Polar surface engineering in ultra-thin MgO(111)/Ag(111) -- possibility of metal-insulator transition and magnetism

A recent report [Kiguchi {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. B {\bf 68}, 115402 (2003)] that the (111) surface of 5 MgO layers grown epitaxially on Ag(111) becomes metallic to reduce the electric dipole moment raises a question of what will happen when we have fewer MgO layers. Here we have revealed, first experimentally with electron energy-loss spectroscopy, that MgO(111) remains metallic even when one-layer thick, and theoretically with the density functional theory that the metallization should depend on the nature of the substrate. We further show, with a spin-density functional calculation, that a ferromagnetic instability may be expected for thicker films.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figure

メキシコの半乾燥地における異なる有機物の施用効果

In semiarid areas of Mexico, lack of organic matter is a major constraint for production of corn and frijol beans, the main crops of the region. A multi-year experiment was carried out at the CENGUA Experiment Station, Guanajuato State, Mexico. Soil moisture was highest in the treatments with 100% or 67% of corn residues. Yields of frijol beans increased as the proportion of corn residues increased in all three years, but there was no significant difference between the treatment with all corn residues and the treatment with one-third reduction of corn residues in two of the three years. The harvest index was highest in the same two treatments with higher proportions of corn residues in the last years. These results suggest that corn residues can be reduced by one third in fertilization of corn-frijol bean systems while maintaining adequate frijol bean yields. This could assist in establishment of sustainable corn-frijol bean-cattle integrated agriculture in semi-arid areas of Mexico

Electronic structures of B-2p and C-2p of boron-doped diamond film by soft X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy

X-ray absorption (XAS) and emission (XES) spectroscopy near B-K and C-K edges have been performed on metallic (~1at%B, B-diamond) and semiconducting (~0.1at%B and N, BN-diamond) doped-diamond films. Both B-K XAS and XES spectra shows metallic partial density of state (PDOS) with the Fermi energy of 185.3 eV, and there is no apparent boron-concentration dependence in contrast to the different electric property. In C-K XAS spectrum of B-diamond, the impurity state ascribed to boron is clearly observed near the Fermi level. The Fermi energy is found to be almost same with the top of the valence band of non-doped diamond, E_V, 283.9 eV. C-K XAS of BN-diamond shows both the B-induced shallow level and N-induced deep-and-broad levels as the in-gap states, in which the shallow level is in good agreement with the activation energy (E_a=0.37 eV) estimated from the temperature dependence of the conductivity, namely the change in C-2p PDOS of impurity-induced metallization is directly observed. The electric property of this diamond is mainly ascribed to the electronic structure of C-2p near the Fermi level. The observed XES spectra are compared with the DVX-alpha cluster calculation. The DVX-alpha result supports the strong hybridization between B-2p and C-2p observed in XAS and XES spectra, and suggests that the small amount of borons (<1at%) in diamond occupy the substitutional site rather than interstitial site.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. B, 5 pages and 5 figure

Surgical Treatment of dialysis-associated spondylosis

【Objective】The purposes of this study were to classify the lesions of dialysis-associated spondylosis and evaluate the results of surgical treatment. 【Subjects and methods】The subjects were 87 patients (43 men and 44 women) who underwent surgery. These patients were studied in terms of lesion classification, surgical method, duration of dialysis, duration of surgery, intraoperative blood loss, and postoperative complications. 【Results】Among patients with cervical spine involvement, 13 had destructive spondyloarthropathy (DSA), 29 had amyloid deposition, and 8 had a dens axis lesion. Among patients with lumbar spine involvement, 20 had DSA, and 17 had amyloid deposition. With regard to 6 patients with a dens axis lesion involving atlantoaxial subluxation, each had posterior fusion (PF) of the occiput to the upper cervical spine. With regard to the patients with lumbar DSA, 10 patients had posterolateral fusion (PLF), 8 patients had posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) and 2 patients had laminectomy. The duration of dialysis in cases of a dens axis lesion varied between 25 and 35 years, with the mean duration being 28.9 years. 【Conclusions】All patients who underwent surgery for dens axis lesions were long-term dialysis patients who had been on dialysis for 25 years. Lumbar spine DSA was treated with PLIF in patients with lateral slipping and marked instability, with laminectomy in patients with a narrowed intervertebral disk space and no instability

