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The results of astrometric very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations toward an extreme OH/IR star candidate NSV 17351 are presented. Using the VERA (VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry) VLBI array , we observed 22 GHz H2O masers of NSV 17351 and derived an annual parallax of 0.247 ± 0.035 mas, which corresponds to a distance of 4.05 ± 0.59 kpc, from the observation. By averaging proper motions of 15 maser spots further, we determined the systemic proper motion of NSV 17351 to be (μαcos δ, μδ)avg. = (−1.19 ± 0.11, 1.30 ± 0.19) mas yr−1. The maser spots spread out over a region of 20 × 30 mas, which can be converted to a spatial distribution of ∼80 × 120 au at the source distance. Internal motions of the maser spots suggest an outward-moving maser region with respect to the estimated position of the central star. From single-dish monitoring of the H2O maser emission, we estimate the pulsation period of NSV 17351 to be 1122 ± 24 d. This is the first report of the periodic activity of NSV 17351, indicating that NSV 17351 could have a mass of ∼4 M⊙. We confirmed that the time variation of H2O masers can be used as a period estimator of variable OH/IR stars. Furthermore, by inspecting dozens of double-peaked H2O maser spectra for the last 40 years, we discovered the long-term acceleration in the radial velocity of the circumstellar matter to be 0.17 ± 0.03 km s−1 yr−1. We finally determined the position and kinematics in the Milky Way Galaxy and found that NSV 17351 is located in an interarm region between the Outer and Perseus arms. We note that the astrometric VLBI observation toward extreme OH/IR stars shows us a useful sample of the Galactic dynamics.

Background and aimsMajor clinical manifestations of Wilson disease (WD) are related to copper accumulation in the liver and the brain, and little is known about other tissues involvement in metabolic changes in WD.In vitrostudies suggested that the loss of intestinal ATP7B could contribute to metabolic dysregulation in WD. We tested this hypothesis by evaluating gut microbiota and lipidome in two mouse models of WD and by characterizing a new mouse model with a targeted deletion ofAtp7bin intestine.MethodsCecal content 16S sequencing and untargeted hepatic and plasma lipidome analyses in the Jackson Laboratory toxic-milk and theAtp7bnull global knockout mouse models of WD were profiled and integrated. Intestine-specificAtp7bknockout mice (Atp7bΔIEC) was generated using B6.Cg-Tg(Vil1-cre)997Gum/J mice andAtp7bLox/Loxmice, and characterized using targeted lipidome analysis following a high-fat diet challenge.ResultsGut microbiota diversity was reduced in animal models of WD. Comparative prediction analysis revealed amino acid, carbohydrate, and lipid metabolism functions to be dysregulated in the WD gut microbial metagenome. Liver and plasma lipidomic profiles showed dysregulated tri- and diglyceride, phospholipid, and sphingolipid metabolism in WD models. When challenged with a high-fat diet,Atp7bΔIECmice exhibited profound alterations to fatty acid desaturation and sphingolipid metabolism pathways as well as altered APOB48 distribution in intestinal epithelial cells.ConclusionCoordinated changes of gut microbiome and lipidome analyses underlie systemic metabolic manifestations in murine WD. Intestine-specific ATP7B deficiency affected both intestinal and systemic response to a high-fat challenge. WD is a systemic disease in which intestinal-specific ATP7B loss and diet influence phenotypic presentations.

The electrophysiological technology having a high spatio-temporal resolution at the single-cell level, and noninvasive measurements of large areas provides insights on underlying neuronal function. Here, we used a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-microelectrode array (MEA) that uses 236,880 electrodes each with an electrode size of 11.22 × 11.22 µm and 236,880 covering a wide area of 5.5 × 5.7 mm in presenting a detailed and single-cell-level neural activity analysis platform for brain slices, human iPS cell-derived cortical networks, peripheral neurons, and human brain organoids. Propagation pattern characteristics between brain regions changes the synaptic strength into compounds based on single-cell time-series patterns, classification based on single DRG neuron firing patterns and compound responses, axonal conduction characteristics and changes to anticancer drugs, and network activities and transition to compounds in brain organoids were extracted. This detailed analysis of neural activity at the single-cell level using our CMOS-MEA provides a new understanding the basic mechanisms of brain circuitsin vitroandex vivo, on human neurological diseases for drug discovery, and compound toxicity assessment.

