Search

Through in situ photoemission spectroscopy (PES), we investigated the changes in the electronic structure of Cr-doped VO2 films coherently grown on TiO2 (001) substrates. The electronic phase diagram of CrxV1-xO2 is drawn by a combination of electric and spectroscopic measurements. The phase diagram is similar to that of bulk CrxV1-xO2, while the temperature of metal-insulator transition (TMIT) is significantly suppressed by the epitaxial strain effect. In the range of x = 0-0.04, where TMIT remains unchanged as a function of x, the PES spectra show dramatic change across TMIT, demonstrating the characteristic spectral changes associated with the Peierls phenomenon. In contrast, for x > 0.04, the TMIT linearly increases, and the metal-insulator transition (MIT) may disappear at x = 0.08-0.12. The PES spectra at x = 0.08 exhibit pseudogap behavior near the Fermi level, whereas the characteristic temperature-induced change remains almost intact, suggesting the existence of local V-V dimerization. The suppression of V-V dimerization with increasing x was confirmed by polarization-dependent x-ray absorption spectroscopy. These spectroscopic investigations reveal that the energy gap and V 3d states are essentially unchanged with 0 $\le$ x $\le$ 0.08 despite the suppression of V-V dimerization. The invariance of the energy gap with respect to x suggests that the MIT in CrxV1-xO2 arises primarily from the strong electron correlations, namely the Peierls-assisted Mott transition. Meanwhile, the pseudogap at x = 0.08 eventually evolves to a full gap (Mott gap) at x = 0.12, which is consistent with the disappearance of the temperature-dependent MIT in the electronic phase diagram. These results demonstrate that a Mott insulating phase without V-V dimerization is stabilized at x > 0.08 as a result of the superiority of Mott instability over the Peierls one., 27 pages, 3 main figures, 5 supplementary figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2005.00304

The Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment (NanTroSEIZE) is a multidisciplinary investigation of fault mechanics and seismogenesis along subduction megathrusts and includes reflection and refraction seismic imaging, direct sampling by drilling, in situ measurements, and long-term monitoring in conjunction with laboratory and numerical modeling studies. The fundamental objectives of NanTroSEIZE are to characterize the nature of fault slip and strain accumulation, fault and wall rock composition, fault architecture, and state variables throughout an active plate boundary system. As part of the NanTroSEIZE program, operations during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 348 were planned to extend and case riser Hole C0002F, begun during IODP Expedition 326 in 2010 and continued during Expedition 338 in 2012, from 860 to 3600 meters below the seafloor (mbsf). Riser operations during Expedition 348 were carried out and deepened the hole to 3058 mbsf, a new maximum depth record in scientific ocean drilling. Operations included installation and cementing of 13⅜ inch casing to 2008.9 mbsf and an 11¾ inch liner to 2922.5 mbsf, stabilizing the borehole for future deepening. Reaching this depth required two sidetracking operations from the original Hole C0002F, resulting in the designation of Holes C0002N and C0002P for the successively deeper sidetracks. During drilling, a suite of logging-while-drilling (LWD) and measurement-while-drilling (MWD), mud-gas, and cuttings data were collected over the interval from 2162.5 to 3058.5 mbsf in Hole C0002P, and a partial suite was collected in Hole C0002N. The interval from 2163 to 2218 mbsf was cored with the rotary core barrel (RCB). Planned future riser drilling operations will deepen the hole to penetrate the plate boundary fault at ~4600–5200 mbsf.

