Noble gas isotopes were measured in three rocky grains from asteroid Itokawa to elucidate a history of irradiation from cosmic rays and solar wind on its surface. Large amounts of solar helium (He), neon (Ne), and argon (Ar) trapped in various depths in the grains were observed, which can be explained by multiple implantations of solar wind particles into the grains, combined with preferential He loss caused by frictional wear of space-weathered rims on the grains. Short residence time of less than 8 million years was implied for the grains by an estimate on cosmic-ray-produced (21)Ne. Our results suggest that Itokawa is continuously losing its surface materials into space at a rate of tens of centimeters per million years. The lifetime of Itokawa should be much shorter than the age of our solar system.

Regolith particles on the asteroid Itokawa were recovered by the Hayabusa mission. Their three-dimensional (3D) structure and other properties, revealed by x-ray microtomography, provide information on regolith formation. Modal abundances of minerals, bulk density (3.4 grams per cubic centimeter), and the 3D textures indicate that the particles represent a mixture of equilibrated and less-equilibrated LL chondrite materials. Evidence for melting was not seen on any of the particles. Some particles have rounded edges. Overall, the particles' size and shape are different from those seen in particles from the lunar regolith. These features suggest that meteoroid impacts on the asteroid surface primarily form much of the regolith particle, and that seismic-induced grain motion in the smooth terrain abrades them over time.

The reflectance spectra of the most abundant meteorites, ordinary chondrites, are different from those of the abundant S-type (mnemonic for siliceous) asteroids. This discrepancy has been thought to be due to space weathering, which is an alteration of the surfaces of airless bodies exposed to the space environment. Here we report evidence of space weathering on particles returned from the S-type asteroid 25143 Itokawa by the Hayabusa spacecraft. Surface modification was found in 5 out of 10 particles, which varies depending on mineral species. Sulfur-bearing Fe-rich nanoparticles exist in a thin (5 to 15 nanometers) surface layer on olivine, low-Ca pyroxene, and plagioclase, which is suggestive of vapor deposition. Sulfur-free Fe-rich nanoparticles exist deeper inside (<60 nanometers) ferromagnesian silicates. Their texture suggests formation by metamictization and in situ reduction of Fe(2+).

The Hayabusa spacecraft successfully recovered dust particles from the surface of near-Earth asteroid 25143 Itokawa. Synchrotron-radiation x-ray diffraction and transmission and scanning electron microscope analyses indicate that the mineralogy and mineral chemistry of the Itokawa dust particles are identical to those of thermally metamorphosed LL chondrites, consistent with spectroscopic observations made from Earth and by the Hayabusa spacecraft. Our results directly demonstrate that ordinary chondrites, the most abundant meteorites found on Earth, come from S-type asteroids. Mineral chemistry indicates that the majority of regolith surface particles suffered long-term thermal annealing and subsequent impact shock, suggesting that Itokawa is an asteroid made of reassembled pieces of the interior portions of a once larger asteroid.

The ranging instrument aboard the Hayabusa spacecraft measured the surface topography of asteroid 25143 Itokawa and its mass. A typical rough area is similar in roughness to debris located on the interior wall of a large crater on asteroid 433 Eros, which suggests a surface structure on Itokawa similar to crater ejecta on Eros. The mass of Itokawa was estimated as (3.58 +/- 0.18) x 10(10) kilograms, implying a bulk density of (1.95 +/- 0.14) grams per cubic centimeter for a volume of (1.84 +/- 0.09) x 10(7) cubic meters and a bulk porosity of approximately 40%, which is similar to that of angular sands, when assuming an LL (low iron chondritic) meteorite composition. Combined with surface observations, these data indicate that Itokawa is the first subkilometer-sized small asteroid showing a rubble-pile body rather than a solid monolithic asteroid.

It has been thought that the lunar highland crust was formed by the crystallization and floatation of plagioclase from a global magma ocean, although the actual generation mechanisms are still debated. The composition of the lunar highland crust is therefore important for understanding the formation of such a magma ocean and the subsequent evolution of the Moon. The Multiband Imager on the Selenological and Engineering Explorer (SELENE) has a high spatial resolution of optimized spectral coverage, which should allow a clear view of the composition of the lunar crust. Here we report the global distribution of rocks of high plagioclase abundance (approaching 100 vol.%), using an unambiguous plagioclase absorption band recorded by the SELENE Multiband Imager. If the upper crust indeed consists of nearly 100 vol.% plagioclase, this is significantly higher than previous estimates of 82-92 vol.%(refs 2, 6, 7), providing a valuable constraint on models of lunar magma ocean evolution.

