Brain Metastases (BM) represent a leading cause of cancer mortality. While metastatic lesions contain subclones derived from their primary lesion, their functional characterization has been limited by a paucity of preclinical models accurately recapitulating the stages of metastasis. This work describes the isolation of a unique subset of metastatic stem-like cells from primary human patient samples of BM, termed brain metastasis initiating cells (BMICs). Utilizing these BMICs we have established a novel patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model of BM that recapitulates the entire metastatic cascade, from primary tumor initiation to micro-metastasis and macro-metastasis formation in the brain. We then comprehensively interrogated human BM to identify genetic regulators of BMICs using in vitro and in vivo RNA interference screens, and validated hits using both our novel PDX model as well as primary clinical BM specimens. We identified SPOCK1 and TWIST2 as novel BMIC regulators, where in our model SPOCK1 regulated BMIC self-renewal and tumor initiation, and TWIST2 specifically regulated cell migration from lung to brain. A prospective cohort of primary lung cancer specimens was used to establish that SPOCK1 and TWIST2 were only expressed in patients who ultimately developed BM, thus establishing both clinical and functional utility for these gene products. This work offers the first comprehensive preclinical model of human brain metastasis for further characterization of therapeutic targets, identification of predictive biomarkers, and subsequent prophylactic treatment of patients most likely to develop BM. By blocking this process, metastatic lung cancer would effectively become a localized, more manageable disease.

The Canadian MOST satellite is a unique platform for observations of bright transiting exoplanetary systems. Providing nearly continuous photometric observations for up to 4 weeks, MOST can produce important observational data to help us learn about the properties of exosolar planets. We review our current observations of HD 209458 and HD 189733 with implications for the albedo and our progress towards detecting reflected light from an exoplanet.

We have measured transit times for HD 189733 passing in front of its bright (V = 7.67) chromospherically active and spotted parent star. Nearly continuous broadband photometry of this system was obtained with the MOST (Microvariability & Oscillations of STars) space telesope during 21 days in August 2006, monitoring 10 consecutive transits. We have used these data to search for deviations from a constant orbital period which can indicate the presence of additional planets in the system that are as yet undetected by Doppler searches. We find no variations above the level of ±45 s, ruling out planets in the Earth-to-Neptune mass range in a number of resonant orbits. We find that a number of complications can arise in measuring transit times for a planet transiting an active star with large star spots. However, such transiting systems are also useful in that they can help to constrain and test spot models. This has implications for the large number of transiting systems expected to be discovered by the CoRoT and Kepler missions.

Very massive stars (${\gtrsim} 20$ M$_{\odot}$) are rare but important components of galaxies. Products of core nucleosynthesis from these stars are distributed into the circumstellar environment via wind-driven mass loss. Explosive nucleosynthesis after core collapse further enriches the galactic medium. Clusters of such stars can produce galactic chimneys which can pierce the galactic disk and chemically enrich intergalactic space. Such processes are vitally important to the chemical evolution of the early Universe, when the stellar mass function was much more weighted to massive stars.

Very massive stars are difficult to study, since they are formed in distant clusters which yield problems of sensitivity and source crowding. A relatively new tool for studying these systems is via high spatial, spectral and temporal resolution observations in the X-ray band. In this note we describe some recent progress in studying mechanisms by which very massive stars produce X-ray emission.

A novel, low-cost, phased-array antenna that uniquely incorporates bulk phase shifting using voltage-tunable dielectric (VTD) material is presented. The array does not contain an individual phase shifter at each radiating element. This paper presents the antenna concept and describes how it can be used as a low-cost phased array. The VTDs that are used in this antenna are described. The measured antenna patterns of a prototype phased array demonstrating electronic beam scanning at 10 GHz are also presented.

This review describes the features of glomus jugulare tumours with metastases. There were 100 sites of metastasis in the 53 cases previously reported. The sites of metastasis may be summarized as bone (33), lungs (23), lymph nodes (19), liver (nine) and other (16). Metastases presented up to 30 years after the initial treatment. The mean age of patients was 45 years and the sex ratio was approximately two females to one male, with no significant difference compared to non-metastatic tumours. There was a significantly higher incidence of pain and a significantly lower incidence of hearing loss at presentation compared to non-metastatic tumours. The commonest treatment was a combination of surgery and radiotherapy. The duration of symptoms before diagnosis was significantly shorter and the rates of persistent or recurrent local disease and death were significantly higher than for non-metastatic tumours. This review highlights the fact that glomus jugulare tumours are not always benign.

