Search

We investigated the reduction of equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) of the in-situ formed Hf-based metal/oxide/nitride/oxide/silicon (MONOS) structure nonvolatile memory (NVM) device utilizing the HfON tunneling layer (TL). In case of the HfO2 TL, the SiO2 interfacial layer (IL) was formed which incrased EOT. The HfON device shows on/off current of $3.2 \times 10^{6}$ at drain voltage ( $\text{V}_{\mathrm{ D}}$ ) of 0.05 V, subthreshold swing (SS) of 113 mV/dec., and memory window (MW) of 3.9 V at the program voltage/time ( $\text{V}_{\mathrm{ PGM}}/\text{t}_{\mathrm{ PGM}}$ ) and erase voltage/time ( $\text{V}_{\mathrm{ ERS}}/\text{t}_{\mathrm{ ERS}}$ ) of ±8 V/100 ms. Although, it shows low retention characteristics with 50% after 10 years, low-voltage and short-pulse operation were achieved, such as MW of 1 V at $\text{V}_{\mathrm{ PGM}}/\text{t}_{\mathrm{ PGM}}$ and $\text{V}_{\mathrm{ ERS}}/\text{t}_{\mathrm{ ERS}}$ of ±8 V/ $1~\mu \text{s}$ . Furthermore, it showed larger drain source voltage ( $\text{V}_{\mathrm{ DS}}$ ) dependence than HfO2 TL by utilizing charge injection from electrode side, which would reduce the operation voltage and increase the operation speed.

Metal-insulator-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MISFETs) with high-k HfNx multilayer gate dielectrics fabricated with Si surface flattening process were investigated. The Si surface flattening process was carried out by Ar/1.0%H2 annealing for 30 min. A higher $\text{I}_{\mathrm{ on}}/{\mathrm{ I}}_{\mathrm{ off}}$ current ratio was obtained by increasing the number of HfNx gate dielectric layers while its characteristics such as drain current, saturation mobility and subthreshold swing (SS) are not markedly degraded. This is attributed to the thicker gate dielectrics. Furthermore, it is found that these characteristics are found to be effectively improved by Si surface flattening process.

A counter-propagating laser-beam platform using a spherical plasma mirror was developed for the kilojoule-class petawatt LFEX laser. The temporal and spatial overlaps of the incoming and redirected beams were measured with an optical interferometer and an x-ray pinhole camera. The plasma mirror performance was evaluated by measuring fast electrons, ions, and neutrons generated in the counter-propagating laser interaction with a Cu-doped deuterated film on both sides. The reflectivity and peak intensity were estimated as ∼50% and ∼5 × 1018 W/cm2, respectively. The platform could enable studies of counter-streaming charged particles in high-energy-density plasmas for fundamental and inertial confinement fusion research.

The metal-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (MONOS) nonvolatile memories (NVM) are attracting much attention for analog memory applications such as compute-in-memory [1] . The effect of ferroelectric thin films as a blocking layer (BL) or charge trapping layer (CTL) in the MONOS structure has been reported to improve the memory characteristics such as the retention and electron injection efficiency [2] - [4] . We have reported the multi-bit/cell operation of Hf-based MONOS NVM utilizing high-k HfO 2 (HK-HfO 2 ) and HfN 1.1 dielectric layers formed by the in situ process from HfO 2 tunneling layer (TL) to HfN 0.5 gate electrode utilizing electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma sputtering [5] - [6] . In this paper, we have investigated the ferroelectric nondoped HfO 2 (Fe-HfO 2 ) BL formation on the HfN x CTL in the MONOS diode structure for the analog memory application, so called FeNOS, as shown in Fig. 1(a) . The FeNOS would realize the analog control of threshold voltage (V TH ) by the partial polarization of Fe-HfO 2 BL along with the multi-bit/cell operation by the charge trap in the HfN x CTL as shown in Fig. 1(b) .

Ablative Rayleigh-Taylor instability growth was investigated to elucidate the fundamental physics of thermal conduction suppression in a magnetic field. Experiments found that unstable modulation growth is faster in an external magnetic field. This result was reproduced by a magnetohydrodynamic simulation based on a Braginskii model of electron thermal transport. An external magnetic field reduces the electron thermal conduction across the magnetic field lines because the Larmor radius of the thermal electrons in the field is much shorter than the temperature scale length. Thermal conduction suppression leads to spatially nonuniform pressure and reduced thermal ablative stabilization, which in turn increases the growth of ablative Rayleigh-Taylor instability.

