Contour integral method for obtaining the self-energy matrices of electrodes in electron transport calculations

We propose an efficient computational method for evaluating the self-energy matrices of electrodes to study ballistic electron transport properties in nanoscale systems. To reduce the high computational cost incurred in large systems, a contour integral eigensolver based on the Sakurai-Sugiura method combined with the shifted biconjugate gradient method is developed to solve exponential-type eigenvalue problem for complex wave vectors. A remarkable feature of the proposed algorithm is that the numerical procedure is very similar to that of conventional band structure calculations. We implement the developed method in the framework of the real-space higher-order finite difference scheme with nonlocal pseudopotentials. Numerical tests for a wide variety of materials validate the robustness, accuracy, and efficiency of the proposed method. As an illustration of the method, we present the electron transport property of the free-standing silicene with the line defect originating from the reversed buckled phases.Comment: 36 pages, 13 figures, 2 table

口腔扁平上皮癌におけるインテグリンαvファミリー発現の臨床病理学的意義

広島大学(Hiroshima University)博士(歯学)Doctor of Philosophy in Dental Sciencedoctora

Distribution of Diacylglycerylhydroxymethyltrimethyl-β-alanine (DGTA) and Phosphatidylcholine in Brown Algae

Lipids were analyzed in thirteen species of brown algae collected at the seashore near Tokyo, Japan. Diacylglycerylhydroxymethyltrimethyl-β-alanine (DGTA), a recently identified betaine lipid, was found as a major lipid component in eight species of brown algae examined, namely, Ishige okamurai, Dictyota dichotoma, Pachydictyon coriaceum, Padina arborescens, Hizikia fusiformis, Sargassum horneri, S. ringgoldianum and S. thunbergii. However, phosphatidylcholine (PC) was not detected in any of these algae except I. okamurai. By contrast, PC was found as a major lipid component in five other species, namely, Colpomenia sinuosa, Endarachne binghamiae, Scytosiphon lomentarius, Eisenia bicyclis, Undaria pinnatifida. These algae in turn did not contain detectable amounts of DGTA. The fatty acid composition of four selected species, S. lomentarius, U. pinnatifida, D. dichotoma and H. fusiformis, was also studied. The fatty acid components of DGTA in D. dichotoma and H. fusiformis were similar to those of PC in U. pinnatifida, the major components being 16:0, 18:2 and 20:4ω6 (also 16:1 in D. dichotoma

Effect of single-dose extended-release oral azithromycin on anticoagulation status in warfarinized patients

Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible influence of single-dose 2.0-g azithromycin (AZ-ER) on anticoagulation in patients taking warfarin. Study Design. Eighteen consecutive patients receiving long-term stable warfarin therapy were enrolled in this study. AZ-ER was administered 1 hour prior to tooth extraction. The international normalized ratio (INR) value was measured prior to AZ-ER administration as well as during, 1 day after, and 7 days after the tooth extraction. Additionally, the azithromycin concentration in the extraction wound as well as in the peripheral venous blood was assessed. Results. The changes in INR throughout the study period were not statistically significant (2-factor analysis of variance, NS). The azithromycin concentration in extraction wounds was higher than that in peripheral veins. Conclusions. The results of this study suggest that prophylactic administration of AZ-ER to patients receiving daily warfarin therapy with a stable coagulation status has no relevant effect on the anticoagulant effect of warfarin. (Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol 2013;115:148-151)ArticleORAL SURGERY ORAL MEDICINE ORAL PATHOLOGY ORAL RADIOLOGY. 115(2):148-151 (2013)journal articl

Inference of potential genetic risks associated with large-scale releases of red sea bream in Kanagawa prefecture, Japan based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA analysis

Since 1978, millions of hatchery-reared red sea bream (Pagrus major) juveniles have been released in Sagami Bay and Tokyo Bay in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The stock enhancement program has contributed to total catch; however, no information regarding the genetic interactions with wild counterparts is available. Here, we combined 15 microsatellite loci and mitochondrial D-loop sequencing to characterize the genetic resources of red sea bream in Sagami Bay and Tokyo Bay and to elucidate the potential harmful genetic effects associated with fish releases. Both types of markers evidenced higher levels of genetic diversity in wild samples (SB and TB) compared with offspring before stocking (H07 and H08) as well as a hatchery-released sample recaptured in Sagami Bay (HR). Microsatellite F (ST) estimates and Bayesian clustering analysis found significant genetic differences among samples (F (ST) = 0.013-0.054), except for the two wild samples (F (ST) = 0.002) and HR vs. H07 (F (ST) = 0.007). On the other hand, mitochondrial-based Dcurrency sign (ST) suggested haplotypic similarity between SB, H07, and HR. The low effective number of females contributing to the offspring over multiple generations may be responsible for the lack of haplotypic differentiation. Moreover, the putative hatchery origin to three fish (8 %) without deformity in the inter-nostril epidermis was inferred for the first time. Our results showed the usefulness of combining nuclear and mitochondrial markers to elucidate genetic interactions between hatchery-released and wild red sea bream and warned about potential harmful genetic effects should interbreeding takes place

Essential roles of angiotensin II in vascular endothelial growth factor expression in sleep apnea syndrome

SummaryBackgroundHypoxia-induced endothelial cell dysfunction has been implicated in increased cardiovascular disease associated with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). OSAS mediates hypertension by stimulating angiotensin II (Ang II) production. Hypoxia and Ang II are the major stimuli of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which is a potent angiogenic cytokine and also contributes to the atherogenic process itself.Methods & resultsWe observed serum Ang II and VEGF levels and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) and neutrophil VEGF expression. Compared to controls, subjects with OSAS had significantly increased levels of serum Ang II and VEGF and VEGF mRNA expression in their leukocytes. To examine whether Ang II stimulates VEGF expression in OSAS, we treated PBMCs obtained from control subjects with Ang II and with an Ang II receptor type 1 (AT1) blocker, olmesartan. We observed an increased expression of VEGF in the Ang II-stimulated PBMCs and decreased in VEGF mRNA and protein expression in the PBMCs treated with olmesartan.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that the Ang II-AT1 receptors pathway potentially are involved in OSAS and VEGF-induced vascularity and that endothelial dysfunction might be linked to this change in Ang II activity within leukocytes of OSAS patients

Harnessing environmental microbiota for the discovery of novel biocatalytic enzymes using microbial single-cell genome sequencing

Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

An Activation Method of Topic Dictionary to Expand Training Data for Trend Rule Discovery

This paper improves a method which predicts whether evaluation objects such as companies and products are to be attractive in near future. The attractiveness is evaluated by trend rules. The trend rules represent relationships among evaluation objects, keywords, and numerical changes related to the evaluation objects. They are inductively acquired from text sequential data and numerical sequential data. The method assigns evaluation objects to the text sequential data by activating a topic dictionary. The dictionary describes keywords representing the numerical change. It can expand the amount of the training data. It is anticipated that the expansion leads to the acquisition of more valid trend rules. This paper applies the method to a task which predicts attractive stock brands based on both news headlines and stock price sequences. It shows that the method can improve the detection performance of evaluation objects through numerical experiments