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This study reports on the epitaxial growth of heavily Sn-doped GaN films by pulsed sputtering deposition (PSD) and their basic characteristics, which include electrical, optical, and structural properties. Heavily Sn-doped GaN yielded a maximum electron concentration of 2.0 × 1020 cm−3 while keeping an atomically flat surface. The high electron concentration was confirmed by Raman spectroscopy measurements. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the Sn dopants exhibited a positive-size effect coefficient, which is opposite to conventional n-type dopants, such as Si and Ge. Furthermore, the shifts toward higher energy of optical bandgap energies and near-band edge emission peaks clearly indicated the highly degenerated nature of the PSD-grown Sn-doped GaN. These results indicate that the introduction of Sn atoms is quite promising for stress control in n-type GaN.

We have demonstrated the homoepitaxial growth of N-polar GaN and its Si doping by pulsed sputtering deposition (PSD). Enhanced surface migration by a pulsed supply of precursors enabled the step-flow growth on N-polar GaN bulk substrates even with small miscut angles. The relationship between electron concentration and mobility in N-polar GaN follows the Caughey–Thomas relationship for Ga-polar GaN, which indicates PSD N-polar GaN has a low concentration of scattering centers. N-polar heavily Si-doped GaN film yielded a record-low resistivity of 1.6 × 10−4 Ωcm with an electron concentration of 3.6 × 1020 cm−3 and mobility of 109 cm2V−1s−1, comparable to the best data for Ga-polar GaN. The high electron mobility can be attributed to the reduced concentration of compensating acceptors, which is also consistent with its optical measurements. Moreover, optical measurements show that the Burstein–Moss effect raises the Fermi level by 0.2 eV. These results show that heavily Si-doped N-polar GaN prepared by pulsed sputtering is promising for future applications such as the source/drain of high-performance N-polar GaN HEMTs.

We have fabricated vertical p-type gallium nitride (GaN) Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) using various Schottky metals such as Pt, Pd, Ni, Mo, Ti, and Al. Current–voltage characteristics revealed that Schottky barrier heights determined using a thermionic emission (TE) model (ϕBTE) were ranged between 1.90 eV for Pt and 2.56 eV for Mo depending on the work function ( ϕm) of the Schottky metals. Despite their low ϕm, Ti and Al gave unusually small ϕBTE probably due to the interfacial reaction between metal and p-type GaN. We also found that Mo/p-GaN SBDs exhibited a clear rectifying property even at 800 K, and the thermionic emission diffusion (TED) model explained well their high-temperature I–V characteristics. Furthermore, the temperature variation of Schottky barrier heights determined using a TED model (ϕBTED) almost agrees with half of the temperature variation of the bandgap energy. These findings will be helpful for the application of p-type GaN Schottky interfaces to high-power and high-temperature electronics.

Background Phase II clinical trial funded by Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare from 1995 to 2003 evaluated efficacy of pathology-based three-group treatment stratification for CNS germ cell tumors (GCTs). We here present long-term follow-up results. Methods Total 228 cases were registered. Germinoma was treated with carboplatin+etoposide (CARE) and extended-local irradiation, local irradiation was added for intermediate-prognosis-group, and poor-prognosis-group was treated with ifosfamide+cisplatin+etoposide (ICE) and whole-brain or craniospinal irradiation. Results Mean/median ages at diagnosis were 16.8/16 years and female-to-male ratio was 40-188. Registry included 123 germinomas, 76 intermediate-prognosis-group cases (including 38 germinoma with STGC), 28 poor-prognosis-group cases and 1 mature teratoma. Median 222-months follow-up was conducted, and 56 recurrences and 39 deaths were recorded. 10 and 20-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) for germinoma, intermediate and poor-prognosis-groups were 84/79%, 83/76% and 59/59%, respectively, and overall survival (OS) for each were 97/91%, 92/85% and 57/53%, respectively. Prognosis for germinoma with or without STGC was the same. Basal ganglia germinoma showed significantly shorter RFS but OS was not different from other locations. Median age at death was 24 years, and ages were significantly different depending on causes, such as disease-related (14 years on average) and complications (29 years). OS after recurrence at 5/10/20 years were 64/62/48%.Hormonal supplementation was seen in 82% for neurohypophyseal cases and antidiuretic hormone supplementation was most frequent (82%). Among available cases, 20-out-of-155 cases showed neoplastic/vascular complications, among which cavernous malformation was the most (n=9). Median period until complication presentation was 235 months, and the rate at 20 years was 11%. Conclusions Germinoma and intermediate-prognosis-group cases showed long-term survival for approximately 90%, while more intensive treatment would be necessitated for poor-prognosis-group. Long-term survivors often required hormonal supplementation, and increasing frequency of treatment-related complications was observed. There is no end of outpatient follow-up for CNS GCT patients.