Tripodal ligands have been utilized for complexation-induced structural change, but all the tripodal complexes reported so far are facial isomers, which do not completely reduce the recognition ability by closing the binding pocket. We now report the first example of the selective synthesis of a meridional tripodal complex. The tripodal ligand with a 1,3,5-triethyl-2,4,6-tris(methylene)benzene pivot possessing 2,2′-bipyridine on each arm exclusively formed a mononuclear complex with the mer-[Fe(bpy)]2+ unit. The meridional tripodal complex has a unique structure in which one bipyridine unit is self-penetrated. As a result of cavity blockage, the ion recognition property of the tripodand has been successfully suppressed.

This paper investigated Ar/N2-plasma sputtering pressure dependence on electrical characteristics of HfON tunneling layer (TL) formed by the plasma oxidation of HfN for Hf-based Metal-Oxide-Nitride-Oxide-Silicon (MONOS) diodes. The HfON formed by the Ar/O2 plasma oxidation of HfN deposited at 0.04 Pa showed improved film quality and small equivalent oxide thickness of 0.84 nm, which realized excellent MONOS characteristics such as negligible hysteresis, and memory window of 4 V at the program and erase voltage/time of ±8 V/100 ms. Moreover, HfON TL formed by Ar/O2 plasma oxidation of HfN deposited at 0.04 Pa MONOS diode shows improved endurance and retention characteristics.

In this paper, we have investigated MISFETs with HfN x multilayer gate dielectrics fabricated with Si surface flattening process. The I D - V G characteristics of fabricated MISFETs with 2- and 4-layer gate dielectrics showed negligible hysteresis and excellent subthreshold swing (SS) of 71.6 and 72.5 mV/dec., respectively. This is attributed of Si surface flattening process. Furthermore, although the thickness of gate dielectrics was increased by increasing the number of dielectric layers, the extracted equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) showed similar value. Furthermore, the on/off current (I on /I off ) ratio was increased by one order of magnitude.

We report on the experimental investigation of magnetic field generation with a half-loop gold sheet coil driven by long-duration (10 ns) and high-power (0.5 TW) laser pulses. The amplitude of the magnetic field was characterized experimentally using proton deflectometry. The field rises rapidly in the first 1 ns of laser irradiation, and then increases slowly and continuously up to 10 ns during further laser irradiation. The transient dynamics of current shape were investigated with a two-dimensional (2D) numerical simulation that included Ohmic heating of the coil and the resultant change of electrical resistivity determined by the coil material temperature. The numerical simulations show rapid heating at the coil edges by current initially localized at the edges. This current density then diffuses to the central part of the sheet coil in a way that depends both on normal current diffusion as well as temporal changes of the coil resistance induced by the Ohmic heating. The measured temporal evolution of the magnetic field is compared with a model that determines a solution to the coil current and voltage that is consistent with a plasma diode model of the drive region and a 2D simulation of current diffusion and dynamic resistance due to Ohmic heating in the laser coil.

The clinicopathological and immunohistochemical characteristics of clinically occult extrapulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis in lymph nodes (LN-LAM) being dissected during surgical staging of pelvic malignancy have not been well investigated. We assessed samples from nine female patients (median age, 61). None had past or familial history of tuberous sclerosis and had LAM lesions other than LN such as lung. The primary malignancies included four endometrial endometrioid carcinomas, one endometrial carcinosarcoma, three ovarian serous carcinomas and one urothelial carcinoma. Median follow-up was 43 months. The number of affected LNs ranged from 1 to 15 (median, 2) with sizes ranging from 1 to 13 mm (median, 3.0). Six cases had clinically occult LN-LAM only within the pelvic LNs, two only within para-aortic LNs, and one within both pelvic and para-aortic lymph nodes. Immunohistochemically, LAM cells exhibited a strong diffuse positivity for β-catenin and E-cadherin in all nine cases. Clinically occult LN-LAM mainly affects peri- or post-menopausal women. On rare occasions, occult LN-LAM may manifest as systemic LAM, including in the lung. β-catenin and E-cadherin carry potential utility as additional diagnostic markers.

