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Background Blood pressure (BP) variability has reportedly been a risk factor for various clinical events. To clarify the influence of BP visit‐to‐visit variability on adverse events in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, a post hoc analysis of the J‐RHYTHM Registry was performed. Methods and Results Of 7406 outpatients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation from 158 institutions, 7226 (age, 69.7±9.9 years; men, 70.7%), in whom BP was measured 4 times or more (14.6±5.0 times) during the 2‐year follow‐up period or until occurrence of an event, constituted the study group. SD and coefficient of variation of BP values were calculated as BP variability. Thromboembolism, major hemorrhage, and all‐cause death occurred in 110 (1.5%), 121 (1.7%), and 168 (2.3%) patients, respectively. When patients were divided into quartiles of systolic BP‐SD (P =0.015 for thromboembolism; HR, 2.60, 95% CI, 1.36–4.97, P =0.004 for major hemorrhage; and HR, 1.85, 95% CI, 1.11–3.07, P =0.018 for all‐cause death) after adjusting for components of the CHA 2 DS 2 ‐VASc score, warfarin and antiplatelet use, atrial fibrillation type, BP measurement times, and others. These findings were consistent when BP‐coefficient of variation was used instead of BP‐SD. Conclusions Systolic BP visit‐to‐visit variability was significantly associated with all adverse events in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. Further studies are needed to clarify the causality between BP variability and adverse outcomes in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. Registration URL: https://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr/ ; Unique Identifier: UMIN000001569.

The low-spin structure of the semimagic ^{64}Ni nucleus has been considerably expanded: combining four experiments, several 0^{+} and 2^{+} excited states were identified below 4.5 MeV, and their properties established. The Monte Carlo shell model accounts for the results and unveils an unexpectedly complex landscape of coexisting shapes: a prolate 0^{+} excitation is located at a surprisingly high energy (3463 keV), with a collective 2^{+} state 286 keV above it, the first such observation in Ni isotopes. The evolution in excitation energy of the prolate minimum across the neutron N=40 subshell gap highlights the impact of the monopole interaction and its variation in strength with N.

Second-order processes in physics is a research topic focusing attention from several fields worldwide including, for example, non-linear quantum electrodynamics with high-power lasers, neutrinoless double-β decay, and stimulated atomic two-photon transitions. For the electromagnetic nuclear interaction, the observation of the competitive double-γ decay from 137mBa has opened up the nuclear structure field for detailed investigation of second-order processes through the manifestation of off-diagonal nuclear polarisability. Here, we confirm this observation with an 8.7σ significance, and an improved value on the double-photon versus single-photon branching ratio as 2.62 × 10−6(30). Our results, however, contradict the conclusions from the original experiment, where the decay was interpreted to be dominated by a quadrupole-quadrupole component. Here, we find a substantial enhancement in the energy distribution consistent with a dominating octupole-dipole character and a rather small quadrupole-quadrupole component in the decay, hindered due to an evolution of the internal nuclear structure. The implied strongly hindered double-photon branching in 137mBa opens up the possibility of the double-photon branching as a feasible tool for nuclear-structure studies on off-diagonal polarisability in nuclei where this hindrance is not present., Second order effects can play an important role in highlighting nuclear structure properties. Here, the authors show how the second-order nuclear transitions in the form of double-gamma decay in 137Ba help understanding atomic nuclei.

The synthesis of novel CuII complexes with a Schiff base obtained by condensation of salicylaldehyde and an l-aspartic acid ester are described. The physicochemical properties of the complexes were compared with those of related CuII complexes obtained earlier. All the complexes studied were characterized by elemental analysis as well as by IR, UV-Vis, and EPR spectroscopies. The activity of the complexes and their hybrid systems (HS) with TiO2 in visible-light-driven photocatalysis in organic solvents was investigated. After irradiation with visible light, the complexes and corresponding HS reduce Cr6+ to Cr3+ more efficiently than bare TiO2. To determine the molecular orbital compositions and energies and to explain the electronic spectra and redox properties of the systems studied, density functional calculations of the optimized structures of representative model complexes were performed.