BackgroundFamilies raising children with disabilities assume risks to their health and lives. Therefore, it is necessary to support these families to improve family empowerment, which is the ability of these families to control their own lives and to promote the collaborative raising of children with disabilities. This is the first online program development and interventional study focusing on the empowerment of families raising children with disabilities who live at home in Japan.MethodThe program consisted of four online peer-based group sessions. Moreover, the families engage in several activities in stages wherein they discover their own issues, find measures to resolve them, and take action, while visualizing interfamily relationships, including social resources, and the status of their family life, with facilitators and other peer members. This study was a non-randomized, waitlist-controlled trial. It compared the results of the intervention group (early group) and the waitlist-controlled group (delayed group). The participants were allocated to the early or delayed group in the order of their applications. The main outcome was family empowerment. Other outcomes are the caregiver burden, awareness of the use of social resources, self-compassion, and the quality of life (QOL) of primary caregivers. The timing of the online surveys was as follows: the initial evaluation (Time 1 [T1]) was conducted before the start of the first early group program, and post-intervention evaluation (Time 2 [T2]) was conducted immediately (within one week) after the early group had completed all four sessions (four weeks) of the program. Follow-up evaluation (Time 3 [T3]) was conducted four weeks after the post-intervention evaluation. This timing was the same in the delayed group, but the delayed group attended the program after a four-week waiting period, compared to the early group.DiscussionThe intention is to evaluate whether the provision of the program developed in this study and the evaluation test design are feasible and to verify the efficacy of this program.Clinical trial registrationThe UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN000044172), registration date: May 19, 2021. https://upload.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000050422

Background Families raising children with disabilities assume risks to their health and lives. Therefore, it is necessary to support these families to improve family empowerment, which is the ability of these families to control their own lives and to promote the collaborative raising of children with disabilities. This is the first online intervention program focusing on the empowerment of families raising children with disabilities who live at home in Japan. Method The program consists of four online peer-based group sessions. Moreover, the families engage in several activities in stages wherein they discover their own issues, find measures to resolve them, and take action, while visualizing interfamily relationships, including social resources, and the status of their family life, with facilitators and other peer members. This study is a non-randomized, waitlist-controlled trial. It compares the results of the intervention group (early group) and the waitlist-controlled group (delayed group). The participants are allocated to the early or delayed group in the order of their applications. The main outcome is family empowerment. Other outcomes are the caregiver burden, self-reported capability to use social resources, self-compassion, and the quality of life (QOL) of primary caregivers. The timeline of the online outcome evaluation is as follows: the initial evaluation (Time 1 [T1]) is conducted before the start of the first early group program, and post-intervention evaluation (Time 2 [T2]) is conducted immediately (within 1 week) after the early group completes all four sessions (4 weeks) of the program. Follow-up evaluation (Time 3 [T3]) is conducted 4 weeks after the post-intervention evaluation. This timing is the same in the delayed group, but the delayed group will attend the program after a 4-week waiting period, compared to the early group. Discussion The intention is to evaluate whether the provision of the program developed in this study and the evaluation test design are feasible and to verify the efficacy of this program. Trial registration The UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN000044172), registration date: May 19, 2021.

