Evaluation of superconductor assisted machining (SUAM) with superconducting coated conductors using the finite element method

In the present study, we numerically calculated the magnetic levitation force for superconductor assisted machining (SUAM) using the finite element method. Although we usually use bulk superconductors for magnetic levitation in SUAM, we herein considered magnetic levitation using superconductor-coated conductors. We were able to explain the experimental results on the forces of the coated conductors as well as bulk theoretically. For both bulk and coated conductor, the repulsive force was found to increase as the distance from the permanent magnet became shorter. For the coated materials, both the repulsive and attractive forces were lower than in the case of bulk superconductors. This is because the volume of superconducting material was smaller than in the case of bulk superconductors, since the overall size of both materials was the same. However, we believe that greater forces can be obtained by increasing the number of coated conductors.32nd International Symposium on Superconductivity (ISS2019), 3-5 December, 2019, Kyoto, Japa

Myositis autoantibodies in Korean patients with inflammatory myositis: Anti-140-kDa polypeptide antibody is primarily associated with rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease independent of clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To investigate the association between myositis autoantibodies and clinical subsets of inflammatory myositis in Korean patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Immunoprecipitation was performed using the sera of classic polymyositis (PM) (n = 11) and dermatomyositis (DM) (n = 38) patients who met the Bohan and Peter criteria for definite inflammatory myositis. A panel of defined myositis autoantibodies was surveyed to investigate the association between each autoantibody and clinical subsets of inflammatory myositis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Either MSAs, anti-p140, or anti-p155/140 antibodies were found in 63.3% (31/49) of the study subjects. Anti-140-kDa-polypeptide (anti-p140) (18.4%, 9/49) and anti-155/140-kDa polypeptide (anti-p155/140) (16.3%, 8/49) antibodies were the most common, followed by anti-Mi2 (14.3%, 7/49), anti-ARS (12.2%, 6/49) and anti-SRP (2.0%, 1/49) antibodies. All MSAs and anti-p140 and anti-p155/140 antibodies were mutually exclusive. Anti-p140 (23.7%, 9/38), anti-p155/140 (21.1%, 8/38), and anti-Mi2 (18.4%, 3/38) antibodies were found exclusively in DM patients. Anti-p140 antibody was associated with rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease (ILD) (p = 0.001), with a sensitivity of 100.0% (4/4) and a specificity of 85.3% (29/34) in DM patients. Anti-p155/140 antibody was associated with cancer-associated DM (p = 0.009), with a sensitivity of 55.6% (5/9) and a specificity of 89.7% (26/29). Cancer-associated survival was significantly worse when anti-p155/140 antibody was present (19.2 ± 7.6 vs. 65.0 ± 3.5 months, p = 0.032). Finally, anti-ARS antibodies were associated with stable or slowly progressive ILD in PM and DM patients (p = 0.005).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Anti-p140 and anti-p155/140 antibodies were commonly found autoantibodies in Korean patients with inflammatory myositis. Despite the lack of clinically amyopathic DM patients in the study subjects, a strong association was observed between anti-p140 antibody and rapidly progressive ILD. Anti-p155/140 antibody was associated with cancer-associated myositis and poor survival.</p

The effect of an external magnetic force on cell adhesion and proliferation of magnetically labeled mesenchymal stem cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>As the strategy for tissue regeneration using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for transplantation, it is necessary that MSCs be accumulated and kept in the target area. To accumulate MSCs effectively, we developed a novel technique for a magnetic targeting system with magnetically labeled MSCs and an external magnetic force. In this study, we examined the effect of an external magnetic force on magnetically labeled MSCs in terms of cell adhesion and proliferation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Magnetically labeled MSCs were plated at the bottom of an insert under the influence of an external magnetic force for 1 hour. Then the inserts were turned upside down for between 1 and 24 hours, and the number of MSCs which had fallen from the membrane was counted. The gene expression of MSCs affected magnetic force was analyzed with microarray. In the control group, the same procedure was done without the external magnetic force.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>At 1 hour after the inserts were turned upside down, the average number of fallen MSCs in the magnetic group was significantly smaller than that in the control group, indicating enhanced cell adhesion. At 24 hours, the average number of fallen MSCs in the magnetic group was also significantly smaller than that in control group. In the magnetic group, integrin alpha2, alpha6, beta3 BP, intercellular adhesion molecule-2 (ICAM-2), platelet/endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1) were upregulated. At 1, 2 and 3 weeks after incubation, there was no statistical significant difference in the numbers of MSCs in the magnetic group and control group.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results indicate that an external magnetic force for 1 hour enhances cell adhesion of MSCs. Moreover, there is no difference in cell proliferation after using an external magnetic force on magnetically labeled MSCs.</p

