EOSDB: The Database for Nuclear EoS

Nuclear equation of state (EoS) plays an important role in understanding the formation of compact objects such as neutron stars and black holes. The true nature of the EoS has been a matter of debate at any density range not only in the nuclear physics but also in the astronomy and astrophysics. We have constructed a database of EoSs by compiling data from the literature. Our database contains the basic properties of the nuclear EoS of symmetric nuclear matter and of pure neutron matter. It also includes the detailed information about the theoretical models, for example the adopted methods and assumptions in individual models. The novelty of the database is to consider new experimental probes such as the symmetry energy, its slope relative to the baryon density, and the incompressibility, which enables the users to check their model dependences. We demonstrate the performance of the EOSDB through the examinations of the model dependence among different nuclear EoSs. It is reveled that some theoretical EoSs, which is commonly used in astrophysics, do not satisfactorily agree with the experimental constraints.Comment: 30 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan (revised

Minilaparotomy Approach for Giant Mutinous Cystadenoma of the Ovary in Children: Report of Two Cases

Mucinous cystadenomas (MCAs) are rare benign neoplasms in children. To the best of our knowledge, only 22 cases in children have been described. MCAs may reach huge sizes, and thus are not readily amenable to laparoscopic treatment due to the risk of rupture and the limited working space. We report two cases of giant MCA of the ovary treated by minilaparotomy. In case 1, a 12-year-old girl was admitted with abdominal pain and vomiting. Diagnostic imaging showed a large polycystic mass occupying nearly the whole abdominal cavity. With a provisional diagnosis of ovarian cyst, surgery was performed. The cyst was punctured under direct vision though a small subumbilical incision. After aspiration of 2,000ml of mucinous fluid, laparoscopic examination revealed a tumor originating from the left ovary. Left oophorectomy was performed through an 8-cm incision in the left lower abdomen. The histopathological diagnosis was MCA. In case 2, a 15-year-old girl presented with slowly increasing abdominal distension over 5 months. A polycystic mass measuring 36 × 21 × 14cm was evident on imaging. After drainage of 9,500ml of clear mucinous fluid, right oophorectomy was performed through a small (5cm) midline incision. The final pathology revealed a benign MCA. No recurrence has been detected for 2 years postoperatively in case 1 and for 6 years postoperatively in case 2

Image-guided core needle biopsy for musculoskeletal lesions

Background: Image-guided percutaneous core needle biopsy (CNB) has been an important diagnostic procedure for musculoskeletal lesions. Here we surveyed the variety of diagnostic strategies available and assessed the clinical usefulness and limitations of image-guided CNB carried out by a multidisciplinary team comprising specialists in various fields. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of 284 image-guided CNBs among 1899 consecutive biopsy procedures carried out at our institution for musculoskeletal tumorous conditions, focusing on their effectiveness including diagnostic accuracy and utility for classification of specimens according to malignant potential and histological subtype as well as their correlation with biopsy routes. Results: Among the 284 studied biopsies, 252 (88.7%) were considered clinically “effective”. The sensitivity for detection of malignancy was 94.0% (110/117) and the specificity was 95.3% (41/43). The diagnostic accuracy for detection of malignancy was 94.4% (151/160) and that for histological subtype was 92.3% (48/52). The clinical effectiveness of the procedure was correlated with the complexity of the biopsy route (P = 0.015); the trans-pedicular, trans-retroperitoneal and trans-sciatic foramen approaches tended to yield ineffective results. Repeat biopsy did not have a significant impact on the effectiveness of image-guided CNB (P = 0.536). Conclusions: The diagnostic accuracy rates of image-guided CNB performed at multidisciplinary sarcoma units were usable even for patients who have variety of diagnostic biopsy procedures. It is important to establish and implement diagnostic strategies based on an understanding that complicated routes, especially for spine and pelvic lesions, may be associated with ineffectiveness and/or complications

Innovative Treatment of a Fetal Lung Mass Model Using High-intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU)

Current therapy for space-occupying fetal lung mass lesions (fetal pulmonary lobectomy) is invasive and technically demanding. Accordingly, new therapeutic procedures are required which are much less invasive and more efficient. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) as a new therapeutic modality for fetal lung mass lesions, using an experimental animal model. We created a solid fetal lung model by differential lung ventilation using anesthetized adult rabbits. In this model, experimental animals with a unilateral independent (fluid-filled) lung were maintained by single lung ventilation of the other dependent lung. Within the independent lung, target blood vessels depicted by color flow Doppler were repeatedly irradiated with HIFU energy beams (n=19). Occlusion of these blood vessels in vivo was confirmed by evaluation of the flow using color flow Doppler. After the procedure, the animals were sacrificed and their harvested lungs were assessed grossly and microscopically. Pulmonary blood vessels (artery and/or vein) were effectively occluded with 2 to 5 cycles of HIFU energy delivery (10.5 seconds each) with a success rate of 62.5% (arteries) and 72.7% (veins). No clear changes including tissue perforations were observed grossly on the surface of the lungs. Ultrasound-guided HIFU energy delivery seems promising for occlusion of the pulmonary blood vessels within a fluid-filled independent lung (fetal lung model). Thus in the future, HIFU irradiation could be used as a less invasive technique to occlude the feeding vessels of fetal lung mass lesions in utero

Non-touch, Quick Removal of an Occluding Intratracheal Balloon Using High Intensity Focused Ultrasound and Limonene Emulsion

