Surface Nanofabrication in Photosensitive Polymers at the diffraction limit of light and down to 47 nm by Metal Tip-Enhanced Near Field light : Light Induced Nanomovement of Polymers

This paper discusses surface nanofabrication in azo-polymers. Nanoscale polymer movement is induced by a tightly focused laser beam in an azo-polymer film just at the diffraction limit of light. The deformation pattern which is produced by photoisomerization of the azo dye is strongly dependent on the incident laser polarization and the longitudinal focus position of the laser beam along the optical axis. The anisotropic nanofluidity of the polymer film and the optical gradient force played important roles in the light induced polymer movement. We also explored the limits of the size of the photo-induced deformation, and we found that the deformation depends on the laser intensity and the exposure time. The smallest deformation size achieved was 200 nm in full width of half maximum; a value which is nearly equal to the size of the diffraction limited laser spot. Beyond the limit of light diffraction, a nano protrusion was optically induced on the surface of the films by metal tip enhanced near-filed illumination. A silver coated tip was located inside the diffraction limited spot of a focused laser beam (460 nm), and an enhanced near-field, with 30 nm light spot, was generated in the vicinity of the tip due to localized surface plasmons. The incident light intensity was carefully regulated to induce surface nanodeformation by such a near-field spot. A nano protrusion with 47 nm full width of half maximum and 7 nm height was induced with a resolution beyond the diffraction limit of the light. The protrusion occurs because the film is attracted towards the tip end during irradiation. At the top of the protrusion, an anisotropic nanomovement of the polymer occurs in a direction nearly parallel to the polarization of the incident light, and suggests the existence at the tip end of not only a longitudinal, i.e., along the tip long axis, but also a lateral component of the electric field of light. The azo-polymer film helps map the electric field in the close vicinity of the tip.This paper discusses surface nanofabrication in azo-polymers. Nanoscale polymer movement is induced by a tightly focused laser beam in an azo-polymer film just at the diffraction limit of light. The deformation pattern which is produced by photoisomerization of the azo dye is strongly dependent on the incident laser polarization and the longitudinal focus position of the laser beam along the optical axis. The anisotropic nanofluidity of the polymer film and the optical gradient force played important roles in the light induced polymer movement. We also explored the limits of the size of the photo-induced deformation, and we found that the deformation depends on the laser intensity and the exposure time. The smallest deformation size achieved was 200 nm in full width of half maximum; a value which is nearly equal to the size of the diffraction limited laser spot. Beyond the limit of light diffraction, a nano protrusion was optically induced on the surface of the films by metal tip enhanced near-filed illumination. A silver coated tip was located inside the diffraction limited spot of a focused laser beam (460 nm), and an enhanced near-field, with 30 nm light spot, was generated in the vicinity of the tip due to localized surface plasmons. The incident light intensity was carefully regulated to induce surface nanodeformation by such a near-field spot. A nano protrusion with 47 nm full width of half maximum and 7 nm height was induced with a resolution beyond the diffraction limit of the light. The protrusion occurs because the film is attracted towards the tip end during irradiation. At the top of the protrusion, an anisotropic nanomovement of the polymer occurs in a direction nearly parallel to the polarization of the incident light, and suggests the existence at the tip end of not only a longitudinal, i.e., along the tip long axis, but also a lateral component of the electric field of light. The azo-polymer film helps map the electric field in the close vicinity of the tip

Details on the effect of very short dual antiplatelet therapy after drug-eluting stent implantation in patients with high bleeding risk: insight from the STOPDAPT-2 trial

