Automatic three-dimensional segmentation of mouse embryonic stem cell nuclei by utilising multiple channels of confocal fluorescence images

Time-lapse confocal fluorescence microscopy images from mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) carrying reporter genes, histone H2B-mCherry and Mvh-Venus, have been used to monitor dynamic changes in cellular/differentiation characteristics of live ESCs. Accurate cell nucleus segmentation is required to analyse the ESC dynamics and differentiation at a single cell resolution. Several methods used concavities on nucleus contours to segment overlapping cell nuclei. Our proposed method evaluates not only the concavities but also the size and shape of every 2D nucleus region to determine if any of the strait, extrusion, convexity and large diameter criteria is satisfied to segment overlapping nuclei inside the region. We then use a 3D segmentation method to reconstruct simple, convex, and reasonably sized 3D nuclei along the image stacking direction using the radius and centre of every segmented region in respective microscopy images. To avoid false concavities on nucleus boundaries, fluorescence images of the H2B-mCherry reporter are used for localisation of cell nuclei and Venus fluorescence images are used for determining the cell colony ranges. We use a series of image preprocessing procedures to remove noise outside and inside cell colonies, and in respective nuclei, and to smooth nucleus boundaries based on the colony ranges.  We propose dynamic data structures to record every segmented nucleus region and solid in sets (volumes) of 3D confocal images. The experimental results show that the proposed image preprocessing method preserves the areas of mouse ESC nuclei on microscopy images and that the segmentation method effectively segment out every nucleus with a reasonable size and shape. All 3D nuclei in a set (volume) of confocal microscopy images can be accessed by the dynamic data structures for 3D reconstruction. The 3D nuclei in time-lapse confocal microscopy images can be tracked to calculate cell movement and proliferation in consecutive volumes for understanding the dynamics of the differentiation characteristics about ESCs. LAY DESCRIPTION: Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are considered as an ideal source for basic cell biology study and producing medically useful cells in vitro. This study uses time-lapse confocal fluorescence microscopy images from mouse ESCs carrying reporter gene to monitor dynamic changes in cellular/differentiation characteristics of live ESCs. To automate analyses of ESC differentiation behaviours, accurate cell nucleus segmentation to distinguish respective cells are required. A series of image preprocessing procedures are implemented to remove noise in live-cell fluorescence images but yield overlapping cell nuclei. A segmentation method that evaluates boundary concavities and the size and shape of every nucleus is then used to determine if any of the strait, extrusion, convexity, large and local minimum diameter criteria satisfied to segment overlapping nuclei. We propose a dynamic data structure to record every newly segmented nucleus. The experimental results show that the proposed image preprocessing method preserves the areas of mouse ESC nuclei and that the segmentation method effectively detects overlapping nuclei. All segmented nuclei in confocal images can be accessed using the dynamic data structures to be visualised and manipulated for quantitative analyses of the ESC differentiation behaviours. The manipulation can be tracking of segmented 3D cell nuclei in time-lapse images to calculate their dynamics of differentiation characteristics.

Search for Electron Antineutrino Appearance in a Long-Baseline Muon Antineutrino Beam

Electron antineutrino appearance is measured by the T2K experiment in an accelerator-produced antineutrino beam, using additional neutrino beam operation to constrain parameters of the Pontecorvo-Maki-Nakagawa-Sakata (PMNS) mixing matrix. T2K observes 15 candidate electron antineutrino events with a background expectation of 9.3 events. Including information from the kinematic distribution of observed events, the hypothesis of no electron antineutrino appearance is disfavored with a significance of 2.40σ and no discrepancy between data and PMNS predictions is found. A complementary analysis that introduces an additional free parameter which allows non-PMNS values of electron neutrino and antineutrino appearance also finds no discrepancy between data and PMNS predictions.