We explore two-particle transfer reactions as a unique probe of the occurence of shape coexistence in shape phase transitions. The (t,p) reactions to the ground state and to excited $0^+$ states are calculated for the isotope chain of even-even Zirconium isotopes starting from stable nuclei up to beyond current experimental limits. Two-particle spectroscopic factors derived from Monte Carlo Shell Model calculations are used, together with the sequential description of the two-particle transfer reaction mechanism. The calculation shows a clear signature for a shape phase transition between $^{98}$Zr and $^{100}$Zr, which displays coexistence of a deformed ground state with an excited spherical $0^+$ state. Furthermore, we show that there is a qualitative difference with respect to the case of a normal shape phase transition that can be discriminated with two-neutron transfer reactions., Comment: 4 figures, 1 table

Exotic nuclei are characterized by a number of neutrons (or protons) in excess relative to stable nuclei. Their shell structure, which represents single-particle motion in a nucleus, may vary due to nuclear force and excess neutrons, in a phenomenon called shell evolution. This effect could be counterbalanced by collective modes causing deformations of the nuclear surface. Here, we study the interplay between shell evolution and shape deformation by focusing on the magnetic moment of an isomeric state of the neutron-rich nucleus 75Cu. We measure the magnetic moment using highly spin-controlled rare-isotope beams and achieving large spin alignment via a two-step reaction scheme that incorporates an angular-momentum-selecting nucleon removal. By combining our experiments with numerical simulations of many-fermion correlations, we find that the low-lying states in 75Cu are, to a large extent, of single-particle nature on top of a correlated 74Ni core. We elucidate the crucial role of shell evolution even in the presence of the collective mode, and within the same framework, we consider whether and how the double magicity of the 78Ni nucleus is restored, which is also of keen interest from the perspective of nucleosynthesis in explosive stellar processes., 10 pages, 4 figures

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.192501.

The quantum self-organization is introduced as one of the major underlying mechanisms of the quantum many-body systems, for instance, atomic nuclei. It is shown that atomic nuclei are not necessarily like simple rigid vases containing almost free nucleons, in contrast to the naive Fermi liquid picture. Nuclear forces are demonstrated to be rich enough to change single-particle energies for each eigenstate, so as to enhance the relevant collective mode. When the quantum self-organization occurs, single-particle energies can be self-organized (or self-optimized), being enhanced by (i) two quantum liquids, e.g., protons and neutrons, (ii) two major force components, e.g., quadrupole interaction (to drive collective mode) and monopole interaction (to control resistance). Type II shell evolution is considered to be a simple visible case involving excitations across a (sub)magic gap. Actual cases such as shape coexistence, quantum phase transition, octupole vibration/deformation, super deformation, etc. can be studied with this scope. The quantum self-organization becomes more important in heavier nuclei where the number of active orbits and the number of active nucleons are larger. With larger numbers of them, the effects of the organization can be more significant. The quantum self-organization is a general phenomenon, and is expected to be found in other quantum systems., To be published in Journal of Physics: Conference Series

Lifetimes of low-lying yrast states in neutron-rich 94,96,98Sr have been measured by Germanium-gated γ−γ fast timing with LaBr3(Ce) detectors using the EXILL&FATIMA spectrometer at the Institut Laue-Langevin. Sr fission products were generated using cold-neutron-induced fission of 235U and stopped almost instantaneously within the thick target. The experimental B(E2) values are compared with results of Monte Carlo shell-model calculations made without truncation on the occupation numbers of the orbits spanned by eight proton and eight neutron orbits and show good agreement. Similarly to the Zr isotopes, the abrupt shape transition in the Sr isotopes near neutron number N=60 is identified as being caused by many-proton excitations to its g9/2 orbit.

The level structure of the neutron-rich ^{77}Cu nucleus is investigated through β-delayed γ-ray spectroscopy at the Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory of the RIKEN Nishina Center. Ions of ^{77}Ni are produced by in-flight fission, separated and identified in the BigRIPS fragment separator, and implanted in the WAS3ABi silicon detector array, surrounded by Ge cluster detectors of the EURICA array. A large number of excited states in ^{77}Cu are identified for the first time by correlating γ rays with the β decay of ^{77}Ni, and a level scheme is constructed by utilizing their coincidence relationships. The good agreement between large-scale Monte Carlo shell model calculations and experimental results allows for the evaluation of the single-particle structure near ^{78}Ni and suggests a single-particle nature for both the 5/2_{1}^{-} and 3/2_{1}^{-} states in ^{77}Cu, leading to doubly magic ^{78}Ni.

