8 research outputs found
Three-dimensional visualization of multiple synapses in thick sections using high-voltage electron microscopy in the rat spinal cord
This data article contains complementary figure and movies (Supplementary Movies 1â3) related to the research article entitled, âEffective synaptome analysis of itch-mediating neurons in the spinal cord: a novel immunohistochemical methodology using high-voltage electron microscopyâ [7]. It is important to show the synaptic connections at the ultrastructural level to understand the neural circuit, which requires the three-dimensional (3-D) analyses in the electron microscopy. Here, we applied a new sample preparation method, a high-contrast en bloc staining according to the protocol of the National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research (NCMIR), University of California, San Diego, CA, USA to high-voltage electron microscopy (HVEM) tomography in order to examine the 3-D chemical neuroanatomy of the rat spinal cord. Pre-embedding immunoelectron microscopy was used in this study. HVEM has an excellent potential to directly visualize the ultrastructures in semi-thin sections (~5Â ÎŒm thick), and we have successfully visualized many itch-mediating synaptic connections and neural networks in the spinal cord using âHVEM tomographyâ. Moreover, the methodology used in this study is simple and can be applied in multiple ways. This is an important contribution to ultrastructural investigations of the central nervous system in the present post-genomic age
Effects of the Loss of Binocular and Motion Parallax on Static Postural Stability
Depth information is important for postural stability and is generated by two visual systems: binocular and motion parallax. The effect of each type of parallax on postural stability remains unclear. We investigated the effects of binocular and motion parallax loss on static postural stability using a virtual reality (VR) system with a head-mounted display (HMD). A total of 24 healthy young adults were asked to stand still on a foam surface fixed on a force plate. They wore an HMD and faced a visual background in the VR system under four visual test conditions: normal vision (Control), absence of motion parallax (Non-MP)/binocular parallax (Non-BP), and absence of both motion and binocular parallax (Non-P). The sway area and velocity in the anteroposterior and mediolateral directions of the center-of-pressure displacements were measured. All postural stability measurements were significantly higher under the Non-MP and Non-P conditions than those under the Control and Non-BP conditions, with no significant differences in the postural stability measurements between the Control and Non-BP conditions. In conclusion, motion parallax has a more prominent effect on static postural stability than binocular parallax, which clarifies the underlying mechanisms of postural instability and informs the development of rehabilitation methods for people with visual impairments
Relationship between patterns of immunohistochemical conventional neuroendocrine markers and efficacy of immune check point inhibitors in patients with extensive disease small cell lung cancer
Abstract Background Which patients benefit from the addition of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) to chemotherapy for small cell lung cancer (SCLC) remains unclear. There have been few reports on the efficacy of ICIs based on conventional immunohistochemical neuroendocrine (NE) markers (synaptophysin, chromogranin A, and neural cell adhesion molecule [NCAM]). In the present study, we aimed to analyze the relationship between the expression of immunohistochemical NE markers and the efficacy of ICIs in patients with extensive disease (ED)âSCLC, to assess whether conventional NE markers are predictive of ICIs. Methods Patients with untreated EDâSCLC who received firstâline therapy at the Shizuoka Cancer Center between November 2002 and July 2021 were retrospectively reviewed. We evaluated the efficacy of firstâline chemotherapy according to the expression status of each immunohistochemical NE marker in patients treated with ICI plus chemotherapy (ICIâchemo group) and with chemotherapy alone (chemo group). Results A total of 227 patients were included in the ICIâchemo and chemo groups, respectively. The progressionâfree survival (PFS) tended to be better in patients in the ICIâchemo group than those treated with chemotherapy alone in patients with NE markerâpositive SCLC. In particular, it was statistically significant in patients with chromogranin Aâpositive SCLC (pâ=â0.036). In patients with NE markerânegative SCLC, no significant differences were observed in PFS between the two groups. There were no significant differences in overall survival (OS), regardless of the expression of any conventional NE marker. Conclusion Our study suggests that the efficacy of ICIs in addition to chemotherapy may be poor in patients with NE markerânegative SCLC
Performance of prototype Dual Gain Multilayer Thick GEM with high-intensity heavy-ion beam injections in low-pressure hydrogen gas
A prototype Dual Gain Multilayer Thick Gas Electron Multilyer (DG-M-THGEM)
with an active area of 10 cm 10 cm was manufactured aiming at the
production of a large-volume active-target time projection chamber which can
work under the condition of high-intensity heavy-ion beam injections. The
DG-M-THGEM has a alternating structure of electrodes and insulators. Effective
gas gains of two regions, which are called beam and recoil regions, are
separately controlled. Performance of the prototype DG-M-THGEM in hydrogen gas
at a pressure of 40 kPa was evaluated. Irradiating a Xe beam, an
effective gas gain lower than 100 with a charge resolution of 3% was achieved
in the beam region while the effective gas gain of 2000 was maintained in the
recoil region. Position distributions of measured charges along the beam axis
were investigated in order to evaluate gain uniformity in the high intensity
beam injection. The gain shift was estimated by simulations considering space
charges in the drift region. The gain shift was suppressed within 3% even at
the beam intensity of 2.5 10 particles per second.Comment: 19 pages, 14 figures, 3 table