Resistance control of a magnetoresistive manganite by spin-injection

We report a new spin-injection effect found for a manganite using a specially fabricated sample. A wire of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 was patterned by means of focused ion beam etching, and the central part was subsequently irradiated with Ga+ ions lightly. The ferromagnetic Curie temperature was reduced locally by the irradiation from Tc to Tc', and thus a sequential ferromagnetic/paramagnetic/ferromagnetic structure was realized along the wire between Tc and Tc'. The injection of spin-polarized current from the ferromagnetic manganite into the paramagnetic part rendered the latter ferromagnetic and more conductive. This can be explained by assuming the suppression of spin fluctuation in the paramagnet by the injected spins.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

Implementation of earlier antibiotic administration in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock in Japan: a descriptive analysis of a prospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: Time to antibiotic administration is a key element in sepsis care; however, it is difficult to implement sepsis care bundles. Additionally, sepsis is different from other emergent conditions including acute coronary syndrome, stroke, or trauma. We aimed to describe the association between time to antibiotic administration and outcomes in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock in Japan. METHODS: This prospective observational study enrolled 1184 adult patients diagnosed with severe sepsis based on the Sepsis-2 criteria and admitted to 59 intensive care units (ICUs) in Japan between January 1, 2016, and March 31, 2017, as the sepsis cohort of the Focused Outcomes Research in Emergency Care in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Sepsis and Trauma (FORECAST) study. We compared the characteristics and in-hospital mortality of patients administered with antibiotics at varying durations after sepsis recognition, i.e., 0-60, 61-120, 121-180, 181-240, 241-360, and 361-1440 min, and estimated the impact of antibiotic timing on risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality using the generalized estimating equation model (GEE) with an exchangeable, within-group correlation matrix, with "hospital" as the grouping variable. RESULTS: Data from 1124 patients in 54 hospitals were used for analyses. Of these, 30.5% and 73.9% received antibiotics within 1 h and 3 h, respectively. Overall, the median time to antibiotic administration was 102 min [interquartile range (IQR), 55-189]. Compared with patients diagnosed in the emergency department [90 min (IQR, 48-164 min)], time to antibiotic administration was shortest in patients diagnosed in ICUs [60 min (39-180 min)] and longest in patients transferred from wards [120 min (62-226)]. Overall crude mortality was 23.4%, where patients in the 0-60 min group had the highest mortality (28.0%) and a risk-adjusted mortality rate [28.7% (95% CI 23.3-34.1%)], whereas those in the 61-120 min group had the lowest mortality (20.2%) and risk-adjusted mortality rates [21.6% (95% CI 16.5-26.6%)]. Differences in mortality were noted only between the 0-60 min and 61-120 min groups. CONCLUSIONS: We could not find any association between earlier antibiotic administration and reduction in in-hospital mortality in patients with severe sepsis

Effect of troglitazone on tumor growth and pulmonary metastasis development of the mouse osteosarcoma cell line LM8

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Osteosarcoma often develops micrometastases in the lung prior to diagnosis, causing a fatal outcome. Therefore, the prevention of pulmonary metastases is critical for the improvement of the prognosis of patients with osteosarcoma. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether troglitazone (TGZ) is considered as possible therapeutics in the treatment of growth and metastasis of osteosarcoma.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>LM8 cells were treated for 3 days with various concentrations of TGZ. The effect of TGZ on cell proliferation was determined by DNA measurement in the cultures and 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine incorporation study. The assay of cell invasion and motility was performed using either the Matrigel-coated cell culture inserts or the uncoated cell culture inserts in the invasion chambers. The effect of TGZ on Akt signaling was assessed by Western blot analysis of Akt and p-Akt. The effects of oral administration of either TGZ (TGZ group) or ethanol (control group) on the growth of primary tumor and the development of pulmonary metastasis were examined in nude mice implanted with LM8 cells on their backs. The expression and activity of matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2) within the tumor were determined by immunohistochemistry and zymography. The microvessel density (MVD) within the tumor was determined by immunohistochemistry for CD34.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>TGZ dose-dependently inhibits cell proliferation. TGZ-treated cells were less invasive and less motile than untreated cells. The activity of MMP-2 secreted by TGZ-treated cells was lower than that secreted by untreated cells. TGZ decreased the level of p-Akt. The primary tumor mass was smaller in the TGZ group than in the control group. The TGZ group had less metastatic tumors in the lung compared with the control group. The expression and activity of MMP-2 within the tumor of the TGZ group were lower than those of the control group. The MVD within the tumor of the TGZ group was lower than that of the control group.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Inhibition of Akt signaling by TGZ may decrease the secretion of MMP-2, resulting in the decrease of invasiveness and motility in LM8 cells. Treatment of tumor-bearing mice with TGZ decreases the expression and activity of MMP-2 within the tumor, and inhibits primary tumor growth and pulmonary metastasis development. TGZ may offer a new approach in chemotherapy for osteosarcoma.</p

Role of β-adrenergic receptors in the oral activity of zinc-α2-glycoprotein (ZAG)

