Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) imaging is a novel ultrasound‐based elastography method that is integrated in a conventional ultrasound machine enabling the exact localization of ...measurement site. It might present an alternative method to transient elastography for the noninvasive assessment of liver fibrosis. At present, studies with small patient population have shown promising results. A systematic review and meta‐analysis of pooled patient data were performed to evaluate the overall performance of ARFI for the staging of liver fibrosis. Literature databases were searched up to 10/2010. The authors of the original publication were contacted, and the original patient data were requested. A meta‐analysis was performed using a random effect meta‐analytic method for diagnostic tests. In addition, available data comparing ARFI with FibroScan with the DeLong test were evaluated. Literature search yielded nine full‐paper publications evaluating ARFI while using liver biopsy as reference method. Original patient data were available from eight studies including 518 patients. The mean diagnostic accuracy of ARFI expressed as areas under ROC curves (AUROC) was 0.87 for the diagnosis of significant fibrosis (F ≥ 2), 0.91 for the diagnosis of severe fibrosis (F ≥ 3), and 0.93 for the diagnosis of cirrhosis. ARFI can be performed with good diagnostic accuracy for the noninvasive staging of liver fibrosis.
Aims.
Emission from helium atoms in Mercury’s exosphere at 58.4 nm was observed by the Mariner 10 spacecraft in the 1970s. This emission is due to resonant scattering of solar radiation. Since ...Mercury’s orbit is ellipsoidal, solar radiation and wind fluxes on Mercury vary along its orbit. Furthermore, the flux of the solar He I 58.4 nm emission observed on Mercury varies with Mercury’s radial velocity with the Sun. Using model simulations, we demonstrate how Mercury’s exospheric He I 58.4 nm emission varies due to the periodic changes in solar radiation and wind.
Methods.
The simulation is based on our Monte-Carlo model that accounts for changes in fluxes of the solar wind and radiation.
Results.
The model results indicate that the He I 58.4 nm brightness varies by between one and three orders of magnitude along the planet’s orbit. These findings are strongly dependent on the intrinsic line width of the solar He I 58.4 nm emission.
Conclusions.
Although this variation has never been observed because Mariner 10 only sampled emission near Mercury’s aphelion, we expect this variation to be observable by new missions, such as BepiColombo and Hisaki. Our results are also important for the characterization of exoplanets with ultraviolet space missions.
Transient elastography is a new technique that allows rapid, non-invasive measurement of mean tissue stiffness, which has been shown to be useful for accurate estimation of hepatic fibrosis in ...patients with chronic hepatitis C. 2 We carried out a study to determine the value of liver stiffness measurement with the new medical device called the Fibroscan (EchoSens, Paris, France), based on ultrasound transient elastography, in patients with NAFLD.
Contrary to the case of the Earth, the main auroral oval on Jupiter is related to the breakdown of plasma corotation in the middle magnetosphere. Even if the root causes for the main auroral ...emissions are Io's volcanism and Jupiter's fast rotation, changes in the aurora could be attributed either to these internal factors or to fluctuations of the solar wind. Here we show multiple lines of evidence from the aurora for a major internally‐controlled magnetospheric reconfiguration that took place in Spring 2007. Hubble Space Telescope far‐UV images show that the main oval continuously expanded over a few months, engulfing the Ganymede footprint on its way. Simultaneously, there was an increased occurrence rate of large equatorward isolated auroral features attributed to injection of depleted flux tubes. Furthermore, the unique disappearance of the Io footprint on 6 June appears to be related to the exceptional equatorward migration of such a feature. The contemporary observation of the spectacular Tvashtar volcanic plume by the New‐Horizons probe as well as direct measurement of increased Io plasma torus emissions suggest that these dramatic changes were triggered by Io's volcanic activity.
Key Points
The Ganymede footprint can be engulfed into the Jovian main emissions
The main oval expanded and the outer emissions brightened from 02 to 06/2007
The Io auroral footprint momentarily disappeared on June 7th 2007
The improved fluorine analysis method by ion chromatography was applied to the fossil human bones excavated from the Shiraho‐Saonetabaru Cave site on Ishigaki Island, which were dated back to the ...Late Pleistocene. This study presents the first systematic results on individual variation of F/P ratios of fossil bones using less than 1 mg samples. In addition to the burial period, the F/P ratio was governed by the local difference in seepage water circulation, because dripping water in a cave slowly flowed through the sediment and fluorine accumulated in the bone from the water. The F/P ratios provide a powerful tool for elucidating the burial situation and subsequent depositional environment. The average F/P ratio was well correlated with the 14C age of the samples. The present method can be practically applicable as a rough chronological classification of the Holocene and Pleistocene groups of human bones at this site. The only exception was the lower F/P values of the Pleistocene human skeleton belonging to Shiraho No. 4, which is thought to have been placed in a narrow space under the fallen rocks.
Objective There is no widely accepted method to repair articular cartilage defects. Bone marrow mesenchymal cells have the potential to differentiate into bone, cartilage, fat and muscle. Bone marrow ...mesenchymal cell transplantation is easy to use clinically because cells can be easily obtained and can be multiplied without losing their capacity of differentiation. The objective of this study was to apply these cell transplantations to repair human articular cartilage defects in osteoarthritic knee joints.
Design Twenty-four knees of 24 patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) who underwent a high tibial osteotomy comprised the study group. Adherent cells in bone marrow aspirates were culture expanded, embedded in collagen gel, transplanted into the articular cartilage defect in the medial femoral condyle and covered with autologous periosteum at the time of 12 high tibial osteotomies. The other 12 subjects served as cell-free controls.
Results In the cell-transplanted group, as early as 6.3 weeks after transplantation the defects were covered with white to pink soft tissue, in which metachromasia was partially observed. Forty-two weeks after transplantation, the defects were covered with white soft tissue, in which metachromasia was observed in almost all areas of the sampled tissue and hyaline cartilage-like tissue was partially observed. Although the clinical improvement was not significantly different, the arthroscopic and histological grading score was better in the cell-transplanted group than in the cell-free control group.
Conclusions This procedure highlights the availability of autologous culture expanded bone marrow mesenchymal cell transplantation for the repair of articular cartilage defects in humans.
The red complex, which includes Porphyromonas gingivalis, Treponema denticola, and Tannerella forsythia (formerly Bacteroides forsythus), are recognized as the most important pathogens in adult ...periodontal disease. These bacteria are usually found together in periodontal pockets, suggesting that they may cause destruction of the periodontal tissue in a cooperative manner. This article discusses the interspecies pathogenic interactions within the red complex.
Jupiter's sodium nebula, which originates from Io's volcanic gas, shows variations in its brightness due to the volcanic activity on Io. Imaging observation of D-line brightness in the sodium nebula ...was performed from 2013 through 2015 in a conjunction with the HISAKI mission. The D-line brightness of the sodium nebula had been stably faint and dim until January 2015, but it showed a distinct enhancement from February through March, 2015. The brightness increased by three times during this enhancement. Details in variations of Jupiter's sodium nebula are shown in this paper.
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