The locations of the pole and rotation axis of asteroid 25143 Itokawa were derived from Asteroid Multiband Imaging Camera data on the Hayabusa spacecraft. The retrograde pole orientation had a right ascension of 90.53 degrees and a declination of -66.30 degrees (52000 equinox) or equivalently 128.5 degrees and -89.66 degrees in ecliptic coordinates with a 3.9 degrees margin of error. The surface area is 0.393 square kilometers, the volume is 0.018378 cubic kilometers with a 5% margin of error, and the three axis lengths are 535 meters by 294 meters by 209 meters. The global Itokawa revealed a boomerang-shaped appearance composed of two distinct parts with partly faceted regions and a constricted ring structure.

We determined model ages of mare deposits on the lunar farside based on the crater frequency distributions in 10-m-resolution images obtained by the Terrain Camera on SELENE (KAGUYA). Most mare volcanism that formed mare deposits on the lunar farside ceased at ~3.0 Ga, suggesting that mare volcanism on the Moon significantly reduced globally during this period. However, several mare deposits at various locations on the lunar farside also show a much younger age, clustering at ~2.5 Ga. These young ages indicate that mare volcanism on the lunar farside lasted longer than previously considered and may have occurred episodically.

Puzzlingly, the parent bodies of ordinary chondrites (the most abundant type of meteorites) do not seem to be abundant among asteroids. One possible explanation is that surfaces of the parent bodies become optically altered, to become the S-type asteroids which are abundant in the main asteroid belt. The process is called 'space weathering'-it makes the visible and near-infrared reflectance spectrum of a body darker and redder. A recent survey of small, near-Earth asteroids suggests that the surfaces of small S asteroids may have developing stages of space weathering. Here we report that a dark region on a small (550-metre) asteroid-25143 Itokawa-is significantly more space-weathered than a nearby bright region. Spectra of both regions are consistent with those of LL5-6 chondrites after continuum removal. A simple calculation suggests that the dark area has a shorter mean optical path length and about 0.04 per cent by volume more nanophase metallic iron particles than the bright area. This clearly shows that space-weathered materials accumulate on small asteroids, which are likely to be the parent bodies of LL chondrites. We conclude that, because LL meteorites are the least abundant of ordinary (H, L, and LL) chondrites, there must be many asteroids with ordinary-chondrite compositions in near-Earth orbits.

We describe a well-differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with alcohol-related liver cirrhosis in a 69-year-old man. Ultrasonography (US) disclosed a 10 mm hypoechoic nodule in segment 4; Sonazoid contrast-enhanced US and gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed no defect in either the Kupffer phase or the hepatobiliary phase. Computed tomography during hepatic arteriography (CTHA), however, revealed a hypovascular nodule, but CT during arterial portography showed no perfusion defect. Histological analysis indicated a well-differentiated HCC. Thus, our detection of well-differentiated HCC disclosed by only CTHA attested to the efficiency of this modality, suggesting that it is more sensitive than Gd-EOB-GTPA-enhanced MRI.

Vibrational dynamics of the excited state in the light-harvesting complex (LH1) have been investigated by femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy (FSRS). The native and reconstituted LH1 complexes have same dynamics. The ν(1)(C=C stretching) vibrational mode of spirilloxanthin in LH1 shows ultrafast high-frequency shift in the S(1) excited state with a time constant of 0.3 ps. It is assigned to the vibrational relaxation of the S(1) state following the internal conversion from the photoexcited S(2) state.