Zinc-a2-glycoprotein (ZAG) is an adipokine with the potential as a therapeutic agent in the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes. In this study we show that human ZAG, which is a 41-kDa protein, when administered to ob/ob mice at 50 µg/d-1 orally in the drinking water produced a progressive loss of body weight (5 g after 8 d treatment), together with a 0.5 C increase in rectal temperature and a 40% reduction in urinary excretion of glucose. There was also a 33% reduction in the area under the curve during an oral glucose tolerance test and an increased sensitivity to insulin. These results were similar to those after iv administration of ZAG. However, tryptic digestion was shown to inactivate ZAG. There was no evidence of human ZAG in the serum but a 2-fold elevation of murine ZAG, which was also observed in target tissues such as white adipose tissue. To determine whether the effect was due to interaction of the human ZAG with the ß-adrenergic (ß-AR) in the gastrointestinal tract before digestion, ZAG was coadministered to ob/ob mice together with propanolol (40 mg/kg-1), a nonspecific ß-AR antagonist. The effect of ZAG on body weight, rectal temperature, urinary glucose excretion, improvement in glucose disposal, and increased insulin sensitivity were attenuated by propanolol, as was the increase in murine ZAG in the serum. These results suggest that oral administration of ZAG increases serum levels through interaction with a ß-AR in the upper gastrointestinal tract, and gene expression studies showed this to be in the esophagus

Bisphenol A-Mediated Suppression of LPL Gene Expression Inhibits Triglyceride Accumulation during Adipogenic Differentiation of Human Adult Stem Cells

The endocrine disrupting chemical, bisphenol A (BPA), has been shown to accelerate the rate of adipogenesis and increase the amount of triglyceride accumulation during differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. The objective of this study was to investigate if that observation is mirrored in human primary cells. Here we investigated the effect of BPA on adipogenesis in cultured human primary adult stem cells. Continuous exposure to BPA throughout the 14 days of differentiation dramatically reduced triglyceride accumulation and suppressed gene transcription of the lipogenic enzyme, lipoprotein lipase (LPL). Results presented in the present study show for the first time that BPA can reduce triglyceride accumulation during adipogenesis by attenuating the expression of LPL gene transcription. Also, by employing image cytometric analysis rather than conventional Oil red O staining techniques we show that BPA regulates triglyceride accumulation in a manner which does not appear to effect adipogenesis per se

Structure and properties of densified silica glass: characterizing the order within disorder

世界一構造秩序のあるガラスの合成と構造解析に成功 --ガラスの一見無秩序な構造の中に潜む秩序を抽出--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-12-25.The broken symmetry in the atomic-scale ordering of glassy versus crystalline solids leads to a daunting challenge to provide suitable metrics for describing the order within disorder, especially on length scales beyond the nearest neighbor that are characterized by rich structural complexity. Here, we address this challenge for silica, a canonical network-forming glass, by using hot versus cold compression to (i) systematically increase the structural ordering after densification and (ii) prepare two glasses with the same high-density but contrasting structures. The structure was measured by high-energy X-ray and neutron diffraction, and atomistic models were generated that reproduce the experimental results. The vibrational and thermodynamic properties of the glasses were probed by using inelastic neutron scattering and calorimetry, respectively. Traditional measures of amorphous structures show relatively subtle changes upon compacting the glass. The method of persistent homology identifies, however, distinct features in the network topology that change as the initially open structure of the glass is collapsed. The results for the same high-density glasses show that the nature of structural disorder does impact the heat capacity and boson peak in the low-frequency dynamical spectra. Densification is discussed in terms of the loss of locally favored tetrahedral structures comprising oxygen-decorated SiSi4 tetrahedra

Endocrine disruptors and obesity

The purpose of this review is to summarise current evidence that some environmental chemicals may be able to interfere in endocrine regulation of energy metabolism and adipose tissue structure. Recent findings demonstrate that such endocrine disrupting chemicals, termed “obesogens”, can promote adipogenesis and cause weight gain. This includes compounds to which the human population is exposed in daily life through their use in pesticides/herbicides, industrial and household products, plastics, detergents, flame retardants and ingredients in personal care products. Animal models and epidemiological studies have shown that an especially sensitive time for exposure is in utero or the neonatal period. In summarising the actions of obesogens, it is noteworthy that as their structures are mainly lipophilic, their ability to increase fat deposition has the added consequence of increasing the capacity for their own retention. This has the potential for a vicious spiral not only of increasing obesity but also increasing retention of other lipophilic pollutant chemicals with an even broader range of adverse actions. This might offer an explanation as to why obesity is an underlying risk factor for so many diseases including cancer

Trends in life science grid: from computing grid to knowledge grid

BACKGROUND: Grid computing has great potential to become a standard cyberinfrastructure for life sciences which often require high-performance computing and large data handling which exceeds the computing capacity of a single institution. RESULTS: This survey reviews the latest grid technologies from the viewpoints of computing grid, data grid and knowledge grid. Computing grid technologies have been matured enough to solve high-throughput real-world life scientific problems. Data grid technologies are strong candidates for realizing "resourceome" for bioinformatics. Knowledge grids should be designed not only from sharing explicit knowledge on computers but also from community formulation for sharing tacit knowledge among a community. CONCLUSION: Extending the concept of grid from computing grid to knowledge grid, it is possible to make use of a grid as not only sharable computing resources, but also as time and place in which people work together, create knowledge, and share knowledge and experiences in a community