Accuracy of metabolic volume and total glycolysis among six threshold-based target segmentation algorithms

Annals of Nuclear Medicine - This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of six threshold-based segmentation methods with different target-to-background ratios (TBR), images with different voxel...     

Diacylglycerol kinase α exacerbates cardiac injury after ischemia/reperfusion

Early coronary reperfusion of the ischemic myocardium is a desired therapeutic goal for the preservation of myocardial function. However, reperfusion itself causes additional myocardium injuries. Activation of the diacylglycerol–protein kinase C (DAG–PKC) cascade has been implicated in the cardioprotective effects occurring after ischemia/reperfusion (I/R). DAG kinase (DGK) controls cellular DAG levels by converting DAG to phosphatidic acid, and may act as an endogenous regulator of DAG–PKC signaling. In the present study, we examined the functional role of DGKα in cardiac injury after I/R in in vivo mouse hearts. We generated transgenic mice with cardiac-specific overexpression of DGKα (DGKα-TG). The left anterior descending coronary artery was transiently occluded for 20 min and reperfused for 24 h in DGKα-TG mice and wild-type littermate (WT) mice. The levels of phosphorylation activity of PKCε, extracellular-signal regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2, and p70 ribosomal S6 kinase (p70S6K) were increased after I/R in WT mouse hearts. However, in DGKα-TG mice, activation of PKCε, ERK1/2, and p70S6K was attenuated compared to WT mice. After 24 h, Evans blue/triphenyltetrazolium chloride double staining and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining showed that DGKα-TG mice had significantly larger myocardial infarctions and larger numbers of TUNEL-positive cardiomyocytes than WT mice. Echocardiography and cardiac catheterization revealed that left ventricular systolic function was more severely depressed in DGKα-TG mice than in WT mice after I/R. These findings suggest that DGKα exacerbates I/R injury by inhibiting the cardioprotective effects of PKCε, ERK1/2, and p70S6K activation.     

Redo living‐donor lobar lung transplantation for bronchiolitis obliterans associated with antibody‐mediated rejection

Living‐donor lobar lung transplantation (LDLLT) is an established therapy for patients with end‐stage lung disease, but living‐donor lobar lung retransplantation (re‐LDLLT) is rarely reported. We previously reported a case of unilateral antibody‐mediated rejection after LDLLT in the presence of newly formed donor‐specific antibodies against a right‐lobe donor. The same patient developed contralateral bronchiolitis obliterans, resulting in bilateral bronchiolitis obliterans, but re‐LDLLT was successful. Pathological findings of the explanted lungs were consistent with the clinical course of the patient. One year after re‐LDLLT, the patient is doing well without any anti‐human leukocyte antigen antibodies. Four lobes from four different donors were transplanted in this patient. The first two lobes were rejected eventually, but the two lobes implanted later presented no signs of rejection at least for 1 year after the transplant. Herein, we report this rare case and compare the clinical course and pathological findings.     

Efficient Activation of Human T Cells of Both CD4 and CD8 Subsets by Urease-Deficient Recombinant Mycobacterium bovis BCG That Produced a Heat Shock Protein 70-M. tuberculosis-Derived Major Membrane Protein II Fusion Protein

For the purpose of obtaining Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) capable of activating human naive T cells, urease-deficient BCG expressing a fusion protein composed of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-derived major membrane protein II (MMP-II) and heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) of BCG (BCG-DHTM) was produced. BCG-DHTM secreted the HSP70-MMP-II fusion protein and effectively activated human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DCs) by inducing phenotypic changes and enhanced cytokine production. BCG-DHTM-infected DCs activated naive T cells of both CD4 and naive CD8 subsets, in an antigen (Ag)-dependent manner. The T cell activation induced by BCG-DHTM was inhibited by the pretreatment of DCs with chloroquine. The naive CD8⁺ T cell activation was mediated by the transporter associated with antigen presentation (TAP) and the proteosome-dependent cytosolic cross-priming pathway. Memory CD8⁺ T cells and perforin-producing effector CD8⁺ T cells were efficiently produced from the naive T cell population by BCG-DHTM stimulation. Single primary infection with BCG-DHTM in C57BL/6 mice efficiently produced T cells responsive to in vitro secondary stimulation with HSP70, MMP-II, and M. tuberculosis-derived cytosolic protein and inhibited the multiplication of subsequently aerosol-challenged M. tuberculosis more efficiently than did vector control BCG. These results indicate that the introduction of MMP-II and HSP70 into urease-deficient BCG may be useful for improving BCG for control of tuberculosis.     

