•Theoretical aspects on rotational motion and nuclear-spin conversion of molecular hydrogen in physisorption are reviewed.•Experimental studies of hydrogen ortho–para conversion on well-defined ...surfaces are reviewed.•The conversion mechanism on different types of surfaces is discussed.•Relevance with astronomical observation is discussed.
Molecular hydrogen exists in nuclear-spin isomers of ortho and para species according to the total nuclear spin. These species are correlated to the rotational states with even and odd rotational quantum numbers because of the symmetry of the total wavefunction with respect to the permutation of the two nuclei. Although interconversion between the ortho and para states is extremely slow in an isolated state, the conversion is promoted in a physisorption state via interaction with surfaces of not only magnetic but also diamagnetic materials. In a physisorption state, the rotational motion of hydrogen molecules is modified due to the potential anisotropy. The physisorption properties and interconversion rate of the ortho and para hydrogen have recently been investigated on well-defined surfaces, which allow detailed comparison with theory. Furthermore, relative abundance of the ortho and para hydrogen in astronomical circumstances has been reported in recent years, which often shows a value out of equilibrium with the environment temperature. Physisorption and ortho–para conversion on the surfaces of interstellar media are expected to enable deeper understanding of astronomical phenomena. In this article, we review recent progress of experimental and theoretical studies on the physisorption and ortho–para conversion of molecular hydrogen and its relevance to the recent astronomical observation.
Summary
In this randomized, controlled trial, treatment with once-weekly subcutaneous injection of teriparatide for 72 weeks was found to be associated with a significant reduction in the incidence ...of morphometric vertebral fractures compared with alendronate in women with primary osteoporosis who were at high risk of fracture.
Introduction
To determine whether the anti-fracture efficacy of teriparatide is superior to that of alendronate, a prospective, randomized, open-label, blinded-endpoint trial was performed.
Methods
Japanese women aged at least 75 years were eligible for the study if they had primary osteoporosis and were at high risk of fracture. Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive sequential therapy (once-weekly subcutaneous injection of teriparatide 56.5 μg for 72 weeks followed by alendronate for 48 weeks) or monotherapy with alendronate for 120 weeks. The primary endpoint was the incidence of morphometric vertebral fractures at 72 weeks (at the end of teriparatide treatment).
Results
Between October 2014 and December 2017, 1011 patients (505 in the teriparatide group and 506 in the alendronate group) were enrolled. Of these, 778 patients (351 and 427, respectively) were included in the primary analysis. The incidence of morphometric vertebral fractures was significantly lower in the teriparatide group (56 per 419.9 person-years, annual incidence rate 0.1334) than in the alendronate group (96 per 553.6 person-years, annual incidence rate 0.1734), with a rate ratio of 0.78 (95% confidence interval 0.61 to 0.99,
P
= 0.04). In both groups, adverse events were most frequently reported in the following system organ classes: infections and infestations, gastrointestinal disorders, and musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders.
Conclusion
Once-weekly subcutaneous injection of teriparatide significantly reduced the incidence of morphometric vertebral fractures compared with alendronate in women with primary osteoporosis who were at high risk of fracture.
Trial registration
jRCTs031180235 and UMIN000015573, March 12, 2019
Abstract
Thermoelectric effects have been applied to power generators and temperature sensors that convert waste heat into electricity. The effects, however, have been limited to electrons to occur, ...and inevitably disappear at low temperatures due to electronic entropy quenching. Here, we report thermoelectric generation caused by nuclear spins in a solid: nuclear-spin Seebeck effect. The sample is a magnetically ordered material MnCO
3
having a large nuclear spin (
I
= 5/2) of
55
Mn nuclei and strong hyperfine coupling, with a Pt contact. In the system, we observe low-temperature thermoelectric signals down to 100 mK due to nuclear-spin excitation. Our theoretical calculation in which interfacial Korringa process is taken into consideration quantitatively reproduces the results. The nuclear thermoelectric effect demonstrated here offers a way for exploring thermoelectric science and technologies at ultralow temperatures.