Magnetic reconnection in a relativistic electron magnetization regime was observed in a laboratory plasma produced by a high-intensity, large energy, picoseconds laser pulse. Magnetic reconnection conditions realized with a laser-driven several kilotesla magnetic field is comparable to that in the accretion disk corona of black hole systems, i.e., Cygnus X-1. We observed particle energy distributions of reconnection outflow jets, which possess a power-law component in a high-energy range. The hardness of the observed spectra could explain the hard-state x-ray emission from accreting black hole systems.

In order to evaluate the environmentally assisted cracking (EAC) susceptibility of three possible alloys, 16Cr-4Ni, 12Cr, and 13Cr, to be used as turbine blade materials for a geothermal power plants, corrosion fatigue tests were performed in simulated condensed geothermal environment without H2S. EAC includes an environmental fatigue crack growth under a cyclic stress and stress corrosion cracking (SCC) under a constant load, where a unique time domain analysis (TDA) can plot all of the data on a single figure. Based upon the analysis by TDA, it was found that 16Cr-4Ni had the highest SCC resistance, as well as best performance in environmental fatigue, but no conclusive difference in EAC susceptibility between 12Cr and 13Cr was observed. Intergranular cracking was observed in 13Cr at the testing condition of high frequency and high stress intensity range. The lower EAC resistance of 12Cr than 16Cr-4Ni might be attributable to its lower pitting resistance, and the local environment built up inside of the...

The effect of HfN multi charge trapping layers (CTLs) on the Hf-based metal/oxide/nitride/oxide/Si (MONOS) nonvolatile memory characteristics was investigated to improve the threshold voltage (VTH) controllability. The Hf-based MONOS structure with HfN1.3/HfN1.1/HfN1.3/HfN1.14-layer CTL realized precise control of flat-band voltage (VFB) andVTHcompared to the Hf-based MONOS with HfN1.11-layer CTL. The hysteresis width after the program operation was markedly decreased which was originated from the stable trap site formation at the interface of the multi CTL. The retention and fatigue characteristics were found to be remarkably improved for the Hf-based MONOS structure with HfN multi CTL.

A laser-driven accelerator generates protons with tens of MeV in energy by a compact, strong, and transient accelerating electric field produced as a result of laser–plasma interactions at relativistic intensities. In previous studies, two- and three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations revealed that the application of a kT-level axial magnetic field results in an enhancement of proton acceleration via the target normal sheath acceleration mechanism due to reduced lateral electron divergence and improved electron heating efficiency. An experimental investigation of this scheme on the GEKKO-XII and the LFEX facilities found that the number and maximum energy of the accelerated protons decreased with increasing the temporal delay between the pulse driving the external magnetic-field and the pulse accelerating the protons, contrary to the theoretical and numerical expectations. We identify sources responsible for the degradation of the proton beam performance and we propose an alternative experimental setup to mitigate the degradation in future experiments.

We conducted fast heating of a core plasma produced by counter-illumination of two beam bundles of implosion lasers for two incident directions of the heating laser. For the axial heating configuration, wherein the heating laser was incident along the coaxial direction of the implosion lasers, the size and density of the counter-imploded core plasma were estimated. The incident timing of the heating laser was determined. Although the heating laser was incident during the stagnation of the core plasma, there were no considerable increases in the intensity of X-rays with energies beyond 1 keV and the yield of the thermonuclear fusion neutrons. Effective core heating did not occur due to the interaction of the heating laser with the low-density ablated plasma far from the core. On the other hand, for the transverse heating configuration, wherein the heating laser was incident from the transverse direction of the implosion laser axis, optimization of the incident timing of the heating laser was not achieved. However, two-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamic simulation revealed that a heating laser can directly interact with a core plasma and effective heating is expected. In our scheme, transverse heating configuration appears to be significant.

