Lymphocyte interactions with endothelial cells

Adhesion of lymphocytes to endothelium is vital to lymphocyte migration into lymphoid tissue and into inflammatory sites. In this review, Yoji Shimizu and colleagues identify the molecules that mediate lymphocyte-endothelial cell adhesion, describe the underlying principles of lymphocyte migration, and discuss a model of the sequence of events that allow a lymphocyte to successfully attach to endothelium and migrate into the surrounding tissue.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/30298/1/0000700.pd

Tani Kiln Complex, The Angkor Monuments : Report of the Third Investigation of Kiln B1 (1-13 September, 1998)

金沢大学人間社会研究域歴史言語文化学

The Angkor Monuments : Excavation of a Kiln Site for Khmer Ceramics : Report of the Fourth Investigation of Kiln B1, Tani Kiln Complex

金沢大学人間社会研究域歴史言語文化学

Best Thermoelectric Efficiency of Ever-Explored Materials

A thermoelectric device is a heat engine that directly converts heat into electricity. Many materials with a high figure of merit ZT have been discovered in anticipation of a high thermoelectric efficiency. However, there has been a lack of investigations on efficiency-based material evaluation, and little is known about the achievable limit of thermoelectric efficiency. Here, we report the highest thermoelectric efficiency using 13,353 published materials. The thermoelectric device efficiencies of 808,610 configurations are calculated under various heat-source temperatures (T_h) when the cold-side temperature is 300 K, solving one-dimensional thermoelectric integral equations with temperature-dependent thermoelectric properties. For infinite-cascade devices, a thermoelectric efficiency larger than 33% (~1/3) is achievable when T_h exceeds 1400 K. For single-stage devices, the best efficiency of 17.1% (~1/6) is possible when T_h is 860 K. Leg segmentation can overcome this limit, delivering a very high efficiency of 24% (~1/4) when T_h is 1100 K.Comment: 32 pages (main+table+figure captions+figures), 7 additional pages for 6 high resolution figures, Supporting Data file is not public ye

The Ras Target AF-6 is a Substrate of the Fam Deubiquitinating Enzyme

The Ras target AF-6 has been shown to serve as one of the peripheral components of cell–cell adhesions, and is thought to participate in cell–cell adhesion regulation downstream of Ras. We here purified an AF-6-interacting protein with a molecular mass of ∼220 kD (p220) to investigate the function of AF-6 at cell–cell adhesions. The peptide sequences of p220 were identical to the amino acid sequences of mouse Fam. Fam is homologous to a deubiquitinating enzyme in Drosophila, the product of the fat facets gene. Recent genetic analyses indicate that the deubiquitinating activity of the fat facets product plays a critical role in controlling the cell fate. We found that Fam accumulated at the cell–cell contact sites of MDCKII cells, but not at free ends of plasma membranes. Fam was partially colocalized with AF-6 and interacted with AF-6 in vivo and in vitro. We also showed that AF-6 was ubiquitinated in intact cells, and that Fam prevented the ubiquitination of AF-6

Dense Clumps in Giant Molecular Clouds in the Large Magellanic Cloud: Density and Temperature Derived from 13^{13}CO(J=3−2J=3-2) Observations

In order to precisely determine temperature and density of molecular gas in the Large Magellanic Cloud, we made observations of optically thin $^{13}$CO($J=3-2$) transition by using the ASTE 10m telescope toward 9 peaks where $^{12}$CO($J=3-2$) clumps were previously detected with the same telescope. The molecular clumps include those in giant molecular cloud (GMC) Types I (with no signs of massive star formation), II (with HII regions only), and III (with HII regions and young star clusters). We detected $^{13}$CO($J=3-2$) emission toward all the peaks and found that their intensities are 3 -- 12 times lower than those of $^{12}$CO($J=3-2$). We determined the intensity ratios of $^{12}$CO($J=3-2$) to $^{13}$CO($J=3-2$), $R^{12/13}_{3-2}$, and $^{13}$CO($J=3-2$) to $^{13}$CO($J=1-0$), $R^{13}_{3-2/1-0}$, at 45\arcsec resolution. These ratios were used for radiative transfer calculations in order to estimate temperature and density of the clumps. The parameters of these clumps range kinetic temperature $T\mathrm{_{kin}}$ = 15 -- 200 K, and molecular hydrogen gas density $n(\mathrm{H_2})$ = 8$\times 10^2$ -- 7$\times 10^3$ cm$^{-3}$. We confirmed that the higher density clumps show higher kinetic temperature and that the lower density clumps lower kinetic temperature at a better accuracy than in the previous work. The kinetic temperature and density increase generally from a Type I GMC to a Type III GMC. We interpret that this difference reflects an evolutionary trend of star formation in molecular clumps. The $R^{13}_{3-2/1-0}$ and kinetic temperature of the clumps are well correlated with H$\alpha$ flux, suggesting that the heating of molecular gas $n(\mathrm{H_2})$ = $10^3$ -- $10^4$ cm$^{-3}$ can be explained by stellar FUV photons.Comment: 39 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journa