Aims: Recent studies have suggested that subcortical cognitive impairment (SubCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) can be differentiated by visuospatial tasks. We addressed at what severity stage these differences become apparent and what components in visuospatial processes are subject to impairment. Methods: Sixty patients with AD, 22 with vascular cognitive impairment and 63 with extrapyramidal diseases with cognitive impairment were assessed using the revised Hasegawa Dementia Scale (HDSR), clock drawing/reading/matching tests (CDT, CRT, CMT), figure copying (FIG) and Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB). Patients were categorized according to the HDSR scores in order to control for the severity of global cognitive impairment. Raw scores were converted to Z-scores for comparisons. Results: In the mild stage, results of all measures were comparable between AD and SubCI. In the moderate-severe stage, scores of CDT, CRT, CMT, FIG and FAB were significantly lower in SubCI. The results suggest that (given that global cognition is controlled for) visuo-perception, visuo-construction and semantic-numerical analyses of visual information may be more impaired in SubCI than AD. Conclusions: AD and SubCI may be difficult to be differentiated in the mild stages, and the visuospatial cognitive system may be extensively defective in SubCI.

The bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp. and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) isolated from patients diagnosed as urinary tract infections (UTIs) in 13 institutions in Japan were supplied between August 2002 and July 2003. The susceptibilities of these bacteria to various antimicrobial agents were examined. The bacteria were divided into 2 groups consisting of uncomplicated UTIs and complicated UTIs (with and without indwelling catheter) based on their isolation origins. The results were compared with those obtained between 1993 and 2001. The drug sensitivity of S. aureus in this year was similar to those in up to the previous year and S. aureus showed the best susceptibility to vancomycin. The drug sensitivity of E. faecalis in this year also was similar to those in up to the previous year. The drug sensitivity of E. coli in this year was generally good except penicillins and was similar to those in up to the previous year. Among cephems, cefozopran (CZOP) and cefpirome (CPR) showed the highest potency (MIC90:or = 0.125 microg/mL). An antibacterial activity of cefotiam (CTM) was similar to it in 10 years ago and was fine (MIC90:or = 1 microg/mL). The sensitivity of E. coli to carbapenems and carumonam (CRMN) also was good like to CZOP. However, the sensitivity of the complicated UTIs group to quinolones decreased after 2000 and was suggested to develop the resistance to the drug. The drug sensitivity of Klebsiella spp. in this year also was similar to those in up to the previous year. The bacteria showed good susceptibility (MIC:or = 0.125 microg/mL) to cefmenoxime (CMX), CPR, cefixime (CFIX), flomoxef (FMOX), and CZOP among cephems. The drug sensitivity of P. aeruginosa was generally low. Most of the bacteria were little sensitive to cephems except CZOP and ceftazidime (CAZ). The sensitive bacteria to CZOP and ceftazidime (CAZ) were observed to be 26.8% (15/56 strains) and 39.3% (22/56 strains) in complicated UTIs group, respectively. The sensitivity profile of P. aeruginosa to the other tested drugs was not much different from that in up to the previous year. However, the sensitivity of the bacteria to carbapenems tended to decrease after 2000, and the low sensitive strains (MIC:or = 256 microg/mL) were detected at 22.2% (2/9 strains) in the uncomplicated UTIs group and 3.6% (2/56 strains) in the complicated UTIs group.

A total of 615 bacterial strains isolated from 491 patients diagnosed as having urinary tract infections (UTIs) in 13 institutions in Japan were supplied between August 2002 and July 2003. Then, the clinical background of patients were investigated such as sex, age, and type of infections and kind of bacteria, frequency of bacteria isolation by age and infections, bacteria and infections by timing of antibiotics administration, and bacteria and infections by surgical procedures. The bacterial strains were divided by the age and sex of the patients and the types of infections. In males, the number of patients aged less than 50 years was few and the complicated UTIs without indwelling catheter was observed most frequently. In the present time, the bacteria most frequently isolated were Escherichia coli. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterococcus faecalis were also relatively frequently isolated. E. coli decreased and P. aeruginosa increased with the complication of the infections. E. faecalis tended to be isolated more frequently in the complicated UTIs than in the uncomplicated UTIs. With respect to the relation of these results to the age of the patients, in the uncomplicated UTIs, the isolation frequency of E. coli was the highest in all age groups, accounting for 70.8% in 20-49 years old. In the complicated UTIs without indwelling catheter, the isolation frequency of E. coli decreased with aging of the patients and was lower than that of E. faecalis in the patients aged 70 or more (18.3 vs 20.6%). In the complicated UTIs with indwelling catheter, the isolation frequency of E. coli was lower than in the uncomplicated UTIs in all age groups and P. aeruginosa and E. faecalis were more frequently isolated. In comparison of causative bacteria in UTIs between before and after the administration of antibiotics, E. coli decreased and P. aeruginosa increased after the administration in any UTIs. In comparison of causative bacteria in UTIs with or without surgery, E. coli was more frequently isolated in the patients without surgery, while P. aeruginosa was more in the patients with surgery in any UTIs. E. faecalis was more frequently isolated in the patients with surgery in uncomplicated and complicated UTIs without indwelling catheter and in the patients without surgery in complicated UTIs with indwelling catheter.

