Switchable mirrors based on magnesium-yttrium alloy thin films were prepared by a direct-current magnetron sputtering method. The changes in the film thickness of the mirrors due to hydrogenation and ...dehydrogenation have been investigated using atomic force microscopy and X-ray reflectometry. As a result of first hydrogenation of a switchable mirror, the thickness was expanded by ~15%, while as a result of dehydrogenation, the thickness was compressed by only ~2%. From the switching processes, the thickness changed by ~2% on the following optical switching. This small change may cause high switching durability of Mg-Y switchable mirrors.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Background: Telemedicine may help the detection of symptom worsening in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), potentially resulting in improved outcomes. This study aimed to ...determine the feasibility and acceptability of telemedicine among patients with COPD and physicians and facility staff in Japan. Methods: This was a 52-week multicenter, prospective, single-arm, feasibility and acceptability cohort study of Japanese patients greater than or equal to 40 years of age with COPD or asthma-COPD overlap. Participants underwent training to use YaDoc, a telemedicine smartphone App, which included seven daily symptom questions and weekly COPD Assessment Test (CAT) questions. The primary endpoint was participant compliance for required question completion. The secondary endpoint was participant and physician/facility staff acceptability of YaDoc based on questionnaires completed at Week 52. The impact of the Japanese COVID-19 pandemic state of emergency on results was also assessed. Results: Of the 84 participants enrolled (mean age: 68.7 years, 88% male), 72 participants completed the study. Completion was high in the first six months but fell after that. Median (interquartile range IQR) compliance for daily questionnaire entry was 66.6% (31.0-91.8) and 81.0% (45.3-94.3) for weekly CAT entry. Positive participant responses to the exit questionnaire were highest regarding YaDoc ease of use (83.8%), positive impact on managing health (58.8%), and overall satisfaction (53.8%). Of the 26 physicians and facility staff enrolled, 24 completed the study. Of these, the majority (66.7%) responded positively regarding app facilitation of communication between physicians and participants to manage disease. Compliance was similar before and after the first COVID-19 state of emergency in Japan. Conclusion: Daily telemedicine monitoring is potentially feasible and acceptable to both patients and physicians in the management of COPD. These results may inform potential use of telemedicine in clinical practice and design of future studies. Clinical Trial Registration: JapicCTI-194916. Keywords: Japan, patient-reported outcome measure, feasibility, acceptability, telemonitoring, smartphone
Pd-capped magnesium–yttrium alloy switchable mirrors were found to have high switching durability of over 10,000 cycles between reflective and transparent states. However, the durability decreased ...with the decreasing Pd thickness. Switchable mirrors with various Pd thicknesses were then prepared by a direct-current magnetron sputtering method, and the degradation in durability was studied by observing the distribution of each element of the switchable mirrors from the film surface to the substrate. X-ray photoemission spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy showed that Pd with a short sputtering time (corresponding to layer thickness of 3nm) resulted in surface oxidation of Mg and Y, and no Pd was present at the surface. The deposited Pd was alloyed with the Mg–Y layer and after taking the sample out from the vacuum chamber a Pd-rich layer appeared between the surface oxides and the Mg–Y layers. With increasing deposition time, a Pd layer was formed on the oxide layer and the Pd layer thickness increased. The mirror with switching durability of over 10,000 cycles had a sufficiently thick Pd top layer of ~7nm and a very thin oxide layer. This thick Pd layer is believed to be the reason for the high switching durability.
•Mg–Y switchable mirror with Pd corresponding to a 3nm thickness was covered with oxides of Mg and Y.•The Pd and Mg–Y layers interdiffused and alloyed, and Pd-rich layer appeared between the surface oxide and the Mg–Y layers.•With increasing deposition time of Pd, Pd was formed on the oxide layer and the Pd layer thickness increased.•The mirror with switching durability of over 10,000 cycles had a sufficiently thick Pd top layer.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Adaptive threshold-voltage controlling of thin-film multi-gate (MG) MOSFETs, using independent back-gate biasing, is applied for realizing latency and power optimization. The controlling-method ...validity for low-voltage operation is analyzed with the compact model HiSIM-MG, considering all internally induced charges specific for MG controlling. Current-drivability degradations, due to back-gate-charge contribution under positively-biased back-gate voltage and existence of an optimized operating condition, are confirmed. The optimized operating condition is shown to keep the back-gate charge under the weak inversion with a corresponding relatively small back-gate charge. It is also demonstrated, that an input-voltage optimization accompanies the back-gate-voltage optimization, sustaining the optimized low power loss with low input voltage. Circuit-performance improvement of 27% by about 30% reduction of substrate thickness, while keeping switching-power loss small, is also verified.
