676 research outputs found
Lordoplasty: An Alternative Technique for the Treatment of Osteoporotic Compression Fracture
We report here on a new technique using polymethylmethacrylate to manage vertebral osteoporotic compression fractures in three patients. These patients presented with acute back pain that manifested itself after minor trauma. Osteoporotic compression fractures were diagnosed via plain X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging studies. The patients were treated with absolute bed rest and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Despite of the conservative treatment, the patients experienced severe, recalcitrant and progressive pain. The vertebrae were collapsed over 50% or kyphotic deformity was seen on the radiologic materials. We performed a new technique called lordoplasty, which is derived from percutaneous vertebroplasty. The patients experienced a reduction in pain after the procedure. The wedge and kyphotic angles of the fractured vertebrae were significantly restored
Softness of Brane-localized Supersymmetry Breaking on Orbifolds
We consider the brane-localized supersymmetry breaking in 5D compactified on
. In case of a bulk gaugino with arbitrary brane masses for its even
and odd modes, we find the mass spectrum and the wave functions of gaugino. We
show that the gaugino masses at the distant brane are soft in the usual sense
in the effective field theory with zero modes of bulk gauge fields and they are
also extremely soft in view of the one-loop finite mass of a brane scalar in
the KK regularization.Comment: 12 pages, no figures; Version to appear in PL
(Extra)Ordinary Gauge/Anomaly Mediation
We study anomaly mediation models with gauge mediation effects from
messengers which have a general renormalizable mass matrix with a
supersymmetry-breaking spurion. Our models lead to a rich structure of
supersymmetry breaking terms in the visible sector. We derive sum rules among
the soft scalar masses for each generation. Our sum rules for the first and
second generations are the same as those in general gauge mediation, but the
sum rule for the third generation is different because of the top Yukawa
coupling. We find the parameter space where the tachyonic slepton problem is
solved. We also explore the case in which gauge mediation causes the
anomalously small gaugino masses. Since anomaly mediation effects on the
gaugino masses exist, we can obtain viable mass spectrum of the visible sector
fields.Comment: 24 pages, 10 figure
A 24 kDa Excretory-Secretory Protein of Anisakis simplex Larvae Could Elicit Allergic Airway Inflammation in Mice
We have reported that a 24 kDa protein (22U homologous; As22U) of Anisakis simplex larvae could elicit several Th2-related chemokine gene expressions in the intestinal epithelial cell line which means that As22U may play a role as an allergen. In order to determine the contribution of As22U to allergic reactions, we treated mice with 6 times intra-nasal application of recombinant As22U (rAs22U). In the group challenged with rAs22U and ovalbumin (OVA), the number of eosinophils in the bronchial alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was significantly increased, as compared to the group receiving only OVA. In addition, mice treated with rAs22U and OVA showed significantly increased airway hyperresponsiveness. Thus, severe inflammation around the airway and immune cell recruitment was observed in mice treated with rAs22U plus OVA. The levels of IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 cytokines in the BALF increased significantly after treatment with rAs22U and OVA. Similarly, the levels of anti-OVA specific IgE and IgG1 increased in mice treated with rAs22U and OVA, compared to those treated only with OVA. The Gro-α (CXCL1) gene expression in mouse lung epithelial cells increased instantly after treatment with rAs22U, and allergy-specific chemokines eotaxin (CCL11) and thymus-and-activation-regulated-chemokine (CCL17) gene expressions significantly increased at 6 hr after treatment. In conclusion, rAs22U may induce airway allergic inflammation, as the result of enhanced Th2 and Th17 responses
Hepatic Cavernous Hemangioma in Cirrhotic Liver: Imaging Findings
Objective: To document the imaging findings of hepatic cavernous hemangioma
detected in cirrhotic liver.
Materials and Methods: The imaging findings of 14 hepatic cavernous hemangiomas
in ten patients with liver cirrhosis were retrospectively analyzed. A diagnosis
of hepatic cavernous hemangioma was based on the findings of two or
more of the following imaging studies: MR, including contrast-enhanced dynamic
imaging (n = 10), dynamic CT (n = 4), hepatic arteriography (n = 9), and US (n =
10).
Results: The mean size of the 14 hepatic hemangiomas was 0.9 (range, 0.5
1.5) cm in the longest dimension. In 11 of these (79%), contrast-enhanced
dynamic CT and MR imaging showed rapid contrast enhancement of the entire
lesion during the early phase, and hepatic arteriography revealed globular
enhancement and rapid filling-in. On contrast-enhanced MR images, three
lesions (21%) showed partial enhancement until the 5-min delayed phases. US
indicated that while three slowly enhancing lesions were homogeneously hyperechoic,
9 (82%) of 11 showing rapid enhancement were not delineated.
