Solids with competing interactions often undergo complex phase transitions with a variety of long-periodic modulations. Among such transition, devil's staircase is the most complex phenomenon, and ...for it, CeSb is the most famous material, where a number of the distinct phases with long-periodic magnetostructures sequentially appear below the Néel temperature. An evolution of the low-energy electronic structure going through the devil's staircase is of special interest, which has, however, been elusive so far despite 40 years of intense research. Here, we use bulk-sensitive angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and reveal the devil's staircase transition of the electronic structures. The magnetic reconstruction dramatically alters the band dispersions at each transition. Moreover, we find that the well-defined band picture largely collapses around the Fermi energy under the long-periodic modulation of the transitional phase, while it recovers at the transition into the lowest-temperature ground state. Our data provide the first direct evidence for a significant reorganization of the electronic structures and spectral functions occurring during the devil's staircase.
The epidemiology of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) has been a subject of much interest in recent years. This review ascertains the prevalence of GERD in eastern and southeastern Asia, and ...reports on complications and risk factors.
This qualitative systematic review of the epidemiology of GERD in eastern and southeastern Asia identified studies in adults reported in English in the Medline database (searched through April 2005), relevant reviews, and our own bibliographic databases.
Thirteen studies were included. The reported population prevalence of GERD in eastern Asia ranged from 2.5% to 6.7% for at least weekly symptoms of heartburn and/or acid regurgitation and may be increasing. No reliable data are available on the prevalence of esophagitis in the general population. In case studies, the prevalence of reflux esophagitis ranged from 3.4% to 16.3%. Well-established risk factors for GERD in Asian populations included hiatus hernia and obesity. Age and male sex also may be risk factors. Chest pain is the predominant extraesophageal manifestation of GERD in China, whereas in Japan, a link with asthma has been implicated in patients with severe esophagitis.
There is a paucity of studies reporting the prevalence of GERD in eastern and southeastern Asia. These results highlight the need for further epidemiologic studies using representative study populations and a standardized methodology. Recognition and awareness of GERD need to increase concomitantly to ensure appropriate diagnosis and treatment of the disease.
Background
Functional dyspepsia (FD), a heterogeneous disorder, involves multiple pathogenetic mechanisms. Developing treatments for FD has been challenging. We performed a randomized, ...placebo‐controlled, double‐blind clinical trial to determine the efficacy of rikkunshito, a Japanese herbal medicine, in FD patients.
Methods
FD patients (n = 192) who met the Rome III criteria without Helicobacter pylori infection, predominant heartburn, and depression were enrolled at 56 hospitals in Japan. After 2 weeks of single‐blind placebo treatment, 128 patients with continuous symptoms were randomly assigned to 8 weeks of rikkunshito (n = 64) or placebo (n = 61). The primary efficacy endpoint was global assessment of overall treatment efficacy (OTE). The secondary efficacy endpoints were improvements in upper gastrointestinal symptoms evaluated by the Patient Assessment of Upper Gastrointestinal Disorders‐Symptom Severity Index (PAGI‐SYM), the Global Overall Symptom scale (GOS), and the modified Frequency Scale for the Symptoms of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (m‐FSSG), and psychological symptoms evaluated by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).
Key Results
Rikkunshito increased OTE compared to placebo at 8 weeks (P = .019). Rikkunshito improved upper gastrointestinal symptoms (PAGI‐SYM, GOS, and m‐FSSG) at 8 weeks, especially postprandial fullness/early satiety (P = .015 and P = .001) and bloating (P = .007 and P = .002) of the PAGI‐SYM subscales at 4 weeks and 8 weeks. Improvement of HADS at 8 weeks (P = .027) correlated with those of PAGI‐SYM (r = .302, P = .001), GOS (r = .186, P = .044), and m‐FSSG (r = .462, P < .001), postprandial fullness/early satiety (r = .226, P = .014), dyspepsia (r = .215, P = .019), and PDS (r = .221, P = .016).