The type of lifestyle guidance that is effective for preventing development of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is unknown. Here, we aim to investigate the effects of a participatory structured group education (SGE) program on the development of CKD in a population-based study. We retrospectively analyzed 1060 adult special health check-up examinees with CKD. Examinees with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) from 50 to 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 and/or proteinuria 1+ were encouraged to attend an SGE program. The SGE program included participatory small group discussions on the attendees’ remaining risk factors. The primary outcome of this study was the change in eGFR per year. The changes in eGFR in examinees who attended the SGE program (n = 209, + 2.9 mL/min/1.73 m2 [95% confidence interval (CI) + 1.9 to + 3.9]) significantly improved compared with control (n = 383, + 1.2 mL/min/1.73 m2 [95% CI + 0.5 to + 1.9], p = 0.006). Attending an SGE program was independently and positively related to the changes in eGFR at 1 year after attendance, after adjusting for classical covariates (β = 1.55 [95% CI 0.37–2.73], p = 0.01). Attending an SGE program was effective for the examinees with a lower eGFR compared with those with only proteinuria. Our SGE program showed the beneficial effects of preventing the development of CKD, independent of classical factors. The type of SGE program that is more effective for preventing development of CKD should be investigated in a long-term analysis.

Introduction to SPIE Photonics West OPTO conference 11686: Gallium Nitride Materials and Devices XVI.

Micro-LEDs have been attracting attention as a potential candidate for the next generation of display technology. Here we demonstrate the feasibility of large-area monolithic integration of multi-color InGaN micro-LEDs via pulsed sputtering deposition (PSD) and a standard photolithographical technique. The PSD allows for sequential epitaxial growth of blue and green InGaN LED stacks connected with the GaN based tunneling junction. The tunneling junctions serve as protective layers on p-type GaN against the dry etching damage and hole injection layers in each blue and green emission InGaN active layer. The tunneling junction-connected multi-color InGaN LED stack contributes to the high-density and large-area monolithic integration of RGB micro-LEDs using standard photolithography and the ICP-dry etching method.

This paper reports AlN barrier Al0.5Ga0.5N high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) with heavily Si-doped degenerate GaN contacts prepared by pulsed sputtering deposition. Selectively regrown n-type GaN contacts exhibit typical degenerate properties with the electron concentration and mobility of 2.6 × 1020 cm−3 and 115 cm2 V−1 s−1, respectively, resulting in a record low contact resistance R C of 0.43 Ω mm for the AlN/Al0.5Ga0.5N HEMTs. The AlN/Al0.5Ga0.5N HEMTs displayed a remarkable DC output characteristic with a maximum drain current density of 250 mA mm−1, a transconductance of 32 mS mm−1, and an On/Off ratio >106. The present results show potential overcoming challenges in ohmic contact formation for high-power and high-frequency AlGaN electron devices with high Al composition.

Objectives: Family caregivers raising children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities (SMID) experience the enormous burden of care. The concept of family empowerment is one of the important assessment indexes of family nursing from the perspective of providing comprehensive support for these families. The objective of this study was to identify the factors associated with the empowerment of families raising a child with SMID in Japan. Methods: We conducted a nationwide questionnaire survey involving 1659 primary caregivers raising a child with SMID through 89 special schools. We assessed the main outcomes using the Family Empowerment Scale (FES). We then conducted a multiple linear regression analysis to reveal the factors associated with family empowerment. Results: In total, 1362 primary caregivers were included in our study. Our results show that factors contributing to high FES scores are higher age of the primary caregiver, higher education, greater recognition of regional support, lower childcare burden, higher utilization of home visit services, higher usage of a childcare institution, higher household income, and stronger family bonding. Conclusion: Healthcare professionals should carefully assess the state of family empowerment of the primary caregivers who are younger and those who have low education, low household income, high childcare burden, and fragile bonding with the family. Second, they should encourage such families to use regional support resources for childcare. That is, policy makers should consider ways to promote home visits and institutional services for the care of children with SMID, aiming especially for the provision of well-coordinated care and services. Keywords: Caregivers, Child care, Disabled children, Family empowerment, Home nursing, Intellectual disability, Japan, Social supports