Linac-based radiosurgery has many advantages over the gamma knife, including low initial cost and no need of source replacement. On the other hand, most of the medical linacs currently in use were not originally designed to be applied for radiosurgery, and, therefore, careful quality assurance programs are required. In the gantry-head of a linac, a small CCD video camera is mounted in a position optically identical to that of the x-ray source. The video signal from the camera was digitalized to be evaluated for geometrical errors. A metal ball fixed to the stereotactic base frame via XYZ-sliding rods was used as a simulated target. Displacements of the target from the isocenter were measured during rotation of the gantry. Displacements in the gantry-rotation plane were satisfactorily small, while those perpendicular to it were maximal at gantry position angles of 0 degree and 180 degrees. This error night be caused by gravitational vending of the heavy gantry head. Although other major errors of the linac were within one millimeter, the center of coach rotation around the isocenter did not coincide with the center of gantry rotation, probably owing to gravitational vending. Special care should be taken when very small collimators are employed.

A total of 91 specimens of surgically resected tumors from 80 patients with gastric cancer were assayed for chemosensitivity using an adhesive tumor cell culture system (Life Trac ATCCS assay). Seventy-eight specimens of 91 had sufficient number of cells to grow in culture and 64 (82%) were evaluable excluding 8 low growth and 6 fungus contaminations. Cells (3x10(3)/ml/well) were cultured for 14 days and exposed to drugs on days 3-8. The growing cells were confirmed as cancer cells by immunohistochemical staining using monoclonal antibody to cytokeratin, epithelial membrane antigen and vimentin. IC90 value against (ADM, CDDP, CPM, 5-FU, MMC, MTX, VP-16, CBDCA and MMC+5-FU+MTX) was determined and population distribution of IC90 for each drug was obtained to serve as basic data for judging sensitivity. The 10th percentile of IC90 (mug/ml) was 0.01, 0.43, 1.23, 0.23, 0.01, 0.005, 0.14, 1.56 and 0.009+0.05+0.003 and median of IC90 was 0.02, 0.99, 2.31, 0.30, 0.06, 0.01, 0.39, 3.19 and 0.02+0.10+0.005, respectively. Population distribution of IC90 against each drug showed a specific pattern. Profiles of IC90 against various anticancer drugs differed in individual patients. Chemosensitivity of lymph node metatases seemed to be more resistant than that of their primary tumors. The ATTCS test was found to be useful as a sensitivity test for anti-cancer agents because of its reliability and excellent quantification.

In 64 cases suffering from severe head injury (Glasgow coma scale: less than seven- the auditory brainstem responses (FARs) recorded at the vertex, which are thought to be volumet conducted far-field potentials reflecting the sequential electrical activities of the auditory afferen) system in the brainstem, were recorded in the neurosurgical intensive care room immediately after admission. The alterations in the responses were compared with the types of primary injury, neurological signs., CT findings and outcome following treatment. Based on the results obtained, it is concluded that the FAR is a useful indicator for predicting the effects of treatment on brainstem damage in patients with severe head injury, and that it provides more reliable information about the function of the brainstem than the neurological signs or CT findings. Moreover, it also offers a diagnostic method for primary brainstem injury. Three cases or primary brainstem injury without lesions in the supratentorial region were diagnosed by means of combined CT and FAR recording.

