Prostate-specific antigen half-life： a new predictor of progression- free survival and overall survival in Chinese prostate cancer patients

We investigated the potential value of prostate-specific antigen half-life （PSAHL） and decreasing velocity （PSAVd） to predict progression-free survival （PFS） and overall survival （OS） in Chinese patients with prostate cancer. A total of 153 patients treated with hormonal therapy were included in the study. Of these, 78 patients progressed to hormone- refractory prostate cancer （HRPC） and 24 patients died by the end of follow-up. PSAHL was defined as the time during which prostate-specific antigen （PSA） concentration became half of the initial value during the first hormonal therapy. PSAVd reflected the decreasing velocity of PSA during the first hormonal therapy. PFS was defined as the interval from the beginning of hormonal therapy to HRPC. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to evaluate whether PSAHL and PSAVd were significantly associated with PFS and OS. The median PSAHL and PSAVd were 0.50 months and 33.8 ng mL^-1 per month. The median PFS and OS were 22.7 months （95% confidence interval [CI], 22.0-29.6 months） and 43.5 months （95% CI, 37.9-48.4 months）, respectively. On univariate and multivariate analysis, long PSAHL （〉 0.5 months）, metastatic disease, high biopsy Gleason scores （〉 8） and high nadir PSA （〉 0.4 ng mL^-1） were all found to be significantly associated with short PFS. Long PSAHL, high nadir PSA and short PSA doubling time （PSADT 〈 2.0 months） were significantly associated with short OS. There were no significant relationships between PSAVd and either PFS or OS. Thus, PSAHL is a promising new independent predictor of survival. Patients with long PSAHL were identified as those at high risk for a relatively short PFS and OS.

Exploring the sensitivity of α-decay half-life to neutron skin thickness for nuclei around ^(208)Pb

Based on the newest experimentally extracted nuclear density distributions for double-magic nucleus208Pb(Tarbert et al. in Phys Rev Lett 112:242502, 2014),the sensitivity of α-decay half-life to nuclear skin thickness is explored in the vicinity of the shell closure region around208 Pb, i.e., isotopes of Z ? 82 and isotones of N ? 126.With the two-parameter Fermi(2PF) density distributions and an analytically derived formula, the α-decay half-life is found to be closely related to the magnitude of nuclear skin thickness. For a decays to the Z ? 82 isotopes, the α-decay half-life is found to decrease with the increasing neutron skin thickness, while the opposite behavior is found for a decays to the N ? 126 isotones. Therefore, it could be a possible way to extract the nuclear skin thickness from measured α-decay half-lives.

Antibody fragments: Prolonging circulation half-life special issue-antibody research

Antibodies are currently the fastest growing class of therapeutic proteins. When antibody fragments are included, there are over thirty-five antibody-based medicines approved for human therapy. Many more antibody and antibody-like fragments are being evaluated clinically. Production of antibody fragments can be efficient and their compact size can allows for better tissue extravasation into solid tumors than full antibodies. Unfortunately, a key limitation of antibody fragments for systemic use is their short half-life in circulation. Prolonging their circulation half-life can be accomplished clinically by the covalent conjugation of the antibody fragment to the water-soluble polymer, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). Many polymers and strategies are also being pursued to increase antibody fragment half-life.

Determinations of ^(171)Er half-life and some ^(171)Tm transition energies

The neutrons have been captured by Erbium nuclei which were received by using clinical electron linear accelerator. In this experiment, the possibility of the neutron capture process has been observed because of emitted neutrons appearing in the experimental area. In particular,neutron capture of ^(170)Er nucleus has been observed. After the neutron capture of ^(170)Er nucleus, the unstable ^(171)Er has been formed and decayed into the ^(171)Tm. By using this reaction path, some transition energies of ^(171)Tm obtained from the residual activity measurements and the half-life of ^(171)Er have been determined, and they are in agreement with adopted values in the literature.

