Optimally Suppressed Phonon Tunneling in van der Waals Graphene-WS Heterostructure with Ultralow Thermal Conductivity.

Van der Waals heterostructures have great potential for realizing ultimately low thermal conductivity because defectless interfaces can be constructed at a length scale smaller than the phonon wavelength, allowing modulation of coherent phonon transport. In this Letter, we demonstrate the mechanism for thermal conductivity reduction at a mode-resolved level. The graphene-WS heterostructure with the lowest cross-plane thermal conductivity of 0.

Thermoelectric Power of a Single van der Waals Interface between Carbon Nanotubes.

Control of van der Waals interfaces is crucial for fabrication of nanomaterial-based high-performance thermoelectric devices because such interfaces significantly affect the overall thermoelectric performances of the device due to their relatively high thermal resistance. Such interfaces could induce different thermoelectric power from the bulk, i.e.

Case report of acute myocarditis after administration of coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine in Japan.

Background: The worldwide spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is still not under control and vaccination in Japan started in February 2021, albeit later than in Europe and the USA. The COVID-19 vaccination frequently leads to minor adverse reactions, which may be more intense after the second dose. The number of case reports of myocarditis following COVID-19 vaccination have been recently increased.

Electronic transport descriptors for the rapid screening of thermoelectric materials.

The discovery of novel materials for thermoelectric energy conversion has potential to be accelerated by data-driven screening combined with high-throughput calculations. One way to increase the efficacy of successfully choosing a candidate material is through its evaluation using transport descriptors. Using a data-driven screening, we selected 12 potential candidates in the trigonal ABX family, followed by charge transport property simulations from first principles.

Enhancing Thermal Boundary Conductance of Graphite-Metal Interface by Triazine-Based Molecular Bonding.

Thermal boundary conductance between graphite and metal plays an important role in developing thermally conductive composites and contacts for thermal management. On the basis of the premise that the thermal boundary conductance (TBC) correlates with interfacial bonding strength, we conducted triazine-based molecular-bonding process to improve interfacial adhesion forces between -axis of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite and aluminum. The surface coverage of molecular bonding at the interface is estimated by the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and thermal boundary conductance is measured by the time-domain thermoreflectance method.

Multifunctional structural design of graphene thermoelectrics by Bayesian optimization.

Materials development often confronts a dilemma as it needs to satisfy multifunctional, often conflicting, demands. For example, thermoelectric conversion requires high electrical conductivity, a high Seebeck coefficient, and low thermal conductivity, despite the fact that these three properties are normally closely correlated. Nanostructuring techniques have been shown to break the correlations to some extent; however, optimal design has been a major challenge due to the extraordinarily large degrees of freedom in the structures.

Modulation of thermal and thermoelectric transport in individual carbon nanotubes by fullerene encapsulation.

The potential impact of encapsulated molecules on the thermal properties of individual carbon nanotubes (CNTs) has been an important open question since the first reports of the strong modulation of electrical properties in 2002. However, thermal property modulation has not been demonstrated experimentally because of the difficulty of realizing CNT-encapsulated molecules as part of thermal transport microstructures. Here we develop a nanofabrication strategy that enables measurement of the impact of encapsulation on the thermal conductivity (κ) and thermopower (S) of single CNT bundles that encapsulate C , Gd@C and Er @C .

Characterization and Quantitation of Vitamin B Compounds in Various Chlorella Supplements.

Vitamin B was determined and characterized in 19 dried Chlorella health supplements. Vitamin contents of dried Chlorella cells varied from <0.1 μg to approximately 415 μg per 100 g of dry weight.

A flowering integrator, SOC1, affects stomatal opening in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Stomatal movements are regulated by multiple environmental signals. Recent investigations indicate that photoperiodic flowering components, such as CRY, GI, CO, FT and TSF, are expressed in guard cells and positively affect stomatal opening in Arabidopsis thaliana. Here we show that SOC1, which encodes a MADS box transcription factor and integrates multiple flowering signals, also exerts a positive effect on stomatal opening.

