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Excessive dietary salt consumption is one of the most important risk factors for hypertension. Metabolic disorders often coexist with hypertension, and excess salt intake has been reported to underlie metabolic disorders, such as insulin resistance. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that excessive dietary salt causes metabolic syndrome in the general population. In total, 13886 subjects who participated in our medical checkup were enrolled, and salt intake was assessed using a spot urine sample. The characteristics of participants with metabolic syndrome (n = 1630) were examined at baseline, and then participants without metabolic syndrome (n = 12256) were followed up with the endpoint being the development of metabolic syndrome. The average estimated salt intake in our participants was 8.72 ± 1.93 g/day. A significant association between salt intake and metabolic syndrome was obtained from the logistic regression analysis, and salt intake increased as the number of metabolic disorders in an individual increased at baseline (P 0.001). During the median follow-up period of 52 months, 1669 participants developed metabolic syndrome. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated an increased risk of metabolic syndrome across quartiles of baseline salt intake (log-rank, P 0.001). In the Cox proportional hazard regression analysis where salt intake was taken as a continuous variable, salt intake at baseline was an independent predictor of developing metabolic syndrome. These results suggest that excessive salt intake is significantly associated with the development of metabolic syndrome in the general population. Salt may play an important role in the development of metabolic disorders and hypertension.

核融合原型炉には、大量の金属材料が使われ、その中には、レアメタルも多く含まれている。特に核融合炉ブランケットに装荷される増殖機能材料であるベリリウム金属間化合物（ベリライド）及びチタン酸リチウム（Li2TiO3）は、各々約500トン及び約300トン装荷され、およそ4年ごとの交換が想定されている。しかしながら、ブランケット交換時期においては、ベリライドの中性子増倍反応によるHe生成率は、2％程度で、チタン酸リチウムと中性子の核反応による6Li燃焼度は、約20％であり、多くの材料が残ることから、ベリライド及びチタン酸リチウムのリサイクル技術開発は重要課題である。量研では、化学処理とマイクロ波加熱の複合化により、環境親和性を有する新たな低温精製技術の開発に世界で初めて成功している。本発表では、この技術を活用し、増殖機能材料におけるリサイクル技術検討の結果について、報告する。, 第14回核融合エネルギー連合講演会

We investigated the effects of chronic pre-exercise acetate administration on body weight and metabolic adaptations to endurance training in ICR mice fed with either a normal fat diet (NFD) or high fat diet (HFD), respectively. Mice were divided into a control group (Con), an acetate group (Ace), a training group (Tra), and an acetate+training group (Ace+Tra) with NFD or HFD, respectively. Mice received orally either water or acetate (72 mg/kg body weight/day) for 4 weeks. The mice in the training group were subjected to training using a treadmill (20–25 m/min×60 min, 5 times/week) immediately after administration. As a result, in the NFD mice, there was no effect of acetate in any of the measurements. In the HFD mice, the final body weight in the Ace, Tra and Ace+Tra groups was significantly lower than the Con group. Moreover, the acetate treatment tended to decrease blood glucose concentration at rest. Gastrocnemius muscle glycogen concentration in the Ace+Tra group was significantly higher than that of the Ace and Tra groups. Unexpectedly, a significant negative main effect of acetate treatment in the maximal activity of β-HAD was observed, though the endurance training increased enzyme activity of citrate synthase in the plantaris muscle. These findings show the possibility that acetate treatment with endurance training shifts the metabolic characteristics of mice toward a carbohydrate metabolism against a lipid metabolism with the HFD condition, but not with the NFD condition.

本発表は、科研費の研究テーマである使用済み機器のリサイクル技術開発研究の一環として、実施した中性子増倍材であるベリリウムと構造材の異材接合特性及び、その溶解技術検討に関するものであり、ITER-TBM及び原型炉研究にも有用な結果であるため、発表に値する。, 日本原子力学会2022年春の大会