162 Detection of ovulation disorders and normal ovulation using wireless sensors of ventral tail surface temperature and neck acceleration data in Japanese Black cows

The present study aimed to clarify the possibility of detection of ovulation disorders and normal ovulation in Japanese Black cows using wearable wireless sensors based on continuous measurements of body surface temperature (ST) and neck acceleration data. For cows with normal ovulation (n=19, 8.5 years old, 476.2kg), controlled internal drug release (CIDR) and gonadotrophin-releasing hormone were administered on arbitrary days of the oestrous cycle (Day −10), and oestrus was induced by CIDR removal and prostaglandin F2α administration (Day −3). Ovulation (Day 0) was induced by gonadotrophin-releasing hormone administration on estimated oestrus day (Day −1) and was detected based on the disappearance of ≥8mm follicles using ultrasonography at 1- to 2-h intervals. For cows with spontaneous ovarian cysts (n=11, 8.6 years old, 471.2kg), oestrus and the next day were defined as Days −1 and 0, respectively. Plasma concentrations of progesterone (P4) and oestradiol-17β (E2) were measured on Days −9, −6, −2, −1, 0, 1, 5, and 8. The body ST sensor was attached to the ventral tail base (Day −16), and ST was measured every 10min for 24 days. For analysis of ST, after extracting hourly maximum ST values, the values were expressed as residual ST (RST; ST − mean ST for the same hour on the previous 3 days) for removal of circadian rhythm (Miura et al. 2017 Anim. Reprod. Sci. 180, 50-57; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anireprosci.2017.03). The acceleration sensor (Farmnote Color, Farmnote Inc.) was attached to the neck (Day −16). Hourly oestrus level (amount of oestrus activity) was obtained from the amount of activity; the difference between the residual oestrus level (REL; same calculation as RST) and measured values of each day was used. To identify RST and REL of cows with normal ovulation and cows with ovarian cysts, the mean values and standard deviations for the same hours for 3-7 days before oestrus were calculated. Mean RST and REL for 3-7 days before oestrus were assumed according to the normal distribution. The 95% confidence range was determined using×1 standard deviation of all hours. Values over the 95% confidence range for ≥5h were considered to be different from the mean 4 days and the 5% level. For RST, no difference was found in both groups due to the large influence of environment, particularly low temperature. However, for REL, a difference was indicated for oestrus in all cows (P<0.05). A large peak of REL appeared once on oestrus (>14.4 REL for 20h) in normal cows, and three peaks occurred in <21 days (>16.2 REL for 21, 15, and 15h) in cows with ovulation disorders (P<0.05). The REL rapidly increased following peaking E2 and decreasing P4 to oestrus (Day −1) in normal cows. In cows with an ovulation disorder, REL increased on oestrus; however, E2 and P4 remained high and low stable to oestrus, respectively. In conclusion, oestrus activity and the characteristics of normal cows and those with an ovulation disorder can be detected by the neck acceleration sensor using the correction value. This research was supported by The Research Project for the Future Agriculture Production Utilising Artificial Intelligence.

Direct observation of imploded core heating via fast electrons with super-penetration scheme

Fast ignition (FI) is a promising approach for high-energy-gain inertial confinement fusion in the laboratory. To achieve ignition, the energy of a short-pulse laser is required to be delivered efficiently to the pre-compressed fuel core via a high-energy electron beam. Therefore, understanding the transport and energy deposition of this electron beam inside the pre-compressed core is the key for FI. Here we report on the direct observation of the electron beam transport and deposition in a compressed core through the stimulated Cu Kα emission in the super-penetration scheme. Simulations reproducing the experimental measurements indicate that, at the time of peak compression, about 1% of the short-pulse energy is coupled to a relatively low-density core with a radius of 70 μm. Analysis with the support of 2D particle-in-cell simulations uncovers the key factors improving this coupling efficiency. Our findings are of critical importance for optimizing FI experiments in a super-penetration scheme.

P850Clinical difference of recent myocardial infarction compared with acute myocardial infarction - Insights from Tokyo CCU network multicenter registry

Background

Although the patient's characteristics and outcome of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have been sufficiently investigated and primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has been recognized as established treatment strategy, those of recent myocardial infarction (RMI) have not been fully evaluated.