In recent years, fetal endoscopic tracheal occlusion （FETO） using a balloon has been clinically employed for promoting prenatal lung growth to ameliorate postnatal respiratory failure caused by severe in utero lung hypoplasia. After a successful FETO, in some limited fetal centers, planned or emergency balloon removal using another fetoscopy is performed to release the tracheal occlusion immediately before delivery. To overcome this additional fetoscopy, we previously reported an innovative simple procedure to remove the occluding balloon by bursting it with a pre-planned sequence of high intensity focused ultrasound （HIFU） irradiation. In that previous study, which used rabbits euthanized and submerged in degassed water, we inflated the balloon by injecting a mixture of perfluorocarbon and ultrasound contrast medium through a fetoscopically-guided catheter. The rate of successful balloon burst and deflation using HIFU irradiation was high enough （100％）, but the mode and timing of tracheal reopening （i.e., sudden burst or slow shrinkage of the balloon） was rather varied and collateral damage to the dermal/tracheal tissue was identified in 72.7％ of the experimental animals. Accordingly, to standardize the HIFU irradiation sequence and to achieve a reliable and secure balloon burst, we conducted another series of animal experiments in which the mixture of perfluorocarbon was replaced with “limonene emulsion” （D-limonene micelle emulsified in physiological saline） as the balloon injection fluid. In all 6 animals, we succeeded in reopening the airway by achieving an instantaneous and timely balloon burst without definite skin/tracheal damage. We conclude that HIFU irradiation together with injecting the balloon with “limonene emulsion” is an improved method for safe tracheal release from a balloon occlusion

Atribacteria from the Subseafloor Sedimentary Biosphere Disperse to the Hydrosphere through Submarine Mud Volcanoes

Submarine mud volcanoes (SMVs) are formed by muddy sediments and breccias extruded to the seafloor from a source in the deep subseafloor and are characterized by the discharge of methane and other hydrocarbon gasses and deep-sourced fluids into the overlying seawater. Although SMVs act as a natural pipeline connecting the Earth’s surface and subsurface biospheres, the dispersal of deep-biosphere microorganisms and their ecological roles remain largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the microbial communities in sediment and overlying seawater at two SMVs located on the Ryukyu Trench off Tanegashima Island, southern Japan. The microbial communities in mud volcano sediments were generally distinct from those in the overlying seawaters and in the well-stratified Pacific margin sediments collected at the Peru Margin, the Juan de Fuca Ridge flank off Oregon, and offshore of Shimokita Peninsula, northeastern Japan. Nevertheless, in-depth analysis of different taxonomic groups at the sub-species level revealed that the taxon affiliated with Atribacteria, heterotrophic anaerobic bacteria that typically occur in organic-rich anoxic subseafloor sediments, were commonly found not only in SMV sediments but also in the overlying seawater. We designed a new oligonucleotide probe for detecting Atribacteria using the catalyzed reporter deposition-fluorescence in situ hybridization (CARD-FISH). CARD-FISH, digital PCR and sequencing analysis of 16S rRNA genes consistently showed that Atribacteria are abundant in the methane plumes of the two SMVs (0.58 and 1.5 × 104 cells/mL, respectively) but not in surrounding waters, suggesting that microbial cells in subseafloor sediments are dispersed as “deep-biosphere seeds” into the ocean. These findings may have important implications for the microbial transmigration between the deep subseafloor biosphere and the hydrosphere

Measurement of low-energy antiproton detection efficiency in BESS below 1 GeV

An accelerator experiment was performed using a low-energy antiproton beam to measure antiproton detection efficiency of BESS, a balloon-borne spectrometer with a superconducting solenoid. Measured efficiencies showed good agreement with calculated ones derived from the BESS Monte Carlo simulation based on GEANT/GHEISHA. With detailed verification of the BESS simulation, the relative systematic error of detection efficiency derived from the BESS simulation has been determined to be $\pm$5%, compared with the previous estimation of $\pm$15% which was the dominant uncertainty for measurements of cosmic-ray antiproton flux.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure

Post-induction MRD by FCM and GATA1-PCR are significant prognostic factors for myeloid leukemia of Down syndrome.

Myeloid leukemia of Down syndrome (ML-DS) is associated with good response to chemotherapy, resulting in favorable outcomes. However, no universal prognostic factors have been identified to date. To clarify a subgroup with high risk of relapse, the role of minimal residual disease (MRD) was explored in the AML-D11 trial by the Japanese Pediatric Leukemia/Lymphoma Study Group. MRD was prospectively evaluated at after induction therapy and at the end of all chemotherapy, using flow cytometry (FCM-MRD) and GATA1-targeted deep sequencing (GATA1-MRD). A total of 78 patients were eligible and 76 patients were stratified to the standard risk (SR) group by morphology. In SR patients, FCM-MRD and GATA1-MRD after induction were positive in 5/65 and 7/59 patients, respectively. Three-year event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were 93.3% and 95.0% in the FCM-MRD-negative population, and 60.0% and 80.0% in the positive population. Three-year EFS and OS rates were both 96.2% in the GATA1-MRD-negative population, and 57.1% and 71.4% in the positive population. Adjusted hazard ratios for associations of FCM-MRD or GATA1-MRD with EFS were 10.98 (p = 0.01) and 27.68 (p < 0.01), respectively. Detection of MRD by either FCM or GATA1 after initial induction therapy represents a significant prognostic factor for predicting ML-DS relapse