Conditioned medium from stem cells derived from human exfoliated deciduous teeth ameliorates NASH via the Gut-Liver axis

Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) occurrence has been increasing and is becoming a major cause of liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. However, effective treatments for NASH are still lacking. We examined the benefits of serum-free conditioned medium from stem cells derived from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED-CM) on a murine non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) model induced by a combination of Western diet (WD) and repeated administration of low doses of carbon tetrachloride intraperitoneally, focusing on the gut-liver axis. We showed that repeated intravenous administration of SHED-CM significantly ameliorated histological liver fibrosis and inflammation in a murine NASH model. SHED-CM inhibited parenchymal cell apoptosis and reduced the activation of inflammatory macrophages. Gene expression of pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic mediators (such as Tnf-α, Tgf-β, and Ccl-2) in the liver was reduced in mice treated with SHED-CM. Furthermore, SHED-CM protected intestinal tight junctions and maintained intestinal barrier function, while suppressing gene expression of the receptor for endotoxin, Toll-like receptor 4, in the liver. SHED-CM promoted the recovery of Caco-2 monolayer dysfunction induced by IFN-γ and TNF-α in vitro. Our findings suggest that SHED-CM may inhibit NASH fibrosis via the gut-liver axis, in addition to its protective effect on hepatocytes and the induction of macrophages with unique anti-inflammatory phenotypes

Clinical Usefulness of the VS Classification System Using Magnifying Endoscopy with Blue Laser Imaging for Early Gastric Cancer

Background. Blue laser imaging (BLI) enables the acquisition of more information from tumors’ surfaces compared with white light imaging. Few reports confirm the validity of magnifying endoscopy (ME) with BLI (ME-BLI) for early gastric cancer (EGC). We aimed to assess the detailed endoscopic findings from EGCs using ME-BLI. Methods. We enrolled 386 consecutive patients with 417 EGCs that were diagnosed using ME-BLI and resected by endoscopic submucosal dissection. Using the VS classification system, three highly experienced endoscopists (HEEs) and three less experienced endoscopists (LEEs) evaluated the demarcation line (DL), microsurface pattern (MSP), and microvascular pattern (MVP) within the endoscopic images of EGCs obtained using ME-BLI, assigning high-confidence (HC) or low-confidence (LC) levels. We investigated the clinicopathological features associated with each confidence level. Results. The HEEs’ evaluations determined the presence of DL in 99%, irregular MSP in 96%, and irregular MVP in 96%, and the LEEs’ evaluations determined the presence of DL in 98%, irregular MSP in 95%, and irregular MVP in 95% of the EGCs. When DL was present, HC levels in the Helicobacter pylori- (H. pylori-) eradicated group and noneradicated group were evident in 65% and 89%, a difference that was significant (p<0.001). Conclusions. In the diagnosis of EGC with ME-BLI, the VS classification system with ME-NBI can be applied, but identifying the DL after H. pylori was difficult

Usefulness of 11C-Methionine Positron Emission Tomography for Monitoring of Treatment Response and Recurrence in a Glioblastoma Patient on Bevacizumab Therapy: A Case Report

Recently developed molecular targeted therapies such as bevacizumab (BEV; Avastin) therapy have therapeutic efficacy for glioblastoma. However, it is difficult to distinguish between a tumor response and nonenhancing tumor progression with conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) after BEV administration. Here we present a recurrent glioblastoma case in which 11C-methionine positron emission tomography (MET-PET) provided useful information for detecting tumor recurrence after complete remission, as assessed by the Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology criteria. A 47-year-old male with a left frontal lobe glioblastoma experienced recurrence 6 months postoperatively. We administered BEV concomitantly with temozolomide, subsequent to gamma knife surgery. Two months after starting BEV, complete remission was obtained. MET uptake on PET gradually decreased and had nearly disappeared 4 months after initiating BEV. No enhanced area was seen on MRI for 17 months after BEV initiation. Nevertheless, MET-PET revealed recurrence, visualized as nonenhancing tumor progression. MET-PET provides useful information for detecting glioblastoma recurrence, which lacks contrast enhancement on MRI after BEV therapy