Improved systemic half-life of glucagon-like peptide-1-loaded carbonate apatite nanoparticles in rats

BACKGROUND Glucagon-like peptide-1(GLP1)is an endogenous peptide that regulates blood glucose level.But its susceptibility to rapid metabolic degradation limits its therapeutic use.AIM To prepare GLP1-encapsulated nanosize particle with controlled release property to improve the systemic half-life of GLP1.METHODS GLP1 nanoparticles were prepared by complexation of GLP1 with carbonate apatite nanoparticles(CA NPs).The physicochemical properties of the CA NPs,the effects of GLP1-loaded CA NPs on cell viability,and the systemic bioavailability of GLP1 after CA NPs administration were determined.RESULTS The GLP1-loaded CA NPs was within 200 nm in size and stable in fetal bovine serum.The formulation did not affect the viability of human cell lines suggesting that the accumulation of CA NPs in target tissues is safe.In Sprague Dawley rats,the plasma GLP1 Levels as measured from the GLP1-loaded CA NPs-treated rats,were significantly higher than that of the control rats and free GLP1-treated rats at 1 h post-treatment(P<0.05),and the level remained higher than the other two groups for at least 4 h.CONCLUSION The GLP1-loaded CA NPs improved the plasma half-life of GLP1.The systemic bioavailability of GLP1 is longer than other GLP1 nanoparticles reported to date.

2-9 Half-life Measurement of 94mRu44+ at CSRe

A radioactive nucleus is characterized with an intrinsic half-life. However, for a nuclear species, the half-lives inneutral atoms could be very different from that in highly charged ions. The half-lives of some highly charged ionshave been directly measured at GSI for multiple motivations[1]. In the same case, the nuclear state(i:e the isomer)may be in the range of several tens of microseconds and their half-live can be measured using isochronous massspectrometry. The J = 8+ isomeric state in 94Ru was chosen to test this method. The half-life of this isomer is71 s [2] in neutral atoms, and the excitation energy is 2.64 MeV. The internal conversion coefficient of this decayin neutral atom is 0.335. So its half-life in the bare nucleus would be modified to be 94.78 s when the internalconversion channel is blocked.

VR技术在游戏设计中的交互与特征研究——以游戏《Half-Life:Alyx》为例

游戏不光需要在剧情、美术设计上表现出彩,在游戏的可操作性内容设计上也同样需要有吸引力。通过VR游戏《Half-Life:Alyx》的体验可以了解到有着丰富游戏制作经验的大厂对VR游戏中交互设计内容的选择与理解,也可以学习到大厂对于游戏剧情语言的把握。

a-Decay half-life screened by electrons

In this paper,by considering the electrons in different external environments,including neutral atoms,a metal,and an extremely strong magnetic-field environment,the screened a-decay half-lives of the a emitters with proton number Z = 52–105 are systematically calculated.In the external environment,the decay energy and the interaction potential between a particle and daughter nucleus are both changed due to the electron screening effect and their variations are both very important for the electron screening effect.Besides,the electron screening effect is found to be closely related to the decay energy and its proton number.

Half-life measurement of neutron-rich isotope^(237)Th

MeV/u 18O ions were used to bombard natural uranium targets, and the heavy neutron-rich isotope 237Th was produced via multi-nucleon transfer reaction and dissipative fragmentation of the heavy target. A relatively fast radiochemical procedure was used to separate thorium from the mixture of uranium and complex reaction products. The chemically separated thorium fractions were studied by the 7-ray spectroscopic method. The behaviors of the growth and decay of 853.7 and 865.0 keV-γrays of 237Pa decay were observed. The half-life of 237Th was determined to be 4.69±0.60 nun.

Sensitivity of the half-life time of water exchange in coastal waters

A three-dimensional model was established to investigate water exchange in coastal waters, and applied to Qinzhou Bay(QZB) in the South China Sea. Given the strong tidal current in QZB, a half-life time was calculated for water exchange by filtering the tidal signal from the concentrations of a conservative substance. In a control run driven by the tide, without external inputs and an open boundary concentration of zero, it was estimated that the average half-life time in QZB was 54.8 d. Numerical experiments showed that wind accounted for an 11.9% reduction in the half-life time to 48.3 d. When rivers were included in the model, the half-life time decreased by 74.6% to 13.9 d. Sensitivity experiments showed that the half-life time for water exchange was greatly affected by the concentration of the conservative substance which was used at the open boundary. In response to 10,20, 30, and 40% increases in the boundary concentration, the half-life time increased to 91.5, 168.3, 186.2, and 229.1 d,respectively. Results also suggested that for coastal bays with large intertidal areas such as QZB, consideration of the wet and dry processes produced more accurate simulations of the hydrodynamics and the half-life times. Simulations, which did not incorporate wet and dry processes, were more than likely to have overestimated or underestimated the half-life times for water exchange.

