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Background: Cardiophrenic angle lymph node metastases are relatively rare. Surgical resection is the main treatment for cardiophrenic angle lymph node metastasis, but it is not always possible.Case Presentation: Here, we report our initial experience with cryoablation of a cardiophrenic angle lymph node metastasis from liver cancer. As the cardiophrenic angle lymph node metastasis was located close to the heart, about 200 mL of 0.9% saline was injected into the pericardium to separate the heart from the target area. The cardiophrenic angle lymph node metastasis was successfully ablated, without any complications.Conclusions: Cryoablation may be a suitable alternative treatment for cardiophrenic angle lymph node metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on treatment of liver tumors close to gall bladder through cryoablation and irreversible electroporation (IRE). Topics discussed include experiment done on rabbit livers, hepatocellular carcinoma and recovery after the treatment. Other topics which includes Serum aminotransferase and serum bilirubin levels after treatment is also mentioned.

Percutaneous cryoablation is a potential cure for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study reviewed retrospectively clinical data from 14 patients who underwent cryoablation of huge HCC (long diameter >7 cm). The side effects of cryosurgeries and liver function reverse were recorded and compared everyday. All the patients survived cryosurgery and none died before leaving hospital 2 weeks later. Despite liver-protective treatment before cryosurgery, alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) levels were increased significantly, but returned to preoperative levels 2 weeks post-cryosurgery. Before cryosurgery, mean total bilirubin (T.BIL) and direct bilirubin (D.BIL) levels were normal; 8–10 days after cryosurgery, they increased more than two-fold, but returned to the preoperative level 2 weeks post-cryosurgery. Serum transaminase and bilirubin levels were compared between hepatitis B positive and negative patients. The hepatitis B negative group’s AST level increased significantly 1 day post-cryosurgery (mean, 186 U/L) and decreased to the preoperative level at day 14. In the hepatitis B positive group, means transaminase and bilirubin reached peak values at different days post-cryosurgery. Overall, ALT and AST are valuable indicators of liver function impairment following cryosurgery. In patients with hepatitis B virus, close attention to the serum bilirubin level should be paid 8–10 days after cryosurgery. Liver-protective treatment may alleviate liver function impairment caused by cryosurgery of huge HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the transient response of the nonlinear system with Gaussian colored noise. The one-dimensional Itô stochastic differential equation with respect to amplitude response is obtained by the stochastic averaging technique, and the Mellin transformation is applied to the related Fokker–Planck–Kolmogorov (FPK) equation to obtain a set of Complex Fractional Moment (CFM) differential equations. The semi-analytical solution of the FPK equation can be reconstructed by solving the CFM equations. Numerical method is adopted to verify the validity of the CFM method, and the dynamical temporal behaviors of the transient response Probability Density Function (PDF) are analyzed. In addition, the transient bifurcation phenomenon of the system is discussed, and the 3-D distribution diagram of peak value of transient PDF is produced. • The transient response of the nonlinear system with Gaussian colored noise is studied in this paper. • The semi-analytical solution of Fokker–Planck–Kolmogorov equation is constructed by the Complex Fractional Moment (CFM) method. • The influence of time and system parameter on system transient response Probability Density Function and associated CFM is analyzed. • The bifurcation phenomenon of the system caused by noise intensity and correlation time is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We compared imaging and pathological changes between argon–helium cryosurgical (AH) and microwave (MW) ablation in a porcine liver model. Immediately after ablation, computed tomography (CT) imaging showed that the area affected by MW ablation was considerably greater than that affected by AH ablation; moreover, the surface area of necrotic tissue was considerably greater in the AH group, whereas the depth of the necrotic area was similar. Seven days after ablation, the affected area had not changed much in the AH group, but it had significantly increased in the MW group; similarly, the surface and depth of the necrotic areas had not changed much in the AH group, but they had increased significantly in the MW group. The pathological findings showed similar definitive areas for both groups at both time points. The findings indicated that long time after both therapies, complete tissue necrosis can be achieved, but the extent and depth of necrosis differ: necrosis foci after AH ablation could be predicted by ice ball under CT image, and necrosis foci after MW ablation will increase obviously. MW ablation might therefore be suitable for tumors with a larger volume and simple anatomical structures, and AH ablation might be suitable for tumors with complex anatomical structures or those located near important organs. These two methods could therefore be used in combination in clinical settings, but details of the procedure need to be studied. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Esophageal cancer is common in China. There is a lack of treatment strategies for metastatic esophageal cancer (MEC) after radical surgery on the primary tumor. Cryoablation is an attractive option because tumor necrosis can be safely induced in a minimally invasive manner. This study assessed its therapeutic effect in MEC after failure of radical surgery. One hundred and forty patients met the inclusion criteria from May, 2003 to March, 2011. Comprehensive cryotherapy of multiple metastases was performed on 105 patients; 35 received chemotherapy. No severe complications occurred during or after cryoablation. Overall survival (OS) was assessed according to therapeutic protocol, pathologic type, treatment timing and number of procedures. The OS of patients who received comprehensive cryoablation (44±20months) was significantly longer than that of those who underwent chemotherapy (23±24months; P =0.0006). In the cryotherapy group, the OS for squamous cell carcinoma (45±19months) was longer than that for adenocarcinoma (33±18months; P =0.0435); the OS for timely cryoablation (46±19months) was longer than that for delayed cryoablation (33±20months; P =0.0193); the OS for multiple cryoablation (50±17months) was longer than that for single cryoablation (37±20months; P =0.0172); and the OS for cryo-immunotherapy (56±17months) was longer than that for cryoablation alone (39±19months; P =0.0011). Thus, comprehensive cryotherapy may have advantages over chemotherapy in the treatment of MEC and, in patients with squamous cell carcinoma, supplementary immunotherapy and timely and multiple cryoablation may be associated with a better prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the most probable exit path is applied to understand the switching of a bistable synthetic gene network with genetic toggle in Escherichia coli from a new perspective. It is worth mentioning that the most probable exit path is a deterministic indicator for researching stochastic system, and its role is analogous to the phase diagram and time history diagram of deterministic system. Firstly, the large deviation theory proves that when a dynamic system has a stable equilibrium point, the cumulative effect of its long-term action can make its sample trajectory reach another region with a probability of 1 from the attractive region under weak random disturbance. The concept of the most probable exit path is given by defining Freidlin-Wentzell action functional. Moreover, considering the noise intensity, Onsager-Machlup action functional is defined to obtain the most probable exit path of the system subject to random disturbance. Based on the Onsager-Machlup action functional, it can be observed that the impact of two types of noise intensities on the most probable exit path for the transition of the system. In addition, based on vector field decomposition, energy landscape is used to analyze the global stability of the system. Finally, this article intuitively demonstrates the switching process of the system with genetic toggle. The analysis of Onsager-Machlup action functional reveals that two independent noises have opposite effects on the system switching. The increase in the intensity of the second Gaussian noise is conductive to more accurately observing the most probable exit path of the system. According to the energy landscape, the reduction of noise intensity is not conductive to switching of the system with genetic toggle. • Most probable exit path intuitively illustrates the process of stochastic gene regulation. • Most probable exit path is obtained using FW and OM functional respectively by large deviation theory. • Analyze the effects of noise intensity and final time, provide guidance for gene expression cell differentiation process. • Based on vector field decomposition, energy landscape is used for global stability analysis of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A nonlinear dynamic model of a large spacecraft with extendible ultra-flexible appendages is proposed. • A piecewise-actual extension strategy is presented. • The effects of the parameters on the natural frequency are investigated. • The limitations of the previous models using Cartesian variables are exhibited. A nonlinear dynamic model of a large spacecraft with extendible ultra-flexible appendages under the perturbation of gravity gradient that can capture large deformation is proposed in this paper. The proposed model is derived accurately based on the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory and Hamilton's principle with non-Cartesian deformation variables (the stretch and transverse deformation). To address the problem of velocity residual, the piecewise-actual (PWA) extension strategy is presented for the first time. Under the proposed extension strategy, the time varying dynamic characteristics of the natural frequency are investigated by numerical methods. Moreover, the influences of the parameters on the stability of the appendages are studied using the eigenvalue method. Finally, to show the accuracy of the proposed nonlinear model, the dynamic response of the proposed model is compared with those of the previous models for different attitude angle moving states. All results are consistent with each other in the case of small deformation, which verifies the correctness of the proposed nonlinear model. The natural frequencies of stretch and transverse deformations decrease gradually with time due to the axial extension of the flexible beam. The stability analysis demonstrates the rapid extension leads to the dynamic instability of the system. Furthermore, the super-harmonic resonance phenomenon is observed when the attitude angle keeps Sun-facing by the proposed model which indicates that the proposed model overcomes the limitations of nonlinear models with Cartesian variables in large deformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]