Application of Poly(amidoamine) Dendrimers for Use in Bionanomotor Systems

The study and utilization of bionanomotors represents a rapid and progressing field of nanobiotechnology. Here, we demonstrate that poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers are capable of supporting heavy meromyosin dependent actin motility of similar quality to that observed using nitrocellulose, and that microcontact printing of PAMAM dendrimers can be exploited to produce tracks of active myosin motors leading to the restricted motion of actin filaments across a patterned surface. These data suggest that the use of dendrimer surfaces will increase the applicability of using protein biomolecular motors for nanotechnological applications

Tracking Performance of the Scintillating Fiber Detector in the K2K Experiment

The K2K long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment uses a Scintillating Fiber Detector (SciFi) to reconstruct charged particles produced in neutrino interactions in the near detector. We describe the track reconstruction algorithm and the performance of the SciFi after three years of operation.Comment: 24pages,18 figures, and 1 table. Preprint submitted to NI

Evolution of living donor liver transplantation over 10 years: experience of a single center.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the changes in living donor liver transplantations (LDLTs) over the last 10 years, we analyzed our experience of performing LDLT in a single center. METHODS: We performed 73 LDLTs over the 10 years between 1997 and 2007 in Nagasaki University Hospital, Japan. RESULTS: Initially, from 1997 to 2003, LDLT was performed for pediatric patients; then, between 2004 and 2007, adult-to-adult LDLT was introduced, primarily for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in liver cirrhosis. We also began performing LDLTs for adults with ABO-incompatible blood type combination in the latter period. As the number of adult-to-adult LDLTs increased, left-sided grafts became fi rst choice for these patients. Survival rates were 88.3%, 77.2%, 70.2% at 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively. There was a relatively low incidence of arterial complications, and although the incidence of biliary complications was high initially, it decreased with experience. Likewise, the operative time, blood loss, and hospital stay after LDLT also improved remarkably. CONCLUSION: Over the last 10 years the indications for, and operative techniques used in LDLT have changed dramatically, even in a single center in Japan