Purpose

The purpose of the present study was to clarify clinical characteristics and in-hospital outcomes of RMI patients from the database of the Tokyo CCU network multicenter registry.

Methods

In Tokyo CCU network multicenter registry database from 2013 to 2016, 15788 consecutive patients were registered as AMI (within 24 hours from onset) and RMI (within 2–30 days from onset). However 1246 patients were excluded because of inadequate data. And we excluded 66 cases because of out of onset period and 129 cases that strongly suspected of involvement of vasospastic events. Therefore, remaining 14347 patients were categorized to RMI group (n=1853) and AMI group (n=12494), and analyzed.

Results

Compared with AMI group, average age was older (70.4±12.9 vs 68.0±13.4 years, p<0.001), male was less (72.4 vs 76.4%, p<0.001), chest pain as chief complaint was less (75.2 vs 83.6%, p<0.001), prevalence of diabetes mellitus was higher (35.9 vs 31.0%, p<0.001), multi-vessel coronary disease was more (54.7 vs 44.6%, p<0.001), patients undergoing PCI was less (79.0 vs 91.2%, p<0.001), and the incidence of mechanical complication was more in RMI group (3.0 vs 1.5%, p<0.001). Although 30-day mortality was equivalent between 2 groups (5.3 vs 5.8%, p=0.360), the major cause of death in AMI group was cardiogenic shock, while in the RMI group it was a mechanical complication. On Kaplan-Meier analysis, the 2 groups had significantly different cumulative incidence of death due to cardiogenic shock (p=0.006, Log-rank test) and mechanical complication (p=0.021, Log-rank test). Furthermore death due to mechanical complication in AMI group was plateau after about 1 week from hospitalization, whereas in RMI group it continued to increase.

Kaplan-Meier analysis

Conclusions

RMI patients had distinctive clinical features in backgrounds and treatment strategies compared with AMI patients, and the major cause of death of RMI patients was different from that of AMI patients. Furthermore, even though treatment during hospitalization of RMI patients was well done, death due to mechanical complications continued to increase.

P5594Comparison of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants versus vitamin K antagonist on changes in pulmonary vascular resistance in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension

Background/Introduction

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) requires a lifelong anticoagulation therapy. However, the efficacy or safety of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) have not been established in CTEPH.

Purpose

We aimed to evaluate the effects of NOACs on the changes in pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) and their adverse events such as bleeding and clinical worsening in CTEPH.

Methods

We retrospectively compared the changes in PVR among CTEPH patients taking vitamin-K antagonists (VKA) (n=38) and those taking NOACs (n=46) to evaluate the effectiveness of NOACs for the prophylaxis of thrombotic disease progression in CTEPH. Also, we extracted incidence of clinically relevant bleeding and clinical worsening in CTEPH as an exploratory outcome measures. Clinical worsening in CTEPH was defined as composite outcome of death from any cause, lung transplantation and worsening pulmonary hypertension that resulted in hospitalization, addition of specific drug for pulmonary hypertension, or rescue pulmonary endarterectomy or balloon pulmonary angioplasty. Clinically relevant bleeding was defined as composite major bleeding and/or clinically relevant non-major bleeding, which is defined as bleeding associated with the need for medical intervention, contact with a physician, interruption of anticoagulation therapy, discomfort or impairment of activities of daily life.

Results

The changes in PVR (VKA group; −0.17±0.82 woods unit/year, NOACs group; −0.44±0.89 woods unit/year, p=0.32) were comparable between VKA and NOACs groups. The incidence of clinical worsening in CTEPH (VKA group; 1.8% per patient-year, NOACs group; 0% per patient-year) and clinically relevant bleeding (VKA group; 2.8% per patient-year, NOACs group; 2.8% per patient-year) was comparable between the VKA and NOACs groups. D-dimer levels (VKA group; 0.58±0.22 μg/ml, NOACs group; 0.67±0.47 μg/ml, p=0.41) were also comparable between the groups.

