Mapping of a New Deformation Region around

We performed the first direct mass measurements of neutron-rich scandium, titanium, and vanadium isotopes around the neutron number 40 at the RIKEN RI Beam Factory using the time-of-flight magnetic-rigidity technique. The atomic mass excesses of ^{58-60}Sc, ^{60-62}Ti, and ^{62-64}V were measured for the first time. The experimental results show that the two-neutron separation energies in the vicinity of ^{62}Ti increase compared to neighboring nuclei. This shows that the masses of Ti isotopes near N=40 are affected by the Jahn-Teller effect. Therefore, a development of Jahn-Teller stabilization appears below the Cr isotopes, and the systematics in Sc, Ti, and V isotopes suggest that ^{62}Ti is located close to the peak of the Jahn-Teller effect.

How Different is the Core of

The structure of a neutron-rich ^{25}F nucleus is investigated by a quasifree (p,2p) knockout reaction at 270A MeV in inverse kinematics. The sum of spectroscopic factors of π0d_{5/2} orbital is found to be 1.0±0.3. However, the spectroscopic factor with residual ^{24}O nucleus being in the ground state is found to be only 0.36±0.13, while those in the excited state is 0.65±0.25. The result shows that the ^{24}O core of ^{25}F nucleus significantly differs from a free ^{24}O nucleus, and the core consists of ∼35% ^{24}O_{g.s.}. and ∼65% excited ^{24}O. The result may infer that the addition of the 0d_{5/2} proton considerably changes neutron structure in ^{25}F from that in ^{24}O, which could be a possible mechanism responsible for the oxygen dripline anomaly.

Negative motor networks: Electric cortical stimulation and diffusion tensor imaging.

INTRODUCTION: This study investigated the networks of Negative motor areas (NMAs) using electric cortical stimulation and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). METHODS: Twelve patients with intractable focal epilepsy, in which NMAs were identified by electrical cortical stimulation, were enrolled in this study. Electric stimulation at 50Hz was applied to the electrodes during motor tasks to identify the NMAs. DTI was used to identify the subcortical fibers originating from the NMAs found by electrical stimulation. RESULTS: NMAs were found in lateral frontal areas (premotor area (PM) and precentral gyrus) in all 12 patients, in pre-supplementary motor areas (pre-SMAs) in four patients, and in posterior parietal cortices (PPCs) in four. DTI detected fibers connecting to the ipsilateral PMs, PPCs and temporal regions via U-fibers, superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), and arcuate fasciculus (AF) from the lateral frontal NMAs. Pre-SMA-NMAs had connections with ipsilateral PMs and contralateral pre-SMAs via the frontal aslant tract and transcallosal commissural fibers, and PPC-NMAs with ipsilateral PMs via SLF and AF. CONCLUSION: This study found the characteristic cortical network of each NMA, and especially revealed new insight of pre-SMA-NMA and PPC NMA. These NMAs might be associated with different mechanism of negative motor response.

Magic Nature of Neutrons in

We perform the first direct mass measurements of neutron-rich calcium isotopes beyond neutron number 34 at the RIKEN Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory by using the time-of-flight magnetic-rigidity technique. The atomic mass excesses of ^{55-57}Ca are determined for the first time to be -18650(160), -13510(250), and -7370(990) keV, respectively. We examine the emergence of neutron magicity at N=34 based on the new atomic masses. The new masses provide experimental evidence for the appearance of a sizable energy gap between the neutron 2p_{1/2} and 1f_{5/2} orbitals in ^{54}Ca, comparable to the gap between the neutron 2p_{3/2} and 2p_{1/2} orbitals in ^{52}Ca. For the ^{56}Ca nucleus, an open-shell property in neutrons is suggested.

94 ß-Decay Half-Lives of Neutron-Rich _{55}Cs to _{67}Ho: Experimental Feedback and Evaluation of the r-Process Rare-Earth Peak Formation.

The ß-decay half-lives of 94 neutron-rich nuclei ^{144-151}Cs, ^{146-154}Ba, ^{148-156}La, ^{150-158}Ce, ^{153-160}Pr, ^{156-162}Nd, ^{159-163}Pm, ^{160-166}Sm, ^{161-168}Eu, ^{165-170}Gd, ^{166-172}Tb, ^{169-173}Dy, ^{172-175}Ho, and two isomeric states ^{174m}Er, ^{172m}Dy were measured at the Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory, providing a new experimental basis to test theoretical models. Strikingly large drops of ß-decay half-lives are observed at neutron-number N=97 for _{58}Ce, _{59}Pr, _{60}Nd, and _{62}Sm, and N=105 for _{63}Eu, _{64}Gd, _{65}Tb, and _{66}Dy. Features in the data mirror the interplay between pairing effects and microscopic structure. r-process network calculations performed for a range of mass models and astrophysical conditions show that the 57 half-lives measured for the first time play an important role in shaping the abundance pattern of rare-earth elements in the solar system.