Strict control of tritium migration is an essential requirement for every blanket concept in a fusion reactor. Tritium permeation barriers (TPBs) have been developed in particular for liquid lithium-lead blankets using ceramic coatings; however, recent DEMO reactor design activities initiate an argument that a TPB is necessary also in solid breeder blankets. The previous studies revealed that reduced activation ferritic/martensitic (RAFM) steels and ceramic coatings reacted with solid breeder lithium ceramics under the blanket conditions, indicating the reactivity of solid breeders and its effect on tritium permeation should be taken into consideration. Moreover, not only the RAFM steel but the TPB will be exposed to pressurized water in a case where the TPB is applied to the cooling side. In this study, compatibility tests with pressurized water and lithium ceramic pebbles have been carried out for the investigation of the chemical stability of the TPB coatings and the effect on hydrogen isotope permeation in the Water Cooled Ceramic Breeder blanket., The 20th International Conference on Fusion Reactor Materials (ICFRM-20)

We investigated the effects of β-hydroxybutyrate (β-HB), the most abundant type of ketone body in mammals, on postexercise glycogen recovery in skeletal muscle by using an in vitro experimental model. Male ICR mice swam for 60 min and then their epitrochlearis muscles were removed and incubated with either physiological levels of glucose (8 mmol/L) and insulin (60 μU/mL) or glucose and insulin plus 1, 2, or 4 mmol/L of sodium β-HB. Four millimoles per liter β-HB had a significant positive effect on glycogen repletion in epitrochlearis muscle at 120 min after exercise (p < 0.01), while 2 mmol/L of β-HB showed a tendency to increase the glycogen level (p < 0.09), and 1 mmol/L of β-HB had no significant effect. We further investigated the effect of 4 mmol/L β-HB treatment on the signaling cascade related to glycogen repletion in the epitrochlearis muscles throughout a 120-min recovery period. After incubating the muscles in 4 mmol/L of β-HB for 15 min postexercise, the Akt substrate of 160 kDa Thr642(p < 0.05) and Akt Thr308(p < 0.05) phosphorylations were significantly increased compared with the control treatment. At the same time point, 5′-AMP–activated protein kinase and acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase phosphorylations were significantly lower (p < 0.05) in the epitrochlearis muscle incubated with 4 mmol/L of β-HB than in the control muscle. Our results demonstrate that postexercise 4 mmol/L β-HB administration enhanced glycogen repletion in epitrochlearis muscle. Four millimoles per liter β-HB treatment was associated with alternation of the phosphorylated status of several proteins involved in glucose uptake and metabolic/energy homeostasis at the early stage of postexercise.

量研では、プラズマ焼結製電極棒を原料として、回転電極造粒法によりベリライド（Be12V）微小球の直接製造に成功し、約80％の造粒収率を達成しているが、約20％は球形状ではない歪な形状の欠片として残る。これらは、再び原料として再使用して無駄なく有効利用できることを明らかにしたところである。本研究では、この欠片再使用微小球を含め、プラズマ焼結法及び回転電極造粒法における各プロセスにおいて、材料特性に影響を与える種々の不純物濃度を調べた。不純物としては、原料に当初から含まれている酸素及びウラン、核反応により生じる水素同位体（トリチウム）を対象とした。, 日本原子力学会2021年春の大会

Beryllium intermetallic compounds (beryllides) such as Be12Ti and Be12V are the most promising advanced neutron multipliers in demonstration (DEMO) power reactors because of their low swelling and high stability at high temperatures. In this work, beryllides pebbles with binary and ternary compositions were successfully fabricated by combining plasma sintering and rotating electrode methods. After 3 keV D2+ ions were implanted to the beryllides pebbles, the deuterium desorption and retention properties were investigated by thermal desorption spectroscopy to investigate hydrogen desorption and retention of these materials for fusion application. The desorption properties and retention of hydrogen isotopes (deuterium) using the newly developed beryllide pebbles indicated that the beryllide pebbles exhibited better deuterium desorption properties, such as lower starting-up temperature, total retention, and activation energy for deuterium desorption than beryllium.

