A remote radiation imaging system comprising a lightweight Compton camera and a multicopter drone was developed to remotely and quickly measure radioactive contamination inside the buildings of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS). The drone system is used for measuring detailed radiation distributions in narrow areas, which have been difficult to gauge with conventional aircraft monitoring using helicopters. A measurement of radiation distributions in outdoor environments in the coastal areas of Fukushima, Japan, was performed. The drone system with the Compton camera succeeded in remote observations of dense hotspots from the sky over a contaminated area near the FDNPS. The time required for image reconstruction is approximately 550 s in the case of a 9-m flight altitude for the hotspots with a surface dose rate of several tens of µSv/h. This drone system will be used inside the buildings of the FDNPS for remote measurement of radioactive contamination.

No abstract

The phase transition of a nematic liquid crystal containing a push-pull azobenzene dye could be induced efficiently during irradiation with visible light. The dynamical disorganizing effect of the push-pull azobenzene dye on the liquid crystalline order through its trans-cis-trans photoisomerizaion cycle under visible light was contributed to the efficient phase transition. Then, the effects of light irradiation on the motion of small objects dispersed in the liquid crystals containing the push-pull azobenzene were explored, and the manipulation and assembly of those objects were successfully achieved in the nematic phase but also in the smectic phase. The combination of the photo-controlled dynamical change in the liquid crystalline order and the intrinsic self-assembly property of a liquid crystal is promising for use in technologies that require not only the organization of small objects but also the photo-driving of nano- and micro-sized mechanical materials.

T A B L E 2 CRS in enrolled patients C R S 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 4 0 5 ABSTRACT Background: In patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) treated with the Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor ibrutinib, intolerance was the most common reason for discontinuation (50% to 63%; Mato AR, et al. Haematologica. 2018). This Phase 2 trial evaluated acalabrutinib, a highly selective, potent, covalent BTK inhibitor, in ibrutinib-intolerant patients with relapsed/refractory CLL. Methods: Patients with relapsed/refractory CLL (≥1 prior therapy) who discontinued ibrutinib due to Grade 3/4 adverse events or persistent/recurrent Grade 2 adverse events and had progressive disease after ibrutinib discontinuation were eligible. Acalabrutinib was given orally at 100 mg twice daily in 28-day cycles until progressive disease or unacceptable toxicity. The primary endpoint was overall response rate. Results: Sixty patients were treated. The median age was 70 years (range, 43 to 88). Patient characteristics included bulky disease ≥5 cm (33%), Rai stage III/IV (47%), del17p (28%), del11q (23%), and unmutated IGHV (79%). Fifty-two of 55 patients (95%) with available baseline samples were wild type forBTK and PLCG2. The median number of prior therapies was 2 (range, 1 to 10). The median duration of prior ibrutinib therapy was 6 months (range, <1 to 55); common adverse events that led to ibrutinib discontinuation were atrial fibrillation/flutter (25%), diarrhea (12%), arthralgia (10%), and rash (12%). At a median follow-up of 19 months (range, 1 to 31), 67% of patients remain on acalabrutinib; discontinuations were mostly due to progressive disease (13%) and adverse events (10%; pneumonia [n=2], diarrhea, headache, ascites, arthralgia, subdural hematoma [all n=1]). Efficacy outcomes are in the Table. Common adverse events (any grade) were diarrhea (48%), headache (40%), contusion (35%), and dizziness (32%). Serious adverse events (≥2 patients) were pneumonia (10%), anemia (3%), and syncope (3%). Atrial fibrillation occurred in 3 patients (5%; all Grade 1/2) and major hemorrhage in 2 (3%; Grade 3 hematuria and Grade 2 subdural hematoma). Grade 5 adverse events were pneumonia (n=2), bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (n=1), and ventricular fibrillation (n=1); all were considered not related to treatment. Conclusions: Acalabrutinib is tolerable and effective in ibrutinibintolerant patients, providing a viable strategy for continuing BTK inhibitor therapy. T A B L E 1 N=60 Overall response rate (≥ PRL), n (%) 46 (77) 95% CI 64, 87 CR 1 (2) PR 42 (70) PRL 3 (5) Median PFS Not reached 21-month PFS rate, % (95% CI) 76 (61, 86)Abbreviations: CR, complete response; PFS, progression-free survival; PR, partial response; PRL, partial response with lymphocytosis.ABSTRACT 61

We describe the development of a nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique used to detect human parvovirus B19 DNA. It was performed in a two-step reaction, first with a pair of outer primers, then with a pair of inner (ie, nested) primers. Primer sequences were selected in the VP1 gene, corresponding to the capsid protein, of human parvovirus B19. To establish the nested PCR assay, the plasmid pGEM-1 containing almost the entire coding sequence of a human parvovirus B19 isolate was used. The nested PCR could detect up to 1.8 x 10(-3) ag of B19 DNA, equivalent to 10(-4) genomes, by electrophoresis. No amplification product was detected by gel electrophoresis when the reaction mixture contained human placental DNA, cytomegalovirus DNA, and sterile distilled water as templates. We used this assay to evaluate four cases of maternal B19 infection that were diagnosed by determination of the presence of anti-B19 immunoglobulin-M in maternal serum. The advantages of our nested PCR for detecting B19 DNA are plating simplicity, safety, sensitivity, and specificity. Our results suggest that this method may have general applicability in the evaluation of nonimmune hydrops fetalis and in the documentation of the natural history of fetal infection with B19 when applied to specimens of amniotic fluid or fetal blood.