Interfacial instabilities in high-energy-density plasmas are important topics in various research fields such as inertial confinement fusion, planetary sciences, and astrophysics. The growth of the instabilities can be examined in the laboratory by using high-power lasers coupled with high-resolution imaging technique. The resolutions both in space and time are essential for the observation of tiny and transient phenomena in high-energy-density plasmas. Here, the growth of a sinusoidal corrugation on the surface of a polystyrene foil during the laser-driven Richtmyer-Meshkov instability was measured by high-resolution X-ray shadowgraphy. In our experiment, a high-intensity short-pulse laser produced the X-ray flash that ensures a better temporal resolution. A Fresnel Phase Zone Plate was used for the improvement of spatial resolution, which realized an accuracy of 5.0 ± 1.0 µm in our system.

A Monte Carlo (MC) code simulating the kinetics of two-particle collisions has shown to have certain advantages in the spectral analysis of neutrons from fast-ignition inertial confinement fusion (ICF). The MC code quickly displays neutron spectra produced in the expected fusion plasma kinetics (incl. ion energy spectrum, anisotropy, and collision geometry). This allows to explore various potential mechanisms of neutron production without using time-consuming hydrodynamic or particle simulations and makes it possible to give a feedback to ongoing experiments. The validity of this model was demonstrated in the ”cone-free-shell” fast ignition experiment at the GEKKO-XII - LFEX laser facility, where the model provided a clear explanation for the significant spectral modulation of D(d, n)3He neutrons generated through the interaction between a high-power laser and a long-scale plasma.

Efficient production of non-thermal hot electrons has been demonstrated experimentally by interactions of a plasma and two-color lasers with wavelengths of 527 and 1053 nm. The two-color-lasers and plasma interactions caused a 4.8 times enhancement of the temperature of the hot electrons and a 2.7 times enhancement of energy conversion from the lasers to the hot electrons compared with that obtained with only a 527 nm laser. These experimental results can be explained by a staging electron acceleration mechanism realized with a mixture of plasma waves excited by the two-color lasers. The primary 527 nm laser excites at least two electron plasma waves. Those have completely different phase velocities, therefore, staging acceleration cannot occur only with the 527 nm laser. The secondary 1053 nm laser excites other electron plasma waves, of which the phase velocities locate between those of the waves excited by the primary 527 nm laser. Some of the background thermal electrons can be heated contentiously to several hundred kilo-electronvolts by the electron plasma waves excited by the two-color lasers.

Fast isochoric laser heating is a scheme to heat a matter with relativistic-intensity ($>$ 10$^{18}$ W/cm$^2$) laser pulse or X-ray free electron laser pulse. The fast isochoric laser heating has been studied for creating efficiently ultra-high-energy-density (UHED) state. We demonstrate an fast isochoric heating of an imploded dense plasma using a multi-picosecond kJ-class petawatt laser with an assistance of externally applied kilo-tesla magnetic fields for guiding fast electrons to the dense plasma.The UHED state with 2.2 Peta-Pascal is achieved experimentally with 4.6 kJ of total laser energy that is one order of magnitude lower than the energy used in the conventional implosion scheme. A two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation reveals that diffusive heating from a laser-plasma interaction zone to the dense plasma plays an essential role to the efficient creation of the UHED state., 8 pages, 4 figures, 1 table

A drastic enhancement of the thermal Hall angle in $d$-wave superconductors was observed experimentally in a cuprate superconductor and in CeCoIn$_5$ at low temperatures and very weak magnetic field [Phys. Rev. Lett. $\bf 86$, 890 (2001); Phys. Rev. B $\bf 72$, 214515 (2005)]. However, to the best of our knowledge, its microscopic calculation has not been performed yet. To study this microscopically, we derive the thermal Hall coefficient in extreme type-II superconductors with an isolated pinned vortex based on the augmented quasiclassical equations of superconductivity with the Lorentz force. Using it, we can confirm that the quasiparticle relaxation time and the thermal Hall angle are enhanced in $d$-wave superconductors without impurities of the resonant scattering because quasiparticles around the gap nodes which become dominant near zero temperature are restricted to the momentum in a specific orientation. This enhancement of the thermal Hall angle may also be observed in other nodal superconductors with large magnetic-penetration depth., Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures

The clinicopathological and immunohistochemical characteristics of clinically occult extrapulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis in lymph nodes (LN-LAM) being dissected during surgical staging of pelvic malignancy have not been well investigated. We assessed samples from nine female patients (median age, 61). None had past or familial history of tuberous sclerosis and had LAM lesions other than LN such as lung. The primary malignancies included four endometrial endometrioid carcinomas, one endometrial carcinosarcoma, three ovarian serous carcinomas and one urothelial carcinoma. Median follow-up was 43 months. The number of affected LNs ranged from 1 to 15 (median, 2) with sizes ranging from 1 to 13 mm (median, 3.0). Six cases had clinically occult LN-LAM only within the pelvic LNs, two only within para-aortic LNs, and one within both pelvic and para-aortic lymph nodes. Immunohistochemically, LAM cells exhibited a strong diffuse positivity for β-catenin and E-cadherin in all nine cases. Clinically occult LN-LAM mainly affects peri- or post-menopausal women. On rare occasions, occult LN-LAM may manifest as systemic LAM, including in the lung. β-catenin and E-cadherin carry potential utility as additional diagnostic markers.

We previously demonstrated that subcutaneous drain is effective for preventing incisional surgical site infection (SSI) in patients with thick subcutaneous fat in colorectal surgery. We have recently attempted a novel closure technique in colorectal surgery for the prevention of incisional SSI. In the current study, we described this novel method for prevention of incisional SSI and share our assessment of efficiency of this incision management in patients undergoing colorectal surgery. The procedure “wound dressing with temporary negative pressure” using Opsite Post-Op Visible and an Atom Multipurpose Tube, is a simple and easy method. Immediately after incisions were closed, Opsite Post-Op Visible dressing was applied over the incision site with an Atom Multipurpose catheter, and negative pressure was applied through the catheter. We analyzed the cases of 203 patients who underwent colorectal resection. In 60 cases, we performed this negative pressure system for prevention of SSI. We reviewed the clinical features of these cases treated by this novel method and found that the incisional SSI rate in patients who underwent colorectal resection was significantly reduced following the use of the new method. There were no complications in any of the cases due to DNP. This dressing with negative pressure (DNP) may lead to wound drainage and a reduction of dead space in a subcutaneous wound area. These findings indicate that the use of DNP is safe, easy, and effective for preventing incisional SSI in patients undergoing colorectal surgery.

Here we analyzed whether Daikenchuto (DKT) suppresses postoperative inflammatory reactions in patients who have undergone elective colorectal surgery. DKT is one of the most frequently prescribed traditional (Kampo) medicines in Japan. DKT is reported to have various beneficial effects on bowel disorders. It was recently reported that DKT also has an anti-inflammatory effect. Consecutive patients with colorectal cancer who underwent elective colorectal resection were separated into two groups. A total of 67 patients began a DKT regimen after surgery (DKT group) and 53 patients did not begin the DKT regimen after surgery (control group). We observed a steady postsurgery increase in the white blood cell (WBC) count of all patients on postoperative day 1 (POD 1), whereas the WBC count decreased at PODs 3 and 7. When we compared the WBC values of the DKT group (6147.2 ± 2217.3 per microliter) and control (7071.1 ± 2828.0 per microliter) groups on POD 7, we found significant differences (P = 0.038). There was no significant side effect due to DKT, except for one case of mildly impaired liver function. Our results suggest that DKT administration may have an anti-inflammatory effect during the postoperative period. Further studies are warranted to investigate the possibility of using DKT as a therapeutic agent based on its anti-inflammatory effect.

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition is a key process influencing cancer progression and metastasis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition-related factors in chorionic villi and decidual cells in adherent placenta. The current study included 19 patients diagnosed with adherent placenta after hysterectomy. The expression of E-cadherin, Vimentin, Snail, and transforming growth factor-β in placental tissues was analyzed by immunohistochemical staining. Immunostaining intensity was semiquantitatively evaluated using the HSCORE algorithm. In the chorionic villi of the invasive part (placenta with invasion into myometrium), E-cadherin expression was significantly lower than that in the noninvasive part (placenta with no invasion). In the decidual cells of the invasive part, expression of transforming growth factor-β and Snail significantly increased. These results suggest that epithelial-mesenchymal transition may contribute to excessive trophoblast invasion into the myometrium in adherent placenta.

