Using the MDCT thick slab MinIP method for the follow-up of pulmonary emphysema

Abstract : Purpose : The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of thick slabminimum intensity projection (MinIP) as a follow-up method in patients with pulmonaryemphysema. This method was used to determine the presence or absence of changes overtime in the lung field based on multi-detector-row CT (MDCT) data. Methods : Among patientsdiagnosed with pulmonary emphysema who underwent 16-MDCT (slice thickness,1 mm) twice at an interval of 6 months or more, 12 patients without changes in the lungfield and 14 with clear changes in the lung field were selected as subjects. An image interpretationexperiment was performed by five image interpreters. Pulmonary emphysemawas followed up using two types of thick slab MinIP (thick slab MinIP 1 and 2) andmulti-planar reformation (MPR), and the results of image interpretation were evaluatedby receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. In addition, the time required forimage interpretation was compared among the three follow-up methods. Results : Thearea under the ROC curve (Az) was 0.794 for thick slab MinIP 1, 0.778 for the thick slabMinIP 2, and 0.759 for MPR, showing no significant differences among the three methods.Individual differences in each item were significantly more marked for MPR thanfor thick slab MinIP. The time required for image interpretation was around 18 secondsfor thick slab MinIP 1, 11 seconds for thick slab MinIP 2, and approximately 127 secondsfor MPR, showing significant differences among the three methods. Conclusion : Therewere no significant differences in the results of image interpretation regarding the presenceor absence of changes in the lung fields between thick slab MinIP and MPR. However,thick slab MinIP showed a shorter image interpretation time and smaller individualdifferences in the results among image interpreters than MPR, suggesting the usefulnessof this method for determining the presence or absence of changes with time in the lungfields of patients with pulmonary emphysema

Endothelio-hematopoietic relationship: getting closer to the beginnings

The close association between hematopoietic and endothelial cells during embryonic development led to the proposal that they may originate from a common ancestor - the hemangioblast. Due to a lack of unique specific markers for in vivo cell fate tracking studies, evidence supporting this theory derives mainly from in vitro differentiation studies. Teixeira and colleagues describe a novel enhancer that drives specific eGFP expression in blood islands of the electroporated chick embryo, thereby presenting a tool potentially suitable for analysis of hemangioblast differentiation and development of blood islands

Pillar[6]arene acts as a biosensor for quantitative detection of a vitamin metabolite in crude biological samples

ビタミン代謝物を迅速定量できる超分子バイオセンサーを開発. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2020-12-09.Metabolic syndrome is associated with obesity, hypertension, and dyslipidemia, and increased cardiovascular risk. Therefore, quick and accurate measurements of specific metabolites are critical for diagnosis; however, detection methods are limited. Here we describe the synthesis of pillar[n]arenes to target 1-methylnicotinamide (1-MNA), which is one metabolite of vitamin B3 (nicotinamide) produced by the cancer-associated nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT). We found that water-soluble pillar[5]arene (P5A) forms host–guest complexes with both 1-MNA and nicotinamide, and water-soluble pillar[6]arene (P6A) selectively binds to 1-MNA at the micromolar level. P6A can be used as a “turn-off sensor” by photoinduced electron transfer (detection limit is 4.38 × 10−6 M). In our cell-free reaction, P6A is used to quantitatively monitor the activity of NNMT. Moreover, studies using NNMT-deficient mice reveal that P6A exclusively binds to 1-MNA in crude urinary samples. Our findings demonstrate that P6A can be used as a biosensor to quantify 1-MNA in crude biological samples

Benchmarking the Self-Assembly of Surfactin Biosurfactant at the Liquid–Air Interface to those of Synthetic Surfactants

The adsorption of surfactin, a lipopeptide biosurfactant, at the liquid–air interface has been investigated in this work. The maximum adsorption density and the nature and the extent of lateral interaction between the adsorbed surfactin molecules at the interface were estimated from surface tension data using the Frumkin model. The quantitative information obtained using the Frumkin model was also compared to those obtained using the Gibbs equation and the Langmuir–Szyszkowski model. Error analysis showed a better agreement between the experimental and the calculated values using the Frumkin model relative to the other two models. The adsorption of surfactin at the liquid–air interface was also compared to those of synthetic anionic, sodium dodecylbenzenesulphonate (SDBS), and nonionic, octaethylene glycol monotetradecyl ether (C14E8), surfactants. It has been estimated that the area occupied by a surfactin molecule at the interface is about 3- and 2.5-fold higher than those occupied by SDBS and C14E8 molecules, respectively. The interaction between the adsorbed molecules of the anionic biosurfactant (surfactin) was estimated to be attractive, unlike the mild repulsive interaction between the adsorbed SDBS molecules

Endothelial Cell and Platelet Bioenergetics: Effect of Glucose and Nutrient Composition

It has been suggested that cells that are independent of insulin for glucose uptake, when exposed to high glucose or other nutrient concentrations, manifest enhanced mitochondrial substrate oxidation with consequent enhanced potential and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS); a paradigm that could predispose to vascular complications of diabetes. Here we exposed bovine aortic endothelial (BAE) cells and human platelets to variable glucose and fatty acid concentrations. We then examined oxygen consumption and acidification rates using recently available technology in the form of an extracellular oxygen and proton flux analyzer. Acute or overnight exposure of confluent BAE cells to glucose concentrations from 5.5 to 25 mM did not enhance or change the rate of oxygen consumption (OCR) under basal conditions, during ATP synthesis, or under uncoupled conditions. Glucose also did not alter OCR in sub-confluent cells, in cells exposed to low serum, or in cells treated with added pyruvate. Likewise, overnight exposure to fatty acids of varying saturation had no such effects. Overnight exposure of BAE cells to low glucose concentration decreased maximal uncoupled respiration, but not basal or ATP related oxygen consumption. Labeled glucose oxidation to CO2 increased, but only marginally after high glucose exposure while oleate oxidation to CO2 decreased. Overnight exposure to linolenic acid, but not oleic or linoleic acid increased extracellular acidification consistent with enhanced glycolytic metabolism. We were unable to detect an increase in production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) from BAE cells exposed to high medium glucose. Like BAE cells, exposure of human platelets to glucose did not increase oxygen consumption. As opposed to BAE cells, platelet mitochondria demonstrate less respiratory reserve capacity (beyond that needed for basal metabolism). Our data do not support the concept that exposure to high glucose or fatty acids accelerates mitochondrial oxidative metabolism in endothelial cells or platelets

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV

The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pT≥20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60≤pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2≤{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Search for R-parity-violating supersymmetry in events with four or more leptons in sqrt(s) =7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for new phenomena in final states with four or more leptons (electrons or muons) is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of $\sqrt{s}=7\;\mathrm{TeV}$ proton-proton collisions delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in two signal regions: one that requires moderate values of missing transverse momentum and another that requires large effective mass. The results are interpreted in a simplified model of R-parity-violating supersymmetry in which a 95% CL exclusion region is set for charged wino masses up to 540 GeV. In an R-parity-violating MSUGRA/CMSSM model, values of m 1/2 up to 820 GeV are excluded for 10 < tan β < 40