Magnification radiography was applied for the diagnosis of the biliary tract diseases including cancer. Our X-ray unit was consisting of HITACHI DR-155-23 U-6M-55P and 0.1 mm focal-spot tube, FFD 80 cm giving a magnification of x2 with the conditions of 60 kVp, 20 mA, 0.8 sec. Intensifying screens such as Kyokko LH II (for a standard sized subject) or DuPont Q II (for an obese subject) were used in combination with Fuji RX films. We confirmed a high diagnostic value in revealing early lesions of this sytem. The skin dose test indicated that this technique was routinely applicable with safety for clinical use.

Among laboratory mistakes, "specimen mix-up" is the most frequent and the most serious. According to the Clinical Chemistry Laboratory Error Report of Toranomon Hospital, specimen mix-up was often detected when there were many large discrepancies between the results of a test and the results of a previous test. We present here a checking method to detect specimen mix-up. The method, which we call the "multivariate delta check" method, is an extension of the "delta check" method first presented by Nosanchuk and Gottmann (Am. J. Clin. Pathol. 62:707, 1974). Clinical evaluation has demonstrated the effectiveness of the method.

The bacterial strains isolated from 491 patients diagnosed as having urinary tract infections (UTIs) in 13 institutions in Japan were supplied between August 2002 and July 2003. The susceptibilities of them to many kinds of antimicrobial agents were investigated. Of them, 578 strains were estimated as causative bacteria and used for the investigation. The number of them was 578 strains consisting of 177 gram-positive bacterial strains (30.6%) and 401 gram-negative bacterial strains (69.4%). Against Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin (VCM) showed a strong activity and prevented the growth of all strains with 1 microg/mL. The susceptibility of Staphylococcus epidermidis to cephems including cefotiam (CTM) was relatively good. Against Enterococcus faecalis, ampicillin (ABPC), imipenem (IPM), and VCM showed the strongest antibacterial activity (MIC90: 2-4 microg/mL). In addition, the low sensitive strains (MIC:or = 256 microg/mL) to clarithromycin (CAM) were detected at 48.3% but none to cefozopran (CZOP). The antibacterial activity of cephems to Escherichia coli was generally good, and especially CZOP and cefpirome (CPR) showed the highest activity (MIC90:or = 0.125 microg/mL). Quinolone resistant E. coli was detected at frequency of 13.5%, which was higher than that in the last year. The antibacterial activity of cephems to Citrobacter freundii was generally low but CZOP and CPR had a strong acitivity (MIC90: 0.25 and 0.5 microg/mL, respectively). The antibacterial activity of cephems to Klebsiella pneumoniae was good and especially cefmenoxime (CMX), cefixime (CFIX), flomoxef (FMOX), CPR, and CZOP showed stronger activity (MIC90:or = 0.125 microg/mL). Against Serratia marcescens, meropenem (MEPM) had the highest antibacterial activity followed by CPR and CZOP. Against Proteus mirabilis, CMX, ceftazidime (CAZ), CPR, MEPM, carumonam (CRMN), and levofloxacin (LVFX) showed the strongest activity (MC90:or = 0.125 microg/mL). Among other cephems, CZOP and CFIX were also strong (MIC90: 0.25 microg/mL). The antibacterial activity of the drugs to Pseudomonas aeruginosa was generally low, and MIC90 of all the drugs were ranged from 64 toor = 256 microg/mL except IPM and amikacin (AMK) having 16 microg/mL. The antibacterial activity of CZOP was relatively good (MIC50: 8 microg/mL).

The bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp. and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) isolated from patients diagnosed as urinary tract infections (UTIs) in 10 institutions in Japan were supplied between September and December, 2001. Then, the susceptibilities of these bacteria to various antimicrobial agents were examined, and the results were compared with those obtained between 1992 and 2000. Comparison was made by classifying strains isolated from patients into those in uncomplicated UTIs and those in complicated UTIs (including with or without indwelling catheter). The drug sensitivity of S. aureus in this year was comparable to those in up to the previous year, and S. aureus showed the best susceptibility to vancomycin (VCM). E. faecalis showed good susceptibility to ampicillin and imipenem, and the MIC90s were 2 micrograms/mL. The susceptibility of E. faecalis to VCM was also good. E. coli showed good susceptibility to the drugs except penicillins. Among cephems, the susceptibility to cefozopran (CZOP) was better (MIC90:or = 0.125 microgram/mL). Just as the last report, the decreases in susceptibility of E. coli to quinolones were also observed in the patients with complicated UTIs. The susceptibility of Klebsiella spp. to all the test drugs did not significantly change in 2001 and was generally good but not to penicillins. Among cephems, Klebsiella spp. showed good susceptibility to flomoxef, cefpirome, cefixime, and CZOP withor = 0.125 microgram/mL of MIC90s either in uncomplicated or complicated UTIs. Although the drug sensitivity of P. aeruginosa was generally low, the detection of the strains that showed good susceptibility to quinolones and carbapenems (MIC:or = 0.125-2 micrograms/mL) were relatively frequent.

To obviate the problem of rejection in situations where cells are used as vectors for gene delivery, the feasibility of using autologous mesangial cells cultured from renal biopsy specimens was studied for the purpose of gene transfer into the glomerulus. Using the calcium-phosphate co-precipitation method, a reporter gene which encodes bacterial beta-galactosidase was introduced into cultured mesangial cells derived from renal biopsy tissue of rats. Stable transfectants were established in the presence of a selection drug and then transferred back into the contralateral kidneys of the same animals via renal artery injection. Among 5 rats tested, expression of beta-galactosidase was detected in the isolated glomeruli from 4 injected kidneys. One week after cell injection, 31 +/- 13% of the glomeruli showed positive X-gal (5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl beta- D-galactopyranoside) staining, indicating expression of the transferred gene. The use of autologous mesangial cells from biopsy specimens is thus realistic and would be useful to obviate the risk of rejection in the mesangial cell vector system.

Five-hundred thirty one bacterial strains isolated from 412 patients diagnosed as having urinary tract infections (UTIs) in 10 institutions in Japan were supplied between September and December 2001. Then, the clinical background of patients were investigated such as sex, age, and type of infections, infections and kind of bacteria, frequency of bacteria isolation by age and infections, bacteria and infections by timing of antibiotics administration, and bacteria and infections by surgical procedures. With regard to the relationship between age and sex of patients and type of infections, the number of cases aged lower than 50 years was few and complicated UTIs without indwelling catheter was the most frequent in male patients. In females, the number of patients aged lower than 20 years was few. Most of female patients aged lower than 80 years had uncomplicated UTIs. As for the relationship between type of infections and kind of bacteria, Escherichia coli decreased as the infections were more complicated, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterococcus faecalis increased as the infections were more complicated. In relation of these results to age of patients, isolation frequency of E. coli gradually decreased with aging in patients aged 20 years and older with uncomplicated UTIs. The isolation frequencies of E. faecalis decreased with aging in the patients with complicated UTIs without indwelling catheter while P. aeruginosa decreased with aging in the patients with complicated UTIs with indwelling catheter. E. coli was isolated a few after administration of antibiotics, and P. aeruginosa and E. faecalis were frequently isolated after administration in the patients with all types of infections. As for type of causative organisms in UTIs and with or without surgical operation, E. coli was frequently isolated in the patients without surgery in the patients with uncomplicated UTIs and complicated UTIs without indwelling catheter, while P. aeruginosa was frequently isolated in the patients who underwent surgery in the patients with uncomplicated UTIs and complicated UTIs with indwelling catheter. In uncomplicated UTIs, isolation frequencies of Klebsiella spp., P. aeruginosa, and E. faecalis were significant in the patients with surgery. In complicated UTIs without indwelling catheter, Klebsiella spp. was frequently isolated in the patients with surgery. In complicated UTIs with indwelling catheter, S. aureus and Staphylococcus spp. were frequently isolated in the patients without surgery.