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Hayato Ise,1,2 Ryohei Ushioda,1 Hirotsugu Kanda,3 Fumiaki Kimura,4 Yasuaki Saijo,5 Payam Akhyari,2 Artur Lichtenberg,2 Hiroyuki Kamiya1 1Department of Cardiac Surgery, Asahikawa Medical University, Asahikawa, Japan; 2Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany; 3Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Asahikawa Medical University, Asahikawa, Japan; 4Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Kushiro Kojinkai Memorial Hospital, Kushiro, Japan; 5Division of Public Health and Epidemiology, Department of Social Medicine, Asahikawa Medical University, Asahikawa, JapanCorrespondence: Hirotsugu Kanda, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Asahikawa Medical University, Midorigaoka-Higashi 2-1-1-1, Asahikawa, 078-8510, Japan, Tel +81-166-68-2583, Fax +81-166-68-2589, Email hirotsugukanda0629@gmail.comPurpose: We aimed to identify the risk factors of critical bleeding and investigate the safety of recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) in aortic surgery under hypothermic circulatory arrest (HCA).Patients and Methods: The present single-center retrospective study compared the baseline characteristics of 144 patients who underwent aortic surgery under HCA at our institute. Among the total cohort of 144 patients, 42 received rFVIIa (rFVIIa group), while the remaining 102 patients did not (non-rFVIIa group). Perioperative bleeding and transfusions, postoperative 30-day mortality, and adverse events (AEs) were analyzed in 29 propensity score-matched pairs.Results: Before surgery, the rFVIIa group demonstrated a greater number of shocks (p=0.019), higher JapanSCORE II mortality rate (p=0.033), low platelet count (p=0.015) and fibrinogen (p< 0.001) level, prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) (p=0.005) and prothrombin time international normalized ratio (PT-INR) (p=0.006), and longer aortic cross clamp time (p=0.049). Postoperative bleeding, transfusion, 30-day mortality, and AEs were comparable between the groups both in the entire-unmatched cohort and propensity score matching cohort.Conclusion: Preoperative shock, higher JapanSCORE II mortality rates, low platelet and fibrinogen levels, prolonged aPTT and PT-INR, and longer aortic clamping time might be risk factors for excessive bleeding and indicate the need for rFVIIa treatment. The present study suggests that rFVIIa can be safely used to address critical and continuous bleeding in spite of adequate transfusion and supplementation of other coagulation factors in aortic surgery under HCA, without an increase in 30-day mortality and AEs.Keywords: aortic surgery under hypothermic circulatory arrest, cardiac surgery, recombinant activated factor VII, retrospective study, uncontrollable bleeding

This study presents an approach to achieve a triaxial magnetic alignment through a linear drive type of modulated rotating magnetic field by using a permanent magnet array. This magnet array generates a modulated rotating magnetic field (MRF) without moving the sample and can produce an MRF of ∼ 0.8 T. By utilizing this magnet array, DyBa2Cu3Oy (Dy123, y ∼ 7) grains were biaxially aligned. After cutting the as-aligned sample that was magnetically aligned, we observed a location dependence of the orientation degree. We achieved the higher in-plane orientation degree of ∼ 8.5° and the c-axis orientation degree of ∼ 6.0°, respectively. The 3D simulation analysis played a key role in identifying the region where the uniformity of the MRF is within the magnet array. Compared to the epitaxial growth techniques, the use of the magnet array offers a cost-effective and versatile solution for achieving triaxial magnetic alignment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Takahiro Harigae,1 Kiyotaka Nakagawa,1 Taiki Miyazawa,2 Nao Inoue,3 Fumiko Kimura,1 Ikuo Ikeda,3 Teruo Miyazawa4,5 1Food and Biodynamic Chemistry Laboratory, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan; 2Vascular Biology Laboratory, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA; 3Laboratory of Food and Biomolecular Science, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, 4Food and Biotechnology Innovation Project, New Industry Creation Hatchery Center, 5Food and Health Science Research Unit, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan Purpose: Curcumin (CUR), the main polyphenol in turmeric, is poorly absorbed and rapidly metabolized following oral administration, which severely curtails its bioavailability. Poly-(lactic-co-glycolic acid)-based CUR nanoparticles (CUR-NP) have recently been suggested to improve CUR bioavailability, but this has not been fully verified. Specifically, no data are available about curcumin glucuronide (CURG), the major metabolite of CUR found in the plasma following oral administration of CUR-NP. Herein, we investigated the absorption and metabolism of CUR-NP and evaluated whether CUR-NP improves CUR bioavailability.Methods: Following oral administration of CUR-NP in rats, we analyzed the plasma and organ distribution of CUR and its metabolites using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. To elucidate the mechanism of increased intestinal absorption of CUR-NP, we prepared mixed micelles comprised of phosphatidylcholine and bile salts and examined the micellar solubility of CUR-NP. Additionally, we investigated the cellular incorporation of the resultant micelles into differentiated Caco-2 human intestinal cells.Results: Following in vivo administration of CUR-NP, CUR was effectively absorbed and present mainly as CURG in the plasma which contained significant amounts of the metabolite compared with other organs. Thus, CUR-NP increased intestinal absorption of CUR rather than decreasing metabolic degradation and conversion to other metabolites. In vitro, CUR encapsulated in CUR-NP was solubilized in mixed micelles; however, whether the micelles contained CUR or CUR-NP had little influence on cellular uptake efficiency. Therefore, we suggest that the high solubilization capacity of CUR-NP in mixed micelles, rather than cellular uptake efficiency, explains the high intestinal absorption of CUR-NP in vivo.Conclusion: These findings provide a better understanding of the bioavailability of CUR and CUR-NP following oral administration. To improve the bioavailability of CUR, future studies should focus on enhancing the resistance to metabolic degradation and conversion of CUR to other metabolites, which may lead to novel discoveries regarding food function and disease prevention. Keywords: absorption, metabolism, bioavailability, mixed micelles, Caco-2, HPLC-MS/MS

