Suture Retention Strength of Expanded Polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) Graft

Our meticulous investigation of ePTFE graft breakage when a wire placed at the edge of an ePTFE graft was pulled, revealed that, depending on the breakage pattern, a break starts much earlier than the peak suture retention strength, which is the current international indicator for anastomotic-site break strength. Furthermore, the breakage patterns differ based on the thickness of the wire and the fiber direction of the ePTFE graft. Based on these findings, we advocate measuring the peak suture retention strength using 0.10-mm sutures and a standardized wire thickness in order to assess the anastomotic retention strength of ePTFE grafts.</p

NADPH Oxidases Regulate CD44 and Hyaluronic Acid Expression in Thrombin-treated Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells and in Atherosclerosis*

The intracellular signaling events by which NADPH oxidase-generated reactive oxygen species (ROS) modulate vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) function and atherogenesis are yet to be entirely elucidated. We previously demonstrated that NADPH oxidase deficiency decreased atherosclerosis in apoE−/− mice and identified adhesion protein CD44 as an important ROS-sensitive gene expressed in VSMC and atherosclerotic lesions. Here, we examined the molecular mechanisms by which NADPH oxidase-generated ROS regulate the expression of CD44 and its principal ligand, hyaluronan (HA), and how CD44-HA interaction affects VSMC proliferation and migration and inflammatory gene expression in apoE−/− mice aortas. Thrombin-induced CD44 expression is mediated by transcription factor AP-1 in a NADPH oxidase-dependent manner. NADPH oxidase-mediated ROS generation enhanced thrombin-induced HA synthesis, and hyaluronan synthase 2 expression in VSMC. Hyaluronidase, which generates low molecular weight HA (LMW-HA), is induced in VSMC in a NADPH oxidase-dependent manner and LMW-HA stimulated ROS generation and cell proliferation in wild-type but not p47phox−/− VSMC, effects that were enhanced by thrombin pretreatment. Haptotactic VSMC migration toward HA was increased by thrombin in a CD44-dependent manner. HA expression in atherosclerotic lesions and plasma-soluble CD44 and HA levels were higher in apoE−/− compared with apoE−/−/p47phox−/− mice. HA-regulated pro-inflammatory gene expression was higher in apoE−/− than apoE−/−/p47phox−/− mouse aortas. GKT136901, a specific inhibitor of Nox1- and Nox4-containing NADPH oxidase activity, attenuated ROS generation and atherosclerosis and decreased CD44 and HA expression in atherosclerotic lesions. Together, these data suggest that increased CD44 and HA expression and CD44-HA-dependent gene regulation may play a role in atherosclerosis stimulated by NADPH oxidase activation

Low energy radioactivity BG model in Super-Kamiokande detector from SK-IV data

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Follow-up of GWTC-2 gravitational wave events with neutrinos from the Super-Kamiokande detector

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Combined Pre-Supernova Alert System with Kamland and Super-Kamiokande

International audiencePreceding a core-collapse supernova, various processes produce an increasing amount of neutrinos of all flavors characterized by mounting energies from the interior of massive stars. Among them, the electron antineutrinos are potentially detectable by terrestrial neutrino experiments such as KamLAND and Super-Kamiokande via inverse beta decay interactions. Once these pre-supernova neutrinos are observed, an early warning of the upcoming core-collapse supernova can be provided. In light of this, KamLAND and Super-Kamiokande have been monitoring pre-supernova neutrinos since 2015 and 2021, respectively. Recently, we performed a joint study between KamLAND and Super-Kamiokande on pre-supernova neutrino detection. A pre-supernova alert system combining the KamLAND detector and the Super-Kamiokande detector is developed and put into operation, which can provide a supernova alert to the astrophysics community. Fully leveraging the complementary properties of these two detectors, the combined alert is expected to resolve a pre-supernova neutrino signal from a 15 M$_{\odot}$ star within 510 pc of the Earth, at a significance level corresponding to a false alarm rate of no more than 1 per century. For a Betelgeuse-like model with optimistic parameters, it can provide early warnings up to 12 hours in advance

Combined Pre-Supernova Alert System with Kamland and Super-Kamiokande

International audiencePreceding a core-collapse supernova, various processes produce an increasing amount of neutrinos of all flavors characterized by mounting energies from the interior of massive stars. Among them, the electron antineutrinos are potentially detectable by terrestrial neutrino experiments such as KamLAND and Super-Kamiokande via inverse beta decay interactions. Once these pre-supernova neutrinos are observed, an early warning of the upcoming core-collapse supernova can be provided. In light of this, KamLAND and Super-Kamiokande have been monitoring pre-supernova neutrinos since 2015 and 2021, respectively. Recently, we performed a joint study between KamLAND and Super-Kamiokande on pre-supernova neutrino detection. A pre-supernova alert system combining the KamLAND detector and the Super-Kamiokande detector is developed and put into operation, which can provide a supernova alert to the astrophysics community. Fully leveraging the complementary properties of these two detectors, the combined alert is expected to resolve a pre-supernova neutrino signal from a 15 M$_{\odot}$ star within 510 pc of the Earth, at a significance level corresponding to a false alarm rate of no more than 1 per century. For a Betelgeuse-like model with optimistic parameters, it can provide early warnings up to 12 hours in advance

Transverse momentum and pseudorapidity distributions of charged hadrons in pp collisions at (s)\sqrt(s) = 0.9 and 2.36 TeV

Measurements of inclusive charged-hadron transverse-momentum and pseudorapidity distributions are presented for proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 0.9 and 2.36 TeV. The data were collected with the CMS detector during the LHC commissioning in December 2009. For non-single-diffractive interactions, the average charged-hadron transverse momentum is measured to be 0.46 +/- 0.01 (stat.) +/- 0.01 (syst.) GeV/c at 0.9 TeV and 0.50 +/- 0.01 (stat.) +/- 0.01 (syst.) GeV/c at 2.36 TeV, for pseudorapidities between -2.4 and +2.4. At these energies, the measured pseudorapidity densities in the central region, dN(charged)/d(eta) for |eta| < 0.5, are 3.48 +/- 0.02 (stat.) +/- 0.13 (syst.) and 4.47 +/- 0.04 (stat.) +/- 0.16 (syst.), respectively. The results at 0.9 TeV are in agreement with previous measurements and confirm the expectation of near equal hadron production in p-pbar and pp collisions. The results at 2.36 TeV represent the highest-energy measurements at a particle collider to date