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In 2019 September, a sudden flare of the 6.7 GHz methanol maser was observed toward the high-mass young stellar object (HMYSO) G24.33+0.14. This may represent the fourth detection of a transient mass accretion event in an HMYSO after S255IR NIRS3, NGC 6334I-MM1, and G358.93−0.03-MM1. G24.33+0.14 is unique among these sources as it clearly shows a repeating flare with an 8 yr interval. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), we observed the millimeter continuum and molecular lines toward G24.33+0.14 in the pre-flare phase in 2016 August (ALMA Cycle 3) and the mid-flare phase in 2019 September (ALMA Cycle 6). We identified three continuum sources in G24.33+0.14, and the brightest source, C1, which is closely associated with the 6.7 GHz maser emission, shows only a marginal increase in flux density with a flux ratio (Cycle 6$/$Cycle 3) of 1.16 ± 0.01, considering an additional absolute flux calibration uncertainty of $10\%$. We identified 26 transitions from 13 molecular species other than methanol, and they exhibit similar levels of flux differences with an average flux ratio of 1.12 ± 0.15. In contrast, eight methanol lines observed in Cycle 6 are brighter than those in Cycle 3 with an average flux ratio of 1.23 ± 0.13, and the higher excitation lines tend to show a larger flux increase. If this systematic increasing trend is real, it would suggest radiative heating close to the central HMYSO due to an accretion event which could expand the size of the emission region and/or change the excitation conditions. Given the low brightness temperatures and small flux changes, most of the methanol emission is likely to be predominantly thermal, except for the 229.759 GHz (8−1–70 E) line known as a class I methanol maser. The flux change in the millimeter continuum of G24.33+0.14 is smaller than in S255IR NIRS3 and NGC 6334I-MM1 but is comparable with that in G358.93−0.03-MM1, suggesting different amounts of accreted mass in these events.

Powerful relativistic jets in active galactic nuclei (AGN) are believed to be originated from the accretion of material onto the supermassive black hole (SMBH)1. The nearby radio galaxy M87 is one of the best examples of this phenomenon, and the recent detection of a black-hole shadow with the Event Horizon Telescope provided compelling evidence for this paradigm2. However, whether the central SMBH in M87 has a spin or not, a fundamental parameter of a BH along with the mass, remains unconstrained by observations since the appearance of the photon ring is rather insensitive to the spin2-4. A clue to this challenge is to trace the long-term evolution of the innermost jet base where the central BH and accretion disk tightly regulate its flow dynamics. Here we report an extensive analysis of the morphological evolution of the M87 jet nozzle based on 170 high-resolution radio images spanning more than two decades. The ensemble of the data reveals a periodic (a period of 11 years) variation of the jet direction with a peak-to-peak amplitude of ~10 deg on the sky. A successful fit of a precession model to the data as well as general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations strongly supports the presence of a spinning BH in M87, inducing a Lense-Thirring precession of a misaligned accretion disk by the frame-dragging effect5. Our results suggest that jet precession with a spinning BH can commonly exist in other more distant AGN but had evaded detection due to the small magnitude and long period of position angle variation.

Objective: The present study assessed the safety and benefits of laparoscopic-assisted adenomyomectomy compared to laparoscopic or laparotomic adenomyomectomy. Materials and methods: This study was a retrospective comparative study. A total of 277 patients underwent adenomyomectomy between January 2016 and January 2019 at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Ulsan University Hospital, including 25 with laparoscopic-assisted adenomyomectomy, 82 with laparoscopic adenomyomectomy, and 170 with laparotomic adenomyomectomy. Laparoscopic-assisted adenomyomectomy consisted of a laparoscopic uterine artery procedure to reduce blood loss and a minimal incisional for laparotomic adenomyomectomy. An additional laparoscopic surgery was performed for possible pelvic pathology. Results: Data on patient demographics, surgical indications, operative times, estimated blood loss (EBL), short-term complications, and postoperative hospital stays were compared. The laparoscopic-assisted surgery (LAS) and laparotomic groups were comparable in average EBL (208.0 ± 128.8 vs. 193.6 ± 193.0 ml, p = 0.11), weight of removed mass (85.5 ± 71.7 vs. 108.2 ± 91.9 g, p = 0.39), and postoperative hospital days (HDs) (4.5 ± 1.0 vs. 4.7 ± 0.8 days, p = 0.27). These values were lower in the laparoscopic group (EBL 119.5 ± 79.6 ml, mass weight 39.3 ± 25.9 g, HD 3.6 ± 0.8 days). Additional procedures, including myomectomy and combined severe endometriosis surgery, were more frequently performed in the LAS group than the laparotomic group. The mean operating time was longer in the LAS group (179.8 ± 36.6 min) than the other groups (laparoscopy 99.9 ± 40.6 min, p

