State of the Art of Pyroprocessing Technology in Japan

AbstractMinor actinide recycling in a fuel cycle is a potential technology to minimize the environmental radioactivity burden in waste disposal in the fast reactor era after 2050. Pyroprocessing technology with metal electrorefining expects that no additional process is required to separate minor actinides and short- cooled fuels can be treated due to no-use of organic solvent that degrades by radiation. Pyroprocessing has been explored for metal fuel cycle and nitride fuel cycle in Japan. Metal fuel fast reactor, which can achieve a high breeding ratio over 1.3, and its fuel cycle is a compact system by integrating pyroprocessing. Oxide fuel can be also treated by converting to metals by reduction. Separation of transuranium elements from high level liquid waste originating from aqueous reprocessing has been challenged. Verification of the process and development of an engineering scale device are the current interests for study. In addition, irradiation study of metal fuel with minor actinides currently much advances from the point of fundamental investigation. Accelerator-driven system (ADS) for transmutation of minor actinides is integrated with pyroprocessing for recycling system. The denitriding at anode and azotizing at cathode together with electrorefining have been fundamentally studied by use of plutonium

Treatment resistance of rheumatoid arthritis relates to infection of periodontal pathogenic bacteria: a case-control cross-sectional study

Recent studies have shown that periodontitis is associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and periodontal bacteria, such as Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (Aa) and Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) are involved in the pathogenesis of RA via citrullinated proteins. Smoking has also been shown to be involved in the pathogenesis of RA; however, the extent of this involvement is still poorly understood. In addition, RA and polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) are sometimes difficult to differentiate; however, the relationship between PMR and the factors from smoking and periodontal bacteria is unclear. The aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between periodontal pathogenic bacterial infections and smoking in patients with RA or PMR. This case-control study included 142 patients with untreated RA or PMR. This study evaluated the serum antibody titers against periodontal pathogenic bacterial antigens and an anti-citrullinated peptide antibody (ACPA). In patients with RA, the relationship between antibody titers and disease activity of RA and response after 3 months of treatment was also investigated. Additionally, the effects of smoking were evaluated. Although there was no significant difference in serum antibody titer against periodontal pathogenic bacteria between the ACPA-positive RA group and the ACPA-negative PMR group, we found an association between the elevated antibody titer against Pg and the degree of ACPA value, especially between negative group and high-value positive group (>= 100 U/mL). The antibody titers against Aa and Pg did not differ depending on disease activity score 28 (DAS28) at baseline; however, patients with high antibody titers had poor RA therapeutic response as judged by DAS28 after 3 months. We could not find any association between smoking and any of these parameters. Periodontal pathogenic bacteria, especially Pg, are associated with elevated ACPA levels. Our findings suggest that Pg and Aa infections interfere with the therapeutic response of RA

Measurement of sampling time in MRI and reconstruction of MR image

MRIにおいてk-spaceを構築するためにはエコー信号をサンプリング時間に従って採取する必要がある.このサンプリング時間を測定するために,FOV(field of view)の左半分にファントムを置くことにより階段関数となるスピン分布を生成した｡得られたエコー信号を,階段関数をフ-リェ変換したときに得られるフ-リェ係数と比較することによりサンプリング時間を求めた｡得られたサンプリング時間を用いて,MRI MULTI-TEST PHANTOMをMRI装置でスキャンすることにより得られたエコー信号をサンプリングしk-spaceを構築した。このk-spaceをフ-リェ逆変換することによりMRI MULTI-TEST PHANTOMの画像を再構成することができた。Regarding the construction of k-space in MRI, it is necessary to extract the required data from the echo signals with the rate of sampling time. In order to measure the sampling time, a rectangular phantom was placed on the left side of the FOV in the body coil of an MRI equipment, and got analog signals in the sequence of spin echo. The sampling time was determined by comparing the measured signals with the Fourier coefficients obtained by transforming the step function which was similar to the profile of the FOV. The MRI MULTI-TEST PHANTOM was scanned, and the k-space was constructed with the extracted data from the echo signals with the rate of the determined sampling time. The MRI images of the MULTI-TEST PHANTOM were reconstructed by inverse-transforming the obtained k-space