The Tibet ASγ group has been continuously observing cosmic rays and cosmic gamma rays above several TeV using the muon detector array (MD) and high-density Tibet air-shower array (Tibet-III) installed on the Tibet plateau at an altitude of 4300 m. The MD is a water Cherenkov pool array with a large effective area of 3400 m2 and has an excellent capability of primary selection using the number of muons in the shower. We report the sensitivity of the proton spectrum measurements for energies 40–630 TeV obtained via Monte Carlo simulations for an air-shower experiment. It was found that protons could be separated with a purity of 90%, and the survival ratio of protons including model dependence was 14.2%–19.1% and 3.7%–7.4% at about 35 TeV and about 450 TeV, respectively. The maximum total systematic error of the proton flux depending on interaction models in air-shower development and composition models was ±37%. With a large effective area and high proton separation capability, the Tibet ASγ experiment can measure the proton spectrum in the energy range from tens to hundreds of TeV with high statistical accuracy.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Wilson disease is caused by mutations in the copper transporter ATP7B, with its main pathology attributed to copper-mediated oxidative damage. The limited therapeutic effect of copper chelators and the early occurrence of mitochondrial deficits, however, undermine the prevalence of this mechanism. METHODS: We characterized mitochondrial DNA copy number and mutations as well as bioenergetic deficits in blood from patients with WD and in livers of tx-j mice, a mouse model of hepatic copper accumulation. In vitro experiments with hepatocytes treated with CuSO(4) were conducted to validate in vivo studies. RESULTS: Here, for the first time, we characterized the bioenergetic deficits in Wilson disease as consistent with a mitochondrial DNA depletion-like syndrome. This is evidenced by enriched DNA synthesis/replication pathways in serum metabolomics and decreased mitochondrial DNA copy number in blood of Wilson disease patients as well as decreased mitochondrial DNA copy number, increased citrate synthase activity, and selective Complex IV deficit in livers of the tx-j mouse model of Wilson disease. Tx-j mice treated with the copper chelator penicillamine, methyl donor choline, or both ameliorated mitochondrial DNA damage but further decreased mitochondrial DNA copy number. Experiments with copper-loaded HepG2 cells validated the concept of a direct copper-mitochondrial DNA interaction. CONCLUSIONS: This study underlines the relevance of targeting the copper-mitochondrial DNA pool in the treatment of Wilson disease separate from the established copper-induced oxidative stress-mediated damage.

Prediction models for enteric methane (CH4) emissions from beef cattle proposed by various groups may not perform with similar accuracy for the low- and middle-income countries in South-east Asia (SE-Asia) because beef cattle in these countries are raised under different climatic conditions with diverse feeding systems, and have different CH4 emission characteristics. The objectives of this study were to: i) predict CH4 emission (g d−1 animal−1), yield [g kg−1 dry matter intake; DMI)−1], intensity [g kg−1 average daily gain)−1], and CH4 conversion factor (Ym) using an intercountry database of individual animal records from SE-Asia; ii) evaluate the impact of different dietary forage contents (all-, high- and low-forage) representing the diverse feeding systems on CH4 emission, yield, intensity and Ym in SE-Asia; and iii) cross-validate equations from this study with published data. A total of 398 individual animal observations of beef cattle from SE-Asia were used for this analysis. Linear models developed by incrementally adding covariates revealed that CH4 emission model using only DMI fitted to all data had a root mean square prediction error (RMSPE) of 16.9%. Subsets containing data with 100% forage in the diet (all-forage), 50–85% (high-forage) and < 50% (low-forage) had an RMSPE of 16.5%, 14.7%, and 17.4%, respectively. Linear multiple equation based on DMI and dietary NDF concentration (DMI + NDF_C, RMSPE = 15.2%; all-data) improved prediction accuracy over that of DMI alone. The DMI + NDF_C models for all-forage (RMSPE = 14.6%) and high-forage subsets (RMSPE = 13.3%) except for low-forage (RMSPE = 16.4%), improved the precision and accuracy of CH4 emission prediction. Methane yield and CH4 emission intensity could not be reliably modelled with the current database. The present study provides improved CH4 prediction models for beef cattle managed under diverse feeding systems in SE-Asia and affirmed that region-specific models are needed to reliably predict beef cattle CH4 emission at national or regional levels, particularly for low- and middle-income countries.

