We propose a new mechanism for the formation of Tb-rich shell in the Nd–Fe–B sintered magnet that was subjected to the grain boundary diffusion (GBD) process using TbH2. Tb-enriched liquid films form ...along grain boundaries during the GBD process, which migrate by chemically induced liquid film migration (CILFM) to form Tb-rich shells behind. As a result, the Tb-rich shell form asymmetrically along a grain boundary with an abrupt concentration change at a core/shell interface with a gradual decrease of Tb concentration toward a grain boundary. These microstructure features can be reproduced with phase-field simulations.
SEM back scattered electron image of grain boundary diffusion procesd Nd-Fe-B sintered magnets and phase field simulation result of solute concentration formed by chemically induced liquid film migration. Display omitted
We searched for the 6α-condensed state in 24Mg by measuring the C12+12C scattering with the SAKRA Si detector array at Ecm=17.5–25.0 MeV. By using the invariant-mass method for the detected 3α ...particles, the inclusive cross sections for the C12+12C→12C(02+)+X and C12(31−)+X reactions were determined. In addition, the missing-mass spectroscopy was successfully utilized to determine the excitation energy of the residual C12 nucleus and the exclusive cross sections for the C12+12C→12C(02+)+12C(01+), C12(02+)+12C(21+), and C12(02+)+12C(02+) reactions. In both the inclusive C12(02+)+X channel and the exclusive C12(02+)+12C(01+) channel, the cross section peaked at Ecm=19.4 MeV, which correspond to the excitation energy of Ex=33.3 MeV in 24Mg. This 19.4-MeV state is a candidate for the 6α-condensed state because of the agreement of the excitation energy with the theoretical value and its decay property. In the exclusive C12(02+)+12C(02+) channel, a broad state was observed at Ecm=22.5 MeV, which correspond to the excitation energy of Ex=36.4 MeV in 24Mg. From the angular distribution of the differential cross section, the spin and parity of this 22.5-MeV state was assigned to be 4+. In addition, a 2+ state was suggested at the low-energy side of the 22.5-MeV state. Because their excitation energies are higher than the theoretical value of the 6α-condensed state, these states might be excited states of the 6α-condensed state such as the 22+ and 41+ states in C12.
Recent data on isoscalar giant monopole resonance (ISGMR) in the calcium isotopes 40,44,48Ca have suggested that Kτ, the asymmetry term in the nuclear incompressibility, has a positive value. A value ...of Kτ>0 is entirely incompatible with present theoretical frameworks and, if correct, would have far-reaching implications on our understanding of myriad nuclear and astrophysical phenomena. This paper presents results of an independent ISGMR measurement with the 40,42,44,48Ca(α,α′) reaction at Eα=386 MeV. These results conclusively discount the possibility of a positive value for Kτ, and are consistent with the previously-obtained values for this quantity.
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.
The strength distributions of the Isoscalar Giant Monopole Resonance (ISGMR) and Isoscalar Giant Quadrupole Resonance (ISGQR) in 142,146−150Nd have been determined via inelastic α-particle scattering ...with the Grand Raiden (GR) Spectrometer at the Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP), Japan. In the deformed nuclei 146−150Nd, the ISGMR strength distributions exhibit a splitting into two components, while the nearly spherical nucleus 142Nd displays a single peak in the ISGMR strength distribution. A noteworthy achievement in this study is the first-time detection of overtones in the Isoscalar Giant Quadrupole Resonance (ISGQR) strength distributions within Nd isotopes at an excitation energy around 25 MeV obtained through Multipole Decomposition Analysis (MDA).
Background
Enteric glial cells (EGCs) play important roles in enteric integrity and regulation of gastrointestinal function. However, whether EGCs undergo pathophysiological changes in ...stress‐associated gastrointestinal disorders is unknown. We investigated structural and functional alterations in colonic EGCs and their roles in colonic contraction in an irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) model.
Methods
As a chronic stress, male Wistar rats underwent 3‐h maternal separation during postnatal days 2–14. As an acute stress, we used water‐immersion stress (4 h) in adulthood (at 8 weeks). We quantitatively and morphologically evaluated enteric neurons and EGCs using whole‐mount longitudinal muscle‐myenteric plexus preparations. Colonic contraction was analyzed with electrical field stimulation (EFS).
Key Results
Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression and the number of total, cholinergic, and nitrergic neurons were unchanged in maternally separated rats with acute stress (combined stress: an IBS model) compared with controls. However, the density of GFAP‐positive EGC processes that apparently overlapped with the neurons and the extent of bulbous swelling of terminals increased according to the stress intensity: control, acute stress, maternal separation, and combined stress. EFS‐induced colonic contractions were significantly greater in the combined stress rats than in controls. Higher dose of fluorocitrate, a selective inhibitor of EGC metabolism, was required to inhibit both EFS‐induced contraction and EGCs activation in the combined stress rats than in controls.
