Quantitative relations between corruption and economic factors

We report quantitative relations between corruption level and economic factors, such as country wealth and foreign investment per capita, which are characterized by a power law spanning multiple scales of wealth and investments per capita. These relations hold for diverse countries, and also remain stable over different time periods. We also observe a negative correlation between level of corruption and long-term economic growth. We find similar results for two independent indices of corruption, suggesting that the relation between corruption and wealth does not depend on the specific measure of corruption. The functional relations we report have implications when assessing the relative level of corruption for two countries with comparable wealth, and for quantifying the impact of corruption on economic growth and foreign investments.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure

Development of Thick-foil and Fine-pitch GEMs with a Laser Etching Technique

We have produced thick-foil and fine-pitch gas electron multipliers (GEMs) using a laser etching technique. To improve production yield we have employed a new material, Liquid Crystal Polymer, instead of polyimide as an insulator layer. The effective gain of the thick-foil GEM with a hole pitch of 140 um, a hole diameter of 70 um, and a thickness of 100 um reached a value of 10^4 at an applied voltage of 720 V. The measured effective gain of the thick-foil and fine-pitch GEM (80 um pitch, 40 um diameter, and 100 um thick) was similar to that of the thick-foil GEM. The gain stability was measured for the thick-foil and fine-pitch GEM, showing no significant increase or decrease as a function of elapsed time from applying the high voltage. The gain stability over 3 h of operation was about 0.5%. Gain mapping across the GEM showed a good uniformity with a standard deviation of about 4%. The distribution of hole diameters across the GEM was homogeneous with a standard deviation of about 3%. There was no clear correlation between the gain and hole diameter maps.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figure

Oxygen ultra-fine bubbles water administration prevents bone loss of glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis in mice by suppressing osteoclast differentiation

Summary: Oxygen ultra-fine bubbles (OUB) saline injection prevents bone loss of glucocorti\coid-induced osteoporosis in mice, and OUB inhibit osteoclastogenesis via RANK-TRAF6-c-Fos-NFATc1 signaling and RANK-p38 MAPK signaling in vitro. Introduction: Ultra-fine bubbles (<200 nm in diameter) have several unique properties, and they are tested in various medical fields. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of oxygen ultra-fine bubbles (OUB) on glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIO) model mice. Methods: Prednisolone (PSL, 5 mg) was subcutaneously inserted in 6-month-old male C57BL/6J mice, and 200 μl of saline, OUB-diluted saline, or nitrogen ultra-fine bubbles (NUB)-diluted saline was intraperitoneally injected three times per week for 8 weeks the day after operations. Mice were divided into four groups; (1) control, sham-operation + saline; (2) GIO, PSL + saline; (3) GIO + OUB, PSL + OUB saline; (4) GIO + NUB, PSL + NUB saline. The effects of OUB on osteoblasts and osteoclasts were examined by serially diluted OUB medium in vitro. Results: Bone mass was significantly decreased in GIO [bone volume/total volume (%): control vs. GIO 12.6 vs. 7.9; p < 0.01] while significantly preserved in GIO + OUB (GIO vs. GIO + OUB 7.9 vs. 12.9; p < 0.05). In addition, tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP)-positive cells in the distal femur [mean osteoclasts number/bone surface (mm−1)] was significantly increased in GIO (control vs. GIO 6.8 vs. 11.6; p < 0.01) while suppressed in GIO + OUB (GIO vs. GIO + OUB 11.6 vs. 7.5; p < 0.01). NUB did not affect these parameters. In vitro experiments revealed that OUB significantly inhibited osteoclastogenesis by inhibiting RANK-TRAF6-c-Fos-NFATc1 signaling, RANK-p38 MAPK signaling, and TRAP/Cathepsin K/DC-STAMP mRNA expression in a concentration-dependent manner. OUB did not affect osteoblastogenesis in vitro. Conclusions: OUB prevent bone loss in GIO mice by inhibiting osteoclastogenesis.This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-016-3830-1Noguchi T., Ebina K., Hirao M., et al. Oxygen ultra-fine bubbles water administration prevents bone loss of glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis in mice by suppressing osteoclast differentiation. Osteoporosis International 28, 1063 (2017); https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-016-3830-1