To investigate the relationship between the charge redistribution and ferromagnetism at the interface between perovskite transition-metal oxides $\mathrm{LaNi}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ (LNO) and $\mathrm{LaMn}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ (LMO), we performed x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) measurements on the sandwiched layer in the trilayer structures. In the LNO/LMO heterostructures, one electron (hole) per unit-cell area is transferred from Mn (Ni) to Ni (Mn) ions across the interface unless there is a spatial limitation in the layer accommodating the transferred charges. A detailed analysis of the $\mathrm{Ni}\ensuremath{-}{L}_{2,3}$ and $\mathrm{Mn}\ensuremath{-}{L}_{2,3}$ XMCD spectra reveals that the magnetization of Ni ions is induced only in $\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{i}}^{2+}$ ions at the interface, while that of Mn ions is induced in both $\mathrm{M}{\mathrm{n}}^{3+}$ and $\mathrm{M}{\mathrm{n}}^{4+}$ ions. Combining these results with the previous XAS results on bilayer structures revealing the asymmetric charge redistribution of the LNO/LMO interface [Kitamura et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 108, 111603 (2016)] shows that Ni magnetization is induced only in the $\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{i}}^{2+}$ ions of the 1 ML LNO adjacent to the interface, while the magnetization of Mn ions is increased in the 3--4 ML LMO of the interfacial region. These results indicate a close relationship between the charge redistribution due to the interfacial charge transfer and the ferromagnetism of the LNO/LMO interface. Furthermore, the XMCD spectra clearly demonstrate that the vectors of induced magnetization of both ions are aligned ferromagnetically, suggesting that the delicate balance between the exchange interactions occurring inside each layer and across the interface may induce the canted antiferromagnetism of $\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{i}}^{2+}$ ions, resulting in weak magnetization in the 1 ML LNO adjacent to the interface.

In this study, we grew NbN(1 1 1) films on AlN(0001)/sapphire substrates by sputtering and investigated their structural and electrical properties. It was found that a 7-nm-thick NbN film grown on an AlN/sapphire substrate at 850 °C had a step-and-terrace structure on the surface, similar to that of the underlying AlN surface. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction and X-ray diffraction revealed the high crystallinity of the ultrathin NbN film. The superconducting transition temperature of the 7-nm-thick NbN was 11 K, which is lower than that of the 27-nm-thick NbN film grown at the same temperature, but sufficient to be applicable to superconducting single-photon detectors.

This study examined quality of life and its associated factors in siblings of children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities in Japan. The participants were 789 siblings of children with a disability and their primary caregivers. We used the Kinder Lebensqualitat Fragebogen questionnaire to assess the quality of life of siblings. The mean age of the siblings in this study was 12.21 ± 3.07 years, and the mean quality of life score was 69.63 ± 12.55 points, which is higher than that of the general population of children of the same age. It was revealed that the following factors contributed to higher quality of life scores: a closer relationship with the child with a disability, younger age, the primary caregiver's lower care burden, later birth order of siblings (i.e., younger siblings), higher family empowerment, and female gender of siblings. The relationship with the child with a disability had the strongest influence on siblings' quality of life. Our study suggests the need for nursing interventions that focus on the whole family to enhance siblings' quality of life.

In this study, InAlN was grown on glass substrates using pulsed sputtering deposition (PSD) at room temperature (RT) and was applied to thin-film transistors (TFTs). The surface flatness of the InAIN films was improved by reducing the growth temperature from 350 °C to RT. Further, the electron mobility and concentration of the InAlN film that was grown at RT were observed to be strongly dependent on the In composition. It was also observed that the electron concentration could be reduced during the introduction of Al atoms into InN, which could most likely be attributed to the reduction in the position of the Fermi level stabilization energy with respect to the conduction band edge. Further, InAlN-TFT was fabricated, and successful operation with a field-effect mobility of 8 cm2 V−1 s−1 was confirmed. This was the first demonstration of the operation of TFTs based on the growth of InAlN on an amorphous substrate at RT.