Previously we briefly reported the effect of 1-month dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) for patients with high bleeding risk (HBR) receiving percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the STOPDAPT-2 trial, but full analysis data have not been available. We conducted post hoc subgroup analysis regarding the effect of very short DAPT for HBR patients in STOPDAPT-2 trial. The primary endpoint was a 1-year composite of cardiovascular (cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, definite stent thrombosis, or stroke) and bleeding (TIMI major/minor bleeding) outcomes. Major secondary endpoints were 1-year cardiovascular composite endpoint and bleeding endpoint. HBR was defined by the academic research consortium (ARC) HBR criteria. Among the 3009 study patients, 1054 (35.0%) were classified as HBR and 1955 (65.0%) were as non-HBR. There were no significant interactions between HBR/non-HBR subgroups and the assigned DAPT group on the primary endpoint (HBR; 3.48% vs. 5.98%, HR 0.57, 95% CI 0.32-1.03, and non-HBR; 1.81% vs. 2.36%, HR 0.78, 95% CI 0.42-1.45; P for interaction = 0.48), the major secondary cardiovascular endpoint (HBR; 3.07% vs. 4.03%, HR 0.77, 95% CI 0.40-1.48, and non-HBR; 1.41% vs. 1.61%, HR 0.89, 95% CI 0.43-1.84; P for interaction = 0.77), and the major secondary bleeding endpoint (HBR; 0.41% vs. 2.71%, HR 0.15, 95% CI 0.03-0.65, and non-HBR; 0.40% vs. 0.85%, HR 0.48, 95% CI 0.14-1.58; P for interaction = 0.22). In conclusion, the effects of 1-month DAPT for the primary and major secondary endpoints were consistent in HBR and non-HBR patients without any significant interactions. The benefit of 1-month DAPT in reducing major bleeding was numerically greater in HBR patients.Clinical trial registration Short and optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy after everolimus-eluting cobalt-chromium stent-2 [STOPDAPT-2]; NCT02619760

Omecamtiv mecarbil in chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, GALACTIC‐HF: baseline characteristics and comparison with contemporary clinical trials

Aims: The safety and efficacy of the novel selective cardiac myosin activator, omecamtiv mecarbil, in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is tested in the Global Approach to Lowering Adverse Cardiac outcomes Through Improving Contractility in Heart Failure (GALACTIC‐HF) trial. Here we describe the baseline characteristics of participants in GALACTIC‐HF and how these compare with other contemporary trials. Methods and Results: Adults with established HFrEF, New York Heart Association functional class (NYHA) ≥ II, EF ≤35%, elevated natriuretic peptides and either current hospitalization for HF or history of hospitalization/ emergency department visit for HF within a year were randomized to either placebo or omecamtiv mecarbil (pharmacokinetic‐guided dosing: 25, 37.5 or 50 mg bid). 8256 patients [male (79%), non‐white (22%), mean age 65 years] were enrolled with a mean EF 27%, ischemic etiology in 54%, NYHA II 53% and III/IV 47%, and median NT‐proBNP 1971 pg/mL. HF therapies at baseline were among the most effectively employed in contemporary HF trials. GALACTIC‐HF randomized patients representative of recent HF registries and trials with substantial numbers of patients also having characteristics understudied in previous trials including more from North America (n = 1386), enrolled as inpatients (n = 2084), systolic blood pressure < 100 mmHg (n = 1127), estimated glomerular filtration rate < 30 mL/min/1.73 m2 (n = 528), and treated with sacubitril‐valsartan at baseline (n = 1594). Conclusions: GALACTIC‐HF enrolled a well‐treated, high‐risk population from both inpatient and outpatient settings, which will provide a definitive evaluation of the efficacy and safety of this novel therapy, as well as informing its potential future implementation

Effect of Size Change and Brightness Change of Visual Stimuli on Loudness Perception and Pitch Perception of Auditory Stimuli

People obtain a lot of information from visual and auditory sensation on daily life. Regarding the effect of visual stimuli on perception of auditory stimuli, studies of phonological perception and sound localization have been made in great numbers. This study examined the effect of visual stimuli on perception in loudness and pitch of auditory stimuli. We used the image of figures whose size or brightness was changed as visual stimuli, and the sound of pure tone whose loudness or pitch was changed as auditory stimuli. Those visual and auditory stimuli were combined independently to make four types of audio-visual multisensory stimuli for psychophysical experiments. In the experiments, participants judged change in loudness or pitch of auditory stimuli, while they judged the direction of size change or the kind of a presented figure in visual stimuli. Therefore they cannot neglect visual stimuli while they judged auditory stimuli. As a result, perception in loudness and pitch were promoted significantly around their difference limen, when the image was getting bigger or brighter, compared with the case in which the image had no changes. This indicates that perception in loudness and pitch were affected by change in size and brightness of visual stimuli

