Molecular Targeted Therapy for the Bone Loss Secondary to Pyogenic Spondylodiscitis Using Medications for Osteoporosis: A Literature Review

Pyogenic spondylodiscitis can cause severe osteolytic and destructive lesions in the spine. Elderly or immunocompromised individuals are particularly susceptible to infectious diseases; specifically, infections in the spine can impair the ability of the spine to support the trunk, causing patients to be bedridden, which can also severely affect the physical condition of patients. Although treatments for osteoporosis have been well studied, treatments for bone loss secondary to infection remain to be elucidated because they have pathological manifestations that are similar to but distinct from those of osteoporosis. Recently, we encountered a patient with severely osteolytic pyogenic spondylodiscitis who was treated with romosozumab and exhibited enhanced bone formation. Romosozumab stimulated canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling, causing robust bone formation and the inhibition of bone resorption, which exceeded the bone loss secondary to infection. Bone loss due to infections involves the suppression of osteoblastogenesis by osteoblast apoptosis, which is induced by the nuclear factor-κB and mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways, and osteoclastogenesis with the receptor activator of the nuclear factor-κB ligand-receptor combination and subsequent activation of the nuclear factor of activated T cells cytoplasmic 1 and c-Fos. In this study, we review and discuss the molecular mechanisms of bone loss secondary to infection and analyze the efficacy of the medications for osteoporosis, focusing on romosozumab, teriparatide, denosumab, and bisphosphonates, in treating this pathological condition.     

Profiles of mean wind speeds and vertical turbulence intensities measured at seashore and two inland sites using Doppler sodars

The authors’ group has been conducting full-scale measurements of wind velocities with Doppler sodars. It is very important to accurately assess the profiles of mean wind speeds and turbulence intensities in relation to terrain roughness. In this study, the profiles were evaluated for all data measured over a long period at a seashore and two inland sites. It is confirmed that for strong winds the profiles can be approximated by a single power law at altitudes between 50 and 340 m. The power law exponents of the mean wind speed profiles are approximately 0.1 for wind from the sea and 0.2-0.3 for wind blown over land. Those of the turbulence intensity profiles are approximately 0 and −0.2 to 0.4, respectively.     

Daily concentrations of trace metals in aerosols in Beijing, China, determined by using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry equipped with laser ablation analysis, and source identification of aerosols

This paper describes the daily concentrations of trace metals and ionic constituents in the aerosol of Beijing, China from March 2001 to August 2003. Daily PM10 concentrations were also measured from September 2001 to August 2003. The daily average PM10 concentration at Beijing, China from September 2001 to August 2003 was 171+/-117 microg m(-3) (n = 673), which is 5-fold higher than at Yokohama, Japan. Trace metal concentrations were analyzed by using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry equipped with a laser ablation sample introduction (LA/ICP-MS), which is a rapid and simultaneous method for multi-element analysis. The daily average metal concentrations in TSP in Beijing from March 2001 to August 2003 were: Al: 3.5+/-2.4 (n = 727), Ti: 0.47+/-0.35 (n = 720), V: 0.013+/-0.010 (n = 716), Cr: 0.019+/-0.015 (n = 618), Mn: 0.24+/-0.16 (n = 730), Fe: 5.5+/-3.9 (n = 728), Co: 0.0046+/-0.0055 (n = 629), Ni: 0.022+/-0.024 (n = 680), Cu: 0.11+/-0.11 (n = 660), Zn: 0.77+/-0.60 (n = 726), As: 0.048+/-0.047 (n = 731), Se: 0.010+/-0.010 (n = 550), Cd: 0.0068+/-0.0082 (n = 709), Sb: 0.033+/-0.036 (n = 687), and Pb: 0.43+/-0.50 (n = 728) (unit, microg m(-3)). All the metal concentrations in TSP in Beijing, China were 1.7-21.8 times higher than those in TSP in the center of Tokyo, Japan. Notably, As concentrations in TSP in Beijing were 20-fold higher than those in Tokyo. Source identification of aerosols in Beijing was carried out by using the chemical mass balance (CMB) receptor model, with the daily concentration of metals in the aerosol. The major primary sources of the aerosol of Beijing were considered to be soil dust and coal combustion. Vehicle exhaust contribution tended to increase.     

