Background
Specimens for analysing the molecular pathology of skin disease are generally obtained through invasive methods, such as biopsy. However, less burdensome methods are desirable for ...paediatric patients. We recently established a method that comprehensively analyses RNA present in sebum (skin surface lipid–RNAs: SSL‐RNAs) using a next‐generation sequencer. Using this method, biological information can be obtained from the skin in a completely non‐invasive manner.
Objectives
To verify the applicability of the SSL‐RNA method for analysis of paediatric skin and analyse the molecular pathology of mild‐to‐moderate atopic dermatitis (AD) in children.
Methods
We collected sebum specimens from the whole faces of 23 healthy children and 16 children with mild‐to‐moderate AD (eczema area and severity index (EASI) score: 5.9 ± 2.6) ranging in age from 6 months to 5 years, using an oil‐blotting film. We then extracted SSL‐RNAs from the samples and performed an AmpliSeq transcriptomic analysis.
Results
The expressions of genes related to keratinization (LCE, PSORS1C2, IVL and KRT17), triglyceride synthesis and storage (PLIN2, DGAT2 and CIDEA), wax synthesis (FAR2), ceramide synthesis (GBA2, SMPD3 and SPTLC3), antimicrobial peptides (DEFB1) and intercellular adhesion (CDSN), all of which are related to the skin barrier, are lower in children with AD than in healthy children. The children with AD also have higher expression of CCL17, a Th2‐cytokine and an increased Th2‐immune response as demonstrated by a gene set variation analysis. Moreover, KRT17 and CCL17 expression levels are significantly correlated with the EASI score.
Conclusions
Molecular changes associated with abnormal immune responses and the epidermal barrier in children with mild‐to‐moderate AD can be determined using the SSL‐RNA method. This non‐invasive method could therefore be a useful means for understanding the molecular pathology of paediatric AD.
We present a new measurement of the Λ4H hypernuclear lifetime using in-flight K− + 4He → Λ4H + π0 reaction at the J-PARC hadron facility. We demonstrate, for the first time, the effective selection ...of the hypernuclear bound state using only the γ-ray energy decayed from π0. This opens the possibility for a systematic study of isospin partner hypernuclei through comparison with data from (K−, π−) reaction. As the first application of this method, our result for the Λ4H lifetime, τ(HΛ4)=206±8(stat.)±12(syst.)ps, is one of the most precise measurements to date. We are also preparing to measure the lifetime of the hypertriton (Λ3H) using the same setup in the near future.
Transverse single-spin asymmetries of very forward neutral pions generated in polarized p + p collisions allow us to understand the production mechanism in terms of perturbative and nonperturbative ...strong interactions. During 2017, the RHICf Collaboration installed an electromagnetic calorimeter in the zero-degree region of the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and measured neutral pions produced at pseudorapidity larger than 6 in polarized p + p collisions at √ s = 510 GeV . The large nonzero asymmetries increasing both in longitudinal momentum fraction x F and transverse momentum p T have been observed at low transverse momentum pT < 1 GeV / c for the first time, at this collision energy. The asymmetries show an approximate xF scaling in the pT region where nonperturbative processes are expected to dominate. A non-negligible contribution from soft processes may be necessary to explain the nonzero neutral pion asymmetries.
X-ray spectroscopy of hadronic atoms is a powerful method to study strong interaction between hadrons and nuclei. At J-PARC, we have conducted two experiments, J-PARC E07 and E03, for hadronic atoms ...with a doubly strange hyperon, Ξ
−
, aiming at the world-first detection of their X-rays. The first measurement is performed as a byproduct of J-PARC E07 experiment with the hybrid emulsion technique. The second one, J-PARC E03, is a dedicated experiment for detection of Ξ
−
Fe atom X rays. The preliminary results and the present status of E07 and E03 are shown in this article. Future prospects of Ξ
−
-atomic X-ray spectroscopy are also discussed. A new measurement has been proposed for detecting Ξ
−
C atom X rays, where a novel Ξ
−
tracking method will be applied to realize an improved signal to noise ratio.
