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Manami Watahiki,1 Shigeo Horinaka,1 Toshihiko Ishimitsu,2 Shigeru Toyoda,1 Teruo Inoue1 1Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Dokkyo Medical University, Mibu, Japan; 2Department of Kidney and Hypertension, Dokkyo Medical University, Mibu, JapanCorrespondence: Shigeo HorinakaDepartment of Cardiovascular Medicine, Dokkyo Medical University, 880 Kitakobayashi, Mibu, Shimotsuga, Tochigi 321-0293, JapanEmail horinaka@dokkyomed.ac.jpPurpose: The cardio-ankle vascular index, applying the stiffness parameter β theory, was calculated using the pulse-wave velocity and blood pressure from the aortic orifice to the ankle. Accordingly, the impact of the stiffness of the aorta [heart–thigh β (htBETA)] and medium-sized muscular artery [thigh–ankle β (taBETA)] on the stiffness of the heart–ankle β (haBETA) was investigated; further, whether the htBETA (haBETA − taBETA) improved the power of diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD) was examined.Materials and Methods: Segmental βs were calculated using VaSela with an additional thigh cuff and compared using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to evaluate CAD.Results: Overall, 90 healthy subjects and 41 patients with CAD were included. In both groups, haBETA and htBETA, but not taBETA, correlated with age, and taBETA was three times higher than htBETA (p < 0.01). Multiple regression analysis revealed that haBETA can be estimated using htBETA and taBETA in healthy subjects and patients with CAD (r = 0.86, r = 0.67, respectively, p < 0.01), and two-thirds of the haBETA components can be estimated by htBETA using the component analysis. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for CAD in taBETA (0.493, p = n.s.) was smaller than that in haBETA (0.731, p < 0.01) or htBETA (0.757, p < 0.01); no difference was observed in AUC between haBETA and htBETA.Conclusion: The stiffness of medium-sized muscular arteries of the age-independent thigh–ankle segment (taBETA) was constant, which was three times greater than that of the elastic artery of the heart–thigh artery (htBETA). Two-thirds of the haBETA components could be estimated using htBETA. The ROC curve analysis revealed that the AUC of haBETA could be replaced by that of htBETA, prolonging the measurement segment without affecting the diagnostic power for CAD.Keywords: arterial stiffness, stiffness parameter, cardio-ankle vascular index, coronary artery disease

1. This study assessed 1) the effects of Paracoccus carotinifaciens supplementation containing high astaxanthin levels on egg production performance and quality, 2) dynamics of carotenoids levels in the egg yolk and 3) taste of astaxanthin-rich egg yolk. 2. Laying hens were fed diets containing different levels of P.carotinifaciens-derived astaxanthin (ASX; 0, 2, 4, 8, or 16 ppm) for 28 d (experiment 1) or a diet containing 16 ppm astaxanthin for 28 d followed by a 0 ppm astaxanthin diet for 28 days (experiment 2). 3. Production performance, egg quality and egg yolk carotenoid levels were examined in experiment 1 (Ex1) and the dynamics of egg yolk carotenoid levels and egg yolk taste in experiment 2 (Ex2). 4. ASX supplementation did not affect production performance or egg quality. ASX levels in the egg yolk became saturated after seven days of 16 ppm supplementation and decreased to less than one-tenth of the saturated levels seven days after supplementation cessation. Supplementation with 16 ppm ASX for 28 d did not affect egg yolk taste. 5. Supplementation resulted in the production of ASX-rich eggs for a brief period without affecting production performance, egg quality or taste. Understanding the time taken for the incorporation of ASX into egg yolks is beneficial for value-added egg production and may help in minimising supplementation costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report an observation of Weyl fermions in momentum space in an itinerant ferromagnet SrRuO3 single crystal via inelastic optical spectroscopy. A clear magnetic resonance around 200 GHz is observed in the Brillouin light scattering spectra, which corresponds to the ferromagnetic resonance at the Γ point. The spin-wave gap shows non-monotonous temperature dependence distinct from the bulk magnetization. The observed peculiar temperature evolution in the spin-wave gap scales with that of the anomalous Hall conductivity, which is a hallmark of Weyl fermions near the Fermi energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen isotope analysis of chloropigments provides information on the sources of nitrogenous nutrients assimilated by phytoplankton. The abundant, ubiquitous chlorophyll a records nitrogen isotopic compositions (δ15N) of eukaryotic phytoplankton and cyanobacteria, whereas more source‐specific chloropigments, such as the divinylchlorophylls exclusively possessed by the marine picocyanobacterium Prochlorococcus, can potentially resolve isotopic variability within the phytoplankton community. In this study, we analyzed the δ15N of both chlorophyll a and divinylchlorophyll a isolated from suspended particulate material collected at the subsurface chlorophyll maximum (SCM) along a meridional transect at 88°E in the oligotrophic eastern Indian Ocean. The nitrogen isotopic compositions of Prochlorococcus (δ15NPRO) and the combined biomass of eukaryotic phytoplankton and Synechococcus (δ15NEU+SYN) estimated from the δ15N of divinylchlorophyll a and chlorophyll a, respectively, revealed systematic variations that were not apparent from bulk isotope measurements. Whereas consistently low δ15NPRO indicated reliance of Prochlorococcus on regenerated nitrogen throughout the transect, elevation in δ15NEU+SYN values at several stations was interpreted to reflect assimilation of subsurface NO3− by eukaryotic phytoplankton. The δ15N distributions revealed subtle differences in NO3− availability at the SCM along the transect, which were consistently explained by the occurrence of mesoscale eddies in the Bay of Bengal, deepening of the mixed layer induced by a seasonal Wyrtki Jet in the equatorial region, and substantial deepening of the nutricline in the South Indian Ocean gyre. Our results highlight the utility of compound‐specific isotopic measurements of multiple species of chlorophylls in obtaining essential non‐incubation‐based biogeochemical constraints on the primary production in the