Because of its proximity and the large size of its black hole, M87 is one of the best targets for studying the launching mechanism of active galactic nucleus jets. Currently, magnetic fields are considered to be an essential factor in the launching and accelerating of the jet. However, current observational estimates of the magnetic field strength of the M87 jet are limited to the innermost part of the jet or to HST-1. No attempt has yet been made to measure the magnetic field strength in between. We aim to infer the magnetic field strength of the M87 jet out to a distance of several thousand $r_s$ by tracking the distance-dependent changes in the synchrotron spectrum of the jet from high-resolution very long baseline interferometry observations. In order to obtain high-quality spectral index maps, quasi-simultaneous observations at 22 and 43 GHz were conducted using the KVN and VERA Array (KaVA) and the VLBA. We compared the spectral index distributions obtained from the observations with a model and placed limits on the magnetic field strengths as a function of distance. The overall spectral morphology is broadly consistent over the course of these observations. The observed synchrotron spectrum rapidly steepens from $\alpha_{22-43 GHz}$ ~ -0.7 at ~ 2 mas to $\alpha_{22-43 GHz}$ ~ -2.5 at ~ 6 mas. A spectral index model in which nonthermal electron injections inside the jet decrease with distance can adequately reproduce the observed trend. This suggests the magnetic field strength of the jet at a distance of 2 - 10 mas (~ 900 $r_s$ - ~ 4500 $r_s$ in the deprojected distance) has a range of $B=(0.3 - 1.0 G)(z/2 mas)^{-0.73}$. Extrapolating to the EHT scale yields consistent results, suggesting that the majority of the magnetic flux of the jet near the black hole is preserved out to ~ 4500 $r_s$ without significant dissipation., Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

Deposition of fibrillar forms of amyloid β-protein (Aβ) is commonly found in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) associated with cognitive decline. Impaired clearance of Aβ species is thought to be a major cause of late-onset sporadic AD. Aβ secreted into the extracellular milieu can be cleared from the brain through multiple pathways, including cellular uptake in neuronal and non-neuronal cells. Recent studies have showed that the naturally-occurring polyphenol amentoflavone (AMF) exerts anti-amyloidogenic effects. However, its effects on metabolism and cellular clearance of Aβ remain to be tested. In the present study, we demonstrated that AMF significantly increased the cellular uptake of both Aβ1-40 and Aβ1-42, but not inverted Aβ42-1 in mouse neuronal N2a cells. Though AMF promoted internalization of cytotoxic Aβ1-42, it significantly reduced cell death in our assay condition. Our data further revealed that the internalized Aβ is translocated to lysosomes and undergoes enzymatic degradation. The saturable kinetic of Aβ uptake and our pharmacologic experiments showed the involvement of receptor-mediated endocytosis, in part, through the class A scavenger receptors as a possible mechanism of action of AMF. Taken together, our findings indicate that AMF can lower the levels of extracellular Aβ by increasing their cellular uptake and clearance, suggesting the therapeutic potential of AMF for the treatment of AD.

We present simultaneous 22 and 43 GHz observations of the microquasar Cyg X-3 during a series of small-scale flaring activity in a hard state. In the end of January 2016, Cyg X-3 was in a state transition from a soft to hard state after a minimum hard X-ray flux at 15–50 keV. We have observed Cyg X-3 in 3–6 February immediately after Cyg X-3 went into the hard state. We found a series of episodic, low-flux flaring activity of < 500 mJy in the hard state at 22 and 43 GHz, simultaneously observed for the first time. The spectral slope was negative on 3 February, while there were the events of spectral inversion on 5 and 6 February, typical for a rise phase, indicating the optically thick emission, with an alternative possibility of a flat spectrum on 5 February. The previous observations of the small flares with the flux similar to our observation lasted < aday. The brightness temperature argument requires the time scale of such flares should be much less than a day for the flaring activity and associated jets to be non-thermal. Therefore, the flaring activity observed in 5 and 6 February would be more likely to be two separate flares of < 1 day in the rise, rather than a longer, single event.