Effect of Visual Stimuli on Temporal Order Judgments of a Sequence of Pure Tones

We investigated what effect visual spatial information had on auditory temporal order judgments (TOJs) and examined what effect visual stimuli had on the TOJs of sequences of pure tones in experiment 1. The auditory stimuli were sequences of four distinct pure tones. The visual stimuli consisted of two vertically aligned flashes: one flashed before the first tone and the other flashed after the last tone. Participants judged whether the temporal order of the second and third tones in auditory stimuli occurred with the higher tone being first or the lower tone being first. As a result, the proportion of responses for higher-tone-first increased when the flash of the upper LED preceded that of the lower LED, independent of the actual temporal order. Participants in experiment 2 were asked to make simultaneity judgments instead, which were also affected by visual stimuli. The auditory stimuli in experiment 3 were the same as those in experiment 1, whereas the visual stimuli consisted of two horizontally aligned flashes. Furthermore, the participants made TOJs, which were not affected by the horizontally aligned visual stimuli. We concluded that vertically aligned visual stimuli had an effect on auditory TOJs with some response bias

Effects of Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate on Matrix Metalloproteinases in Terms of Its Anticancer Activity

Epidemiological studies have shown that the consumption of green tea has beneficial effects against cancer. Basic studies have provided evidence that epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is a major contributor to these effects. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are zinc-dependent metalloproteinases with the ability to degrade the extracellular matrix proteins and are involved in various diseases including cancer in which MMPs have a critical role in invasion and metastasis. In this review, we discuss the effects of EGCG on several types of MMPs in the context of its anticancer activity. In the promoter region, MMPs have binding sites for at least one transcription factor of AP-1, Sp1, and NF-κB, and EGCG can downregulate these transcription factors through signaling pathways mediated by reactive oxygen species. EGCG can also decrease nuclear ERK, p38, heat shock protein-27 (Hsp27), and β-catenin levels, leading to suppression of MMPs’ expression. Other mechanisms by which EGCG inhibits MMPs include direct binding to MMPs to prevent their activation and downregulation of NF-κB to suppress the production of inflammatory cytokines such as TNFα and IL-1β. Findings from studies on EGCG presented here may be useful in the development of more effective anti-MMP agents, which would give beneficial effects on cancer and other diseases

Organophosphorus flame retardants in house dust from the Philippines: Occurrence and assessment of human exposure

The use of organophosphorus flame retardants (PFRs) as flame retardants and plasticizers has increased due to the ban on common polybrominated diphenyl ether mixtures. However, only limited information on PFR contamination is available so far from Southeast Asia. In the present study, residual levels of PFRs in house dust and exposure through dust ingestion were investigated in the Philippines. House dust samples (n = 37) were collected from Malate (residential area) and Payatas (municipal dumping area) in the Philippines and analyzed using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. Among the targeted seven PFRs, triphenyl phosphate (TPP) was the predominant compound. Median levels of ΣPFRs in Malate (530 ng/g) were two times higher (p \u3c 0. 05) than in Payatas (240 ng/g). The estimated daily intake of PFRs in the Philippines (of areas studied) via house dust ingestion was below the guideline values. House dust may be an important contributor in the overall exposure of humans to TPP even when considering dietary sources. To our knowledge, this is a first report on PFR contamination in house dust from developing country. PFRs were ubiquitously detected in the home environments in the Philippines. Although estimated exposure levels through dust ingestion were below the guideline, it was suggested that toddlers are at higher risk. Therefore, further investigations to understand the behavior of PFRs in house and other microenvironments and overall exposure pathways for the country\u27s populace to PFRs are necessary. © 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

Efficacy of Over-The-Scope Clip Method as a Novel Hemostatic Therapy for Colonic Diverticular Bleeding

Colonic diverticular could bleed recurrently, and, sometimes, fatal massive bleeding could occur. However, the choice of endoscopic hemostasis remains controversial. Although the over-the-scope clip (OTSC) method has been reported to be effective, it has not been fully evaluated due to the small number of cases. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the OTSC method for colonic diverticular bleeding. Between August 2017 and December 2020, 36 consecutive patients, including those who could not be treated using endoscopic band ligation (EBL) and those in whom re-bleeding had occurred after EBL, underwent the OTSC method for hemostasis of colonic diverticular bleeding at Hyogo Prefectural Awaji Medical Center. The procedure success rate, adverse events rate, early phase re-bleeding rate (within 30 days following primary hemostasis), and the requirement rate for additional transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) or surgery were the outcomes assessed. The outcomes were procedure success rate 100%, adverse events rate 0%, early phase re-bleeding rate 8.3%, and additional TAE or surgery rate 0%. These results suggest that the OTSC method is a safe and effective treatment for managing colonic diverticular bleeding