Approximate Spin Projection for Broken-Symmetry Method and Its Application

A broken-(spin) symmetry (BS) method is now widely used for systems that involve (quasi) degenerated frontier orbitals because of their lower cost of computation. The BS method splits up-spin and down-spin electrons into two different special orbitals, so that a singlet spin state of the degenerate system is expressed as a singlet biradical. In the BS solution, therefore, the spin symmetry is no longer retained. Due to such spin-symmetry breaking, the BS method often suffers from a serious problem called a spin contamination error, so that one must eliminate the error by some kind of projection method. An approximate spin projection (AP) method, which is one of the spin projection procedures, can eliminate the error from the BS solutions by assuming the Heisenberg model and can recover the spin symmetry. In this chapter, we illustrate a theoretical background of the BS and AP methods, followed by some examples of their applications, especially for calculations of the exchange interaction and for the geometry optimizations

Highly Oxidized States of Phthalocyaninato Terbium(III) Multiple‐Decker Complexes Showing Structural Deformations, Biradical Properties and Decreases in Magnetic Anisotropy

Presented here is a comprehensive study of highly oxidized multiple‐decker complexes composed of Tb$_{III}$ and Cd$_{III}$ ions and two to five phthalocyaninato ligands, which are stabilized by electron-donating n-butoxy groups. From X-ray structural analyses, all the complexes become axially compressed upon ligand oxidation, resulting in bowl-shaped distortions of the ligands. In addition, unusual coexistence of square antiprism and square prism geometries around metal ions was observed in +4e charged species. From paramagnetic $^{1}$H NMR studies on the resulting series of triple, quadruple and quintuple-decker complexes, ligand oxidation leads to a decrease in the magnetic anisotropy, as predicted from theoretical calculations. Unusual paramagnetic shifts were observed in the spectra of the +2e charged quadruple and quintuple-decker complexes, indicating that those two species are actually unexpected triplet biradicals. Magnetic measurements revealed that the series of complexes show single-molecule magnet properties, which are controlled by the multi-step redox induced structural changes

Multiplex pneumatic control method for multi-drive system

Pneumatic actuators have several advantages such as light weight safety low cost and high compliance However many pneumatic actuators have complicated systems that include a compressor air tubes and pneumatic valves with electrical wires This research proposes a new control method for a multiplex pneumatic transmission constructed with special resonant valves and air tubes with a control system driven by air vibration in air tubes without electrical wires The control is simplified and effective for pneumatic systems having many degrees of freedom In this paper the development of a primitive model of the resonant valve and a prototype valve is described In addition two control methods which are a superimposing method and a time-sharing method are shown and the independent driving of four actuators is realized by using one of the control methods with air tubes only

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target

Use of the index of pulmonary vascular disease for predicting long-term outcome of pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with congenital heart disease

AimsLimited data exist on risk factors for the long-term outcome of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) associated with congenital heart disease (CHD-PAH). We focused on the index of pulmonary vascular disease (IPVD), an assessment system for pulmonary artery pathology specimens. The IPVD classifies pulmonary vascular lesions into four categories based on severity: (1) no intimal thickening, (2) cellular thickening of the intima, (3) fibrous thickening of the intima, and (4) destruction of the tunica media, with the overall grade expressed as an additive mean of these scores. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between IPVD and the long-term outcome of CHD-PAH.MethodsThis retrospective study examined lung pathology images of 764 patients with CHD-PAH aged <20 years whose lung specimens were submitted to the Japanese Research Institute of Pulmonary Vasculature for pulmonary pathological review between 2001 and 2020. Clinical information was collected retrospectively by each attending physician. The primary endpoint was cardiovascular death.ResultsThe 5-year, 10-year, 15-year, and 20-year cardiovascular death-free survival rates for all patients were 92.0%, 90.4%, 87.3%, and 86.1%, respectively. The group with an IPVD of ≥2.0 had significantly poorer survival than the group with an IPVD <2.0 (P = .037). The Cox proportional hazards model adjusted for the presence of congenital anomaly syndromes associated with pulmonary hypertension, and age at lung biopsy showed similar results (hazard ratio 4.46; 95% confidence interval: 1.45–13.73; P = .009).ConclusionsThe IPVD scoring system is useful for predicting the long-term outcome of CHD-PAH. For patients with an IPVD of ≥2.0, treatment strategies, including choosing palliative procedures such as pulmonary artery banding to restrict pulmonary blood flow and postponement of intracardiac repair, should be more carefully considered