Objective: Serum phosphorous is a significant risk factor for increased carotid intima-media thickness. Increased thickness of the carotid intima is a known cause of cardiovascular disease. Coronary heart disease is a significant cause of mortality and morbidity in postmenopausal women. This study aimed to compare the relationship between serum phosphorous concentration and carotid intima-media thickness in healthy asymptomatic postmenopausal women. Methods: A retrospective review of the medical records from a health checkup center in Gangnam Severance hospital between March 2007 and September 2017 was conducted. We examined asymptomatic postmenopausal female patients with age range between 56 and 66 (N = 361) who underwent measurement of carotid intima-media thickness by B-mode ultrasonography. The physiological variables analyzed included mean blood pressure, body mass index, renal function (serum creatinine and estimated glomerular filtration rate), cholesterol levels (total cholesterol, triglyceride, and high- and low-density lipoprotein), serum phosphorous, calcium, electrolytes, diabetic status, hypertension, and albumin. Results: Pearson correlation test showed that carotid intima-media thickness was significantly associated with age (r = 0.192, P

Endometriosis is a common gynecologic disorder characterized by chronic pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea, and infertility. Although this condition places significant financial burden on the healthcare system and negatively affects patient's quality of life, the pathophysiology of the disease remains unclear, and noninvasive diagnostic methods are insufficient. The object of this study was to identify potential biomarkers for endometriosis from peripheral blood. We hypothesized that serum biomarkers modified in endometriosis patients would be detected by multiplex cytokine panel, and identification of a combination of these biomarkers would improve diagnostic power. A total of 141 women, aged 15-52 years with regular menstruation, participated in this study. Twenty-one serum cytokines were detected using the commercially available MILLIPLEX MAP Human Cytokine/Chemokine Kit Panel IV. Among these cytokines, breast- and kidney-expressed chemokine (BRAK)/chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 14 (CXCL14) was significantly decreased, and proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL)/tumor necrosis factor ligand superfamily member 13 (TNFSF13) was significantly increased in endometriosis group. APRIL/TNFSF13 and BRAK/CXCL14 alone or in combination, however, failed to show adequate sensitivity or specificity for the diagnosis of endometriosis. Combination of APRIL/TNFSF13 and BRAK/CXCL14 with serum CA-125 levels yielded significantly higher sensitivity (71.2%) for detecting endometriosis without compromising specificity (80.8%) than CA-125 alone in a logistic regression model (P = 0.050). In conclusion, we identified a biomarker combination that detects endometriosis better than CA125 alone. Therefore, we conclude that multiplex cytokine panel is an efficient method for detecting endometriosis, and analysis of additional cytokine panels may lead to identification of a novel biomarker combination with superior diagnostic power.

The mortality and morbidity rates of non-tubal ectopic pregnancies with abdominal hemorrhaging are 7–8 times higher than those of tubal pregnancies. Diaphragmatic pregnancy is a rare non-tubal ectopic form, causing acute abdominal hemoperitoneum. Here, we present a case of a primary diaphragmatic ectopic pregnancy with hemorrhage that was immediately diagnosed and successfully managed with laparoscopic surgery. Rapid and accurate diagnosis using appropriate imaging modalities is critical for improving the prognosis of a child-bearing woman with an abdominal pregnancy.

Background: Since the first report of a diaphragmatic hernia from Ambroise Paré’s necropsy in 1610, the Bochdalek hernia (BH) of the congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) has been the most common types with high morbidity and mortality in the neonatal period. Due to the nature of the disease, CDH associated with pregnancy is too infrequent to warrant reporting in the literature. Mortality of obstruction or strangulation is mostly due to failure to diagnose symptoms early. Data sources and study selection: A systematic literature search of maternal BH during pregnancy was conducted using the electronic databases (PubMed and EMBASE) from January 1941 to December 2020. Because of the rarity of the disease, this review included all primary studies, including case reports or case series that reported at least one case of maternal BH in pregnant. Searches, paper selection, and data extraction were conducted in duplicate. The analysis was performed narratively regardless of the control groups’ presence due to their rarity. Results: The search retrieved 3450 papers, 94 of which were deemed eligible and led to a total of 43 cases. Results of treatment showed 16 cases in delayed delivery after hernia surgery, 10 cases in simultaneous delivery with hernia surgery, 3 cases in non-surgical treatment, and 14 cases in hernia surgery after delivery. Of 16 cases with delayed delivery after hernia surgery, 13 (81%) cases had emergency surgery and three (19%) cases had surgery after expectant management. Meanwhile, 10 cases underwent simultaneous delivery with hernia surgery, 6 cases (60%) had emergent surgery, and 4 cases (40%) had delayed hernia surgery after expectant management. 3 cases underwent non-surgical treatment. In this review, the maternal death rate and fetal/neonatal loss rate from maternal BH was 5% (2/43) and 16% (7/43), respectively. The preterm birth rate has been reported in 35% (15/43) of maternal BH, resulting from maternal deaths in 13% (2/15) of cases and 6 fetal loss in 40% (6/15) of cases; 44% (19/43) of cases demonstrated signs of bowel obstruction, ischemia, or perforation of strangulated viscera in the operative field, resulting from maternal deaths in 11% (2/19) of cases and fetal-neonatal loss in 21% (4/19) of cases. Conclusion: Early diagnosis and surgical intervention are imperative, as a gangrenous or non-viable bowel resection significantly increases mortality. Therefore, multidisciplinary care should be required in maternal BH during pregnancies that undergo surgically repair, and individualized care allow for optimal results for the mother and fetus.