Glomus jugulare tumours are classically described as benign tumours with a long time course often measured in decades. Although these tumours may be locally invasive, most cases are histologically benign and metastases are rare. The case of a malignant glomus jugulare tumour with a particularly aggressive pattern of spread is presented. At the time of surgery, which was within 12 months of the development of symptoms, intracranial spread and metastasis to cervical lymph nodes had already occurred, demonstrating that glomus jugulare tumours are not always benign.

We introduce a new polarimeter unit which, mounted at the Cassegrain focus of any telescope and fiber-connected to a fixed CCD spectrograph, is able to measure all Stokes parameters I, Q, U and V photon-noise limited across spectral lines of bright stellar targets and other point sources in a quasi-simultaneous manner. We briefly outline the technical design of the polarimeter unit and the linear algebraic Mueller calculus for obtaining polarization parameters of any point source. In addition, practical limitations of the optical elements are discussed. We present first results obtained with our spectropolarimeter for three prototype hot-star.

A case of chrondrosarcoma of the petrous temporal bone is presented. Chondrosarcomas rarely occur intracranially and typically present as a petrous apex mass. The dilemmas faced in the diagnosis and treatment of petrous apex chondrosarcomas are discussed. This case also gives interesting insight into the natural history of this tumour.

We studied the nucleation of Cu deposited by an electroless bath. A Pd seed layer was sputtered onto a (100) Si substrate and analyzed with GIX, STM, and AFM. The seed layer was then placed in varying ED-Cu bath conditions and also analyzed using GIX, STM, and AFM. GIX analysis results show a (111) texture for the Pd seed layer as well as the ED-Cu layer. The seed layer's influence on the deposited Cu grain's texture was found to be inconclusive.

A fully encapsulated copper interconnect with CoWP barrier and protection layer can be produced by conformai electroless CoWP barrier layer deposition at the bottom and on the sidewalls of trenches and selective electroless CoWP deposition on in-laid Cu lines. The electroless CoWP deposition is an autocatalytic reaction with activation energy of about 0.985 eV. Deposition rate of about 10 nm/min at 80°C and average surface roughness of 5 nm for 200 nm thick films were measured. CoWP layer with resistivity of 25 μOhms·cm was obtained. Resistivity of electroless CoWP films was decreased from 25 μOhms·cm to 20 μOhms·cm after annealing in vacuum with 10−7 torr at 400°C for 30 min. The RBS spectra of the Cu/CoWP/Co/Si structure formed by electroless CoWP barrier and Cu deposition and annealed at 400°C for 60 min in vacuum 10−7torr showed no interdiffusion in deposited films.

The structure and phase behavior of halides have been investigated on single crystals of Ag and Au using synchrotron x-ray scattering techniques. The adlayer coverages are potential dependent. For all halides studied we found that with increasing potential, at a critical potential, a disordered adlayer transforms into an ordered structure. Often these ordered phases are incommensurate and exhibit potential-dependent lateral separations (electrocom-pression). We have analyzed the electrocompression in terms of a model which includes lateral interactions and partial charge. A continuous compression is not observed for Br on Ag(100). Rather, we find that the adsorption is site-specific (lattice gas) in both the ordered and disordered phases. The coverage increases with increasing potential and at a critical potential the disordered phase transforms to a well-ordered commensurate structure.

Amorphous Fe80B20 alloy films with a large quantity of plastics (polymethyl methacrylate: PMMA) are prepared using a combined technique of electrochemical plating and spin coating. The embedding of amorphous alloys into PMMA plastics is expected to reduce the effective conductivities of alloy films, and hence to improve their magnetomechanical coupling coefficients at high frequency by reducing effective eddy-current losses. Preparation conditions for obtaining Fe100−XBX (X=20±5at%) films with amorphous structure are determined, and the composite films are formed in accordance with the plating conditions. The resultant composite films are studied by examining their surface states and magnetic properties.

Metallic nanowires are synthesized by electrochemical growth in nanopores of either track-etched polycarbonate membranes or anodized aluminum films. The potentiostatic growth is systematically investigated for track-etched membranes with nominal pore diameters dN between 10 and 80 nm. For this model system, the cross-section of the metallic wires is found to vary: the wire diameter, which is argued to directly reflect the pore diameter, is observed to be substantially larger in the middle than at both ends. Therefore, the pores are not cylindrical with constant cross-section, but appear to be ‘cigar-like’. Inside the membranes, the pores are wider by up to a factor 3.

The aluminum oxide template has successfully been used to prepare a colloidal suspension of gold needles (anisotropie metallic colloid) by growing Au wires in the pores, dissolving the aluminum oxide and finally stabilizing and dispersing the ‘nano-rods’ in water. Visible near-infrared absorption spectroscopy reveal two absorption maxima caused by the anisotropy of these scatterers. The maxima can be assigned to a longitudional and transversal plasma resonance.