Conclusions & Inferences
Colonic EGCs exhibited structural alterations according to the stress intensity. EGCs were associated with stress‐induced colonic hyper‐contraction in the combined stress rats, which may underlie the pathogenesis of IBS.
Enteric glial cells (EGCs) play important roles in the regulation of gastrointestinal function, but manifestations of colonic EGCs in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients remain unknown. EGCs exhibited hyperplasia of their processes that apparently overlapped with the neurons and changes in bulbous swelling of terminals, and were also associated with stress‐induced hyper colonic contraction in the maternally separated rats. Such changes in EGCs may underlie the pathogenesis of IBS.
E2012, a gamma secretase modulator without affecting Notch processing, aimed at Alzheimer's disease by reduction of amyloid β-42, induced cataract following repeated doses in the rat. Cataract ...appeared first at week 10-11 of treatment as a posterior subcapsular area with granular/punctate opaque or shiny dots along the suture line, characterized histologically as lenticular fiber degeneration, which eventually coalesced to form a triangular or circular opacity. It was associated with prolonged and sustained elevation of lenticular desmosterol (24-dehydrocholesterol), the final precursor of cholesterol, and decrease in lenticular cholesterol. In vitro studies to investigate the effect of E2012 on cholesterol metabolism demonstrated that E2012 inhibits 3β-hydroxysterol Δ24-reductase (DHCR24) at the final step in the cholesterol biosynthesis. In vivo lenticular concentration of E2012 after 13-week repeated dose with cataract was well above those where inhibition was observed in vitro. There was no cataract formation at doses where desmosterol did not accumulate in the lens. The elevation of desmosterol and decreased cholesterol levels were also seen in the liver and plasma and preceded those in the lens. These results demonstrate that E2012 induces cataract in the rat by inhibiting DHCR24 at the final step of cholesterol synthesis with associated elevation in desmosterol within the lens, preceded by desmosterol changes that would serve as a predictive safety biomarker for lenticular opacity.
Monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR, EC 1.6.5.4) is a key enzyme of the ascorbate (AsA)-glutathione cycle that maintains reduced pools of AsA and serves as an important antioxidative enzyme. ...Previously, we have cloned MDHAR cDNA from acerola (
Malpighia glabra), a plant that accumulates abundant amount of AsA. In this study, MDHAR cDNA from acerola was introduced into tobacco plants using an
Agrobacterium-mediated gene delivery system. Transgenic tobacco plants accumulated greater amounts of AsA and showed higher MDHAR activity than the control plants. Lipid peroxidation and chlorophyll degradation, which were stimulated in control plants, were restrained in transgenic plants subjected to salt stress. These results indicate that overexpression of acerola MDHAR imparts greater tolerance to salt stress.
► Overexpression of acerola MDHAR in tobacco elevated MDHAR activity and AsA levels. ► Transgenic plants showed reduced levels of lipid peroxidation. ► Transgenic plants maintained higher levels of chlorophyll. ► Overexpression of acerola MDHAR in tobacco provides protection from oxidative damage.
Abstract
A double-$\Lambda$ hypernucleus, _{\Lambda\Lambda}\mathrm{Be}$, was observed by the J-PARC E07 Collaboration in nuclear emulsions tagged by the ($K^{-}, K^{+}$) reaction. This event was ...interpreted as the production and decay of $ {}_{\Lambda\Lambda}^{\;10}\mathrm{Be}$, _{\Lambda\Lambda}^{\;11}\mathrm{Be}$, or _{\Lambda\Lambda}^{\;12}\mathrm{Be}^{*}$ via $\Xi^{-}$ capture in ^{16}\mathrm{O}$. By assuming capture in the atomic 3D state, the binding energies of two $\Lambda$ hyperons ($B_{\Lambda\Lambda}$) of these double-$\Lambda$ hypernuclei are obtained to be $15.05 \pm 0.11\,\mathrm{MeV}$, $19.07 \pm 0.11\,\mathrm{MeV}$, and $13.68 \pm 0.11\,\mathrm{MeV}$, respectively. Based on the kinematic fitting, _{\Lambda\Lambda}^{\;11}\mathrm{Be}$ is the most likely explanation for the observed event.
Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-11 (IL-11) are known to influence osteoclast formation and bone resorption. In order to determine whether IL-6 and IL-11 could independently support human ...osteoclast formation, these factors were added to cultures of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells of the monocyte (CD14
+) fraction in the presence of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF). Under these conditions, IL-6 and IL-11 induced the formation of multinucleated cells which were positive for TRAP, VNR, and calcitonin receptor and capable of lacunar resorption. Osteoclastogenesis induced by IL-6 and IL-11 was inhibited by the addition of an anti-gp130 antibody but not by osteoprotegerin. These results indicate that IL-6 and IL-11, which are thought to play a role in several osteolytic bone disorders, are directly capable of inducing osteoclast formation by a RANKL-independent mechanism.
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