Becoming a Surrogate Online : "Message Board" Surrogacy in Thailand

10.1353/asb.2013.0004Asian Bioethics Review5156-7

Numerical Calculations in Phase Equilibrium by Equation of State v3

A practical method for phase equilibrium calculations using the equation of state for a perfect solid and a perfect liquid is shown along with examples of Excel worksheets. The molecular systems of a perfect solid and a perfect liquid are assumed to be composed of single-type spherical molecules. The molecular interaction is expressed by a Lennard-Jones potential function. The pressure and internal energy of the system are expressed as functions of temperature and volume. Other thermodynamic functions such as entropy are also given as functions of temperature and volume. A thermodynamic constancy test is performed.完全固体・完全液体の状態方程式 v3に基づいて、相転移を計算する方法を示した。エクセルのワークシートを使って、ギブズエネルギーやその他の熱力学量を温度と体積の関数として得ることができる。VBAプログラムの例も添付した。熱力学的な恒等式を用いて、数値計算に大きな矛盾がないことを確かめた

Phase Equilibrium Calculations by Equation of State v2

Practical methods for phase equilibrium calculations by the equation of state for a perfect solid and liquid (v2) are described using examples of worksheets. Using the Microsoft Excel worksheets, the pressure, Gibbs energy and other thermodynamic quantities of a molecular system are obtained as functions of temperature and volume. Some examples of VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) programs are given to obtain volume and other thermodynamic properties as a function of temperature under a given pressure. The thermodynamic consistency test is performed as a function of temperature at a given pressure, where the difference between the heat capacity under a constant pressure and that under a constant volume should equal to an expression consisting of the thermal expansion coefficient, temperature, volume and isothermal compressibility.完全固体・完全液体の状態方程式に基づいて、相転移を計算する方法を示した。エクセルのワークシートを使って、ギブズエネルギーやその他の熱力学量を温度と体積の関数として得ることができる。VBAプログラムの例も添付した。熱力学的な恒等式を用いて、数値計算に大きな矛盾がないことを確かめた

Perfect Solid and Liquid

A 3-phase equilibrium in argon is obtained by the thermodynamics of the perfect solid and liquid. The equation of state (EOS) for a perfect solid is obtained for a pure substance of spherical molecules that undergo molecular interaction of the Lennard-Jones form. The primitive internal energy EOS for a perfect solid (referred to as v0 EOS) is the sum of the thermally averaged kinetic energy and the potential energy of the nearest neighbors in a face-centered cubic (FCC) solid at 0 K. The extended internal energy EOS for a perfect solid (v1) includes a long-range effect in the low density region as the internal energy in the van der Waals EOS. The pressure EOS is written as the volume derivative of the potential energy at 0 K to satisfy the EOS with respect to thermodynamics. The temperature effect in the virial term is included in the extended pressure EOS. The EOS for a perfect liquid is the van der Waals EOS with empirical coefficients to explain the 3-phase equilibrium. The change in entropy for a reversible process is calculated by the standard method. The thermodynamic quantities of each phase are written as functions of volume and temperature. In this way, the Gibbs energy per molecule is plotted as a function of pressure for both solid and liquid phases, and the crossing point in the plot is the phase transition point. The p-V-T relations on the equilibrium lines are comparable with the experimental and molecular simulation results. The calculated average potential energy and entropy on the phase boundaries are consistent with the simulations. The thermodynamic quantities under a low pressure are compared with the molecular dynamic simulations. The quantities examined are volume, internal energy, enthalpy, entropy, Helmholtz energy, Gibbs energy, expansion coefficient, isothermal compressibility and heat capacity under a constant pressure.固体についてレナードージョーンズ相互作用と面心立方格子を仮定して、簡単化した状態方程式を示した。これを完全固体の状態方程式と呼ぶ。液体と気体については実験値の解析から得られたファンデルワールス状態方程式を仮定した。これを完全液体の状態方程式と呼ぶ。これらを用いて球形分子系の３相平衡をギブズエネルギーの計算から導いた。その結果をアルゴン系についての実験結果および、モンテカルロ法・分子動力学法シミュレーションと比較して、全体的に良い対応関係を得た

Confectionery intake and serum phosphorus

Hyperphosphatemia is associated with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Recently, it has been shown that high serum phosphorus levels are associated with increased cardiovascular events in healthy subjects, but the dietary factors determining serum phosphorus level have not been fully investigated. The study investigated the influence of habitual dietary factors on serum phosphorus levels in healthy young participants. This cross-sectional study conducted fasting blood sampling in 109 healthy young people and used a brief-type self-administered diet history questionnaire to evaluate the subject's habitual meals. Since the bioavailability of dietary phosphorus depends on the food sources, habitual phosphorus intakes from different food groups and intake frequency (times/month) of processed foods were calculated. The mean serum phosphorus level was 3.9±0.5 mg/dl ; 10.1% of the subjects had serum phosphorus levels that exceeded the reference levels of ≤4.5 mg/dl. Total phosphorus intake and phosphorus intake from animal-based food did not differ between serum phosphorus quartiles. Higher intake of confectionery was associated with increased serum phosphorus levels. This study showed that frequent consumption of confectionery was associated with elevated serum phosphorus levels. Additional studies are needed to determine whether this is a causal relationship

Suppression of cell migration by phospholipase C-related catalytically inactive protein-dependent modulation of PI3K signalling