OBJECTIVE: To study vascular anatomy on oral cancer-draining lymph nodes before metastasis in mice. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Cell lines: highly lymph metastatic oral squamous cell carcinoma SASL1m and non-metastatic human adenoid cystic carcinoma ACC2. Bone marrow transplants and xenografts: Nude mice were lethally irradiated and transplanted with bone marrow cells from EGFP(+) mice. SASL1m or ACC2 cells were implanted in the tongue. Non-xenografted mice were used as controls. In addition, we injected conditioned medium from SASL1m or ACC2 in transplanted mice. Immunohistochemistry: Primary tumors and neck lymph nodes were resected and stained with anti-mouse Podoplanin and CD31. Images were visualized in a confocal microscope. Image analysis: Areas covered by EGFP, CD31 and Podoplanin were measured and compared statistically. Expression microarrays: Transcriptomic microarray analysis compared SASL1 to ACC2 cells. Interactomes were generated to reveal altered pathways. RESULTS: SASL1m cells induced the assemblage of blood vessels in cancer-free, tumor-draining lymph nodes. These blood vessels incorporated bone marrow-derived EGFP(+)CD31(+) cells. Notably, SASL1m-conditioned medium induced a similar reaction. Non-metastatic cells failed to produce any change. Microarray and pathway analyses revealed the upregulation of Transforming Growth Factor-β, Lysyl Oxidase-like 2, Slit homolog 3 and Protease Serine 22. The upregulation of these genes was confirmed in xenografts. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that a blood supply for new tumors is established in lymph nodes before metastasis. It also suggests that premetastatic vasculogenesis and primary tumor angiogenesis may be mediated by different mechanisms.

Dopamine (DA) agonists are widely used as primary treatments for Parkinson's disease. However, they do not prevent progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons, the central pathology of the disease. In this study, we found that subcutaneous injection of a cytokine mixture containing granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor and interleukin-3 (IL-3) markedly suppressed dopaminergic neurodegeneration in 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats, an animal model of Parkinson's disease. The cytokine mixture suppressed the decrease of DA content in the striatum, and ameliorated motor function in the lesioned rats. In response to the cytokine injection, dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta increased expression of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-xL. Microglial activation in the pars compacta was evident in both the saline- and cytokine-injected rats. However, the cytokine mixture suppressed expression of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β and tumor necrosis factors α, and upregulated the neuroprotective factors insulin-like growth factor-1 and hepatocyte growth factor. Similar responses were observed in cultured microglia. Detailed morphometric analyses revealed that NG2 proteoglycan-expressing glial cells increased in the cytokine-injected rats, while astrocytic activation with increased expression of antioxidative factors was evident only in the saline-injected rats. Thus, the present findings show that the cytokine mixture was markedly effective in suppressing neurodegeneration. Its neuroprotective effects may be mediated by increased expression of Bcl-xL in dopaminergic neurons, and the activation of beneficial actions of microglia that promote neuronal survival. Furthermore, this cytokine mixture may have indirect actions on NG2 proteoglycan-expressing glia, whose role may be implicated in neuronal survival.

A 60-year-old woman with rheumatoid arthritis, who had been treated with infliximab, presented with uncontrollable wrist arthritis. Fungal arthritis caused by Candida parapsilosis was confirmed by examining her aspirated joint fluid. Her infliximab therapy was interrupted, and antifungal therapy with fluconazole was started. After the fungal infection had been ameliorated, surgical debridement and arthrodesis of the wrist joint were conducted, and her symptoms completely resolved. Although fungal arthritis is rare, it should be considered as a differential diagnosis of exacerbated monoarthritis in patients treated with biological agents.

We show for the first time, to our knowledge, high-resolution wide-field images of biological samples recorded using coherent aperture-synthesis Fourier holography. To achieve this, we combined off-axis plane-wave polarized illumination with an axial sample rotation and polarization-sensitive collection of backscattered light. We synthesized 180 Fourier holograms using an efficient postdetection phase-matching correlation scheme. The result was an annular spatial frequency-space synthetic aperture (NA=0.93) with an effective area 25 times larger than that due to a single hologram. A high-resolution high-contrast microscopic reconstruction of biological tissue was computed over a sample area of 9 mm(2) from holograms acquired at 34 mm working distance.

Polymorphisms of glutation-S-transferase (GSTM1, GSTT1 GSTP1) and methylentetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) genes have been studied in DNA from blood lymphocytes of 18 patients with Down's syndrome and 61 controls. Frequencies of normal alleles of GST genotypes were lower in patients as compared to the controls. A DNA analysis of 11 patients and 17 controls revealed the presence of mutations in region 246-250 of exon 7 of the p53 gene in 4 patients. Mutations were not found in the control group. Due to the small sample size, the results of this study should be interpreted with caution and need replication in larger studies.