Objective The aim of this study was to present experiences in localization and removal of non-palpable subdermal contraceptive implants with ultrasonography. Methods Medical records from January 1, 2016, to April 30, 2018, were retrospectively reviewed for 21 patients who were referred to a single institution and had an impalpable implant despite following the removal instruction. In all the cases, more than one attempt was made to remove the implant before referral. The rod was detected using radiography and ultrasonography. In all the cases, localization of the single implant was achieved with ultrasonography. The distal depth of the rod was measured, and skin marking was made following the echogenicity. The implants were subsequently removed under anesthesia. Results In 18 cases, the rods were localized using ultrasonography and successfully removed under local anesthesia. In the other three cases, removal with local anesthesia failed. Although the rod was detected successful with ultrasonography, the implants were removed under general anesthesia in the operating room. The depth from skin to rod, measured with ultrasonography, was >12.0 mm in all the cases and located deep in the muscular layer in the failure cases. The depth of the implants positively correlated with the time spent for removal (r=0.525; P=0.015). Conclusion High frequency ultrasonography is a highly accurate tool for localization and measurement of the skin-to-rod depth. It is also useful for removing non-palpable implants. If the depth of the implant is >12.0 mm, removal of the implant in the operating room under general anesthesia is recommended.

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.

The Perseus arm has a gap in Galactic longitudes (l) between 50 and 80 deg (hereafter the Perseus arm gap) where the arm has little star formation activity. To better understand the gap, we conducted astrometric observations with VERA and analyzed archival H I data. We report on parallax and proper motion results from four star-forming regions, of which G050.28-00.39 and G070.33+01.59 are likely associated with the gap. The measured parallaxes are 0.140+/-0.018 (mas), 0.726+/-0.038 (mas), 0.074+/-0.037 (mas), and 0.118+/-0.035 (mas) for G050.28-00.39, G053.14+00.07, G070.33+01.59, and G079.08+01.33, respectively. Since the fractional parallax error of G070.33+01.59 is large (0.5), we estimated a 3D kinematic distance of the source to be 7.7+/-1.0 kpc using both the LSR velocity (VLSR) and the measured proper motion. Perseus-arm sources G049.41+00.32 and G050.28-00.39 lag relative to a Galactic rotation by 77+/-17 km/s and 31+/-10 km/s, respectively. The noncircular motion of G049.41+00.32 cannot be explained by the gravitational potential of the Perseus arm. We discovered rectangular holes with integrated brightness temperatures of < 30 K arcdeg in l vs. VLSR of the H I data. One of the holes is centered near (l, VLSR) = (47 deg, -15 km/s), and G049.41+00.32 is associated with the rim of the hole. However, G050.28-00.39 is not associated with the hole. We found extended H I emission on one side of the Galactic plane when integrating the H I data over the velocity range covering the hole (i.e., VLSR = [-25, -5] km/s). G049.41+00.32 and G050.28-00.39 are moving toward the emission. The Galactic H I disk at the same velocity range showed an arc structure, indicating that the disk was pushed from the lower side of the disk. All the observational results might be explained by a cloud collision with the Galactic disk., Accepted for publication in PASJ. 7 figures; 6 tables

