Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is an idiopathic orofacial pain condition. Although the pathophysiology of BMS is not clearly understood, central and peripheral neuropathic mechanisms are thought to be ...involved. The authors compared brain response to noxious heat stimuli in 16 right-handed women with primary BMS and 15 sex- and age-matched right-handed healthy female controls. A thermal stimulus sequence of 32 °C to 40 °C to 32 °C to 49 °C was repeated 4 times in a cycle. Warm and noxious heat stimuli were delivered with a Peltier thermode placed on the right palm or right lower lip for 32 s each in a session. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were obtained by recording echoplanar images with a block design. Statistical Parametric Mapping 8 software was used to analyze the data. Patients and controls both reported feeling more pain during palm stimulation than during lip stimulation. Repetition of noxious heat stimulus on the lower lip but not on the palm induced habituation in brain activity in the cingulate cortex without reduction in pain perception. Multiple regression analysis revealed a correlation between perceived pain intensity and suppression of brain activity in the anterior cingulate cortex when the repeated thermal sequence was applied at the lower lip. Furthermore, the response of the parahippocampal area differed in BMS patients and controls when the same repeated thermal sequence was applied at the palm. The authors’ findings indicate that BMS patients show specific brain responses due to impaired function of the central and peripheral nervous systems (clinical trial registration: UMIN000015002).
To evaluate the ability of high-energy ultraviolet A (UVA) light-emitting diode (LED) to inactivate bacteria in water and investigate the inactivating mechanism of UVA irradiation. We developed a new ...disinfection device equipped with high-energy UVA-LED. Inactivation of bacteria was determined by colony-forming assay. Vibrio parahaemolyticus, enteropathogenic Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli DH5α were reduced by greater than 5-log₁₀ stages within 75 min at 315 J cm⁻² of UVA. Salmonella enteritidis was reduced greater than 4-log₁₀ stages within 160 min at 672 J cm⁻² of UVA. The formation of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine in UVA-LED irradiated bacteria was 2·6-fold higher than that of UVC-irradiated bacteria at the same inactivation level. Addition of mannitol, a scavenger of hydroxyl radicals (OHdot above), or catalase, an enzyme scavenging hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) to bacterial suspensions significantly suppressed disinfection effect of UVA-LED. This disinfection system has enough ability to inactivate bacteria and OHdot above and H₂O₂ participates in the disinfection mechanism of UVA irradiation. We newly developed UVA irradiation system and found that UVA alone was able to disinfect the water efficiently. This will become a useful disinfection system.
CsI calorimeter for the J-PARC KOTO experiment Sato, K.; Lee, J.W.; Banno, S. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
12/2020, Letnik:
982, Številka:
C
Journal Article
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An electromagnetic calorimeter made of undoped CsI crystals is used in the J-PARC KOTO experiment to search for new physics beyond the standard model with the KL→π0νν̄ decay. The calorimeter is ...designed to operate in vacuum of 0.1 Pa and in a high-rate environment where the counting rate due to KL decays is O(100) kHz. A special method to calibrate the calorimeter during the data taking without using a tracking system for charged particles is reported. The energy, position, and timing resolutions of the calorimeter were evaluated in several beam tests, and the resolutions satisfy the required performance. The energy resolution with the total energy E is 0.66⊕1.81∕EGeV% in the inner region of the calorimeter.
The performance of the CsI electromagnetic calorimeter to be used for the J-PARC E14 KOTO experiment for a rare decay KL→π0νν¯ was studied by using a positron beam from an accelerator. The energy, ...timing, and position resolutions for energies up to 800MeV were measured. We also developed a new method to reconstruct the incident angle of photons based on the shower shape recorded with the calorimeter, and evaluated the method to suppress possible backgrounds for KL→π0νν¯ decay signals.
The exact mechanism underlying chronic masseter muscle pain, a conspicuous symptom in temporomandibular disorder, remains unclear. We investigated whether expression of P2X3 receptor (P2X3R) is ...involved in mechanical hyperalgesia after contraction of masseter muscle (CMM). As compared with sham rats, the head-withdrawal threshold (HWT) to mechanical pressure stimulation of masseter muscle (MM) (but not after similar stimulation of facial skin) was significantly lower, and IL-1β level was significantly higher, in CMM rats on day 7 after CMM. The mean percentage of FG-labeled P2X3R-positive neurons was significantly increased in TG following successive IL-1β injections into the MM for 7 days. Successive administration of an IL-1β receptor-antagonist into the MM attenuated the increase of P2X3-IR cells in the TG. ATP release from MM after 300-g pressure stimulation of MM was also significantly enhanced after CMM. Administration into MM of the selective P2X3,2/3 receptor antagonist A-317491 attenuated the decrement of HWT in CMM rats. A significant increase in HWT was also observed at 30 min after A-317491 (60 µg) injection in IL-1β-injected rats. These findings suggest that P2X3R expression associated with enhanced IL-1β expression and ATP release in MM has a possible important role in MM mechanical hyperalgesia after excessive muscular contraction.
