Development of a glue-free bimorph mirror for use in vacuum chambers

PZT (lead zirconate titanate)-glued bimorph deformable mirrors are widely used in hard X-ray regimes; however, they have not yet been used in soft X-ray regimes because they are less compatible for usage under high vacuum. In this study, we developed a glue-free bimorph deformable mirror, in which silver nano-particles were employed to bond PZT actuators to mirror substrates. Under an appropriate bonding condition, the bonding layer was confirmed to be uniform and the mirror's bending characteristics were demonstrated to be sufficiently stable; its gas emission rate was also shown to be acceptable. Piezo responses before and after additional heating at 200 °C showed the thermal stability of its bonding and bending properties.Yoshio Ichii, Hiromi Okada, Hiroki Nakamori, Akihiko Ueda, Hiroyuki Yamaguchi, Satoshi Matsuyama, and Kazuto Yamauchi, "Development of a glue-free bimorph mirror for use in vacuum chambers", Review of Scientific Instruments 90, 021702 (2019), https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5066105

Abeta Is Internalized via Macropinocytosis

Intracellular amyloid β peptide (Aβ) accumulation has drawn attention in relation to the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease in addition to its extracellular deposition as senile plaque. Cellular uptake of extracellular Aβ is one of the possible mechanisms by which intracellular Aβ deposits form. Given the relevance of Aβ inside cells, it is important to understand the mechanism by which it is taken up by them. In this study, we elucidated that Neuro2A and SH-SY5Y cells internalize specifically oligomerized Aβ in a time- and dose-dependent manner. The depletion of plasma membrane cholesterol with methyl-β-cyclodextrin or treatment with trypsin diminished the internalization of oAβ, suggesting that the oAβ uptake might be both a lipid raft-dependent and heparan sulfate proteoglycan-mediated process. Treatment with a macropinocytosis inhibitor (ethylisopropyl amiloride and wortmannin) also drastically reduced the uptake of oligomer-Aβ (oAβ). oAβ-treated cells exhibited an increase in Rac1 activity, indicating that macropinocytosis induced by oAβ is regulated by these small GTPases. These findings suggest that macropinocytosis is a major endocytic route through which oAβ42 enters cells

Improvement of acquisition and analysis methods in multi-electrode array experiments with iPS cell-derived cardiomyocytes

AbstractIntroductionMulti-electrode array (MEA) systems and human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell-derived cardiomyocytes are frequently used to characterize the electrophysiological effects of drug candidates for the prediction of QT prolongation and proarrhythmic potential. However, the optimal experimental conditions for obtaining reliable experimental data, such as high-pass filter (HPF) frequency and cell plating density, remain to be determined.MethodsExtracellular field potentials (FPs) were recorded from iPS cell-derived cardiomyocyte sheets by using the MED64 and MEA2100 multi-electrode array systems. Effects of HPF frequency (0.1 or 1Hz) on FP duration (FPD) were assessed in the presence and absence of moxifloxacin, terfenadine, and aspirin. The influence of cell density on FP characteristics recorded through a 0.1-Hz HPF was examined. The relationship between FP and action potential (AP) was elucidated by simultaneous recording of FP and AP using a membrane potential dye.ResultsMany of the FP waveforms recorded through a 1-Hz HPF were markedly deformed and appeared differentiated compared with those recorded through a 0.1-Hz HPF. The concentration–response curves for FPD in the presence of terfenadine reached a steady state at concentrations of 0.1 and 0.3μM when a 0.1-Hz HPF was used. In contrast, FPD decreased at a concentration of 0.3μM with a characteristic bell-shaped concentration–response curve when a 1-Hz HPF was used. The amplitude of the first and second peaks in the FP waveform increased with increasing cell plating density. The second peak of the FP waveform roughly coincided with AP signal at 50% repolarization, and the negative deflection at the second peak of the FP waveform in the presence of E-4031 corresponded to early afterdepolarization and triggered activity.DiscussionFP can be used to assess the QT prolongation and proarrhythmic potential of drug candidates; however, experimental conditions such as HPF frequency are important for obtaining reliable data

Male Breast Cancer Originating in an Accessory Mammary Gland in the Axilla: A Case Report

Carcinoma of an accessory mammary gland is an extremely rare tumor. A 61-year-old male patient presented with a hard mass measuring 85 mm × 51 mm in the left axilla. Incisional biopsy histopathologically showed an adenocarcinoma compatible with breast carcinoma originating in an accessory mammary gland. Systemic examinations revealed no evidence of malignant or occult primary lesion in the bilateral mammary glands or in other organs. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was performed for the locally advanced axillary tumor and reduced the tumor to 55 mm in size, and, then, he could undergo complete resection with a negative surgical margin in combination with reconstructive surgery to fill the resulting skin defect with a local flap of the latissimus dorsi muscle. The patient has presented with no metastatic lesion in four years since the operation. This unusual case shows that neoadjuvant chemotherapy is an effective and tolerated therapy for advanced accessory breast cancer in the axilla

Swallowing sound evaluation using an electronic stethoscope and artificial intelligence analysis for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Background and purposeNon-invasive, simple, and repetitive swallowing evaluation is required to prevent aspiration pneumonia in neurological care. We investigated the usefulness of swallowing sound evaluation in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) using our new electronic stethoscope artificial intelligence (AI) analysis tool.MethodsWe studied patients with ALS who provided written informed consent. We used an electronic stethoscope, placed a Bluetooth-enabled electronic stethoscope on the upper end of the sternum, performed a 3-mL water swallow three times, and remotely identified the intermittent sound components of the water flow caused at that time by AI, with the maximum value as the swallowing sound index. We examined the correlation between the swallowing sound index and patient background, including swallowing-related parameters.ResultsWe evaluated 24 patients with ALS (age 64.0 ± 11.8 years, 13 women, median duration of illness 17.5 months). The median ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R) score was 41 (minimum 18, maximum 47). In all cases, the mean swallowing sound index was 0.209 ± 0.088. A multivariate analysis showed that a decrease in the swallowing sound index was significantly associated with a low ALSFRS-R score, an ALSFRS-R bulbar symptom score, % vital capacity, tongue pressure, a Mann Assessment of Swallowing Ability (MASA) score, and a MASA pharyngeal phase-related score.ConclusionSwallowing sound evaluation using an electronic stethoscope AI analysis showed a correlation with existing indicators in swallowing evaluation in ALS and suggested its usefulness as a new method. This is expected to be a useful examination method in home and remote medical care