Full list of authors: Cho, Ilje; Zhao, Guang-Yao; Kawashima, Tomohisa; Kino, Motoki; Akiyama, Kazunori; Johnson, Michael D.; Issaoun, Sara; Moriyama, Kotaro; Cheng, Xiaopeng; Algaba, Juan-Carlos; Jung, Taehyun; Sohn, Bong Won; Krichbaum, Thomas P.; Wielgus, Maciek; Hada, Kazuhiro; Lu, Ru-Sen; Cui, Yuzhu; Sawada-Satoh, Satoko; Shen, Zhiqiang; Park, Jongho; Jiang, Wu; Ro, Hyunwook; Yi, Kunwoo; Wajima, Kiyoaki; Lee, Jee Won; Hodgson, Jeffrey; Tazaki, Fumie; Honma, Mareki; Niinuma, Kotaro; Trippe, Sascha; An, Tao; Zhang, Yingkang; Lee, Jeong Ae; Oh, Se-Jin; Byun, Do-Young; Lee, Sang-Sung; Kim, Jae-Young; Oh, Junghwan; Koyama, Shoko; Asada, Keiichi; Wang, Xuezheng; Cui, Lang; Hagiwara, Yoshiaki; Nakamura, Masanori; Takamura, Mieko; Hirota, Tomoya; Sugiyama, Koichiro; Kawaguchi, Noriyuki; Kobayashi, Hideyuki; Oyama, Tomoaki; Yonekura, Yoshinori; Kim, Jongsoo; Hwang, Ju-Yeon; Jung, Dong-Kyu; Kim, Hyo-Ryoung; Kim, Jeong-Sook; Oh, Chung-Sik; Roh, Duk-Gyoo; Yeom, Jae-Hwan; Xia, Bo; Zhong, Weiye; Li, Bin; Zhao, Rongbing; Wang, Jinqing; Liu, Qinghui; Chen, Zhong.--This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited., Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the Galactic Center supermassive black hole (SMBH), is one of the best targets in which to resolve the innermost region of an SMBH with very long baseline interferometry (VLBI). In this study, we have carried out observations toward Sgr A* at 1.349 cm (22.223 GHz) and 6.950 mm (43.135 GHz) with the East Asian VLBI Network, as a part of the multiwavelength campaign of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) in 2017 April. To mitigate scattering effects, the physically motivated scattering kernel model from Psaltis et al. (2018) and the scattering parameters from Johnson et al. (2018) have been applied. As a result, a single, symmetric Gaussian model well describes the intrinsic structure of Sgr A* at both wavelengths. From closure amplitudes, the major-axis sizes are ∼704 ± 102 μas (axial ratio ∼${1.19}_{-0.19}^{+0.24}$) and ∼300 ± 25 μas (axial ratio ∼1.28 ± 0.2) at 1.349 cm and 6.95 mm, respectively. Together with a quasi-simultaneous observation at 3.5 mm (86 GHz) by Issaoun et al. (2019), we show that the intrinsic size scales with observing wavelength as a power law, with an index ∼1.2 ± 0.2. Our results also provide estimates of the size and compact flux density at 1.3 mm, which can be incorporated into the analysis of the EHT observations. In terms of the origin of radio emission, we have compared the intrinsic structures with the accretion flow scenario, especially the radiatively inefficient accretion flow based on the Keplerian shell model. With this, we show that a nonthermal electron population is necessary to reproduce the source sizes. © 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society., I.C. and J.P. are supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) via a Global PhD Fellowship grant (NRF-2015H1A2A1033752 and NRF-2014H1A2A1018695, respectively). I.C. acknowledges financial support by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (grants PID2019-108995GB-C21) and the Junta de Andalucía (grant P18-FR-1769). G.-Y.Z. and T.J. are supported by the Korea Research Fellowship Program through the NRF (NRF-2015H1D3A1066561). I.C. and G.-Y.Z. acknowledge financial support from the State Agency for Research of the Spanish MCIU through the "Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa" award to the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (SEV-2017-0709). K.A. is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through grants AST-1440254, AST-1614868, and AST-2034306. This work is partially supported by JSPS KAKENHI grant Nos. JP18K03656 (M.K.), JP18H03721 (K.N., M.K., K.H.), JP18K13594 (T.K.), JP18KK0090 (K.H.), JP19H01943 (K.H.), JP21H01137 (K.H., M.K.), and the Mitsubishi Foundation grant No. 201911019 (K.H.). J.-C.A. acknowledges support from the Malaysian Fundamental Research grant Scheme (FRGS) FRGS/1/2019/STG02 /UM/02/6. M.D.J. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation (AST-1716536, AST-1935980) and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF-5278). X.-P.C. and B.-W.S. are supported by Brain Pool Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (2019H1D3A1A01102564). R.-S.L. is supported by the Max Planck Partner Group of the MPG and the CAS and acknowledges the support by the Key Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant No. 11933007) and Research Program of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, CAS (grant No. ZDBS-LY-SLH011). J.P. acknowledges financial support through the 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, Center for Astronomical Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute. S.T. acknowledges financial support from the NRF via Basic Research grant 2019R1F1A1059721. This work was also supported in part by MEXT SPIRE, MEXT as "Priority Issue on post-K computer" (Elucidation of the Fundamental Laws and Evolution of the Universe) and as "Program for Promoting Researches on the Supercomputer Fugaku" (High-energy astrophysical phenomena in black holes and supernovae). J.S.K. (grant Nos. 2016R1A5A1013277 and 2020R1A2C1007219) and J.O. (grant No. 2021R1A6A3A01086420) has been supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the NRF funded by the Ministry of Education.

