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Superparamagnetic fluctuation of magnetic nanoparticles is studied. We examine the validity of the simplified approach using the difference between zero-field-cooled magnetization and field-cooled one. The results show that it is valuable for estimating the blocking temperature distribution of polydispersive particles even in magnetic fields, if both surface effects and inter-particle interactions are negligible. Index Terms--Magnetic hysteresis, magnetic materials, magnetization reversal.

Studies the magnetic properties and the crystal structure of MgV2O4 and Mg(V0.85Al0.15)2O4 compounds. Magnetic lattices of the compounds; Temperature dependence of the ZFC susceptibility for MgV2O4.

Studies the effects of the external magnetic field applied during cooling on the magnetic relaxation of a fine particle system. Measurement of temperature decay of the residual magnetization and ac susceptibility for frozen iron-nitride magnetic fluids.

To clarify the universal features of spin glasses, we carefully studied slow dynamics in a geometrically frustrated magnet ZnFe2O4 with slight disorders, regarded as an "unconventional" Heisenberg spin glass, using time-resolved neutron diffractometry and magnetometry. The results indicate that "aging" can be attributed not to growth of the short-range order detected by a diffuse scattering but to aging of a hidden aperiodic correlation, as expected from theories for spin glasses. Concerning aging, peculiar behavior was found; the decay of thermoremanent magnetization is extremely accelerated if the sample is heated/cooled briefly midway through the isothermal slow relaxation. Conversely, magnetization surprisingly increases despite the absence of a magnetic field when the temperature returns after the brief heating/cooling. The behavior can be explained as a destabilization of the aged spin configuration due to the thermal perturbations and subsequent spontaneous restoration of the original spin configuration after the destabilization. Whereas such destabilization and restoration do not occur during freezing into numerous metastable states in a fixed energy landscape, these are possible in an energy landscape with a temperature-sensitive funnel-like structure. These features, consistent with the ghost domain scenario of the droplet picture, are the same as for conventional Heisenberg spin glasses such as dilute magnetic alloys and dilute magnetic semiconductors. In other words, they are universal features in Heisenberg spin glasses including unconventional ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The addition of Re, Fe and Cr into Ti–50 mol.-%Ni has been carried out to improve the oxidation and mechanical properties. The mono phase consisting of TiNi with the B2 type structure was identified in micro-alloyed materials proposed on the basis of the d-electrons concept. Experimentally, TiNi alloys were melted and solidified by the cold crucible levitation melting (CCLM) method. The TiNi–(Cr, Fe, Re) alloys with high purity and without contamination from a crucible were prepared, and the homogeneous microstructure was achieved by the diffusion mixing effect of CCLM even in the as-cast alloys which contained Re and Cr with higher melting temperatures and different specific gravities. The transformation from austenite to martensite phases occurred in all alloys below or above room temperature. Some alloys had the ability of shape memory even at room temperature. Ternary alloys showed a higher flow stress level compared with the binary TiNi alloy. On the other hand, the oxidation at 1273 K was promoted by the formation of titanium oxides (TiO2) on the alloy surfaces. The oxidation resistance was improved by the formation of the continuous Cr2O3 film in TiNi–Cr alloys. The alloying effects by ternary elements (Re, Fe, Cr) in the intermetallic TiNi as well as metallic materials were explained well using two parameters used in the d-electrons concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From ancient rudimentary investigations through modern intensive research, a seemingly simple question regarding glassy materials remains unanswered: do history-dependent phenomena disappear when a system relaxes sufficiently? The present study gives an answer by applying indirect but simple approaches to a canonical spin-glass phase of a CuMn alloy. We find that the zero-field-cooled magnetization of the equilibrium state never matches the field-cooled magnetization, even if the observation continues indefinitely. This finding clearly demonstrates a permanency of hysteresis, which has been predicted by recent theories for spin-glasses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AgNiO2, a model compound of an S=1/2 triangular lattice, was studied by muon spin relaxation in addition to ac, dc susceptibility, electrical resistivity and neutron diffraction. The relaxation rate shows a sharp peak at around TN=28 K followed by a sudden decrease of initial asymmetry indicating a magnetic ordering. Three internal fields ranging from 0.2 to 0.3 T were obtained from the muon precession period. However, a neutron diffraction experiment failed to detect any magnetic order at low temperatures. From these results, it was concluded that magnetic coherence is confined to small domain compared with the coherence length of neutron diffraction due to spin frustration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The alloy Fe35Pt35P30, whose composition is close to a ternary eutectic, was rapidly solidified by melt spinning and the ribbon exhibited a high coercivity, exceeding 20 kOe after annealing. The alloy was mainly composed of L10 ordered FePt and PtP2 with an average grain size of about 50 nm. In the as-cast state, the alloy was comprised of about 20-nm-diam FePt and PtP2 grains supersaturated with P and Fe, respectively, and the coercivity was only 150 Oe. The high coercivity obtained following annealing is discussed on the basis of the microstructural observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study on the phase diagram of magnetic fluids with iron-nitride fluids. Magnetic properties of iron-nitride magnetic fluids; Experiments; Results and discussion.