Breast cancer growth is dependent on time and it may be of utmost importance to take into consideration the duration of clinical symptoms in order to predict which patients are at high risk for disease recurrence. The aim of this study was to determine the association between duration of clinical symptoms and disease recurrence in patients with breast cancer. A total of 139 consecutive patients with primary breast cancer who underwent a radical breast operation were retrospectively investigated and the association between recurrence and the duration of symptoms was investigated. The duration of clinical signs was defined as the time from the onset of symptoms to the date of surgery. The breast cancer cases were divided into two groups on the basis of symptom duration (≤6 and >6 months). The mean duration of symptoms was 191.0±242.6 days. Of the 139 cases, 36 (25.9%) had a duration of symptoms of >6 months. In the univariate analysis, a statistically significant association with long symptom duration was observed for disease recurrence. Of the 139 patients, 6 (4.3%) developed recurrent disease. The univariate analysis revealed that long duration of symptoms and nuclear grade were significantly associated with recurrence. In conclusion, our results indicated that breast cancer progression is dependent on time. A long duration of symptoms (>6 months) may be considered as an indicator of tumor progression and a strong prognostic factor in breast cancer patients.

Several acidic azolium salts prepared from oxazole, thiazole, and imidazole derivatives were investigated as catalysts in N-glycosylation reaction using a silylated modified pyrimidine and an acylated ribose or glucose to afford the corresponding pyrimidine nucleoside. Among the salts, 2-methyl-5-phenylbenzoxazolium perchlorate showed the highest catalytic activity. This salt is a nonhygroscopic crystalline compound that shows higher activity than the frequently used trimethylsilyl triflate. Reactions with this salt can be conducted in gram scales.

The optimal timing of early oral intake after surgery has not been fully established. The objective of this study was to compare early oral intake at postoperative day 1 after resection of colorectal cancer with that of day 2 to identify the optimal timing for resumption of oral intake in such patients. Consecutive patients with colorectal cancer who underwent elective colorectal resection were separated into two groups. Sixty-two patients began a liquid diet on the first postoperative day (POD1 group) and 58 patients began on POD2 (POD2 group) and advanced to a regular diet within the next 24 hours as tolerated. As for gastrointestinal recovery, the first passage of flatus was experienced, on average, on postoperative day 3.1 ± 1.0 in the POD2 group and on day 2.3 ± 0.7 in the POD1 group. The first defecation was also significantly earlier in patients in the POD1 group than those in the POD2 group (POD 3.2 ± 1.2 versus 4.2 ± 1.4, respectively). No statistical difference was found between the two groups in terms of postoperative complications. Our results suggest that very early feeding on POD1 after colorectal resection is safe and feasible and that induced a quicker recovery of postoperative gastrointestinal movement in patients.

A laboratory measurement of the Zeeman effect in the soft X-ray range can be realized using a laser-produced strong magnetic field and laser-driven magnetic field compression. In this measurement, a pair of laser-driven capacitor-coil targets produces a spatially uniform seed magnetic field of several hundred Tesla, and a low-density SiO2 foam is soaked in the magnetic field. A strongly magnetized high-energy-density SiO2 plasma is then produced by laser-driven compressions of both the foam and the magnetic field. According to a numerical hydrodynamic simulation, a > 10 kT peak magnetic field is achievable with a 100 T seed magnetic field produced by the GEKKO-XII laser facility at Osaka University, Japan. The soft X-ray spectrum is calculated using the MASCB-PPPB code with plasma parameters obtained with the FLASH code. Zeeman splitting of the 4 f − 3 d transition line from lithium-like Si ions of 1.2 eV is observed at 95.4 eV emission peak energy, which is observable even considering the Stark broadening and the spectral resolution of the spectrometer.