Summary Although recent animal studies have shown that undercarboxylated osteocalcin acts as a hormone regulating glucose metabolism and fat mass, little is known about the relationships in humans. ...We reported here for the first time that undercarboxylated osteocalcin were associated with glucose/fat metabolism in patients with type 2 diabetes. Introduction Recent studies have shown that undercarboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC) acts as a hormone regulating glucose metabolism and fat mass. We investigated the relationship between ucOC as well as other bone turnover markers serum OC, bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP), and urinary N-terminal cross-linked telopeptide of type-I collagen versus serum levels of glucose, fasting serum C-peptide, and adiponectin as well as the amount of fat mass in type 2 diabetes. Methods A total of 180 men and 109 postmenopausal women were consecutively recruited, and radiographic and biochemical characteristics were collected. Fat mass was measured by dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and computed tomography (CT). Results In men, ucOC negatively correlated with percent trunk fat (%trunk fat; by DXA) and visceral/subcutaneous fat ratio (by CT) as well as fasting plasma glucose and HbA₁c (at least p < 0.05). Multiple regression analysis showed that these associations were still significant independent of age, duration of diabetes, body stature, and renal function as well as glucose or fat metabolism, whereas BAP, another bone formation marker, did not correlate with any variable. On the other hand, although ucOC also negatively correlated with %fat and %trunk fat as well as HbA₁c (at least p < 0.05) in postmenopausal women, we found no significant association in multiple regression analysis. Conclusions These findings suggest that ucOC is associated with plasma glucose level and fat mass in men with type 2 diabetes.
Summary
Bone mineral density (BMD) is less useful for evaluating fracture risk in type 2 diabetes. This study showed for the first time that combined evaluation by serum insulin-like growth factor-I ...and BMD is useful to assess the risk of vertebral fracture in postmenopausal women and men with type 2 diabetes.
Introduction
BMD is less useful for evaluating fracture risk in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We aimed to examine the usefulness of combined evaluation by BMD and serum insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) to assess the risk of vertebral fracture (VF) in T2DM.
Methods
In this cross-sectional study, 412 postmenopausal women and 582 men with T2DM, whose BMD, bone turnover markers, and serum IGF-I were measured, were enrolled. The association of BMD alone, serum IGF-I alone, and combined assessment by BMD and IGF-I with the presence of VF was examined.
Results
Multiple logistic regression analyses showed that IGF-I as well as BMD T-score at lumbar (L) and femoral neck (FN) were significantly associated with VF except for IGF-I in men, respectively. Receiver operating characteristic curves showed that the cutoff values of IGF-I, L T-score and FN T-score were 127 ng/mL, − 1.78, and − 2.02 in postmenopausal women and 127 ng/mL, − 1.67, and − 1.24 in men. Based on the cutoff vales, the subjects were divided into four categories. The category of lower IGF-I and lower T-scores had a significant increased risk of VF compared to higher IGF-I and higher T-scores both in postmenopausal women and in men. The sensitivity and specificity of the combined assessment to detect VF were better compared to using BMD alone or IGF-I alone.
Conclusions
This is the first study to show that in addition to BMD measurement, the assessment using serum IGF-I is useful to estimate the prevalence of VF in patients with T2DM.
Summary
This study investigated the effects of a single administration of teriparatide on bone turnover markers in postmenopausal women. Teriparatide caused a transient increase in bone resorption ...and inhibition of bone formation followed by a subsequent increase in bone formation and a decrease in resorption that lasted at least 1 week.
Introduction
This study aims to investigate the effects of a single subcutaneous administration of teriparatide on bone turnover markers to elucidate why once weekly intermittent administration of teriparatide is effective on osteoporosis.
Methods
Pharmacokinetics and calcium metabolism and bone turnover parameters were measured in 30 postmenopausal women after two doses of teriparatide (28.2 or 56.5 μg injection) or placebo in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.