Cell membrane ion channels have important roles in cell migration during cancer development and metastasis. Although endometriosis is a benign gynecological disease, some migration and invasion characteristics of endometriosis are similar to those of cancer. However, only a few studies have examined cell membrane ion channels and their associations with endometriosis. This study aimed to investigate the effects of these ion channels on development of endometriosis. A total of 39 women who underwent laparoscopic ovarian cyst enucleation were included in the study population. Eutopic endometrium or ectopic endometrium tissues were obtained from each patient based on allocation to an endometriosis group (n=21) or a control group (n=18). Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and western blot analyses were performed to quantify NKCC1, NKCC2, and CLCN3 mRNA expression and protein concentrations. SiRNA transfection and migration assays of the endometrial stromal cells were performed to test the effects of the ion channels on the migration ability. The qRT-PCR and western blot analyses revealed significantly elevated mRNA expression and protein expression of NKCC1, NKCC2, and CLCN3 in the ectopic endometrial tissue from the patients with endometriosis (p < 0.05). Migration assay of siRNA transfected cells suggested a decreased migratory potential of the endometrial stromal cells (p < 0.001). The magnitudes of expression of NKCC1, NKCC2, and CLCN3 were positively correlated with endometrioma size. The increased expression of NKCC1, NKCC2, and CLCN3 in endometriosis offers opportunities to understand mechanisms of endometriosis and develop novel therapeutic approaches.

Background: For acute adnexal torsion of pregnant women, appropriate treatment based on an accurate diagnosis is especially important for fertility preservation and timely treatment. The 2017 American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Committee Opinion No. 723 announced its practice-changing guidelines to ensure that diagnostic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) conducted during the first trimester and gadolinium exposure at any time during pregnancy are safe for fetal stability. Unfortunately, few studies have been performed to evaluate the usefulness of the diagnostic accuracy of MRI for acute adnexal torsion during pregnancy. Objective: We sought to determine the efficacy of diagnostic MRI modality using multiparameter for maternal adnexal torsion during pregnancy. Methods: From 1 January 2007 to 31 January 2019, 131 pregnant with MRI tests were reviewed. In this retrospective cohort study, 94 women were excluded due to conditions other than an adnexal mass, and 37 were identified through MRI analyses conducted before surgery for suspected adnexal torsion. The primary outcome was the diagnostic accuracy of sonography and MRI, and the secondary outcome was the usefulness of Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values for predicting the severity of hemorrhagic infarction between the medulla and cortex of the torsed ovarian parenchyma. Results: Our study demonstrates that in the diagnosis of adnexal torsion during pregnancy, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value are 62.5%, 83.3%, 90.9%, and 45.5% for sonography and 100%, 77.8%, 90.5%, and 100% for MRI. MRI results in surgical-proven adnexal torsion patients revealed unilocular ovarian cysts (36.8% (7/19)), multilocular ovarian cysts (31.6% (6/19)), and near normal-appearing ovaries (31.6% (6/19)). Pathology in adnexal torsion revealed a corpus luteal ovarian cyst (63.2% (12/19)) and underlying adnexal pathology (46.8% (7/19)). Maternal adnexal torsion during pregnancy was more likely to occur in corpus luteal ovarian cysts than in underlying adnexal masses (odds ratio, 2.14, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.428&ndash, 10.738). MRI features for adnexal torsion were as follows: tubal wall thickness, 100% (19/19), ovarian stromal (medullary) edema, 100% (19/19), symmetrical or asymmetrical ovarian cystic wall, 100%(19/19), prominent follicles in the ovarian parenchyma periphery, 57.9% (11/19), periadenxal fat stranding, 84.2% (16/19), uterine deviation to the twisted side, 21.1% (4/19), and peritoneal fluid, 42.1% (8/19). The signal intensity of the ADC values of the ovarian medulla and cortex were compared between the cystectomy and detorsion (CD) and salpingo-oophorectomy (SO) groups. The ADC values of the CD and SO groups were 1.81 &plusmn, 0.09 &times, 10&minus, 3 mm2/s and 1.91 &plusmn, 0.18 &times, 3 mm2/s, respectively (P = 0.209), in the ovarian medulla and 1.37 &plusmn, 0.32 &times, 3 mm2/s and 0.96 &plusmn, 0.36 &times, 3 mm2/s, respectively (P = 0.022), in the ovarian cortex. The optimal cut-off value of ADC values for predictable total necrosis in the torsed ovarian cortex was &le, 1.31 &times, 3 mm2/s (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.81, 95% CI 0.611&ndash, 1.0, P = 0.028). Conclusion: Our data showed that maternal adnexal torsion during pregnancy occurred in most corpus luteal cystic ovary cases and some normal-appearing ovary during the 1st and 2nd trimesters of gestation. Therefore, this study is the first study to elaborate on the existence or usefulness of the diagnostic MRI for acute maternal adnexal torsion during pregnancy and to provide a predictive diagnosis of the severity of hemorrhagic infarction for deciding surgical radicality.