Objective: The transcatheter pelvic arterial embolization (TAE) is effective for postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). There has been a little information about the factors for ineffectiveness of TAE. The aim of this study was to determine factors associated with TAE failure for PPH. Study design: Fifty-five women who underwent TAE for intractable PPH were included. Clinical factors involving age, history of pregnancy, gestational weeks of delivery, mode of delivery, causes of PPH, complete blood count, blood loss volume, transfusion amount, shock index and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) score were compared between TAE success group (n=48) and TAE failure group (n=7). Results: The uni- and multi-variate analyses revealed that advanced maternal age (OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.12–2.18) and retained placenta as a cause of PPH (15.48, 2.04–198.12) were found to be significant factors for TAE failure. Conclusion: The advanced age and retained placenta were independent factors associated with TAE failure for intractable PPH.

Several randomized prospective studies in western countries regarding the usefulness of prophylactic drainage have concluded that prophylactic abdominal drainage tubes are unnecessary. In Japan, however, longitudinal and vascular margins are rather different from in western countries. Furthermore, body mass index and volume of mesentery differed. Thus, although it is a retrospective study, it is worth investigating the usefulness of prophylactic drainage in the Japanese context. Two hundred sixty patients underwent colectomy and suprapromontory anastomosis. Prophylactic drainage tubes were inserted in 124 cases (47%) and not inserted in 136 cases (53%). In terms of postoperative complications, no statistically significant difference was found between the with-drainage and the without-drainage groups. The incidence of the abscess formation was not statistically different in the with-drainage group (4.0%) or the without-drainage group (0.7%). We concluded that the prophylactic and informational drainage tubes are not necessary even in Japanese cases of suprapromontory anastomosis, which typically have a wide resection and regional lymphadenectomy containing the roots of regional vessels.

Traditional Japanese medicine, known as Kampo medicine, consists of mixtures of several medicinal herbs widely used to treat upper gastrointestinal disorders in Japan. Rikkunshito, one of these medicines, has not been evaluated with respect to its influence on gastrointestinal motor activity. We investigated the effect of rikkunshito on upper gastrointestinal motility and plasma ghrelin concentrations in conscious dogs. Contractile response to intragastric administration of rikkunshito was studied via surgically implanted force transducers. A powdered extract of rikkunshito (1.3, 2.7, and 4.0 g) dissolved in water was administered into the stomachs of normal and vagotomized dogs before feeding and gastric emptying was evaluated. Several inhibitors of gastrointestinal motility (atropine, hexamethonium, and ondansetron) were injected intravenously before intragastric administration of rikkunshito. Plasma acylated ghrelin levels after intragastric administration of rikkunshito were measured. In a fasting state, intragastric administration of rikkunshito induced phasic contractions in the duodenum and jejunum in normal dogs. Rikkunshito-induced contractions were inhibited by atropine, hexamethonium and ondansetron. In vagotomized dogs, rikkunshito induced phasic contractions, similar to normal dogs. Gastric emptying was accelerated by intragastric administration of rikkunshito in a dose-dependent manner. The plasma acylated ghrelin level 150 min after intragastric administration of 4.0 g of rikkunshito was significantly higher than the control value. Intragastric administration of rikkunshito stimulates gastrointestinal contractions in the interdigestive state through cholinergic neurons and 5-HT type 3 receptors. Moreover, rikkunshito increases plasma acylated ghrelin levels. Rikkunshito may alleviate gastrointestinal disorders through its prokinetic effects.

A 33-year-old woman developed deep venous thrombosis at 7 gestational weeks (GW). Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia was evident at 9 GW during unfractionated heparin infusion. Immediately, anticoagulation therapies together with antithrombin (AT) infusion were commenced with the use of argatroban from 9 GW, and fondaparinux was substituted for argatroban after 24 GW. The patient had hereditary AT deficiency type I determined by laboratory findings and results of genomic DNA analysis. The pregnancy ended in full-term vaginal delivery of a healthy male without adverse effects of the anticoagulation therapies. This was the first report of a pregnant woman who developed heparin-induced thrombocytopenia caused by heparin therapy for deep venous thrombosis due to AT deficiency.

Congenital tumors arising from the central nervous system are uncommon. A 31-year-old pregnant woman had an uneventful course until 33 weeks of gestation (GW). An ultrasonographic examination at 35 GW first demonstrated an increase in fetal head size. The brain midline shifted to the left side due to the intracranial tumor extending into the orbit in the right hemisphere at 36 GW. The brain teratoma in the fetus was suspected by magnetic resonance imaging of the heterogeneous enhancement and calcification. The male baby was delivered by cesarean section at 36 GW and he had facial dimorphism with right exophthalmos. The tumor volume continued to increase after surgery and the baby died at 123 days of life.

