Single-crystal growth of the ternary BaFe2_2As2_2 phase using the vertical Bridgman technique

Ternary Ba-Fe-As system has been studied to determine a primary solidification field of the BaFe$_2$As$_2$ phase. We found that the BaFe$_2$As$_2$ phase most likely melts congruently and primarily solidifies either in the FeAs excess or Ba$_{x}$As$_{100-x}$ excess liquid. Knowing the primary solidification field, we have performed the vertical Bridgman growth using the starting liquid composition of Ba$_{15}$Fe$_{42.5}$As$_{42.5}$. Large single crystals of the typical size 10x4x2 mm$^3$ were obtained and their quality was confirmed by X-ray Laue and neutron diffraction.Comment: Submitted to Jpn. J. Appl. Phys.; revise

Endoscopic ultrasound-assisted direct peritoneal visualization with a small-caliber scope-a proof of concept study in a swine model

博士（医学）福島県立医科大

Design and synthesis of gene-directed caged cyclic nucleotides exhibiting cell type selectivity

We designed a new caging group that can be photoactivated only in the presence of a non-endogenous enzyme when exposed to 405 nm light. Because cells or tissues can be genetically tagged by an exogenously expressed enzyme, this novel method can serve as a strategy for adding targeting abilities to photocaged compounds

Bypassing Isolated Execution on RISC-V with Fault Injection

RISC-V is equipped with physical memory protection (PMP) to prevent malicious software from accessing protected memory regions. One of the main objectives of PMP is to provide a trusted execution environment (TEE) that isolates secure and insecure applications. In this study, we propose a fault injection attack to bypass the isolation based on PMP. The proposed attack scheme involves extracting successful glitch parameters for fault injection under the assumption of a black-box environment. We implement a proof-of-concept TEE compatible with PMP in RISC-V, and we verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed attack through some experiments conducted in the TEE. The results show that an attacker can bypass the isolation of the TEE and read data from the protected memory region

The effect of modifiable healthy practices on higher-level functional capacity decline among Japanese community dwellers

This study aimed to clarify the effects of the accumulation of 8 modifiable practices related to health, including smoking, alcohol drinking, physical activity, sleeping hours, body mass index, dietary diversity, ikigai (life worth living), and health checkup status, on higher-level functional capacity decline among Japanese community dwellers. Data were derived from the National Institute for Longevity Sciences - Longitudinal Study of Aging. Subjects comprised 1269 men and women aged 40 to 79 years at baseline (1997–2000) who participated in a follow-up postal survey (2013). Higher-level functional capacity was measured using the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence (total score and 3 subscales: instrumental self-maintenance, intellectual activity, and social role). The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for a decline in higher-level functional capacity in the follow-up study according to the total number of healthy practices were analyzed using the lowest category as a reference. Multivariate adjusted ORs (95% CIs) for the total score of higher-level functional capacity, which declined according to the total number of healthy practices (0–4, 5–6, 7–8 groups) were 1.00 (reference), 0.63 (0.44–0.92), and 0.54 (0.31–0.94). For the score of social role decline, multivariate adjusted ORs (95% CIs) were 1.00 (reference), 0.62 (0.40–0.97), and 0.46 (0.23–0.90), respectively (P for trend = 0.04). Having more modifiable healthy practices, especially in social roles, may protect against a decline in higher-level functional capacity among middle-aged and elderly community dwellers in Japan

Association between reduced serum BDNF levels and insomnia with short sleep duration among female hospital nurses

Objective: Previous studies have suggested that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is associated with sleep regulation in humans. However, its relationship with self-reported sleep problems has not been clarified. The aim of the present study was to examine the association between serum BDNF levels and sleep problems among hospital nurses. Methods: Participants were enrolled from among nurses working at a general hospital in Tokyo, Japan. Data from 577 women (age: 35.45 ± 10.90 years) were analyzed. This cross-sectional survey was conducted from November to December 2015. Serum BDNF concentrations were evaluated. Participants completed a self-reported questionnaire on sleep including the presence or absence of insomnia symptoms (ie, difficulty initiating sleep (DIS), difficulty maintaining sleep (DMS), and early morning awakening [EMA]), and sleep duration. Insomnia with short sleep duration (ISS) was defined as: DIS, or DMS, or EMA; and <6 h sleep duration. Results: Among 577 participants, 21.3% reported insomnia, 41.4% slept less than 6 h, and finally 12.5% suffered from ISS. Serum BDNF levels were significantly lower in subjects with ISS than in those without ISS. The serum BDNF levels in insomniacs were significantly lower than in non-insomniacs for short sleep duration (<6 h), while serum BDNF levels did not differ between insomniacs and non-insomniacs for normal sleep duration (≥6 h). Conclusion: This is the first documented study to indicate that ISS is associated with reduced serum BDNF levels. These results may lead to clarification of the underlying pathophysiological relationship between BDNF and poor sleep

Therapeutic angiogenesis by transplantation of induced pluripotent stem cell-derived Flk-1 positive cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are the novel stem cell population induced from somatic cells. It is anticipated that iPS will be used in the expanding field of regenerative medicine. Here, we investigated whether implantation of fetal liver kinase-1 positive (Flk-1⁺) cells derived from iPS cells could improve angiogenesis in a mouse hind limb model of ischemia.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Flk-1⁺cells were induced from iPS cells after four to five days of culture. Hind limb ischemia was surgically induced and sorted Flk-1⁺cells were directly injected into ischemic hind limbs of athymic nude mice. Revascularization of the ischemic hind limb was accelerated in mice that were transplanted with Flk-1⁺cells compared with control mice, which were transplanted with vehicle, as evaluated by laser Doppler blood flowmetry. Transplantation of Flk-1⁺cells also increased expression of VEGF mRNA in ischemic tissue compared to controls.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Direct local implantation of iPS cell-derived Flk-1⁺cells would salvage tissues from ischemia. These data indicate that iPS cells could be valuable in the therapeutic induction of angiogenesis.</p