Brain organoids with three-dimensional structure and tissue-like function are highly demanded for brain disease research and drug evaluation. However, to our knowledge, methods for measuring and analyzing brain organoid function have not been developed yet. This study focused on the frequency components of an obtained waveform below 500 Hz using planner microelectrode array (MEA) and evaluated the response to the convulsants pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) and strychnine as well as the antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) perampanel and phenytoin. Sudden and persistent seizure-like firing was observed with PTZ administration, displaying a concentration-dependent periodic activity with the frequency component enhanced even in one oscillation characteristic. On the other hand, in the administration of AEDs, the frequency of oscillation decreased in a concentration-dependent manner and the intensity of the frequency component in one oscillation also decreased. Interestingly, at low doses of phenytoin, a group of synchronized bursts was formed, which was different from the response to the perampanel. Frequency components contained information on cerebral organoid function, and MEA was proven useful in predicting the seizure liability of drugs and evaluating the effect of AEDs with a different mechanism of action. In addition, frequency component analysis of brain organoids using MEA is an important analysis method to perform in vitro to in vivo extrapolation in the future, which will help explore the function of the organoid itself, study human brain developments, and treat various brain diseases., Highlights • Frequency analysis

Background Patients with complex Crohn’s perianal fistulas were treated with allogenic mesenchymal stem cells (darvadstrocel) in pivotal studies, and in clinical practice in Europe since, 2018. However, it is unclear whether the same efficacy and safety could be expected across different ethnic groups. Moreover, it is known that perianal complications including perianal fistulas are more frequent in Asian patients with Crohn’s disease (CD). Methods Japanese adult patients with treatment-refractory complex perianal fistulas in CD were enrolled from, 9 sites in a phase, 3, open-label, single-arm, uncontrolled study. Patients could have, 2 internal and, 3 external openings at maximum, and their luminal disease was non-active or mildly active (CDAI ≤220) at baseline. A single dose (24mL, 120 million cells) of darvadstrocel was intralesionally injected, and results after, 24 and, 52 weeks were evaluated. Primary endpoint was combined remission (a remission rate evaluated clinically and by MRI) at Week 24. Results 22 patients (mean age, 36.4 years, 63.6% male, mean duration of CD, 11.3 years) were enrolled. A half (11/22) had, 1 internal opening (IO) and, 2 external openings (EO) followed by, 1IO-1EO/2IO-2EO/2IO-3EO (3 each, 9/22) and, 1IO-3EO (2/22)., 59.1% and, 68.2% achieved combined remission at Week, 24 (primary endpoint) and Week, 52, respectively. Up to Week, 52, 90.9% (20/22) experienced adverse events (AE), and, 81.8% (18/22) were mild or moderate in intensity. Proctalgia (6/22), nasopharyngitis (5/22), and anal fistula (4/22) were most frequently reported. There was no death or AE-related study discontinuation. Conclusion 52 weeks after administrating darvadstrocel in Japanese patients with complex perianal fistulas in CD, fistula closure was confirmed in, 68% (15/22) and partial closure in, 90.0% (20/22). These findings are consistent with the pivotal study ADMIRE-CD, and real-world case-series reported from Europe. Furthermore, no new safety concerns were identified.

We designed and fabricated a microwave transmitting antenna that uses an HTS thick disk as a patch antenna with a resonant frequency of around 5.0 GHz. The reflection property S 11, electromagnetic fields, current distributions, and far-field of several resonant modes in the antenna were analyzed using the CST studio suite. We compared the properties in several resonance modes and selected the TM11 mode, which has the smallest resonator size and the highest directivity. The antenna was assembled using a GdBCO thick disk, sapphire substrates, Cu housing, and SMA connector. We measured the S 11 using a vector network analyzer and pulse tube refrigerator and found that it had a resonant frequency of 4.996 GHz and a Q u of 405 at the temperature of 48 K. These measured properties were in good agreement with the simulated results.

