These findings suggest that 10 mg/day of natural S-equol supplementation contributes to bone health in non-equol-producing postmenopausal women without adverse effects.

We performed terahertz time-domain spectroscopy, low-frequency Raman scattering, and Brillouin light scattering on vitreous glucose to investigate the boson peak (BP) dynamics. In the spectra of α(ν)/ν 2 [α(ν) is the absorption coefficient], the BP is clearly observed around 1.1 THz. Correspondingly, the complex dielectric constant spectra show a universal resonancelike behavior only below the BP frequency. As an analytical scheme, we propose the relative light-vibration coupling coefficient (RCC), which is obtainable from the combination of the far-infrared and Raman spectra. The RCC reveals that the infrared light-vibration coupling coefficient C IR (ν) of the vitreous glucose behaves linearly on frequency which deviates from Taraskin

Rapid amelioration of hypercholesterolemia by LDL apheresis (LDL-A) was performed for long-standing nephrotic syndrome (NS) with hyperlipidemia due to focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FGS) and the clinical data and prognosis were compared between LDL-A-treated and nontreated groups. Seventeen steroid-resistant NS patients treated with LDL-A (LDL-A group) and 10 NS patients treated with steroids only (steroid-monotherapy (SM) group) were compared. Serum cholesterol and phospholipid levels were significantly lowered only in the LDL-A group (p < 0.01, respectively). The LDL-A group showed a significant decrease of urinary protein (UP, p < 0.01) and increase of serum albumin (p < 0.05). Average time needed to achieve a decrease of UP to less than nephrotic range (< 3.5 g/day) was significantly shorter in the LDL-A group than in the SM group (p < 0.01). Although this is not a prospective study, it is highly expected that a rapid improvement of hypercholesterolemia by LDL-A in steroid-resistant NS will provide more rapid relief from NS than steroid therapy alone.

Ultrafast control of magnets using femtosecond light pulses attracts interest regarding applications and fundamental physics of magnetism. Antiferromagnets are promising materials with magnon frequencies extending into the terahertz range. Visible or near-infrared light interacts mainly with the electronic orbital angular momentum. In many magnets, however, in particular with iron-group ions, the orbital momentum is almost quenched by the crystal field. Thus, the interaction of magnons with light is hampered, because it is only mediated by weak unquenching of the orbital momentum by spin–orbit interactions. Here we report all-optical excitation of magnons with frequencies up to 9 THz in antiferromagnetic CoO with an unquenched orbital momentum. In CoO, magnon modes are coupled oscillations of spin and orbital momenta with comparable amplitudes. We demonstrate excitations of magnon modes by directly coupling light with electronic orbital angular momentum, providing possibilities to develop magneto-optical devices operating at several terahertz with high output-to-input ratio.

No abstract

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are promising compounds in a wide range of fields. However, exchange of CO 3 2− anions with other anions is necessary, because the CO 3 2− anions are strongly affixed in the LDH interlayer space. To elucidate the reason for the extremely high stability of CO 3 2− anions intercalated in LDHs, we investigated in detail the chemical states of CO 3 2− anions and hydrated water molecules in the LDH interlayer space by synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction, solid-state NMR spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. We found the rigidity of the network structure formed between the CO 3 2− anions, hydrated water molecules, and the hydroxyl groups on the metal hydroxide layer surface to be a crucial factor underlying the stability of CO 3 2− anions in the LDH interlayer space.

Low density lipoprotein apheresis therapy for steroid-resistantFocal and segmental glomerulosclerosis (FGS) is a nephrotic syndrome.disease manifesting severe nephrotic syndrome (NS) that Background. The pathogenic role of hyperlipidemia in longthe latter months of 1989 we performed a random protocol LDL-A therapy that included nine episodes of steroid-resistant NS in eight patients who had been diag-Key words: thromboxane B 2 , progressive renal disease, tubulointerstinosed with FGS or MCNS [6]. For the multicenter study tial injury, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, minimal change nephrotic syndrome.with a fixed protocol, 17 steroid-resistant NS patients (14 FGS and 3 MCNS) were entered into the study.

The development of dielectric materials with colossal permittivity is important for the miniaturization of electronic devices and fabrication of high-density energy-storage devices. The electron-pinned defect-dipoles has been recently proposed to boost the permittivity of (Nb + In) co-doped TiO2 to 105. However, the follow-up studies suggest an extrinsic contribution to the colossal permittivity from thermally excited carriers. Herein, we demonstrate a marked enhancement in the permittivity of (Nb + In) co-doped TiO2 single crystals at sufficiently low temperatures such that the thermally excited carriers are frozen out and exert no influence on the dielectric response. The results indicate that the permittivity attains quadruple of that for pure TiO2. This finding suggests that the electron-pinned defect-dipoles add an extra dielectric response to that of the TiO2 host matrix. The results offer a novel approach for the development of functional dielectric materials with large permittivity by engineering complex defects into bulk materials.