Multifaceted Mechanisms of Action of Metformin Which Have Been Unraveled One after Another in the Long History

While there are various kinds of drugs for type 2 diabetes mellitus at present, in this review article, we focus on metformin which is an insulin sensitizer and is often used as a first-choice drug worldwide. Metformin mainly activates adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in the liver which leads to suppression of fatty acid synthesis and gluconeogenesis. Metformin activates AMPK in skeletal muscle as well, which increases translocation of glucose transporter 4 to the cell membrane and thereby increases glucose uptake. Further, metformin suppresses glucagon signaling in the liver by suppressing adenylate cyclase which leads to suppression of gluconeogenesis. In addition, metformin reduces autophagy failure observed in pancreatic β-cells under diabetic conditions. Furthermore, it is known that metformin alters the gut microbiome and facilitates the transport of glucose from the circulation into excrement. It is also known that metformin reduces food intake and lowers body weight by increasing circulating levels of the peptide hormone growth/differentiation factor 15 (GDF15). Furthermore, much attention has been drawn to the fact that the frequency of various cancers is lower in subjects taking metformin. Metformin suppresses the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) by activating AMPK in pre-neoplastic cells, which leads to suppression of cell growth and an increase in apoptosis in pre-neoplastic cells. It has been shown recently that metformin consumption potentially influences the mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19). Taken together, metformin is an old drug, but multifaceted mechanisms of action of metformin have been unraveled one after another in its long history.     

The World robot summit disaster robotics category – achievements of the 2018 preliminary competition

The World Robot Summit is a robot Olympics and aims to be held in a different country every four years from 2020. The concept of the Plant Disaster Prevention challenge is daily inspections, checks, and emergency response in industrial plants, and in this competition, robots must carry out these types of missions in a mock-up plant. The concept of the Tunnel Disaster Response and Recovery challenge is emergency response to tunnel disasters, and is a simulation competition whereby teams compete to show their ability to deal with disasters, by collecting information and removing debris. The Standard Disaster Robotics challenge assesses, in the form of a contest, the standard performance levels of a robot that are necessary for disaster prevention and emergency response. The World Robot Summit Preliminary Competition was held at Tokyo Big Sight in October 2018, and 36 teams participated in the Disaster Robotics Category. UGVs and UAVs contended the merits of new technology for solving complex problems, using core technologies such as mobility, sensing, recognition, performing operations, human interface, autonomous intelligence etc., as well as system integration and implementation of strategies for completing missions, gaining high-level results.     

Measurements of thermal-neutron capture cross-section of Cesium-135 by applying mass spectrometry

ABSTRACT

The thermal-neutron capture cross-section (σ₀) and resonance integral (I₀) were measured for the ¹³⁵Cs(n,γ)¹³⁶Cs reaction by an activation method and mass spectrometry. Because of difficulty in the preparation of pure ¹³⁵Cs samples, we used ¹³⁵Cs contained as an impurity in a normally available ¹³⁷Cs standard solution. An isotope ratio of ¹³⁵Cs and ¹³⁷Cs in a standard ¹³⁷Cs solution was measured by mass spectrometry to quantify ¹³⁵Cs. Cesium-135 impurity along with the ¹³⁷Cs standard solution was irradiated at the hydraulic conveyer of the research reactor in the Institute for Integral Radiation and Nuclear Science, Kyoto University. Wires of Co/Al and Au/Al alloys were used as neutron monitors to measure thermal-neutron fluxes and epi-thermal Westcott’s indices at an irradiation position. A gadolinium filter was used to measure the σ₀, and a value of 0.133 eV was taken as the cut-off energy. Gamma-ray spectroscopy was used to measure induced activities of ¹³⁷Cs, ¹³⁶Cs and monitor wires. On the basis of Westcott’s convention, the σ₀ and I₀ values were derived as 8.57 ± 0.25 barn, and 45.3 ± 3.2 barn, respectively. The value of σ₀ obtained in the present study agreed within the limits of uncertainties with the past-reported value of 8.3 ± 0.3 barn.     

