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This article discusses the concept of osteosarcopenia, which refers to the simultaneous loss of bone and muscle mass and strength, particularly among older individuals. The article emphasizes the importance of studying both bone and muscle in order to effectively prevent fractures and promote healthy aging. Factors such as sedentarism, inadequate nutrition, hormonal changes, and aging contribute to the development of osteosarcopenia. The article highlights the need for comprehensive interventions that target both bone and muscle health. However, there are challenges in diagnosing osteosarcopenia and developing effective treatments. Further research in this field is necessary to improve the understanding and management of osteosarcopenia. [Extracted from the article]

Carbon dioxide (CO2) uptake and the mechanical strength of concrete with and without carbon-dioxide-philic (CDP) amine sorbents were assessed in this study. Cement pastes with three amine-based sorbents (5-amino-1 pentanol, piperazine and 3-amino-1-propanesulfonic acid) were hydrated for 28 d. They were then assessed for carbon dioxide uptake and compressive/bending strength. The carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was sequestrated into the concrete as simulated carbonation weathering occurred, and the carbon dioxide uptake was measured using thermogravimetric analysis. Carbon dioxide uptake increased when CDP amine sorbents were mixed into the concrete specimens, with 5-amino-1-pentanol and piperazine showing the best efficiency, with carbon dioxide uptakes of 2·44% and 2·24%, respectively. The compressive and bending strengths also increased with carbonation. The strengths of the concretes with CDP sorbents were higher than that of ordinary concrete due to the microstructural densification, indicating that urban carbon dioxide sequestration can be performed using concrete structures without damaging their structural strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteoporotic fracture (OF) is associated with high disability and morbidity rates. The burden of OF may be reduced by early identification of subjects who are vulnerable to fracture. Although the current fracture risk assessment model includes clinical risk factors (CRFs) and bone mineral density (BMD), its overall ability to identify individuals at high risk for fracture remains suboptimal. Efforts have therefore been made to identify potential biomarkers that can predict the risk of OF, independent of or combined with CRFs and BMD. This review highlights the emerging biomarkers of bone metabolism, including sphongosine-1-phosphate, leucinerich repeat-containing 17, macrophage migration inhibitory factor, sclerostin, receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand, and periostin, and the importance of biomarker risk score, generated by combining these markers, in enhancing the accuracy of fracture prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coupling is the process that links bone resorption to bone formation in a temporally and spatially coordinated manner within the remodeling cycle. Several lines of evidence point to the critical roles of osteoclast-derived coupling factors in the regulation of osteoblast performance. Here, we used a fractionated secretomic approach and identified the axon-guidance molecule SLIT3 as a clastokine that stimulated osteoblast migration and proliferation by activating β-catenin. SLIT3 also inhibited bone resorption by suppressing osteoclast differentiation in an autocrine manner. Mice deficient in Slit3 or its receptor, Robo1, exhibited osteopenic phenotypes due to a decrease in bone formation and increase in bone resorption. Mice lacking Slit3 specifically in osteoclasts had low bone mass, whereas mice with either neuron-specific Slit3 deletion or osteoblast-specific Slit3 deletion had normal bone mass, thereby indicating the importance of SLIT3 as a local determinant of bone metabolism. In postmenopausal women, higher circulating SLIT3 levels were associated with increased bone mass. Notably, injection of a truncated recombinant SLIT3 markedly rescued bone loss after an ovariectomy. Thus, these results indicate that SLIT3 plays an osteoprotective role by synchronously stimulating bone formation and inhibiting bone resorption, making it a potential therapeutic target for metabolic bone diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secondary osteoporosis resulting from specific clinical disorders may be potentially reversible, and thus continuous efforts to find and adequately treat the secondary causes of skeletal fragility are critical to ameliorate fracture risk and to avoid unnecessary treatment with anti-osteoporotic drugs. Among the hyperfunctional adrenal masses, Cushing's syndrome, pheochromocytoma, and primary aldosteronism are receiving particularly great attention due to their high morbidity and mortality mainly by increasing cardiovascular risk. Interestingly, there is accumulating experimental and clinical evidence that adrenal hormones may have direct detrimental effects on bone metabolism as well. Thus, the present review discusses the possibility of adrenal disorders, especially focusing on pheochromocytoma and primary aldosteronism, as secondary causes of osteoporosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We numerically study the critical behavior of the one-dimensional XY model of the size N with variable interaction range L. As expected, the standard local order parameter of the magnetization is shown to well detect the mean-field-type transition which occurs at any nonzero value of L/N. The system is particularly interesting since the underlying one-dimensional structure allows us to study the topological excitation of the winding number across the whole system even though the system shares the mean-field transition with the globally coupled system. We propose a nonlocal order parameter based on the width of the winding number distribution which exhibits a clear signature of the transition nature of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider a single Josephson junction in the presence of time varying gate charge, and examine the nonequilibrium work done by the charge control in the framework of fluctuation theorems. Assuming first a high quality junction with negligible Ohmic current, we obtain the probability distribution functions of the work and confirm the Crooks relation to give the estimation of the free energy changes ΔF=0. The reliability of ΔF estimated from the Jarzynksi equality is crucially dependent on protocol parameters, while the Bennett's acceptance ratio method yields consistently ΔF=0. We examine the behaviors of the work average and point out its relation to heat and entropy