We report the in-plane anisotropic conductivity of heavily Si-doped GaN (20 2 ̄ 1) prepared by pulsed sputtering deposition and its application to tunneling junction (TJ) contacts on InGaN (20 2 ̄ 1) LEDs. Si-doped GaN (20 2 ̄ 1) yielded a high electron mobility of 109 cm2 V−1 s−1 even at an electron concentration of 1.1 × 1020 cm−3. The average difference in the in-plane electron mobility along the [ 1 ̄ 014] and [1 2 ̄ 10] directions was small (approximately 9.7%) because of the low stacking fault density. The heavily Si-doped GaN (20 2 ̄ 1) worked as a uniform current spreading layer and hole injection layer through the TJ on InGaN (20 2 ̄ 1) LEDs.

We report the characteristics of heavily Si-doped GaN prepared by pulsed sputtering deposition (PSD) and its application as tunneling junction (TJ) contacts for nitride-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs). We determined that the use of PSD allows us to grow extremely heavily Si-doped wurtzite GaN epitaxial layers with [Si] = 1.0 × 1021 cm−3 on commercially available UV-A LED wafers. Then, we processed these samples into LED structures to investigate their device characteristics as TJ-contact LEDs. Compared to commercially available UV-A LEDs with transparent conductive oxide contacts, TJ-contact LEDs with [Si] = 1.0 × 1021 cm−3 at the tunnel-junction interface showed lower differential resistance and, consequently, worked well under a high injection current density of ∼1 kA/cm2 without any degradation. These results indicate that PSD-grown heavily doped n-type GaN is promising for application as a TJ-contact in group III nitride-based optoelectronic devices.

We demonstrate herein the fabrication and operation of p-type GaN Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) with nearly ideal rectifying characteristics using vertical bottom tunneling junction contacts. The interface between Ni and p-type GaN provides a large Schottky barrier height of 2.29 eV, which is promising for high-temperature operations. The vertical p-type GaN SBDs show nearly ideal rectifying characteristics with an ideality factor close to unity and a rectifying ratio as high as 106, even at 600 K. This distinguished performance indicates the superiority of p-type GaN SBDs for electron devices operated under high-temperature environments.

Integrating the functions of superconductors and semiconductors by epitaxial growth can lead to the fabrication of quantum devices such as on-chip quantum communication systems with single-photon emitters and detectors. Furthermore, a combination of nitride superconductors and nitride semiconductors is one of the most suitable candidates for application in these quantum devices. However, the structure of superconducting NbN films grown on nitride semiconductors needs to be elucidated. In this study, we report the self-organization of NbN nanostructures that were epitaxially grown on an atomically flat AlN surface. Structural investigation of the NbN/AlN heterostructure revealed that the growth of NbN twins on the AlN surface leads to the autonomous formation of nanostructures. These results significantly contribute to the materials science of cubic transition metal nitride heteroepitaxy.

Herein, we report the growth method of ultrathin indium nitride (InN) films on aluminum nitride (AlN) templates by sputtering and its application to field-effect transistors (FETs). Although island-like InN surfaces were formed at the initial film growth stage, the height of the islands on the surface could be controlled by changing the growth temperature. The height of the InN islands grown at 500 °C was lower than those grown at 440 °C and 480 °C. To demonstrate an application of the InN/AlN heterostructure to FETs, we fabricated FETs using a 2-nm-thick InN film grown on an AlN template. The FET with the InN channel grown at 500 °C exhibited a drain current density of 0.19 mA/mm and an on/off ratio of approximately 102 although the drain current of the FET with the InN grown at 450 °C was not adequately controlled by the gate bias. These results indicate that the growth condition of InN films is responsible for the characteristics of InN/AlN FETs.

