Transmission electron microscopy/electron energy loss spectroscopy measurements and ab initio calculation of local magnetic moments at nickel grain boundaries

We have determined local magnetic moments at nickel grain boundaries using a transmission electron microscopy/electron energy loss spectroscopy method assuming that the magnetic moment of Ni atoms is a linear function of the L₃/L₂ (white-line ratio) in the energy loss spectrum. The average magnetic moment measured in the grain interior was 0.55 μ_B, which agrees well with the calculated magnetic moment of pure nickel (0.62 μ_B). The local magnetic moments at the grain boundaries increased up to approximately 1.0 μ_B as the mis-orientation angle increased, and showed a maximum around 50°. The respective enhancement of local magnetic moments at the Σ5 (0.63 μ_B) and random (0.90 μ_B) grain boundaries in pure nickel was approximately 14 and 64% of the grain interior. In contrast, the average local magnetic moment at the (111) Σ3 grain boundary was found to be 0.55 μ_B and almost the same as that of the grain interior. These results are in good agreement with available ab initio calculations.     

Over 1000 V/30 mA operation GaN-on-Si MOSFETs fabricated on Si substrates

We demonstrated the operation of GaN-on-Si metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) for power electronics components. The interface states at SiO₂/GaN were successfully improved by annealing at 800 °C for 30 min in N₂ ambient. The interface state density was less than 1 × 10¹¹ cm^-2 eV⁻¹ at E_c − 0.4 eV. The n⁺ contact layers as the source and drain regions as well as the reduced surface field (RESURF) zone were formed using a Si ion implantation technique with the activation annealing at 1200 °C for 10 s in rapid thermal annealing (RTA). As a result, we achieved an over 1000 V and 30 mA operation on GaN-on-Si MOSFETs. The threshold voltage was +2.6 V. It was found that the breakdown voltage depended upon the RESURF length and nitride based epi-layer thickness. In addition, we discussed the comparison of each performance of GaN-on-Si with -sapphire devices.     

Allosteric Inhibition of c-Abl to Induce Unfolded Protein Response and Cell Death in Multiple Myeloma

Endoplasmic reticulum stress activates inositol-requiring enzyme 1α (IRE1α) and protein kinase, R-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK), the two principal regulators of the unfolded protein response (UPR). In multiple myeloma, adaptive IRE1α signaling is predominantly activated and regulates cell fate along with PERK. Recently, we demonstrated that GNF-2, an allosteric c-Abl inhibitor, rheostatically enhanced IRE1α activity and induced apoptosis through c-Abl conformational changes in pancreatic β cells. Herein, we analyzed whether the pharmacological modulation of c-Abl conformation resulted in anti-myeloma effects. First, we investigated the effects of GNF-2 on IRE1α activity and cell fate, followed by an investigation of the anti-myeloma effects of asciminib, a new allosteric c-Abl inhibitor. Finally, we performed RNA sequencing to characterize the signaling profiles of asciminib. We observed that both GNF-2 and asciminib decreased cell viability and induced XBP1 mRNA splicing in primary human myeloma cells and myeloma cell lines. RNA sequencing identified the induction of UPR- and apoptosis-related genes by asciminib. Asciminib re-localized c-Abl to the endoplasmic reticulum, and its combination with a specific IRE1α inhibitor, KIRA8, enhanced cell death with the reciprocal induction of CHOP mRNA expression. Together, the allosteric inhibition of c-Abl-activated UPR with anti-myeloma effects; this could be a novel therapeutic target for multiple myeloma.     

A case report: successful treatment of acute type B aortic dissection with renal and leg ischemia

A 56-year-old patient of acute type B aortic dissection with renal and leg ischemia successfully underwent emergency replacement of the descending thoracic aorta. Prior to this operation, we reperfused the ischemic legs in a controlled manner using a cardiopulmonary bypass circuit. This controlled limb reperfusion method could reduce reperfusion injury. Postoperatively, the patient also suffered from renovascular hypertension due to stenosis of the right renal artery. Renal stent angioplasty, performed 10 days after the operation, stabilized his blood pressure. Controlled limb reperfusion and renal stent angioplasty may be useful for managing branch complications associated with aortic dissection.     

Theoretical study on photon emission statistics from single conjugated polymer molecules excited by laser pulses

In recent experiments, the signal-to-noise ratio and the photon pair correlation are measured simultaneously by improving the Hanbury-Brown and Twiss method. We show that judgement on whether the background noise obeys Poisson statistics or not is possible from the data of such measurements. If the background is subject to Poisson statistics, the results of both measurements enable to estimate the photon pair correlation in the absence of noise from that measured under background noise. The method is useful to remove the effect of background noise from the photon correlation measured by exciting multichromophore systems. We also show that the normalized photon pair correlation is not necessarily zero in the absence of background noise when single photon is emitted from multiple excitons as a result of the competition among the pair annihilation, and the unimolecular nonradiative and radiative processes.     

A Kinematic Analysis of Joint Synergy of the Lower Limb in Human Locomotion

This paper deals with the mode analysis of the kinematic structure of human locomotion. The authors investigated synergy mechanism of human locomotion from motion-captured data and EMG signal data. The authors extracted some common basic movements and residual modes, and analyzed the kinematical structures of limit cycle in joint angle space. The authors also implemented the numerical simulation analyses by using the motion captured data and EMG signal data to investigate the mechanical activities of human joints and to extract the mechanical structure of the limit cycle. The results show the joint synergy that is derived by the common basic modes, which expresses an inverted pendulum mode in support phase, and ballistic mode in swing phase with the kick-off motion in the most effective direction. This result can be guessed that the control strategy of human locomotion is simply based on the minimal control principle.     

Detection of roquefortines in penicillium roqueforti isolated from moulded maize silage

A strain (number 19) having the ability to produce some indole alkaloids was isolated from moulded maize silage, and was identical with Penicillium roqueforti. Roquefortine C was isolated from the culture broth in crystalline form as a main alkaloid and was identified as a minor alkaloid by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) in a maize silage inoculated with the strain. Further, roquefortine A, B and D together with festuclavine were identified by TLC. The alkaloid contents in silage were analysed to be 2.40 mg kg^-1 (roquefortine A) and 1.66 mg kg^-1 (roquefortine C).