Macrophage Polarization and Osteoclast Differentiation.

Macrophages are a key player to regulate rheumatoid arthritis pathogenesis from onset to remission. They can alter innate functions under microenvironmental conditions. To understand heterogeneous functions of macrophages in rheumatoid arthritis, several activated statuses of macrophages should be mimicked in vitro. Here, we describe basic protocols for macrophage polarization and osteoclast differentiation.

Double LVIS Jr. Stenting of a Ruptured Proximal Anterior Inferior Cerebellar Artery Aneurysm: A Case Report.

Objective: We report a case of ruptured aneurysm at the anterior pontine segment of the anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA) which re-ruptured after stent placement and was treated by overlapping stenting. Case Presentation: A 53-year-old woman presented with headache. CT demonstrated subarachnoid hemorrhage. DSA revealed no evident source of bleeding. On day 10, she complained of sudden headache and CT demonstrated re-bleeding. On repeated DSA, an aneurysm at the anterior pontine segment of the right AICA was found. An LVIS Jr. stent was deployed at the right AICA including the aneurysm. On postoperative day 23, the aneurysm ruptured again. Another LVIS Jr. stent was deployed at the same area. On day 56, she was discharged home without neurological deficit. Conclusion: Intracranial aneurysms not indicated for coil embolization or parent artery occlusion are difficult to treat. Overlapping stenting may be a treatment option for such aneurysms.

Docosahexaenoyl ethanolamide mitigates IgE-mediated allergic reactions by inhibiting mast cell degranulation and regulating allergy-related immune cells.

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is a long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid mainly found in fish oil. Although several studies have suggested that it can alleviate allergy symptoms, its mechanism of action remains to be elucidated. In the present study, we found that docosahexaenoyl ethanolamide (DHEA), a metabolite of DHA produced in the human body, exerts the anti-allergic activity in vitro and in vivo. DHEA suppressed degranulation of rat basophilic leukemia RBL-2H3 cells and bone marrow-derived mast cells in a dose-dependent manner without cytotoxicity. This occurred due to a decrease in Ca2+ influx, which is critical for mast cell degranulation. DHEA also suppressed IgE-mediated passive cutaneous anaphylaxis reaction in mice. In addition, DHEA was demonstrated to lessen an allergic symptom in a mouse model of pollinosis and to alter the production of IgE and cytokines secreted by splenocytes collected from the pollinosis mice. Taken together, this study indicates that DHEA is a promising anti-allergic agent as it inhibits mast cell degranulation and modulates other immune cells.

Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study of Solid Vibration Permeation in Microporous Amorphous Silica Network Voids.

Microporous silica membranes have silica polymer network voids smaller than 3 Å where only small gas molecules such as helium (2.6 Å) and hydrogen (2.89 Å) can be transported. These silica membranes are highly expected to be available for H2 separation. In order to examine gas permeation mechanisms in the silica polymer network voids, factors such as membrane porous structures, gas diffusivity, and gas permeability were studied via membrane permeation molecular dynamics simulation. The thermal motions of silica membrane constituent atoms were examined according to classic harmonic oscillation potential using a suitable amorphous silica structure and non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations of gas permeation. The dynamic model successfully simulated the gas permeation characteristics in an amorphous silica membrane with a suitable Hooke's potential parameter. The introduction of the oscillative thermal motion of the membrane atoms enhanced gas diffusivity. Helium and hydrogen diffusivity and permeability were analyzed using gas translation (GT) and solid vibration (SV) models. The diffusion distance of gas molecules between adsorption sites was around 5.5-7 Å. The solid-type vibration frequencies of gas molecules in the site were on the order of 1013 and were reasonably smaller for heavier helium than for hydrogen. Both the GT and SV models could explain the temperature dependency of helium and hydrogen gas diffusivities, but the SV model provided a more realistic geometrical representation of the silica membrane. The SV model also successfully explained gas permeability in an actual silica membrane as well as the virtual amorphous silica membrane.

Analysis of Prostate Deformation during a Course of Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer.

