Properties of atomic intercalated carbon K4 crystals

The stability of atomic intercalated carbon $K_{4}$ crystals, XC$_{2}$ (X=H, Li, Be, B, C, N, O, F, Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ga, Ge, As, Se, Br, Rb or Sr) is evaluated by geometry optimization and frozen phonon analysis based on first principles calculations. Although C $K_{4}$ is unstable, NaC$_{2}$ and MgC$_{2}$ are found to be stable. It is shown that NaC$_{2}$ and MgC$_{2}$ are metallic and semi conducting, respectively

Titanium peroxide nanoparticles enhanced cytotoxic effects of X-ray irradiation against pancreatic cancer model through reactive oxygen species generation in vitro and in vivo

Details of the synthetic protocol for PAA-TiOxNPs formation from TiO2NPs. (PPTX 151 kb

In-situ Neutron Tomography on Mixing Behavior of Supercritical Water and Room Temperature Water in a Tubular Flow Reactor

We have synthesized metal oxide nanoparticles through hydrothermal reaction at around 400 °C and 25 MPa by mixing the stream of metal ion solution at room temperature with another stream of supercritical water in a continuous flow-type reactor. In order to visualize the mixing behavior of the two streams, we performed neutron tomography measurements. By performing tomography measurements while rotating the mixing piece with supplying supercritical water and room temperature water, we succeeded in obtaining the three dimensional distribution of neutron attenuation. The results clearly showed how the two streams mix, which serves as a reference for numerical simulation

Shared and Distinct Functions of the Transcription Factors IRF4 and IRF8 in Myeloid Cell Development

Interferon regulatory factor (IRF) 8 and IRF4 are structurally-related, hematopoietic cell-specific transcription factors that cooperatively regulate the differentiation of dendritic cells and B cells. Whilst in myeloid cells IRF8 is known to modulate growth and differentiation, the role of IRF4 is poorly understood. In this study, we show that IRF4 has activities similar to IRF8 in regulating myeloid cell development. The ectopic expression of IRF4 in myeloid progenitor cells in vitro inhibits cell growth, promotes macrophages, but hinders granulocytic cell differentiation. We also show that IRF4 binds to and activates transcription through the IRF-Ets composite sequence (IECS). Furthermore, we demonstrate that Irf8-/-Irf4-/- mice exhibit a more severe chronic myeloid leukemia (CML)-like disease than Irf8-/- mice, involving a disproportionate expansion of granulocytes at the expense of monocytes/macrophages. Irf4-/- mice, however, display no obvious abnormality in myeloid cell development, presumably because IRF4 is expressed at a much lower level than IRF8 in granulocyte-macrophage progenitors. Our results also suggest that IRF8 and IRF4 have not only common but also specific activities in myeloid cells. Since the expression of both the IRF8 and IRF4 genes is downregulated in CML patients, these results may add to our understanding of CML pathogenesis

Trends in hepatocellular carcinoma incident cases in Japan between 1996 and 2019

We examined the epidemiological trends, including the distribution of sex, age, and disease etiology, in HCC incident cases, over 24 years. Data of 20,547 HCC patients (1996–2019) were analyzed in this prospective study. We divided the study period into four 6-yearly quarters. HCC etiology was categorized as hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, HBV + hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, HCV infection, and both negative (non-BC). The incident cases of HCC per quarter of the study period were 4311 (21.0%), 5505 (26.8%), 5776 (28.1%), and 4955 (24.1%), sequentially. Overall, 14,020 (68.2%) patients were male. The number of HCC cases in patients < 60 years, 60–69 years, 70–79 years, and ≥ 80 years were 3711 (18.1%), 6652 (32.4%), 7448 (36.2%), and 2736 (13.3%), respectively. The average age of newly-diagnosed patients increased in each quarter. HCC was associated with HBV, HBV + HCV, and HCV infections and non-BC in 2997 (14.6%), 187 (0.9%), and 12,019 (58.5%), and 5344 (26.0%) cases, respectively. The number of HCV-associated cases decreased in each quarter, while that of non-BC-associated cases increased. HCC incident cases tend to increase in the elderly and in non-BC patients; in contrast, HCC incident cases due to HCV tend to decrease