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.     

A transceiver PIC for bidirectional optical communication fabricated by bandgap energy controlled selective MOVPE

A transceiver PIC consisting of a DFB-LD, a receiver PD and a Y-shaped branch waveguides is realized by in-plane bandgap energy controlled selective MOVPE. Both active and passive core layers are formed in one step selective growth, and complicated fabrication procedure is no longer required. More than 1 mW fiber coupled power and 7 GHz receiver bandwidth are obtained. The modulation and detection operations at 500 Mb/s are successfully demonstrated.     

Resistive superconducting transition of κ-type BEDT-TTF organic superconductors in a magnetic field

The superconducting transition of the organic compoundsκ-(BEDT-TTF)₂ X is studied by resistive measurement in a magnetic field up to 10 T applied normal to the conducting plane. For the salts withX=Cu[N(CN)₂]Br andX=CuCN[N(CN)₂] the transition shows fanshaped broadening caused by superconductivity fluctuation. For theX=Cu(NCS)₂ salt the resistivity shows a peak in the transition region in a magnetic field below 4 T.This phenomenon is suppressed in defect-reduced samples for intralayer conduction. We discuss this peak in relation to the thermal fluctuation on the Josephson junction structures in this salt.     

Plastic deformation of bcc metal thin foils without dislocation

Heavy plastic deformation of fcc metal thin foils to fracture has been found recently to proceed without involving dislocations, and it results in the formation of high density of vacancy clusters. Thin foil specimens of bcc metals such as V and Mo were plastically deformed to fracture in in situ elongation experiments under an electron microscope. Morphology of thinning and fracture was found to be similar to fcc metals, and no dislocation was observed during heavy deformation. Electron diffraction analysis at the tip of a crack during deformation confirmed a large elastic deformation of up to 5%. Unlike in fcc metal thin foil specimens, point defect clusters were not observed near fractured tips. This difference is attributed to the difference in vacancy reaction, though the deformation in bcc metals without dislocation most likely does produce vacancies.     

Microstructural change of ultrafine-grained aluminum during high-speed plastic deformation

Effect of strain rate on microstructural change in deformation of the ultrafine grained (UFG) aluminum produced by severe plastic deformation (SPD) was studied. Commercial purity 1100 aluminum sheets were highly strained up to an equivalent strain of 4.8 by the Accumulative Roll-Bonding (ARB) process at ambient temperature. The ARB-processed sheets were found to be filled with pancake-shaped ultrafine grains surrounded by high-angle grain boundaries. The ultrafine grains had a mean grain thickness of 200 nm and a mean grain length of 1100 nm. The ultrafine-grained aluminum sheets were deformed at various strain rates ranging from 2 to 6.0×10⁴ s⁻¹ by conventional rolling, ultra-high-speed rolling, and impact compression. High-speed plastic deformation generates a large amount of heat, inducing coarsening of the ultrafine grains during and after deformation. On the other hand, it was also suggested that high-speed plastic deformation is effective for grain-subdivision, in other words, ultra-grain refinement, if the effect of heat generation is extracted.     

Skew simulation of a paper transferred by rubber rollers in printers

A skew of a paper transferred by rubber rollers in printers is simulated by FEM software. Effects of an imbalance of preload, an imbalance distribution of coefficient of friction and a front tension on the paper skew are investigated and how to determine the skew direction are shown. A simulation model is composed of a feed roller, a preload roller and a paper. The feed roller is rotated forcibly by a certain degree at every calculation step and a deformation, displacement and strain of the paper and rollers are calculated. A series of calculation results is shown as a motion simulation. The results show that the paper skews to the smaller preload side, to the smaller coefficient of friction side, or to the opposite side of the front tension. Further, effects of a skew prevention guide plate is simulated.     

Temporal integration method for image-processing-basedsuper-high-resolution image acquisition

The authors propose an image processing-based approach towards the development of a super-high-resolution image acquisition system. Imaging methods based on this approach can be classified into two main categories: a spatial integration imaging method and a temporal integration imaging method. With regard to the spatial integration imaging method, the authors have previously presented a method for acquiring an improved-resolution image by integrating multiple images taken simultaneously with multiple different cameras. They develop their work, aiming at a particular class of application where a user indicates a region of interest (ROI) on an observed image in advance, and apply a prototypal temporal integration imaging method. The prototypal temporal integration imaging method does not involve global image segmentation, but uses a subpixel registration algorithm which describes an image warp within the ROI, with subpixel accuracy, as a deformation of quadrilateral patches. The method then performs a subpixel registration by warping an observed image with the warping function recovered from the deformed quadrilateral patches. Experimental simulations demonstrate that the temporal integration imaging is promising as a basic means of high resolution imaging     

A simplified cascade current‐source inverter interconnected to a single‐phase three‐wire distribution system and its application to electric energy storage systems with batteries

A novel current source inverter system interconnected to the single‐phase grid is proposed. It has the same construction as the conventional three‐phase current source inverter that is interconnected to the single‐phase three‐wire distribution system. Though the proposed circuit has no output transformer, it can be equivalently performed as the single‐phase double cascade inverter by diverting the pole transformer in the utility system. By controlling the appropriate scheme, the output currents can be obtained as the five‐level waveforms and their distortions can be decreased sufficiently. It is applied to the interactive electric energy storage system with batteries and the basic discharging characteristics are discussed experimentally. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 150(2): 50–61, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10380