24-Hour Glycemic Variations in Drug-Naïve Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM)-Based Study

OBJECTIVE: To investigate a 24-hour glycemic variation in drug-naïve, type 2 diabetic patients by using CGM. METHODS: A total of 30 inpatients with type 2 diabetes were included in the study to analyze the 24-hour CGM data. RESULTS: The patients' median age was 58 years old (interquartile range: 42-66 years), and their median HbA1c value was 7.6 (6.7-8.8)%. The median time to postprandial peak glucose levels(Peak Time) for each meal was 70-85 minutes, with the range of postprandial glucose increases(Increase Range) for each meal being 83-109 mg/dL. There was a significant positive correlation between the HbA1c values and Increases Range, Peak Time observed after breakfast and dinner, respectively. When the patients were stratified by a median HbA1c value of 7.6% into 2 groups, Increases Range and Peak Time, after breakfast, were shown to be significantly higher in the high-HbA1c group (H) than in the low-HbA1c (L) group. When the subjects were divided into four groups according to HbA1c levels:1 (<7.0%, n = 8), 2 (7.0-7.9%, n = 8), 3 (8.0-8.9%, n = 8), and 4 (≥9%, n = 6), the average glucose level, pre-meal glucose level and postprandial peak glucose level increased steadily from group 1 to 4 in a stepwise manner. CONCLUSIONS: In drug-naïve, Japanese type 2 diabetic patients, the Peak Time and the Increase Range were maximal after dinner. It was shown that the greater the HbA1c values, the longer Peak time and the higher Increase Range after breakfast and dinner. The average glucose level, pre meal glucose level and postprandial peak glucose level increased steadily as HbA1c level increased

Spectral structure of the Neumann--Poincar\'e operator on tori

We address the question whether there is a three-dimensional bounded domain such that the Neumann--Poincar\'e operator defined on its boundary has infinitely many negative eigenvalues. It is proved in this paper that tori have such a property. It is done by decomposing the Neumann--Poincar\'e operator on tori into infinitely many self-adjoint compact operators on a Hilbert space defined on the circle using the toroidal coordinate system and the Fourier basis, and then by proving that the numerical range of infinitely many operators in the decomposition has both positive and negative values.Comment: 14 page

Chaperonin GroEL–GroES Functions as both Alternating and Non-Alternating Engines

A double ring-shaped GroEL consisting of 14 ATPase subunits assists protein folding, together with co-chaperonin GroES. The dynamic GroEL–GroES interaction is actively involved in the chaperonin reaction. Therefore, revealing this dynamic interaction is a key to understanding the operation principle of GroEL. Nevertheless, how this interaction proceeds in the reaction cycle has long been controversial. Here, we directly imaged GroEL–GroES interaction in the presence of disulfide-reduced α-lactalbumin as a substrate protein using high-speed atomic force microscopy. This real-time imaging revealed the occurrence of primary, symmetric GroEL:GroES2 and secondary, asymmetric GroEL:GroES1 complexes. Remarkably, the reaction was observed to often branch into main and side pathways. In the main pathway, alternate binding and release of GroES occurs at the two rings, indicating tight cooperation between the two rings. In the side pathway, however, this cooperation is disrupted, resulting in the interruption of alternating rhythm. From various properties observed for both pathways, we provide mechanistic insight into the alternate and non-alternate operations of the two-engine system. © 2016 Elsevier LtdEmbargo Period 12 month

Gamma-ray probe of cosmic-ray pressure in galaxy clusters and cosmological implications

Cosmic rays produced in cluster accretion and merger shocks provide pressure to the intracluster medium (ICM) and affect the mass estimates of galaxy clusters. Although direct evidence for cosmic-ray ions in the ICM is still lacking, they produce gamma-ray emission through the decay of neutral pions produced in their collisions with ICM nucleons. We investigate the capability of the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) and imaging atmospheric Cerenkov telescopes (IACTs) for constraining the cosmic-ray pressure contribution to the ICM. We show that GLAST can be used to place stringent upper limits, a few per cent for individual nearby rich clusters, on the ratio of pressures of the cosmic rays and thermal gas. We further show that it is possible to place tight (<~10%) constraints for distant (z <~ 0.25) clusters in the case of hard spectrum, by stacking signals from samples of known clusters. The GLAST limits could be made more precise with the constraint on the cosmic-ray spectrum potentially provided by IACTs. Future gamma-ray observations of clusters can constrain the evolution of cosmic-ray energy density, which would have important implications for cosmological tests with upcoming X-ray and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect cluster surveys.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures; extended discussions; accepted by MNRA

On Detection of Black Hole Quasi-Normal Ringdowns: Detection Efficiency and Waveform Parameter Determination in Matched Filtering

Gravitational radiation from a slightly distorted black hole with ringdown waveform is well understood in general relativity. It provides a probe for direct observation of black holes and determination of their physical parameters, masses and angular momenta (Kerr parameters). For ringdown searches using data of gravitational wave detectors, matched filtering technique is useful. In this paper, we describe studies on problems in matched filtering analysis in realistic gravitational wave searches using observational data. Above all, we focus on template constructions, matches or signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), detection probabilities for Galactic events, and accuracies in evaluation of waveform parameters or black hole hairs. We have performed matched filtering analysis for artificial ringdown signals which are generated with Monte-Carlo technique and injected into the TAMA300 observational data. It is shown that with TAMA300 sensitivity, the detection probability for Galactic ringdown events is about 50% for black holes of masses greater than $20 M_{\odot}$ with SNR $> 10$. The accuracies in waveform parameter estimations are found to be consistent with the template spacings, and resolutions for black hole masses and the Kerr parameters are evaluated as a few % and $\sim 40$, respectively. They can be improved up to $< 0.9$ and $< 24$ for events of ${\rm SNR} \ge 10$ by using fine-meshed template bank in the hierarchical search strategy.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figure