Magnetic properties of epitaxial Fe3_3O4_4 films with various crystal orientations and TMR effect in room temperature

Fe$_3$O$_4$ is a ferrimagnetic spinel ferrite that exhibits electric conductivity at room temperature (RT). Although the material has been predicted to be a half metal according to ab-initio calculations, magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with Fe$_3$O$_4$ electrodes have demonstrated a small tunnel magnetoresistance effect. Not even the sign of the TMR ratio has been experimentally established. Here, we report on the magnetic properties of epitaxial Fe$_3$O$_4$ films with various crystal orientations. The films exhibited apparent crystal orientation dependence on hysteresis curves. In particular, Fe$_3$O$_4$(110) films exhibited in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy. With respect to the squareness of hysteresis, Fe$_3$O$_4$ (111) demonstrated the largest squareness. Furthermore, we fabricated MTJs with Fe$_3$O$_4$(110) electrodes, and obtained an TMR effect of -12\% at RT. The negative TMR ratio corresponded to the negative spin polarization of Fe$_3$O$_4$ predicted from band calculations

Epithelial Splicing Regulatory Protein 1 is a Favorable Prognostic Factor in Pancreatic Cancer that Attenuates Pancreatic Metastases

Epithelial splicing regulatory protein 1 (ESRP1) binds the FGFR-2 auxiliary cis-element ISE/ISS-3, located in the intron between exon IIIb and IIIc, and primarily promotes FGFR-2 IIIb expression. Here we assessed the role of ESRP1 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Immunohistochemical analysis was performed using anti-ESRP1, FGFR-2 IIIb and FGFR-2 IIIc antibodies in 123 PDAC cases. ESRP1-expression vector and small interference RNA (siRNA) targeting ESRP1 were transfected into human PDAC cells, and cell growth, migration and invasion were analyzed. In vivo heterotopic and orthotopic implantations using ESRP1 overexpression clones were performed and effects on pancreatic tumor volumes and hepatic and pulmonary metastases determined. ESRP1 immunoreactivity was strong in the nuclei of cancer cells in well-to-moderately differentiated PDACs, but weak in poorly-differentiated cancers. Well-to-moderately differentiated cancers also exhibited high FGFR-2 IIIb and low FGFR-2 IIIc expression, whereas this ratio was reversed in the poorly-differentiated cancers. Increased ESRP1 expression was associated with longer survival by comparison with low-ESRP1 expression, and PANC-1 cells engineered to express ESRP1 exhibited increased FGFR-2 IIIb expression and decreased migration and invasion in vitro, whereas ESRP1 siRNA-transfected KLM-1 cells exhibited increased FGFR-2 IIIc expression and increased cell growth, migration and invasion. In vivo, ESRP1-overexpressing clones formed significantly fewer liver metastases as compared with control clones. ESRP1 regulates the expression pattern of FGFR-2 isoforms, attenuates cell growth, migration, invasion, and metastasis, and is a favorable prognostic factor in PDAC. Therefore, devising mechanisms to up-regulate ESRP1 may exert a beneficial therapeutic effect in PDAC

Resin Permeability Analysis For Woven Composites Using A Three-Scale Homogenization Method

In this study, resin permeability of plain-woven composites is analyzed using a three-scale homogenization method. To this end, the three-scale homogenization method is developed to analyze the resin flow through both the structures of fiber bundles and the inside of fiber bundles, and also the mesoscopic and macroscopic resin permeability. To evaluate the validity of this method, resin permeability and characteristic flow velocity of plain-woven glass fiber-reinforced plastic (GFRP) are analyzed. The results show that the present method successfully analyzes the resin permeability of plain-woven composites

Genome-wide association study of individual differences of human lymphocyte profiles using large-scale cytometry data

Human immune systems are very complex, and the basis for individual differences in immune phenotypes is largely unclear. One reason is that the phenotype of the immune system is so complex that it is very difficult to describe its features and quantify differences between samples. To identify the genetic factors that cause individual differences in whole lymphocyte profiles and their changes after vaccination without having to rely on biological assumptions, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS), using cytometry data. Here, we applied computational analysis to the cytometry data of 301 people before receiving an influenza vaccine, and 1, 7, and 90 days after the vaccination to extract the feature statistics of the lymphocyte profiles in a nonparametric and data-driven manner. We analyzed two types of cytometry data: measurements of six markers for B cell classification and seven markers for T cell classification. The coordinate values calculated by this method can be treated as feature statistics of the lymphocyte profile. Next, we examined the genetic basis of individual differences in human immune phenotypes with a GWAS for the feature statistics, and we newly identified seven significant and 36 suggestive single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with the individual differences in lymphocyte profiles and their change after vaccination. This study provides a new workflow for performing combined analyses of cytometry data and other types of genomics data

Biological Dose Evaluation Of Radiotherapy By Equivalent Dose In 2Gy Fractions (EQD2) In Recurrent Glioblastoma.