We have developed a gas electron multiplier (GEM)-based time projection chamber (TPC) for the H-dibaryon search experiment at J-PARC. High-rate K− beam particles enter a TPC gas volume of ...approximately 0.2 m3, in a direction perpendicular to the electric field. A long-rectangular hollow section is located inside the TPC volume to accommodate a diamond target. We commissioned the TPC using 230-MeV protons with beam rates of up to 1 MHz. The TPC data acquisition system collected 5768 pad signals in full readout mode, with almost 100% efficiency, at a preset trigger rate of 230 Hz. We operated the TPC in an Ar/CH4 gas mixture (90/10) without a magnetic field. The spatial resolutions on the pad plane are measured to be 400–700μm, which correspond to 230–300μm in a magnetic field of 1 T. We confirmed high tracking capability at beam rates of up to 1 MHz.
This study investigated the correlations between subjective sleep assessed by the Ogri-Shirakawa-Azumi (OSA) sleep inventory and objective indices based on electrocardiogram data obtained during ...sleep. Twenty-one sets of data were collected from 10 healthy women. As objective indices, total sleep time, sleep period time, sleep latency, and waking after sleep onset were assessed from polysomnogram data, and the averages of the power spectral indices of heart rate variability (HRV)-low frequency LF: 0.04-0.15 Hz, high frequency HF: 0.15-0.4Hz, ratio of LF to HF LF/HF, and ratio of HF to the sum of LF and HF HF/(LF+HF)-were calculated. HF/(LF+HF) showed positive correlations with four OSA factors: factor I (sleepiness), factor II (sleep maintenance), factor III (anxiety), and factor IV (soundness of sleep). Negative correlations were found between LF/HF and factors II, III, and IV. Although factor V (sleep initiation) had a negative correlation with length of sleep latency, no power spectral indices were correlated with this factor. The results suggest that some aspects of subjective sleep can be assessed by means of HRV power spectral indices. Therefore, the ECG data, which can be obtained noninvasively and relatively easily from people who are not capable of answering a sleep inventory, might be a good tool for the assessment of subjective feelings of sleep.
We have proposed an experiment for studying charmed baryons via the p( pi super(-),D super(*-))p( pi -,D*-) reaction at the J-PARC high-momentum beam line. Charmed baryons will be measured by a ...missing mass method. Scattered D super(*-)D*- will be reconstructed by detecting its decay chain of D*- arrow right Dmacr0 pi - arrow right K+ pi - pi -. We designed a Ring Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) counter with two radiators, aerogel and C sub(4)F sub(10)C4F10 of refractive indices 1.04 and 1.00137, respectively, in order to identify pions and kaons in a wide momentum range from 2 to 16 GeV/c . Spherical mirrors will be used to focus Cherenkov photons to the photon sensor alloys. The performance of the designed RICH counter is evaluated by a Monte-Carlo simulation based on GEANT4. Detection efficiency for scattered particles averaged over pi and K is found to be 99%. Wrong particle identification ratios of pions and protons to kaons are 0.1% and 0.14%, respectively. The background level in the inclusive p( pi super(-),D super(*-))p( pi -,D*-) spectrum increases only 5% due to the wrong identifications.
The heavy quark baryon spectroscopy is a key way to understand what the building block of hadrons is. The diquark correlation which is expectedly an essential degree of freedom to describe the hadron ...structure can be investigated from the spectroscopy of charmed baryons. An experiment to observe and investigate the charmed baryons was proposed at the J-PARC high- momentum beam line. The missing mass spectroscopy experiment via the π− p → Y*+c D*− reaction at 20 GeV/c will be performed for the systematic measurement of the excitation energy, the production rates and the decay products of charmed baryons. In addition, the properties of the strange baryons can also be measured systematically by using the same experimental setup. From the systematic study of both charmed baryons and hyperons, the diquark correlation can be revealed which is expectedly an essential degree of freedom to describe the hadron structure.
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![[P36] Correlation between s...](http://api.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/image/issn/XR4PS5YY4K/1880-6791/small "[P36] Correlation between subjective sleep feeling and heart rate variability of power spectral densities")
