A pilot cross-sectional study of patients with acute cervical spinal cord injury (SCI).
The precise evaluation of the severity of SCI is important for developing novel therapies. Although several ...biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid have been tested, few analyses of blood samples have been reported. A novel biomarker for axonal injury, phosphorylated form of the high-molecular-weight neurofilament subunit NF-H (pNF-H), has been reported to be elevated in blood from rodent SCI model. The aim of this study is to investigate whether pNF-H values in blood can serve as a biomarker to evaluate the severity of patients with SCI.
Tokyo Metropolitan Bokutoh Hospital and National Rehabilitation Center, Japan.
This study enrolled 14 patients with acute cervical SCI. Sequential plasma samples were obtained from 6 h to 21 days after injury. Patients were classified according to American Spinal Injury Association impairment scale (AIS) at the end of the follow-up (average, 229.1 days). Plasma pNF-H values were compared between different AIS grades.
In patients with complete SCI, pNF-H became detectable at 12 h after injury and remained elevated at 21 days after injury. There was a statistically significant difference between AIS A (complete paralysis) patients and AIS C (incomplete paralysis) patients.
Plasma pNF-H was elevated in accordance with the severity of SCI and reflected a greater magnitude of axonal damage. Therefore, pNF-H is a potential biomarker to independently distinguish AIS A patients (complete SCI) from AIS C-E patients (incomplete SCI). However, further studies are required to evaluate its utility in predicting prognosis of patients in the incomplete category.
Unmethylated CpG motifs present in bacterial DNA stimulate a rapid and robust innate immune response. Human cell lines and PBMC that recognize CpG DNA express membrane-bound human Toll-like receptor ...9 (hTLR9). Cells that are not responsive to CpG DNA become responsive when transfected with hTLR9. Expression of hTLR9 dramatically increases uptake of CpG (but not control) DNA into endocytic vesicles. Upon cell stimulation, hTLR9 and CpG DNA are found in the same endocytic vesicles. Cells expressing hTLR9 are stimulated by CpG motifs that are active in primates but not rodents, suggesting that evolutionary divergence between TLR9 molecules underlies species-specific differences in the recognition of bacterial DNA. These findings indicate that hTLR9 plays a critical role in the CpG DNA-mediated activation of human cells.
Tools for radiation exposure reconstruction are required to support the medical management of radiation victims in radiological or nuclear incidents. Different biological and physical dosimetry ...assays can be used for various exposure scenarios to estimate the dose of ionizing radiation a person has absorbed. Regular validation of the techniques through inter-laboratory comparisons (ILC) is essential to guarantee high quality results. In the current RENEB inter-laboratory comparison, the performance quality of established cytogenetic assays dicentric chromosome assay (DCA), cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay (CBMN), stable chromosomal translocation assay (FISH) and premature chromosome condensation assay (PCC) was tested in comparison to molecular biological assays gamma-H2AX foci (gH2AX), gene expression (GE) and physical dosimetry-based assays electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), optically or thermally stimulated luminescence (LUM). Three blinded coded samples (e.g., blood, enamel or mobiles) were exposed to 0, 1.2 or 3.5 Gy X-ray reference doses (240 kVp, 1 Gy/min). These doses roughly correspond to clinically relevant groups of unexposed to low exposed (0-1 Gy), moderately exposed (1-2 Gy, no severe acute health effects expected) and highly exposed individuals (>2 Gy, requiring early intensive medical care). In the frame of the current RENEB inter-laboratory comparison, samples were sent to 86 specialized teams in 46 organizations from 27 nations for dose estimation and identification of three clinically relevant groups. The time for sending early crude reports and more precise reports was documented for each laboratory and assay where possible. The quality of dose estimates was analyzed with three different levels of granularity, 1. by calculating the frequency of correctly reported clinically relevant dose categories, 2. by determining the number of dose estimates within the uncertainty intervals recommended for triage dosimetry (±0.5 Gy or ±1.0 Gy for doses <2.5 Gy or >2.5 Gy), and 3. by calculating the absolute difference (AD) of estimated doses relative to the reference doses. In total, 554 dose estimates were submitted within the 6-week period given before the exercise was closed. For samples processed with the highest priority, earliest dose estimates/categories were reported within 5-10 h of receipt for GE, gH2AX, LUM, EPR, 2-3 days for DCA, CBMN and within 6-7 days for the FISH assay. For the unirradiated control sample, the categorization in the correct clinically relevant group (0-1 Gy) as well as the allocation to the triage uncertainty interval was, with the exception of a few outliers, successfully performed for all assays. For the 3.5 Gy sample the percentage of correct classifications to the clinically relevant group (≥2 Gy) was between 89-100% for all assays, with the exception of gH2AX. For the 1.2 Gy sample, an exact allocation to the clinically relevant group was more difficult and 0-50% or 0-48% of the estimates were wrongly classified into the lowest or highest dose categories, respectively. For the irradiated samples, the correct allocation to the triage uncertainty intervals varied considerably between assays for the 1.2 Gy (29-76%) and 3.5 Gy (17-100%) samples. While a systematic shift towards higher doses was observed for the cytogenetic-based assays, extreme outliers exceeding the reference doses 2-6 fold were observed for EPR, FISH and GE assays. These outliers were related to a particular material examined (tooth enamel for EPR assay, reported as kerma in enamel, but when converted into the proper quantity, i.e. to kerma in air, expected dose estimates could be recalculated in most cases), the level of experience of the teams (FISH) and methodological uncertainties (GE). This was the first RENEB ILC where everything, from blood sampling to irradiation and shipment of the samples, was organized and realized at the same institution, for several biological and physical retrospective dosimetry assays. Almost all assays appeared comparably applicable for the identification of unexposed and highly exposed individuals and the allocation of medical relevant groups, with the latter requiring medical support for the acute radiation scenario simulated in this exercise. However, extreme outliers or a systematic shift of dose estimates have been observed for some assays. Possible reasons will be discussed in the assay specific papers of this special issue. In summary, this ILC clearly demonstrates the need to conduct regular exercises to identify research needs, but also to identify technical problems and to optimize the design of future ILCs.