Conclusions

Our study revealed that NOACs had a similar effectiveness in the prevention of thrombotic disease progression in CTEPH as compared with VKA. The result suggest that NOACs might have similar efficacy and safety as VKA in daily clinical practice.

Acknowledgement/Funding

Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development

P4691Chronic blockade of toll-like receptor 9 ameliorated pulmonary arterial hypertension by reducing perivascular inflammation in rats

Background/Introduction

Perivascular inflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Recent studies have demonstrated that damaged mitochondrial DNA induces sterile inflammation by activating toll-like receptor (TLR)9 in spontaneous hypertensive rats. However, it remains unclear whether TLR9 is involved in perivascular inflammation and subsequent development of PAH.

Purpose

The purpose of the present study is to investigate whether chronic inhibition of TLR9 can ameliorate monocrotaline (MCT)-induced PAH in rats.

Methods

Male Sprague-Dawley rats were injected with MCT (60 mg/kg). First, we conducted immunohistochemistory to examine which cell types express TLR9 in lungs of normal rats and MCT-exposed rats. Second, we extracted cell-free DNA from plasma of rats and amplified genes of COX2 by real-time PCR to detect circulating cell-free mitochondrial DNA, a ligand of TLR9. Third, the administration of a selective TLR9 inhibitor (E6446, 10mg/kg/day, drinking water) or non-selective TLR9 inhibitor (chloroquine: 50mg/kg/day, ip) started three days before MCT injection and sacrificed on day 21. We assessed hemodynamic data and histopathological analysis (EVG stain for medial wall thickness (MWT) in pulmonary arteries (outer diameter: 50 ∼ 100 μm) and CD68 for macrophage accumulation around pulmonary arteries (outer diameter: <50 μm)), and measured the levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in lungs by real time PCR. Finally, we investigated survival rate in the reversal protocol, where we started the administration of E6446 on day 14.

Results

TLR9 was expressed dominantly in pulmonary endothelial cells and macrophages in the lungs of both normal rats and MCT-exposed rats. Compared with normal rats, MCT-exposed rats showed increased gene expression of COX2 (0.048±0.001 vs. 0.052±0.001 expressed by 1/Ct) in plasma on day 14. MCT-exposed rats also had increased right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP: 21±1 vs. 60±2 mmHg), total pulmonary vascular resistance index (TPRI: 0.07±0.01 vs. 0.43±0.02 mmHg/min/mL/kg), MWT (0.07±0.01 vs. 0.26±0,02) and accumulation of macrophages (1.6±0.3 vs. 20.0±1.7 cells/HPF) on day 21. In the prevention protocol, either E6446 or chloroquine significantly prevented the elevations of RVSP (49±4 or 48±3 mmHg) and TPRI (0.29±0.04 or 0.27±0.03 mmHg/min/mL/kg) with reducing MWT (0.18±0.01 or 0.18±0.01) and macrophage accumulation (9.7±1.3 or 9.8±2.5 cell/HPF) on day 21. In addition, these drugs significantly reduced the levels of IL-6 mRNA compared with MCT group (4.4±1.0 or 4.8±1.4 vs. 11.9±1.0). In the reversal protocol, the treatment of E6446 had significantly increased the survival rate (50 vs. 10%).

Conclusions

TLR9 largely contributes to the development of PAH by reducing perivascular inflammation. Inhibition of TLR9 could be a novel therapeutic target for PAH.

P4677Balloon pulmonary angioplasty improves pulmonary arterial compliance in patients with inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension

Background

Right ventricular (RV) pressure overload is directly related to the increase in mortality in pulmonary hypertension. Pulmonary arterial compliance (CPA; stroke volume/pulmonary pulse pressure) was reported to be an independent determinant of RV systolic afterload in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Recently, balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) has been reported to reduce mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) and pulmonary vascular resistance (RPA) in patients with inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). However, the effects of BPA on CPA remain unclear.