Results
Teriparatide plasma concentration increased in a dose-dependent manner, and the maximum concentration was achieved 1 h after injection. Serum levels of calcium and phosphorus were transiently increased and decreased after teriparatide injection, respectively. Calcium metabolism returned to baseline levels 24 h later. Two days after injection, the serum level of 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D was increased by ~80 % from baseline for both doses of teriparatide. Serum levels of osteocalcin and procollagen type I N-terminal propeptide decreased during the first 24 h followed by a ~10 % increase for 14 days. The serum level of cross-linked N-telopeptide (NTX) of type I collagen increased during the first 24 h followed by a 10 to 12 % dose-dependent suppression from baseline for 14 days. Urinary cross-linked C-telopeptide of type I collagen changes occurred in the same direction as serum NTX, but not dose dependently.
Conclusion
A single administration of teriparatide caused an immediate, transient increase in bone resorption and inhibited bone formation followed by an increase in bone formation and decrease in resorption for ≥1 week. These findings may provide proof for the effect of a once-weekly regimen of teriparatide on bone turnover.
Coagulation rates of well-characterized carboxyl latex particles with a diameter of 1.5 mu m were measured to study the effect of double layer repulsion on the kinetics of aggregation in the presence ...and the absence of turbulent flow. The absolute coagulation rate constants were determined by the turbidity measurement with T-matrix method, which is a computational method to calculate the extinction cross section of doublets. Measurements were conducted as a function of pH and KCl concentration. Turbulent flow was generated by an end-over-end rotation. Brownian coagulation was performed in quiescent condition. Both turbulent and Brownian aggregation rate constants decreased with increasing pH in 2, 10, and 100 mM KCl. In the case of 2 and 10 mM KCl, the decrease of turbulent rate constant with pH was more gradual than that of Brownian ones. Turbulent rate constants in 100 mM KCl showed lower critical pH, above which the rate decreases, compared to that of Brownian coagulation. These results are qualitatively consistent with theoretical calculation of coagulation constant. We consider that the effect of double layer repulsion on the reduction of the rate becomes small in a flow field because higher kinetic energy in a turbulent flow overcomes the energy barrier. Also, we demonstrated that fast coagulation regime is attained by reducing the magnitude of zeta potential below 25 mV; a good indicator is zeta potential, rather than surface potential and surface charge, when judging colloidal dispersion is stable or not.
Abstract
A new injection septum magnet 1 (Inj-SM1) was installed in the Main Ring (MR) of J-PARC in 2016 as an upgrade. We confirmed that the leakage field upstream from the circulating duct of ...Inj-SM1 was sufficiently smaller than that for the previous Inj-SM1. Nevertheless, we attempted to further reduce the leakage field by using a new magnetic shield to achieve a higher proton beam intensity. In 2017, the first version of the new magnetic shield was produced and installed. The strength of the leakage field with the shield was ≈30% of that without the shield; however, the magnetic field of a quadrupole magnet (QM) upstream of Inj-SM1 was reduced to below the permissible limit, ≈0.1% of the total field integral of the QM, from the point of view of beam optics. Consequently, the first version failed. A second shield, for which the defects of the first version were fixed, was produced in 2018. The strength of the leakage field of Inj-SM1 with the second shield was reduced to ≈30% of that without the shield, while that of the QM was maintained. Thus, we decided to use the second shield for beam operation starting in November 2019. We confirmed that the impact of the leakage field on the circulating beam was 1/20 of that of the previous Inj-SM1.
Abstract
Background and objective
Depression is an independent risk factor of cardiovascular disease (CVD). We have recently shown that repeated social defeat (RSD) precipitates depressive-like ...behaviors in apoE−/− mice and exaggerates atherosclerosis development by enhancing neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) formation. Here, we investigated the impact of RSD on arterial thrombosis.
