Background
Radon therapy is clinically useful for the treatment of pain‐related diseases. However, there have been no studies regarding the effects of radon inhalation on neuropathic pain. In this ...study, we aimed to determine whether radon inhalation actually induced a remission of neuropathic pain and improved the quality of life.
Methods
First, we investigated the antinociceptive effects of radon inhalation in the chronic constriction injury (CCI) model of neuropathic pain. We evaluated pain behaviour in mice before and after CCI surgery, using von Frey test. Pretreated mice received CCI surgery immediately after 24‐h inhalation of radon at background (BG) concentration (c. 19 Bq/m3), or at a concentration of 1000 or 2000 Bq/m3, and post‐treated mice inhaled similar levels of radon 2 days after CCI surgery.
Results
CCI surgery induced mechanical allodynia and hyperalgesia on a plantar surface of mice, as assessed using von Frey test, and 2000 Bq/m3 radon inhalation alleviated hyperalgesic conditions 22–37% compared to BG level concentration. Concurrently, CCI surgery increased norepinephrine (NE), tumour necrosis factor‐alpha (TNF‐α) and nitric oxide (NO) concentrations in plasma, and leukocyte migration in paws. Furthermore, CCI‐induced neuropathy reduced superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. Treatment with radon inhalation, specifically at a concentration of 2000 Bq/m3, produced antinociceptive effects, i.e., lowered plasma TNF‐α, NE and NO levels and restored SOD activity, as well as pain‐related behaviour.
Conclusions
This study showed that inhalation of 2000 Bq/m3 radon prevented and alleviated CCI‐induced neuropathic pain in mice.
Objective
Activation of B cells is a hallmark of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Syk and TRAF6 are key signaling molecules in B-cell activation through BCR and CD40/TLR, respectively. ...Nevertheless, whether expression of Syk and TRAF6 is altered in SLE B cells remains unknown.
Methods
Phosphorylation and/or expression of Syk and TRAF6 were analyzed by flow cytometry in peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated from SLE patients.
Results
Pronounced phosphorylation and expression of Syk were noted in B cells from SLE patients compared with healthy donors. Levels of Syk phosphorylation correlated with the disease activity score. TRAF6 was significantly over-expressed in B cells of SLE patients as compared with healthy donors, and significant correlation of levels of TRAF6 expression and Syk phosphorylation was observed in SLE patients. Levels of TRAF6 expression were more pronounced in CD27+ memory B cells than in CD27-naïve B cells. In vitro treatment of SLE B cells with a Syk inhibitor (BAY61-3606) reduced Syk phosphorylation as well as TRAF6 expression.
Conclusion
Our results suggest that the activated Syk-mediated TRAF6 pathway leads to aberrant activation of B cells in SLE, and also highlight Syk as a potential target for B-cell-mediated processes in SLE.
One of the most prominent, yet controversial associations derived from the ensemble of prompt-phase observations of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is the apparent correlation in the source frame between the ...peak energy (E peak) of the Delta *nF( Delta *n) spectrum and the isotropic radiated energy, E iso. Since most GRBs have E peak above the energy range (15-150 keV) of the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) on Swift, determining accurate E peak values for large numbers of Swift bursts has been difficult. However, by combining data from Swift/BAT and the Suzaku Wide-band All-Sky Monitor (WAM), which covers the energy range from 50 to 5000 keV, for bursts which are simultaneously detected, one can accurately fit E peak and E iso and test the relationship between them for the Swift sample. Between the launch of Suzaku in 2005 July and the end of 2009 April, there were 48 GRBs that triggered both Swift/BAT and WAM, and an additional 48 bursts that triggered Swift and were detected by WAM, but did not trigger. A BAT-WAM team has cross-calibrated the two instruments using GRBs, and we are now able to perform joint fits on these bursts to determine their spectral parameters. For those bursts with spectroscopic redshifts, we can also calculate the isotropic energy. Here, we present the results of joint Swift/BAT-Suzaku/WAM spectral fits for 91 of the bursts detected by the two instruments. We show that the distribution of spectral fit parameters is consistent with distributions from earlier missions and confirm that Swift bursts are consistent with earlier reported relationships between E peak and isotropic energy. We show through time-resolved spectroscopy that individual burst pulses are also consistent with this relationship.
We present the results of high-resolution spectroscopy of absorption-line features of highly ionized ions in the X-ray spectra of GX 13+1 with the Chandra HETGS. We have resolved Kalpha absorption ...lines of hydrogen-like Fe, Mn, Cr, Ca, Ar, S, Si, and Mg ions and helium-like Fe ions. Applying the Voigt profile to these spectral features, we find that the plasma responsible for the absorption lines has a significant blueshift of 460 plus or minus 70 km s super(-1), indicating an outflow velocity of ~400 km s super(-1) corrected for the proper motion, with a line-of-sight velocity dispersion of 490image km s super(-1). The plasma is photoionized with an ionization parameter of log xi ~ 4.1-4.7. The inferred mass outflow rate is 0.7 x 10 super(18) g s super(-1) or higher, comparable to the mass accretion rate (10 super(18) g s super(-1)) estimated from the continuum spectrum. This indicates that the mass outflow plays a significant role to determine the whole dynamics of the accretion disk. We consider a simplified radiation-driven disk wind model for the origin of the outflow. Our observations are explained by the wind originating from radii of approx10 super(10)-10 super(11) cm with a density > ~10 super(13) cm super(-3).