production associated with the circuit control. Finally considering finite tunnel resistance we discuss dissipation effects on the work statistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An allometric height-mass exponent gives an approximative power-law relation (M) α Hγ between the average mass (M) and the height H for a sample of individuals. The individuals in the present study are humans but could be any biological organism. The sampling can be for a specific age of the individuals or for an age interval. The body mass index is often used for practical purposes when characterizing humans and it is based on the allometric exponent = 2. It is shown here that the actual value of γ is to a large extent determined by the degree of correlation between mass and height within the sample studied: no correlation between mass and height means γ = 0, whereas if there was a precise relation between mass and height such that all individuals had the same shape and density then γ = 3. The connection is demonstrated by showing that the value of can be obtained directly from three numbers characterizing the spreads of the relevant random Gaussian statistical distributions: the spread of the height and mass distributions together with the spread of the mass distribution for the average height. Possible implications for allometric relations, in general, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A magnetic system with a phase transition at temperature Tc may exhibit double-resonance peaks under a periodic external magnetic field because the time scale matches the external frequency at two different temperatures, one above Tc and the other below Tc. We study the double-resonance phenomena for the mean-field q-state clock model based on the heat-bath-type master equation. We find double peaks as observed in the kinetic Ising case (q = 2) for all q ⩾ 4, but for the three-state clock model (q = 3), the existence of double peaks is possible only above a certain external frequency since it undergoes a discontinuous phase transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study how much water can be retained without leaking through boundaries when each unit square of a two-dimensional lattice is randomly assigned a block of unit bottom area but with different heights from zero to n -- 1. As more blocks are put into the system, there exists a phase transition beyond which the system retains a macroscopic volume of water. We locate the critical points and verify that the criticality belongs to the two-dimensional percolation universality class. If the height distribution can be approximated as continuous for large n, the system is always close to a critical point and the fraction of the area below the resulting water level is given by the percolation threshold. This provides a universal upper bound of areas that can be covered by water in a random landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The explosive percolation problem on the complete graph is investigated via extensive numerical simulations. We obtain the cluster-size distribution at the moment when the cluster size heterogeneity becomes maximum. The distribution is found to be well described by the power-law form with the decay exponent τ = 2.06(2), followed by a hump. We then use the finite-size scaling method to make all the distributions at various system sizes up to N = 237 collapse perfectly onto a scaling curve characterized solely by the single exponent τ. We also observe that the instant of that collapse converges to a well-defined percolation threshold from below as N → ∞. Based on these observations, we show that the explosive percolation transition in the model should be continuous, contrary to the widely spread belief of its discontinuity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Although osteoporosis is increasingly shown to occur in a considerable proportion of men, data on risk factors for male osteoporosis are limited. In this study, we investigated the association between serum thyrotropin (TSH) concentration and bone mineral density (BMD) in healthy euthyroid men. Design A cross-sectional community (health promotion centre)-based survey. Subjects and measurements For 1478 apparently healthy euthyroid men who participated in a routine health screening examination, we measured BMD at the lumbar spine and femoral neck using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry and serum TSH concentrations using immunoluminometry. Results Lumbar spine BMD linearly increased with TSH level after adjustment for age, weight and height ( P for trend = 0·002), and statistical significance persisted after additional adjustment for smoking and drinking habits ( P for trend = 0·010). When serum alkaline phosphatase was added as a confounding variable, the relationship was still significant ( P for trend = 0·016). Femoral neck BMD also tended to increase in higher TSH concentration after adjustment for age, weight and height ( P for trend = 0·042), but this association disappeared after additional adjustment for smoking and drinking habits. The odds of lower BMD (i.e. osteopaenia and osteoporosis combined) were significantly increased in subjects with low-normal TSH (i.e. 0·4–1·2 mU/l), when compared to high-normal TSH (i.e. 3·1–5·0 mU/l), after adjustment for confounding factors (odds ratio = 1·45, 95% CI = 1·02–2·10). Conclusion These results suggest that a serum TSH concentration at the lower end of the reference range may be associated with low BMD in men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cohesin complex plays a central role in genome maintenance by regulation of chromosome segregation in mitosis and DNA damage response (DDR) in other phases of the cell cycle. The ATM/ATR phosphorylates SMC1 and SMC3, two core components of the cohesin complex to regulate checkpoint signaling and DNA repair. In this report, we show that the genome-wide binding of SMC1 and SMC3 after ionizing radiation (IR) is enhanced by reinforcing pre-existing cohesin binding sites in human cancer cells. We demonstrate that ATM and SMC3 phosphorylation at Ser1083 regulate this process. We also demonstrate that acetylation of SMC3 at Lys105 and Lys106 is induced by IR and this induction depends on the acetyltransferase ESCO1 as well as the ATM/ATR kinases. Consistently, both ESCO1 and SMC3 acetylation are required for intra-S phase checkpoint and cellular survival after IR. Although both IR-induced acetylation and phosphorylation of SMC3 are under the control of ATM/ATR, the two forms of modification are independent of each other and both are required to promote reinforcement of SMC3 binding to cohesin sites. Thus, SMC3 modifications is a mechanism for genome-wide reinforcement of cohesin binding in response to DNA damage