Measures the magnetization curve for frozen iron-nitride magnetic fluids with uniform particles. Development of magnetic storage; Details on magnetization curve.

Background: Foods are not purchased in isolation but are normally co-purchased with other food products. The patterns of co-purchasing associations across a large number of food products have been rarely explored to date. Knowledge of such co-purchasing patterns will help evaluate nutrition interventions that might affect the purchasing of multiple food items while providing insights about food marketing activities that target multiple food items simultaneously., Objective: To quantify the association of food products purchased with each of three food categories of public health importance: soda, fresh fruits and fresh vegetables using Association Rule Mining (ARM) followed by longitudinal regression analysis., Methods: We obtained transaction data containing grocery purchasing baskets (lists of purchased products) collected from loyalty club members in a major supermarket chain between 2015 and 2017 in Montréal, Canada. There were 72 food groups in these data. ARM was applied to identify food categories co-purchased with soda, fresh fruits, and fresh vegetables. A subset of co-purchasing associations identified by ARM was further tested by confirmatory logistic regression models controlling for potential confounders of the associations and correlated purchasing patterns within shoppers., Results: We analyzed 1,692,716 baskets. Salty snacks showed the strongest co-purchasing association with soda (Relative Risk [RR] = 2.07, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 2.06, 2.09). Sweet snacks/candies (RR = 1.73, 95%CI: 1.72-1.74) and juices/drinks (RR:1.71, 95%CI:1.71-1.73) also showed strong co-purchasing associations with soda. Fresh vegetables and fruits showed considerably different patterns of co-purchasing associations from those of soda, with pre-made salad and stir fry showing a strong association (RR = 3.78, 95% CI:3.74-3.82 for fresh vegetables and RR = 2.79, 95%CI:2.76-2.81 for fresh fruits). The longitudinal regression analysis confirmed these associations after adjustment for the confounders, although the associations were weaker in magnitude., Conclusions: Quantifying the interdependence of food products within shopping baskets provides novel insights for developing nutrition surveillance and interventions targeting multiple food categories while motivating research to identify drivers of such co-purchasing. ARM is a useful analytical approach to identify such cross-food associations from retail transaction data when combined with confirmatory regression analysis to adjust for confounders of such associations., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board in the Faculty of Medicine, McGill University (IRB# A01-E03-13B). Additional informed consent for the secondary analysis of loyalty card data was waived. Loyalty card IDs were anonymized by encryption through a hash algorithm. Consent for publication: N/A. There is no individual-level information in the manuscript. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objectives: The Japanese government has introduced reimbursement incentive policies designed to promote biosimilar adoption for oncology biologics, including the provision of a financial incentive of ¥1500 (approximately $10) per prescription to physicians who prescribe biosimilars. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of Japan's reimbursement policies on the uptake of oncology biosimilars, specifically trastuzumab and bevacizumab, in the outpatient setting., Methods: We conducted an interrupted time series analysis using the health insurance claims database to assess the impact of the policy on biosimilar uptake, comparing trends before and after the policy intervention., Results: The analysis incorporated 22 440 trastuzumab and 14 022 bevacizumab claims. For trastuzumab, interrupted time series analysis showed a significant slope change after policy implementation, with a slope change of 0.33% per month (95% CI 0.07-0.58). In contrast, bevacizumab did not exhibit significant changes in slope or level postintervention; however, its biosimilar uptake steadily increased over the entire study period., Conclusions: This study suggests that reimbursement incentives have significantly enhanced the uptake of trastuzumab biosimilars in Japan, whereas bevacizumab has not exhibited a similar response. Given these findings, it is crucial for policy makers to design reimbursement strategies that are specifically tailored to the characteristics of each biosimilar to optimize their effectiveness., Competing Interests: Author Disclosures Author disclosure forms can be accessed below in the Supplemental Material section., (Copyright © 2025 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The increasing global drug shortage poses a substantial challenge to national healthcare systems and affects access to essential therapies. In Japan, this problem is exacerbated by a large-scale government campaign to switch from brand-name products to generic drugs and manufacturing/marketing authorization holders with poor development and manufacturing controls. Regulatory bodies, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency have developed guidelines aimed at ensuring continuous drug supply and mitigating manufacturing risks. However, Japan's efforts have primarily relied on voluntary industry guidelines, lacking the robust regulatory frameworks of other developed nations. Therefore, this study proposes a draft guideline for Japan's pharmaceutical industry to manage drug shortages effectively. The Japanese government needs to establish a framework system that will enable pharmaceutical companies to effectively maintain a stable supply based on the proposals developed in this study., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to The Drug Information Association, Inc.)