The metabolic processes of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate [PI(4,5)P2] into PI(3,4,5)P3 and the subsequent PI(3,4,5)P3 signalling are involved in cell migration. Dysfunctions in the control of this pathway can cause human cancer cell migration and metastatic growth. Here we investigated whether phospholipase C-related catalytically inactive protein (PRIP), a PI(4,5)P2-binding protein, regulates cancer cell migration. PRIP overexpression in MCF-7 and BT-549 human breast cancer cells inhibited cell migration in vitro and metastasis development in vivo. Overexpression of the PRIP pleckstrin homology domain, a PI(4,5)P2 binding motif, in MCF-7 cells caused significant suppression of cell migration. Consistent with these results, in comparison with wild-type cells, Prip-deficient mouse embryonic fibroblasts exhibited increased cell migration, and this was significantly attenuated upon transfection with a siRNA targeting p110α, a catalytic subunit of class I phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks). PI(3,4,5)P3 production was decreased in Prip-overexpressing MCF-7 and BT-549 cells. PI3K binding to PI(4,5)P2 was significantly inhibited by recombinant PRIP in vitro, and thus the activity of PI3K was downregulated. Collectively, PRIP regulates the production of PI(3,4,5)P3 from PI(4,5)P2 by PI3K, and the suppressor activity of PRIP in PI(4,5)P2 metabolism regulates the tumour migration, suggesting PRIP as a promising target for protection against metastatic progression.This work was supported by grants from JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers JP15K20372, JP17K11644, JP16K11503

Status and Challenges in Beam Crystallization

During the past several decades, beam crystallization has been studied both theoretically and experimentally. Theoretical investigations have been numerical, mainly using computer modeling based on the method of molecular dynamics (MD), and analytical, based on phonon theory. Experimental investigations involve both ion storage rings and ion traps using both electron and laser beam cooling. Topics of interests include crystal stability in various accelerator lattices and under different beam conditions, colliding crystalline beams, crystalline beam formation in shear-free ring lattices with both magnets and electrodes, experimental simulation of alternating-gradient conditions with an ion trap, tapered cooling and coupled cooling, and beam dynamics at different temperature regime as the beam is cooled from high to low temperature. In this paper, we first review theoretical approaches and major conclusions pertaining to beam crystallization. Then, we analyze conditions and methods of the various major experiments. Finally, we discuss, both theoretically and experimentally, some improvements, open questions, and challenges in beam crystallization

Factors related to employment in childhood cancer survivors in Japan: A preliminary study

PurposePrevious research has revealed vocational and academic difficulties in childhood cancer survivors, and explored impact of survivors' medical history and physical function on vocational and academic status. However, we often encounter survivors with similar diagnoses and late effects but different academic or employment statuses. This raises the question of what affects academic attainment and employment other than treatment or late effects. This study aimed to explore factors associated with childhood cancer survivors' employment status and academic achievement.MethodsComprehensive health check-up and questionnaire survey were conducted for 69 survivors who were over the age of 18 and participated in St. Luke's Lifetime cohort study. We obtained survivors' biological function using comprehensive health check-up, neurocognitive states, quality of life, transition readiness, and family function. We conducted univariate analysis (Mann–Whitney U tests or chi-square tests) to compare the differences between the regular workers/students and non-regular workers/unemployed groups. The variables with p-values <0.1 were used as independent variables multivariate logistic regression to explore predictors of employment status and academic attainment.ResultsResult of the univariate analysis, intelligence quotient, SF-8 PCS, transition readiness, family function were used for multivariate logistic regression as independent variables. The stepwise likelihood method was conducted; intelligence quotient (odds ratio [OR] = 1.100; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.015–1.193; p = 0.021), transition readiness (OR = 0.612; 95% CI 0.396–0.974; p = 0.038), and family function (OR = 2.337; 95% CI 1.175–4.645; p = 0.015) were found to be associated with survivors' regular workers/students in the final regression model.ConclusionLong-term follow-up of pediatric cancer survivors requires the provision of total care, which supports physical, psychological, and social functions to improve health, readiness for transition to self-management, and family functioning

Ultrafast single-molecule imaging reveals focal adhesion nano-architecture and molecular dynamics

細胞膜上の分子がバレエの群舞のように見えてきた： 1蛍光分子の感度で、究極速度で撮像できるカメラを開発. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2023-06-06.Using our newly developed ultrafast camera described in the companion paper, we reduced the data acquisition periods required for photoactivation/photoconversion localization microscopy (PALM, using mEos3.2) and direct stochastic reconstruction microscopy (dSTORM, using HMSiR) by a factor of ≈30 compared with standard methods, for much greater view-fields, with localization precisions of 29 and 19 nm, respectively, thus opening up previously inaccessible spatiotemporal scales to cell biology research. Simultaneous two-color PALM-dSTORM and PALM-ultrafast (10 kHz) single fluorescent-molecule imaging-tracking has been realized. They revealed the dynamic nanoorganization of the focal adhesion (FA), leading to the compartmentalized archipelago FA model, consisting of FA-protein islands with broad diversities in size (13–100 nm; mean island diameter ≈30 nm), protein copy numbers, compositions, and stoichiometries, which dot the partitioned fluid membrane (74-nm compartments in the FA vs. 109-nm compartments outside the FA). Integrins are recruited to these islands by hop diffusion. The FA-protein islands form loose ≈320 nm clusters and function as units for recruiting FA proteins