Methods and results
Eight-week-old male WT mice were exposed to RSD by housing with a larger CD-1 mouse in a shared home cage. They were subjected to vigorous physical contact daily for 10 consecutive days. Control mice were housed in the same gage without physical contact. After social interaction test to confirm depressive-like behaviors, defeated mice (19 of 31) and control mice (12 of 14) were underwent arterial injury at 10 wks of age. A filter paper saturated with 10% FeCl3 was applied on the adventitial surface of left carotid artery for 3 min and analyzed 3 hrs later. The volume of thrombi was comparable between the two groups. However, fibrinogen/fibrin-positive areas in immunofluorescent images significantly increased in defeated mice (27.8% vs. 48.8%, p<0.01). The number of Ly-6G-positive cells in thrombi was markedly higher in defeated mice (144/mm2 vs. 878/mm2, p<0.05). Further, Ly-6G-positive cells were almost accumulated at the inner surface of injured artery, which were co-localized with neutrophil elastase, Cit-H3, and CD41-positive staining. Treatment with DNase I completely diminished the exaggerated fibrin-rich clot formation in defeated mice to an extent similar to that in control mice (25.7% vs. 22.3%, p = ns), without affecting the volume of thrombi and accumulation of Ly-6G-positive cells. Given that platelet aggregations induced by ADP or collagen were comparable between the two groups, neutrophil functional properties primarily contribute to the exaggerated fibrin-rich clot formation in defeated mice. We then examined neutrophil subset and vulnerability to NETs formation. At 3 hrs after FeCl3 application, the numbers of immature neutrophils (Ly6Glo/+CXCR2-) were comparable between the two groups in both bone marrow (BM) and peripheral blood (PB). In contrast, the number of PB mature neutrophils (Ly6G+CXCR2+) was markedly higher in defeated mice than control mice (580±68 /μl vs. 1265±114, p<0.01). We next examined in vitro NETs formation upon PMA in BM mature neutrophils by FACS and nucleic acid staining. The percentage of double-positive cells (Cit-H3, MPO) was significantly higher in defeated mice (7.5% vs. 10.2%, p<0.05), as well as SYTOX green-positive cells expelling DNA fibers (8.1% vs. 11.8%, p<0.05).
Conclusions
Our findings demonstrate for the first time that repeated social defeat enhances fibrin-rich clot formation after arterial injury by enhancing NETs formation via modulation of neutrophil functional properties, suggesting that NETosis could be a new therapeutic target in depression-related CVD development.
Funding Acknowledgement
Type of funding source: None
The objective of this study was to assess the impact of preoperative anemia (hematocrit <39%) on postoperative 30-day mortality and adverse cardiac events in patients 65 years or older undergoing ...elective vascular procedures.
Preoperative anemia is associated with adverse outcomes after cardiac surgery, but its association with postoperative outcomes after open and endovascular procedures is not well established. Elderly patients have a decreased tolerance to anemia and are at high risk for complications after vascular procedures.
Patients (N = 31,857) were identified from the American College of Surgeons' 2007-2009 National Surgical Quality Improvement Program-a prospective, multicenter (>250) database maintained across the United States. The primary and secondary outcomes of interest were 30-day mortality and a composite end point of death or cardiac event (cardiac arrest or myocardial infarction), respectively.
Forty-seven percent of the study population was anemic. Anemic patients had a postoperative mortality and cardiac event rate of 2.4% and 2.3% in contrast to the 1.2% and 1.2%, respectively, in patients with hematocrit within the normal range (P < 0.0001). On multivariate analysis, we found a 4.2% (95% confidence interval, 1.9-6.5) increase in the adjusted risk of 30-day postoperative mortality for every percentage point of hematocrit decrease from the normal range.
The presence and degree of preoperative anemia are independently associated with 30-day death and adverse cardiac events in patients 65 years or older undergoing elective open and endovascular procedures. Identification and treatment of anemia should be important components of preoperative care for patients undergoing vascular operations.
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