[1] Explosive volcanic eruption columns are generally subdivided into a gas-thrust region and a convection-dominated plume. Where vents have greater than atmospheric pressure, the gas-thrust region is overpressured and develops a jet-like structure of standing shock waves. Using a pseudogas approximation for a mixture of tephra and gas, we numerically simulate the effects of shock waves on the ...

Endoscopic transpapillary biopsy has been widely performed for the diagnosis of biliary disease. Direct-vision biliary biopsy using peroral cholangioscopy has been reported to be very useful [1–4]. At centers where peroral cholangioscopy is unavailable, biliary biopsy can be performed under fluoroscopic guidance. It is however sometimes difficult to obtain adequate biopsy specimens owing to iss...

Leaves of plants possessing the C4-dicarboxylic acid CO2fixation pathway (14) are characterized by outer mesophyll cells containing granal chloroplasts and inner bundle sheath cells which contain chloroplasts with varying degrees of grana development depending on the species. As judged by Hill activities and fluorescence yield, bundle sheath chloroplasts which contain few grana have less photos...

Trichohyalin is a structural protein that is produced and retained in the cells of the inner root sheath and medulla of the hair follicle. The gene for sheep trichohyalin has been purified and the complete amino acid sequence of trichohyalin determined in an attempt to increase the understanding of the structure and function of this protein in the filamentous network of the hardened inner root ...

The hair follicle represents a very attractive organ system for studying the precise balance between cell proliferation, growth, differentiation, and death of cells, because it periodically and regularly regenerates, retaining its morphogenetic signals throughout its life. One of the most intriguing oncogenes which is able to induce both cell growth and apoptosis, depending upon the environment...

Keratin 6 (K6) expression in the epidermis has two components: constitutive expression in the innermost layer of the outer root sheath (ORS) of hair follicles and inducible expression in the interfollicular epidermis in response to stressful stimuli such as wounding. Mice express two K6 isoforms, MK6a and MK6b. To gain insight into the functional significance of these isoforms, we generated MK6...

The hair follicle (HF) grows during the anagen phase from precursors in the matrix that give rise to each differentiated HF layer. Little is known about the lineal relationship between these layer-restricted precursors and HF stem cells. To understand how the HF stem cells regenerate the typical anagen organization, we conducted in vivo clonal analysis of key stages of the HF cycle in mice. Une...