ocean. Key Points: We determined nitrogen sources for phytoplankton based on nitrogen isotopic measurements of chlorophyll a and divinylchlorophyll aProchlorococcus depended on regenerated nitrogen whereas eukaryotic phytoplankton responded sensitively to the subsurface nitrate supplyPhytoplankton responses were consistently explained by oceanographic conditions along a meridional transect in the eastern Indian Ocean [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bismuth triiodide (BiI3) is a two-dimensional (2D) layered semiconductor with a fairly narrow bandgap (∼2 eV) and strong excitonic absorption near the band edge. Being endowed with a large absorption coefficient in the visible range, BiI3 attracts a growing interest as a potential compound for thin-film optoelectronic devices. Although various growth techniques have been employed so far, thin films with a high enough crystallinity for the solid assignment of the exciton resonances have never been synthesized. Here, we demonstrate molecular beam epitaxy of high-quality BiI3 films by employing a thin buffer layer deposited at a low temperature (30 °C) to make high temperature (70 °C) growth possible. The films fabricated by this two-step method realize a single-crystalline structure and atomically flat surfaces. The absorption spectra of the films exhibit strong and sharp excitonic resonances near the band edge, indicating the high crystallinity of the films comparable to the bulk single crystals. The presently established fabrication process should be widely applicable to other 2D halide thin films and heterostructures, providing ideal platforms for observing unprecedented emergent phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have studied the thickness-dependent change in the valence band offset (VBO) of the SiO2/Si(001) interface using synchrotron-radiation photoemission spectroscopy with soft and hard X-rays. The SiO2-film thickness (Tox) and X-ray irradiation time (tirrad) were systematically parameterized to distinguish between the "intrinsic" Tox effects in the VBOs and the "extrinsic" differential charging phenomena in SiO2 films on Si substrates. The results revealed that at a spontaneous time (tirrad ≈ 5 s) that suppresses the differential charging phenomena as much as possible, the experimental VBO abruptly increases as a function of Tox and gradually saturates to the traditional VBO value range determined by the internal photoemission and photoconduction measurements. This effect is not attributed to the differential charging phenomena, but rather it is attributed to the "intrinsic" Tox-dependent change in the VBO. The two possible physical behaviors include electronic polarization and image charge. We have derived the electronic polarization contribution from experimental data by carefully describing the effects of the long-range image charges based on the classical dielectric-screening model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continuous development of silicon devices has been supported by fundamental understanding of the two interfaces that predict the device properties: high-dielectric oxide (high-k)/SiO2 and SiO2/Si. In the absence of metal electrode fabrication, it is challenging to use spectroscopic approaches to deduce the electric dipoles in these interfaces for the prediction of electrical characteristics such as the leakage current and threshold voltage. Here, we propose a method to analyze the permanent dipole at the high-k/SiO2 interface by surface-charge-switched electron spectroscopy (SuCSES). An electron flood gun was used to switch the electrical polarity at the insulating surface to extract the interface-dipole contribution from the macroscopic dielectric polarization in the high-k/SiO2/Si stack structure. TaO3 - nanosheet (TaNS) crystallites, which are a family of high-k tantalate materials deposited on the SiO2/Si substrates, were annealed to prepare a nanoscale model interface. The properties of this interface were examined as a function of annealing temperature across the crystalline-toamorphous transition. Macroscopic dielectric polarization of the TaNS/SiO2/Si gate stack was found to exhibit a gradual decay that depended upon the quantum tunneling processes of induced carriers at the SiO2/Si interface. Additionally, the dipole at the high-k/thin-SiO2 interface abruptly changed by ∼0.4 eV before and after annealing at 400 °C, which may be the result of a decrease in conductionband offsets at the high-k/Si interface. Thus, SuCSES can aid in determining the inherent valenceband offsets in dielectric interfaces by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy with high accuracy and precision. Furthermore, SuCSES can determine whether dielectric polarization, including the interfacial dipole, affects the experimental value of the band offsets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We experimentally demonstrate one-way transparency of light in multiferroic CuB20 4. The material is rendered transparent for light propagating in one direction, while opaque for light propagating in the opposite direction. The novel transparency results from a destructive interference of the electric dipole and magnetic dipole transitions. The realization of the effect has been accomplished by the application of a high magnetic field and the proper selection of the propagation direction of light in agreement with our quantum mechanical formulation of nonreciprocal directional dichroism [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

δ15N-NH4+ of dairy manure compost piles with and without bulking agent (10% w / w) were compared to understand the significant mitigation of N2O emission by the use of bulking agent. δ15N-NH4+ of each locations of the pile (top, side and core) were also compared. Piles with bulking agent showed significantly higher δ15N values (17.7 ± 1.3‰) than that of the piles without bulking agent (11.8 ± 0.9‰) at the end of the process, reflecting significant higher nitrogen conversion and NH3 loss occurred in the pile with bulking agent. The pile top samples, especially in the piles with bulking agent, showed very high NH4+ concentrations with significant high 15N (δ15N: 12.7-29.8‰) values, indicating extremely high nitrogen conversion, nitrification-denitrification activity of the microbes and NH3 volatilization occurred in this zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]