The thermomechanical behavior of titanium beryllide pebble beds was investigated experimentally at ambient temperature in helium. The pebbles consist of a mixture of TiBe12 and Ti2Be17 titanate beryllide phases and a small residual amount of Be phase, denominated as Be-7.7Ti. For purposes of comparison, experiments in air and helium atmosphere were also conducted with Be, Al2O3 and orthosilicate pebble beds. The pebble beds were compressed uniaxially up to 4.5 MPa; the effective thermal conductivity was measured using the hot wire technique. The stress-strain curves do not differ significantly for the different granular materials in contrast to the effective thermal conductivity k. Whereas for Be pebble beds k increases strongly with increasing stress (about 600 % for the uniaxial stress of 4 MPa), the increase is much smaller for the other granular materials (about 60 % for Be-7.7Ti at 4 MPa). The main reason for the large differences is the much lower thermal conductivity of the solid materials. Another influence exists because the other materials are mechanically harder resulting in smaller contact surfaces. As long as the thermal conductivity of other beryllide materials is significantly lower than that of Be, comparable results are expected as for Be-7.7Ti. It is argued that similar results are expected for single phase TiBe12 pebble beds. Because of the harder behavior compared to Be-7.7Ti pebbles, the effective thermal conductivity might be slightly smaller. Although the above reasonings suggest that a phase mixture can be used instead of the single phase TiBe12, this issue has to be investigated in more detail.

Beryllium (Be) and its alloys are one of the most important elements in mineral resources for fusion blankets and are also one of the thirty rare metal elements. Be with more than 500 tons is necessary, depending on the blanket design of the demonstration power plant (DEMO) of fusion reactors. However, Be market in the world is so rare situation compared with other metal markets. Approximately 90 percent of the entire amount of Be production in the world is produced in the United States. Then, the gross production of Be is only 300 tons per year. Because most of Be mines are currently in rest or out of production despite the presence of a lot of Be mines, an increase of Be production associated with new Be mine development is necessary. In parallel with the mine development, furthermore, the innovation of a new Be refinement technique in economical and safe is essential. Because the conventional process has huge issues such as high-temperatures treatment of approximately 2,000 °C and complicated process including powdery Be handling with a high risk for safety. Accordingly, the strategic resource procurement and an innovative refinement process should be established for the stable securing of Be resource as well as the recycling of spent materials, and these are indispensable for an early realization of fusion reactors. An innovative refinement process of Be from ores has been successfully established by treatment combined with microwave heating and chemical reaction. This innovative process has a low temperature treatment of less than 250 °C with a wet process, which has advantages with a higher energy-saving, safer and more simplified process than the conventional process. In this study, it was clarified by experimental results that this process is also so effective compared with the conventional process., 31st Symposium on Fusion Technology (SOFT2020)

We investigated the effects of nutrient intake timing on glycogen accumulation and its related signals in skeletal muscle after an exercise that did not induce large glycogen depletion. Male ICR mice ran on a treadmill at 25 m/min for 60 min under a fed condition. Mice were orally administered a solution containing 1.2 mg/g carbohydrate and 0.4 mg/g protein or water either immediately (early nutrient, EN) or 180 min (late nutrient, LN) after the exercise. Tissues were harvested at 30 min after the oral administration. No significant difference in blood glucose or plasma insulin concentrations was found between the EN and LN groups. The plantaris muscle glycogen concentration was significantly (p &lt, 0.05) higher in the EN group&mdash, but not in the LN group&mdash, compared to the respective time-matched control group. Akt Ser473 phosphorylation was significantly higher in the EN group than in the time-matched control group (p &lt, 0.01), while LN had no effect. Positive main effects of time were found for the phosphorylations in Akt substrate of 160 kDa (AS160) Thr642 (p &lt, 0.05), 5'-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) Thr172 (p &lt, 0.01), and acetyl-CoA carboxylase Ser79 (p &lt, 0.01), however, no effect of nutrient intake was found for these. We showed that delayed nutrient intake could not increase muscle glycogen after endurance exercise which did not induce large glycogen depletion. The results also suggest that post-exercise muscle glycogen accumulation after nutrient intake might be partly influenced by Akt activation. Meanwhile, increased AS160 and AMPK activation by post-exercise fasting might not lead to glycogen accumulation.

Beryllium intermetallic compounds (beryllides) such as Be12Ti and Be12V are the most promising advanced neutron multipliers in demonstration (DEMO) power reactors because of their low swelling and high stability at high temperatures. In this work, beryllides pebbles with binary and ternary compositions were successfully fabricated by combining plasma sintering and rotating electrode methods. After 3 keV D2+ ions were implanted to the beryllides pebbles, the deuterium desorption and retention properties were investigated by thermal desorption spectroscopy to investigate hydrogen desorption and retention of these materials for fusion application. The desorption properties and retention of hydrogen isotopes (deuterium) using the newly developed beryllide pebbles indicated that the beryllide pebbles exhibited better deuterium desorption properties, such as lower starting-up temperature, total retention, and activation energy for deuterium desorption than beryllium.