Primary Chest Wall Abscess Mimicking a Breast Tumor That Occurred after Blunt Chest Trauma: A Case Report

Primary chest wall abscess occurring after blunt chest trauma is rare. We present the case of a 50-year-old woman who presented with a swelling in her left breast. The patient had experienced blunt chest trauma 2 months back. Needle aspiration revealed pus formation in the patient’s chest. Computed tomography revealed a mass in the lower region of the left mammary gland, with thickening of the parietal pleura and skin and fracture of the fifth rib under the abscess. Following antibiotic administration and irrigation of the affected region, surgical debridement was performed. During surgery, we found that the pectoralis major muscle at the level of the fifth rib was markedly damaged, although the necrotic tissue did not contact the mammary gland. We diagnosed the lesion as a chest wall abscess that occurred in response to blunt chest trauma. Her postoperative course was uneventful. There has been no recurrence for six months after surgery

The ASTRO-H X-ray Observatory

The joint JAXA/NASA ASTRO-H mission is the sixth in a series of highly successful X-ray missions initiated by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). ASTRO-H will investigate the physics of the high-energy universe via a suite of four instruments, covering a very wide energy range, from 0.3 keV to 600 keV. These instruments include a high-resolution, high-throughput spectrometer sensitive over 0.3-2 keV with high spectral resolution of Delta E < 7 eV, enabled by a micro-calorimeter array located in the focal plane of thin-foil X-ray optics; hard X-ray imaging spectrometers covering 5-80 keV, located in the focal plane of multilayer-coated, focusing hard X-ray mirrors; a wide-field imaging spectrometer sensitive over 0.4-12 keV, with an X-ray CCD camera in the focal plane of a soft X-ray telescope; and a non-focusing Compton-camera type soft gamma-ray detector, sensitive in the 40-600 keV band. The simultaneous broad bandpass, coupled with high spectral resolution, will enable the pursuit of a wide variety of important science themes.Comment: 22 pages, 17 figures, Proceedings of the SPIE Astronomical Instrumentation "Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2012: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray

The Quiescent Intracluster Medium in the Core of the Perseus Cluster

Clusters of galaxies are the most massive gravitationally-bound objects in the Universe and are still forming. They are thus important probes of cosmological parameters and a host of astrophysical processes. Knowledge of the dynamics of the pervasive hot gas, which dominates in mass over stars in a cluster, is a crucial missing ingredient. It can enable new insights into mechanical energy injection by the central supermassive black hole and the use of hydrostatic equilibrium for the determination of cluster masses. X-rays from the core of the Perseus cluster are emitted by the 50 million K diffuse hot plasma filling its gravitational potential well. The Active Galactic Nucleus of the central galaxy NGC1275 is pumping jetted energy into the surrounding intracluster medium, creating buoyant bubbles filled with relativistic plasma. These likely induce motions in the intracluster medium and heat the inner gas preventing runaway radiative cooling; a process known as Active Galactic Nucleus Feedback. Here we report on Hitomi X-ray observations of the Perseus cluster core, which reveal a remarkably quiescent atmosphere where the gas has a line-of-sight velocity dispersion of 164+/-10 km/s in a region 30-60 kpc from the central nucleus. A gradient in the line-of-sight velocity of 150+/-70 km/s is found across the 60 kpc image of the cluster core. Turbulent pressure support in the gas is 4% or less of the thermodynamic pressure, with large scale shear at most doubling that estimate. We infer that total cluster masses determined from hydrostatic equilibrium in the central regions need little correction for turbulent pressure.Comment: 31 pages, 11 Figs, published in Nature July

Enhancement of metastatic ability by ectopic expression of ST6GalNAcI on a gastric cancer cell line in a mouse model

ST6GalNAcI is a sialyltransferase responsible for the synthesis of sialyl Tn (sTn) antigen which is expressed in a variety of adenocarcinomas including gastric cancer especially in advanced cases, but the roles of ST6GalNAcI and sTn in cancer progression are largely unknown. We generated sTn-expressing human gastric cancer cells by ectopic expression of ST6GalNAcI to evaluate metastatic ability of these cells and prognostic effect of ST6GalNAcI and sTn in a mouse model, and identified sTn carrier proteins to gain insight into the function of ST6GalNAcI and sTn in gastric cancer progression. A green fluorescent protein-tagged human gastric cancer cell line was transfected with ST6GalNAcI to produce sTn-expressing cells, which were transplanted into nude mice. STn-positive gastric cancer cells showed higher intraperitoneal metastatic ability in comparison with sTn-negative control, resulting in shortened survival time of the mice, which was mitigated by anti-sTn antibody administration. Then, sTn-carrying proteins were immunoprecipitated from culture supernatants and lysates of these cells, and identified MUC1 and CD44 as major sTn carriers. It was confirmed that MUC1 carries sTn also in human advanced gastric cancer tissues. Identification of sTn carrier proteins will help understand mechanisms of metastatic phenotype acquisition of gastric cancer cells by ST6GalNAcI and sTn