InterPlanetary Network (IPN) data are presented for the gamma-ray bursts in the second Fermi Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GBM) catalog. Of the 462 bursts in that catalog between 2010 July 12 and 2012 ...July 11, 428, or 93%, were observed by at least 1 other instrument in the 9-spacecraft IPN. Of the 428, the localizations of 165 could be improved by triangulation. For these bursts, triangulation gives one or more annuli whose half-widths vary between about 2 3° and 16°, depending on the peak flux, fluence, time history, arrival direction, and the distance between the spacecraft. We compare the IPN localizations with the GBM 1 , 2 , and 3 error contours and find good agreement between them. The IPN 3 error boxes have areas between about 8 square arcminutes and 380 square degrees, and are an average of 2500 times smaller than the corresponding GBM 3 localizations. We identify four bursts in the IPN/GBM sample whose origins were given as "uncertain," but may in fact be cosmic. This leads to an estimate of over 99% completeness for the GBM catalog.
We present a time-resolved spectral analysis of the bright, long GRB061007 (z= 1.261) using Swift and Suzaku data. We find that the prompt emission of the burst can be equally well explained by a ...photospheric component together with a power law as by a Band function, and we explore the implications of the former model. The photospheric component, which we model with a multicolour blackbody, dominates the spectra and has a very stable shape throughout the burst. This component provides a natural explanation for the hardness-intensity correlation seen within the burst and also allows us to estimate the bulk Lorentz factor and the radius of the photosphere. The power-law component dominates the fit at high energies and has a nearly constant slope of -1.5. We discuss the possibility that this component is of the same origin as the high-energy power laws recently observed in some Fermi bursts. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
Objective: Chondrocytes inevitably decrease production of cartilaginous matrices during long‐term cultures with repeated passaging; this is termed dedifferentiation. To learn more concerning ...prevention of dedifferentiation, we have focused here on the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family that influences chondrocyte proliferation or differentiation.
Materials and methods: We have compared gene expression between differentiated cells in passage 3 (P3) and dedifferentiated ones in P8 of human cultured chondrocytes. We also performed ligand administration of the responsive factor or its gene silencing, using small interfering RNA (siRNA).
Results: FGFs 1, 5, 10, 13 and 18 were higher at P8 compared to P3, while FGFs 9 and 14 were lower. Especially, FGF18 showed a 10‐fold increase by P8. Ligand administration of FGF18 in the P3 cells, or its gene silencing using siRNA in the P8 cells, revealed dose‐dependent increase and decrease respectively in type II collagen/type I collagen ratio. Exogenous FGF18 also upregulated expression of transforming growth factor beta (TGF‐β), the anabolic factor of chondrocytes, in P3 chondrocytes, but P8 cells maintained a low level of TGF‐β expression, suggesting a decrease in responsiveness of TGF‐β to FGF18 stimulation in the dedifferentiated chondrocytes.
Conclusion: FGF18 seems to play a role in maintenance of chondrocyte properties, although its expression was rather high in dedifferentiated chondrocytes. Upregulation of FGF18 in dedifferentiated chondrocytes implied that it may be a marker of dedifferentiation.
We present a time-resolved spectral analysis of the bright, long GRB 061007 (z= 1.261) using Swift and Suzaku data. We find that the prompt emission of the burst can be equally well explained by a ...photospheric component together with a power law as by a Band function, and we explore the implications of the former model. The photospheric component, which we model with a multicolour blackbody, dominates the spectra and has a very stable shape throughout the burst. This component provides a natural explanation for the hardness-intensity correlation seen within the burst and also allows us to estimate the bulk Lorentz factor and the radius of the photosphere. The power-law component dominates the fit at high energies and has a nearly constant slope of −1.5. We discuss the possibility that this component is of the same origin as the high-energy power laws recently observed in some Fermi bursts.
We present the discovery and follow-up observations of a broad-line Type Ic supernova (SN), PTF 10bzf (SN 2010ah), detected by the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) on 2010 February 23. The SN distance ...is 218 Mpc, greater than GRB 980425/SN 1998bw and GRB 060218/SN 2006aj, but smaller than the other SNe firmly associated with gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We conducted a multi-wavelength follow-up campaign with Palomar 48 inch, Palomar 60 inch, Gemini-N, Keck, Wise, Swift, the Allen Telescope Array, Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy, Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope, and Expanded Very Large Array. Here we compare the properties of PTF 10bzf with those of SN 1998bw and other broad-line SNe. The optical luminosity and spectral properties of PTF 10bzf suggest that this SN is intermediate, in kinetic energy and amount of 56Ni, between non-GRB-associated SNe like 2002ap or 1997ef, and GRB-associated SNe like 1998bw. No X-ray or radio counterpart to PTF 10bzf was detected. X-ray upper limits allow us to exclude the presence of an underlying X-ray afterglow as luminous as that of other SN-associated GRBs such as GRB 030329 or GRB 031203. Early-time radio upper limits do not show evidence for mildly relativistic ejecta. Late-time radio upper limits rule out the presence of an underlying off-axis GRB, with energy and wind density similar to the SN-associated GRB 030329 and GRB 031203. Finally, by performing a search for a GRB in the time window and at the position of PTF 10bzf, we find that no GRB in the interplanetary network catalog could be associated with this SN.
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