Experimental and theoretical evidence for pressure-induced metallization in FeO with the rock-salt type structure

Electrical conductivity of FeO was measured up to 141 GPa and 2480 K in a laserheated diamond-anvil cell. The results show that rock-salt (B1) type structured FeO metallizes at around 70 GPa and 1900 K without any structural phase transition. We computed fully self-consistently the electronic structure and the electrical conductivity of B1 FeO as a function of pressure and temperature, and found that although insulating as expected at ambient condition, B1 FeO metallizes at high temperatures, consistent with experiments. The observed metallization is related to spin crossover

Poster Session

International Symposium on Tumor Biology in Kanazawa & Symposium on Drug Discoverry in Academics 2014 [DATE]: January 23(Thu)-24(Fri),2014, [Place]:Kanazawa Excel Hotel Tpkyu, Kanazawa, Japan, [Organizers]:Kanazawa Association of Tumor Biologists / Cancer Research Institute, Kanazawa Universit

Molecular hydrogen suppresses free-radical-induced cell death by mitigating fatty acid peroxidation and mitochondrial dysfunction

Molecular hydrogen (H2) was believed to be an inert and non-functional molecule in mammalian cells; however, we overturned the concept by reporting the therapeutic effects of H2 against oxidative stress. Subsequently, extensive studies revealed multiple functions of H2 by exhibiting the efficacies of H2 in various animal models and clinical studies. Here, we investigated the effect of H2 on free radical-induced cytotoxicity using tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) in a human acute monocytic leukemia cell line, THP-1. Cell membrane permeability was determined using lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assay and Hoechst 33342/propidium iodide (PI) staining. Fatty acid peroxidation and mitochondrial viability were measured using two kinds of fluorescent dyes, Liperfluo and C11-BODIPY, and using the alamarBlue assay based on the reduction of resazurin to resorufin by mainly mitochondrial succinate dehydrogenase, respectively. Mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) was evaluated using tetramethylrhodamine methyl ester. As a result, H2 protected the cultured cells against the cytotoxic effects induced by TBHP; H2 suppressed cellular fatty acid-peroxidation and cell membrane permeability, H2 mitigated the decline in mitochondrial oxidoreductase activity and MMP, and protected cells against cell death evaluated using PI-staining. These results suggested that H2 suppresses free radical-induced cell death through protection against fatty acid-peroxidation and mitochondrial dysfunction.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

A Robust Retrieval Engine for Proximal and Structural Search

This paper describes a new ranked retrieval model that enables proximal and structural search for structured texts. We extend the model proposed in Region Algebra to be robust by i) incorporating the idea of rankedness in keyword-based search, and ii) expanding queries. While in ordinary ranked retrieval models relevance measures are computed in terms of words, our model assumes that they are defined in more general structural fragments, i.e., extents (continuous fragments in a text) proposed in Region Algebra. We decompose queries into subqueries to allow the system not only to retrieve exactly matched extents but also to retrieve partially matched ones. Our model is robust like keyword-based search, and also enables us to specify the structural and linear positions in texts as done by Region Algebr

Spontaneously Diabetic Torii (SDT) Fatty Rat, a Novel Animal Model of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Shows Blunted Circadian Rhythms and Melatonin Secretion

In patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), impairments of circadian rhythms, including the sleep–wake cycle, blood pressure, and plasma melatonin concentrations, are frequently observed. Animal models of DM are also reported to show aberrant circadian rhythms. However, the changes in the circadian rhythms of plasma soluble substances, including melatonin, in diabetic animals are controversial. In the present study, we investigated the circadian rhythms of spontaneous locomotor activity, metabolic parameters (plasma glucose, triglyceride, and total cholesterol), and plasma melatonin concentrations in Spontaneously Diabetic Torii (SDT) fatty rats, a novel animal model of type 2 DM. Although SDT fatty rats exhibited low locomotor activity in the dark phase, no phase shifts were observed. The circadian variations of plasma metabolic parameters were more apparent in the SDT fatty rats compared with control Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats. The circadian rhythms of plasma melatonin concentrations were significantly impaired in SDT fatty rats. To get an insight into the mechanism underlying the impaired melatonin secretion in SDT fatty rats, the expression of arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (Aanat) and acetylserotonin O-methyltransferase (Asmt) mRNA, which encode the rate-limiting enzymes for melatonin synthesis, was investigated in the pineal gland. There were no significant differences in Aanat and Asmt expression between the control SD and SDT fatty rats. These results suggest that SDT fatty rats show impaired circadian rhythms and dysregulated melatonin secretion