Association between antispasmodics and detection of lesions by screening esophagogastroduodenoscopy

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Whether administration of antispasmodics as a component of premedication contributes to detection of lesions by screening esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGDS) remains unclear. Our primary aim was to investigate this possibility. METHODS: The cohort in this retrospective study comprised consecutive asymptomatic individuals who had undergone screening EGDS as part of a health check-up at the Japanese Red Cross Wakayama Medical Center from October 2015 to September 2020. The investigated lesions comprised esophageal squamous cell carcinoma or adenocarcinoma, gastric adenoma or adenocarcinoma, and duodenal adenoma or adenocarcinoma. RESULTS: Targeted lesions were detected in 72 of 31 484 participants (0.23%), 18 260 and 13 224 of whom had received and not received pre-procedure antispasmodics, respectively. The rates of detection of lesions in these groups were 0.21% (38/18260) and 0.26% (34/13224), respectively (P = 0.40). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed no association between administration of antispasmodics and rates of detection of targeted lesions [P = 0.24, Odds ratio (95% CI): 1.46 (0.78-2.75)]. CONCLUSIONS: Antispasmodics, which were administered to more than half of the study cohort, did not improve the rate of detection of targeted lesions

Measurement of the Aerodynamic Forces Acting on a Non-Spinning Javelin Using an MSBS

Using the world’s largest magnetic suspension and balance system (MSBS) and a low-turbulence wind tunnel, we successfully measured the aerodynamic forces acting on a non-spinning women’s javelin. It was found that the drag and the lift increased as the angle of attack was increased up to 18°. The pitching moment increased for angles of attack up to about 9°, and then decreased, becoming negative above 12°, indicating nose-down rotation. We used a pseudo supporting rod to simulate a javelin attached to a support, as used in a conventional setup, and confirmed that this interferes with the javelin by creating differences between the aerodynamics forces acting on the javelin with and without the pseudo supporting rod

Enzymatic measurement of short-chain fatty acids and application in periodontal disease diagnosis.

Periodontal disease is a chronic inflammatory condition caused by periodontal pathogens in the gingival sulcus. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) produced by causal bacteria are closely related to the onset and progression of periodontal disease and have been reported to proliferate in the periodontal sulcus of patients experiencing this pathology. In such patients, propionic acid (C3), butyric acid (C4), isobutyric acid (IC4), valeric acid (C5), isovaleric acid (IC5), and caproic acid (C6), henceforth referred to as [C3-C6], has been reported to have a detrimental effect, while acetic acid (C2) exhibits no detrimental effect. In this study, we established an inexpensive and simple enzymatic assay that can fractionate and measure these acids. The possibility of applying this technique to determine the severity of periodontal disease by adapting it to specimens collected from humans has been explored. We established an enzyme system using acetate kinase and butyrate kinase capable of measuring SCFAs in two fractions, C2 and [C3-C6]. The gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) and saliva of 10 healthy participants and 10 participants with mild and severe periodontal disease were measured using the established enzymatic method and conventional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The quantification of C2 and [C3-C6] in human GCF and saliva was well correlated when using the GC-MS method. Furthermore, both C2 and [C3-C6] in the GCF increased with disease severity. However, while no significant difference was observed between healthy participants and periodontal patients when using saliva, [C3-C6] significantly differed between mild and severe periodontal disease. The enzymatic method was able to measure C2 and [C3-C6] separately as well as using the GC-MS method. Furthermore, the C2 and [C3-C6] fractions of GCF correlated with disease severity, suggesting that this method can be applied clinically. In contrast, the quantification of C2 and [C3-C6] in saliva did not differ significantly between healthy participants and patients with periodontal disease. Future studies should focus on inflammation rather than on tissue destruction

Defluorination/fluorination mechanism of Bi₀.₈Ba₀.₂F₂.₈ as a fluoride shuttle battery positive electrode

Fluoride shuttle batteries (FSBs), which utilize F– ion migration in electrochemical reactions, have recently advanced in academic research as next-generation rechargeable batteries. Bismuth trifluoride (BiF₃) and its relatives are expected to be promising positive electrode materials for FSBs because of their high theoretical capacity. Herein, the defluorination/fluorination reaction of a BaF₂-doped BiF₃, Bi₀.₈Ba₀.₂F₂.₈, positive electrode was investigated using synchrotron-radiation X-ray diffraction, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The Bi₀.₈Ba₀.₂F₂.₈ electrode showed a higher reversible capacity in the first cycle and improved capacity retention compared to the BiF₃ electrode. The pristine Bi₀.₈Ba₀.₂F₂.₈ showed a tysonite-type structure, and metallic Bi and BaF₂ nanoparticles were observed in the fully defluorinated state. Moreover, we found that the (re-)fluorinated material consisted of BiF₃ and BaF₂ nanoparticles, indicating that bismuth is the only redox-active element, and that the tysonite structure is not recovered after the initial discharging. This suggests that the cycle performance of the Bi₀.₈Ba₀.₂F₂.₈ electrode may be improved due to the suppression of the coarsening of BiF₃ nanoparticles by the adhesion of BaF₂ nanoparticles formed after initial defluorination