PURPOSE: Accurate analysis of the correlation between deformation of the prostate and displacement of its center of gravity (CoG) is important for efficient radiation therapy for prostate cancer. In this study, we addressed this problem by introducing a new analysis approach. METHOD: A planning computed tomography (CT) scan and 7 repeat cone-beam CT scans during the course of treatment were obtained for 19 prostate cancer patients who underwent three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy. A single observer contoured the prostate gland only. To evaluate the local deformation of the prostate, it was divided into 12 manually defined segments. Prostate deformation was calculated using in-house developed software. The correlation between the displacement of the CoG and the local deformation of the prostate was evaluated using multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: The mean value and standard deviation (SD) of the prostate deformation were 0.6 mm and 1.7 mm, respectively. For the majority of the patients, the local SD of the deformation was slightly lager in the superior and inferior segments. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the anterior-posterior displacement of the CoG of the prostate had a highly significant correlation with the deformations in the middle-anterior (p < 0.01) and middle-posterior (p < 0.01) segments of the prostate surface (R2 = 0.84). However, there was no significant correlation between the displacement of the CoG and the deformation of the prostate surface in other segments. CONCLUSION: Anterior-posterior displacement of the CoG of the prostate is highly correlated with deformation in its middle-anterior and posterior segments. In the radiation therapy for prostate cancer, it is necessary to optimize the internal margin for every position of the prostate measured using image-guided radiation therapy.

Uncertainty in patient set-up margin analysis in radiation therapy.

We investigated the uncertainty in patient set-up margin analysis with a small dataset consisting of a limited number of clinical cases over a short time period, and propose a method for determining the optimum set-up margin. Patient set-up errors from 555 registration images of 15 patients with prostate cancer were tested for normality using a quantile-quantile (Q-Q) plot and a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test with the hypothesis that the data were not normally distributed. The ranges of set-up errors include the set-up errors within the 95% interval of the entire patient data histogram, and their equivalent normal distributions were compared. The patient set-up error was not normally distributed. When the patient set-up error distribution was assumed to have a normal distribution, an underestimate of the actual set-up error occurred in some patients but an overestimate occurred in others. When using a limited dataset for patient set-up errors, which consists of only a small number of the cases over a short period of time in a clinical practice, the 2.5% and 97.5% intervals of the actual patient data histogram from the percentile method should be used for estimating the set-up margin. Since set-up error data is usually not normally distributed, these intervals should provide a more accurate estimate of set-up margin. In this way, the uncertainty in patient set-up margin analysis in radiation therapy can be reduced.

Analysis of the optimum internal margin for respiratory-gated radiotherapy using end-expiratory phase assessments using a motion phantom.

We aimed to optimize internal margin (IM) determination for respiratory-gated radiotherapy using end-expiratory phase assessments using a motion phantom. Four-dimensional computed tomography (4D CT) data were acquired using a GE LightSpeed RT CT scanner, a respiratory-gating system, and a motion phantom designed to move sinusoidally. To analyze the accuracy of 4D CT temporal resolution, a 25.4 mm diameter sphere was inserted into the motion phantom, and we measured the differences in sphere diameters between static and end-exhalation phase images. In addition, the IM obtained from the maximum intensity projection within the gating window (MIP(GW)) image was compared to theoretical value. Cranial-caudal motion displacement ranged from 5.0 to 30.0 mm, and the respiratory period ranged from 2.0 to 6.0 sec. Differences in sphere diameters between static and end-exhalation phase images ranged from 0.37 to 4.6 mm, with 5.0-mm and 30 mm target displacements, respectively. Differences between the IM obtained from the MIP(GW) and the theoretical values ranged from 1.12 to 6.23 mm with 5.0mm and 30 mm target displacements, respectively. These differences increased in proportion to the target velocity due to a motion artifact generated during tube rotation. In this study, the IMs obtained using the MIPGW image were overestimated in all cases. We therefore propose that the internal target volume (ITV) for respiratory-gated radiotherapy should be determined by adding the calculated value to the end-exhalation phase image. We also demonstrate a methodology for subtracting motion artifacts from the ITV using a motion phantom.

Analysis of post-exposure density growth in radiochromic film with respect to the radiation dose.

The post-exposure density growth (PEDG) is one of the characteristics of radiochromic film (RCF). In film dosimetry using RCF and a flatbed scanner, pixel values read out from the RCF are converted to dose (hereafter, film dose) by using a calibration curve. The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between the pixel value read out from the RCF and the PEDG, and that between the film dose converted from the RCF and the PEDG. The film (GAFCHROMIC EBT) was irradiated with 10-MV X-rays in an ascending 11-dose-step arrangement. The pixel values of the irradiated EBT film were measured at arbitrary hours using an Epson flatbed scanner. In this study, the reference time was 24 h after irradiation, and all dose conversions from the pixel values read out from the EBT film were made using a calibration curve for 24 h after irradiation. For delivered doses of 33 and 348 cGy, the measured pixel values at 0.1 and 16 h after irradiation represented ranges of -9.6% to -0.7% and -3.9% to -0.3%, respectively, of the reference value. The relative changes between the pixel values read out from the EBT film at each elapsed time and that at the reference time decreased with increasing delivered dose. However, the difference range for all the film doses had a width of approximately -10% of the reference value at elapsed times from 0.1 to 16 h, and it showed no dependence on the delivered dose.