Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic evaluation of a new sustained-release capsules using starch-sponge matrix (SSM) release system for nifedipine in rats

We conducted a performance assessment study for a new sustained-release capsule including starch-sponge matrix (SSM). The SSM, which is a support medium for drug release, was made from 2.5% cornstarch glue by means of freezing dry method. The SSM capsule was applied for nifedipine (NFP), a calcium channel blocker, and evaluated pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) profiles of NFP after intraduodenal administration of SSM capsules including 2.5 or 5.0 mg of NFP per capsule to rats. Plasma NFP concentrations from the SSM capsules showed dose-dependent increases with a Michaelis-Menten like behavior over 360 minutes after intraduodenal administration. The values of area under the concentration vs. time curve from time zero to 360 min (AUC0-360) of NFP declined in making SSM capsules as compared to control capsules due to a simple physical mixture of NFP and cornstarch, but the values of mean residence time (MRT0-360) extended and abidingness of SSM capsules were admitted with dose-dependent manner. As for a PD parameter, the mean arterial blood pressure (mABP) derived from the SSM capsules showed 15~20% decrease of baseline within 120min after intraduodenal administration, and thereafter the mABP in 2.5 mg SSM capsule was gradually recovered, while a relatively smooth and even change was found in the mABP at 5.0 mg SSM capsule. The relationships between plasma NFP concentration and sampling-time corresponding mABP after intraduodenal administration of SSM capsules showed no rapid change in the mABP, indicating that a sustained-release mechanism due to the SSM functions sufficiently to avoid a fluctuating blood pressure accompanied by going up and down of plasma levels of NFP. The SSM capsules exhibited a sustained-release pharmacokinetics of NFP, and made the fluctuation range with blood pressure small compared to the physical mixture preparations. Thus, it was evidenced that the SSM capsule is useful device to provide a sustained-release systems and optimal therapeutic efficacy of drugs.Keywords: Controlled-release, Cornstarch, Matrix, Nifedipine, Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics

A new speech corpus of super-elderly Japanese for acoustic modeling

The development of accessible speech recognition technology will allow the elderly to more easily access electronically stored information. However, the necessary level of recognition accuracy for elderly speech has not yet been achieved using conventional speech recognition systems, due to the unique features of the speech of elderly people. To address this problem, we have created a new speech corpus named EARS (Elderly Adults Read Speech), consisting of the recorded read speech of 123 super-elderly Japanese people (average age: 83.1), as a resource for training automated speech recognition models for the elderly. In this study, we investigated the acoustic features of super-elderly Japanese speech using our new speech corpus. In comparison to the speech of less elderly Japanese speakers, we observed a slower speech rate and extended vowel duration for both genders, a slight increase in fundamental frequency for males, and a slight decrease in fundamental frequency for females. To demonstrate the efficacy of our corpus, we also conducted speech recognition experiments using two different acoustic models (DNN-HMM and transformer-based), trained with a combination of data from our corpus and speech data from three conventional Japanese speech corpora. When using the DNN-HMM trained with EARS and speech data from existing corpora, the character error rate (CER) was reduced by 7.8% (to just over 9%), compared to a CER of 16.9% when using only the baseline training corpora. We also investigated the effect of training the models with various amounts of EARS data, using a simple data expansion method. The acoustic models were also trained for various numbers of epochs without any modifications. When using the Transformer-based end-to-end speech recognizer, the character error rate was reduced by 3.0% (to 11.4%) by using a doubled EARS corpus with the baseline data for training, compared to a CER of 13.4% when only data from the baseline training corpora were used

Spin-Torque Diode Measurements of MgO-Based Magnetic Tunnel Junctions with Asymmetric Electrodes

We present a detailed study of the spin-torque diode effect in CoFeB/MgO/CoFe/NiFe magnetic tunnel junctions. From the evolution of the resonance frequency with magnetic field at different angles, we clearly identify the free-layer mode and find an excellent agreement with simulations by taking into account several terms for magnetic anisotropy. Moreover, we demonstrate the large contribution of the out-of-plane torque in our junctions with asymmetric electrodes compared to the in-plane torque. Consequently, we provide a way to enhance the sensitivity of these devices for the detection of microwave frequency