response in human cells and enhanced cohesion is a downstream event of DDR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The metabolic syndrome (MS) is associated with increased life-time risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. While some reports suggest that MS and/or insulin resistance is associated with low serum free T4 (FT4) level in euthyroid subjects, this remains a controversial issue. Objective To clarify the association of serum FT4 level with presence of MS and its components in healthy euthyroid subjects. Subjects and measurements For 44 196 euthyroid subjects (including 25 147 males) not taking thyroid hormone or antithyroid-drug and without liver or renal disease who participated in a routine health screening examination, we measured serum FT4, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides (TG), fasting glucose, blood pressure (BP), height, weight, and waist circumference. Subjects were categorized into five groups according to their serum FT4 concentration. The association of FT4 quintiles with clinical and metabolic parameters of MS was analysed by significance test for linearity, and logistic regression analysis was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) for risk of MS and each of its components, before and after adjustment for age. Results In males, serum FT4 concentrations were positively associated with BP, fasting glucose, HDL-C, and TG levels, and negatively associated with waist circumference after adjustment for age ( P for trend = 0·033 to < 0·001). Females also showed similar findings except that FT4 had no correlation with TG after adjustment for age (all P for trend < 0·001 except TG). The negative association between FT4 and waist circumference was not present in younger male subjects (< 50 years), and the positive association between FT4 and BP was more prominent in younger female subjects (< 50 years) than in older females ( P < 0·05). In both sexes, the ORs for elevated BP and elevated fasting glucose were significantly higher in subjects in the highest FT4 quintile than those in the lowest FT4 quintile, while the ORs for abdominal obesity and low HDL-C were significantly lower. Subjects in the higher FT4 quintiles had a significantly lower prevalence of MS than those in the lowest FT4 quintile, but such differences disappeared after adjustment for age in both males and in females. Conclusion These results suggest that the interaction between serum FT4 and MS components could be different according to age as well as gender in euthyroid subjects. Although thyroid hormone significantly affected each component of MS, there was no association between serum FT4 level and presence of MS after adjustment for age in healthy euthyroid subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Although osteoporosis and atherosclerosis seem to be related, the mechanisms are not yet understood. We previously observed that women with higher serum concentrations of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), a strong risk factor for atherosclerosis, had lower bone mineral density (BMD). However, the relationship of hsCRP level with bone turnover rate, an independent risk factor for osteoporotic fracture, is not known. Design Cross-sectional hospital-based survey. Patients Apparently healthy pre- and postmenopausal women ( n = 39 and 150, respectively). Measurements Urinary N-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (NTx) and serum bone specific alkaline phosphatase (BALP) were measured using commercially available immunoassay kits. Serum hsCRP concentrations were measured by a particle-enhanced immunoturbidometric method. Results Both urinary NTx (γ = 0·288, P < 0·001) and serum BALP (γ = 0·260, P < 0·001) were positively correlated with serum hsCRP levels. Significance remained even after adjustment for age, body mass index and years since menopause (γ = 0·257, P < 0·001, and γ = 0·163, P = 0·027, respectively). Compared with subjects in the lowest hsCRP quartile (≤ 0·6 mg/l), those in the highest hsCRP quartile (≥ 1·6 mg/l) had significantly higher urinary NTx concentrations ( P = 0·001) after adjustment for confounding variables. There was an increasing trend of serum BALP concentrations in the higher hsCRP quartile groups ( P = 0·073). Conclusion These findings suggest that low grade systemic inflammation may be a common linking factor between development of atherosclerosis and increased bone turnover rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thanks to the development of machine learning techniques, it has been shown that the supervised learning can be useful to study critical phenomena of various systems. However, the supervised learning cannot be done without labels which require knowledge about critical behavior of the system. To overcome this barrier, unsupervised machine learning methods have been considered and the confusion scheme has been proposed. In this study, we use the confusion scheme of the unsupervised learning and investigate critical behavior of various systems which exhibit single (double) phase transitions with (without) quasi-long-range order. In detail, we choose the two-color Ashkin-Teller model, the XY model, and the eight-state clock model as such systems and snapshots of the spin configurations at various temperatures are collected via Monte Carlo simulations to be used as input data for the unsupervised machine learning. We also put focus on the size dependence of results and validate the availability of the confusion scheme in thermodynamic limit. Our results indicate that the confusion scheme of the unsupervised learning successfully locates the approximate transition points for all models and becomes more accurate as the system size is increased. We also find a characteristic feature of the result which reflects the presence of a quasi-long-range order. We conclude that regardless of the presence of a quasi-long-range order, single and double phase transitions can be detected via the confusion scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite the protective effects of stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1) in stimulating muscle regeneration shown in experimental research, there is a lack of clinical studies linking circulating SDF-1 concentrations with muscle phenotypes. In order to elucidate the role of SDF-1 as a potential biomarker reflecting human muscle health, we investigated the association of plasma SDF-1 levels with sarcopenia in older adults. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 97 community-dwelling participants who underwent a comprehensive geriatric assessment at a tertiary hospital in South Korea. Sarcopenia was defined by specific cutoff values applicable to the Asian population, whereas plasma SDF-1 levels were determined using an enzyme immunoassay. Results: After accounting for sex, age, and body mass index, participants with sarcopenia and low muscle mass exhibited plasma SDF-1 levels that were 21.8% and 18.3% lower than those without these conditions, respectively (P=0.008 and P=0.009, respectively). Consistently, higher plasma SDF-1 levels exhibited a significant correlation with higher skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) and gait speed (both P=0.043), and the risk of sarcopenia and low muscle mass decreased by 58% and 55% per standard deviation increase in plasma SDF-1 levels, respectively (P=0.045 and P=0.030, respectively). Furthermore, participants in the highest SDF-1 tertile exhibited significantly higher SMI compared to those in the lowest tertile (P=0.012). Conclusion: These findings clinically corroborate earlier experimental discoveries highlighting the muscle anabolic effects of SDF-1 and support the potential role of circulating SDF-1 as a biomarker reflecting human muscle health in older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robust synchronization is indispensable for stable operation of a power grid. Recently, it has been reported that a large number of decentralized generators, rather than a small number of large power plants, provide enhanced synchronization together with greater robustness against structural failures. In this paper, we systematically control the spatial uniformity of the geographical distribution of generators and conclude that the more uniformly generators are distributed, the more enhanced synchronization occurs. In the presence of temporal failures of power sources, we observe that spatial uniformity helps the power grid to recover stationarity in a shorter time. We also discuss practical implications of our results in designing the structure of a power-grid network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One's reputation in human society depends on what and how one did in the past. If the reputation of a counterpart is too bad, we often avoid interacting with the individual. We introduce a selective cooperator called the goodie, who participates in the prisoner's dilemma game dependent on the opponent's reputation, and study its role in forming a cooperative society. We observe enhanced cooperation when goodies have a small but nonzero probability of playing the game with an individual who defected in previous rounds. Our finding implies that even this small generosity of goodies can provide defectors chances of encountering the better world of cooperation, encouraging them to escape from their isolated world of selfishness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) proteogenomic analysis prioritized dihydropyrimidinase-like-3 (DPYSL3) as a multilevel (RNA/protein/phosphoprotein) expression outlier specific to the claudin-low (CLOW) subset of triple-negative breast cancers. A PubMed informatics tool indicated a paucity of data in the context of breast cancer, which further prioritized DPYSL3 for study. DPYSL3 knockdown in DPYSL3-positive (DPYSL3+)CLOWcell lines demonstrated reduced proliferation, yet enhanced motility and increased expression of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers, suggesting that DPYSL3 is a multifunctional signaling modulator. Slower proliferation in DPYSL3-negative (DPYSL3-) CLOW cells was associated with accumulation of multinucleated cells, indicating a mitotic defect that was associated with a collapse of the vimentin microfilament network and increased vimentin phosphorylation. DPYSL3 also suppressed the expression of EMT regulators SNAIL and TWIST and opposed p21 activated kinase 2 (PAK2)-dependent migration. However, these EMT regulators in turn induce DPYSL3 expression, suggesting that DPYSL3 participates in negative feedback on EMT. In conclusion, DPYSL3 expression identifies CLOW tumors that will be sensitive to approaches that promote vimentin phosphorylation during mitosis and inhibitors of PAK signaling during migration and EMT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sznajd-Weron [Phys. Rev. E 82, 031120 (20 10)] suggested that the one-dimensional Ising model subject to the zero-temperature synchronous Glauber dynamics exhibits a discontinuous phase transition. We show here that the phase transition instead is of a continuous nature, and we identify critical exponents, β ≈ 0, v ≈ 1, and z ≈ 2, via a systematic finite-size scaling analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider an infinite-sized population where an infinite number of traits compete simultaneously. The replicator equation with a diffusive term describes time evolution of the probability distribution over the traits due to selection and mutation on a mean-field level. We argue that this dynamics can be expressed as a variant of the Fisher equation with high-order correction terms. The equation has a traveling-wave solution, and the phase-space method shows how the wave shape depends on the correction. We compare this solution with empirical time-series data of given names in Quebec, treating it as a descriptive model for the observed patterns. Our model explains the reason that many names exhibit a similar pattern of the rise and fall as time goes by. At the same time, we have found that their dissimilarities are also statistically significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although muscles and bones interact with each other through various secretory factors, the role of sclerostin, an osteocyte-secreted factor, on muscle metabolism has not been well studied. We investigated the levels of serum sclerostin in Korean older adults with sarcopenia. Methods: Blood samples were collected from 129 participants who underwent evaluation of muscle mass and function in an outpatient geriatric clinic of a teaching hospital. Sarcopenia and related parameters were determined using cutoff values for the Asian population. Serum sclerostin levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: The mean age of the participants was 69.6 years, and 20 participants (15.5%) were classified as having sarcopenia. After adjusting for age, sex, and body mass index, serum sclerostin levels were significantly lower in participants with sarcopenia, low muscle mass, or weak muscle strength (P=0.003 to 0.045). Serum sclerostin levels were positively associated with skeletal muscle index and grip strength after adjusting for confounders (P=0.001 and P=0.003), whereas sarcopenic phenotype score showed a negative association (P=0.006). These increases in muscle mass and strength were also dose dependent as serum sclerostin levels increased (P for trends=0.003 and P for trends=0.015). Higher serum sclerostin levels were associated with lower odds ratio (ORs) for sarcopenia, low