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Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a chronic liver disease which may progress into liver fibrosis and cancer. Since NASH patients have a high prevalence of atherosclerosis and ensuing cardiovascular diseases, simultaneous management of NASH and atherosclerosis is required. Currently, rodents are the most common animal models for NASH and accompanying liver fibrosis, but there are great differences in lipoprotein profiles between rodents and humans, which makes it difficult to reproduce the pathology of NASH patients with atherosclerosis. Rabbits can be a promising candidate for assessing NASH and atherosclerosis because lipoprotein metabolism is more similar to humans compared with rodents. To develop the NASH model using rabbits, we treated the Japanese White rabbit with a newly developed high-fat high-cholesterol diet (HFHCD) containing palm oil 7.5%, cholesterol 0.5%, and ferrous citrate 0.5% for 16 weeks. HFHCD-fed rabbits exhibited NASH at 8 weeks after commencing the treatment and developed advanced fibrosis by the 14th week of treatment. In addition to hypercholesterolemia, atherosclerotic lesion developed in the aorta after 8 weeks. Therefore, this rabbit NASH model might contribute to exploring the concurrent treatment options for human NASH and atherosclerosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Prior to development, the Matsukawa geothermal field was partially vapor-dominated. The youngest mineral assemblage consists of early pyrophyllite, diaspore and pyrite, and later anhydrite and quartz, implying deposition from an acidic, high-temperature fluid. Fluid inclusions in anhydrite and quartz from core and cutting samples collected in wells drilled in the western upflow zone of the field were studied to characterize the temperatures and compositions of these late fluids. The results of fluid inclusion studies indicate that the temperatures during the deposition of anhydrite and quartz were up to several tens of degrees lower than the reservoir temperatures at the time of exploitation. Fluids trapped in anhydrite had temperatures of up to 257°C, CO2 concentrations in the 0.4–2.6mol% range and salinities of 1.9–11.3wt.% NaCl. This compositional variation is related to vapor loss occurring during boiling. The data suggest that the geothermal reservoir is currently being reheated by subvolcanic intrusions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In order to constrain the timing of plutonic magma emplacements relevant to current geothermal activity in the Hachimantai geothermal area, northeast Japan, laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) U–Th–Pb analyses were performed on zircons from two different origins. One is from the Quaternary Kakkonda Granite in the Kakkonda geothermal field, whose present temperature at ~3700m depth is 500°C, and the other is from a clastic dike in the Matsukawa geothermal field. Zircons from the Kakkonda Granite were obtained at a depth of 1998m and their 238U–206Pb and U–Th ages showed ~0.1Ma, which probably indicates that the Kakkonda Granite is the world's youngest emplaced granitic magma body ever confirmed. The clastic dike in the Matsukawa geothermal field contains dioritic to tonalitic xenoliths; therefore zircons extracted from the dike should also be of plutonic origin. 238U–206Pb age of 1.08±0.08Ma (after correction for initial 230Th disequilibrium; error shown as 95% confidence level) was obtained from the zircons. Therefore it was found that there were at least two Quaternary plutonic magma activities (~1.1Ma and ~0.1Ma) in the Hachimantai geothermal area. Through this study, it was also found that U–Th–Pb dating using a quadrupole type ICP-MS coupled with excimer laser is applicable to Quaternary zircons as young as 0.1Ma and Fish Canyon Tuff zircon is usable as a standard material for U–Th–Pb dating method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]