Conclusion & inferences
Rikkunshito may be beneficial for FD patients to simultaneously treat gastrointestinal and psychological symptoms.
In the RCT conducted for Helicobacter pylori‐negative FD patients, rikkunshito significantly relieved dyspeptic symptoms compared to placebo possibly via improvement for physiological dysfunction based on the changes in PAGI‐SYM scores. Attenuation of anxiety correlated with improvement of dyspeptic symptoms such as postprandial fullness/early satiety. Rikkunshito exhibits relevant pharmacological actions throughout the brain‐gut axis and improves dyspeptic symptoms mediated by modulating both the visceral and central factors in FD patients.
Abstract
In this study, the repulsive force causing magnetic levitation for superconductive-assisted machining (SUAM) is calculated using the finite element method. Although bulk superconductors have ...been used for SUAM, here, we propose a magnetic levitation tool that uses superconducting tape. To obtain a stronger repulsive force, various models of a SUAM are designed and calculated. The results show that a strong repulsive force can be obtained by using two permanent magnets. In addition, even if the superconducting tape is rotated during stacking due to stacking errors, the repulsive force is not affected, indicating that there is no need to optimize the stacking method. Therefore, we expect that increasing the number of layers will generate a repulsive force that is greater than that obtained with bulk superconductors.
Background and aims: The mechanism of transformation to intestinal metaplasia in Barrett’s oesophagus has not been clarified. We investigated the effects of various bile acids on expression of the ...caudal related homeobox gene Cdx2 in cultured oesophageal squamous epithelial cells. In addition, morphological and histochemical changes in squamous cells to intestinal epithelial cells were studied in response to bile acid induced expression of Cdx2. Methods: A rat model of Barrett’s oesophagus was created by anastomosing the oesophagus and jejunum, and Cdx2 expression was investigated by immunohistochemistry. Also, the response of various bile acids on Cdx2 gene expression was studied in the human colon epithelial cell lines Caco-2 and HT-29, as well as in cultured rat oesophageal squamous epithelial cells using a Cdx2 promoter luciferase assay. In addition, primary cultured oesophageal squamous epithelial cells were transfected with Cdx2 expression vectors and their possible transformation to intestinal-type epithelial cells was investigated. Results: Oesophagojejunal anastomoses formed intestinal goblet cell metaplasia in rat oesophagus specimens and metaplastic epithelia strongly expressed Cdx2. When the effects of 11 types of bile acids on Cdx2 gene expression were examined, only cholic acid (CA) and dehydrocholic acid dose dependently increased Cdx2 promoter activity and Cdx2 protein production in Caco-2 and HT-29 cells, and cultured rat oesophageal keratinocytes. Results from mutation analysis of Cdx2 promoter suggested that two nuclear factor κB (NFκB) binding sites were responsible for the bile acid induced activation of the Cdx2 promoter. When bile acids were measured in oesophageal refluxate of rats with experimental Barrett’s oesophagus, the concentration of CA was found to be consistent with the experimental dose that augmented Cdx2 expression in vitro. Furthermore, transfection of the Cdx2 expression vector in cultured rat oesophageal keratinocytes induced production of intestinal-type mucin, MUC2, in cells that expressed Cdx2. Conclusions: We found that CA activates Cdx2 promoter via NFκB and stimulates production of Cdx2 protein in oesophageal keratinocytes with production of intestinal-type mucin. This may be one of the mechanisms of metaplasia in Barrett’s oesophagus.
Abstract
In this study, we calculated the repulsive force of magnetic levitation for superconductive-assisted machining (SUAM) using the finite element method. Conventionally, SUAM utilizes bulk ...superconductors; here, we propose a magnetic levitation tool using superconducting tape. To obtain a stronger repulsive force, we fabricated various SUAM models and performed calculations. The results showed that we could obtain a strong repulsive force by arranging six superconducting tape pieces radially at equal intervals from the center of the SUAM tool, shortening the distance between the layers, and making the tape trapezoidal in shape. By increasing the number of layers, we can expect to achieve a greater repulsive force than that obtained with bulk superconductors.
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