Internalization and half-life of membrane-bound macrophage colony-stimulating factor

The binding of recombinant human macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) soluble receptor (rh-M-CSF-sR) to membrane-bound macrophage colony stimulating factor (m-M-CSF) and the internalization and recycling of rh-M-CSF-sR/m-M-CSF complexes mediated by m-M-CSF were studied with a model of J6-1 cell line. The results indicated that m-M-CSF bound rh-M-CSF-sR with high affinity (Kd= 1.78×10 12 mol/L) and mediated a temperature- and energy-dependent internalization of rh-M-CSF-sR, and that internalized rh-M-CSF-sR could return to the cell surface in an m-M-CSF-bound state, suggesting that m-M-CSF may have a capability to mediate the internalization and recycling of rh-M-CSF-sR/m-M-CSF complexes. In addition, the half-lives of cell-associated M-CSF and its receptor of stimulated normal human cord blood mononuclear cells (CBMCs) and 4 leukemic cell lines were measured by indirect immunoflu-orescence and flow cytometry. The results showed that the half-lives of the various kinds of M-CSF isoforms and

The contribution of the first forbidden transitions to the nuclear β^--decay half-life

β-decay half-life is a key quantity for nuclear structure and nucleosynthesis studies.There exist large uncertainties in the contributions of allowed and forbidden transitions to the totalβ-decay life,which limits the resolution of the predictedβ-decay half-life.We systematically study the contribution of the first forbidden(FF)transitions to theβ--decay half-life,and quantify it with a formula based on simple physics considerations.We also propose a new formula for calculation of theβ--decay half-life that includes the FF contribution.It is shown that the inclusion of the contribution of FF transitions significantly improves the precision of calculations of theβ--decay half-life.By fitting of the RQRPA results for neutron-rich Z=47,57 isotopes and N=80,94 isotones,the formula for the contribution of the FF transitions gives similar results as the RQRPA calculations.However,because of limited experimental data for the branching ratios of unstable nuclei,the fit parameters are not fully constrained.Therefore,the proposed formula for theβ--decay half-life is more suitable for calculations of half-lives than of the FF contributions.The formula could be used to predict theβ?-decay half-life in nuclear structure studies as well as nucleosynthesis calculations in stars.

Measurement of the half-life of ^(79)Se with accelerator mass spectrometry

The accelerator mass spectrometry（AMS） is an effective method for the determination of the half-life of long-lived radionuclides. In this paper, we report a method for measurement of the half-life of ^79Se. The number of ^79Se atoms was determined from measured ^79Se/Se absolute ratios with the AMS system at the China Institute of Atomic Energy and the decay rate of ^79Se was determined by counting the emitted β-rays with a liquid scintillation spectrometer. The major improvements of our measurements include using the high abundance of an ^79Se sample which was cooled for many years to exclude the interference of short-lived nuclides, the extraction of SeO-2molecular ions, that results in a suppression of the ^79Br background by as much as about five orders of magnitude. Also, an AMS measurement of the absolute ratio of ^79Se/Se was developed to avoid systematic errors. The results show that ^79Se/Se is（2.35±0.12）×10^-7in the reference sample and the radioactivity of ^79Se is（1.24±0.05） Bq/g, so the half-life of ^79Se is（2.78±0.18）×10^5a.

Half-life of bismuth isotopes predicted by the Coulomb and proximity potential model; a proposition for the spherical nuclei

We know that the ground state energy, half-life, spin and parity of the heavy nuclei can be determined via the study of alpha decay. Bearing this in mind, we have calculated the penetration probability in the barrier, the decay constant and thereby the half-lives of 21 isotopes of Bi by using the proximity potential model. The comparison with the existing data is motivating.

