Background Men aged >65 yr are less likely to receive local therapy for prostate cancer (PCa), perhaps because of concerns about quality-of-life (QOL) outcomes. Objective To describe QOL before and after PCa treatment in men of varying ages. Design, setting, and participants Participants enrolled in CaPSURE who underwent radical prostatectomy, brachytherapy, external beam radiation, androgen deprivation therapy, or active surveillance for localized PCa. Outcome measurements and statistical analysis QOL changes over time were assessed among age groups using repeated-measures mixed models adjusted for race, year, clinical risk, treatment, comorbidities, and an age-time interaction term. Differences are reported as adjusted least-square means and percentage decline. Secondary analyses evaluated age and QOL for local (prostatectomy, radiation) compared to nonlocal treatment (hormonal, surveillance). Results and limitations Older men had lower mean unadjusted pre- and post-treatment QOL scores for nearly all domains. Of the domains evaluated, adjusted mean sexual function, sexual bother, and urinary function showed greater declines from baseline to 2 yr. At 2 yr, more men <60 yr than those >70 yr experienced declines in urinary function (14% vs 9%) and sexual bother (39% vs 17%). Declines in these domains were also greater for local than for nonlocal treatment. Conclusions Definitive treatment for localized disease should not be deferred for older men because of fears regarding QOL declines. Younger men should be counseled about potential post-treatment declines in QOL despite higher absolute QOL scores. Communicating these differences to patients will facilitate more appropriate treatment decision-making in men of all ages. Patient summary In this study we evaluated quality of life before and after treatment for localized prostate cancer in a diverse patient population. Declines in quality of life after treatment varied according to age and treatment. We conclude that counseling about quality of life will help patients of all ages to make more appropriate treatment decisions.

Dislocations are the primary agents of permanent deformation in crystalline solids. Since the theoretical prediction of supersonic dislocations over half a century ago, there is a dearth of experimental evidence supporting their existence. Here we use non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations of shocked silicon to reveal transient supersonic partial dislocation motion at approximately 15 km/s, faster than any previous in-silico observation. Homogeneous dislocation nucleation occurs near the shock front and supersonic dislocation motion lasts just fractions of picoseconds before the dislocations catch the shock front and decelerate back to the elastic wave speed. Applying a modified analytical equation for dislocation evolution we successfully predict a dislocation density of 1.5 × 10(12) cm(-2) within the shocked volume, in agreement with the present simulations and realistic in regards to prior and on-going recovery experiments in silicon.

The mechanical behavior of a single phase (fcc) Al_0.3CoCrFeNi high-entropy alloy (HEA) was studied in the low and high strain-rate regimes. The combination of multiple strengthening mechanisms such as solid solution hardening, forest dislocation hardening, as well as mechanical twinning leads to a high work hardening rate, which is significantly larger than that for Al and is retained in the dynamic regime. The resistance to shear localization was studied by dynamically-loading hat-shaped specimens to induce forced shear localization. However, no adiabatic shear band could be observed. It is therefore proposed that the excellent strain hardening ability gives rise to remarkable resistance to shear localization, which makes this material an excellent candidate for penetration protection applications such as armors.

Purpose Data are limited on imaging after primary treatment of localized prostate cancer. Materials and Methods We identified 8,435 men newly diagnosed with nonmetastatic prostate cancer in 1995 to 2012 who were enrolled in CaPSURE™. Patients were followed after primary treatment with radical prostatectomy, cryosurgery, brachytherapy, external beam radiation therapy or androgen deprivation therapy. We assessed the use of bone scan, computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging after primary treatment. Factors associated with posttreatment outcomes (number of imaging tests, and time to first imaging and salvage treatment) were evaluated with multivariate Poisson regression and Cox proportional hazards regression. Results The incidence of posttreatment bone scan, computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging was 20% or less. Last posttreatment log(prostate specific antigen) was associated with multiple posttreatment imaging. Management by radical prostatectomy, cryosurgery, external beam radiation therapy or brachytherapy vs androgen deprivation therapy was associated with a lower likelihood of posttreatment imaging. Of patients who were imaged after treatment 25% with radical prostatectomy and 9% with radiation underwent imaging before prostate specific antigen failure. The 5-year salvage treatment-free survival rate was 81%. Positive findings on posttreatment imaging were associated with a higher risk of salvage treatment. Conclusions Patients treated with androgen deprivation therapy for localized disease were most likely to be imaged, primarily by bone scan. Men treated with other therapies were less likely to be imaged and tended to undergo computerized tomography. Imaging may add value to posttreatment prostate specific antigen monitoring to identify disease recurrence and progression. Further studies are needed to establish guidelines for the optimal frequency and imaging type to monitor the treatment response.