A patient with hypereosinophilic syndrome that manifested with acquired hemophilia and elevated IgG4: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Hypereosinophilic syndrome is defined as a prolonged state (more than six months) of eosinophilia (greater than 1500 cells/μL), without an apparent etiology and with end-organ damage. Hypereosinophilic syndrome can cause coagulation abnormalities. Among hypereosinophilic syndrome types, the lymphocytic variant (lymphocytic hypereosinophilic syndrome) is derived from a monoclonal proliferation of T lymphocytes. Here, we describe the case of a patient with lymphocytic hypereosinophilic syndrome who presented with a coagulation abnormality. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first such report including a detailed clinical picture and temporal cytokine profile.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 77-year-old Japanese man presented to our facility with massive hematuria and hypereosinophilia (greater than 2600 cells/μl). His eosinophilia first appeared five years earlier when he developed femoral artery occlusion. He manifested with multiple hematomas and prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time. His IgG4 level was remarkably elevated (greater than 2000 mg/dL). Polymerase chain reaction tests of peripheral blood and bone marrow identified lymphocytic hypereosinophilic syndrome. His prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time was found to be due to acquired hemophilia. Glucocorticoids suppressed both the hypereosinophilia and coagulation abnormality. However, tapering of glucocorticoids led to a relapse of the coagulation abnormality alone, without eosinophilia. Tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin-5, and/or eotaxin-3 may have caused the hypereosinophilia, and interleukin-10 was correlated with the coagulation abnormality.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case in which lymphocytic hypereosinophilic syndrome and IgG4-related disease have overlapped. In addition, our patient is only the second case of hypereosinophilic disease that manifested with acquired hemophilia. Our patient relapsed with the coagulation abnormality alone, without eosinophilia. This report shows that the link between eosinophilia, IgG4, and clinical manifestations is not simple and provides useful insight into the immunopathology of hypereosinophilic syndrome and IgG4-related disease.</p

Chemomodulation of human dendritic cell function by antineoplastic agents in low noncytotoxic concentrations

The dose-delivery schedule of conventional chemotherapy, which determines its efficacy and toxicity, is based on the maximum tolerated dose. This strategy has lead to cure and disease control in a significant number of patients but is associated with significant short-term and long-term toxicity. Recent data demonstrate that moderately low-dose chemotherapy may be efficiently combined with immunotherapy, particularly with dendritic cell (DC) vaccines, to improve the overall therapeutic efficacy. However, the direct effects of low and ultra-low concentrations on DCs are still unknown. Here we characterized the effects of low noncytotoxic concentrations of different classes of chemotherapeutic agents on human DCs in vitro. DCs treated with antimicrotubule agents vincristine, vinblastine, and paclitaxel or with antimetabolites 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine and methotrexate, showed increased expression of CD83 and CD40 molecules. Expression of CD80 on DCs was also stimulated by vinblastine, paclitaxel, azacytidine, methotrexate, and mitomycin C used in low nontoxic concentrations. Furthermore, 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine, methotrexate, and mitomycin C increased the ability of human DCs to stimulate proliferation of allogeneic T lymphocytes. Thus, our data demonstrate for the first time that in low noncytotoxic concentrations chemotherapeutic agents do not induce apoptosis of DCs, but directly enhance DC maturation and function. This suggests that modulation of human DCs by noncytotoxic concentrations of antineoplastic drugs, i.e. chemomodulation, might represent a novel approach for up-regulation of functional activity of resident DCs in the tumor microenvironment or improving the efficacy of DCs prepared ex vivo for subsequent vaccinations

Multiwavelength Observations of the Blazar PKS 0735+178 in Spatial and Temporal Coincidence with an Astrophysical Neutrino Candidate IceCube-211208A

We report on multiwavelength target-of-opportunity observations of the blazar PKS 0735+178, located 2.°2 away from the best-fit position of the IceCube neutrino event IceCube-211208A detected on 2021 December 8. The source was in a high-flux state in the optical, ultraviolet, X-ray, and GeV γ-ray bands around the time of the neutrino event, exhibiting daily variability in the soft X-ray flux. The X-ray data from Swift-XRT and NuSTAR characterize the transition between the low-energy and high-energy components of the broadband spectral energy distribution (SED), and the γ-ray data from Fermi-LAT, VERITAS, and H.E.S.S. require a spectral cutoff near 100 GeV. Both the X-ray and γ-ray measurements provide strong constraints on the leptonic and hadronic models. We analytically explore a synchrotron self-Compton model, an external Compton model, and a lepto-hadronic model. Models that are entirely based on internal photon fields face serious difficulties in matching the observed SED. The existence of an external photon field in the source would instead explain the observed γ-ray spectral cutoff in both the leptonic and lepto-hadronic models and allow a proton jet power that marginally agrees with the Eddington limit in the lepto-hadronic model. We show a numerical lepto-hadronic model with external target photons that reproduces the observed SED and is reasonably consistent with the neutrino event despite requiring a high jet power

β-Adrenergic Inhibition of Contractility in L6 Skeletal Muscle Cells

The β-adrenoceptors (β-ARs) control many cellular processes. Here, we show that β-ARs inhibit calcium depletion-induced cell contractility and subsequent cell detachment of L6 skeletal muscle cells. The mechanism underlying the cell detachment inhibition was studied by using a quantitative cell detachment assay. We demonstrate that cell detachment induced by depletion of extracellular calcium is due to myosin- and ROCK-dependent contractility. The β-AR inhibition of L6 skeletal muscle cell detachment was shown to be mediated by the β2-AR and increased cAMP but was surprisingly not dependent on the classical downstream effectors PKA or Epac, nor was it dependent on PKG, PI3K or PKC. However, inhibition of potassium channels blocks the β2-AR mediated effects. Furthermore, activation of potassium channels fully mimicked the results of β2-AR activation. In conclusion, we present a novel finding that β2-AR signaling inhibits contractility and thus cell detachment in L6 skeletal muscle cells by a cAMP and potassium channel dependent mechanism