HESS J1843–033 is a very high energy gamma-ray source whose origin remains unidentified. This work presents, for the first time, the energy spectrum of gamma rays beyond 100 TeV from the HESS J1843–033 region using the data recorded by the Tibet air shower array and its underground muon detector array. A gamma-ray source with an extension of 0.°34 ± 0.°12 is successfully detected above 25 TeV at (α, δ) = (281.°09 ± 0.°10, −3.°76 ± 0.°09) near HESS J1843–033 with a statistical significance of 6.2σ, and the source is named TASG J1844–038. The position of TASG J1844–038 is consistent with those of HESS J1843–033, eHWC J1842–035, and LHAASO J1843–0338. The measured gamma-ray energy spectrum in 25 TeV < E < 130 TeV is described with dN / dE = ( 9.70 ± 1.89 ) × 10 − 16 (E/40 TeV)−3.26±0.30 TeV−1 cm−2 s−1, and the spectral fit to the combined spectra of HESS J1843–033, LHAASO J1843–0338, and TASG J1844–038 implies the existence of a cutoff at 49.5 ± 9.0 TeV. Associations of TASG J1844–038 with SNR G28.6–0.1 and PSR J1844–0346 are also discussed in detail for the first time.

Full list of authors: Cui, Yu-Zhu; Hada, Kazuhiro; Kino, Motoki; Sohn, Bong-Won; Park, Jongho; Ro, Hyun-Wook; Sawada-Satoh, Satoko; Jiang, Wu; Cui, Lang; Honma, Mareki; Shen, Zhi-Qiang; Tazaki, Fumie; An, Tao; Cho, Ilje; Zhao, Guang-Yao; Cheng, Xiao-Peng; Niinuma, Kotaro; Wajima, Kiyoaki; Zhang, Ying-Kang; Kawaguchi, Noriyuki; Algaba, Juan-Carlos; Koyama, Shoko; Hirota, Tomoya; Yonekura, Yoshinori; Sakai, Nobuyuki; Xia, Bo; Jiang, Yong-Bin; Yu, Lin-Feng; Gou, Wei; Hwang, Ju-Yeon; Jiang, Yong-Chen; Sun, Yun-Xia; Jung, Dong-Kyu; Kim, Hyo-Ryoung; Kim, Jeong-Sook; Kobayashi, Hideyuki; Lee, Jee-Won; Lee, Jeong-Ae; Zhang, Hua; Li, Guang-Hui; Xu, Zhi-Qiang; Li, Peng; Oh, Jung-Hwan; Oh, Se-Jin; Oh, Chung-Sik; Oyama, Tomoaki; Roh, Duk-Gyoo; Shibata, Katsunori-M.; Guo, Wen; Zhao, Rong-Bing; Zhong, Wei-Ye; Wang, Jin-Qing; Yang, Wen-Jun; Yan, Hao; Yeom, Jae-Hwan; Li, Bin; Li, Xiao-Fei; Yuan, Jian-Ping; Dong, Jian; Chen, Zhong; Akiyama, Kazunori; Asada, Keiichi; Byun, Do-Young; Hagiwara, Yoshiaki; Hodgson, Jeffrey; Jung, Tae-Hyun; Kim, Kee-Tae; Lee, Sang-Sung; Yi, Kunwoo; Liu, Qing-Hui; Liu, Xiang; Lu, Ru-Sen; Nakamura, Masanori; Trippe, Sascha; Wang, Na; Wang, Xue-Zheng; Zhang, Bo, The East Asian Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) Network (EAVN) is a rapidly evolving international VLBI array that is currently promoted under joint efforts among China, Japan and Korea. EAVN aims at forming a joint VLBI Network by combining a large number of radio telescopes distributed over East Asian regions. After the combination of the Korean VLBI Network (KVN) and the VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry (VERA) into KaVA, further expansion with the joint array in East Asia is actively promoted. Here we report the first imaging results (at 22 and 43 GHz) of bright radio sources obtained with KaVA connected to Tianma 65-m and Nanshan 26-m Radio Telescopes in China. To test the EAVN imaging performance for different sources, we observed four active galactic nuclei (AGN) having different brightness and morphology. As a result, we confirmed that the Tianma 65-m Radio Telescope (TMRT) significantly enhances the overall array sensitivity, a factor of 4 improvement in baseline sensitivity and 2 in image dynamic range compared to the case of KaVA only. The addition of the Nanshan 26-m Radio Telescope (NSRT) further doubled the east-west angular resolution. With the resulting high-dynamic-range, high-resolution images with EAVN (KaVA+TMRT+NSRT), various fine-scale structures in our targets, such as the counter-jet in M87, a kink-like morphology of the 3C 273 jet and the weak emission in other sources are successfully detected. This demonstrates the powerful capability of EAVN to study AGN jets and to achieve other science goals in general. Ongoing expansion of EAVN will further enhance the angular resolution, detection sensitivity and frequency coverage of the network. © 2021 National Astronomical Observatories, CAS and IOP Publishing Ltd., TMRT is operated by Shanghai Astronomical Observatory. NSRT is operated by Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory. KVN is a facility operated at by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute. VERA is a facility operated at National Astronomical Observatory of Japan in collaboration with associated universities in Japan. This work is supported by The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI). Y.C. is supported by the Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship. This work is supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers JP18K03656 (M.K.), JP18H03721 (K.N., K.H. and M.K.), JP19H01943 (K.H., F.T. and Y.H.) and JP18KK0090 (K.H. and F.T.). K.H. is supported by the Mitsubishi Foundation (grant number 201911019). J.P. is supported by an EACOA Fellowship awarded by the East Asia Core Observatories Association, which consists of the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, the Center for Astronomical Mega-Science, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute. J.P. and I.C. acknowledge the financial support from the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea via Global Ph.D. Fellowship Grant 2014H1A2A1018695 and 2015H1A2A1033752, respectively. S.T. acknowledges support from the NRF via Grant 2019R1F1A1059721. This work is supported by the Major Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, Grant Nos. 11590780 and 11590784), the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. KJCX1-YW-18), the Scientific Program of Shanghai Municipality (08DZ1160100) and Key Laboratory for Radio Astronomy, CAS. W.J. acknowledges support from NSFC (Grant No. 11803071). L.C. is supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2018YFA0404602), the CAS 'Light of West China' Program (Grant No. 2018-XBQNXZ-B-021), the NSFC (Grant Nos. U2031212 and 61931002) and the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the CAS (Grant No. 2017084). J.C.A. acknowledges support from Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) FRGS/1/2019/STG02/UM/02/6. R.S. Lu is supported by the Max Planck Partner Group of the MPG and the CAS and acknowledges the support by the Key Program of the NSFC (Grant No. 11933007) and the Research Program of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, CAS (Grant No. ZDBS-LY-SLH011)., With funding from the Spanish government through the Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence accreditation SEV-2017-0709.