Thyroid hormone (TH) signaling plays an important role in the regulation of long-wavelength vision in vertebrates. In the retina, thyroid hormone receptor β ( thrb ) is required for expression of long-wavelength-sensitive opsin ( lws ) in red cone photoreceptors, while in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), TH regulates expression of a cytochrome P450 enzyme, cyp27c1 , that converts vitamin A 1 into vitamin A 2 to produce a red-shifted chromophore. To better understand how TH controls these processes, we analyzed the phenotype of zebrafish with mutations in the three known TH nuclear receptor transcription factors ( thraa , thrab , and thrb ). We found that no single TH nuclear receptor is required for TH-mediated induction of cyp27c1 but that deletion of all three ( thraa −/− ;thrab −/− ;thrb −/− ) completely abrogates its induction and the resulting conversion of A 1 - to A 2 -based retinoids. In the retina, loss of thrb resulted in an absence of red cones at both larval and adult stages without disruption of the underlying cone mosaic. RNA-sequencing analysis revealed significant down-regulation of only five genes in adult thrb −/− retina, of which three ( lws1 , lws2 , and miR-726 ) occur in a single syntenic cluster. In the thrb −/− retina, retinal progenitors destined to become red cones were transfated into ultraviolet (UV) cones and horizontal cells. Taken together, our findings demonstrate cooperative regulation of cyp27c1 by TH receptors and a requirement for thrb in red cone fate determination. Thus, TH signaling coordinately regulates both spectral sensitivity and sensory plasticity.

The evolution of massive stars is influenced by the mass lost to stellar winds over their lifetimes. These winds limit the masses of the stellar remnants (such as black holes) that the stars ultimately produce. We use radio astrometry to refine the distance to the black hole X-ray binary Cygnus X-1, which we find to be $2.22^{+0.18}_{-0.17}$ kiloparsecs. When combined with previous optical data, this implies a black hole mass of $21.2\pm2.2$ solar masses, higher than previous measurements. The formation of such a high-mass black hole in a high-metallicity system constrains wind mass loss from massive stars., Published online in Science on 2021 February 18; Main (3 figures; 1 Table) + Supplementary (11 figures; 3 Tables)

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 present results of continuum and spectral line observations with ALMA and 22 GHz water (H$_2$O) maser observations using KaVA and VERA toward a high-mass star-forming region, G25.82-0.17. Multiple 1.3 mm continuum sources are revealed, indicating the presence of young stellar objects (YSOs) at different evolutionary stages, namely an ultra-compact HII region, G25.82-E, a high-mass young stellar object (HM-YSO), G25.82-W1, and starless cores, G25.82-W2 and G25.82-W3. Two SiO outflows, at N-S and SE-NW orientations, are identified. The CH$_3$OH 8$_{-1}$-7$_{0}$ E line, known to be a class I CH$_3$OH maser at 229 GHz is also detected showing a mixture of thermal and maser emission. Moreover, the H$_2$O masers are distributed in a region ~0.25" shifted from G25.82-W1. The CH$_3$OH 22$_{4}$-21$_{5}$ E line shows a compact ring-like structure at the position of G25.82-W1 with a velocity gradient, indicating a rotating disk or envelope. Assuming Keplerian rotation, the dynamical mass of G25.82-W1 is estimated to be $>$25 M$_{\odot}$ and the total mass of 20 M$_\odot$-84 M$_\odot$ is derived from the 1.3 mm continuum emission. The driving source of the N-S SiO outflow is G25.82-W1 while that of the SE-NW SiO outflow is uncertain. Detection of multiple high-mass starless$/$protostellar cores and candidates without low-mass cores implies that HM-YSOs could form in individual high-mass cores as predicted by the turbulent core accretion model. If this is the case, the high-mass star formation process in G25.82 would be consistent with a scaled-up version of low-mass star formation., 28 pages, 9 figures, accepted to ApJ

Heterotopic cesarean scar pregnancy (HCSP) is a combination of cesarean scar pregnancy (CSP) and intrauterine pregnancy (IUP). Cesarean scar pregnancy is accompanied by life-threatening complications, such as uterine rupture and massive bleeding. Herein, we present a case of HCSP treated with selective potassium chloride injection into the CSP under ultrasonography in association with uterine cerclage to control vaginal bleeding; this led to a successful IUP preservation and full-term delivery. Additionally, we will review several previous reports on HCSP management, including our case.