TWIN SISTER OF FT, GIGANTEA, and CONSTANS have a positive but indirect effect on blue light-induced stomatal opening in Arabidopsis.

FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) is the major regulatory component controlling photoperiodic floral transition. It is expressed in guard cells and affects blue light-induced stomatal opening induced by the blue-light receptor phototropins phot1 and phot2. Roles for other flowering regulators in stomatal opening have yet to be determined.

FLOWERING LOCUS T regulates stomatal opening.

Stomatal pores surrounded by a pair of guard cells in the plant epidermis control gas exchange for photosynthesis in response to light, CO(2), and phytohormone abscisic acid. Phototropins (phot1 and phot2) are plant blue-light receptor kinases and mediate stomatal opening via activation of the plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase. However, the signaling mechanism from phototropins to the H(+)-ATPase has yet to be determined.

Gateway binary vectors with the bialaphos resistance gene, bar, as a selection marker for plant transformation.

We constructed two series of Gateway binary vectors, pGWBs and R4pGWBs, possessing the bialaphos resistance gene (bar) as a selection marker for plant transformation. The reporters and tags employed in this system are sGFP, GUS, LUC, EYFP, ECFP, G3GFP, mRFP, TagRFP, 6xHis, FLAG, 3xHA, 4xMyc, 10xMyc, GST, T7 and TAP. Selection of Arabidopsis transformants with BASTA was successfully carried out using both plate-grown and soil-grown seedlings.

Passive emission colorimetric sensor (PECS) for measuring emission rates of formaldehyde based on an enzymatic reaction and reflectance photometry.

A coin-sized passive emission colorimetric sensor (PECS) based on an enzymatic reaction and a portable reflectance photometry device were developed to determine the emission rates of formaldehyde from building materials and other materials found indoors in only 30 minutes on-site. The color change of the PECS linearly correlated to the concentration of formaldehyde aqueous solutions up to 28 microg/mL. The correlation between the emission rates measured by using the PECS and those measured by using a desiccator method or by using a chamber method was fitted with a linear function and a power function, and the determination coefficients were more than 0.

Beneficial effect of perindopril on cardiac sympathetic nerve activity and brain natriuretic peptide in patients with chronic heart failure: comparison with enalapril.

Background: In patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), it remains unclear whether perindopril is more cardioprotective than enalapril.

Methods And Results: Forty-five stable CHF outpatients undergoing conventional therapy including enalapril therapy were randomized to 2 groups [group I (n=24): continuous enalapril treatment; group II (n=21): enalapril was changed to perindopril]. Cardiac sympathetic nerve activity was evaluated using cardiac 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scintigraphy, hemodynamic parameters and neurohumoral factors before and 6 months after treatment.

Purification and characterization of serine racemase from a hyperthermophilic archaeon, Pyrobaculum islandicum.

Pyrobaculum islandicum is an anaerobic hyperthermophilic archaeon that is most active at 100 degrees C. A pyridoxal 5'-phosphate-dependent serine racemase called Srr was purified from the organism. The corresponding srr gene was cloned, and recombinant Srr was purified from Escherichia coli.

Plasma level of cardiotrophin-1 as a prognostic predictor in patients with chronic heart failure.

Background: Cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1) is a member of the interleukin (IL-6) family of cytokines and is increased in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF).

Aims: To evaluate the prognostic role of CT-1 in patients with CHF.

Methods And Results: We measured the plasma levels of CT-1, brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), and IL-6 in 125 patients with CHF.

Comparison of active renin concentration and plasma renin activity as a prognostic predictor in patients with heart failure.

Background: Plasma renin activity (PRA) may be limited to angiotensinogen levels, which decrease in patients with heart failure (HF) because of liver congestion.