We propose a differential interference contrast method for cells using hard x-ray Gabor holography and knife-edge filtering in the spatial frequency domain, without relying on beam shearing. A phase ...object is holographically recorded and reconstructed by computer. Interference between the wavefronts of zeroth order weighted by e
in the positive frequency region produces a dark image. Similarly, interference between the wavefronts of the zeroth order weighted by e
in the negative frequency region produces a bright image. By adding these two intensity distributions, good quality phase-contrast images of 8-μm-diameter polystyrene beads and human HeLa cells were obtained.
To examine species composition and population structures in sand lance (Ammodytidae) along the northern Pacific coast of Japan, genetic analysis were carried out for specimens collected in 2014 from ...Otsuchi Bay, Iwate, Ishinomaki Bay, Miyagi, off Soma, Fukushima and Ise–Mikawa Bays, Aichi. The samples consisted of Ammodytes japonicus and Ammodytes heian, of which the latter is a recently described species. Neither species exhibited significant genetic differences among localities. Only A. japonicus was found in the most southern locality at Aichi, but it decreased northward to <90% in Miyagi and Fukushima and the two species occurred almost evenly in Iwate suggesting a latitudinal cline in their species composition along the northern Pacific coast of Japan, off Tohoku. The vertebral counts differed between A. japonicus and A. heian with modes of 65 and 63, respectively, but this characteristic did not differ significantly within a locality (Iwate). This suggests that the vertebral counts of Ammodytes spp. in Japanese waters are probably strongly determined by the environment than by a species‐specific genetic trait.
Spin-orbit coupling of as large as a half eV for electrons in 5d orbitals often gives rise to the formation of spin-orbital entangled objects, with the effective total angular momentum Jeff. Of ...particular interest are the Jeff=3/2 states realized in 5d1 transition metal ions surrounded by an anion octahedron. The pure Jeff=3/2 quartet does not have any magnetic dipolar moment (〈M〉=0) but hosts hidden pseudodipolar moments accompanied by charge quadrupoles and magnetic octupoles. Cs2TaCl6 and Rb2TaCl6 are correlated insulators with 5d1Ta4+ ions in a regular Cl octahedron. Here we demonstrate that these Ta chlorides indeed have a substantially suppressed effective magnetic dipolar moment of ∼0.2μB. Two phase transitions are observed at low temperatures that are not pronounced in the magnetization but accompanied with large electronic entropy of ∼R ln4. We ascribe the two transitions to the ordering of hidden multipoles.
Dynamics and sources of fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM) are important for understanding biogeochemical processes in aquatic ecosystems. This study aimed to analyse direct production of ...FDOM by marine phytoplankton cultures and reveal fluorescent characteristics of exuded FDOM. Axenic cultures of eight species of bloom-forming marine phytoplankton, including two diatoms; a raphidophyte; two dinoflagellates; a chlorophyte; a cryptophyte and a haptophyte, were incubated in an artificial medium. Excitation emission matrices (EEMs) of FDOM in the culture medium were spectrofluorometrically measured. FDOM production was observed in all species, and fluorescent characteristics of the exudates varied considerably among species. Measured EEMs had peaks at 350/450 nm (excitation/emission) for the diatom Ditylum brightwellii and 370/450–470 nm for the raphidophyte Heterosigma akashiwo and the chlorophyte Oltmansiellopsis viridis, which have previously been regarded as the peaks of terrestrially derived humic-like substances. Direct production of FDOM by marine phytoplankton should be considered in future studies of FDOM dynamics in marine systems. Species-specific features of FDOM might be used for early detection of harmful blooms because this method is simple, rapid and suitable for monitoring.
PDF