muscle mass, and weak muscle strength after adjusting for confounders (OR, 0.27 to 0.50; P<0.001 to 0.025). Conclusion: Higher serum sclerostin levels were associated with a lower risk of sarcopenia, low muscle mass, and weak muscle strength in Korean older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We numerically study stochastic resonance in the two-dimensional 4-state clock models from q = 2 to 7 under a weak oscillating magnetic field. As in the mean-field case, we observe double resonance peaks, but the detailed response strongly depends on the direction of the field modulation for q ≥ 5 where the quasiliquid phase emerges. We explain this behavior in terms of free-energy landscapes on the two-dimensional magnetization plane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phase transition in its strict sense can only be observed in an infinite system, for which equilibration takes an infinitely long time at criticality. In numerical simulations, we are often limited both by the finiteness of the system size and by the finiteness of the observation time scale. We propose that one can overcome this barrier by measuring the nonequilibrium temporal relaxation for finite systems and by applying the finite-time-fmite-size scaling (FTFSS) which systematically uses two scaling variables, one temporal and the other spatial. The FTFSS method yields a smooth scaling surface, and the conventional finite-size scaling curves can be viewed as proper cross sections of the surface. The validity of our FTFSS method is tested for the synchronization transition of Kuramoto models in the globally coupled structure and in the small-world network structure. Our FTFSS method is also applied to the Monte Carlo dynamics of the globally coupled g-state clock model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study quantum resonance behavior of the infinite-range kinetic Ising model at zero temperature. Numerical integration of the time-dependent Schrodinger equation in the presence of an external magnetic field in the z direction is performed at various transverse field strengths g. It is revealed that two resonance peaks occur when the energy gap matches the external driving frequency at two distinct values of g, one below and the other above the quantum phase transition. From the similar observations already made in classical systems with phase transitions, we propose that the double resonance peaks should be a generic feature of continuous transitions, for both quantum and classical many-body systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the structure of the profit landscape obtained from the most basic, fluctuation based, trading strategy applied for the daily stock price data. The strategy is parameterized by only two variables, p and q Stocks are sold and bought if the log return is bigger than p and less than -q, respectively. Repetition of this simple strategy for a long time gives the profit defined in the underlying two-dimensional parameter space of p and q. It is revealed that the local maxima in the profit landscape are spread in the form of a fractal structure. The fractal structure implies that successful strategies are not localized to any region of the profit landscape and are neither spaced evenly throughout the profit landscape, which makes the optimization notoriously hard and hypersensitive for partial or limited information. The concrete implication of this property is demonstrated by showing that optimization of one stock for future values or other stocks renders worse profit than a strategy that ignores fluctuations, i.e., a long-term buy-and-hold strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Korean culture, the names of family members are recorded in special family books. This makes it possible to follow the distribution of Korean family names far back in history. It is shown here that these name distributions are well described by a simple null model, the random group formation (RGF) model. This model makes it possible to predict how the name distributions change and these predictions are shown to be borne out. In particular, the RGF model predicts that for married women entering a collection of family books in a certain year, the occurrence of the most common family name 'Kim' should be directly proportional to the total number of married women with the same proportionality constant for all the years. This prediction is also borne out to a high degree. We speculate that it reflects some inherent social stability in the Korean culture. In addition, we obtain an estimate of the total population of the Korean culture down to the year 500 AD, based on the RGF model, and find about ten thousand Kims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The universality class of a phase transition is often determined by factors like dimensionality and inherent symmetry. We study the magnetic dipole system in which the ground-state symmetry and the underlying lattice structure are coupled to each other in an intricate way. A two-dimensional (2D) square-lattice system of magnetic dipoles undergoes an order-disorder phase transition belonging to the 2D Ising universality class. According to Prakash and Henley [Phys. Rev. B 42 6572 (1990)], this can be related to the fourfold-symmetric ground states, which suggests a similarity to the four-state clock model. Provided that this type of symmetry connection holds true, the magnetic dipoles on a honeycomb lattice, which possess sixfold-symmetric ground states, should exhibit a Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in accordance with the six-state clock model. This is verified through numerical simulations in the present investigation. However, it is pointed out that this symmetry argument does not always apply, which suggests that factors other than symmetry can be decisive for the universality class of the magnetic dipole system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients have been reported to have lower bone mineral density (BMD) and higher fracture risk than individuals without PD. We assessed the association between hyperhomocysteinemia due to levodopa intake and BMD in PD patients. We measured serum homocysteine (Hcy) concentrations and BMD in the proximal femur and lumbar spine of PD patients aged 55 years or older ( n = 95) and three age-/gender-matched control subjects ( n = 285). The prevalence of osteoporosis was higher in both men (2.5-fold) and women (1.7-fold) with PD than in controls, and adjusted odds ratios for osteoporosis were 3.57 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.25–10.20) for men and 2.54 for women (95% CI, 1.31–4.93) with PD. Serum Hcy concentrations were significantly higher in PD patients (median = 13.0 μmol/l) than controls (median = 11.5 μmol/l) ( P = 