ジコ ノ ヘンドウテキ ソクメン ハ ドノヨウナ タジゲンセイ ヲ ユウスル ノカ ジョウタイ ソクテイヨウ キョウジ ガ ジコニンチシャクド ノ インシ コウゾウ ニ アタエル エイキョウ

本研究の目的は、自己の変動的側面(以下、変動的側面を「状態自己」、自己の安定的側面を「特性自己」と呼ぶ)がどのように認知されるのかを、認知構造の多次元性という観点から明らかにすることである。本研究では、状態自己と特性自己の因子構造の違いを検証した。調査Ⅰでは314名(男性167名、女性147名)に一般的教示を与えた上で自己認知尺度に答えてもらい、特性自己の因子構造を明らかにした。調査Ⅱでは179名(男性92名、女性87名)に状態測定用教示を与えた上で自己認知尺度に答えてもらい、状態自己の因子構造を明らかにした。そして、両者の因子構造の違いを多角的に考察するために、自己認知尺度の各質問項目が状態自己、特性自己、ビッグファイブ、対人認知、それぞれにおいてどのような因子に属するかを検証した。結果、以下の2点が明らかになった。①状態自己は特性自己に比べ単純な因子構造をもっていること、②状態自己の因子構造は対人認知の因子構造とほぼ同じであること。今後、自己の変動性を研究する上で、状態自己の多次元構造に考慮を払っていくことが重要である。The purpose of this study is to verify some aspects of a variable self-concept. In this article, a variable self-concept is termed as “State Self”, and a stable self-concept as “Trait Self”. The factor structural difference between the State Self and the Trait Self was verified. In Research 1, 314 respondents (male: 167, female: 147) answered a self perception inventory created as a measure of the Trait Self. The inventory was used to clarify the factor structure of the Trait Self. In Research 2,179 respondents (male: 92, female: 87) answered a self perception inventory created as a measure of the State Self. The inventory was used to clarify the factor structure of the State Self. In order to verify the differences in the factor structures of the State Self and Trait Self multilaterally, the results of Research 1 and 2 were verified through comparisons with factor structures of Big Five and person perception. As a result, we found that the factor structure of the State Self was simpler than that of the Trait Self and that the factor structure of the State Self was almost the same as that of person perception. To study the variability of self-concept, it is important to consider various aspects of the State Self

(-)-Epigallocatechin Gallate Reduces Platelet-Derived Growth Factor-BB-Stimulated Interleukin-6 Synthesis in Osteoblasts: Suppression of SAPK/JNK

We previously showed that the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase superfamily, p44/p42 MAP kinase, p38 MAP kinase, and stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK)/c-Jun N-terminal (JNK), positively plays a part in the platelet-derived growth factor-BB- (PDGF-BB-) stimulated synthesis of interleukin-6 (IL-6), a potent bone resorptive agent, in osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 cells while Akt and p70 S6 kinase negatively regulates the synthesis. In the present study, we investigated whether (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), one of the major green tea flavonoids, affects the synthesis of IL-6 in these cells and the mechanism. EGCG significantly reduced the IL-6 synthesis and IL-6 mRNA expression stimulated by PDGF-BB, EGCG reduced the PDGF-BB-stimulated IL-6 synthesis also in primary-cultured osteoblasts. EGCG had no effect on the levels of osteocalcin and osteoprotegerin in MC3T3-E1 cells. The PDGF-BB-induced autophosphorylation of PDGF receptor β was not suppressed by EGCG. The PDGF-BB-induced phosphorylation of p44/p42 MAP kinase and p38 MAP kinase was not affected by EGCG. On the other hand, EGCG markedly suppressed the PDGF-BB-induced phosphorylation of SAPK/JNK. Finally, the PDGF-BB-induced phosphorylation of Akt and p70 S6 kinase was not affected by EGCG. These results strongly suggest that EGCG inhibits the PDGF-BB-stimulated synthesis of IL-6 via suppression of SAPK/JNK pathway in osteoblasts

