Dysregulated Aire expression and autoimmunity

Deficiency for AIRE/Aire in both humans and mice results in the development of organ-specific autoimmune disease. We tested whether augmented and/or dysregulated AIRE/Aire expression might be also prone to the breakdown of self-tolerance. To define the effect of augmented Aire expression on the development of autoimmunity, antigen-specific clonal deletion and production of clonotypic regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the thymus were examined using mice expressing two additional copies of Aire in a heterozygous state (3xAire-knockin mice: 3xAire-KI). We found that both clonal deletion of autoreactive T cells and production of clonotypic Tregs in the thymus from 3xAire-KI were impaired in a T-cell receptor-transgenic system. Furthermore, 3xAire-KI females showed higher scores of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis induced by myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein than wild-type littermates, suggesting that augmented Aire expression exacerbates organ-specific autoimmunity under disease-prone conditions. In humans, we found that one patient with amyopathic dermatomyositis showed CD3–CD19– cells expressing AIRE in the peripheral blood before the treatment but not during the remission phase treated with immunosuppressive drugs. Thus, not only loss of function of AIRE/Aire but also augmented and/or dysregulated expression of AIRE/Aire should be considered for the pathogenesis of organ-specific autoimmunity. We suggest that further analyses should be pursued to establish a novel link between organ-specific autoimmune disease and dysregulated AIRE expression in clinical settings

Recent progress in the frequency selective metasurfaces in mid infrared wavelength

Here we summarized the recent progress of plasmonic meta surfaces in mid infrared wavelength region. The experimentally measured optical properties were com- pared with simulations by Finite difference time-domain calculations. Also, we demonstrate applications of these structures for the plasmonic IR-light sources and detec- tors.and another sensing devices

<原著>神経外膜を利用した神経再建方法 : 神経断端の大きさが異なる場合の神経修復

We report a new method of nerve Reconstruction, wrap-around neurorrhaphy, in which the funicular suture site is wrapped with the epineurium of the larger stump. The specific applications of this procedure in brachial plexus reconstruction are described and the clinical results presented. The method was applied in intercostal nerve transfer to the musculocutaneous nerve in 21 patients and in 12 patients with axillary nerve injury who underwent reconstruction with autografts using wrap-around neurorrhaphy. Rigid fixation of the neurorrhaphy site could be obtained using this method, and the clinical results were satisfactory.神経再建にあたって, その縫合方法には神経外膜縫合, 神経周膜縫合, 神経外膜・周膜縫合などがある. 実際には神経の種類・部位・状態などによって, その縫合方法を変えているのが現状である. 神経外膜を温存・利用して, 神経再建した場所を包みこむ神経再建の方法(wrap-around neurorrhaphy)を記述し, その適用と臨床結果を発表したこの神経再建方法は, 神経周膜縫合部位の緊張を防止し, 神経束の整然とした包み込み(packing), そして強固な神経連結を目的とする. 神経断端の大きさが著しく異なる時の神経縫合, あるし、は関節可動威か大きくて縫合部位に緊張が推定される時の神経縫合には, この方法(大きい方の神経外膜で縫合部位を包む方法)の良い適用がある. この方法で神経を再建し, 術後2年以上経過している臨床症例の結果をまとめた. 症例は, 肋間神経移行術(互いの神経断端の大きさが著しく異なる例として)の21症例と, 版窟神経再建術(関節可動域が大きい場所での神経再建例として)の12症例である. 神経外膜を利用して, 神経縫合した場所を包みこむ神経再建方法は, このような症例にきわめて良好な適用かある

Detailed Experiment-Theory Comparison of Mid-Infrared Metasurface Perfect Absorbers

Realisation of a perfect absorber A = 1 with transmittance and reflectance T = R = 0 by a thin metasurface is one of the hot topics in recent nanophotonics prompted by energy harvesting and sensor applications ( A + R + T = 1 is the energy conservation). Here we tested the optical properties of over 400 structures of metal&ndash;insulator&ndash;metal (MIM) metasurfaces for a range of variation in thickness of insulator, diameter of a disc and intra-disc distance both experimentally and numerically. Conditions of a near perfect absorption A &gt; 95 % with simultaneously occurring anti-reflection property ( R &lt; 5 % ) was experimentally determined. Differences between the bulk vs. nano-thin film properties at mid-IR of the used materials can be of interest for plasmonic multi-metal alloys and high entropy metals

Performance characterization of the Inveon preclinical small-animal PET/SPECT/CT system for multimodality imaging

Purpose: We analyzed the performance of the Inveon for an integrated small-animal PET/SPECT/CT system and compared the imaging capabilities of the SPECT and the PET components. Methods: For SPECT, energy resolution, tomographic spatial resolution, and system sensitivity were evaluated with 99mTc solution using a single pinhole collimator. For PET, spatial resolution, absolute sensitivity, scatter fraction, and peak noise equivalent count (NEC) were evaluated. A micro-Derenzo phantom, cylindrical phantom, and National Electrical Manufacturers Association NU-4 image quality phantom were scanned to compare SPECT and PET image capabilities, and SPECT and PET bone imaging were performed on a normal rat in vivo. Results: SPECT spatial resolution was 0.84 mm full width at half maximum (FWHM) at a radius of rotation of 25 mm using the 0.5-mm pinhole aperture collimator, while PET spatial resolution was 1.63 mm FWHM at the center. SPECT system sensitivity at a radius of rotation of 25 mm was 35.3 cps/MBq (4 × 10^[-3]%) using 0.5-mm pinhole aperture, while PET absolute sensitivity was 3.2% for 350-650 keV and 3.432 ns. Accordingly, the volume sensitivity of PET was three orders of magnitude higher than that of SPECT. Conclusions: This integrated PET/SPECT/CT system provided high system performance with excellent spatial resolution for SPECT and sensitivity for PET. Based on tracer availability and system performance, SPECT and PET have complementary roles for multi-modality small-animal imaging