We report, for the first time, the long-awaited detection of diffuse gamma rays with energies between 100 TeV and 1 PeV in the Galactic disk. Particularly, all gamma rays above 398 TeV are observed apart from known TeV gamma-ray sources and compatible with expectations from the hadronic emission scenario in which gamma rays originate from the decay of $\pi^0$'s produced through the interaction of protons with the interstellar medium in the Galaxy. This is strong evidence that cosmic rays are accelerated beyond PeV energies in our Galaxy and spread over the Galactic disk., Comment: Accepted for publication in the Physical Review Letters

We report observations of gamma-ray emissions with energies in the 100 TeV energy region from the Cygnus region in our Galaxy. Two sources are significantly detected in the directions of the Cygnus OB1 and OB2 associations. Based on their positional coincidences, we associate one with a pulsar PSR J2032+4127 and the other mainly with a pulsar wind nebula PWN G75.2+0.1 with the pulsar moving away from its original birthplace situated around the centroid of the observed gamma-ray emission. This work would stimulate further studies of particle acceleration mechanisms at these gamma-ray sources., Accepted for publication in the Physical Review Letters

Cosmic rays (protons and other atomic nuclei) are believed to gain energies of petaelectronvolts (PeV) and beyond at astrophysical particle accelerators called 'PeVatrons' inside our Galaxy. Although a characteristic feature of a PeVatron is expected to be a hard gamma-ray energy spectrum that extends beyond 100 teraelectronvolts (TeV) without a cutoff, none of the currently known sources exhibits such a spectrum due to the low maximum energy of accelerated cosmic rays or insufficient detector sensitivity around 100 TeV. Here we report the observation of gamma-ray emission from the supernova remnant G106.3+2.7 above 10 TeV. This work provides flux data points up to and above 100 TeV and indicates that the very-high-energy gamma-ray emission above 10 TeV is well correlated with a molecular cloud rather than the pulsar PSR J2229+6114. Regarding the gamma-ray emission mechanism of G106.3+2.7, this morphological feature appears to favor a hadronic origin via the {\pi}0 decay caused by accelerated relativistic protons over a leptonic one via the inverse-Compton scattering by relativistic electrons. Furthermore, we point out that an X-ray flux upper limit on the synchrotron spectrum would provide important information to firmly establish the hadronic scenario as the mechanism of particle acceleration at the source., Comment: Published in Nature Astronomy