The composition dependence of gravitational constant G is measured at the millimeter scale to test the weak equivalence principle, which may be violated at short range through new Yukawa interactions ...such as the dilaton exchange force. A torsion balance on a turning table with two identical tungsten targets surrounded by two different attractor materials (copper and aluminum) is used to measure gravitational torque by means of digital measurements of a position sensor. Values of the ratios G~Al−W/G~Cu−W−1 and G~Cu−W/GN−1 were (0.9±1.1sta±4.8sys)×10−2 and (0.2±0.9sta±2.1sys)×10−2, respectively; these were obtained at a center to center separation of 1.7 cm and surface to surface separation of 4.5 mm between target and attractor, which is consistent with the universality of G. A weak equivalence principle (WEP) violation parameter of ηAl−Cu(r∼1cm)=(0.9±1.1sta±4.9sys)×10−2 at the shortest range of around 1 cm was also obtained.
The exact mechanism underlying chronic masseter muscle pain, a conspicuous symptom in temporomandibular disorder, remains unclear. We investigated whether expression of P2X3 receptor (P2X3R) is ...involved in mechanical hyperalgesia after contraction of masseter muscle (CMM). As compared with sham rats, the head-withdrawal threshold (HWT) to mechanical pressure stimulation of masseter muscle (MM) (but not after similar stimulation of facial skin) was significantly lower, and IL-1β level was significantly higher, in CMM rats on day 7 after CMM. The mean percentage of FG-labeled P2X3R-positive neurons was significantly increased in TG following successive IL-1β injections into the MM for 7 days. Successive administration of an IL-1β receptor-antagonist into the MM attenuated the increase of P2X3-IR cells in the TG. ATP release from MM after 300-g pressure stimulation of MM was also significantly enhanced after CMM. Administration into MM of the selective P2X3,2/3 receptor antagonist A-317491 attenuated the decrement of HWT in CMM rats. A significant increase in HWT was also observed at 30 min after A-317491 (60 µg) injection in IL-1β-injected rats. These findings suggest that P2X3R expression associated with enhanced IL-1β expression and ATP release in MM has a possible important role in MM mechanical hyperalgesia after excessive muscular contraction.
Contrary to the great possibilities of photonic crystal (PC), a practical laser diode with a PC cavity has not yet been developed. This is mainly due to the lack of electrically driven devices; Since ...a two-dimensional PC slab cladded by air is often employed to realize strong light confinement, it is difficult to inject carriers into a cavity in such an air-bridge structure. An electrically driven laser using a tiny semiconductor pillar for current injection has been reported; however, a large cross-section of the pillar (or low electrical resistance) trades-off a large Q -factor sufficient for lasing. In this letter, we propose a novel design of PC laser diode in which light confinement and carrier injection are highly compatible.
A single somatic mutation, V617F, in Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) is one of the causes of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), including primary myelofibrosis, and the JAK2V617F mutant kinase is a ...therapeutic target in MPN. However, inhibition of wild-type (WT) JAK2 can decrease the erythrocyte or platelet (PLT) count. Our selective JAK2 inhibitor, NS-018, suppressed the growth of Ba/F3 cells harboring JAK2V617F more strongly than that of cells harboring WT JAK2. The 4.3-fold JAK2V617F selectivity of NS-018 is higher than the 1.0- to 2.9-fold selectivity of seven existing JAK2 inhibitors. NS-018 also inhibited erythroid colony formation in JAK2V617F transgenic mice at significantly lower concentrations than in WT mice. In keeping with the above results, in a JAK2V617F bone marrow transplantation mouse model with a myelofibrosis-like disease, NS-018 reduced leukocytosis and splenomegaly, improved bone marrow fibrosis and prolonged survival without decreasing the erythrocyte or PLT count in the peripheral blood. By exploring the X-ray co-crystal structure of NS-018 bound to JAK2, we identified unique hydrogen-bonding interactions between NS-018 and Gly993 as a plausible explanation for its JAK2V617F selectivity. These results suggest that NS-018 will have therapeutic benefit for MPN patients through both its efficacy and its reduced hematologic adverse effects.
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