Mitomycin-C (MMC) is categorized as an agent that causes genotoxic stress by triggering various intracellular signaling pathways. We have previously shown that MMC pretreatment of highly immunogenic ...crude islets leads to significant prolongation of graft survival in a rat-to-mouse model. In the present study, we examined whether TH1/TH2 cytokine, including the inflammatory cytokines interferon-gamma and interleukin (IL)-2, or the Th2 group, IL-4, IL-10, TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, GM-CSF, and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta were up-regulated or down-regulated following MMC treatment of islets. We found changes in TGF-beta messenger RNA (mRNA) transcription as the only events among the measured cytokines. TGF-beta concentration was elevated in blebs formed under the kidney capsule, but not in the serum or ascites among animals given MMC-treated islets than in animals given untreated islets, suggesting local processes induced by MMC might inhibit xenograft rejection.
Since hepatitis C virus (HCV), a major causative agent of posttransfusional non-A, non-B hepatitis, is a positive stranded RNA virus, it is supposed to replicate via a negative RNA strand. Although ...strand specific reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method was recently developed to detect each strand of HCV RNA, the specificity of the strategy has remained to be determined. In this study, using in vitro transcribed positive and negative stranded HCV RNAs mixed with hepatic cellular RNA from normal liver, we found that this strategy did not distinguish between the two RNA strands, but that chemical modification of RNA samples at the 3' end followed by strand specific RT-PCR made specific detection possible. Liver tissues, sera and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from ten patients with chronic HCV infection were analyzed with the novel strategy of RT-PCR combined with RNA modification. Positive and negative strands of HCV RNA were detected in liver tissues of ten (100%) and nine (90%) cases, respectively. Negative RNA strand was detected also in sera of five cases (50%), positive strand being detected in nine cases (90%). In PBMC, positive strand of HCV RNA was detected in eight cases (80%), whereas negative strand in only one case (10%), suggesting that HCV has much less cellular tropism to PBMC than to hepatocytes.
We aim to study extremely dense matter in heavy-ion collisions at 1 −19 AGeV/c at a future project of J-PARC (J-PARC-HI). We will search for the first order phase boundary and its critical end point ...in the QCD phase diagram. We also aim at studying the properties of dense matter related to neutron stars and neutron star mergers, in particular the equation of state (EOS). We expect to produce the world's highest rate of 1011Hz of heavy-ion beams, with ion species from p to U. We design spectrometers based on a large dipole magnet to measure hadrons, dimuons, and hypernuclei. We evaluate some of key performance of the spectrometers based on detailed simulations.
A Time Projection Chamber (TPC) for use as an active target has been developed. The TPC is used for nuclear experiments using unstable nuclear beam and is intended to measure a recoil nucleus in ...forward scattering whose energy is very small. It is designed to have two field cages and beams pass between the cages in order to decrease distortion of the electric field inside the TPC due to the ions created along the beam track. A Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) is utilized for signal amplification. A performance test was carried out using 4 He 2+ with 7.5 MeV/u in 12UD Pelletron tandem accelerator at the University of Tsukuba Tandem Accelerator Center. From the test, energy resolution of 4%, position resolution of 80 μm in the drift direction and of less than 700 μm in the transverse direction were obtained.
Space charge in drift chambers operated with the Xe,CO2(15%) mixture Andronic, A.; Appelshäuser, H.; Blume, C. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
06/2004, Letnik:
525, Številka:
3
Journal Article
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