Background: Recent studies have focused on evaluating the biomarker value of textural features in radiological images. Our study investigated whether or not a texture analysis of computed tomographic colonography (CTC) images could be a novel biomarker for colorectal cancer (CRC)., Methods: This retrospective study investigated 263 patients with CRC who underwent contrast-enhanced CTC (CE-CTC) before curative surgery between January 2014 and December 2017. Multiple texture analyses (fractal, histogram, and gray-level co-occurrence matrix [GLCM] texture analyses) were applied to CE-CTC (portal-venous phase), and fractal dimension (FD), skewness, kurtosis, entropy, and GLCM texture parameters, including GLCM-correlation, GLCM-autocorrelation, GLCM-entropy, and GLCM-homogeneity, of the tumor were calculated. These texture parameters were compared with pathological factors (tumor depth, lymph node metastasis, vascular invasion, and lymphatic invasion) and overall survival (OS)., Results: Tumor depth was significantly associated with FD, kurtosis, entropy, GLCM-correlation, GLCM-autocorrelation, GLCM-entropy, and GLCM-homogeneity ( p  = 0.001, 0.001, 0.001, 0.001, 0.018, 0.008, and 0.001, respectively); lymph node metastasis was associated with GLCM-homogeneity ( p  = 0.004); lymphatic invasion was associated with GLCM-correlation and GLCM-homogeneity ( p  = 0.001 and 0.012, respectively); and venous invasion was associated with FD, entropy, GLCM-correlation, GLCM-autocorrelation, and GLCM-entropy of the tumor ( p  = 0.001, 0.033, 0.021, 0.046, respectively). In the Kaplan-Meier analysis, patients with high GLCM-correlation tumors or high GLCM-homogeneity tumors showed a significantly worse OS than others ( p  = 0.001 and 0.04, respectively). Multivariate analyses showed that the GLCM correlation was an independent prognostic factor for the OS ( p  = 0.021)., Conclusion: CE-CTC-derived texture parameters may be clinically useful biomarkers for managing CRC patients., Competing Interests: Prof. Matsubara is a member of the Editorial Board for AGSurg., (© 2024 The Author(s). Annals of Gastroenterological Surgery published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of The Japanese Society of Gastroenterological Surgery.)

Rectal metastases of prostate cancer are rare and may be difficult to diagnose. In this report, we describe a case in which an extramural growth-type rectal tumor was resected and pathologically diagnosed as prostate cancer metastasis. A 70-year-old man on hormone therapy for prostate cancer with seminal vesicle invasion and pelvic lymph node metastasis was referred to our department after an imaging scan showed an extramural growth-type rectal tumor. Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration was considered for diagnosis, but the patient preferred an early resection without the exam, so surgery was performed. Histopathological examination revealed that the lesion was in the adventitia of the rectum and metastasis of prostate cancer. Metastatic lesions of prostate cancer are not indicated for resection. A detailed preoperative study with the possibility of prostate cancer metastasis in mind is necessary because it is relevant to choosing the treatment strategy., (Published by Oxford University Press and JSCR Publishing Ltd. © The Author(s) 2024.)