Methods And Results: To evaluate whether the plasma active renin concentration (ARC) is a more useful prognostic predictor than PRA, the plasma levels of ARC, PRA, angiotensin II, aldosterone, brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), norepinephrine, and hemodynamic parameters were measured in 214 consecutive HF patients who were already taking angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) or angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARB). Median follow-up period was 1,197 days.

Direct comparison of transcardiac difference between brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal pro-BNP in patients with chronic heart failure.

Background: Direct comparison of transcardiac increase in brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and NT-pro-BNP has not been performed previously.

Aims: To evaluate the relation between BNP and NT-pro-BNP secretion, plasma levels and renal function.

Methods: We measured the plasma levels of BNP and NT-pro-BNP in the aortic root and coronary sinus in 326 consecutive patients with chronic heart failure (CHF).

Development of nursing care system with web service.

In this study, we have developed nursing care support using Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) with web service architecture. With the survey of the log nursing care support system, we have found out the nurse use the emergency to bypass the authentication and to access the operation quickly. We have concluded the compression of response time is the key of correct these abuse.

Relationship between renal function and plasma brain natriuretic peptide in patients with heart failure.

Objectives: This study sought to evaluate the relationship between brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), renal function, and the severity of congestive heart failure (CHF).

Background: Both BNP and renal function are prognostic predictors in CHF patients.

Methods: We measured the plasma BNP level in the aortic root and coronary sinus in 366 consecutive patients with CHF.

Endogenous bradykinin suppresses myocardial fibrosis through the cardiac-generated endothelin system under chronic angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition in heart failure.

In congestive heart failure, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) may prevent cardiac fibrosis via interaction with both angiotensin II and endothelin-1, which enhance myocardial collagen synthesis. However, whether endogenous bradykinin with an ACEI modifies the cardiac collagen architecture, affecting the endothelin system, has not yet been fully elucidated. We evaluated the changes in circulating hormonal factors, myocardial fibrosis and cardiac gene expression closely linked with heart failure, using an orally active specific bradykinin type 2 receptor antagonist, FR173657 (0.

Long-term treatment with a phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor improves pulmonary hypertension secondary to heart failure through enhancing the natriuretic peptides-cGMP pathway.

In advanced heart failure (HF), the compensatory pulmonary vasodilation is attenuated due to the relative insufficiency of cGMP despite increased secretion of natriuretic peptides (NPs). Phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors prevent cGMP degradation, and thus may potentiate the effect of the NPs-cGMP pathway. We orally administered a specific PDE5 inhibitor, T-1032 (1 mg/kg; twice a day, n = 7) or placebo (n = 7) for 2 weeks in dogs with HF induced by rapid pacing (270 bpm, 3 weeks) and examined the plasma levels of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), cGMP, and hemodynamic parameters.

Contribution of vascular NAD(P)H oxidase to endothelial dysfunction in heart failure and the therapeutic effects of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor.

Background: The vascular NAD(P)H oxidase-derived superoxide anion (O(2)-) plays a crucial role in the pathological progression of hypertension and atherosclerosis, and HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) have vascular antioxidant effects. However, it is unclear whether the vascular NAD(P)H oxidase is involved in the endothelial dysfunction of congestive heart failure (CHF) and whether HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) exert their vasoprotective effects in CHF. The present study examined both the involvement of vascular NAD(P)H oxidase in endothelial dysfunction in dogs with tachycardia-induced CHF and the therapeutic effect of a statin (pitavastatin).

Transcardiac increase in tumor necrosis factor-alpha and left ventricular end-diastolic volume in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy.

Background: It remains unclear whether tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interleukin-6 (IL-6) are secreted from the failing heart and whether there is a relationship between the transcardiac gradients of these cytokines and left ventricular (LV) remodeling.

Aims: This study evaluated the relationship between transcardiac gradients of cytokines and LV volume and function in congestive heart failure patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).

Methods And Results: We measured the plasma levels of TNF-alpha and IL-6 in the aortic root (Ao) and the coronary sinus (CS) in 60 patients with DCM.