The exercise pressor reflex (EPR) is activated by muscle contractions to increase heart rate and blood pressure during exercise. While this reflex is beneficial in healthy individuals, the reflex activity is exaggerated in patients with cardiovascular disease, which is associated with increased mortality. Group III and IV afferents mediate the EPR and have been shown to express both tetrodotoxin-sensitive (TTX-S, NaV1.6, and NaV1.7) and -resistant (TTX-R, NaV1.8, and NaV1.9) voltage-gated sodium (NaV) channels, but NaV1.9 current has not yet been demonstrated. Using a F−-containing internal solution, we found a NaVcurrent in muscle afferent neurons that activates at around −70 mV with slow activation and inactivation kinetics, as expected from NaV1.9 current. However, this current ran down with time, which resulted, at least in part, from increased steady-state inactivation since it was slowed by both holding potential hyperpolarization and a depolarized shift of the gating properties. We further show that, following NaV1.9 current rundown (internal F−), application of the NaV1.8 channel blocker A803467 inhibited significantly more TTX-R current than we had previously observed (internal Cl−), which suggests that NaV1.9 current did not rundown with that internal solution. Using immunohistochemistry, we found that the majority of group IV somata and axons were NaV1.9 positive. The majority of small diameter myelinated afferent somata (putative group III) were also NaV1.9 positive, but myelinated muscle afferent axons were rarely labeled. The presence of NaV1.9 channels in muscle afferents supports a role for these channels in activation and maintenance of the EPR.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Small diameter muscle afferents signal pain and muscle activity levels. The muscle activity signals drive the cardiovascular system to increase muscle blood flow, but these signals can become exaggerated in cardiovascular disease to exacerbate cardiac damage. The voltage-dependent sodium channel NaV1.9 plays a unique role in controlling afferent excitability. We show that NaV1.9 channels are expressed in muscle afferents, which supports these channels as a target for drug development to control hyperactivity of these neurons.

This paper investigates the quench and recovery characteristics of second-generation high-temperature superconducting GdBCO coated conductors (CC) with variously patterned stabilizers in over-current conditions. A chemical etching method was used to produce various patterns of stabilizer on GdBCO CC without degrading current-carrying capacity. From the results of the over-current testing of GdBCO CC tapes with variously patterned stabilizers, the tape that had stabilizer with longitudinally disconnected patterns exhibited higher voltage increase and slower recovery time than those that had continuity of stabilizers along the longitudinal direction, because the excessive heat and current could not be transferred through the stabilizers in the former. Overall, uniform heat and current distributions along the stabilizer of GdBCO CC are among the critical factors determining thermal and electrical stabilities of a GdBCO magnet in over-current conditions, especially when quench occurs.

3C 84 (NGC 1275) is a well-studied mis-aligned Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN), which has been active in Gamma rays since at least 2008. We have monitored the source at four wavelengths (14 mm, 7 mm, 3 mm and 2 mm) using the Korean VLBI network (KVN) since 2013 as part of the interferometric monitoring of $\gamma$-ray bright AGN (iMOGABA) program. 3C 84 exhibits bright radio emission both near the central supermassive black hole (SMBH) feature known as C1 and from a moving feature located to the south known as C3. Other facilities have also detected these short-term variations above a slowly rising trend at shorter wavelengths, such as in Gamma ray and 1 mm total intensity light-curves. We find that the variations in the $\gamma$ rays and 1 mm total intensity light-curves are correlated, with the $\gamma$ rays leading and lagging the radio emission. Analysis of the 2 mm KVN data shows that both the Gamma rays and 1 mm total intensity short-term variations are better correlated with the SMBH region than C3, likely placing the short-term variations in C1. We interpret the emission as being due to the random alignment of spatially separated emission regions. We place the slowly rising trend in C3, consistent with previous results. Additionally, we report that since mid-2015, a large mm-wave radio flare has been occurring in C3, with a large Gamma ray flare coincident with the onset of this flare at all radio wavelengths.

Despite their importance in the formation and evolution of stellar clusters and galaxies, the formation of high-mass stars remains poorly understood. We recently started a systematic observational study of the 22 GHz water and 44 GHz class I methanol masers in high-mass star-forming regions as a four-year KaVA large program. Our sample consists of 87 high-mass young stellar objects (HM-YSOs) in various evolutionary phases, many of which are associated with two or more different maser species. The primary scientific goals are to measure the spatial distributions and 3-dimensional velocity fields of multiple maser species, and understand the dynamical evolution of HM-YSOs and their circumstellar structures, in conjunction with follow-up observations with JVN/EAVN (6.7 GHz class II methanol masers), VERA, and ALMA. In this paper we present details of our KaVA large program, including the first-year results and observing/data analysis plans for the second year and beyond.