Purpose

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of BPA on CPA in patients with inoperable CTEPH.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed 78 patients (388 BPA sessions) with inoperable CTEPH who underwent BPA in our hospital from September 2012 to June 2018. Total number of BPA sessions was 5.0±1.8 (range 1–10). The pressure values were obtained from right heart catheterization at baseline (n=78), just after the final BPA (n=78) and follow-up (n=19) periods. The intervals from baseline to the final BPA and the final BPA to follow-up were 593±498 days and 397±276 days, respectively.

Results

Mean age was 60.5±12.6 years old, and 64 (82%) were female. All patients were symptomatic (WHO functional class II/III/IV 16/55/7). Patients who had pulmonary vasodilators decreased from 70 (90%) at baseline to 23 (28%) at the final BPA and 2 (15%) at follow-up. BPA reduced mPAP and RPA significantly from baseline to the final BPA and follow-up periods. BPA also improved CPA with significant reduction of pulse pressure despite no significant changes in stroke volume between baseline and follow-up (Table). CPA between the final BPA and follow-up was equivalent (p=0.95).

Conclusions

BPA improved CPA just after the final BPA in inoperable CTEPH patients. In addition, CPA was preserved during the follow-up after the final BPA sessions. These data suggest that BPA consistently unloads RV systolic afterload in those patients.

P6453Activation of necroptotic pathway by downregulated caspase-8 expression is associated with progression of left ventricular remodeling in nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy

Background

Necroptosis, a form of programmed necrosis, has been suggested to be involved in the pathogenesis of various pathological conditions including heart failure. Protein expression of caspase-8, an endogenous inhibitor of necroptosis, is reported to be downregulated in human failing hearts, but its clinical significance remains unclear.

Methods

Endomyocardial biopsy specimens were obtained from patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (n=57, 56.2±14.5 years old, 70% male). The area stained with antibodies against caspase-8 and phospho-MLKL-Ser358 was calculated using an image analyzer, and fibrotic and cardiomyocyte areas were determined by Masson's Trichrome staining. Using a level of median caspase-8 expression (6.04% of the area of the myocardium with caspase-8 signal), patients were classified into a high caspase-8 expression group (H-cas8) and a low caspase-8 expression group (L-cas8).

Results

Caspase-8 signals were detected in cytoplasm and intercalated disks of cardiomyocytes. Patients in the L-cas8 group was younger (51.3±13.1 vs. 61.2±14.3 years old) and had larger left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV: 174±49 vs. 131±41 ml), larger left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV: 123±51 vs. 87±39 ml), and higher ratio of mitral peak velocity of early filling to late diastolic filling (E/A: 1.94±1.48 vs. 1.12±0.66) compared with the H-cas8 group. Caspase-8 expression level was positively correlated with age (r=0.34, p=0.01) and negatively correlated with LVEDV (r=−0.47, p<0.01), LVESV (r=−0.40, p<0.01), and E/A (r=−0.39, p<0.01) in simple linear regression analysis. The extent of myocardial fibrosis was not correlated with caspase-8 expression level. Multiple regression analysis indicated that LVEDV, LVESV, and E/A were independent explanatory factors of caspase-8 expression level after adjusting age and sex. Phospho-MLKL signals, an index of activation of necroptotic pathway, were frequently observed in cytoplasm, intercalated disks, and nuclei in the L-cas8 group but not in the H-cas8 group.

Conclusion

Lower caspase-8 expression in cardiomyocytes was associated with increased phosphorylation of MLKL and larger left ventricular volume, suggesting that downregulated caspase-8 may contribute to progression of myocardial remodeling via activation of MLKL in human dilated cardiomyopathy.

P6273Inhibitory phosphorylation of RIP1 at Ser320 induces nuclear translocation of TFEB, leading to suppression of necroptosis in cardiomyocytes

Background

Necroptosis, a form of programmed necrosis, has been shown to contribute to the pathogenesis of various diseases including ischemia/reperfusion injury and heart failure. We recently reported that necroptotic signals suppresses autophagy in cardiomyocytes and that rapamycin, an mTORC1 inhibitor, not only promotes autophagy but also protect the cells from necroptosis.

Purpose

We examined the mechanism by which rapamycin suppresses necroptosis of cardiomyocytes, focusing on regulation of RIP1 activity and autophagic flux.