Beryllium intermetallic compounds (beryllides) are known as promising materials for advanced neutron multipliers for fusion applications owing to their high stability and low swelling. Because a large amount of beryllium is used for each solid breeding blanket in fusion reactors, the development of effective and efficient recycling processes is essential. In this study, a proper recycling process of Be12V pebbles was proposed, which combines a plasma sintering and a rotating electrode method for the fabrication of beryllide pebbles. As a result of experiments, it is determined that the rotating electrode method is available to reduce oxygen impurities, whereas the plasma sintering process can eliminate Li impurities and hydrogen isotope depending on sintering temperature. Regarding the recycling process, the beryllide pebbles used can be recycled into rods by plasma sintering, in which Li impurity and tritium can be eliminated. Then, recycled rods can be granulated by the rotating electrode method. During this process, it is anticipated that oxygen impurities and irradiation defects can be eliminated because the rotating electrode method includes the melting process. Thus, the current process was determined to be appropriate as a recycling process for beryllide pebbles.

A demonstration (DEMO) fusion reactor will require a huge amount of beryllium (Be) with approximately 490 tons. Since the total production of Be in the world, for now, is approximately 300 tons per year, it is anticipated that the demand is dramatically increased as the early realization of the fusion reactor proceeds. The presence of many Be mines, as well as information on each Be reserve, has already been confirmed with surveys. Since a conventional Be refinement process is considerably complicated including a production process for an intermediate product, Be(OH)2, high-temperature treatments, and handling of toxic powdery states, however, Be raw materials are costly. To provide a steady supply of Be for DEMO, in parallel with the development of mines, a novel Be refinement technique using an economical and safe process is imperative. According to these requirements, a novel and advanced refinement process of Be metal from ores was suggested by applying microwave melting at low temperatures through wet processing. It was obvious as a result of dissolubility tests that bertrandite and beryl ores were completely dissolved by using a process with acid solutions and microwave heating after treatment with base solutions and microwave heating. Further, the process can be utilized to produce not only intermediate products, such as beryllium hydroxide (Be(OH)2) and beryllium oxide (BeO) but also pure beryllium metal. Moreover, this process has great advantages for extracting uranium which is one of critical issues and oxide impurities for reuse.

A demonstration (DEMO) fusion reactor will require a huge amount of beryllium (Be) with approximately 490 tons. Since the total production of Be in the world, for now, is approximately 300 tons per year, it is anticipated that the demand is dramatically increased as the early realization of the fusion reactor proceeds. The presence of many Be mines, as well as information on each Be reserve, has already been confirmed with surveys. Since a conventional Be refinement process is considerably complicated including a production process for an intermediate product, Be(OH)2, high-temperature treatments, and handling of toxic powdery states, however, Be raw materials are costly. To provide a steady supply of Be for DEMO, in parallel with the development of mines, a novel Be refinement technique using an economical and safe process is imperative. According to these requirements, a novel and advanced refinement process of Be metal from ores was suggested by applying microwave melting at low temperatures through wet processing. It was obvious as a result of dissolubility tests that bertrandite and beryl ores were completely dissolved by using a process with acid solutions and microwave heating after treatment with base solutions and microwave heating. Further, the process can be utilized to produce not only intermediate products, such as beryllium hydroxide (Be(OH)2) and beryllium oxide (BeO) but also pure beryllium metal. Moreover, this process has great advantages for extracting uranium which is one of critical issues and oxide impurities for reuse.

We investigated the effect of royal jelly (RJ), a natural secretion from worker bees, on the endurance training-induced mitochondrial adaptations in skeletal muscles of ICR mice. Mice received either RJ (1.0 mg/g body weight) or distilled water for three weeks. The mice in the training group were subjected to endurance training (20 m/min, 60 min, 5 times/week). There was a main effect of endurance training on the maximal activities of the mitochondrial enzymes, citrate synthase (CS), and &beta, hydroxyacyl coenzyme Adehydrogenase (&beta, HAD), in the plantaris and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles, while no effect of RJ treatment was observed. In the soleus muscle, CS and &beta, HAD maximal activities were significantly increased by endurance training in the RJ-treated group, while there was no effect of training in the control group. Furthermore, we investigated the effects of acute RJ treatment on the signaling cascade involved in mitochondrial biogenesis. In the soleus, phosphorylation of 5&prime, AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) were additively increased by a single RJ treatment and endurance exercise, while only an exercise effect was found in the plantaris and TA muscles. These results indicate that the RJ treatment induced mitochondrial adaptation with endurance training by AMPK activation in the soleus muscles of ICR mice.

