Since 2007, a water-cooled high-power rotating disk target has been in operation at the in-flight radioactive-isotope beam separator (BigRIPS), RIKEN. The target should withstand a goal beam ...intensity of 1 particle μA (pμA)
238U-beam at 350
AMeV with a spot size of 1
mm in diameter, resulting in a heat deposit of 22
kW in the target.
A beam-spot temperature monitoring system using infrared devices in high-radiation environment was elaborately developed. The beam-spot temperature on a beryllium (Be) fixed target and on a rotating Be and tungsten (W) disk target was measured with the most intense beams presently available at our facility. The heat deposit achieved was 0.6
kW, that is 1/37 of the goal value. At the present beam intensity, the result supports our estimation that a water-cooled rotating disk target of 30
cm diameter can withstand an approximately tenfold beam intensity compared to a water-cooled fixed target.
Background: Detailed spectroscopy of neutron-rich odd-A Cu isotopes is of great importance for studying the shell evolution in the region of 78Ni. While there is experimental information on excited ...states in 69−73,77,79Cu isotopes, the information concerning 75Cu is very limited.
Purpose: Experimentally observed single-particle, core-coupling, and proton-hole intruder states in 75Cu, will complete the systematics of these states in the chain of isotopes.
Method: Excited states in 75Cu were populated in the β decay of 75Ni isotopes. The Ni nuclei were produced by the in-flight fission of 238U projectiles, and were separated, identified, and implanted in a highly segmented Si detector array for the detection of the β-decay electrons. The β-delayed γ rays were detected in a HPGe cluster array. Monte Carlo shell model calculations were performed using the A3DA interaction built on the pfg9/2d5/2 model space for both neutrons and protons.
Results: A level scheme of 75Cu was built up to ≈4 MeV by performing a γ−γ coincidence analysis. The excited states below 2 MeV were interpreted based on the systematics of neutron-rich odd-A Cu isotopes and the results of the shell model calculations.
Conclusions: The evolution of the single-particle, core-coupling, and proton-hole intruder states in the chain of neutron-rich odd-A Cu isotopes is discussed in the present work, in connection with the newly observed level structure of 75Cu.
To identify the molecular characteristics specific to the mushroom body (MB, a higher processing centre) neurones in the honeybee brain, we previously used proteomics to identify proteins that are ...preferentially expressed in these MBs. Here we continued our proteomic analysis to show that reticulocalbin, which is involved in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca(2+) transport, is also preferentially expressed in the MBs in the honeybee brain. Gene expression analysis revealed that reticulocalbin is preferentially expressed in the large-type Kenyon cells, which are MB-intrinsic neurones. In addition, the gene for the ryanodine receptor, which is also involved in ER Ca(2+) transport, was also preferentially expressed in the large-type Kenyon cells. In contrast, the expression of three other ER-related genes, protein disulphide isomerase, sec61 and erp60, was not enriched in the MBs. These findings further support the notion that the function of ER Ca(2+)-signalling, but not the mere intracellular density of ER, is specifically enhanced in the large-type Kenyon cells in the honeybee brain.
Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at locus 10q23.3 and mutation of the PTEN tumor suppressor gene occur frequently in both endometrial carcinoma and ovarian endometrioid carcinoma. To investigate the ...potential role of the PTEN gene in the carcinogenesis of ovarian endometrioid carcinoma and its related subtype, clear cell carcinoma, we examined 20 ovarian endometrioid carcinomas, 24 clear cell carcinomas, and 34 solitary endometrial cysts of the ovary for LOH at 10q23.3 and point mutations within the entire coding region of the PTEN gene. LOH was found in 8 of 19 ovarian endometrioid carcinomas (42.1%), 6 of 22 clear cell carcinomas (27.3%), and 13 of 23 solitary endometrial cysts (56.5%). In 5 endometrioid carcinomas synchronous with endometriosis, 3 cases displayed LOH events common to both the carcinoma and the endometriosis, 1 displayed an LOH event in only the carcinoma, and 1 displayed no LOH events in either lesion. In 7 clear cell carcinomas synchronous with endometriosis, 3 displayed LOH events common to both the carcinoma and the endometriosis, 1 displayed an LOH event in only the carcinoma, and 3 displayed no LOH events in either lesion. In no cases were there LOH events in the endometriosis only. Somatic mutations in the PTEN gene were identified in 4 of 20 ovarian endometrioid carcinomas (20.0%), 2 of 24 clear cell carcinomas (8.3%), and 7 of 34 solitary endometrial cysts (20.6%). These results indicate that inactivation of the PTEN tumor suppressor gene is an early event in the development of ovarian endometrioid carcinoma and clear cell carcinoma of the ovary.