Methods and results

In H9c2 cardiomyoblasts, necroptosis was induced by treatment with TNF and z-VAD-fmk (zVAD) for 24 h, and cell death was determined by LDH release (as % of total). The treatment with TNF/zVAD increased LDH release from 3.4±1.3% to 46.1±2.3%, and LDH release was suppressed by necrostatin-1 (5.9±0.9%), a RIP1 inhibitor, and by rapamycin (23.5±1.4%). The protective effect of rapamycin was mimicked by Ku-0063794, an mTORC1/2 inhibitor. TNF/zVAD induced RIP1-RIP3 complex formation, together with suppression of TNF-induced RIP1 cleavage, which was mitigated by rapamycin. In addition, rapamycin not only suppressed TNF/zVAD-induced phosphorylation of RIP1-Ser166, an index of RIP1 activation, but also increased phosphorylation of RIP1-Ser320, an inhibitory phosphorylation site. In cells transfected with RIP1-S320A, which lack Ser320 for inhibitory phosphorylation, rapamycin failed to suppress TNF/zVAD-induced RIP1-RIP3 binding and cell death. Immunoblot analyses showed that TNF/zVAD significantly increased level of LC3-II. The accumulation of LC3-II protein was not further increased by bafilomycin A1 (100 nM), an inhibitor of lysosomal protein degradation, indicating that accumulation of LC3-II by TNF/zVAD reflected suppression of autophagic flux. Inhibition of RIP1 by necrostatin-1 attenuated TNF/zVAD-induced accumulation of LC3 II. The restoration of autophagic flux in TNF/zVAD-treated cells by necrostatin-1 was confirmed by monitoring tandem RFP-GFP-LC3 transfected cells; necrostatin-1 increased a ratio of RFP-LC3-puncta (autolysosomes) to RFP-GFP-LC3-puncta (autophagosomes) in TNF/zVAD-treated cells. In addition, necrostatin-1 and rapamycin induced nuclear translocation of TFEB, a regulator of lysosome biogenesis, which was associated with upregulation of MCOLN1 mRNA, a downstream target of TFEB. Restoration of autophagic flux in TNF/zVAD-treated cells by necrostatin-1 was inhibited by siRNA-mediated knockdown of TFEB.

Conclusion

Activation of TFEB by inhibitiory phosphorylation of RIP1-Ser320 is a primary mechanism of cytoprotection afforded by mTORC1 inhibition against necroptosis.

