Description: Rationale: Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) remains a lethal congenital cardiac defect. Recent studies have suggested that intracoronary administration of autologous cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs) may improve ventricular function. Objective: The aim of this study was to test whether intracoronary delivery of CDCs is feasible and safe in patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Methods and Results: Between January 5, 2011, and January 16, 2012, 14 patients (1.8±1.5 years) were prospectively assigned to receive intracoronary infusion of autologous CDCs 33.4±8.1 days after staged procedures (n=7), followed by 7 controls with standard palliation alone. The primary end point was to assess the safety, and the secondary end point included the preliminary efficacy to verify the right ventricular ejection fraction improvements between baseline and 3 months. Manufacturing and intracoronary delivery of CDCs were feasible, and no serious adverse events were reported within the 18-month follow-up. Patients treated with CDCs showed right ventricular ejection fraction improvement from baseline to 3-month follow-up (46.9%±4.6% to 52.1%±2.4%; P =0.008). Compared with controls at 18 months, cardiac MRI analysis of CDC-treated patients showed a higher right ventricular ejection fraction (31.5%±6.8% versus 40.4%±7.6%; P =0.049), improved somatic growth ( P =0.0005), reduced heart failure status ( P =0.003), and lower incidence of coil occlusion for collaterals ( P =0.007). Conclusions: Intracoronary infusion of autologous CDCs seems to be feasible and safe in children with hypoplastic left heart syndrome after staged surgery. Large phase 2 trials are warranted to examine the potential effects of cardiac function improvements and the long-term benefits of clinical outcomes. Clinical Trial Registration: URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unique identifier: NCT01273857.

Description: The Western Iratsu body of the Sanbagawa belt (SW Japan) is a mafic–ultramafic complex that underwent an initial metamorphism in the amphibolite facies and a subsequent metamorphism in the eclogite facies, and represents a fossil forearc slab–mantle wedge interface in a developing subduction zone. Two generations of orthopyroxene (Opx1 and Opx2) that were formed during the amphibolite-facies (antigorite unstable) and eclogite-facies (antigorite stable) stages can be recognized in the ultramafic domain. Opx1-rich rocks contain Ni-rich relict olivine (up to 0·7 wt % NiO) and grade into dunite, suggesting that they represent metasomatic rocks derived from dunite. Opx1 can be subdivided into two types: one (Opx1L) constitutes replacive harzburgite to orthopyroxenite layers and the other (Opx1V) occurs in metasomatic reaction veins in dunite. Relatively high formation temperatures (≥750°C) of Opx1L imply that the relevant metasomatism in the ultramafic domain took place before the juxtaposition with the mafic domain preserved in the Western Iratsu body. Textural relationships and mineral trace element data suggest that Opx1L-rich rocks were formed by reactive porous infiltration of a slab-derived hydrous melt or solute-rich fluid into dunite. Subsequently, Opx1V-rich veins were formed by a prolonged flux of a Si-rich aqueous fluid (sourced from the mafic domain) through brittle fractures in dunite during the amphibolite-facies metamorphism (~660°C and 1·2 GPa). The initial formation of Opx1V-chlorite-rich selvages along the fluid conduits is likely to have limited the reaction between a Si-rich crustal fluid and host dunite, and this process can be important during the early transportation of slab-derived components into the mantle wedge. Lastly, Opx1L crystals locally show a textural replacement by Opx2 together with antigorite, indicating recrystallization in the eclogite facies (~620°C and 1·6–1·8 GPa). The Opx2-forming reaction is mainly localized in ductile shear zones, which correspond to major fluid pathways in the partially serpentinized forearc mantle.

Description: Primitive melt inclusions in chrome spinel from the Ogasawara Archipelago (Japan) compose two discrete groups of high-SiO 2 , high-MgO (high-Si) and low-SiO 2 , low-MgO (low-Si) boninitic suites, with ultra-depleted dish- and V-shaped, and less-depleted flat, rare earth element patterns. The most magnesian melt inclusions of each geochemical type were used to estimate the temperature-pressure conditions for primary boninites, which range from 1345 °C at 0.56 GPa to 1421 °C at 0.85 GPa for the 48–46 Ma low-Si and high-Si boninites, and 1381 °C at 0.85 GPa for the 45 Ma low-Si boninite. The onset of the Pacific slab subduction at 52 Ma forced upwelling of depleted mid-oceanic ridge basalt mantle (DMM) to yield proto-arc basalt (PAB). With the rise of DMM, refractory harzburgite ascended without melting. At 48–46 Ma, introduction of slab fluids induced melting of the PAB residue and high-temperature harzburgite, resulting in the low-Si and high-Si boninites, respectively. Meanwhile, convection within the mantle wedge brought the less-depleted residue of PAB and DMM into the region fluxed by slab fluids, which melted to yield the less-depleted low-Si boninite at 45 Ma, and fertile arc basalts, respectively.

Description: A bstract Chromitites in ophiolites are frequently used as a marker of sub-arc mantle magmatism. This has, however, rarely been verified by modern sub-arc mantle materials. Chromitite xenoliths from Takashima, southwest Japan, derived from the current sub-arc mantle, are here described with comparison to ophiolitic chromitites. The chromitite xenoliths from Takashima from the southwest Japan arc show various textures, including nodular, anti-nodular, and layered varieties. Laurite is commonly found as minute (〈5 μm diameter) solitary grains of euhedral shape in Cr-rich spinel. Very fine (around 1 μm) grains of Co-bearing pentlandite are associated with silicate inclusions (mainly pyroxenes) in Cr-rich spinel. The chondrite-normalized PGE pattern of Takashima chromitites shows a slightly negative slope from Ru to Pt. The Takashima chromitite is very similar in its PGE chemistry, spinel chemistry, and textural variations to some discordant chromitites from the Oman ophiolite, a typical podiform chromitite interpreted to have formed in an arc setting, indicating a possible sub-arc origin for the latter. The characteristics of the Takashima chromitite xenoliths indicate that the Oman discordant podiform chromitites were formed in a supra-subduction mantle setting before ophiolite obduction.

Description: Novel CMOS monolithic pixel detectors designed at KEK and fabricated at Lapis Semiconductor in 0.2 μm Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) technology are presented. A thin layer of silicon oxide separates high and low resistivity silicon layers, allowing for optimization of design of detector and readout parts. Shallow wells buried under the oxide in the detector part screen the entire pixel electronics from electrical field applied to the detector. Several integration type SOI pixel detectors have been developed with pixel sizes 8–20 μm. The general features of 14 × 14 μm 2 detectors designed on different wafers (CZ-n, FZ-n and FZ-p) were measured and compared. The detector performance was studied under irradiation with visible and infra-red laser, and also X-ray ionizing source. Using X-rays from an Am-241 source the noise of readout electronics was measured at different working conditions, showing the ENC in the range of 88–120 e − . The pi...