Laboratory Investigation of Skid Resistance for Steel Slag Utilization as Chip Seal

Slag as waste material of steel-making process has similar characteristics with aggregate that has been widely used in pavement construction. The use of slag as chip seal aggregate to provide skid resistance needs to be analyzed. In this laboratory study, the chip seal samples are made using steel slag and natural aggregate. The bonding materials used are asphalt and epoxy resin. Skid resistance tests for all chip seal samples and also hot rolled sheet pavement without chip seal application are performed using the Portable British Pendulum Tester. The results show the variations of chip seal aggregate weight are inconsistent. The natural aggregate used as chip seal material could produce high skid resistance value of 10.3% higher than that using steel slag. Also the skid resistance of chip seal with the ALD 3 mm are not significantly different with that of ALD 6 mm. Similar results occur on the skid resistance of chip seals using epoxy resin and asphalt

Collective Thomson scattering diagnostic with in situ calibration system for velocity space analysis in large helical device

A collective Thomson scattering (CTS) diagnostic with a ±3 GHz band around a 77 GHz gyrotron probe beam was developed to measure the velocity distribution of bulk and fast ions in high-temperature plasmas. We propose a new in situ calibration method for a CTS diagnostic system combined with a raytracing code. The method is applied in two situations for electron cyclotron emission in plasmas and in a CTS diagnostic with a modulated probe beam. Experimental results highlight the importance of refraction correction in probe and receive beams. The CTS spectrum is measured with the in situ calibrated CTS receiver and responds to fast ions originating from a tangential neutral beam with an energy of 170 keV and from a perpendicular beam with an energy of 60 keV, both in the large helical device. From a velocity space analysis model, the results elucidate the measured anisotropic CTS spectrum caused by fast ions. The calibration methods and analyses demonstrated here are essential for CTS, millimeter-wave diagnostics, and electron cyclotron heating required under fusion reactor conditions

Real-world effectiveness and safety analysis of carfilzomib-lenalidomide-dexamethasone and carfilzomib-dexamethasone in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma: a multicenter retrospective analysis

Background: Little is known about the real-world survival benefits and safety profiles of carfilzomib-lenalidomide-dexamethasone (KRd) and carfilzomib-dexamethasone (Kd). Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis to evaluate their efficacy and safety in 157 patients registered in the Kansai Myeloma Forum database. Results: A total of 107 patients received KRd. Before KRd, 99% of patients had received bortezomib (54% were refractory disease), and 82% had received lenalidomide (57% were refractory disease). The overall response rate (ORR) was 68.2%. The median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 8.8 and 29.3 months, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that reduction of the carfilzomib dose and non-IgG M protein were significantly associated with lower PFS and reduction of the carfilzomib dose and refractoriness to prior bortezomib-based regimens were significantly associated with lower OS. A total of 50 patients received Kd. Before Kd, 96% of patients had received bortezomib (54% were refractory disease). The ORR was 62.0%. The median PFS and OS were 7.1 and 20.9 months, respectively. Based on the multivariate analysis, reduction of the carfilzomib dose and International Staging System Stage III (ISS III) were significantly associated with lower PFS. Grade III or higher adverse events were observed in 48% of KRd cases and 54% of Kd cases. Cardiovascular events, cytopenia, and infections were frequent, and 4 KRd patients died due to heart failure, arrhythmia, cerebral hemorrhage, and pneumonia. Conclusion: Our analysis showed that an adequate dose of carfilzomib is important for achieving the best survival benefits in a real-world setting. Adverse effects after KRd and Kd therapy should also be considered