Dissipative hydrodynamic equation of a ferromagnetic Bose-Einstein condensate: Analogy to magnetization dynamics in conducting ferromagnets

The hydrodynamic equation of a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) gives a simple description of spin dynamics in the condensate. We introduce the hydrodynamic equation of a ferromagnetic BEC with dissipation originating from the energy dissipation of the condensate. The dissipative hydrodynamic equation has the same form as an extended Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert (LLG) equation, which describes the magnetization dynamics of ferromagnets interacting with spin-polarized currents. Employing the dissipative hydrodynamic equation, we demonstrate the magnetic domain pattern dynamics of a ferromagnetic BEC in the presence and absence of a current of particles, and discuss the effects of the current on domain pattern formation. We also discuss the characteristic lengths of domain patterns that have domain walls with and without finite magnetization.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figure

Prevalence of Exogenous Hormone Use in Japanese Women

Background: There have been few community-based epidemiological studies in which the prevalence of exogenous hormone use, including the use of oral contraceptives (OCs) and hormone replacement therapy (HRT), has been accurately assessed in Japan. Methods: We have been conducting repeated surveys of participants in the Japan Nurses’ Health Study (JNHS), as a nationwide prospective cohort study, since 2001. We determined the prevalence of exogenous hormone use at baseline and during a 10-year follow-up period. A total of 15,019 female nurses participated in the JNHS follow-up cohort. We determined the prevalence of OC use in 14,839 women <60 years of age at baseline and the prevalence of HRT use in 7,915 women, excluding premenopausal women, at the last time they answered a questionnaire. The duration of HRT use was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: Six percent of the participants used OCs. The proportion of HRT users who stopped HRT before the baseline survey, the proportion of women using HRT during the follow-up period, and the proportion of all of the participants who had used HRT were 3.2%, 10.6%, and 13.8%, respectively. The median duration of HRT use was 2 years. Conclusions: The lifetime prevalences of exogenous hormone use during this prospective study conducted in Japanese nurses were 6.0% for OCs and 13.8% for HRT. The information obtained in this study will be useful for clarification of the association between exogenous estrogen exposure and estrogen-related diseases as future research

Glycerol as a chemical chaperone enhances radiation-induced apoptosis in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma cells

INTRODUCTION: Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma, which is one of the most aggressive, malignant tumors in humans, results in an extremely poor prognosis despite chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The present study was designed to evaluate therapeutic effects of radiation by glycerol on p53-mutant anaplastic thyroid carcinoma cells (8305c cells). To examine the effectiveness of glycerol in radiation induced lethality for anaplastic thyroid carcinoma 8305c cells, we performed colony formation assay and apoptosis analysis. RESULTS: Apoptosis was analyzed with Hoechst 33342 staining and DNA ladder formation assay. 8305c cells became radiosensitive when glycerol was added to culture medium before X-ray irradiation. Apoptosis was induced by X-rays in the presence of glycerol. However, there was little apoptosis induced by X-ray irradiation or glycerol alone. The binding activity of whole cell extracts to bax promoter region was induced by X-rays in the presence of glycerol but not by X-rays alone. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that glycerol is effective against radiotherapy of p53-mutant thyroid carcinomas

Association between FSH, E1, and E2 levels in urine and serum in premenopausal and postmenopausal women

Objective: We aimed to establish correlations for the levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), estrone (E1) and estradiol (E2) between urine and serum in premenopausal and postmenopausal women using immunoassays. Methods: In this study of 92 women (61 postmenopausal, 31 premenopausal), both urine and blood specimens were collected on the same day and stored at 4 °C for analysis by chemiluminescent immunoassay, radioimmunoassay and/or electrochemiluminescent immunoassay. Results: There were correlations in the levels of FSH, E1 and E2 between urine and serum in both postmenopausal (r = 0.96 for FSH, r = 0.91 for E1, r = 0.80 for E2) and premenopausal (r = 0.98 for FSH, r = 0.92 for E1, r = 0.90 for E2) women. It is indicated that the correlations were stronger in the premenopausal group compared with the postmenopausal group, especially for FSH. Conclusion: The levels of FSH, E1 and E2 in urine correlated with those in the serum in premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Urine samples could be used instead of serum samples to measure hormone levels, which would reduce the difficulty of conducting large survey studies

Analysis Of Opportunities And Challenges For The Water-energy Nexus

The economic development, the population growth and the urbanization will increase water and energy world demand. As a consequence, the conflict between water resources and energy production will be intensified and the environment will be impacted by this competition. In addition to the direct influence of human activities, climate changes and extreme climate events have affected the water availability and, as consequence, the energy production. The aims of this article are to present the water-energy nexus and the importance of making an integrated planning between water and energy sectors. This article also presents the main challenges and opportunities that researchers, companies and governments will find in order to guide more sustainable regarding the water-energy nexus. Thus, it is indispensable to consider the water-energy nexus in planning and government decision-making at all levels, from municipal to national.3793

新人看護師における職場の組織風土とコミットメントおよび離職意向の関連

Nuses\u27 intention to leave the organization or occupation, especially that of newly graduated nurses, has been the most important issue. If this trend continues, 15,900nurses will be needed in 2010. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between organizational climate, organizational commitment, and intention to leave the organization to prevent newly graduated nurses from leaving their organizations. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 167 newly graduated nurses, sixty-one of whom (36.5%) mailed the questionnaire anonymously. Fifty participants had completed the questionnaire including items on demographics, intention to leave the organization, organizational climate, and orfanizational commitment. The mean age was 22.3 years, 19 of them (38.0%) had completed a three-year diploma program in nursing. Only one of them was married. They had worked for an average of 5.2 ± 0.6 months; an average 5.2 ± 2.9 times per month on the night shift, and an average of 6.7 ± 6.4 overtime hours per week. They were working in hospitals with an average of 406 ± 349 beds, half of them in government hospitals. Traditional organizational climate was negatively associated with intention to leave the organization. Path analysis was performed to test the fit of the causal model to the data. As a result, fit of the hypothesized model to the data was considered adequate: chi-square fit statistic (χ&sup2;) = 8.48, DF = 8, p = 0.205, the adjusted goodness-of-fit statistic (AGFI) = 0.848, the goodness-of-fit statistic (GFI) = 0.957, the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.087, and CFI = 0.966. It was found that intention to leave was indirectily influenced by traditional organizational climete through the intervening effect of organizational commitment