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Objective The relationship between plasma levels of adiponectin and cardiovascular events is inconclusive. We evaluated the clinical characteristics of people with high plasma adiponectin and high plasma leptin levels. Methods Thousand seven hundred participants recruited from visitors to the Anti-Aging Doc were divided into four groups by combining the bipartiles of plasma adiponectin and leptin levels in men and women separately: AL, high adiponectin and high leptin; Al, high adiponectin and low leptin; al, low adiponectin and low leptin; aL, low adiponectin and high leptin. Body composition, including visceral fat area and thigh muscle cross-sectional area (CSA), brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), periventricular hyperintensity, and urinary albumin excretion, were determined. Results Twenty percent of the studied population fell within the AL group. This group had a significantly higher visceral fat area than the Al group. Thigh muscle CSA was lowest in the AL group among groups. baPWV, brain white matter lesions, and albuminuria findings in the AL group were significantly higher than those of the Al group. Multiple and logistic regression analyses with confounding parameters further confirmed that plasma adiponectin was not an independent determinant for brain and renal small vessel-related disease. Conclusion These findings suggest that the plasma level of adiponectin alone is not enough for the risk stratification of cardiovascular disease. Leptin resistance associated with skeletal muscle loss in addition to obesity may need to be addressed to identify high risk people with high plasma adiponectin levels.

Accumulation of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) is thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of dementia, especially Alzheimer's disease. Tissue AGE accumulation can be estimated using the relative simple noninvasive measurement of skin autofluorescence (SAF), a method based on the fluorescent properties of some AGEs. However, possible involvement of tissue AGE accumulation in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has not been fully investigated.We investigated whether tissue AGE accumulation estimated by SAF is associated with mild cognitive impairment.We analyzed 226 community-dwelling subjects. In addition to several atherosclerosis-related clinical parameters, MCI screening test, assessment of brain atrophy, and SAF were performed on people aged 40 years. MCI was assessed using the Japanese version of the MCI screening method. Atrophy of the brain was assessed by examining the temporal horn area (THA) by brain MRI.SAF was significantly higher in participants with MCI than in those with normal cognitive function (2.56±0.55 versus 2.10±0.41; p 0.001). Logistic regression analyses with adjustment for confounding factors including age and THA showed that high SAF 2.27 was significantly related to the presence of MCI (odds, 6.402; 95% CI, 1.590-25.773, p = 0.009).We found an association between SAF and MCI, which was independent of brain atrophy, in healthy subjects.

This paper numerically evaluates the efficiency of regulations on building size and city size in a congested closed city by comparing welfare gain with that achieved under a first-best toll regime. Results show that whereas the urban growth boundary (UGB) is a poor substitute for the toll regime as expected, an optimal regulation on building size in the presence of a suitably chosen UGB yields significant welfare gain, producing an effective substitute for a first-best toll regime. Moreover, the optimal regulation on the building size requires not only downward adjustment to the market population density at the boundary locations but also upward adjustment at the central locations.

Porous building ceramics were fabricated by gelcasting and the effects of surfactants on their microstructure and some intrinsic properties such as sound absorption and thermal conductivity were investigated. Preliminary tests on solubility in water, foaming capacity and foam stability of different surfactants were carried out to evaluate their foaming ability. Porous ceramic fabricated using an anionic ammonium lauryl sulphate surfactant with large foaming ability showed lower density, higher open and total porosities, and broad pore size distribution. Total porosities of three porous ceramics fabricated using different surfactants were found to be similar to that of the corresponding air volume fractions of the three foamed slurries. Sound absorption and thermal conductivity of the porous ceramics as construction tile were further characterized. Porous ceramic with higher porosity presented a higher value of sound absorption coefficients and lower thermal conductivity.

A continuous process for gelcasting fabrication of porous ceramics is reported. The key characteristic of this method is the mixing of slurry and N2 bubbles, formed from a separated canister containing a surfactant prior to foaming of slurry, in a spiral mixer. The microstructure of the resulting porous ceramic is compared with that of sample fabricated by the conventional discontinuous process with N2-gas controlling system. Porous ceramic produced using the new method displays lower density, higher open and total porosities, and broad pore size distribution. The obtained porous ceramics by the two routes are further investigated by sound absorption and heat insulation tests. Porous ceramic produced using the new method shows higher value of sound absorption coefficients, which suggests that the large porosity augment the sound absorbing performance of ceramics sample. The pore structure could also affect the thermal conductivity of the porous ceramics. With high porosity, sample fabricated with new method displayed lower thermal conductivity.

The structure of an usual catechol byproduct in the aldol condensation of the salt of 3-oxo-6-heptenoate and pyruvic aldehyde, and the discovery of an additive to inhibit its formation are described.

A new procedure for preparing β-keto esters from methyl ketones, sodamide and diethyl carbonate using these reagents in the molar ratio of 1:3:3 is reported. The yields of β-keto esters approach to those of the preparation using sodium hydride as condensing agent. Furthermore, some cyclopentenolones were prepared from the β-keto esters synthesized by this-procedure.