We prepared rod-shaped gold nanorattlessolid gold nanorods surrounded by a thin gold shellusing a galvanic replacement process starting with silver-coated gold nanorods. These structures are very promising candidates for catalytic applications and optimized plasmon sensors. They combine the advantages of rods (low plasmon resonance frequency, large polarizability, small damping) with the high surface area of hollow structures. The plasmon sensitivity to changes in the dielectric environment is up to 50% higher for gold nanorattles compared to gold nanorods with the same resonance frequency and 6x higher than for plasmons in spherical gold nanoparticles. The catalytic activity measured for the reduction of p-nitrophenol is 4x larger than for bare gold nanorods.

This article looks at the evidence for the heritability of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or ME (CFS/ME). The role of genes and the environment and their potential interaction is discussed and the problems with studies in this area are explored. One of the main difficulties with studying CFS/ME is the fact that it is likely to be a heterogeneous condition. We need a clear definition of CFS/ME in children and sample sizes for genetic studies need to be much larger if we are to make an impact in this important area. In the meantime however, paediatricians shouldn't be surprised when they see a family where CFS/ME occurs in more than one person.

Two drive-tube core samples were obtained at Tranquillity Base. Fines include much glass, are unweathered, medium gray, loose, nonstructured, very weakly coherent, and demonstrate both accumulation and mixing in a waterless vacuum environment. In contrast to chemical weathering characteristic on the earth, lunar alteration processes are primarily mechanical. We infer that environmental processes of the lunar surface may be expressed as follows: R (regolith)= f(cl, p, r, t, b, a,...), in which climate (cl) is constant and the time (t)-de-pendent processes of bombardment (b) and accumulation (a) assume significance unparalleled on the earth because of their effects on parent material (p) and relief (r).

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is an ideal tool to image conducting and semiconducting surfaces with atomic resolution. The technique provides high-resolution images in vacuum or even high-pressure environments. Since STM can be operated at elevated pressures and temperatures, images can be collected in situ under catalytic conditions. In this work, we demonstrate that artifacts can be observed when imaging in situ since reactions can occur on the tip, and care should be taken when analyzing the data obtained. SCANNING 29: 5-10, 2007. Copyright (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

We study the ancestral genetic process for samples from two large, subdivided populations that are connected by migration to, from, and within a small set of subpopulations, or demes. We consider convergence to an ancestral limit process as the numbers of demes in the two large, subdivided populations tend to infinity. We show that the ancestral limit process for a sample includes a recent instantaneous adjustment to the sample size and structure followed by a more ancient process that is identical to the usual structured coalescent, but with different scaled parameters. This justifies the application of a modified structured coalescent to some hierarchically structured populations.

Two small moons of Pluto have been discovered in low eccentricity orbits exterior to Pluto's large satellite, Charon. All three satellite orbits are nearly coplanar, implying a common origin. It has been argued that Charon formed as a result of a giant impact with primordial Pluto. The orbital periods of the two new moons are nearly integer multiples of Charon's period, suggesting they were driven outward by resonant interactions with Charon during its tidal orbital expansion. This could have been accomplished if Charon's orbit was eccentric during most of this orbital evolution, with the small moons originating as debris from the collision that produced Charon.

The design of real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays for the detection of meat in processed products has focused on using small amplicons, often to the detriment of specificity. However, the relationship between amplification rates and the amplicon size for processed meat products has yet to be determined. To investigate this relationship, real-time PCR assays were designed to give a series of amplicons of increasing size. These assays were then used to assess amplification rates, in relation to amplicon size, in processed meat matrices. Although the most sensitive assays were those that used the smallest amplicons, amplification was still observed using amplicons of 351 base pairs for highly processed samples. It was found, therefore, that although in general, amplicons should be as small as possible, larger amplicons give efficient amplification and that small amplicons should not be chosen if they compromise assay specificity.

Pharmacotherapy in Ovarian Carcinoma Although recent years have seen considerable progress in the treatment of primary and recurrent ovarian carcinoma, the mortality rate continues to be very high. Possibilities for improvement include compliance with the current treatment recommendations both in the surgical and medical areas, as well as the participation in clinical studies or treatment in study centers.