Isopropyl-substituted tri(ethylene glycol) is used as a chiral side chain of N-substituted poly(p-benzamide) in order to increase the difference of stability between the right- and left-handed helical structures of the polymer. The target polymer is synthesized by the chain-growth condensation polymerization of the corresponding monomer with an initiator using lithium 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexamethyldisilazide as a base. A circular dichroism (CD) study of the polymer reveals that the CD signal is due to an excess of a thermodynamically controlled right-handed helical structure of the polymer, and that the replacement of the methyl group with a bulkier isopropyl group at the side chain of poly(p-benzamide) increases the abundance of right-handed helical structure in chloroform. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015, 53, 1623–1628

Novel types of layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly films were successfully fabricated onto a solid substrate through the inclusion complex formation between partially 2,3- O-methylated amyloses (MAs) and polytetrahydrofuran (PTHF). The formation of the LbL assembly films was confirmed by quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) analysis, atomic force microscopy (AFM) observation, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurement. The film formation was significantly affected by the methylation degree of amylose. When MAs with 8 and 20% methylation were used as hosts, the formation of LbL assembly films with PTHF was clearly observed. On the other hand, MAs with more than 33% methylation barely formed LbL assembly films with PTHF.

Low-temperature specific heat of CaRu1-xMnxO3 was measured to clarify the role of d electrons in ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic orders observed above x=0.2. Specific heat divided by temperature C_p/T is found to roughly follow a T^2 function, and relatively large magnitudes of electronic specific heat coefficient gamma were obtained in wide x range. In particular, gamma is unchanged from the value at x=0 (84 mJ/K^2 mol) in the paramagnetic state for x, 4 pages, 2 figures, to be published in J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. (SCES 2011, Cambridge, UK)

An atmospheric-pressure line plasma was produced by microwave discharge using a slot antenna with travelling microwave power. Two different types of plasma mode, i.e., “pseudo” and “real” line plasma were investigated using a high-speed camera under different discharge conditions, such as slot gap width and power. Using wide slot gaps (0.5 mm) and low powers (2 second positive band spectra as low as 400 K. The movement of the plasma in the pseudo line plasma mode was well explained by a one-dimensional diffusion model including the spatial distribution of the ionization rate in a moving plasma.

A new device for the production of atmospheric-pressure microwave line plasma is proposed. By using a loop-structure waveguide and a circulator, only traveling waves transmitted in the waveguide are superimposed in phase with each other by impedance matching of an EH tuner. The spatiotemporal behavior of the plasma and the spatial distribution of the emission intensity were investigated using a high-speed camera and a digital still camera. A stable discharge is sustained inside a slot of 60 cm length and 0.1 mm width in pure helium gas at a microwave power of 1.0 kW in the cw mode.

The magnetic and electronic properties of Sr1-xLaxRuO3 were studied by means of dc-magnetization, ac-susceptibility, specific heat, and electrical resistivity measurements. The dc-magnetization and ac-susceptibility measurements have revealed that the transition temperature and the ordered moment of the ferromagnetic order are strongly suppressed as La is substituted for Sr. The ac-susceptibility exhibits a peak at T* due to the occurrence of spontaneous spin polarization. Furthermore, we observed that T* shows clear frequency variations for x>= 0.3. The magnitude of the frequency shifts of T* is comparable to that of cluster-glass systems, and the frequency dependence is well described in terms of the Vogel-Fulcher law. On the other hand, it is found that the linear specific heat coefficient gamma enhances with the suppression of the ferromagnetic order. The relatively large gamma values reflect the presence of the Ru 4d state at Fermi level, and hence, the magnetism of this system is considered to be tightly coupled with the itinerant characteristics of the Ru 4d electrons. The present experimental results and analyses suggest that the intrinsic coexistence of the spatially inhomogeneous magnetic state and the itinerant nature of the Ru 4d electrons is realized in this system, and such a feature may be commonly involved in La- and Ca-doped SrRuO3., 8 pages, 5 figures, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn