Glassy carbon (GC) substrate was used for the fabrication of antireflection (AR) structures as this material has high thermal stability, thereby being suitable for a quartz mold. In order to ...fabricate the AR structures on the GC surface, electron beam lithography (EBL) and oxygen dry etching were carried out. EBL was used for the fabrication of submicron order mask patterns on the GC surface. By oxygen ion beam bombardment, the GC surface was sharpened and conical-shaped structures were fabricated. Almost zero reflection was observed on this surface in the visible light region.
A multi-center cooperative clinical trial was undertaken to evaluate the safety and efficacy of weekly taxol (TXL) therapy combined with short-premedication as a pretreatment in an effort to ...determine if TXL can be used in ambulatory treatment. TXL was administered at 60 mg/m2 to patients with advanced recurrent breast cancer once a week without a rest or with a rest for 1 week after treatment for 3 weeks. A total of 36 patients were finally enrolled. The site of recurrence was the local region in 8 patients, lung/pleura in 24, liver in 9, bone in 16, lymph nodes in 15, epicardium in 2, and brain metastasis in 2. The response was CR in 2, PR in 12, NC in 9, PD in 8, and NE in 5, with a response rate of 45.2%. Grade 4 anorexia was reported as non-hematotoxicity. All other adverse reactions, such as myalgia/arthralgia and peripheral neuropathy, were mild (grade 1 or 2). Hematotoxic effects observed in this study included only grade 3 leukopenia in 5 patients, neutropenia in 4, and decreases in hemoglobin in 1.
Abstract
Although inflammation plays critical roles in the development of atherosclerosis, its regulatory mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) has been ...reported to undergo inflammatory changes in response to vascular injury. Here, we show that vascular injury induces the beiging (brown adipose tissue-like phenotype change) of PVAT, which fine-tunes inflammatory response and thus vascular remodeling as a protective mechanism. In a mouse model of endovascular injury, macrophages accumulate in PVAT, causing beiging phenotype change. Inhibition of PVAT beiging by genetically silencing PRDM16, a key regulator to beiging, exacerbates inflammation and vascular remodeling following injury. Conversely, activation of PVAT beiging attenuates inflammation and pathological vascular remodeling. Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals that beige adipocytes abundantly express neuregulin 4 (
Nrg4
) which critically regulate alternative macrophage activation. Importantly, significant beiging is observed in the diseased aortic PVAT in patients with acute aortic dissection. Taken together, vascular injury induces the beiging of adjacent PVAT with macrophage accumulation, where NRG4 secreted from the beige PVAT facilitates alternative activation of macrophages, leading to the resolution of vascular inflammation. Our study demonstrates the pivotal roles of PVAT in vascular inflammation and remodeling and will open a new avenue for treating atherosclerosis.
A 5 year task is described on the research and development of the advanced humanitarian landmine detection system by using a compact discharge-type fusion neutron source called IECF ...(Inertial-Electrostatic Confinement fusion) device and 3 dual sensors made of BGO and NaI. With 10 7 D-D neutrons/s stably produced in steady-state mode, H-2.2 MeV, N-5.3, 10.8 MeV, gamma rays from (n, gamma) reaction with nitrogen atoms in the explosives are measured for two kinds of explosives (TNT, RDX), under the conditions of three different buried depths, and soil moistures. Final detection probabilities for arid soil are found to be 100 % in the present tests, i.e., depths not exceeding 15 cm, moisture content of 18.5 % or less, and 20-minute measurements. The neutron backscattering method is found also excellent.
Current results are described on the research and development of the advanced humanitarian landmine detection system by using a compact discharge-type fusion neutron source called IECF ...(Inertial-Electrostatic Confinement fusion) devices. With a 50mm-thick water-jacketed IEC device (IEC20C) of a 200mm inner diameter, it can produce 107neutrons/s stably in CW mode for 80kV and 80mA. Ample 10.8MeV γ-rays produced through (n,γ) reaction with nitrogen atoms in the melamine (C3H6N6) powder (explosive simulant) are clearly measured by a BGO-NaI-combined scintillation sensor with distinct difference in cases with and without melamine. This proves feasibility of the identification of the buried landmines.
gp130 is a common signal-transducing receptor subunit for the interleukin (IL)-6 cytokine family. Studies in genetically engineered animal models have demonstrated a critical role for the ...gp130-dependent cardiomyocyte survival pathway in the transition to heart failure. In the present study, we examined plasma levels of the IL-6 family of cytokines and the soluble form of their receptors in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). Circulating levels of the IL-6 family of cytokines, soluble IL-6 receptor (sIL-6R), and soluble gp130 (sgp130) were examined in 48 patients with various degrees of CHF, including dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM), and valvular cardiomyopathy (VCM). Circulating levels of IL-6, leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), and sgp130 significantly increased in association with the severity of CHF. No significant difference was observed in the circulating levels of sIL-6R and IL-11 among these patients. Interestingly, DCM patients showed higher circulating sgp130 levels than patients with ICM or VCM. Our findings suggest that gp130 expression in the heart is likely to be dynamic, and that the IL-6 family of cytokines and their common receptor gp130 participates in the pathogenesis of CHF, especially in DCM.
The Polycomb-group (PcG) gene Rae28 is a mammalian homologue of the Drosophila gene polyhomeotic. PcG genes are known to maintain transcription states, once initiated, probably by regulating ...chromatin structure. Since homozygous Rae28-deficient (Rae28(-/-)) mice displayed cardiac anomalies similar to congenital heart diseases in humans, we examined the role of Rae28 in cardiac morphogenesis at the molecular level. In Rae28(-/-) embryos, expression of the cardiac selector gene Nkx2.5/Csx (Nkx2.5) was initiated properly but was not sufficiently sustained later in development. This impaired expression of Nkx2.5 in the maintenance phase proved to have a crucial effect on cardiac morphogenesis, as demonstrated by the results of a genetic complementation experiment in which the cardiac anomalies were suppressed by overexpression of human NKX2.5/CSX1 in Rae28(-/-) embryos. Ubiquitous expression of exogenous Rae28 likewise restored the impaired Nkx2.5 expression in Rae28(-/-) embryos, further supporting the notion that Rae28 sustains Nkx2.5 expression in cardiomyocytes. Thus, our data show that a mammalian PcG gene can play a key role in organogenesis by helping to maintain the expression of a selector gene.
In order to evaluate the effect of cusp magnetic field in the cylindrical Radially Convergent Beam Fusion (RCBF) device, four kinds of experimental setups were examined. The maximum Neutron ...Production Rate (NPR) of 7.4 x 10
9
n/s was obtained at −80 kV and 15 A. As a result of the theoretical evaluation of fusion regimes in the RCBF device, the NPR normalized by the cathode current and the gas pressure was compared between the setups. The experimental data showed that the normalized NPR is highly correlated with the gas pressure, and it was independent of the setups. As the gas pressure decreased, the normalized NPR was increased. Hence, the present study suggests that the effect of the cusp magnetic field is to achieve lower pressure operation which improves the normalized NPR. The numerical estimation became in agreement with the experimental result by introducing an adjusting factor which was highly correlated with the pressure. The difference of the pressure is expected to affect some factors, such as an effective cathode transparency.
Preliminary experimental results of pulsed neutron source based on a discharge-type beam fusion called Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion (IECF) for landmine detection are presented. In Japan, ...a research and development project for constructing an advanced anti-personnel landmine detection system by using IECF, which is effective not only for metal landmines but also for plastic ones, is now in progress. This project consists of some R&D topics, and one of them is R&D of a high-voltage pulse generator system specialized for landmine detection, which can be used in the severe environment such as that in the field in Afghanistan. Thus a prototype of the system for landmine detection was designed and fabricated in consideration of compactness, lightness, cooling performance, dustproof and robustness. By using this prototype pulse generator system, a conventional IECF device was operated as a preliminary experiment. As a result, it was confirmed that the suggested pulse generator system is suitable for landmine detection system, and the results follow the empirical law obtained by the previous experiments. The maximum neutron production rate of 2.0×10
8
n/s was obtained at a pulsed discharge of -51 kV, 7.3 A.
Radially Convergent Beam Fusion (RCBF) device is a compact fusion proton/neutron source with an extremely simple configuration, high controllability, and hence high safety. Therefore, it has been ...studied for practical use as a portable neutron/proton source for various applications such as landmine detection and medical positron emission tomography. However, some problems remain for the practical use, and the most critical one is the insufficiency of absolute neutron/proton yields. In this study, a new RCBF device was designed to obtain higher neutron/proton yields, and tested by using deuterium gas. The key features of the new device are the cylindrical electrode configuration in consideration of better electrostatic confinement of ions and extraction of protons, and an integrated ion source that consists of a cusp magnetic field and a negatively biased grid anode. To investigate the performance characteristics of the device and the effect of the ion source, three kinds of experimental setup were used for comparison. At first, the device was operated with the basic setup. Then a cusp magnetic field was applied by using ferrite magnets, and finally the grid anode was negatively biased. As a result, it was confirmed that the ion source works effectively. At the same voltage and current, the obtained neutron production rate was about one order of magnitude higher than that of the conventional spherical RCBF device. The maximum neutron production rate of 6.8 × 109 n/s was obtained at a pulsed discharge of -70 kV and 10 A with an anode bias voltage of -1.0 kV.
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