Multilayer‐coated NPK compound fertilizer hydrogel with controlled nutrient release and water absorbency

A novel trilayered controlled‐release nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium (NPK) fertilizer hydrogel was prepared by dipping the NPK fertilizer granules sequentially in 7% w v^?1 poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and 2% w v^?1 chitosan (CS) solutions and then cross‐linking the CS layer (cross‐CS) via glutaraldehyde vapor deposition. Different NPK fertilizer hydrogels were then synthesized by inverse suspension polymerization of the dried PVA/cross‐CS bilayer‐coated fertilizer granules in various molar ratios of acrylamide (AM) and acrylic acid (AA) monomers, and polymerization with varying molar ratios of ammonium persulfate, N,N,N′,N′‐tetramethylethylenediamine and N,N′‐methylenebisacrylamide (N‐MBA). The water dissolution time of the obtained PVA/cross‐CS/poly (AA‐co‐AM) trilayer‐coated NPK fertilizer hydrogel granules was prolonged, while the water absorbency increased with increasing AA contents, and decreased with increasing N‐MBA contents in the outer poly(AA‐co‐AM) coating. The optimal trilayer‐coated NPK fertilizer hydrogel obtained released 84 ± 18, 63 ± 12, and 36 ± 15% of the N, P, and K nutrients, respectively, after a 30‐day immersion in water. The release phenomena of the N, P, and K nutrients of the fertilizer hydrogel obeyed both the Korsmeyer‐Peppas and Ritger‐Peppas models with a pseudo‐Fickian diffusion mechanism. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 41249.     

Sources of Epitaxial Growth-Induced Stacking Faults in 4H-SiC

Successive reactive-ion etching and microphotoluminescence (PL) intensity mapping have been performed in order to investigate the sources of epitaxial growth-induced stacking faults (SFs) in thick 4H-SiC epilayers. Three kinds of SFs, i.e., 4SSFs, 3SSFs, and 2SSFs, have been identified in the samples. Two of these (3SSFs and 2SSFs) show similar nucleation behaviors, and their formation may be due to stress within the epitaxial layer. In contrast, 4SSFs nucleate at the epilayer–substrate interface and might be related to an unknown dislocation, which shows a rounded-shape etch pit in the substrate.     

Improved high temperature performance of La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 cathode by addition of CeO2

Ceria is proposed as an additive for La_0.8Sr_0.2MnO₃ (LSM) cathodes in order to increase both their thermal stability and electrochemical properties after co-sintering with an yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte at 1350 °C. Results show that LSM without CeO₂ addition is unstable at 1350 °C, whereas the thermal stability of LSM is drastically improved after addition of CeO₂. In addition, results show a correlation between CeO₂ addition and the maximum power density obtained in 300 μm thick electrolyte-supported single cells in which the anode and modified cathode have been co-sintered at 1350 °C. Single cells with cathodes not containing CeO₂ produce only 7 mW cm⁻² at 800 °C, whereas the power density increases to 117 mW cm⁻² for a CeO₂ addition of 12 mol%. Preliminary results suggest that CeO₂ could increase the power density by at least two mechanisms: (1) incorporation of cerium into the LSM crystal structure, and (2) by modification or reduction of La₂Zr₂O₇ formation at high temperature. This approach permits the highest LSM-YSZ co-sintering temperature so far reported, providing power densities of hundreds of mW cm⁻² without the need for a buffer layer between the LSM cathode and YSZ electrolyte. Therefore, this method simplifies the co-sintering of SOFC cells at high temperature and improves their electrochemical performance.     

Syntheses of sulfonated star-hyperbranched polyimides and their proton exchange membrane properties

We synthesized novel sulfonated star-hyperbranched polyimides composed of a hydrophobic hyperbranched polymer for polymer stability and a hydrophilic sulfonated polyimide as the proton-transport site in the core-shell structure. The proton conductivities of the star-hyperbranched polyimide membranes were measured as functions of the relative humidity and temperature using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Although the water uptake and IEC value for the sulfonated star-hyperbranched polyimide membranes were almost constant, the proton conductivity of the membrane strongly depended on the molecular weight of the hydrophilic sulfonated polyimide as the shell. Especially, the conductivity of the high molecular weight star-hyperbranched polyimide membranes was significantly superior to that determined in Nafion^® at all temperatures and was 0.51 S cm⁻¹ at 80 °C and 98% RH, which may suggest that a good proton-transport pathway in the core-shell structure is formed. Consequently, this material proved to be promising as a proton exchange membrane and may have potential applications for use in fuel cells.     

Online time-differential perturbed angular correlation study with an O beam - Residence sites of oxygen atoms in highly oriented pyrolytic graphite

The online time-differential perturbed angular correlation (TDPAC) method was applied to a study of the physical states of a probe ¹⁹F, the β⁻ decay product of ¹⁹O (t_1/2 = 26.9 s), implanted in highly oriented pyrolytic graphite. The observed magnitude of the electric field gradient at the probe nucleus, ∣V_zz∣ = 2.91(17) × 10²² V m⁻², suggests that the incident ¹⁹O atoms are stabilized at an interlayer position with point group C_3v. Exhibiting observed TDPAC spectra having a clear sample-to-detector configuration dependence, we demonstrate the applicability of the present online method with a short-lived radioactive ¹⁹O beam.