Organizer-Like Reticular Stromal Cell Layer Common to Adult Secondary Lymphoid Organs

Abstract Mesenchymal stromal cells are crucial components of secondary lymphoid organs (SLOs). Organogenesis of SLOs involves specialized stromal cells, designated lymphoid tissue organizer (LTo) in the embryonic anlagen; in the adult, several distinct stromal lineages construct elaborate tissue architecture and regulate lymphocyte compartmentalization. The relationship between the LTo and adult stromal cells, however, remains unclear, as does the precise number of stromal cell types that constitute mature SLOs are unclear. From mouse lymph nodes, we established a VCAM-1+ICAM-1+MAdCAM-1+ reticular cell line that can produce CXCL13 upon LTβR stimulation and support primary B cell adhesion and migration in vitro. A similar stromal population sharing many characteristics with the LTo, designated marginal reticular cells (MRCs), was found in the outer follicular region immediately underneath the subcapsular sinus of lymph nodes. Moreover, MRCs were commonly observed at particular sites in various SLOs even in Rag2−/− mice, but were not found in ectopic lymphoid tissues, suggesting that MRCs are a developmentally determined element. These findings lead to a comprehensive view of the stromal composition and architecture of SLOs

Utility of Superb Microvascular Imaging in the Assessment of Foot Perfusion in Patients with Critical Limb Ischemia

(1) Background: Although the ankle–brachial index (ABI) and skin perfusion pressure (SPP) are commonly used to evaluate the peripheral circulation in critical limb ischemia (CLI), they often cannot be performed on sore areas. We investigated the utility of superb microvascular imaging (SMI) for assessing foot perfusion in CLI patients.(2) Methods: We measured the SMI-based vascular index (SMI-VI) at six sites in the foot before and after endovascular treatment (EVT) in 50 patients with CLI who underwent EVT of the superficial femoral artery and compared the results with SPP values and the ABI.(3) Results: SMI visualized foot perfusion in all subjects in accordance with the angiosome, including the toe areas, while the ABI was unmeasurable in three patients on hemodialysis and SPP failed in four patients. SMI-VI values were significantly lower in the CLI group than in controls, and the plantar SMI-VI had the highest diagnostic performance for CLI (sensitivity 88.6%, specificity 95.6%). After EVT, the increase in the SMI-VI was positively correlated with the increase in SPP but not that in the ABI, implying that the SMI-VI reflects foot microcirculation. (4) Conclusions: SMI enables the visualization and quantification of foot microcirculation based on the angiosome. SMI has high utility as a tool for assessing foot perfusion in CLI

Acute Small Bowel Perforation Caused by Obstruction of a Novel Tag-Less AgileTM Patency Capsule

A 74-year-old man visited our hospital complaining of abdominal pain. An abdominal computed tomography scan showed multiple wall thickness of the small bowel. Capsule endoscopy was recommended for further evaluation, and patency capsule examination was performed. Eighteen hours after patency capsule ingestion, he experienced small bowel perforation with severe peritonitis caused by intestinal pressure rising because of the patency capsule trapped in his terminal ileum. An ileocolic resection was performed, including the removal of the sclerotic ileum as an emergency surgery. A pathological examination showed transmural inflammation and multiple ulcers with perforation of the small intestine, consistent with Crohn’s disease. Here, we report a rare and valuable case of novel tag-less AgileTM patency capsule (Given Imaging Ltd., Yoqneam, Israel) retention leading to small bowel perforation

Cyclic Stretch Negatively Regulates IL-1β Secretion Through the Inhibition of NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation by Attenuating the AMP Kinase Pathway

Macrophages are immune cells of hematopoietic origin that play diverse roles in host defenses and tissue homeostasis. In mechanical microenvironments, macrophages receive mechanical signals that regulate various cellular functions. However, the mechanisms by which mechanical signals influence the phenotype and function of macrophages in the process of inflammation have not yet been elucidated in detail. We herein examined the effects of cyclic stretch (CS) on NLR family, pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation in J774.1, a murine macrophage cell line, and mouse primary bone marrow-derived macrophages. We showed that cyclic stretch inhibited adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-stimulated interleukin (IL)-1β secretion in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-primed macrophages using ELISA and Western blot analyses. Cyclic stretch did not affect the degradation of the Inhibitor of κB or the nuclear translocation/transcriptional activity of nuclear factor (NF)-κB, suggesting that cyclic stretch-mediated inhibition was independent of the NF-κB signaling pathway. Consistent with these results, cyclic stretch did not affect the LPS-induced expression of inflammasome components, such as pro-IL-1β and NLRP3, which is known to require the activation of NF-κB signaling. We showed that the cyclic stretch-mediated inhibition of IL-1β secretion was caused by the suppression of caspase-1 activity. The addition of compound C, a specific inhibitor of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK), to LPS-primed macrophages inhibited IL-1β secretion as well as caspase-1 activation, suggesting that AMPK signaling is involved in ATP-triggered IL-1β secretion. Furthermore, the phosphorylation of AMPK induced by ATP in LPS-primed macrophages was significantly suppressed by cyclic stretch, indicating that cyclic stretch negatively regulates IL-1β secretion through the inhibition of caspase-1 activity by attenuating the AMPK pathway. Our results suggest that mechanical stress functions to maintain homeostasis through the prevention of excessive inflammasome activation in macrophages in mechanical microenvironments

First Data Release of the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program

The Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP) is a three-layered imaging survey aimed at addressing some of the most outstanding questions in astronomy today, including the nature of dark matter and dark energy. The survey has been awarded 300 nights of observing time at the Subaru Telescope and it started in March 2014. This paper presents the first public data release of HSC-SSP. This release includes data taken in the first 1.7 years of observations (61.5 nights) and each of the Wide, Deep, and UltraDeep layers covers about 108, 26, and 4 square degrees down to depths of i~26.4, ~26.5, and ~27.0 mag, respectively (5sigma for point sources). All the layers are observed in five broad bands (grizy), and the Deep and UltraDeep layers are observed in narrow bands as well. We achieve an impressive image quality of 0.6 arcsec in the i-band in the Wide layer. We show that we achieve 1-2 per cent PSF photometry (rms) both internally and externally (against Pan-STARRS1), and ~10 mas and 40 mas internal and external astrometric accuracy, respectively. Both the calibrated images and catalogs are made available to the community through dedicated user interfaces and database servers. In addition to the pipeline products, we also provide value-added products such as photometric redshifts and a collection of public spectroscopic redshifts. Detailed descriptions of all the data can be found online. The data release website is https://hsc-release.mtk.nao.ac.jp/.Comment: 34 pages, 20 figures, 7 tables, moderate revision, accepted for publication in PAS

Direct fast heating efficiency of a counter-imploded core plasma employing a laser for fast ignition experiments (LFEX)

Fast heating efficiency when a pre-imploded core is directly heated with an ultraintense laser (heating laser) was investigated. \u27Direct heating\u27 means that a heating laser hits a pre-imploded core without applying either a laser guiding cone or an external field. The efficiency, η, is defined as the increase in the internal core energy divided by the energy of the heating laser. Six beams (output of 1.6 kJ) from the GEKKO XII (GXII) green laser system at the Institute of Laser Engineering (ILE), Osaka University were applied to implode a spherical deuterated polystyrene (CD) shell target to form a dense core. The DD-reacted protons and the core x-ray emissions showed a core density of 2.8 ± 0.7 g cm−3, or 2.6 times the solid density. Furthermore, DD-reacted thermal neutrons were utilized to estimate the core temperature between 600 and 750 eV. Thereafter, the core was directly heated by a laser for fast-ignition experiments (LFEX, an extremely energetic ultrashort pulse laser) at ILE with its axis lying along or perpendicular to the GXII bundle axis, respectively. The former and latter laser configurations were termed \u27axial\u27 and \u27transverse modes\u27, respectively. The η was estimated from three independent methods: (1) the core x-ray emission, (2) the thermal neutron yield, and (3) the runaway hot electron spectra. For the axial mode, 0.8%< η <2.1% at low power (low LFEX energy) and 0.4%< η <2.5% at high power (high LFEX energy). For the transverse mode, 2.6%< η <7% at low power and 1.5%< η <7.7% at high power. Their efficiencies were compared with that in the uniform implosion mode using 12 GXII beams, 6% < η <12%, which appeared near to the η for the transverse mode, except that the error bar is very large

OMI-VT stormに対するカテーテルアブレーション

A ６８-year-old woman with VT storm and frequent appropriate ICD therapy was referred for catheter ablation. Her past history was notable for aortic valve replacement by mechanical valve due to infectious endocarditis １７ years prior to presentation and left ventricular apical old myocardial infarction with unknown onset. At ６７ years old, She admitted to the prior hospital due to ventricular tachycardia with LBBB and superior axis at heart rate of ２１０ per minutes. Administration of amiodarone and magnesium sulfate was ineffective and cardioversion of ２００J was successfully terminated the tachycardia. Intra-cardiac defibrillator was implanted and the administration of amiodarone and mexiletine was started. ５ months after, she admitted to the hospital due to the frequent appropriate shock against the same ventricular tachycardia. Administration of lidocaine, sotalol, pilsicainide, and magnesium sulfate could not control the tachycardia and she was referred to our hospital for catheter ablation. During the first session, ventricular tachycardia was easily induced and electroanatomical mapping was performed both during tachycardia and during sinus rhythm. Late diastolic potential preceding the onset of QRS wave by ４５ms was detected at the infero-septal side of the apical aneurysm. ７．５s of the RF energy application at this site could terminate the tachycardia and thereafter no ventricular tachycardia was induced. But after dose-reduction or cessation of some anti-arrhythmic drugs, ventricular tachycardia was recurred and second session was performed. This time, no ventricular tachycardia was induced, then we performed isthmus transection and core isolation against the apical aneurysm. Thereafter no ventricular tachycardia was occurred in spite of dose-reduction or cessation of some anti-arrhythmic drugs

Changes in Cerebral Hemodynamics during Complex Motor Learning by Character Entry into Touch-Screen Terminals

Introduction Studies of cerebral hemodynamics during motor learning have mostly focused on neurorehabilitation interventions and their effectiveness. However, only a few imaging studies of motor learning and the underlying complex cognitive processes have been performed. Methods We measured cerebral hemodynamics using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in relation to acquisition patterns of motor skills in healthy subjects using character entry into a touchscreen terminal. Twenty healthy, right-handed subjects who had no previous experience with character entry using a touch-screen terminal participated in this study. They were asked to enter the characters of a randomly formed Japanese syllabary into the touchscreen terminal. All subjects performed the task with their right thumb for 15 s alternating with 25 s of rest for 30 repetitions. Performance was calculated by subtracting the number of incorrect answers from the number of correct answers, and gains in motor skills were evaluated according to the changes in performance across cycles. Behavioral and oxygenated hemoglobin concentration changes across task cycles were analyzed using Spearman\u27s rank correlations. Results Performance correlated positively with task cycle, thus confirming motor learning. Hemodynamic activation over the left sensorimotor cortex (SMC) showed a positive correlation with task cycle, whereas activations over the right prefrontal cortex (PFC) and supplementary motor area (SMA) showed negative correlations. Conclusions We suggest that increases in finger momentum with motor learning are reflected in the activity of the left SMC. We further speculate that the right PFC and SMA were activated during the early phases of motor learning, and that this activity was attenuated with learning progress