0.005). Serum Hcy concentrations were independently associated with BMD values at all proximal femur sites in all subjects ( P = 0.005 to 0.012). In PD patients, higher serum Hcy concentrations were independently associated with higher fracture risk ( P = 0.029). PD patients taking higher doses of levodopa had significantly higher serum Hcy concentrations ( P = 0.013), and greater levodopa intake was associated with lower BMD values in some areas ( P = 0.008 to 0.029). In conclusion, these findings indicate that hyperhomocysteinemia due to levodopa intake may be one additional risk factor for osteoporosis and fracture in PD patients. Reducing Hcy may be a therapeutic modality for treating osteoporosis in PD patients taking levodopa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of mono- or dialkyl/phenyl o-substituted phenoxy ligands in half-metallocene titanium(IV) complexes was examined to determine the structure-catalytic activity relationship in high temperature olefin polymerization. Five different types of polymerization catalysts with different Cp/Cp* and mono- or disubstituted symmetric/asymmetric alkyl/phenyl phenoxide ancillary ligands were compared. This series was examined for ethylene homopolymerization after activation with Ph3CB(C6F5)4and mMAO-7 at high temperatures (140 °C). Type 4 complexes of compounds 15−18[33.0−39.0 kg/(mmol of Ti·h)] showed much higher catalytic activity than those found in types 1−3 and 5 [3.6−27.6 kg/(mmol of Ti·h)], and among the type 4 complexes, the Cp*/2-phenylphenoxy combination of compound 18[39 kg/(mmol of Ti·h)] surpassed the Cp*/2-alkyl ligand systems of compounds 15−17[33.0−36.0 kg/(mmol of Ti·h)]. The revolving nature of the phenoxy ligand around the Ti−O−C axis was identified by the NOSEY correlation peaks between the methyl protons of Cp* and protons of ancillary phenyl phenoxy ligand in compound 18. The conformational flexibility of the phenyl phenoxy ligand was further confirmed by a series of temperature-dependent ROSEY experiments based on the optimization of two conformational structures related by this rotation. Rotational barriers of 4.3 and 6.6 kcal/mol were estimated from theoretical DFT studies. DFT calculations of the transition states for ethylene insertion and termination were carried out for representative examples of types 4 (15, 16, 18), 3 (10, 12), and 1 (3) catalysts as well as the constrained geometry catalyst (CGC) as a reference. The preference for back-side insertion was a unique feature of the monosubstituted type 4 catalysts. The type 4 catalysts showed significant activities for ethylene/1-octene copolymerization affording high molecular weight poly(ethylene−co−1−octene)s (Mw= 107 000 −164 000) with unimodal molecular weight distributions (Mw/Mn= 2.08−4.15). The activity increased in the order of type 3 [90−132 kg/(mmol of Ti·h), in toluene, ethylene 30 atm, 1-octene 8 mL, 140 °C, 10 min.] < CGC (222) < type 4 (228−354). Among the type 4 series, compound 18showed the best performance, reaching an activity of 354 kg/(mmol of Ti·h). The polymer density of 0.9148 g/mL for compound 18was lower than that found in CGC (0.9154 g/mL), indicating higher 1-octene incorporation, which was further confirmed by an analysis of the 13C NMR spectra of the polymers (18, 2.73 mol % and CGC, 2.55 mol %). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2D Fully Frustrated XY(FFXY) class of models is shown to contain a new groundstate in addition to the checkerboard groundstate of the standard 2D XY model. The spin configuration of this additional groundstate is obtained and its connection to a broken Z2-symmetry explained. This means that the class of 2D FFXY models belongs within a U(1) ⊗ Z2 ⊗ Z2-symmetry phase-transition representation. The phase diagram is reviewed and the central charges of the four multicritical points described. The implications for the standard 2D FFXY-model are discussed and elucidated, in particular with respect to the long standing controversy concerning the phase transitions of the standard 2D FFXY-model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on a study which examined cultural preferences for formal versus intuitive reasoning among East Asian, Asian American and European American university students. Comparison between the intuitive reasoning among Asians and Europeans; Discussion of the intuitive strategies for reasoning; Information on the cross-cultural analysis in learning.

Background: Despite clinical evidence indicating poor muscle health in subjects with primary aldosteronism (PA), it is still unclear whether the role of aldosterone in muscle metabolism is direct or mediated indirectly via factors, such as electrolyte imbalance or impaired glucose uptake. As one approach to clarify this issue, we investigated the effect of aldosterone on in vitro myogenesis and the potential mechanism explaining it. Methods: Myogenesis was induced in mouse C2C12 myoblasts with 2% horse serum. Immunofluorescence, quantitative reversetranscription polymerase chain reaction, Western blot, viability, and migration analyses were performed for experimental research. Results: Recombinant aldosterone treatment suppressed muscle differentiation from mouse C2C12 myoblasts in a dose-dependent manner, and consistently reduced the expression of myogenic differentiation markers. Furthermore, aldosterone significantly increased intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in myotubes, and treatment with N-acetyl cysteine, a potent biological thiol antioxidant, reversed the decrease of myotube area, myotube area per myotube, nucleus number per myotube, and fusion index due to aldosterone through decreasing oxidative stress. A binding enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay confirmed that mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) interacted with aldosterone in C2C12 myoblasts, while eplerenone, an MR inhibitor, blocked aldosterone-stimulated intracellular ROS generation during myogenesis and markedly attenuated the suppression of in vitro myogenesis by aldosterone. Conclusion: These findings support the hypothesis that hypersecretion of aldosterone, like PA, directly contributes to muscular deterioration and suggest that antioxidants and/or MR antagonists could be effective therapeutic options to reduce the risk of sarcopenia in these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The C-C motif chemokine ligand 11 (CCL11) has been receiving attention as a potential pro-aging factor. Accordingly, it may be involved in muscle metabolism and sarcopenia, a key component of aging phenotypes. To clarify this potential, we investigated the effects of CCL11 on in vitro muscle biology and its clinical relevance for sarcopenia parameters in older adults. Methods: Myogenesis was induced