Background To clarify the influence of hypertension and blood pressure ( BP ) control on thromboembolism and major hemorrhage in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, a post hoc analysis of the J‐ RHYTHM Registry was performed. Methods and Results A consecutive series of outpatients with atrial fibrillation was enrolled from 158 institutions. Of 7937 patients, 7406 with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (70.8% men, 69.8±10.0 years) were followed for 2 years or until an event occurred. Hypertension was defined as a systolic BP ≥140 mm Hg, a diastolic BP ≥90 mm Hg, a history of hypertension, and/or antihypertensive drug use. Hypertension was an independent risk factor for major hemorrhage (hazard ratio 1.52, 95% CI 1.05–2.21, P =0.027) but not for thromboembolism (hazard ratio 1.05, 95% CI 0.73–1.52, P =0.787). When patients were divided into quartiles according to their systolic BP at the time closest to the event or at the end of follow‐up (Q1, CI 1.75–4.74, P CI 1.02–2.53, P =0.041) after adjustment for components of CHA 2 DS 2 ‐ VAS c score, warfarin use, and antiplatelet use. A systolic BP of ≥136 mm Hg was an independent risk factor for thromboembolism and major hemorrhage. Conclusions BP control appears to be more important than a history of hypertension and baseline BP values at preventing thromboembolism and major hemorrhage in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. Clinical Trial Registration URL : http://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr . Unique identifier: UMIN 000001569.

Type II shell evolution has recently been identified as a microscopic cause for nuclear shape coexistence.Establish a low-lying rotational band in ^{96}Zr.High-resolution inelastic electron scattering and a relative analysis of transition strengths are used.The B(E2;0_{1}^{+}→2_{2}^{+}) value is measured and electromagnetic decay strengths of the 2_{2}^{+} state are deduced.Shape coexistence is established for ^{96}Zr. Type II shell evolution provides a systematic and quantitative mechanism to understand deformation at low excitation energies.

In der laparoskopischen Chirurgie zur Behandlung von Rektumkarzinomen muss man technische Schwierigkeiten berucksichtigen. Es gibt nur wenige Studien zur Lernkurve nach einer laparoskopischen Rektumresektion. Zwischen Juni 1995 und August 2007 wurden 200 Patienten in die Studie aufgenommen, die fur eine laparoskopische Rektumkarzinomresektion vorgesehen waren. Die Operationserfahrung von jedem Operateur wurde in drei Gruppen eingeteilt: 1–20 Falle, 21–40 Falle und ≥ 41 Falle. Zudem wurden die Patienten chronologisch in vier Gruppen zu je 50 Patienten eingeteilt. Diese Arbeit beschreibt die Assoziation zwischen den Lernkurven (individuelle Erfahrung des Operateurs und Teamerfahrung) und den Kurzzeitergebnissen wie Operationszeit, Komplikationsrate und Krankenhausaufenthaltsdauer im Fall einer laparoskopischen Resektion wegen eines Rektumkarzinoms. Ebenfalls wurde analysiert, wie die Lernkurve verschiedene postoperative Ergebnisse im Vergleich mit anderen klinischen Faktoren beeinflusst. Die Teamerfahrung hatte keinen Zusammenhang mit den Kurzzeitergebnissen, auser bei Infektionen der Inzisionswunden (surgical site infection, SSI). Andererseits war die Erfahrung des Operateurs mit der mittleren Operationsdauer und SSI-Rate assoziiert. Die Endpunkte der Lernkurve zur Reduzierung der mittleren Operationsdauer und der SSI-Rate liesen sich als 40 und 20 Falle einer laparoskopischen Rektumresektion definieren. Im Gegensatz dazu war eine Anastomoseninsuffizienz nicht assoziiert mit der Erfahrung des Operateurs und sie zeigte die groste Korrelation mit einer totalen mesorektalen Exzision (TME). Die Erfahrung des Operateurs verbesserte die Operationsdauer und SSI. Andererseits stand eine distale Anastomose begleitet von TME in einer starken Korrelation zu einer Insuffizienz, dagegen war eine Korrelation zwischen Insuffizienz und Erfahrung des Operateurs nicht klar nachweisbar.