Background: The number of Japanese children with developmental disabilities (DDs) has seen a steady increase in recent years. The parents and families of children with DD experience distress both at the time of DD diagnosis and afterward. Aim: This study aimed to elucidate the issues and needs of the parents of children with DD to facilitate the development of effective support strategies necessary to help the family handle the special needs of their child with DD. Methods: Japanese-speaking parents with children who were aged 3Y14 years and currently being treated in a hospital for DDs were invited to participate in one of three focus groups. A trained moderator led each 90-minute audio-recorded group using a semistructured interview guide. All transcripts were coded using thematic content analysis. Results: Six categories of parents’ significant issues were identified, with three of the categories classified as critical needs. Conclusions: The issues and needs identified in this study are useful for developing an effective family support program and a related performance framework. Key concerns include providing relevant information support, providing counseling and consultation support for parents and siblings, and providing resources to children with DD that are necessary to help them deal effectively with their disabilities.

Background: About 70% of Japanese children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities (SMID) live at home, and the number is increasing. Family members have an enormous burden of daily physical care for these children. A top priority is to understand quality of life (QoL), family function, and family empowerment to effectively support these families. We aimed to assess current living situations of families with a SMID child, and to reveal the relationships between QoL, family function, and family empowerment. Methods: Sixty-five family members from 34 families with a SMID child participated in this study. We assessed 5 parameters using the Japanese versions of the following instruments: World Health Organization Quality of Life 26 (WHOQOL26), Kinder Lebensqualitats Fragebogen (KINDL), Family Assessment Device (FAD), Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale KG-4 (FACESKG-4), and Family Empowerment Scale (FES). Correlation and multiple regression analyses were conducted; QoL score was the objective variable. Results: Participants included 54 parents (34 mothers, 20 fathers) and 11 siblings. The mean age of SMID children was 10.4 ± 5.03 years. Twenty-two children needed multiple types of medical care. The mean age of parents and siblings was 41.5 ± 6.16 years and 15.5 ± 2.35 years, respectively. The mean QoL score (3.28 ± 0.5) was similar to the Japanese average. The mean KINDL score (77.2 ± 12.1) was higher than those of previous studies. The mean FAD score was 1.97 ± 0.32. For FACEKG-4, the score of adaptability was correlated with WHOQOL score (r = 0.459, p < 0.05). The mean score of FES was 113.6 ± 14. As the result of multiple regression analysis, lower family FAD scores ([sb] = ?0.61, p < 0.01) indicated higher family function and greater age of participants (sb = 0.495, p < 0.01) was correlated with higher WHOQOL scores (F = 15.208, p < 0.01). Conclusions: Our results indicated that the individual QoL depended on the age of participants (equals the years of experience caring for a SMID child) and the recognition of family function as a whole. Thus, to improve family members’ QoL, we should focus on individuals and also approach the family as a whole.

The number of children with Severe Motor and Intellectual Disabilities (SMID) receiving medical treatment/recovering at home is rising yearly. Although benefits of this care are emphasized, the stress and duties of family members in the household are extremely great, especially because Japan is becoming a society of nuclear families. In this study, we described the lifestyles of nuclear families providing in-home medical care for children with SMID, focusing on family members’ roles. Roles of mothers, fathers, and siblings of children with SMID were summarized from semi-structured inter-views. As a result, for “the roles of each family member living with a child with SMID”, mothers had five roles, fathers seven, and siblings five. For “the hopes of each family member living with a child with SMID”, parents desired the whole family collaboration in care for children with SMID, and as caregivers, parents’ common thoughts included wanting siblings in order to help care for the child with SMID and wanting siblings to treasure their own lives. Siblings wanted their mother to have some time for rest and expected their fathers to have two main roles. They also expected their grandparents and other siblings to fulfill roles.