γ-radiation effects on metal oxide particles and their wetted surfaces

ABSTRACT

Typical metal oxide corrosion products of structural materials have been irradiated with γ-rays in ultra-pure water to investigate the effect of radiation on the surface oxide and the nature of adsorbed water. Analysis techniques including thermal gravimetric analysis, differential thermal analysis, diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy before and after γ-irradiation were employed to investigate surface structural effects and adsorbed water behaviour. The production of H₂ in the oxide nanoparticle mixtures was investigated by gas chromatography to probe the mechanism of radiolysis in the water/oxide mixtures and the relationship with surface water. The nature of water at the surface of the oxides was affected by γ-radiation and the relationship was dependent on the particle composition. The rate of H₂ production was shown to be oxide dependent, and higher rates of H₂ formation were attributed to the decomposition of surface adsorbed water. Changes to the surface chemistry and H₂ production rates were found to be highly dependent on the surface chemistry of the metal oxide nanoparticle and no bulk structural changes were observed.     

Suppressive Fair Buffer Management Policy for Intermittently Connected Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Wireless Personal Communications - We propose a suppressive fair buffer management policy for intermittently connected mobile ad-hoc networks. So far, several buffer management policies have been...     

Gas‐phase removal of indoor volatile organic compounds and airborne microorganisms over mono‐ and bimetal‐modified (Pt,Cu, Ag) titanium(IV) oxide nanocomposites

The photocatalytic deactivation of volatile organic compounds and mold fungi using TiO₂ modified with mono‐ and bimetallic (Pt, Cu, Ag) particles is reported in this study. The mono‐ and bimetal‐modified (Pt, Cu, Ag) titanium(IV) oxide photocatalysts were prepared by chemical reduction method and characterized using XRD, XPS, DR/UV‐Vis, BET, and TEM analysis. The effect of incident light, type and content of mono‐ and bimetallic nanoparticles deposited on titanium(IV) oxide was studied. Photocatalytic activity of as‐prepared nanocomposites was examined in the gas phase using LEDs array. High photocatalytic activity of Ag/Pt‐TiO₂ and Cu/Pt‐TiO₂ in the reaction of toluene degradation resulted from improved efficiency of interfacial charge transfer process, which was consistent with the fluorescence quenching effect revealed by photoluminescence (PL) emission spectra. The photocatalytic deactivation of Penicillium chrysogenum, a pathogenic fungi present in the indoor environment, especially in a damp or water‐damaged building using mono‐ and bimetal‐modified (Pt, Cu, Ag) titanium(IV) oxide was evaluated for the first time. TiO₂ modified with mono‐ and bimetallic NPs of Ag/Pt, Cu, and Ag deposited on TiO₂ exhibited improved fungicidal activity under LEDs illumination than pure TiO₂.     

Mechanical role of reinforcement in seismic behavior of steel-strip reinforced earth wall

In the current design practices of steel-strip reinforced earth walls (SSREWs), the length of the reinforcing material is determined based on the equilibrium between the reinforcement tension and the earth pressure acting on the wall. Here, the resistance of the reinforcing material laid in the active failure zone (AFZ) is not considered. Moreover, the mechanical role of the reinforcing material against the integrity of the SSREW has not been sufficiently verified. Regarding the seismic stability of SSREW, although it is investigated by treating the entire reinforced earth wall as a rigid body, this inspection method is for gravity-retaining walls, and the difference in the seismic behavior between the SSREW and the rigid body is not clear. In this study, therefore, dynamic centrifuge model tests on 6 types of SSREWs were conducted to clarify the following items: (1) the basic earthquake behavior of a SSREW, (2) the mechanical role of the reinforcing material laid in the AFZ and (3) the mechanical role of the reinforcing material against the integrity of the SSREW. The results indicated that the reinforcing material laid in the AFZ can restrain the amount of deformation of the wall during earthquakes. Furthermore, the more stable the AFZ is, the smaller the maximum wall displacement will be.