BACKGROUND: Obesity is reported to increase the risk of colorectal cancer. We investigated whether it was associated with mortality or morbidity after colorectal-cancer surgery. METHODS: 70 colorectal-cancer patients who underwent elective surgery were investigated in this study. The intra-abdominal fat (IAF) and subcutaneous fat (SCF) areas were quantified by CT scan preoperatively. We investigated whether body mass index (BMI), IAF, or SCF were associated with postoperative mortality or morbidity. RESULTS: The mortality rate was 0%. 11 (16%) of 70 patients had medical complications (pneumonia, 9; arrhythmia, 2) and 16 (23%) had surgery-related complications (wound infection, 12; anastomotic leakage, 5) postoperatively. There was no significant difference in the postoperative medical or surgery-related morbidity rate between the IAF+ (males, ≥160 cm2; females, ≥120 cm2) and IAF– groups. The surgery-related morbidity rate was significantly higher in the SCF+ group (male, ≥180 cm2; female, ≥250 cm2) than in the SCF– group and multilogistic regression analysis confirmed that diabetes mellitus and SCF were significant for surgery-related morbidity. CONCLUSIONS: Subcutaneous fat accumulation is significantly associated with postoperative surgery-related morbidity after colorectal-cancer surgery.

Improvement of characteristics of polycrystalline silicon thin film transistors (poly-Si TFTs) was achieved by defect reduction methods of oxygen plasma at 250 ° C and at 30 W and 1.25×106-Pa high-pressure H2O vapor heat treatments at 270 ° C . Numerical analysis of transfer characteristics revealed that the combination of oxygen plasma for 40 min with the high-pressure H2O vapor annealing for 3 h effectively reduced the densities of deep level states from 1.4×1018 (as crystallized) to 1.6×10 17 cm −3 and the densities of tail states from 9.2×1018 (as crystallized) to 2.7×10 18 cm −3 , respectively. The threshold voltage of transfer characteristics was reduced from 4.1 to 1.3 V through the defect reduction.

In recent years, the number of complaints attributable to the cleaning of leather-wear has been increasing. However, there are few comprehensive studies on the change in properties of leather-wear by cleaning. Therefore, we conducted repeated cleaning tests on various kinds of clothing leathers and investigated their properties. Our study has proved that a shrinkage in dimensions and a decrease in fat content were observed when the leather was subjected to dry cleaning. Furthermore, the color faded away for the suede and nubuck leathers, and a decrease in the gloss rate was observed for the grain leather. In addition, the handling, softness, waxiness and fullness decreased and the stiffness increased due to dry cleaning. These significant changes in the properties were largely influenced by the first dry cleaning.

The magnetic phase boundary of the commensurate-incommensurate spin density wave (SDW) transition in CrFe alloys was determined more precisely using neutron diffraction of single crystals. The re-entrant incommensurate SDW phase recently reported in CrFeMn ternary alloys was not observed in CrFe binary alloys.

The existence of inexpensive semiconductor diode lasers has led to realization of consumer products in the home entertainment and personal computer industries that are already successful and promise to continue to grow in value. For example, optical recording has proven to be a technology that not only has become a dominant factor in the audio market (CD player), but has found markets as memory peripherals for personal computers and the playback of prerecorded video. In addition, diode laser printers for personal computers will become a large market. Diode-laser-based optical recording and printing systems are reviewed in this paper, as are the properties of the diode lasers that allow these systems to operate so well. Future developments in diode laser technology that will allow enhanced or new systems are also described. >