Candidate Resonant Tetraneutron State Populated by the

A candidate resonant tetraneutron state is found in the missing-mass spectrum obtained in the double-charge-exchange reaction ^{4}He(^{8}He,^{8}Be) at 186 MeV/u. The energy of the state is 0.83±0.65(stat)±1.25(syst) MeV above the threshold of four-neutron decay with a significance level of 4.9σ. Utilizing the large positive Q value of the (^{8}He,^{8}Be) reaction, an almost recoilless condition of the four-neutron system was achieved so as to obtain a weakly interacting four-neutron system efficiently.

Formation of a fluvial non-parasitic population of Lethenteron camtschaticum as the first step in petromyzontid speciation.

To elucidate the petromyzontid speciation process, the genetic independence of the fluvial non-parasitic populations within the anadromous parasitic Lethenteron camtschaticum was estimated by using polymorphic microsatellite loci. Abundant gene flow was revealed in multitemporal scales between potentially sympatric populations, suggesting ongoing gene flow resulting from imperfect size-assortative mating between them and plastic determination of life histories. On the contrary, landlocked fluvial non-parasitic populations in the upper region of dams were genetically divergent from anadromous parasitic populations. The temporal heterogeneity of gene flow, i.e. contemporary little gene flow but significant gene flow over the long-term between the landlocked fluvial non-parasitic and anadromous parasitic populations was elucidated. In addition, the divergence time of isolation of the landlocked populations from the ancestral anadromous parasitic population was estimated to have occurred 17.9-428.2 years ago, which includes the construction times of an initial dam c. 90 years ago. These instances indicate that the landlocked populations should have very recently been established, and subsequent accumulation of divergence and development of reproductive isolation are predicted. The present landlocked fluvial non-parasitic populations should be analogous to the founder populations in terms of petromyzontid speciation. The data also strongly support the hypothesis of multitemporal and multispatial speciation in the petromyzontid stem-satellite species complex.

Automated segmentation of recuts abdominis muscle using shape model in X-ray CT images.

Our purpose in this study is to segment the rectus abdominis muscle region in X-ray CT images, and we propose a novel recognition method based on the shape model. In this method, three steps are included in the segmentation process. The first is to generate a shape model for the rectus abdominis muscle. The second is to recognize anatomical feature points corresponding to the origin and insertion of the muscle, and the third is to segment the rectus abdominis muscles based on the shape model. We generated the shape model from 20 CT cases and tested the model to recognize the muscle in 20 other CT cases. The average values for the Jaccard similarity coefficient (JSC) and true segmentation coefficient (TSC) were 0.841 and 0.863, respectively. The results suggest the validity of the model-based segmentation for the rectus abdominis muscle.

Automated recognition of the psoas major muscles on X-ray CT images.

The purpose of this study is to recognize the psoas major muscle on X-ray CT images. For this purpose, we propose a novel recognition method. The recognition process in this method involves three steps: the generation of a shape model for the psoas major muscle, recognition of anatomical points such as the origin and insertion, and the recognition of the psoas major muscles by the use of the shape model. We generated the shape model using 20 CT cases and tested the model for recognition in 20 other CT cases. The average Jaccard similarity coefficient (JSC) and reproducibility rate were 0.704 and 0.783, respectively. Experimental results indicate that our method was effective for a 2-D cross-sectional area (CSA) analysis.

Automated measurement of bone-mineral-density (BMD) values of vertebral bones based on X-ray torso CT images.

Bone is one of the most important anatomical structures in humans and osteoporosis is one of the major public health concerns in the world. Osteoporosis is a main target disease of bone, which can be detected by medical image techniques. The purpose of this study is to develop a fully automated computer scheme to measure bone-mineral-density (BMD) values for vertebral trabecular bones. This scheme will aid osteoporosis diagnosis performed using computer tomography (CT) images. This scheme includes the following processing steps: segmentation of the bone region, recognition of the skeletal structures and measurement of the BMD value in vertebral trabecular bone of each vertebral body. The proposed scheme was applied to 20 X-ray torso CT cases to measure the BMD values for vertebral trabecular bones. The experimental results show that the mean and standard deviation of the difference between the BMD values measured by using the proposed method and those measured using a manual segmentation method were 6.93 mg/cm(3) and 6.82 mg/cm(3) respectively. The accuracy of the proposed scheme satisfied the requirement for a computer-aided system used in osteoporosis diagnosis.

Greater fat oxidation with diacylglycerol oil consumption for 14 days compared with triacylglycerol oil consumption in overweight men and women.

BACKGROUND: Several studies have reported increased fat oxidation with diacylglycerol (DAG) oil consumption. However, the effects of long-term DAG oil consumption on energy metabolism remain to be investigated. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to compare the effects of 14 days of either DAG or triacylglycerol (TAG) oil consumption on substrate oxidation, energy expenditure (EE) and dietary fat oxidation. DESIGN: Eight males and six females participated in this randomized, double-blind, crossover feeding study. Each patient consumed the 14-day controlled test diet containing either 10 g day(-1) of DAG or TAG oil for acclimatization before a respiratory chamber measurement, followed by a 2-week washout period between diet treatments. Substrate oxidation and EE were measured in the respiratory chamber at the end of each dietary treatment. The patients consumed test oil as 15% of total caloric intake in the respiratory chamber (mean test oil intake was 36.1+/-6.6 g day(-1)). RESULTS: Twenty-four hour fat oxidation was significantly greater with 14 days of DAG oil consumption compared with TAG oil consumption (78.6+/-19.6 and 72.6+/-14.9 g day(-1), respectively, P<0.05). There were no differences in body weight or body composition between diet treatments. Dietary fat oxidation was determined using the recovery rate of (13)CO(2) in breath, and was significantly enhanced with DAG oil consumption compared with TAG oil consumption, measured over 22 h after ingestion of (13)C-labelled triolein. Resting metabolic rate (RMR) was significantly greater with DAG oil consumption compared with TAG oil consumption (1766+/-337 and 1680+/-316 kcal day(-1), respectively, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Consumption of DAG oil for 14 days stimulates both fat oxidation and RMR compared with TAG oil consumption, which may explain the greater loss of body weight and body fat with DAG oil consumption that has been observed in weight-loss studies.

Nodule detection in 3D chest CT images using 2nd order autocorrelation features.

We have developed a new recognition approach using 2nd order autocorrelation and multi-regression analysis to detect a small (<7mm in diameter) lung nodules in chest 3D CT images. By combining our previous detection method of the template matching based on genetic algorithm, the detection performance was 94% true-positive rate at 2.05 false-positive marks per case using leave-one- out study.

Preliminary Study for Automated Recognition of Anatomical Structure from Torso CT images.

The anatomical human structure recognition is very important and necessary during the development of computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system. In this paper, we propose an image processing scheme that can recognize the general structure of human torso by identifying the human torso region from CT images automatically and separating it into 7 parts: skin, subcutaneous fat, muscle, bone, diaphragm, thoracic cavity and abdominal cavity based on CT number distribution and spatial relations between different organ and tissue regions. We applied this scheme to 313 patient cases of torso CT images and confirmed its usefulness from the preliminary experiment.

Computer-Aided Diagnosis Scheme for Detection of Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms in MR Angiography.

The detection of unruptured intracranial aneurysms is a major subject in magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) images. However,it is difficult for radiologists to detect small aneurysms on the maximum intensity projection (MIP) images, because adjacent vessels overlap with the aneurysm. The purpose of this study was to develop an automated computerized detection of aneurysms in order to assist radiologists' interpretation as a "second opinion." The vessels were first segmented from background by use of gray-level thresholding and region growing technique. The gradient concentrate (GC) filter was then applied to the segmented vessels for enhancement of aneurysm. The initial aneurysm candidate was identified in the GC image with a gray level threthold. For removal of false positives (FPs), we determined three features, i.e.,size,sphericity, and mean value of GC image in each of the candidate regions. Finally, the rule-based schemes with these features and quadratic discriminant analysis were applied for distinction between aneurysms and FPs. The sensitivity of our method for detection of aneurysms was 100% (7/7) with 1.85 FPs per patient. With our computerized scheme, all aneurysms were detected correctly with low FP rates, and would be useful in assisting radiologists for identifying correct aneurysms and for reducing the interpretation time.

Hedgehog and Fgf signaling pathways regulate the development of tphR-expressing serotonergic raphe neurons in zebrafish embryos.