Determination of the half-life of^(184g)Re and the isomeric ratio of^(184m,g)Re induced by D-T neutrons

The isomeric ratio of^(184m,g)Re and the half-life of^(184g)Re were measured in the ^(185)Re(n,2n)^(184)Re reaction at 14.8 MeV,and the uncertainty was discussed in detail.The measurements were performed using the activation method implemented for a rhenium sample using the K-400 neutron generator at the Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics(CAEP).Isomeric state and ground state nuclei of ^(184)Re were identified by their γ-ray spectra.To eliminate the effect of the γ-ray emitted from the isomer on the counting of the ground state characteristic peaks,the isomeric ratio of^(184m,g)Re was calculated to be 0.29±0.11 according to the neutron activation cross-section formula.This result is consistent with previous data within the uncertainty and can be used to determine parameters that characterize the dependence of the level density on the excitation energy and angular momentum.Through exponential function fitting and a detailed discussion of the uncertainty evaluation,the half-life of^(184g)Re was determined as 35.43±0.16 d,which is consistent with the currently recommended value;however,the uncertainty assessment of the latter was barely documented.In addition,this study indicates that the half-life of the ground state can be obtained by eliminating the contamination of γ-rays emitted from the isomer,which provides the possibility of determining the half-lives of nuclides containing isomers.

Determination of the half-life of^(91)Sr in uranium sample bombarded by 14.8 MeV neutron

Purpose Due to the few reports on the^(91)Sr half-life previously,the accuracy and uncertainty of the results are difficult to meet the requirements such as calculating the cross section and thefission yields of 235U,238U,and 239Pu.To solve the discrepancy of^(91)Sr half-life in existing experimental data,the half-life of^(91)Sr was measured in this work,and the uncertainty was discussed in detail.Method The measurements were performed by the activation method implemented for the uranium sample using the K-400 neutron generator at the Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics(CAEP).The half-life of^(91)Sr was measured byγ-ray spectrometry using the high-resolution High Purity Germanium(HPGe)Detector.Results Through exponential functionfitting and a detailed discussion of the uncertainty evaluation,the half-life of^(91)Sr in the present work was determined to be 9.65±0.30 h,which was consistent with the values reported previously and the uncertainty was reduced greatly,however,the uncertainty assessment of the latter was barely documented.Conclusions In this work,a more accurate measurement of the^(91)Sr half-life is provided,as well as the uncertainty is discussed in detail.This result will provide essential information for applications using an activation method,such as the calculation offission yields of 235U,238U,and 239Pu.

A formula for half-life of proton radioactivity

We present a formula for proton radioactivity half-lives of spherical proton emitters with the inclusion of the spectroscopic factor. The coefficients in the formula are calibrated with the available experimental data. As an input to calculate the half-life, the spectroscopic factor that characterizes the important information on nuclear structure should be obtained with a nuclear many-body approach. This formula is found to work quite well, and in better agreement with experimental measurements than other theoretical models. Therefore, it can be used as a powerful tool in the investigation of proton emission, in particular for experimentalists.

客观的虚拟——Half-Life2中的现实世界

美国西雅图时间2004年11月16日凌晨0时,即北京时间2004年11月17日下午16:00,跳票数次,又经历了源代码泄露风波的Valve游戏大作Half-Life2(中文翻译《半条命2》,以下简称HL2)终于正式对全球发售,同时在Steam系统上对已付费购买的用户进行解封。而国内,由奥美公司代理的中文版HL2也将在12月份上市。

在海水与火焰中永生——华硕X700Pro打造终极Half-Life2

在1998年夏经过E3的洗礼后，无数游戏爱好者熟悉了一个以前从未听说过的名字——Valve游戏开发小组。更让人印象深刻的则是他们的作品——Half-Life，它获得了超过40家媒体的一致公认，并荣获了年度最佳游戏。称号，被誉为“史诗般杰出的作品”。此后，Half-Life在竞争激烈的动作类游戏市场中与Quake系列、Unreal系列形成三足鼎立之势，这对于一款采用Quake Ⅱ引擎开发的游戏来说是多么不容易。