in hcp single crystals of H₂ with ortho concentrationsX0.55 in the regime where there is no longer a transition to a long-range orientationally ordered phase. From the anisotropy of the o-H₂ impurity NMR spectrum at low ortho concentration, reached by ortho-para conversion, the crystal orientation is determined. The second momentM ₂ can be represented by a function of the formM ₂=(X, T)f(cos _Hc ), where _Hc is the angle between the applied magnetic field and the crystalc axis. For a single crystal, the anisotropy functionf(cos _Hc ) is found to be independent of temperature and of ortho concentration within experimental error, and is in very good agreement with predictions based on the first term of the high-temperature expansion ofM ₂ and on other, more general symmetry arguments. An order parameter is defined and the distribution functionP() is calculated from the NMR line shapes under the simplifying assumption that the anisotropy of the order parameter, which gives rise to the observed anisotropy ofM ₂, can be neglected. We giveP() as a function ofX at low temperature, where the line shape is only weakly dependent onT, and as a function ofT at constantX. It is found that the line shapes andP() in both situations evolve continuously and give no hint of a phase transition. These results are discussed in relation to those of magnetic spin-glasses, and it is concluded that the orientational regime in solid H₂, called a quadrupolar glass by previous investigators, cannot be distinguished by symmetry from the orientationally disordered phase that occurs at high temperature.Work supported by NSF grants DMR-81-02993 at Duke University and DMR-79-10153 at the University of Pennsylvania.     

Occlusive phlebitis in multifocal fibrosclerosis

Multifocal fibrosclerosis, as the name implies, concerns disseminated fibrous processes that manifest as Riedel's thyroiditis, idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis, mediastinal fibrosis, sclerosing cholangitis, and pseudotumor of the orbit. Certain cases of fibrosis of the parotid gland, the lacrimal glands, and the lung may belong in the same category. The cases of two patients with Riedel's thyroiditis, one of whom also has retroperitoneal fibrosis, are described. Unusual changes in the small and middle-sized veins in the fibrous tissue in the thyroid and in the retroperitoneum, best designated "occlusive phlebitis," seem to be characteristic of the multifocal fibrosclerosis. They may contribute to the disease process.     

The effect of hydrogen in the mechanism of aluminum-induced crystallization of sputtered amorphous silicon using scanning Auger microanalysis

The metal-induced crystallization (MIC) of hydrogenated sputtered amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) using aluminum has been investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning Auger microanalysis (SAM). Hydrogenated, as well as non-hydrogenated, amorphous silicon (a-Si) films were sputtered on glass substrates, then capped with a thin layer of Al. Following the depositions, the samples were annealed in the temperature range 200 °C to 400 °C for varying periods of time. Crystallization of the samples was confirmed by XRD. Non-hydrogenated films started to crystallize at 350 °C. On the other hand, crystallization of the samples with the highest hydrogen (H₂) content initiated at 225 °C. Thus, the crystallization temperature is affected by the H₂ content of the a-Si. Material structure following annealing was confirmed by SAM. In this paper, a comprehensive model for MIC of a-Si is developed based on these experimental results.