Adenosine 3′,5′-cyclic monophosphorodithioate (cAMPS2), which has two exocyclic sulfurs directly attached to phosphorus, was synthesized from adenosine phosphoramidite by intramolecular cyclization employing the phosphotriester method as a key step.

Strong magnetic fields from a few hundred to a thousand tesla have been produced in a laboratory by using high-intensity laser beams. This strong magnetic field in a laboratory becomes a powerful tool to perform experiments in the fields such as laboratory astrophysics and nuclear fusion research. The diffusion dynamics of a pulsed magnetic field in a target is a key phenomenon for experiments with the laser-produced magnetic field. Here, we have developed a two-dimensional (2D) electromagnetic dynamics simulation code with consideration of inductive heating to simulate spatiotemporally resolved 2D profiles of the applied magnetic field in a target. The application of an external kilo-tesla-level magnetic field to a gold-cone-attached target is a promising scheme for the enhancement of heating efficiency of the fast-ignition inertial confinement fusion scheme. Our simulation revealed that the magnetic field heats the gold cone due to the inductive heating and penetrates the gold cone during its pulse duration. The developed simulation code is generally useful for designing and analyzing experiments using a strong magnetic field.Strong magnetic fields from a few hundred to a thousand tesla have been produced in a laboratory by using high-intensity laser beams. This strong magnetic field in a laboratory becomes a powerful tool to perform experiments in the fields such as laboratory astrophysics and nuclear fusion research. The diffusion dynamics of a pulsed magnetic field in a target is a key phenomenon for experiments with the laser-produced magnetic field. Here, we have developed a two-dimensional (2D) electromagnetic dynamics simulation code with consideration of inductive heating to simulate spatiotemporally resolved 2D profiles of the applied magnetic field in a target. The application of an external kilo-tesla-level magnetic field to a gold-cone-attached target is a promising scheme for the enhancement of heating efficiency of the fast-ignition inertial confinement fusion scheme. Our simulation revealed that the magnetic field heats the gold cone due to the inductive heating and penetrates the gold cone during its pulse dura...

A compact, five-degrees-of-freedom (5-DOF) controlled maglev local actuator (MLA) for realizing high-speed electrical discharge machining (EDM) has been developed. It includes a magnetic coupling mechanism that not only transmits torque from the motor to the spindle shaft, but also feeds a discharge current to an electrode attached to the spindle shaft. The spindle shaft is levitated by a 5-DOF controlled magnetic bearing system and is rotated by following the rotation of a power-supply ring, utilizing a magnetic coupling. Conductive flexible wire connecting the power-supply ring to the spindle shaft feeds the discharge current to the electrode, avoiding direct contact between the power-supply brushes and the spindle shaft. Experimental results show that a prototype MLA possesses sub-micron positioning resolution with an angular resolution of several micro-radians, bandwidths greater than 200 Hz in the 5-DOF directions, and positioning strokes of 2 mm in the thrust direction, 180 μm in the radial direction and 3.6 mrad in tilt direction, respectively. Moreover, the spindle shaft can be rotated smoothly at up to 2,000 min−1 with vibration amplitudes of less than 1.5 μm and 30 μrad, while the discharge current can be fed to the electrode while the spindle shaft is rotating without any friction force induced by the power-supply brushes.

Reduced port laparoscopic surgery has recently emerged as a method to improve the cosmetic results of conventional laparoscopic surgery. We reported our technique of reduced port laparoscopic colectomy using 3-port and short-time outcomes.Between 2005 and 2012, we performed 161 reduced port laparoscopic colectomies using the 3-port technique. Data analyzed in-cluded age, gender, body mass index (BMI), duration of surgery, number of harvested lymph nodes, and duration of hospital stay.All of the cases were successfully performed using the 3-port procedure. The median durations of surgery and postoperative hospital stay were 140 mm (range 75-463 mm) and 9 days (range 5-38 days), respectively. No mortality was associated with this technique.Reduced port laparoscopic colectomy is feasible and may have advantages over conventional laparoscopic colectomy.