Local recurrence after rectal endoscopic submucosal dissection: a case of tumor cell implantation

We report a case of local recurrence of cancer after rectal endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). A 52-year-old male underwent a curative resection with ESD for rectal intramucosal cancer. Seventy-four months after ESD, surveillance colonoscopy showed an elevated lesion on the ESD scar, suspicious of a recurrence. The patient subsequently underwent a low anterior resection (intersphincteric) with lymph node dissection. Pathology revealed a well-differentiated adenocarcinoma, similar to the ESD specimen. We suspected that the local recurrence was caused by implantation of tumor cells during the ESD, due to surgical manipulation performed with the tumor in an exposed setting for a long period of time

イソプレン ソクサ オ ユウスル ショクブツ セイブン ノ ex vivo ユウキ ゴウセイ ト ソノ セイリ カッセイ ノ ヒョウカ

Phytyl quinols, namely acyclic tocopherols, are key intermediates of tocopherol biosynthesis, but their biological activities remain unclear. We therefore investigated the structure-activity relationship of phytyl quinols to apply a chemical biosynthesis design for an antiatherosclerosis drug based on isoprenomics. We have achieved the biosynthesis-oriented synthesis of α- and β-phytyl quinol as an unnatural intermediate, other γ- and δ-phytyl quinol as a natural one. All four phytyl quinols showed almost the same moderate inhibitory activity against low-density lipoprotein oxidation instead of their different degree of C-methylation with character different from tocopherols. In vivo toxicities of phytyl quinols against chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane vasculature were hardly observed. We proposed phytyl quinols were possible antioxidants in plants and animals, like vitamin E

イソプレン ソクサ オ ユウスル ショクブツ セイブン ノ ex vivo ユウキ ゴウセイ ト ソノ セイリ カッセイ ノ ヒョウカ

Phytyl quinols, namely acyclic tocopherols, are key intermediates of tocopherol biosynthesis, but their biological activities remain unclear. We therefore investigated the structure-activity relationship of phytyl quinols to apply a chemical biosynthesis design for an antiatherosclerosis drug based on isoprenomics. We have achieved the biosynthesis-oriented synthesis of α- and β-phytyl quinol as an unnatural intermediate, other γ- and δ-phytyl quinol as a natural one. All four phytyl quinols showed almost the same moderate inhibitory activity against low-density lipoprotein oxidation instead of their different degree of C-methylation with character different from tocopherols. In vivo toxicities of phytyl quinols against chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane vasculature were hardly observed. We proposed phytyl quinols were possible antioxidants in plants and animals, like vitamin E

Damage to inorganic materials illuminated by focused beam of X-ray free-electron laser radiation

X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) that utilize intense and ultra-short pulse X-rays may damage optical elements. We investigated the damage fluence thresholds of optical materials by using an XFEL focusing beam that had a power density sufficient to induce ablation phenomena. The 1 μ4m focusing beams with 5.5 keV and/or 10 keV photon energies were produced at the XFEL facility SACLA (SPring-8 Angstrom Compact free electron LAser). Test samples were irradiated with the focusing beams under normal and/or grazing incidence conditions. The samples were uncoated Si, synthetic silica glass (SiO2), and metal (Rh, Pt)-coated substrates, which are often used as X-ray mirror materials.Takahisa Koyama, Hirokatsu Yumoto, Kensuke Tono, Tadashi Togashi, Yuichi Inubushi, Tetsuo Katayama, Jangwoo Kim, Satoshi Matsuyama, Makina Yabashi, Kazuto Yamauchi, and Haruhiko Ohashi "Damage to inorganic materials illuminated by focused beam of x-ray free-electron laser radiation", Proc. SPIE 9511, Damage to VUV, EUV, and X-ray Optics V, 951107 (12 May 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.218277