Detection of a new molecular cloud in the LHAASO J2108+5157 region supporting a hadronic PeVatron scenario

PeVatrons are the most powerful naturally occurring particle accelerators in the Universe. The identification of counterparts associated to astrophysical objects such as dying massive stars, molecular gas, star-forming regions, and star clusters is essential to clarify the underlying nature of the PeV emission, i.e., hadronic or leptonic. We present $^{12,13}$CO(J=2$\rightarrow$1) observations made with the 1.85~m radio-telescope of the Osaka Prefecture University toward the Cygnus OB7 molecular cloud, which contains the PeVatron candidate LHAASO J2108+5157. We investigate the nature of the sub-PeV (gamma-ray) emission by studying the nucleon density determined from the content of HI and H$_2$, derived from the CO observations. In addition to MML[2017]4607, detected via the observations of the optically thick $^{12}$CO(J=1$\rightarrow$0) emission, we infer the presence of an optically thin molecular cloud, named [FKT-MC]2022, whose angular size is 1.1$\pm$0.2$^{\circ}$. We propose this cloud as a new candidate to produce the sub-PeV emission observed in LHAASO J2108+5157. Considering a distance of 1.7 kpc, we estimate a nucleon (HI+H$_2$) density of 37$\pm$14 cm$^{-3}$, and a total nucleon mass(HI+H$_2$) of 1.5$\pm$0.6$\times$10$^4$ M$_{\odot}$. On the other hand, we confirm that Kronberger 82 is a molecular clump with an angular size of 0.1$^{\circ}$, a nucleon density $\sim$ 10$^3$ cm$^{-3}$, and a mass $\sim$ 10$^3$ M$_{\odot}$. Although Kronberger 82 hosts the physical conditions to produce the observed emission of LHAASO J2108+5157, [FKT-MC]2022 is located closer to it, suggesting that the latter could be the one associated to the sub-PeV emission. Under this scenario, our results favour a hadronic origin for the emission.Comment: Accepted for publication in PASJ (Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan). Accepted on 06-Mar-2023. 20 pages, 12 figures, 12 table

同志社女子大学における薬学部と看護学部の協働でのInterprofessional Education の取り組み

In the spring semester of 2021, the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Faculty of Nursing of Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts jointly conducted wheelchair experience training for the 1st-year students as a multidisciplinary education. We conducted a questionnaire survey on pharmacy and Nursing students before and after training in order to assess the effect of interprofessional education and analyzed the report after the training using text mining method. Questionnaire items are the importance of each item related to interprofessional collaboration, KiSS-18 (Kikuchi’s scale of social skills: 18 items), RIPLS (readiness for interprofessional learning scale). The students of both faculties evaluated themselves quite high for even before the training and retained after the training. However, they may misunderstand or understand not quite well about their professional roles and mutual cooperation in the real clinical settings. It was found that it is necessary to further enhance the prior education on the knowledge content about IPE論

Generation of transgenic cynomolgus monkeys that express green fluorescent protein throughout the whole body.

Nonhuman primates are valuable for human disease modelling, because rodents poorly recapitulate some human diseases such as Parkinson\u27s disease and Alzheimer\u27s disease amongst others. Here, we report for the first time, the generation of green fluorescent protein (GFP) transgenic cynomolgus monkeys by lentivirus infection. Our data show that the use of a human cytomegalovirus immediate-early enhancer and chicken beta actin promoter (CAG) directed the ubiquitous expression of the transgene in cynomolgus monkeys. We also found that injection into mature oocytes before fertilization achieved homogenous expression of GFP in each tissue, including the amnion, and fibroblasts, whereas injection into fertilized oocytes generated a transgenic cynomolgus monkey with mosaic GFP expression. Thus, the injection timing was important to create transgenic cynomolgus monkeys that expressed GFP homogenously in each of the various tissues. The strategy established in this work will be useful for the generation of transgenic cynomolgus monkeys for transplantation studies as well as biomedical research