Conclusion: The majority of hepatic cavernous hemangiomas detected in cirrhotic
liver are small in size, and in many, hepatic arteriography and/or contrastenhanced
dynamic CT and MR imaging demonstrates rapid enhancement. US,
however, fails to distinguish a lesion of this kind from its cirrhotic background.ope
Higgs Portal to Visible Supersymmetry Breaking
We propose a supersymmetric extension of the standard model whose Higgs
sector induces a spontaneous supersymmetry breaking by itself. Unlike the
minimal extension, the current Higgs mass bound can be evaded even at the
tree-level without the help of the soft breaking terms due to the usual hidden
sector, as is reminiscent of the next to minimal case. We also have a possibly
light pseudo-goldstino in our visible sector in addition to extra Higgs
particles, both of which stem from supersymmetry breaking dynamics. In such a
setup of visible supersymmetry breaking, we may see a part of supersymmetry
breaking dynamics rather directly in future experiments.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures, references adde
Antitumor Activity of TRAIL Recombinant Adenovirus in Human Malignant Glioma Cells
Tumor necrosis factor-Related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand (TRAIL) has been reported to specifically kill malignant cells but to be relatively nontoxic to normal cells. One of disadvantages to previous in vivo protocols was the need for large quantities of TRAIL recombinant protein to suppress tumor growth. To evaluate the antitumor activity and therapeutic value of the TRAIL gene, we constructed adenoviral vectors expressing the human TRAIL gene (Ad.hTRAIL) and transferred them into malignant glioma cells in vitro and tumors in vivo, as an alternative to recombinant soluble TRAIL protein. The results show that TRAIL-sensitive glioma cells infected Ad.hTRAIL undergo apoptosis through the production and expression of TRAIL protein. The in vitro transfer elicited apoptosis, as demonstrated by the quantification of viable or apoptotic cells and by the analysis of cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase. Furthermore, in vivo administration of Ad.hTRAIL at the site of tumor implantation suppressed the outgrowth of human glioma xenografts in SCID mice. These results further define Ad.hTRAIL as an anti-tumor therapeutic and demonstrate its potential use as an alternative approach to treatment for malignant glioma
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The contribution of tropical cyclones to the atmospheric branch of Middle America's hydrological cycle using observed and reanalysis tracks
Middle America is affected by tropical cyclones (TCs) from the Eastern Pacific and the North Atlantic Oceans. We characterize the regional climatology (1998-2016) of the TC contributions to the atmospheric branch of the hydrological cycle, from May to December. TC contributions to rainfall are quantified using Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) product 3B42 and TC tracks derived from three sources: the International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), and an objective feature tracking method applied to the Japanese 55-year and ERA-Interim reanalyses. From July to October, TCs contribute 10-30% of rainfall over the west and east coast of Mexico and central Mexico, with the largest monthly contribution during September over the Baja California Peninsula (up to 90%). TCs are associated with 40-60% of daily extreme rainfall (above the 95th percentile) over the coasts of Mexico. IBTrACS and reanalyses agree on TC contributions over the Atlantic Ocean but disagree over the Eastern Pacific Ocean and continent; differences over the continent are mainly attributed to discrepancies in TC tracks in proximity to the coast and TC lifetime. Reanalysis estimates of TC moisture transports show that TCs are an important moisture source for the regional water budget. TC vertically integrated moisture flux (VIMF) convergence can turn regions of weak VIMF divergence by the mean circulation into regions of weak VIMF convergence. We discuss deficiencies in the observed and reanalysis TC tracks, which limit our ability to quantify robustly the contribution of TCs to the regional hydrological cycle
Establishment of a reborn MMV-microarray technology: realization of microbiome analysis and other hitherto inaccessible technologies
BACKGROUND: With the accelerating development of bioscience, the problem of research cost has become important. We previously devised and developed a novel concept microarray with manageable volumes (MMV) using a soft gel. It demonstrated the great potential of the MMV technology with the examples of 1024-parallel-cell culture and PCR experiments. However, its full potential failed to be expressed, owing to the nature of the material used for the MMV chip. RESULTS: In the present study, by developing plastic-based MMVs and associated technologies, we introduced novel technologies such as C2D2P (in which the cells in each well are converted from DNA to protein in 1024-parallel), NGS-non-dependent microbiome analysis, and other powerful applications. CONCLUSIONS: The reborn MMV-microarray technology has proven to be highly efficient and cost-effective (with approximately 100-fold cost reduction) and enables us to realize hitherto unattainable technologies
An Antireflective Nanostructure Array Fabricated by Nanosilver Colloidal Lithography on a Silicon Substrate
An alternative method is presented for fabricating an antireflective nanostructure array using nanosilver colloidal lithography. Spin coating was used to produce the multilayered silver nanoparticles, which grew by self-assembly and were transformed into randomly distributed nanosilver islands through the thermodynamic action of dewetting and Oswald ripening. The average size and coverage rate of the islands increased with concentration in the range of 50–90 nm and 40–65%, respectively. The nanosilver islands were critically affected by concentration and spin speed. The effects of these two parameters were investigated, after etching and wet removal of nanosilver residues. The reflection nearly disappeared in the ultraviolet wavelength range and was 17% of the reflection of a bare silicon wafer in the visible range
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