The standard treatment for glioblastoma is surgery followed by radiation therapy (RT) and temozolomide (TMZ) chemotherapy. A total dose of 60 Gy given in 2 Gy fractions (fr) with concurrent and adjuvant TMZ has been recommended; however, local recurrences are frequent and the prognosis remains very poor. In this study, the equivalent dose in 2Gy fr (EQD2) at the recurrent site of glioblastoma was assessed to evaluate the biological effect of RT on glioblastoma considering that α/β ratios might vary from 1 to 10 Gy. Recurrences were found in gross tumor volume (GTV) areas in all 11 patients, and 8 of them also showed recurrence in clinical target volume (CTV). Differences in EQD2 according to α/β ratios were relatively small in high-dose areas around 60 Gy; however, low-dose areas often showed significant differences of EQD2 according to the α/β ratios. In patients that received 60 Gy in 2 Gy fr, EQD2 was less than the original physical dose and became smaller as the α/β ratio became smaller. The comparison of the dose distribution of EQD2 and dose volume histogram (DVH) of EQD2 between α/β ratios 1 and 10 suggested that little difference was found in relatively high-dose areas but a significant difference was found in low-dose areas. In contrast, if the fraction size was larger than 2 Gy, EQD2 was greater than the original physical dose and it became larger as the α/β ratio became smaller. In conclusion, this study showed that the standard RT 60 Gy in 2 Gy fr is insufficient for glioblastoma, and it suggested that biological effects might differ significantly according to each fraction size of radiation and α/β ratio of the linear quadratic (LQ) model

Magnetostriction studies up to megagauss fields using fiber Bragg grating technique

We here report magnetostriction measurements under pulsed megagauss fields using a high-speed 100 MHz strain monitoring system devised using fiber Bragg grating (FBG) technique with optical filter method. The optical filter method is a detection scheme of the strain of FBG, where the changing Bragg wavelength of the FBG reflection is converted to the intensity of reflected light to enable the 100 MHz measurement. In order to show the usefulness and reliability of the method, we report the measurements for solid oxygen, spin-controlled crystal, and volborthite, a deformed Kagom\'{e} quantum spin lattice, using static magnetic fields up to 7 T and non-destructive millisecond pulse magnets up to 50 T. Then, we show the application of the method for the magnetostriction measurements of CaV$_{4}$O$_{9}$, a two-dimensional antiferromagnet with spin-halves, and LaCoO$_{3}$, an anomalous spin-crossover oxide, in the megagauss fields.Comment: 9pages, 6 figures, Conference proceedings for MegaGauss16 at Kashiwa, Japan in Sept. 201

Autonomic nervous alterations associated with daily level of fatigue

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Fatigue is a common symptom in both sick and healthy people. We examined autonomic nervous alterations associated with fatigue to clarify the mechanisms underlying fatigue.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study group consisted of 19 healthy participants who performed a 2-back test for 30 min as a fatigue-inducing mental task session. Before and after the session, they completed the advanced trail making test (ATMT) for 30 min for mental fatigue evaluation, subjective scales to measure fatigue sensation, and underwent electrocardiography to allow assessment of autonomic nerve activities.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After the fatigue-inducing task, the total error counts on the ATMT tended to increase (<it>P </it>= 0.076); the ATMT for total trial counts (<it>P </it>= 0.001), the subjective level of fatigue (<it>P </it>< 0.001), and the % low-frequency power (%LF) (<it>P </it>= 0.035) increased significantly; and the % high-frequency power (%HF) decreased compared with before the fatigue-inducing task although this did not reach the statistical significance (<it>P </it>= 0.170). Although LF measured in absolute units did not change significantly before and after the fatigue-inducing task (<it>P </it>= 0.771), and HF measured in absolute units decreased after the task (<it>P </it>= 0.020). The %LF and LF/HF ratio were positively associated with the daily level of fatigue evaluated using Chalder's fatigue scale. In addition, %HF was negatively associated with the fatigue score.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Increased sympathetic activity and decreased parasympathetic activity may be characteristic features of both acute and daily levels of fatigue. Our findings provide new perspectives on the mechanisms underlying fatigue.</p