Supportive pericardial suspension for surgical airway management of tracheobronchomalacia in unilateral pulmonary agenesis

Unilateral pulmonary agenesis, a rare developmental defect of the lung, is often accompanied by tracheobronchial stenosis or malacia due to displacement, distortion, and compression of the surrounding great vessels. We present two cases of unilateral pulmonary agenesis complicated by tracheobronchial problems that were successfully managed surgically with supportive pericardial suspension.Keywords: pericardial suspension, tracheobronchomalacia, unilateral pulmonary agenesi

Single-molecule analysis of intracellular insulin granule behavior and its application to analyzing cytoskeletal dependence and pathophysiological implications

Introduction: Mobilization of intracellular insulin granules to the plasma membrane plays a crucial role in regulating insulin secretion. However, the regulatory mechanisms of this mobilization process have been poorly understood due to technical limitations. In this study, we propose a convenient approach for assessing intracellular insulin granule behavior based on single-molecule analysis of insulin granule membrane proteins labeled with Quantum dot fluorescent nanocrystals.Methods: This approach allows us to analyze intracellular insulin granule movement with subpixel accuracy at 33 fps. We tracked two insulin granule membrane proteins, phogrin and zinc transporter 8, fused to HaloTag in rat insulinoma INS-1 cells and, by evaluating the tracks with mean-square displacement, demonstrated the characteristic behavior of insulin granules.Results and discussion: Pharmacological perturbations of microtubules and F-actin affected insulin granule behavior on distinct modalities. Specifically, microtubule dynamics and F-actin positively and negatively regulate insulin granule behavior, respectively, presumably by modulating each different behavioral mode. Furthermore, we observed impaired insulin granule behavior and cytoskeletal architecture under chronic treatment of high concentrations of glucose and palmitate. Our approach provides detailed information regarding intracellular insulin granule mobilization and its pathophysiological implications. This study sheds new light on the regulatory mechanisms of intracellular insulin granule mobilization and has important implications for understanding the pathogenesis of diabetes

Spatial correlation between submillimetre and Lyman-alpha galaxies in the SSA 22 protocluster

Lyman-alpha emitters are thought to be young, low-mass galaxies with ages of ~10^8 yr. An overdensity of them in one region of the sky (the SSA 22 field) traces out a filamentary structure in the early Universe at a redshift of z = 3.1 (equivalent to 15 per cent of the age of the Universe) and is believed to mark a forming protocluster. Galaxies that are bright at (sub)millimetre wavelengths are undergoing violent episodes of star formation, and there is evidence that they are preferentially associated with high-redshift radio galaxies, so the question of whether they are also associated with the most significant large-scale structure growing at high redshift (as outlined by Lyman-alpha emitters) naturally arises. Here we report an imaging survey of 1,100-um emission in the SSA 22 region. We find an enhancement of submillimetre galaxies near the core of the protocluster, and a large-scale correlation between the submillimetre galaxies and the low-mass Lyman-alpha emitters, suggesting synchronous formation of the two very different types of star-forming galaxy within the same structure at high redshift. These results are in general agreement with our understanding of the formation of cosmic structure.Comment: Published in Nature (7th May 2009 issue). The astro-ph paper includes the main text (10 pages, 2 figures, 1 table) and supplementary material (6 pages, 4 figures, 1 table

Infrared Dielectric Functions and Brillouin Zone Center Phonons of \u3cem\u3eα\u3c/em\u3e-Ga\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e compared to \u3cem\u3eα\u3c/em\u3e-Al\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e

We determine the anisotropic dielectric functions of rhombohedral α-Ga2O3 by far-infrared and infrared generalized spectroscopic ellipsometry and derive all transverse optical and longitudinal optical phonon mode frequencies and broadening parameters. We also determine the high-frequency and static dielectric constants. We perform density functional theory computations and determine the phonon dispersion for all branches in the Brillouin zone, and we derive all phonon mode parameters at the Brillouin zone center including Raman-active, infrared-active, and silent modes. Excellent agreement is obtained between our experimental and computation results as well as among all previously reported partial information from experiment and theory. We also compute the same information for α-Al2O3, the binary parent compound for the emerging alloy of α-(AlxGa1−x)2O3, and use results from previous investigations [Schubert, Tiwald, and Herzinger, Phys. Rev. B 61, 8187 (2000)] to compare all properties among the two isostructural compounds. From both experimental and theoretical investigations, we compute the frequency shifts of all modes between the two compounds. Additionally, we calculate overlap parameters between phonon mode eigenvectors and discuss the possible evolution of all phonon modes into the ternary alloy system and whether modes may form single-mode or more complex mode behaviors

Resectable hepatoblastoma with tumor thrombus extending into the right atrium after chemotherapy: A case report

AbstractHepatoblastoma with intraatrial tumor thrombus is relatively rare. We report a case of hepatoblastoma with tumor thrombus extending into the right atrium, which responded well to chemotherapy and was resected using extracorporeal circulation. A 4-year-old girl was referred to our hospital because of abdominal distention and tenderness. A computed tomography (CT) scan showed a large tumor occupying the left 3 segments of the liver with tumor thrombus extending into the right atrium. There was also a small intrahepatic metastasis in the right lobe of the liver. She was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma on the basis of the results of open biopsy. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with an intense CDDP-based regimen was performed. The tumor responded well to chemotherapy, and intrahepatic metastasis became undetectable on CT scan, although the tumor thrombus remained in the right atrium. After 7 courses of chemotherapy, we performed resection using extracorporeal circulation. The postoperative course was uneventful, and adjuvant chemotherapy was started 10 days after the operation. Her serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level decreased to the normal range, and she was free of disease for 1 year after the operation. Tumor resection using extracorporeal circulation can be performed safely and is justified in patients with intraatrial tumor thrombus