Targeted temperature management (TTM), or therapeutic hypothermia, is one of the most potent neuroprotective approaches after ischemic and traumatic brain injuries. TTM has been applied clinically with various methods, but effective achievement and maintenance of the target temperature remain challenging. Furthermore, timing of cooling and target body and brain temperature to optimize effectiveness for neuroprotection and to minimize side effects are yet to be standardized. Focal brain cooling is a potential strategy to minimize adverse effects of systemic TTM. In this study, we report on a focal brain cooling device for animals and its effectiveness of focal cooling in several animal models of ischemic cerebral stroke. A focal brain cooling device was constructed using a Peltier's element, a thermoelectric heat pump. The device was validated for its cooling ability, and optimal settings to induce an effective intracranial temperature were determined using male Sprague-Dawley rats. Transient and permanent middle cerebral artery occlusions were experimentally induced, and focal brain cooling was applied using the device varying the timing and duration of cooling. The stroke-induced infarct and edema volumes were evaluated from Nissl-stained cryosections. The focal brain cooling device was able to decrease and subsequently maintained cerebral hypothermia in free-moving rats without altering the core temperature. The device with validated intracranial temperatures produced neuroprotective effects in the acute phase of ischemic neural death, reperfusion injury, progressing damage to the penumbra, and edema formation. In conclusion, our validated focal cooling device enabled rapid and accurate cerebral TTM in rats. Using this device, we were able to test the neuroprotective effect of focal TTM in several pathological stages of cerebral ischemia, which warrants further studies to develop clinically feasible TTM procedures for patients with cerebral stroke.

Background: “Children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities” refers to children with markedly limited activity due to severe overlapping of physical and intellectual disabilities. The physical and mental burden placed on families raising severely disabled children, particularly the primary caregivers, is great in home settings. For families to effectively utilize services and over-come child rearing problems, the families themselves need the “strength” to cooperate with others for the purpose of raising a severely disabled child. The ultimate goal of family support is to enable such families to achieve satisfaction and self-growth in child rearing. Methods: We used a questionnaire to survey 75 primary caregivers to empirically elucidate the empowerment and positive feelings towards child rearing of families raising children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities and the related factors. The t-test and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient were used to examine the association with bivariates. A multiple regression analysis was conducted for empowerment and positive feelings. Results: Results revealed that life events, livelihood, awareness of social support and the child’s sleep problems were factors related to empowerment. Of these, awareness of social support from outside of the family was found to contribute the most to empowerment. Furthermore, improvement and maintenance of positive feelings towards child rearing reaffirmed the existence of empowerment in addition to reducing negative feelings towards child rearing and ensuring social support. Conclusions: Raising children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities requires specialist knowledge and skills. Support from professionals to empower the entire family is therefore important in order to strengthen positive feelings towards child rearing.

We examined the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination process in adolescent Japanese girls, including protective and obstructive factors to develop and practice enlightenment activities and educational interventions for promoting HPV vaccination to adolescent Japanese girls and their families. We conducted semistructured interviews with 20 adolescent Japanese girls who lived in the wider Tokyo area. To analyze the interview data, we adopted the modified grounded-theory approach. We identified three stages in the vaccination process: first encounter with cervical cancer and HPV vaccine, thoughts about vaccination, and adjustment with parents toward vaccination. The girls "knew" their knowledge and information on cervical cancer and the HPV vaccine from experts, parents, and friends, "considered and discussed" HPV vaccination in their own way or with parents, and "arranged" actual vaccination. This process was influenced by the promoting/obstructive factors in each stage. Healthcare providers should understand the experiences and feelings of adolescent girls who were confronted with HPV vaccination in the context of their vaccination process and conduct enlightenment activities to promote vaccination, keeping the promoting and obstructive factors suggested in this study in mind.

The characteristics of InOx Ny alloy films prepared via thermal oxidation of InN epitaxial films with In- or N-polarities grown on nearly lattice-matched, yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) substrates are investigated. The InN films were oxidized to InOx Ny with a gradual change in O/N composition by annealing in air. Structural analysis revealed that the temperature for phase transition from wurtzite structure depends on the polarity of InN, and N-polar InOx Ny films can retain their wurtzite structure even at higher temperatures compared with the case of In-polar films. Furthermore, changes in the valence band structure and optical characteristics of the InOx Ny alloys take place via thermal oxidation. These results indicate that InOx Ny grown via thermal oxidation of N-polar InN on YSZ can be considered as an alloy semiconductor for optoelectronic devices. (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

