Different recombinant human erythropoietin products have been developed. Although they appear to have similar pharmacokinetics and function, these have not been directly compared. This randomized, double-blind, four-period crossover study compared the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of intravenous and subcutaneous epoetin alfa and epoetin beta in 18 normal male volunteers. As a control, three subjects received placebo treatment. After intravenous administration, the steady-state volume of distribution and beta-phase volume of distribution of epoetin beta were 7.7% and 16.9% larger than for epoetin alfa (p less than 0.05). The terminal elimination half-life after intravenous administration of epoetin beta was 20% longer than the terminal elimination half-life of epoetin alfa. After subcutaneous administration there was a delayed drug absorption with epoetin beta compared with epoetin alfa (p less than 0.05). There was a small but significantly greater absolute reticulocyte response after subcutaneous epoetin beta compared with subcutaneous epoetin alfa. The findings support differences in the pharmacokinetics and function of epoetin alfa and beta that are possibly caused by differences in their glycosylation.

In this paper, we try to elucidate the generation mechanism of the field‐aligned current (FAC) and coexisting convection. From the comparison between the theoretical prediction and the state of numerical solution from the high‐resolution global simulation, we obtain the following conclusions about the distribution of dynamo, the magnetic field structure along the flow path that diverges Poynting flux, and energy conversion promoting the generation of electromagnetic energy. The dynamo for the region 1 FAC, which is in the high‐latitude‐side cusp‐mantle region, has a structure in which magnetic field is compressed along the convection path by the slow mode motion. The dynamo for the region 2 FAC is in the ring current region at the inner edge of the plasma sheet, and has a structure in which magnetic field is curved outward along the convection path. Under these structures, electromagnetic energy is generated from the work done by pressure gradient force, in both dynamos for the region 1 and region 2 FACs. In these generation processes of the FACs, the excitation of convection and the formation of pressure regimes occur as interdependent processes. This structure leads to a modification in the way of understanding the Dungey's convection. Generation of the FAC through the formation of pressure regimes is essential even for the case of substorm onset.

[1] On the basis of magnetohydrodynamic simulation results for northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and significant dipole tilt, we describe internal reconnection processes that occur earthward of the magnetopause subsequent to magnetopause reconnection. We discuss the associated ionospheric signatures and show that the internal reconnection occurs not only between a summer lobe and a winter lobe field line but also between a summer lobe field line and a closed field line. The latter internal reconnection drives a pair of convection cells circulating outside the polar cap in the winter ionosphere. In this paper, we refer to these convection cells as ''reciprocal cells'' and the corresponding reconnection as reciprocal cell reconnection. The reciprocal cells are coupled to the so-called lobe cells that are driven by magnetopause reconnection between an IMF line and a summer lobe field line (lobe cell reconnection); these lobe cells circulate inside the polar cap in the summer ionosphere. The reciprocal cell reconnection converts an overdraped lobe field line to a relaxed lobe field line, while the lobe cell reconnection converts a relaxed lobe field line to an overdraped lobe field line. Thus the reciprocal cell reconnection reciprocates with the lobe cell reconnection through the exchange of magnetic flux.