Hokkaido University

About: Hokkaido University is a education organization based out in Sapporo, Hokkaidô, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Catalysis. The organization has 53925 authors who have published 115403 publications receiving 2651647 citations. The organization is also known as: Hokudai & Hokkaidō daigaku.

Focal uptake on 18F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography images indicates cardiac involvement of sarcoidosis

Abstract: Aims To evaluate the value of 18 F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography ( 18 F-FDG PET) in detecting cardiac sarcoidosis. Methods and results Thirty-two patients with sarcoidosis and thirty controls were recruited. All subjects underwent cardiac 18 F-FDG PET after a 6 h fasting period, and subjects with sarcoidosis underwent blood testing, ECG, echocardiography, and 67 Ga and 99m Tc-sestamibi (MIBI) scintigraphy. We classified 18 F-FDG PET images into four patterns ('none', 'diffuse', 'focal', and 'focal on diffuse') and found that all the control subjects exhibited either none (n = 16) or diffuse (n = 14) pattern. In contrast, fifteen subjects with sarcoidosis exhibited none, seven exhibited diffuse, eight exhibited focal, and two exhibited focal on diffuse patterns, with the prevalence of the focal and focal on diffuse patterns being significantly higher in the sarcoidosis group when compared with the control group (P < 0.001). None of the 32 subjects with sarcoidosis exhibited abnormal findings on 67 Ga scintigraphy, and 4 exhibited abnormal findings on 99m Tc-MIBI scintigraphy. Conclusion Focal uptake of the heart on 18 F-FDG PET images is a characteristic feature of patients with sarcoidosis. Furthermore, 18 F-FDG PET has the potential to detect cardiac sarcoidosis that cannot be diagnosed by 67 Ga or 99m Tc-MIBI scintigraphy.

1.01-Pb/s (12 SDM/222 WDM/456 Gb/s) Crosstalk-managed Transmission with 91.4-b/s/Hz Aggregate Spectral Efficiency

Abstract: (40-Word Limit): We demonstrate 1.01-Pb/s transmission over 52 km with the highest aggregate spectral efficiency of 91.4 b/s/Hz by using low-crosstalk one-ring-structured 12-core fiber. Our multi-core fiber and compact fan-in/fan-out devices are designed to support high-order modulation formats up to 32-QAM in SDM transmission.

Self-antigen tetramers discriminate between myelin autoantibodies to native or denatured protein

Abstract: The role of autoantibodies in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS) and other demyelinating diseases is controversial, in part because widely used western blotting and ELISA methods either do not permit the detection of conformation-sensitive antibodies or do not distinguish them from conformation-independent antibodies. We developed a sensitive assay based on self-assembling radiolabeled tetramers that allows discrimination of antibodies against folded or denatured myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) by selective unfolding of the antigen domain. The tetramer radioimmunoassay (RIA) was more sensitive for MOG autoantibody detection than other methodologies, including monomer-based RIA, ELISA or fluorescent-activated cell sorting (FACS). Autoantibodies from individuals with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) selectively bound the folded MOG tetramer, whereas sera from mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis induced with MOG peptide immunoprecipitated only the unfolded tetramer. MOG-specific autoantibodies were identified in a subset of ADEM but only rarely in adult-onset MS cases, indicating that MOG is a more prominent target antigen in ADEM than MS.