Early magnetic resonance detection of cortical necrosis and acute network injury associated with neonatal and infantile cerebral infarction

Background

Knowledge of MRI findings in pediatric cerebral infarction is limited.

Objective

To determine whether cortical necrosis and network injury appear in the acute phase in post-stroke children and to identify anatomical location of acute network injury and the ages at which these phenomena are seen.

Materials and methods

Images from 12 children (age range: 0–9 years; neonates [<1 month], n=5; infants [1 month–12 months], n=3; others [≥1 year], n=4) with acute middle cerebral artery (MCA) cortical infarction were retrospectively analyzed. Cortical necrosis was defined as hyperintense cortical lesions on T1-weighted imaging that lacked evidence of hemorrhage. Acute network injury was defined as hyperintense lesions on diffusion-weighted imaging that were not in the MCA territory and had fiber connections with the affected cerebral cortex. MRI was performed within the first week after disease onset.

Results

Cortical necrosis was only found in three neonates. Acute network injury was seen in the corticospinal tract (CST), thalamus and corpus callosum. Acute network injury along the CST was found in five neonates and one 7-month-old infant. Acute network injury was evident in the thalamus of four neonates and two infants (ages 4 and 7 months) and in the corpus callosum of five neonates and two infants (ages 4 and 7 months). The entire thalamus was involved in three children when infarction of MCA was complete.

Conclusion

In acute MCA cortical infarction, MRI findings indicating cortical necrosis or acute network injury was frequently found in neonates and early infants. Response to injury in a developing brain may be faster than that in a mature one.     

Possible Neoangiogenesis in Achilles Tendon Xanthoma with Familial Hypercholesterolemia: A Novel Approach to Achilles Tendon Xanthoma

Achilles tendon xanthoma (ATX) is one of the typical features of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). The morphological evaluation of ATX by X-ray radiography is widely recognized; however, the utility of other imaging modalities remains unclear. We herein report two cases of FH in which Doppler ultrasound imaging demonstrated a microvascular flow in ATX that only rarely could be observed in normal Achilles tendons. Neoangiogenesis accompanies chronic inflammation and it may play an important role in the deposition of cholesterol crystals leading to ATX. In addition to the morphological evaluation of ATX, the assessment of neoangiogenesis may therefore be essential for the evaluation of ATX.     

Zr- and Ce-doped Li6Y(BO3)3 electrolyte for all-solid-state lithium-ion battery

The ionic conductivity of Li₆Y(BO₃)₃ (LYBO) was enhanced by the substitution of tetravalent ions (Zr⁴⁺ and Ce⁴⁺) for Y³⁺ sites through the formation of vacancies at the Li sites, an increase in compact densification, and an increase in the Li⁺-ion conduction pathways in the LYBO phase. As a result, the ionic conductivity of Li_5.875Y_0.875Zr_0.1Ce_0.025(BO₃)₃ (ZC-LYBO) reached 1.7 × 10⁻⁵ S cm⁻¹ at 27 °C, which was about 5 orders of magnitude higher than that of undoped Li₆Y(BO₃)₃. ZC-LYBO possessed a large electrochemical window and was thermally stable after cosintering with a LiNi_1/3Mn_1/3Co_1/3O₂ (NMC) positive electrode. These characteristics facilitated good reversible capacities in all-solid-state batteries for both NMC positive electrodes and graphite negative electrodes via a simple cosintering process.

Ionic conductivity of Li₆Y(BO₃)₃ (LYBO) is enhanced by the substitution of tetravalent ions through an increase in the conduction pathways etc. Zr,Ce-doped LYBO can be used as an electrolyte for all-solid-state batteries via a cosintering process.