Initial Experience of Percutaneous Extraction of Infected Cardiac Implantable Electric Devices Using Excimer Laser

Article信州医学雑誌 63(2):103-108 (2015)journal articl

Current status of space gravitational wave antenna DECIGO and B-DECIGO

Deci-hertz Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (DECIGO) is the future Japanese space mission with a frequency band of 0.1 Hz to 10 Hz. DECIGO aims at the detection of primordial gravitational waves, which could be produced during the inflationary period right after the birth of the universe. There are many other scientific objectives of DECIGO, including the direct measurement of the acceleration of the expansion of the universe, and reliable and accurate predictions of the timing and locations of neutron star/black hole binary coalescences. DECIGO consists of four clusters of observatories placed in the heliocentric orbit. Each cluster consists of three spacecraft, which form three Fabry-Perot Michelson interferometers with an arm length of 1,000 km. Three clusters of DECIGO will be placed far from each other, and the fourth cluster will be placed in the same position as one of the three clusters to obtain the correlation signals for the detection of the primordial gravitational waves. We plan to launch B-DECIGO, which is a scientific pathfinder of DECIGO, before DECIGO in the 2030s to demonstrate the technologies required for DECIGO, as well as to obtain fruitful scientific results to further expand the multi-messenger astronomy.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Current status of space gravitational wave antenna DECIGO and B-DECIGO

The Deci-hertz Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (DECIGO) is a future Japanese space mission with a frequency band of 0.1 Hz to 10 Hz. DECIGO aims at the detection of primordial gravitational waves, which could have been produced during the inflationary period right after the birth of the Universe. There are many other scientific objectives of DECIGO, including the direct measurement of the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe, and reliable and accurate predictions of the timing and locations of neutron star/black hole binary coalescences. DECIGO consists of four clusters of observatories placed in heliocentric orbit. Each cluster consists of three spacecraft, which form three Fabry–Pérot Michelson interferometers with an arm length of 1000 km. Three DECIGO clusters will be placed far from each other, and the fourth will be placed in the same position as one of the other three to obtain correlation signals for the detection of primordial gravitational waves. We plan to launch B-DECIGO, which is a scientific pathfinder for DECIGO, before DECIGO in the 2030s to demonstrate the technologies required for DECIGO, as well as to obtain fruitful scientific results to further expand multi-messenger astronomy

In situ visualization of caspase-1-like activity associated with promotion of hippocampal cell death

AbstractTo clarify the function of caspase-1-like proteases in neuronal cell death, it is important to be able to detect the activity in living organs by microscopic visualization. In the present study, we synthesized a novel fluorescent substrate sensitive to the caspase-1-like activity, which is easily introduced into cells constituting living organs by extracellular application. As a result, the substrate was shown to be useful in imaging the caspase-1-like activity in rat hippocampal slice cultures. After induction of cell death with glutamate, a significant increase in the activity was observed, especially in the pyramidal cells, suggesting the association of the activity with promotion of cell death

Ocular Inflammation in Uveal Tract in Aged Obese Type 2 Diabetic Rats (Spontaneously Diabetic Torii Fatty Rats)

We report uveitis observed in an obese type 2 diabetes rat model, Spontaneously Diabetic Torii Leprfa (SDT fatty) rats aged over 50 weeks. The eyes of SDT fatty rats (16 animals: 7 males and 9 females with 50 or 60 weeks of age) were examined histopathologically. Infiltration of inflammatory cells in the uveal tract was observed in 13 of 16 animals. One female showed severe inflammation affecting the entire uveal tract including the iris, ciliary body, and choroid with a variety of inflammatory cells (neutrophils, lymphocytes, and macrophages). Those changes clinically mimic the findings of diabetic iridocyclitis in diabetic patients. Uveitis associated with diabetes can occur in diabetic patients but the pathogenesis still remains unknown. Since increased extramedullary hematopoiesis in the spleen and abscess in the genital and lower urinary tracts were observed in some SDT fatty rats, increased susceptibility to infection, prolongation of inflammatory states, and disorders of the immune system were considered to be possible factors of the uveitis in aged SDT fatty rats. There have been few reports on how diabetes has influence on the development of uveitis associated with bacterial infection. The SDT fatty rat can be an animal model to investigate diabetes-associated uveitis

Development of a superconducting rotating-gantry for heavy-ion therapy

An isocentric superconducting rotating-gantry for heavy-ion therapy is being developed. This rotating gantry can transport heavy ions having 430 MeV/u to an isocenter with irradiation angles of over +- 180 , and is further capable of performing fast raster-scanning irradiation. For the magnets, combined-function superconducting-magnets are to be employed. All of the superconducting magnets have been designed, and their magnetic-field distributions were calculated by using a 3D electromagnetic-field solver. With the calculated magnetic-fields, beam-tracking simulations were performed to evaluate the field quality of the superconducting magnets. Beam profiles as well as phase-space distributions at the isocenter, as calculated by simulations, agreed well with those of linear beam-optics calculations, proving validity of the final design for the magnets. Three superconducting magnets were manufactured, and are being tested. In this paper, results of tracking simulations as well as test results for the superconducting magnets are presented