Achieving Practical and Accurate Indoor Navigation for People with Visual Impairments

Methods that provide accurate navigation assistance to people with visual impairments often rely on instrumenting the environment with specialized hardware infrastructure. In particular, approaches that use sensor networks of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons have been shown to achieve precise localization and accurate guidance while the structural modifications to the environment are kept at minimum. To install navigation infrastructure, however, a number of complex and time-critical activities must be performed. The BLE beacons need to be positioned correctly and samples of Bluetooth signal need to be collected across the whole environment. These tasks are performed by trained personnel and entail costs proportional to the size of the environment that needs to be instrumented. To reduce the instrumentation costs while maintaining a high accuracy, we improve over a traditional regression-based localization approach by introducing a novel, graph-based localization method using Pedestrian Dead Reckoning (PDR) and particle filter. We then study how the number and density of beacons and Bluetooth samples impact the balance between localization accuracy and set-up cost of the navigation environment. Studies with users show the impact that the increased accuracy has on the usability of our navigation application for the visually impaired

Impact of switching oral bisphosphonates to denosumab or daily teriparatide on the progression of radiographic joint destruction in patients with biologic-naïve rheumatoid arthritis

Summary: In biologic-naïve female RA patients, switching oral BPs to DMAb significantly reduced radiographic joint destruction compared to continuing oral BPs or switching to TPTD at 12 months, which were significantly associated with a decrease of a bone resorption marker at 6 months. Introduction: The aim of this study was to clarify the effects of switching oral bisphosphonates (BPs) to denosumab (DMAb) or daily teriparatide (TPTD) on the progression of radiographic joint destruction in patients with biologic-naïve rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods: A retrospective, case-controlled study involving 90 female RA patients (mean age 68.2 years, 96.7% postmenopausal, disease activity score assessing 28 joints with CRP (DAS28-CRP) 2.4, methotrexate treatment 81.1%, prednisolone treatment 68.9%, and prior BP treatment 44.8 months), who were allocated depending on each patient’s and physician’s wishes, to (1) the BP-continue group (n = 30), (2) the switch-to-DMAb group (n = 30), or (3) the switch-to-TPTD group (n = 30), was conducted. Patients were retrospectively selected to minimize the difference of possible clinical backgrounds that may affect the joint destruction of RA. The primary endpoint was to clarify the change of the modified total Sharp score (mTSS) from baseline to 12 months. Results: After 12 months, the mean changes of the modified Sharp erosion score were significantly lower in the switch-to-DMAb group (0.2 ± 0.1; mean ± standard error) than in the switch-to-TPTD group (1.3 ± 0.5; P < 0.05), and mTSS was significantly lower in the switch-to-DMAb group (0.3 ± 0.2) than in the BP-continue group (1.0 ± 0.3; P < 0.05) and the switch-to-TPTD group (1.7 ± 0.6; P < 0.05). The logistic regression analysis showed that mTSS changes were significantly associated with the percent changes of TRACP-5b at 6 months (β = 0.30, 95% CI = 0.002–0.016; P < 0.01). Conclusions: Changes of systemic bone turnover induced by switching BPs to DMAb or TPTD may affect not only systemic bone mass, but also local joint destruction, and its clinical relevance should be considered comprehensively.This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-018-4492-yEbina K., Hirao M., Hashimoto J., et al. Impact of switching oral bisphosphonates to denosumab or daily teriparatide on the progression of radiographic joint destruction in patients with biologic-naïve rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoporosis International 29, 1627 (2018); https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-018-4492-y

Classification of High Intensity Zones of the Lumbar Spine and Their Association with Other Spinal MRI Phenotypes: The Wakayama Spine Study

published_or_final_versio