Background & Aims The pathogenesis of Wilson disease (WD) involves hepatic and brain copper accumulation resulting from pathogenic variants affecting the ATP7B gene and downstream epigenetic and metabolic mechanisms. Prior methylome investigations in human WD liver and blood and in the Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor, ME) C3He-Atp7btx-j/J (tx-j) WD mouse model revealed an epigenetic signature of WD, including changes in histone deacetylase (HDAC) 5. We tested the hypothesis that histone acetylation is altered with respect to copper overload and aberrant DNA methylation in WD. Methods We investigated class IIa HDAC4 and HDAC5 and H3K9/H3K27 histone acetylation in tx-j mouse livers compared with C3HeB/FeJ (C3H) control in response to 3 treatments: 60% kcal fat diet, D-penicillamine (copper chelator), and choline (methyl group donor). Experiments with copper-loaded hepatoma G2 cells were conducted to validate in vivo studies. Results In 9-week tx-j mice, HDAC5 levels increased significantly after 8 days of a 60% kcal fat diet compared with chow. In 24-week tx-j mice, HDAC4/5 levels were reduced 5- to 10-fold compared with C3H, likely through mechanisms involving HDAC phosphorylation. HDAC4/5 levels were affected by disease progression and accompanied by increased acetylation. D-penicillamine and choline partially restored HDAC4/5 and H3K9ac/H3K27ac to C3H levels. Integrated RNA and chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing analyses revealed genes regulating energy metabolism and cellular stress/development, which, in turn, were regulated by histone acetylation in tx-j mice compared with C3H mice, with Pparα and Pparγ among the most relevant targets. Conclusions These results suggest dietary modulation of class IIa HDAC4/5, and subsequent H3K9/H3K27 acetylation/deacetylation can regulate gene expression in key metabolic pathways in the pathogenesis of WD., Graphical abstract

Background Trans-radial access (TRA) has been established as a safe and established approach for invasive coronary catheter procedures. However, protocols for post-procedural hemostasis varies depending on institutes and an evidence-based protocol is lacking. Purpose The objective of this study was to investigate the clinical implications of procedural hemostasis. Methods Consecutive patients who were referred to outpatient catheter examination before and after April 2018 were treated with an old and a new protocol, respectively. In both protocols, we used the same commercially available hemostasis band with injecting an air of 16 ml for hemostasis. In the old protocol, the amount and timing of deflation were fixed, whereas the air was removed as much as possible for every 30 minutes in the new protocol. Time to complete hemostasis, the rate of major bleeding, and the rate of radial artery occlusion (RAO) at 6 months after the catheter examination were compared between the protocols. Results Total of 1,843 (71±10 years old, 77% male) patients was included in the study. Between patients in the old and the new protocol group (n=1,000 and 843, respectively), there was no significant difference in age, gender, body size, or systolic blood pressure. The new group had significantly higher prevalence of diabetes (47% vs 39%, p=0.002), slightly larger sheath size (4.1±0.3 vs 4.0±0.2 Fr, p Conclusions Our new protocol for hemostasis after TRA was strongly associated with shorter hemostasis time and a lower rate of radial artery occlusion. This approach will decrease the post-procedural hospital time with even fewer complication rates. Study outline Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None

Alterations of transition metal levels have been associated with obesity, hepatic steatosis, and metabolic syndrome in humans. Studies in animals indicate an association between dietary sugars and copper metabolism. Our group has conducted a study in which young adults consumed beverages sweetened with glucose, fructose, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), or aspartame for two weeks and has reported that consumption of both fructose- and HFCS-sweetened beverages increased cardiovascular disease risk factors. Baseline and intervention serum samples from 107 participants of this study were measured for copper metabolism (copper, ceruloplasmin ferroxidase activity, ceruloplasmin protein), zinc levels, and iron metabolism (iron, ferritin, and transferrin) parameters. Fructose and/or glucose consumption were associated with decreased ceruloplasmin ferroxidase activity and serum copper and zinc concentrations. Ceruloplasmin protein levels did not change in response to intervention. The changes in copper concentrations were correlated with zinc, but not with iron. The decreases in copper, ceruloplasmin ferroxidase activity, ferritin, and transferrin were inversely associated with the increases in metabolic risk factors associated with sugar consumption, specifically, apolipoprotein CIII, triglycerides, or post-meal glucose, insulin, and lactate responses. These findings are the first evidence that consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages can alter clinical parameters of transition metal metabolism in healthy subjects.

Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) astrometry using the phase-referencing technique remains an open issue for the quantitative characterization of the observing conditions to achieve a feasible parallax precision of 10 micro-arcseconds (μas). To address this issue, we evaluated the astrometric performance of the VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry (VERA) through the parallax measurements of five distant star-forming regions under good observing conditions of close separations (${0{^{\circ}_{.}}5}$–${1{_{.}^{\circ}}3}$) and high elevations (≥50°). Their parallaxes measured 89–200 μas, corresponding to distances of 5–11 kpc with an error of 11–20 μas. Furthermore, we investigated the contributions to the position error budget and concluded that the tropospheric residual contribution is the dominant error source. We also confirmed that the astrometric error propagation strongly depends on the term $\Delta \sec Z$, which stands for the difference between $\sec Z$ of the target and its reference source, where Z is the zenith angle during the observations. We found that for a source pair with a $\Delta \sec Z$ less than 0.01 (for example, a set of a close separation of $\le {{0{^{\circ}_{.}}5}}$ and a high elevation of ≥50°), we can achieve the parallax precision of 10 μas using a typical monitoring program comprising 10 observing epochs over a span of two years.

We report the results of astrometric VLBI observations toward the Mira variable star BX Cam using the VERA VLBI array. The observation was performed from 2012 February to 2014 November. The parallax obtained is 1.73 ± 0.03 mas corresponding to a distance of 0.58 ± 0.01 kpc. The parallax of this source was reported in Gaia DR2 as 4.13 ± 0.25 mas, and there is a 240% difference between these two measurements. Astrometric results from our VLBI observations show that we exactly traced the angular motions of the seven maser spots in BX Cam. We calculated the stellar luminosities using both parallaxes, and obtained luminosities of $L_{\ast }^{\mathrm{VERA}} = 4950\pm 170\, L_{\odot }$ and $L_{\ast }^{\mathrm{Gaia}} = 870\pm 110\, L_{\odot }$. These deduced luminosities also support the validity of the parallax that we determined with VERA. Evaluating the two parallaxes, we conclude that the parallax of 1.73 ± 0.03 mas from the VERA observations is correct for BX Cam. We obtained the systemic motion of BX Cam as (μαcos δsys, ${\mu }_{\delta }^{\mathrm{sys}}$) = (13.48 ± 0.14, −34.30 ± 0.18) mas yr−1. The total of 73 H2O maser spots detected from our VLBI observations shows a spatial distribution of 30 au × 80 au, with a strong elongation along the north–south direction. They show outflows with a three-dimensional velocity of 14.79 ± 1.40 km s−1. From a comparison between the time variations of the V-band magnitudes and the H2O masers, we found that the variation of the H2O masers is relevant to that seen in the V band even though the H2O masers do not recover their maximum flux in each cycle.

We present the first astrometry catalog from the Japanese VLBI (very long baseline interferometer) project VERA (VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry). We have compiled all the astrometry results from VERA, providing accurate trigonometric annual parallax and proper motion measurements. In total, 99 maser sources are listed in the VERA catalog. Among them, 21 maser sources are newly reported while the rest of 78 sources are referred to previously published results or those in preparation for forthcoming papers. The accuracy in the VERA astrometry are revisited and compared with those from the other VLBI astrometry projects such as BeSSeL (The Bar and Spiral Structure Legacy) Survey and GOBELINS (the Gould's Belt Distances Survey) with the VLBA (Very Long Baseline Array). We have confirmed that most of the astrometry results are consistent with each other, and the largest error sources are due to source structure of the maser features and their rapid variation, along with the systematic calibration errors and different analysis methods. Combined with the BeSSeL results, we estimate the up-to-date fundamental Galactic parameter of $R_{0}=7.92\pm0.16_{\rm{stat.}}\pm0.3_{\rm{sys.}}$~kpc and $\Omega_{\odot}=30.17\pm0.27_{\rm{stat.}}\pm0.3_{\rm{sys.}}$~km~s$^{-1}$~kpc$^{-1}$, where $R_{0}$ and $\Omega_{\odot}$ are the distance from the Sun to the Galactic center and the Sun's angular velocity of the Galactic circular rotation, respectively., Comment: 35 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan

We quantified the influence of 445 nm pumping for the efficiency of Ti:sapphire laser. Moreover, theoretical analysis shows that efficiency increasement is achieved by high intensity pumping even at 445 nm pumping. © 2019 The Authors

we analyzed theoretically the efficiency of blue laser diode pumped Ti:sapphire laser. We theoretically improved efficiency of Ti:sapphire laser under Pump-band Fraction[1] and Pump-induced Loss[2] by high intenticy pumping.

In the originally published version of this article, there was an error. The metabolomics platform used for the analysis is GC-TOF-MS, Gas Chromatography Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry and not Hydrophilic Interaction Liquid Chromatography-Quadrupole Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry as indicated in the original version.

In this proceeding paper, we introduce the recent results of Galactic maser astrometry by mainly focusing on those obtained with Japanese VLBI array VERA. So far we have obtained parallaxes for 86 sources including preliminary results, and combination with the data obtained with VLBA/BeSSeL provides astrometric results for 159 sources. With these most updated results we conduct preliminary determinations of Galactic fundamental parameters, obtaining R0 = 8.16 ± 0.26 kpc and Θ0 = 237 ± 8 km/s. We also derive the rotation curve of the Milky Way Galaxy and confirm the previous results that the rotation curve is fairly flat between 5 kpc and 16 kpc, while a remarkable deviation is seen toward the Galactic center region. In addition to the results on the Galactic structure, we also present brief overviews on other science topics related to masers conducted with VERA, and also discuss the future prospect of the project.

NUMO and JAEA have been conducting a joint research since FY2011, which is aimed to enhance the methodology of repository design and performance assessment in preliminary investigation stage for the deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste. As a part of this joint research, we have been developing glass dissolution models which include various processes derived from glass-overpack-bentonite buffer interaction, considering the precipitation of Fe-silicates associated with steel overpack corrosion, and Si transport through altered layer of glass. The objective of this modeling work is to show comprehensively the lifetime of the vitrified waste due to glass matrix dissolution timescales through sensitivity analysis, and to identify the feature/process that most strongly influences the lifetime, and to identify future R&D issues that would help to improve the nuclide transport analysis with confidential value and the safety case in future. The sensitivity analysis suggested that the duration of the glass dissolution might be predicted in the ranges from 3.8×103 to 1.9×105 years. Also, the results indicated that the precipitation of Fe–silicate has the strongest influence on the long-team behavior of vitrified waste.

Wilson disease (WD) is a genetic copper overload condition characterized by hepatic and neuropsychiatric symptoms with a not well-understood pathogenesis. Dysregulated methionine cycle is reported in animal models of WD, though not verified in humans. Choline is essential for lipid and methionine metabolism. Defects in neurotransmitters as acetylcholine, and biogenic amines are reported in WD, however, less is known about their circulating precursors. We aimed to study choline, methionine, aromatic amino acids, and phospholipids in serum of WD subjects. Hydrophilic interaction chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry was employed to profile serum of WD subjects categorized as hepatic, neurologic, and pre-clinical. Hepatic transcript levels of genes related to choline and methionine metabolism were verified in the Jackson Laboratory toxic milk mouse model of WD (tx-j). Compared to healthy subjects, choline, methionine, ornithine, proline, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and histidine were significantly elevated in WD, with marked alterations in phosphatidylcholines and reductions in sphingosine-1-phosphate, sphingomyelins, and acylcarnitines. In tx-j mice, choline, methionine, and phosphatidylcholine were similarly dysregulated. Elevated choline is a hallmark dysregulation in WD interconnected with alterations in methionine and phospholipid metabolism, which are relevant to hepatic steatosis. The elevated phenylalanine, tyrosine, and histidine carry implications for neurologic manifestations and are worth further investigation.

We report measurements of parallax and proper motion for four 22 GHz water maser sources as part of VERA Outer Rotation Curve project. All sources show Galactic latitudes of $>$ 2$^{\circ}$ and Galactocentric distances of $>$ 11 kpc at the Galactic longitude range of 95$^{\circ}$ $< l, Comment: Accepted for publication in PASJ; 4 figures & 6 tables