Taiki Miyazawa,1,2 Kiyotaka Nakagawa,1,2 Takahiro Harigae,2 Ryo Onuma,2 Fumiko Kimura,2 Tomoyuki Fujii,3 Teruo Miyazawa4,5 1Vascular Biology Laboratory, Jean Mayer USDA (United States Department of Agriculture)-Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA; 2Food and Biodynamic Chemistry Laboratory, 3Terahertz Optical & Food Engineering Laboratory, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, 4Food and Biotechnology Innovation Project, New Industry Creation Hatchery Center (NICHe), 5Food and Health Science Research Unit, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan Purpose: Biodegradable nanoparticles (NPs) composed of poly(D, L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) have attracted considerable attention as delivery systems of drugs and antioxidative compounds, such as β-carotene (BC). Intravenous (IV) administration of BC-containing PLGA-NPs (BC-PLGA-NPs) coated with polysorbate 80 (PS80) has been shown to effectively deliver BC to the brain. However, the whole-body distribution profile of BC is still not clear. Therefore, we investigated the accumulation of BC in various organs, including the brain, following IV administration of PS80-coated BC-PLGA-NPs in rats.Methods: PS80-coated and uncoated BC-PLGA-NPs were prepared by solvent evaporation, and administered intravenously to Sprague Dawley rats at a BC dose of 8.5 mg/rat. Accumulation of BC in various organs (brain, heart, liver, lungs, and spleen) and blood plasma was evaluated by high performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet (UV) detection, 1 hour after administration.Results: We prepared PS80-coated BC-PLGA-NPs with an entrapment efficiency of 14%, a particle size of 260 nm, and a zeta potential of -26 mV. Coating with PS80 was found to result in significant accumulation of BC in the lungs, rather than in the brain and other tissues. Further, plasma levels of BC in the PS80-coated BC-PLGA-NP group were much lower than those of the uncoated BC-PLGA-NP group.Conclusion: Following IV administration, PS80-coated BC-PLGA-NPs are quickly transferred from plasma circulation to the lungs, rather than the brain. Significant accumulation of BC in the lungs may be useful for health-related applications. Keywords: β-carotene, intravenous administration, nanoparticles, poly(D, L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA), polysorbate 80 (PS80), tissue distribution

Passive scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) has recently been developed for studying long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) waves. It detects surface-localized waves without any external illumination or heating and enables the imaging of hot-electron energy dissipation and nanoscale Joule heating. However, the lack of a wavelength selection mechanism in the passive LWIR s-SNOM makes it difficult to perform a thorough analysis of the surface-localized waves. Here, we develop a novel passive scanning near-field optical spectroscopy with a diffraction grating. The spectroscopic optics are designed to exhibit a high signal efficiency and mechanical performance at the temperature of liquid helium (4.2 K). Using the developed passive LWIR near-field spectroscopy, the spectral information of thermally excited evanescent waves can be directly obtained without any influence from the external environment factors, including environmental heat. We have detected the thermally excited evanescent waves on a SiC/Au micropatterned sample at room temperature with a spatial resolution of 200 nm and a wavelength resolution of 500 nm at several wavelengths in the range of 14–15 µm. The obtained spectra are consistent with the electromagnetic local density of states calculated based on the fluctuation–dissipation theorem. The developed passive LWIR near-field spectroscopy enables the spectral analysis of ultrasmall surface-localized waves, making it a high-performance surface analysis tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]