Rendezvous of the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa with the near-Earth asteroid 25143 Itokawa took place during the interval September through November 2005. The onboard camera imaged the solid surface ...of this tiny asteroid (535 meters by 294 meters by 209 meters) with a spatial resolution of 70 centimeters per pixel, revealing diverse surface morphologies. Unlike previously explored asteroids, the surface of Itokawa reveals both rough and smooth terrains. Craters generally show unclear morphologies. Numerous boulders on Itokawa's surface suggest a rubble-pile structure.
Abstract Heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor (HB-EGF) is a hypoxia-inducible neuroprotective protein that also stimulates proliferation of neuronal precursor cells. In this ...study, we investigated the possible role of HB-EGF in ischemia and reperfusion injury by measuring the changes in its mRNA expression following focal cerebral ischemia. We also examined neural damage after a middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and reperfusion in ventral forebrain specific HB-EGF knockout (KO) mice. The levels of HB-EGF mRNA in the cerebral cortex of wild-type (WT) mice were significantly increased 3–24 h after MCAO and reperfusion. Cerebral infraction in HB-EGF KO mice was aggravated at 1 day and 6 days after MCAO and reperfusion compared with WT mice. The number of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated dNTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) and an oxidative stress marker, 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) positive cells, were higher in HB-EGF KO mice than in WT mice. On the other hand, fewer bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) positive cells were found in the subventricular zone in HB-EGF KO mice compared with WT mice. These results indicate that HB-EGF may play a pivotal role in ischemia and reperfusion injury and that endogenously synthesized HB-EGF is necessary for both the neuroprotective effect and for regulation of cell proliferation in the subventricular zone.
Background
More extensive lymphadenectomy may improve survival after resection of colonic cancer. Nomograms were created predicting overall survival and recurrence for patients who undergo D2–D3 ...lymph node dissection, and their validity determined.
Methods
This was a multicentre study of patients with colonic cancer who underwent resection with D2–D3 lymph node dissection in Japan. Inclusion criteria included R0 resection. A training cohort of patients operated on from 2007 to 2008 was analysed to construct prognostic models predicting survival and recurrence. Discrimination and calibration were performed using an external validation cohort from the Japanese colorectal cancer registry (procedures in 2005–2006).
Results
The training cohort consisted of 2746 patients. Predictors of survival were: age (hazard ratio (HR) 1·04), female sex (HR 0·71), depth of tumour invasion (HR 1·15, 1·22, 2·96 and 3·14 for T2, T3, T4a and T4b respectively versus T1), lymphatic invasion (HR 1·11, 1·15 and 2·95 for ly1, ly2 and ly3 versus ly0), preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level (HR 1·21, 1·59 and 1·99 for 5·1–10·0, 10·1–20·0 and 20·1 and over versus 0–5·0 ng/ml), number of metastatic lymph nodes (HR 1·07), number of lymph nodes examined (HR 0·98) and extent of lymphadenectomy (HR 0·23, 0·13 and 0·11 for D1, D2 and D3 versus D0). Predictors of recurrence were: female sex (HR 0·82), macroscopic type (HR 3·82, 4·56, 6·66, 7·74 and 3·22 for types I, II, III, IV and V versus type 0), depth of invasion (HR 1·25, 2·66, 5·32 and 6·43 for T2, T3, T4a and T4b versus T1), venous invasion (HR 1·43, 3·05 and 4·79 for v1, v2 and v3 versus v0), preoperative CEA level (HR 1·39, 1·43, 1·56 and 1·85 for 5·1–10·0, 10·1–20·0, 20·1–40·0 and 40·1 or more versus 0–5 ng/ml), number of metastatic lymph nodes (HR 1·07) and number of lymph nodes examined (HR 0·98). The validation cohort comprised 4446 patients. The internal and external validated Harrell's C‐index values for the nomogram predicting survival were 0·75 and 0·74 respectively. Corresponding values for recurrence were 0·78 and 0·75.
Conclusion
These nomograms could predict survival and recurrence after curative resection of colonic cancer.
Nomograms predicting survival and recurrence after curative resection of colonic cancer based on D2–D3 lymph node dissection may provide improved individualized predictions.
External validation needed
The first Japanese infrared space mission AKARI successfully scanned the whole sky with its two main instruments, the Infrared Camera (IRC) and the Far-Infrared Surveyor (FIS). The AKARI All-Sky ...Survey provides us with an invaluable opportunity to examine the zodiacal emission (ZE) over the entire sky in the leading as well as the trailing direction of the Earth’s motion. We describe our efforts to reduce the ZE brightness map from the AKARI’s survey in the 9 μm waveband. Compared with the interplanetary dust cloud model of Kelsall et al. (1998), the map requires an increase of the contribution of the resonance ring component to the ZE brightness by about 20%. We paid special attention to the north and south ecliptic pole brightnesses. The symmetry plane’s inclination and longitude of ascending node need to be modified from those in Kelsall et al. (1998) to reach a best fit to the observed pole brightness difference.
A thin, bright dust cloud, which is associated with the
Rosetta mission target object (67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko), was observed after the 2002 perihelion passage. The neckline structure or dust trail ...nature of this cloud is controversial. In this paper, we definitively identify the dust trail and the neckline structure using a wide-field CCD camera attached to the Kiso 1.05-m Schmidt telescope. The dust trail of 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko was evident as scattered sunlight in all images taken between September 9, 2002 and February 1, 2003, whereas the neckline structure became obvious only after late 2002. We compared our images with a semi-analytical dynamic model of dust grains emitted from the nucleus. A fading of the surface brightness of the dust trail near the nucleus enabled us to determine the typical maximum size of the grains. Assuming spherical compact particles with a mass density of 10
3 kg m
−3 and an albedo of 0.04, we deduced that the maximum diameter of the dust particles was approximately 1 cm. We found that the mass-loss rate of the comet at the perihelion was
180
±
50
kg
s
−1
on or before the 1996 apparition, while the mass-loss rate averaged over the orbit reached
20
±
6
kg
s
−1
. The result is consistent with the studies of the dust cloud emitted in the 2002/2003 return. Therefore, we can infer that the activity of 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko has showed no major change over the past dozen years or so, and the largest grains are cyclically injected into the dust tube lying along the cometary orbit.
Sphingoid long-chain base (LCB) 1-phosphates are degradated by LCB 1-phosphate lyase to C16 fatty aldehydes and phosphoethanolamine. Here, we confirmed that the At1g27980 gene product, AtDPL1, is a ...functional LCB-1-phosphate lyase. Expression of green fluorescent protein fusion products in suspension-cultured Arabidopsis cells showed that AtDPL1 is located to the endoplasmic reticulum. The rates of fresh weight decreases of dpl1-1 and dpl1-2 mutants were significantly slower than those of the wild-type plants. This ability to limit their transpiration reflected the leaf temperature of the mutant plants more than that of wild-type plants, suggesting that AtDPL1 plays a role in dehydration stress.
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