Serotonin (5HT) plays major roles in the physiological regulation of many behavioral processes, including sleep, feeding, and mood, but the genetic mechanisms by which serotonergic neurons arise during development are poorly understood. In the present study, we have investigated the development of serotonergic neurons in the zebrafish. Neurons exhibiting 5HT-immunoreactivity (5HT-IR) are detected from 45 h postfertilization (hpf) in the ventral hindbrain raphe, the hypothalamus, pineal organ, and pretectal area. Tryptophan hydroxylases encode rate-limiting enzymes that function in the synthesis of 5HT. As part of this study, we cloned and analyzed a novel zebrafish tph gene named tphR. Unlike two other zebrafish tph genes (tphD1 and tphD2), tphR is expressed in serotonergic raphe neurons, similar to tph genes in mammalian species. tphR is also expressed in the pineal organ where it is likely to be involved in the pathway leading to synthesis of melatonin. To better understand the signaling pathways involved in the induction of the serotonergic phenotype, we analyzed tphR expression and 5HT-IR in embryos in which either Hh or Fgf signals are abrogated. Hindbrain 5HT neurons are severely reduced in mutants lacking activity of either Ace/Fgf8 or the transcription factor Noi/Pax2.1, which regulates expression of ace/fgf8, and probably other genes encoding signaling proteins. Similarly, serotonergic raphe neurons are absent in embryos lacking Hh activity confirming a conserved role for Hh signals in the induction of these cells. Conversely, over-activation of the Hh pathway increases the number of serotonergic neurons. As in mammals, our results are consistent with the transcription factors Nk2.2 and Gata3 acting downstream of Hh activity in the development of serotonergic raphe neurons. Our results show that the pathways involved in induction of hindbrain serotonergic neurons are likely to be conserved in all vertebrates and help establish the zebrafish as a model system to study this important neuronal class.

A malignant peripheral nerve-sheath tumour responding to chemotherapy.

A malignant peripheral nerve-sheath tumour developed in the right S1 nerve root in a man aged 30 causing back pain and sciatica. CT and MRI revealed a destructive tumour of the sacrum invading the retroperitoneal space. The tumour was not resectable with an adequate margin. Chemotherapy, consisting of high-dose ifosfamide followed by a combination of vincristine, doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide, was given with success. Malignant peripheral nerve-sheath tumours are thought to respond weakly to chemotherapy, but the response in our patient was complete.

Prognostic relevance of rosette-like features in osteosarcoma.

AIMS: To clarify the prognostic relevance of rosette-like features and other clinicopathological and immunohistochemical variables in patients with osteosarcoma. METHODS: Clinicopathological and immunohistochemical variables were analysed in 131 patients with non-metastatic high grade conventional osteosarcoma, with particular attention to the prognostic impact of rosette-like features. RESULTS: Rosette-like features were present in 18 (14%) cases. Rosette-like features were significantly associated with the osteoblastic subtype, numerous osteoclast-like giant cells, moderate pleomorphism, frequent haemangiopericytoma-like vascular patterns, epithelioid cytological features, positive immunoreactivity for epithelial membrane antigen and CD56, and negative staining for cytokeratin. In a multivariate analysis, rosette-like features (relative risk (RR), 3.8), a poor chemotherapy effect (RR, 2.9), and a tumour size of 10 cm or more (RR, 2.8) were identified as unfavourable prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS: Rosette-like features can easily be identified from routine histological slides and the relative risk in patients with non-metastatic, conventional osteosarcoma is as high as other well known prognostic factors, including large size and poor chemotherapy effect.

Osteosarcoma with cytokeratin expression: a clinicopathological study of six cases with an emphasis on differential diagnosis from metastatic cancer.

AIMS: To clarify the clinicopathological profile of osteosarcomas showing an intensely positive immunoreaction for cytokeratin. METHODS: Clinicopathological and immunohistochemical features were analysed in 131 patients with non-metastatic, conventional osteosarcoma, treated in Akita University and National Cancer Centre in Tokyo between 1972 and 1999. RESULTS: Six patients (4.5%; mean age, 32 years; four men, two women) had osteosarcomas showing intense cytokeratin expression. Tumours were located on the long bones of the extremities in five patients and the ilium in one. Osteoid formations were found in biopsied specimens in all cases. Three tumours were classified as osteoblastic osteosarcoma, two as fibroblastic, and one as chondroblastic. In three tumours classified as the osteoblastic subtype, epithelioid features were prominent, and four tumours showed pronounced cellular pleomorphism. In contrast to the expression of cytokeratin, epithelial membrane antigen was negative in all cases. Surgery with a wide excisional margin was performed in six patients. Preoperative and postoperative chemotherapy was given to five of the six patients, but the effects of these agents were negligible. Three of the six patients developed lung metastases, whereas the other three patients have remained well with no evidence of local recurrence or distant metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: Osteosarcoma with intense immunoreaction for cytokeratin was rare. The clinicopathological features were similar to those of patients with conventional osteosarcoma, except for a higher age, chemotherapy resistance, histological epithelioid features, and pleomorphism. This study indicates that osteoid formation and negative expression of epithelial membrane antigen are key features in the differentiation from metastatic carcinoma.