Influenza is one of the most prevalent viral diseases in humans. For some high-risk human populations, including the infant, the elderly, and the immunocompromised, who may not benefit from active ...immunization, passive immunotherapy with antibodies reactive with all influenza A strains may be an alternative. In this study, we characterized several fully human monoclonal antibodies (MAb) reactive with M2e, which were generated from transchromosomic mice engineered to produce fully human antibodies following immunization with a consensus-sequence M2e peptide. The MAbs showed strong binding to M2e peptide and to virus infected MDCK cells. One MAb recognizing the highly conserved N-terminal portion of consensus M2e displayed high binding to the majority of M2e variants from natural viral isolates, including highly pathogenic avian strains, which were recently reported to infect humans. Passive immunotherapy with this MAb in mice resulted in significant reduction in virus replication in the lung and protection from lethal infection when administered either prophylactically or therapeutically. These results suggest the potential of the anti-M2e human MAb with broad binding spectrum as a universal passive immunotherapeutic agent to infection by influenza A virus.
Living‐donor lobar lung transplantation (LDLLT), unlike deceased donor lung transplantation, often involves a wide range of size discrepancies between donors and recipients. The aim of this study was ...to evaluate the function of donor lung grafts in the recipient thorax in 14 cases of bilateral LDLLT involving 28 successfully transplanted lower‐lobe grafts. Pulmonary function tests and three‐dimensional computed tomography (3D‐CT) volumetry were performed perioperatively. According to 3D‐CT size matching, donor graft volumes ranged from 40% to 161% of the hemilateral thoracic volumes of the recipients. Graft forced vital capacity (FVC) values increased over time, reaching 102 ± 39% of preoperatively estimated values at 12 months postoperatively. Graft volumes also increased over time, reaching 120 ± 38% of the original values at 12 months postoperatively. Undersized donor grafts expanded more after LDLLT than oversized donor grafts, producing greater FVC values than those estimated preoperatively, whereas oversized donor grafts became inflated to their original size and maintained FVC values that approached the preoperative estimates. Thus, donor grafts were found to overinflate or underinflate to the extent that they could preserve their native function in the new recipient's environment.
In living‐donor lobar lung transplantation, donor grafts overinfl ate or underinfl ate to the extent that they can preserve their native function in the new recipient's environment.
The aim of the present study was to evaluate the natural course of acute incomplete stent apposition (ISA) after second-generation everolimus-eluting stent (EES) when compared with first-generation ...sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) by using optical coherence tomography (OCT).
From the OCT substudy of the RESET trial, we identified 77 patients (EES = 38 and SES = 39) who successfully underwent serial OCT examination at post-stenting and 8-12-month follow-up. The presence of ISA was assessed in the OCT images, and ISA distance was measured from the centre of the strut blooming to the adjacent lumen border. Incomplete stent apposition was observed in all EES and SES at post-stenting, and it was persistent in 26% of EES and 38% of SES at 8-12-month follow-up. Maximum ISA distance was significantly decreased during the follow-up period in both EES (315 ± 94-110 ± 165 μm, P < 0.001) and SES (308 ± 119-143 ± 195 μm, P < 0.001). Receiver-operating curve analysis identified that the best cut-off value of OCT-estimated ISA distance at post-stenting for predicting late-persistent ISA at 8-12-month follow-up in EES and SES was >355 and >285 μm, respectively.
The second-generation EES showed better healing of acute ISA in comparison with the first-generation SES. Optical coherence tomography can predict late-persistent ISA after DES implantation and provide useful information to optimize PCI.
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