Arkray (Japan)

ABSTRACT This paper proposes a generalized Green’s Function Approach (GFA) to calibrate the boundary conditions and parameters of a coastal current model. The GFA uses a pseudoinverse for the calculation of control variables, including the boundary conditions and parameters, and a Green’s function matrix, which is the response matrix of sensitivity experiments to the control variables. The GFA was applied to optimize tidal and tidal residual currents in a coastal region with a model simulating the thermal effluent discharged from a power plant. The GFA could be used robustly, regardless of the number of sensitivity analyses, and provided optimal increments for the control variables using a given threshold for the pseudoinverse. The optimization provided the appropriate sea surface conditions to reproduce tidal and tidal residual currents that were consistent with observations. The optimized model allowed an effective and accurate assessment of the environmental impact of the thermal effluent because tidal and tidal residual currents play an important role in the advection and diffusion of thermal effluent.

3041 Background: CTCs are a promising diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in colorectal cancer. The analysis of CTCs at the single-cell level may allow to capture tumor heterogeneity and identify novel prognostic and predictive markers in mCRC. Our aim was to evaluate whether the transcriptome profile of CTCs was associated with progression-free survival (PFS) in pts receiving treatment for mCRC and whether we could identify significant differences based on pts’ ethnicity. Methods: Single CTCs were prospectively collected from 25 pts undergoing treatment for mCRC at the USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center between April and October 2019. Pre-treatment peripheral blood was processed using CTC-FIND comprised filter separation and immunomagnetic depletion of CD45/50-expressing cells to collect ultra-pure CTCs samples. After isolation to single cell, CTCs were processed by single cell RNA-sequence (scRNAseq). Principal component analysis was used for clustering expression data. DESeq2 was used to identify differentially expressed genes between pts with short ( < 150 days) and long term ( > 150 days) PFS, as well as between Hispanic and non-Hispanic ethnicity with control for FDR ( Q < 0.1). Ingenuity pathway analyses (IPA) of enriched pathway networks were performed. Results: Main pts characteristics were as follow: median age = 52 years; M/F = 18/7; Hispanics/non-Hispanics = 7/18; treatment line (n pts) = 1st (5), 2nd (11), ≥ 3rd (9). We identified 59 single CTC and CTC cluster from 22/25 pts (range 1-9, median = 2/pt). scRNAseq analysis identified two separate clusters of pts based on PFS (short term vs long term). Hispanic pts were mainly distributed within the short term PFS cluster. The IPA of the network of top 40 enriched pathways showed several pathways related with metabolism, such as Sirtuin signaling, mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative phosphorylation, and IL6/JAK/STAT signaling pathways in pts with short term PFS ( Q < 0.05). When comparing Hispanic vs non-Hispanic pts, we detected enrichment of neuroinflammation signaling pathway in Hispanics, including CXCL8 (fold change, FC: 11.04), GAD2 (FC: 4.77), IRAK3 (FC: 17.06), PLCG2 (FC: 4.65) and TYROBP (FC: 8.43) (all Q < 0.05). Conclusions: In our study CTCs transcriptome profiles showed an association with PFS in pts receiving treatment for mCRC, with an enrichment in mitochondria-related pathways and IL6/JAK/STAT signaling in the CTCs of pts with shorter PFS. Additionally, CTCs scRNAseq identified differentially expressed genes in Hispanic pts, displaying enrichment in neuroinflammation signaling. These results highlight the potential of CTCs molecular profiling as a tool to identify novel prognostic and predictive biomarkers in mCRC and actionable molecular pathways which may impact tumor spread and treatment response

The amorphous fluoropolymer Cytop <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">TM</sup> is a coating material for organic nonlinear optical crystals. As a coating material, it acts as both an antireflection coating and a protective layer for the crystal itself in advanced terahertz (THz) wave generation applications. In this study, we report on the optical parameter in THz frequency over a wide temperature ranges, and the optimization of THz wave generation from a Cytop-coated nonlinear optical crystal.

Cytop is an amorphous fluororesin that has been attracting attention from researchers due to its potential application as an optical thin film coating for nonlinear optical (NLO) crystals in terahertz (THz) wave generation. In this study, we confirmed the suitability of Cytop as a coating material by measuring its optical parameters in the THz frequency band using THz time domain spectroscopy over a wide range of temperatures. Furthermore, as Cytop has a refractive index of about 1.35 in the light wave band, we also investigated its potential as an anti-reflection coating material for NLO crystals used as THz sources.

We propose and demonstrate a new measurement technique for the radiation pattern inspection of the Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) signal. The proposed measurement system makes it possible to measure FMCW signal based on a photonic frequency tracking in asynchronous electro-optic measurement system. The radiation pattern of the FMCW signal measured by our new system is the average value of the radiation patterns of all the CW signals in the signal bandwidth. We measured a radiation pattern of a FMCW signal at quasi-millimeter wave band <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$(24\ \text{GHz} \pm 80\ \text{MHz})$</tex> and compared it with the radiation pattern of a monotonous signal at 24 GHz. We confirmed deviation between the radiation pattern of the FMCW signal and that of the CW signal when we place a vehicle emblem in front of the horn antenna. The proposed technique is considered to be useful when measuring the signal with the larger frequency deviation width at the millimeter-wave band such as an FMCW radar of 79 GHz with a fractional bandwidth of 5%.

Chikungunya fever is a mosquito-borne disease of key public health importance in tropical and subtropical countries. Although severe joint pain is the most distinguishing feature of chikungunya fever, diagnosis remains difficult because the symptoms of chikungunya fever are shared by many pathogens, including dengue fever. The present study aimed to develop a new immunochromatographic diagnosis test for the detection of chikungunya virus antigen in serum. Mice were immunized with isolates from patients with Thai chikungunya fever, East/Central/South African genotype, to produce mouse monoclonal antibodies against chikungunya virus. Using these monoclonal antibodies, a new diagnostic test was developed and evaluated for the detection of chikungunya virus. The newly developed diagnostic test reacted with not only the East/Central/South African genotype but also with the Asian and West African genotypes of chikungunya virus. Testing of sera from patients suspected to have chikungunya fever in Thailand (n = 50), Laos (n = 54), Indonesia (n = 2), and Senegal (n = 6) revealed sensitivity, specificity, and real-time PCR (RT-PCR) agreement values of 89.4%, 94.4%, and 91.1%, respectively. In our study using serial samples, a new diagnostic test showed high agreement with the RT-PCR within the first 5 days after onset. A rapid diagnostic test was developed using mouse monoclonal antibodies that react with chikungunya virus envelope proteins. The diagnostic accuracy of our test is clinically acceptable for chikungunya fever in the acute phase.

We demonstrated that annealing 4-dimethylamino-N-methyl-4-stilbazoliumtosylate (DAST) crystals near their melting point improves their tolerance to laser-induced damage. Their laser-induced-damage tolerance characteristics were evaluated and confirmed using difference-frequency THz generation. The DAST crystals employed in this study were all approximately the same size. THz wave output did not decrease in DAST crystals that were about 80% annealed. Microscopy images revealed that the crystallinity and orientation of the DAST crystal were improved by annealing. Moreover, THz wave output in the DAST crystal plane was uniformized by annealing. Further, annealed DAST crystals with superior laser-induced-damage tolerance produced 10 times greater THz wave output at a power density of 1.5 GW/cm2 than did unannealed crystals at a much greater power density. Therefore, the laser-induced-damage tolerance characteristics of DAST crystals were successfully improved by annealing.