The word ‘clone’, defined as ‘the descendant of a single plant or animal nonsexually produced from any one cell and with exactly the same form as the parent’, was first used by Webber in 1903. Now, the term is broadly used also to include cell or gene replication (e.g., cell cloning or gene cloning). Animal clones are produced by embryo separation, splitting, and nuclear transfer (NT). NT includes two types: using blastomeres as donor cells and using somatic cells as donors. Since the first sensational report of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) in 1997, it has been successfully used in many kinds of species during the past two decades, and examination of the reprogramming factors or mechanisms occurring in the ooplasm after NT has started and these mechanisms are getting clarified slowly. This article provides an overview of nuclear cloning, history of breed improvement in bovines, the individual procedures of nuclear cloning such as separation of blastomeres, splitting the morula to blastocyst stage embryos, NT of blastomeres, and SCNT, and provides also conclusions and speculation on animal cloning.

The 100 magnetic diffuse peak of gamma -Fe precipitates in Cu is reexamined by means of neutron diffraction. The distribution of the diffuse scattering intensity extends along the (010) direction. A magnetic structure is proposed with transverse spin components along the c axis in addition to the coexistence of the double-Q spin structure and periodic lattice distortion on the c plane previously reported.

Results of neutron diffraction experiments on Cr fine particles with an average particle size of 100 nm are presented. The data are analysed using three kinds of particle showing different magnetic structure: (a) a simple antiferromagnetic structure stabilized below the Neel temperature (TN); (b) a transverse spin density wave (T-SDW) state for the whole temperature range below TN; and (c) a longitudinal SDW (L-SDW) state below the spin-flip temperature (TSF) just like in bulk Cr. Since the particle size distribution is expected to be fairly large, these differences are probably caused by a difference of particle size. The spin-flip transition from the T-SDW phase to the L-SDW phase is suppressed for the intermediate-size particles (d approximately=100 nm).

Searching for a charge density wave (CDW) in pure chromium, the satellite reflection intensity mainly due to a periodic lattice distortion (or strain wave, SW) was carefully studied at 150 K by means of X-ray diffraction. The intensity ratio of satellite peaks around the main Bragg peak does not fit the simple SW model. The discrepancy is resolved by consideration of the coexistence of the SW and CDW having an amplitude of 0.003-0.02 electrons/atom. The phase relation between the SW and CDW is also determined. The charge density distribution of the CDW seems to have greater extent in real space than that of the total electrons.

The random phase sampling method that has been proposed to make high quality and high storage density holograms capable of storing image information is described and discussed from the aspect of the quantitative characteristics of its reconstructed image. The method enables the uniform distribution of light energy over the hologram area made on the exact Fourier transformed plane. The details of the characteristics of the method are investigated, especially with respect to the luminance tone linearity, the signal-to-noise ratio, and the resolution to give good agreement with the results of a calculation. In the experiment, reconstructed images with high quality were obtained from holograms of 2-mm diam, which were made by 10(6) sampling and random phase shifting. By using the random phase sampling medthod, an image retrievel model system storing twenty kinds information was developed. This system holds promise of being used in various practical applications such as holographic ultramicrofilm system or a holographic videopackage system.

Mouse two-cell embryos were cultured in a medium supplemented with nocodazole or colcemid for 12.5-14.5 h in vitro, and development after elimination of these drugs was examined. All embryos cultured with nocodazole stopped at the metaphase of the second cell cycle. When nocodazole was removed, almost all embryos divided to the normal four-cell stage within 1 h and then developed into blastocysts (98%). The proportion of embryos that developed into young after transfer to recipients was not significantly different from the control (35 versus 36%), but the developmental ability of the embryos treated with colcemid was reduced, especially after transfer to recipients.

For pt.I see J. Phys. F, Met. Phys., vol.18, p.1405 (1988). The effect of alloying on a periodic shear wave (PSW), which is observed for the low-temperature phase of gamma -Fe precipitates in Cu, was studied by an X-ray diffraction method. The transition temperature depends on both the electronic configuration and the size of the precipitates. However, the wavelength of the PSW is less affected by the alloying and is determined mainly by the size of the precipitates. Several features of the alloying effect of the PSW are discussed through the data on gamma -Fe-Co and gamma -Fe-Cr precipitates in Cu and gamma -Fe precipitates in a Cu-Au host.