The growth mechanism of InN on Mn-stabilized zirconia (MnSZ) (111) substrates was investigated using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory. The adsorption energies of indium and nitrogen atoms on MnSZ (111) surfaces were evaluated. Small differences in the adsorption energies of indium atoms on various adsorption sites indicate that the migration of the indium atoms on MnSZ (111) surfaces occurs readily. In contrast, larger differences in the adsorption energies of nitrogen atoms on various adsorption sites indicate that nitrogen atoms tend to stay on the stable site with the largest adsorption energy, which was identified as the Short Bridge Mn–O site. These results suggest that the first layer of InN films consists of a nitrogen layer, which leads to epitaxial relationships between InN (0001)//MnSZ (111) and InN 11 2 ¯ 0 //MnSZ 1 1 ¯ 0 . This alignment makes the lattice mismatch between InN and MnSZ as small as 0.5%. In addition, a local density of state analysis revealed that the hybridization effect between the N2p and Mn3d orbitals plays a crucial role in determining the interface structure for the growth of InN on MnSZ (111) surfaces. Furthermore, it was found that an indium atom preferentially adsorbs at the center of three nitrogen atoms stacked on the MnSZ substrate, which results in the formation of In-polarity InN. Preferential formation of In-polarity InN is advantageous for device fabrication.

The objective of the present study was to qualitatively assess the obstructive and facilitative factors affecting adolescent girls and their caregivers when the adolescent had received or was considering receiving the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccination. Using these data, we propose recommendations for medical and nursing staff concerned with HPV vaccination. Participants were 20 adolescent girls (aged 10 - 19 years) and their caregivers, who had visited any of the 3 pediatric clinics in the Tokyo metropolitan area during a specified period since HPV vaccination began in Japan. The girls and their caregivers were separately interviewed by 2 child and/or family nursing care specialists with a semi-structured interview. The responses were qualitatively analyzed by 2 specialists, and the obstructive and facilitative factors affecting participants’ decision to receive HPV vaccination were extracted from the responses. Among the 20 sets of participants, 7 adolescents had completed HPV vaccination, 9 were going to receive vaccination, and 4 had not received any vaccination. The obstructive/facilitative factors related to considering or receiving HPV vaccination and actual vaccination were extracted and 4 main categories of factors were identified. Facilitators toward HPV-vaccination of daughters included clear future self-image and visions, fear Cervical Cancer (CC) and desire to escape from CC, having discussion with mothers about HPV-vaccination and CC, and to have a boyfriend. Barriers toward vaccination included the mothers’ reluctance to explain the sexual matters about HPV-vaccination to their daughters and difficulty with find the appropriate clinic or hospital to HPV-vaccination. Relevant factors about vaccination included positive family attitudes toward vaccination, having family system allowing consultation and having a public financial support for vaccination for daughters. Our conceptual model adapted from the Katz, et al. conceptual framework integrated the key barriers and facilitators as factors within each of four domains. These four domains have an important link. Especially, the environmental factors and the structural and sociocultural factors domain affect the individual adolescent and the caregiver factors domain, respectively. The results of present study suggest that medical/nursing activities centered on promoting HPV vaccination in Japan should comprehensively cover CC/vaccination/sex education in an integrated fashion, while schools and public health centers should provide opportunities for caregivers and adolescents to jointly participate in awareness education on HPV vaccination.

Herein, polycrystalline InN films with flat surfaces and improved electron mobility were grown atop AlN orientation layers on glass substrates by pulsed sputtering deposition. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy revealed that the InN films comprise dense c-axis-oriented grains. The electron mobilities of these c-axis-oriented InN films were higher than those of the InN directly grown on the glass substrate, reaching as high as 427 cm2 V−1 s−1. To demonstrate a practical application of the developed InN film, a thin-film transistor was fabricated on a 5-nm-thick c-axis-oriented InN film on an AlN orientation layer and operated successfully with a field-effect mobility of 60 cm2 V−1 s−1.