Development of the analog ASIC for multi-channel readout X-ray CCD camera

We report on the performance of an analog application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) developed aiming for the front-end electronics of the X-ray CCDcamera system onboard the next X-ray astronomical satellite, ASTRO-H. It has four identical channels that simultaneously process the CCD signals. Distinctive capability of analog-to-digital conversion enables us to construct a CCD camera body that outputs only digital signals. As the result of the front-end electronics test, it works properly with low input noise of =<30 uV at the pixel rate below 100 kHz. The power consumption is sufficiently low of about 150 mW/chip. The input signal range of 720 mV covers the effective energy range of the typical X-ray photon counting CCD (up to 20 keV). The integrated non-linearity is 0.2% that is similar as those of the conventional CCDs in orbit. We also performed a radiation tolerance test against the total ionizing dose (TID) effect and the single event effect. The irradiation test using 60Co and proton beam showed that the ASIC has the sufficient tolerance against TID up to 200 krad, which absolutely exceeds the expected amount of dose during the period of operating in a low-inclination low-earth orbit. The irradiation of Fe ions with the fluence of 5.2x10^8 Ion/cm2 resulted in no single event latchup (SEL), although there were some possible single event upsets. The threshold against SEL is higher than 1.68 MeV cm^2/mg, which is sufficiently high enough that the SEL event should not be one of major causes of instrument downtime in orbit.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure

ACPA-negative RA consists of two genetically distinct subsets based on RF positivity in Japanese.

HLA-DRB1, especially the shared epitope (SE), is strongly associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, recent studies have shown that SE is at most weakly associated with RA without anti-citrullinated peptide/protein antibody (ACPA). We have recently reported that ACPA-negative RA is associated with specific HLA-DRB1 alleles and diplotypes. Here, we attempted to detect genetically different subsets of ACPA-negative RA by classifying ACPA-negative RA patients into two groups based on their positivity for rheumatoid factor (RF). HLA-DRB1 genotyping data for totally 954 ACPA-negative RA patients and 2,008 healthy individuals in two independent sets were used. HLA-DRB1 allele and diplotype frequencies were compared among the ACPA-negative RF-positive RA patients, ACPA-negative RF-negative RA patients, and controls in each set. Combined results were also analyzed. A similar analysis was performed in 685 ACPA-positive RA patients classified according to their RF positivity. As a result, HLA-DRB1*04:05 and *09:01 showed strong associations with ACPA-negative RF-positive RA in the combined analysis (p = 8.8×10(-6) and 0.0011, OR: 1.57 (1.28-1.91) and 1.37 (1.13-1.65), respectively). We also found that HLA-DR14 and the HLA-DR8 homozygote were associated with ACPA-negative RF-negative RA (p = 0.00022 and 0.00013, OR: 1.52 (1.21-1.89) and 3.08 (1.68-5.64), respectively). These association tendencies were found in each set. On the contrary, we could not detect any significant differences between ACPA-positive RA subsets. As a conclusion, ACPA-negative RA includes two genetically distinct subsets according to RF positivity in Japan, which display different associations with HLA-DRB1. ACPA-negative RF-positive RA is strongly associated with HLA-DRB1*04:05 and *09:01. ACPA-negative RF-negative RA is associated with DR14 and the HLA-DR8 homozygote

Purification of an Antiviral Substance Produced by Alteromonas sp. and Its Virucidal Activity against Fish Viruses

An antiviral substance of a high molecular weight, low cytotoxity and potent virucidal activity was purified from the culture supernatant of a marine Alteromonas sp. 48HS-27. Maximum production of this antiviral substance by the strain in MCYG broth was attained by 72 h-incubation at 25℃. By the purification procedure involving ultrafiltration, precipitation with ammonium sulfate and acetone, gel filtration and native-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), a polypeptide (48HS-27A) with antiviral activity was obtained at a 270-fold purification with 6.20% yield from the culture supernatant. Molecular weight of the purified 48HS-27A was estimated as approximately 52kDa by both native and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) PAGE. The 50% infection inhibitory concentrations of this substance were from 0.09 to 2.51 μg/ml against one herpesvirus and five rhabdoviruses, whereas the minimal cytotoxic concentration of the substance was 144μg/ml against FHM and CHSE-214 cells. The purified 48HS-27A had proteolytic activity against casein and bovine serum albumin

Adult-onset arterial thrombosis in a pedigree of homozygous and heterozygous protein C deficiency.

Adult-onset arterial thrombosis in a pedigree of homozygous and heterozygous protein C deficiency

An isolated myeloid blast crisis presenting as optic nerve sarcoma in a patient with chronic myeloid leukemia treated with imatinib

An isolated myeloid blast crisis presenting as optic nerve sarcoma in a patient with chronic myeloid leukemia treated with imatini