in mouse C2C12 myoblasts with 2% horse serum. Human blood samples were collected from 79 participants who underwent a functional assessment. Thereafter, CCL11 level was measured using a quantikine ELISA kit. Sarcopenia was defined using the Asian-specific guideline. Results: Recombinant CCL11 treatment significantly stimulated myogenesis in a dose-dependent manner, and consistently increased the expression of myogenic differentiation markers. Among the C-C chemokine receptors (CCRs), CCR5, not CCR2 and CCR3, was predominantly expressed in muscle cells. Further, the CCR5 inhibitor blocked recombinant CCL11-stimulated myogenesis. In a clinical study, serum CCL11 level was not significantly different according to the status of sarcopenia, low muscle mass, weak muscle strength, and poor physical performance, and was not associated with skeletal muscle index, grip strength, short physical performance battery score, gait speed, and time to complete 5 chair stands, after adjusting for sex, age, and body mass index. Conclusion: Contrary to expectations, CCL11 exerted beneficial effects on muscle metabolism at least in vitro system. However, its impact on human muscle health was not evident, suggesting that circulating CCL11 may not be a useful biomarker for sarcopenia risk assessment in older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We numerically study dynamic critical behavior of the one-dimensional XY model with a long-range interaction by using the Monte Carlo method and the resistively-shunted Josephson junction model. The two dynamic models exhibit the mean-field universality class in equilibrium as expected, but the dynamic critical behavior is shown to sensitively depend on details of numerical simulation. In more detail, the trial angle range in the Monte Carlo simulation is found to alter the value of the dynamic critical exponent, and the scaling of the Monte Carlo time unit by the acceptance ratio is shown to be useful to improve the estimation of the dynamic critical exponent. We compare the Monte Carlo result of the dynamic critical exponent with the result from the more realistic dynamic model of the resistively-shunted junction. We conclude that the small value of the trial angle range should be used to properly detect dynamic critical behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-temperature self-healing capabilities are essential for self-healing materials exposed to cold environments. Although low-temperature self-healing concepts have been proposed, there has been no report of a microcapsule-type low-temperature self-healing system wherein the healing ability was demonstrated at low temperature. In this work, low-temperature self-healing of a microcapsule-type protective coating was demonstrated. This system employed silanol-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (STP) as a healing agent and dibutyltin dilaurate (DD) as a catalyst. STP underwent a condensation reaction at -20 °C in the presence of DD to give a viscoelastic product. The reaction behavior of STP and the viscoelasticity of the reaction product were investigated. STP and DD were separately microencapsulated by in situ polymerization and interfacial polymerization methods, respectively. The STP- and DD-loaded microcapsules were mixed into a commercial enamel paint, and the resulting formulation was applied to glass slides, steel panels, and mortars to prepare self-healing coatings. When the self-healing coatings were damaged at a low temperature (-20 °C), STP and DD were released from broken microcapsules and filled the damaged area. This process was effectively visualized using a fluorescent dye. The self-healing coatings were scratched and subjected to corrosion tests, electrochemical tests, and saline solution permeability tests. The temperature of the self-healing coatings was maintained at -20 °C before and after scratching and during the tests. We successfully demonstrated that the STP/DD-based coating system has good low-temperature self-healing capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite evidence from animal and clinical studies showing the detrimental effects of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) on bone metabolism, there are no clinical studies relating circulating MIF levels to osteoporosis-related phenotypes. This cross-sectional study investigated the association of plasma MIF with bone mineral density (BMD), bone turnover markers (BTMs), and prevalence of osteoporosis in postmenopausal Korean women. Methods: A total of 246 women not taking any medications or diagnosed with any diseases that could affect bone metabolism were enrolled. BMD values at the lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total femur, and blood levels of MIF and BTMs were measured in all subjects. Osteoporosis was defined by World Health Organization criteria. Results: Before and after adjustment for confounding variables, higher MIF levels were significantly associated with lower BMD values at all measured sites and higher levels of all BTMs. All BMD values and BTMs significantly changed in a dose-dependent fashion across increasing MIF quartile. When participants were divided into two groups according to osteoporosis status, postmenopausal women with osteoporosis demonstrated 24.2% higher plasma MIF levels than those without osteoporosis (P=0.041). The odds ratio per each standard deviation increment of MIF levels for prevalent osteoporosis was 1.32 (95% confidence interval, 1.01 to 1.73). Conclusion: This study provides the first epidemiological evidence that higher plasma MIF may be associated with higher risk of osteoporosis resulting from lower bone mass and higher bone turnover rate, and thus it could be a potential biomarker of poor bone health outcomes in postmenopausal women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The investigation of random walks is central to a variety of stochastic processes in physics, chemistry and biology. To describe a transport phenomenon, we study a variant of the one-dimensional persistent random walk, which we call a zero-one-only process. It makes a step in the same direction as the previous step with probability p, and stops to change the direction with 1 − p. By using the generating-function method, we calculate its characteristic quantities such as the statistical moments and probability of the first return. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale data of a coalition loyalty program is analyzed in terms of the temporal dynamics of customers' behaviors. We report that the two main activities of a loyalty program, earning and redemption of points, exhibit very different behaviors. It is also found that as customers become older from their early 20's, both male and female customers increase their earning and redemption activities until they arrive at the turning points, beyond which both activities decrease. The positions of turning points as well as the maximum earned and redeemed points are found to differ for males and females. On top of these temporal behaviors, we identify that there exists a learning effect and customers learn how to earn and redeem points as their experiences accumulate in time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study statistics of the knockout tournament, where only the winner of a fixture progresses to the next. We assign a real number called competitiveness to each contestant and find that the resulting distribution of prize money follows a power law with an exponent close to unity if the competitiveness is a stable quantity and a decisive factor to win a match. Otherwise, the distribution is found narrow. The existing observation of power law distributions in various kinds of real sports tournaments therefore suggests that the rules of those games are constructed in such a way that it is possible to understand the games in terms of the contestants' inherent characteristics of competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BCL2-associated athanogene 6 (BAG6) is a member of the BAG protein family, which is implicated in diverse cellular processes including apoptosis, co-chaperone, and DNA damage response (DDR). Recently, it has been shown that BAG6 forms a stable complex with UBL4A and GET4 and functions in membrane protein targeting and protein quality control. The BAG6 sequence contains a canonical nuclear localization signal and is localized predominantly in the nucleus. However, GET4 and UBL4A are found mainly in cytoplasm. Whether GET4 and UBL4A are also involved in DDR in the context of the BAG6 complex remains unknown. Here, we provide evidence that nuclear BAG6-UBL4A-GET4 complex mediates DDR signaling and damage-induced cell death. BAG6 appears to be the central component for the process, as depletion of BAG6 leads to the loss of both UBL4A and GET4 proteins and resistance to cell killing by DNA-damaging agents. In addition, nuclear localization of BAG6 and phosphorylation of BAG6 by ATM/ATR are also required for cell killing. UBL4A and GET4 translocate to the nucleus upon DNA damage and appear to play redundant roles in cell killing, as depletion of either one has no effect but co-depletion leads to resistance. All three components of the BAG6 complex are required for optimal DDR signaling, as BAG6, and to a lesser extent, GET4 and UBL4A, regulate the recruitment of BRCA1 to sites of DNA damage. Together our results suggest that the nuclear BAG6 complex is an effector in DNA damage response pathway and its phosphorylation and nuclear localization are important determinants for its function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a number of classical statistical-physical models, there exists a characteristic dimensionality called the upper critical dimension above which one observes the mean-field critical behavior. Instead of constructing high-dimensional lattices, however, one can also consider infinite-dimensional structures, and the question is whether this mean-field character extends to quantum-mechanical cases as well. We therefore investigate the transverse-field quantum Ising model on the globally coupled network and on the Watts-Strogatz small-world network by means of quantum Monte Carlo simulations and the finite-size scaling analysis. We confirm that both of the structures exhibit critical behavior consistent with the mean-field description. In particular, we show that the existing cumulant method has difficulty in estimating the correct dynamic critical exponent and suggest that an order parameter based on the quantum-mechanical expectation value can be a practically useful numerical observable to determine critical behavior when there is no well-defined dimensionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hyperbolic plane can be modeled by a structure called the enhanced binary tree. We study the ferromagnetic Ising model on top of the enhanced binary tree using the renormalization-group analysis in combination with transfer-matrix calculations. We find a reasonable agreement with Monte Carlo calculations on the transition point, and the resulting critical exponents suggest the mean-field surface critical behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The value of the internal energy per spin is independent of the strip width for a certain class of spin systems on two-dimensional infinite strips. It is verified that the Ising model on the kagome lattice belongs to this class through an exact transfer-matrix calculation of the internal energy for the two smallest widths. More generally, one can suggest an upper bound for the critical coupling strength Kc(q) for the q-state Potts model from exact calculations of the internal energy for the two smallest strip widths. Combining this with the corresponding calculation for the dual lattice and using an exact duality relation enables us to conjecture the critical coupling strengths for the three- and four-state Potts models on the kagome lattice. The values are Kc(q=3)=1.0565094269290 and Kc(q=4)=1.1493605872292, and the values can, in principle, be obtained to an arbitrary precision. We discuss the fact that these values are in the middle of earlier approximate results and furthermore differ from earlier conjectures for the exact values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most genome-wide association (GWA) studies have focused on populations of European ancestry with limited assessment of the influence of the sequence variants on populations of other ethnicities. To determine whether markers that we have recently shown to associate with Bone Mineral Density (BMD) in Europeans also associate with BMD in East-Asians we analysed 50 markers from 23 genomic loci in samples from Korea (n = 1,397) and two Chinese Hong Kong sample sets (n = 3,869 and n = 785). Through this effort we identified fourteen loci that associated with BMD in East-Asian samples using a false discovery rate (FDR) of 0.05; 1p36 (ZBTB40, P = 4.361029), 1p31 (GPR177, P = 0.00012), 3p22 (CTNNB1, P = 0.00013), 4q22 (MEPE, P = 0.0026), 5q14 (MEF2C, P = 1.3×10-5), 6q25 (ESR1, P = 0.0011), 7p14 (STARD3NL, P = 0.00025), 7q21 (FLJ42280, P = 0.00017), 8q24 (TNFRSF11B, P = 3.4×10-5), 11p15 (SOX6, P = 0.00033), 11q13 (LRP5, P = 0.0033), 13q14 (TNFSF11, P = 7.561025), 16q24 (FOXL1, P = 0.0010) and 17q21 (SOST, P = 0.015). Our study marks an early effort towards the challenge of cataloguing bone density variants shared by many ethnicities by testing BMD variants that have been established in Europeans, in East-Asians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]