Background: Treatment via a peripherally inserted central venous catheter is important for anticancer treatment, perioperative management, and nutrition management. In this study, we aimed to investigate the usefulness of cyanoacrylate glue (CG) in managing peripherally inserted central venous catheters in adults., Methods: This retrospective cohort study enrolled 411 adults requiring a central venous catheter for treatment in the Chiba University Esophageal-Gastro-Intestinal Surgery department between January 2021 and October 2022. The preventive effect of CG in reducing adverse events, including infection, tip migration, and thrombus formation, was evaluated by reviewing electronic medical records, chest radiographs, and contrast-enhanced computed tomography scans., Results: CG and other dressings were used in 158 (CG group) and 253 (control group) patients, respectively. The incidence of catheter infection based on the clinical course was lower in the CG group (3.2%) than in the control group (9.1%; P = 0.03). However, cases of infection confirmed by blood or catheter cultures did not differ between the CG (1.3%) and control (1.9%) groups (P = 1.0). Chest radiographs revealed that catheter tip migration (mean ± SD) was lesser in the CG group (8.2 ± 6.7 mm) than in the control group (15.0 ± 15.8 mm; P < 0.01). There were two cases of venous thrombus formation in the control group., Conclusion: In a population dominated by esophago-gastroenterological malignancy, peripherally inserted central catheter securement via CG was associated with decreased catheter removal because of suspected catheter infection. Further research on larger cohorts is needed to determine if other adverse events decrease following peripherally inserted central catheter securement via CG., (© 2024 The Authors. Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.)

Incomplete removal of early-stage gastrointestinal cancers by endoscopic treatments often leads to recurrence induced by residual cancer cells. To completely remove or kill cancer tissues and cells and prevent recurrence, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and hyperthermia using biomaterials with drugs or nanomaterials are usually administered following endoscopic treatments. However, there are few biomaterials that can be applied using endoscopic devices to locally kill cancer tissues and cells. We previously reported that decyl group-modified Alaska pollock gelatin-based microparticles (denoted C10MPs) can adhere to gastrointestinal tissues under wet conditions through the formation of a colloidal gel driven by hydrophobic interactions. In this study, we combined C10MPs with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) to develop a sprayable heat-generating nanomaterial (denoted SP/C10MP) for local hyperthermia of gastrointestinal cancers. The rheological property, tissue adhesion strength, burst strength, and underwater stability of SP/C10MP were improved through decyl group modification and SPION addition. Moreover, SP/C10MP that adhered to gastrointestinal tissues formed a colloidal gel, which locally generated heat in response to an alternating magnetic field. SP/C10MP successfully killed cancer tissues and cells in colon cancer-bearing mouse models in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, SP/C10MP has the potential to locally kill residual cancer tissues and cells after endoscopic treatments., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The Accelerated Approval (AA) Program of the United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was established to facilitate and expedite access to new drugs for serious or life-threatening conditions. Although many drugs have granted AAs in the US, the number of approvals under the conditional approval system in Japan remains limited. This study aimed to examine whether confirmatory trials after the US AA are conducted in accordance with the design of postmarketing requirements and assess the timing of regular approval (RA) in Japan for drugs that have been granted US AA. Utilizing FDA databases and Japanese regulatory data from 1992 to 2023, we analyzed indications, postmarketing requirements, and clinical trial designs. Our findings indicate that the AA program in the US is well-managed as most AAs were converted to RAs based on confirmatory study data that met the designations. From the Japanese perspective, our findings show that the over half of Japanese RAs can be obtained without waiting for confirmatory trial results. By granting RA, instead of conditional approval, based on exploratory trial data in the US AA, the opportunity to evaluate postmarketing confirmatory trial results might be lost in Japan. Therefore, further improvements are needed to actively utilize the conditional approval system, which could allow for the rapid introduction of innovative drugs and also the verification of their efficacy and safety at an appropriate time.