The Abundances of Zinc and Copper in the Atmospheres of 78 Vir (A2p SrCrEu) and θ Leo (A2 IV)

Zinc and Copper abundances are rarely available for normal and Chemically Peculiar A stars because the strongest transitions of Zn ii and Cu ii fall in the mid-UV. Estimates of the abundances of zinc and copper are derived for 78 Vir (A2p SrCrEu) and θ Leo (A2 IV) using mean mid-ultraviolet spectra constructed by coadding individual spectra collected with the Long Wave Prime and Long wavelength Redundant cameras over the 18 yr of the IUE mission. The strong transition of Cu ii at 2135.98 Å is present in 78 Vir and θ Leo but definitely stronger in 78 Vir, whereas all Zn ii lines are blended. Spectral synthesis of the least blended lines yields estimates of the abundances of zinc and copper of about 4.92 and 4.95 respectively in θ Leo and 5.82 and 5.19 in 78 Vir (on a scale where log(H) = 12). There is no convincing evidence that these lines varied in the spectra analyzed for both stars.

Near-Infrared Fluorescent Agent for In Vitro Screening of Endometrial Cancer and Precancerous Lesions

The lack of cytopathologists delays the advancement of screening for endometrial cancer. It was urgent to develop a new dye for rapid diagnosis. Our study aimed to synthesize a targeted folate receptor-α near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent agent, folic acid-zwitterionic NIR fluorophore (ZW-FA), and explore the feasibility for screening of endometrial cancer and precancerous change. Folic acid was conjugated with zwitterionic NIR fluorophore. The preparation of ZW-FA was validated by 1H NMR, mass spectrometric, ultraviolet spectra and fluorescence spectra. ZW-FA was incubated with endometrial cytology samples obtained from patients who underwent dilation and curettage or total hysterectomy. Diagnostic utility was calculated by applying laser confocal microscope, Image-J and statistical models, such as enumeration, receiver operating characteristic curve, logistic regression, support vector machine and decision tree were used. The purity of ZW-FA was > 95% determined by 1H NMR. ZW-FA had the strongest absorption peak at 633 nm in ultraviolet spectra. Photostability of ZW-FA was over 8 hours. In clinical validation, a total of 92 patients were enrolled. The cut-off value of ZW-FA was 49 in enumeration, which was used to distinguish the type of samples. Indicators about diagnostic utility are as follows: sensitivity 90.77%, specificity 62.96%, false-positive rate 37.04%, false-negative rate 9.23%, positive predictive value 85.51% and negative predictive value 73.91%. The samples processed by ZW-FA did not affect further Hematoxylin-Eosin staining and pathological diagnosis. It was an effective cytologic strategy for in vitro diagnosis of endometrial cancer and precancerous change by using ZW-FA.Clinical Trial Registrationhttp://www.chictr.org.cn/index.aspx, identifier ChiCTR1800020123.

EUV Beam-Foil Spectra of Scandium, Vanadium, Chromium, Manganese, Cobalt, and Zinc

Beam-foil extreme-ultraviolet spectra of Sc, V, Cr, Mn, Co and Zn are presented that provide survey data of a single element exclusively. Various details are discussed in the context of line intensity ratios, yrast transitions, delayed spectra and peculiar properties of the beam-foil light source.