93 The efficiency of estrus detection by accelerometry in Holstein and Japanese Black crossbred cows

Accurate oestrus detection is important in order to perform AI and embryo transfer procedures at appropriate times. Pedometers and accelerometers have been utilised in the livestock industry to detect oestrus. However, the efficacy of these devices in beef cattle production systems remains unclear. In this preliminary study, we evaluated the efficacy of a commercially available accelerometer device for oestrus detection in nonlactating Holstein×Japanese Black crossbred cows (n=14). Accelerometer devices (Farmnote Color, Farmnote Inc., Hokkaido, Japan) were placed on the neck of each animal and remained in place for 3 months. Cows were kept in a pen during the day (8-9 cows/pen) and a pasture during the night. Cows were visually monitored for oestrus activity twice daily in the morning and evening for 30min. The activity of cows detected by the sensor was recorded every hour. Oestrus occurrence and duration were automatically detected and calculated by the device. Alerts generated by the device were categorized as either true positives (TP), false positives (FP) or false negatives (FN). True positives were defined as the observation of oestrus in conjunction with a device-generated oestrus alert or confirmation of the presence of a corpus luteum (CL) by ovarian ultrasonography 5 days following an oestrus alert. False positives were defined as events in which an oestrus alert was generated by the device, but no corresponding visual observation of oestrus occurred or a CL was not present 5 days following the alert. False negatives were cases where oestrus was observed visually but there was no corresponding device-generated oestrus alert. Reasons for FP were categorized into 1 of 3 categories defined as (1) other cows in oestrus in the same pen, (2) cows that were moved from other herds, (3) ovarian disorder such as follicular cyst, and (4) unknown. Statistical analyses were conducted using Student’s t-test. Results were considered significant at P&lt;0.05. A total of 58 alerts were generated by the accelerometer devices. The percentage of TP and FP were 46.6 and 53.4%, respectively. Of the FP, 46.7% (14/31) were generated due to other cows in the same pen being in oestrus. During the study, there were 33 visually observed estruses for which there was also a corresponding device alert. Of these, 81.8% were TP and 18.2% were FN. Oestrus duration was significantly longer for TP than for FP (15.5±5.2v. 11.5±3.8 h; P&lt;0.01). In addition, the change in activity at 2-9h after device-generated alerts was greater for TP than for FP (P&lt;0.05). Oestrus duration (15.5h) for TP in the present study was similar to that observed previously by pedometer (16.8h) or temperature measurement (16.3h) in beef cattle (Sakatani et al. 2016 J. Reprod. Dev. 62, 201-207, DOI: 10.1262/jrd.2015-095). These results indicate that accelerometry could be effective for detecting oestrus in beef cattle. However, FP rate was quite high. The FP rate could be decreased by improving the alert detection threshold because the duration and change in activity were lower in FP cows. Further research with a greater number of animals is necessary to confirm these preliminary observations. This study was supported by the Project of the NARO Bio-oriented Technology Research Advancement Institution (AI-Project, The Special Scheme to Create Dynamism in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries through Deploying Highly Advanced Technology).

Search for CP Violation in Neutrino and Antineutrino Oscillations by the T2K Experiment with 2.2×10^{21} Protons on Target

The T2K experiment measures muon neutrino disappearance and electron neutrino appearance in accelerator-produced neutrino and antineutrino beams. With an exposure of 14.7(7.6)×10^{20} protons on target in the neutrino (antineutrino) mode, 89 ν_{e} candidates and seven anti-ν_{e} candidates are observed, while 67.5 and 9.0 are expected for δ_{CP}=0 and normal mass ordering. The obtained 2σ confidence interval for the CP-violating phase, δ_{CP}, does not include the CP-conserving cases (δ_{CP}=0, π). The best-fit values of other parameters are sin^{2}θ_{23}=0.526_{-0.036}^{+0.032} and Δm_{32}^{2}=2.463_{-0.070}^{+0.071}×10^{-3}  eV^{2}/c^{4}.

Long-term patient survival after the surgical treatment of bone and soft-tissue metastases from renal cell carcinoma

Aims

The aims of this study were to evaluate the long-term outcome of surgery for bone or soft-tissue metastases from renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and to determine factors that affect prognosis.

Patients and Methods

Between 1993 and 2014, 58 patients underwent surgery for bone or soft-tissue metastases from RCC at our hospital. There were 46 men and 12 women with a mean age of 60 years (25 to 84). The mean follow-up period was 52 months (1 to 257). The surgical sites included the spine (33 patients), appendicular skeleton (ten patients), pelvis (eight patients), thorax (four patients), and soft tissue (three patients). The surgical procedures were en bloc metastasectomy in 46 patients (including 33 patients of total en bloc spondylectomy (TES)) and intralesional curettage in 12 patients. These patients were retrospectively evaluated for factors associated with prognosis.

Results

The one-, three-, five-, ten-, and 15-year overall survival (OS) rates were 89%, 75%, 62%, 48%, and 25%, respectively. The median survival time (MST) was 127 months for en bloc metastasectomy and 54 months for intralesional curettage and bone grafting. The median survival time was 127 months for the spine, 140 months for lesions of the appendicular skeleton, and 54 months for the pelvis. Multivariate analysis showed that non-clear cell type RCC and metastases to more than two sites were independent risk factors for a poor prognosis.

Conclusion

Patients with bone or soft-tissue metastases from a RCC have a reasonable prognosis, making surgical resection a viable option even in patients in whom the metastases are advanced. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2018;100-B:1241-8.