Abstract
Early stage oral cancer can be cured with oral brachytherapy, but whole-body radiation exposure status has not been previously studied. Recently, the International Commission on Radiological ...Protection Committee (ICRP) recommended the use of ICRP phantoms to estimate radiation exposure from external and internal radiation sources. In this study, we used a Monte Carlo simulation with ICRP phantoms to estimate whole-body exposure from oral brachytherapy. We used a Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System (PHITS) to model oral brachytherapy with 192Ir hairpins and 198Au grains and to perform a Monte Carlo simulation on the ICRP adult reference computational phantoms. To confirm the simulations, we also computed local dose distributions from these small sources, and compared them with the results from Oncentra manual Low Dose Rate Treatment Planning (mLDR) software which is used in day-to-day clinical practice. We successfully obtained data on absorbed dose for each organ in males and females. Sex-averaged equivalent doses were 0.547 and 0.710 Sv with 192Ir hairpins and 198Au grains, respectively. Simulation with PHITS was reliable when compared with an alternative computational technique using mLDR software. We concluded that the absorbed dose for each organ and whole-body exposure from oral brachytherapy can be estimated with Monte Carlo simulation using PHITS on ICRP reference phantoms. Effective doses for patients with oral cancer were obtained.
Achondroplasia is the most common genetic form of human dwarfism, characterized by midfacial hypoplasia resulting in occlusal abnormality and foramen magnum stenosis, leading to serious neurologic ...complications and hydrocephalus. Currently, surgery is the only way to manage jaw deformity, neurologic complications, and hydrocephalus in patients with achondroplasia. We previously showed that C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) is a potent stimulator of endochondral bone growth of long bones and vertebrae and is also a potent stimulator in the craniofacial region, which is crucial for midfacial skeletogenesis. In this study, we analyzed craniofacial morphology in a mouse model of achondroplasia, in which fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) is specifically activated in cartilage (Fgfr3ach mice), and investigated the mechanisms of jaw deformities caused by this mutation. Furthermore, we analyzed the effect of CNP on the maxillofacial area in these animals. Fgfr3ach mice exhibited midfacial hypoplasia, especially in the sagittal direction, caused by impaired endochondral ossification in craniofacial cartilage and by premature closure of the spheno-occipital synchondrosis, an important growth center in craniomaxillofacial skeletogenesis. We crossed Fgfr3ach mice with transgenic mice in which CNP is expressed in the liver under the control of the human serum amyloid-P component promoter, resulting in elevated levels of circulatory CNP (Fgfr3ach/SAP-Nppc-Tg mice). In the progeny, midfacial hypoplasia in the sagittal direction observed in Fgfr3ach mice was improved significantly by restoring the thickness of synchondrosis and promoting proliferation of chondrocytes in the craniofacial cartilage. In addition, the foramen magnum stenosis observed in Fgfr3ach mice was significantly ameliorated in Fgfr3ach/SAP-Nppc-Tg mice due to enhanced endochondral bone growth of the anterior intraoccipital synchondrosis. These results clearly demonstrate the therapeutic potential of CNP for treatment of midfacial hypoplasia and foramen magnum stenosis in achondroplasia.
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CMK, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
We report an optical modulation of the effective on-site Coulomb energy U on a dimer (U_{dimer}) for achieving the Mott insulator-to-metal transition in kappa-(BEDT-TTF)_{2}CuN(CN)_{2}Br, as ...investigated by pump-probe spectroscopy. A reduction of U_{dimer} is optically induced by molecule displacement in the dimer under intradimer excitation. The mechanism of this metallization differs greatly from the photodoping-type mechanism reported previously. In contrast, a faster transition via the photodoping mechanism is detected for interdimer excitation. A metallic-domain-wall oscillation originating from the modulation of U_{dimer} was also observed near the critical end point of the Mott transition line.
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CMK, CTK, FMFMET, IJS, NUK, PNG, UM
Daily physical activity is reduced in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and a reduced level of physical activity has been shown to be an important predictor for the ...prognosis, such as increased risk of exacerbation and mortality. However, there has not yet been a useful biomarker of the physical activity. In our previous cross-sectional study, we showed that the level of one of the possible myokines, which is an anti-aging factor, growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11), was decreased in the plasma from patients with COPD and correlated with the physical activity. To clarify this relationship, we conducted a longitudinal evaluation of such factors.
Twenty-four COPD patients were enrolled and prospectively followed. We measured the levels of plasma GDF11 and systemic inflammatory markers with immunoblotting or ELISA, respectively. We also evaluated lung function and daily physical activity using a triaxial accelerometer and the incidence of exacerbation.
The change in the plasma level of GDF11, but not systemic inflammatory markers, was positively correlated with the change in the physical activity in an intensity-dependent manner (between the change in the number of steps and GDF11; r = 0.41, p = 0.047). In the multiple regression analysis, the relationship was confirmed (β = 0.93, p < 0.001). In addition, patients who maintained their plasma level of GDF11 showed a significantly lower incidence in exacerbations of COPD than those with decreased levels of GDF11 (p = 0.041).
The longitudinal change in the plasma level of GDF11 was positively correlated with the change in the daily physical activity in COPD. GDF11 could be a useful humoral factor that reflects the physical activity in COPD.
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