全固体リチウムイオン電池を用いた水素化マグネシウムの負極特性

広島大学(Hiroshima University)博士(学術)Philosophydoctora

Oculomotor Nerve Palsy in a Patient with a Ruptured Middle Cerebral Artery Aneurysm

We describe a case of acute oculomotor nerve palsy caused by a ruptured middle cerebral artery (MCA) aneurysm. A 59-year-old female presenting with headache and nausea was admitted to our hospital. Her consciousness was alert, and had no other neurological deficit without left oculomotor nerve palsy. A computed tomography (CT) showed SAH extending from left sylvian cistern to basal cistern. CT angiography revealed a left MCA aneurysm which protruded toward internal carotid artery. The patient was successfully treated with surgical clipping. The oculomotor nerve palsy resolved immediately after the surgery. Perioperative radiological evaluation revealed that there were no evidence of midbrain hemorrhage or stroke, vessel anomaly of basilar, posterior cerebral or superior cerebellar artery, vasospasm, and uncal herniation. Furthermore, intraoperative findings revealed that the aneurysm was projected toward the affected carotid cistern and oculomotor nerve. From these findings and time course of oculomotor nerve palsy, it is suggested that the jet flow of bleeding from the ruptured MCA aneurysm caused oculomotor nerve palsy in the patient

Crystal field excitation in the chiral helimagnet YbNi3_3Al9_9

Crystal field level scheme of a uniaxial chiral helimagnet YbNi$_3$Al$_9$, exhibiting a chiral magnetic soliton lattice state by Cu substitution for Ni, has been determined by inelastic neutron scattering. The ground and the first excited doublets are separated by 44 K and are simply expressed as $\alpha|\pm 7/2\rangle + \beta |\mp 5/2\rangle$ with $\alpha$ and $\beta$ nearly equal to $\pm 1/\sqrt{2}$. The easy axis of the crystal field anisotropy is the $c$ axis when the excited levels are populated at high temperatures and high magnetic fields. On the other hand, the magnetism at low temperatures and low magnetic fields, where only the ground doublet is populated, is described by an easy plane anisotropy which may be treated as an $S=1/2$ system with an anisotropic $g$-factor, $g_{xy}=3.02$ and $g_z=1.14$. An orbital dependent exchange interaction is also discussed to explain the temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility based on this level scheme.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, 2 figures in the supplemental material, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Hippocampal Synthesis of Sex Steroids and Corticosteroids: Essential for Modulation of Synaptic Plasticity

Sex steroids play essential roles in the modulation of synaptic plasticity and neuroprotection in the hippocampus. Accumulating evidence shows that hippocampal neurons synthesize both estrogen and androgen. Recently, we also revealed the hippocampal synthesis of corticosteroids. The accurate concentrations of these hippocampus-synthesized steroids are determined by liquid chromatography–tandem mass-spectrometry in combination with novel derivatization. The hippocampal levels of 17β-estradiol (E2), testosterone (T), dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and corticosterone (CORT), are 5–15 nM, and these levels are sufficient to modulate synaptic plasticity. Hippocampal E2 modulates memory-related synaptic plasticity not only slowly/genomically but also rapidly/non-genomically. Slow actions of E2 occur via classical nuclear receptors (ERα or ERβ), while rapid E2 actions occur via synapse-localized or extranuclear ERα or ERβ. Nanomolar concentrations of E2 change rapidly the density and morphology of spines in hippocampal neurons. ERα, but not ERβ, drives this enhancement/suppression of spinogenesis in adult animals. Nanomolar concentrations of androgens (T and DHT) and CORT also increase the spine density. Kinase networks are involved downstream of ERα and androgen receptor. Newly developed Spiso-3D mathematical analysis is useful to distinguish these complex effects by sex steroids and kinases. Significant advance has been achieved in investigations of rapid modulation by E2 of the long-term depression or the long-term potentiation

Pemafibrate Dramatically Ameliorated the Values of Liver Function Tests and Fibrosis Marker in Patients with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

[Background] Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a chronic liver disease related to metabolic syndrome, which can progress to liver cirrhosis. Standard medication has not been established. Pemafibrate is a selective peroxisome proliferatoractivated receptor (PPAR) α modulator. We retrospectively evaluated the efficacy of pemafibrate in patients with NAFLD. [Methods] We retrospectively enrolled 17 patients (ten men, seven women; median age, 63 years; range, 27?81 years). They were all proven to have fatty liver through imaging and had little or no history of drinking (ethanol consumption of < 20 g/day for women and < 30 g/day for men). They were administered pemafibrate from October 2018 to June 2020. [Results] After administration, serum triglyceride (TG) tended to be decreased (300.5 ± 22.5 to 239.5 ± 34.3 mg/dL, P = 0.06). Serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels did not change. ALT was significantly decreased (-47.4%) for six months (57.5 ± 8.8 to 30.3 ± 5.8 U/L, P < 0.01). The values of serum GGT significantly decreased (-48.7%) for sixth months (63.9 ± 10.3 to 32.8 ± 6.6 U/L, P < 0.01). Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) to platelet ratio (APRI), a fibrosis marker, also was significantly decreased in the sixth month (0.7 ± 0.1 to 0.4 ± 0.1, P < 0.05). Body mass index (BMI) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) showed no significant change. [Conclusion] Pemafibrate dramatically ameliorated the values of liver function tests and APRI in patients with NAFLD

Chronic Active Epstein–Barr Virus Infection Indistinguishable from Autoimmune Hepatitis: A Case Report

Chronic active Epstein–Barr virus (CAEBV) infection is a rare disease, mainly affecting children, typically characterized by persistent infectious mononucleosis (IM)-like symptoms. We describe an adult case of CAEBV without IM-like symptoms, which was indistinguishable from autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). A 60-year-old woman with liver damage was diagnosed with AIH (International Diagnostic Score: 16 points). She had been treated with prednisolone for three years; however, her transaminases had never normalized. She was admitted for another liver biopsy due to repeated high fevers and worsening of her liver damage over two months. Her EBV-DNA copy number was 2.9 × 104 copies/μg DNA, and EBV-encoded small RNA1-positive lymphocytic infiltration was observed in both the present and previously collected (three years ago) liver tissue samples. This case implies that hepatic involvement in a CAEBV without IM-like symptoms is difficult to distinguish from AIH and may be misdiagnosed. In some steroid resistant AIH cases, evaluating for CAEBV may be valuable

Associations between Optimism and Attentional Biases as Measured by Threat-Avoidance and Positive-Search Tasks

Evidence suggests that optimism has a positive impact on health status. Attentional bias modification (ABM) may be beneficial for enhancing optimism, but its effective application requires a detailed investigation of the association between attentional bias and optimism. This study aimed to determine the association between attentional bias and optimism based on different task types. Eighty-four participants completed the attentional bias measures using the dot-probe task (DPT), emotional visual search task (EVST) paradigms, and psychological assessments. Optimism was assessed using the Life Orientation Test-Revised with subscales for optimism and pessimism. Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multivariate linear regression analysis were applied to investigate the association between optimism and attentional bias. Neither the attentional bias derived from DPT nor EVST was significantly correlated with optimism total score or subscales. Regression analysis also showed no association between attentional bias and optimism (DPT, β = 0.12; EVST, β = 0.09), optimism subscales (DPT, β = 0.09; EVST, β = 0.17), or pessimism subscales (DPT, β = −0.10; EVST, β = 0.02). Our findings showed no evidence that attentional biases derived from either the DPT or EVST measures are associated with optimism or pessimism. Further studies are needed to effectively adapt the ABM to enhance optimism