While silicon carbide (SiC) has been predicted to undergo pressure-induced amorphization, the microstructural evidence of such a drastic phase change is absent as its brittleness usually prevents its successful recovery from high-pressure experiments. Here we report on the observation of amorphous SiC recovered from laser-ablation-driven shock compression with a peak stress of approximately 50 GPa. Transmission electron microscopy reveals that the amorphous regions are extremely localized, forming bands as narrow as a few nanometers. In addition to these amorphous bands, planar stacking faults are observed. Large-scale non-equilibrium molecular dynamic simulations elucidate the process and suggest that the planar stacking faults serve as the precursors to amorphization. Our results suggest that the amorphous phase produced is a high-density form, which enhances its thermodynamical stability under the high pressures combined with the shear stresses generated by the uniaxial strain state in shock compression.

Through the use of genetic, enzymatic, metabolomic, and structural analyses, we have discovered the catabolic pathway for proline betaine, an osmoprotectant, in Paracoccus denitrificans and Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Genetic and enzymatic analyses showed tha

Background Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is a heritable arrhythmia syndrome entailing a high risk of sudden cardiac death. Discernment from benign arrhythmia disorders, particularly right ventricular outflow tract ventricular tachycardia (RVOT VT), may be challenging, providing an impetus to explore alternative modalities that may facilitate evaluation of patients with suspected ARVC. Objective We evaluated the role of equilibrium radionuclide angiography (ERNA) as a diagnostic tool for ARVC. Methods ERNA measures of ventricular synchrony - synchrony (S) and entropy (E) - were examined in patients with ARVC (n = 16), those with RVOT VT (n = 13), and healthy controls (n = 49). The sensitivity and specificity of ERNA parameters for ARVC diagnosis were compared with those of echocardiography (ECHO) and cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR). Results ERNA right ventricular synchrony parameters in patients with ARVC (S = 0.91 ± 0.07; E = 0.61 ± 0.1) differed significantly from those in patients with RVOT VT (S = 0.99 ± 0.01 [P =.0015]; E = 0.46 ± 0.05 [P <.001]) and healthy controls (S = 0.97 ± 0.02 [P =.003]; E = 0.48 ± 0.07 [P =.001]). The sensitivity of ERNA synchrony parameters for ARVC diagnosis (81%) was higher than that for ECHO (38%; P =.033) and similar to that for CMR (69%; P =.162), while specificity was lower for ERNA (89%) than that for ECHO and CMR (both 100%; P =.008). Conclusion ERNA right ventricular synchrony parameters can distinguish patients with ARVC from controls with structurally normal hearts, and its performance is comparable to that of ECHO and CMR for ARVC diagnosis. These findings suggest that ERNA may serve as a valuable imaging tool in the diagnostic evaluation of patients with suspected ARVC.

Assigning valid functions to proteins identified in genome projects is challenging: overprediction and database annotation errors are the principal concerns. We and others are developing computation-guided strategies for functional discovery with 'metaboli

© 2014 American Chemical Society.The rate at which genome sequencing data is accruing demands enhanced methods for functional annotation and metabolism discovery. Solute binding proteins (SBPs) facilitate the transport of the first reactant in a metabolic