Search

Introduction SyngoDynaPBVNeuro® is a tool to perform cerebral blood volume (CBV) measurements intraoperatively by functional imaging producing CT-like images. Aim of this prospective study was to analyze the clinical relevance and benefit of CBV measurement with regard to neurological complications like cerebral hyperfusion syndrome (CHS). Methods Forty-five patients undergoing endarterectomy (CEA) of the internal carotid artery were included; functional imaging with CBV measurement was performed before and after CEA. To evaluate and analyze CBV, six regions of interest (ROI) were identified for all patients with an additional ROI in patients with symptomatic ICA stenosis and previous stroke. The primary endpoint of the study was a perioperative change in CBV measurements. Secondary outcomes were incidence of stroke, TIA, CHS, and perioperative morbidity and mortality. Results Thirty-day stroke incidence and thirty-day mortality were 0%. Thirty-day morbidity was 6.7%. Two patients from the asymptomatic group suffered from transient neurological symptoms without signs of intracerebral infarction in CT or MR scan, meeting diagnostic criteria for CHS. In 83.3% of ROIs in these patients, an increase of blood volume was detected. Overall, 26.7% patients suffered from unilateral headache as expression of potential CHS. A total of 69.4% of ROIs in patients with postoperative unilateral headache showed an increase when comparing pre- and postoperative CBV measurements. Conclusion The results show that increased CBV measured by functional imaging is a possible surrogate marker of neurological complications like CHS after CEA. By using intraoperative CBV measurement, the risk of CHS can be estimated early and appropriate therapeutic measures can be applied.

Healthcare students are key resources after nuclear disasters. Healthcare students at Fukushima Medical University volunteered after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima nuclear accident. At the time of the disaster, healthcare students, who were in a position between medical and non-medical people, listened to the various concerns and worries of victims. Specifically, they established the Fukushima WILL – a disaster medical club. These activities have continued for about 10 years after the Fukushima disaster. In this paper, we introduce lessons from and perspectives for healthcare student volunteer activities during disasters. When volunteering, healthcare students needed to acquire sufficient medical knowledge and skills as well as display effective communication skills considering the background of the affected people. In addition, to respond to potential future disasters, healthcare students need to proactively, independently, and repeatedly learn about diseases that are likely to occur in shelters and how to prevent them. Seminars and workshops should be implemented to ensure students are taught these lessons and provided daily training on disaster response.

SyngoDynaPBVNeuro® is a tool to perform cerebral blood volume (CBV) measurements intraoperatively by functional imaging producing CT-like images. Aim of this prospective study was to analyze the clinical relevance and benefit of CBV measurement with regard to neurological complications like cerebral hyperfusion syndrome (CHS).Forty-five patients undergoing endarterectomy (CEA) of the internal carotid artery were included; functional imaging with CBV measurement was performed before and after CEA. To evaluate and analyze CBV, six regions of interest (ROI) were identified for all patients with an additional ROI in patients with symptomatic ICA stenosis and previous stroke. The primary endpoint of the study was a perioperative change in CBV measurements. Secondary outcomes were incidence of stroke, TIA, CHS, and perioperative morbidity and mortality.Thirty-day stroke incidence and thirty-day mortality were 0%. Thirty-day morbidity was 6.7%. Two patients from the asymptomatic group suffered from transient neurological symptoms without signs of intracerebral infarction in CT or MR scan, meeting diagnostic criteria for CHS. In 83.3% of ROIs in these patients, an increase of blood volume was detected. Overall, 26.7% patients suffered from unilateral headache as expression of potential CHS. A total of 69.4% of ROIs in patients with postoperative unilateral headache showed an increase when comparing pre- and postoperative CBV measurements.The results show that increased CBV measured by functional imaging is a possible surrogate marker of neurological complications like CHS after CEA. By using intraoperative CBV measurement, the risk of CHS can be estimated early and appropriate therapeutic measures can be applied.

The liquid–vapor phase distribution and displacement in the capillary evaporator of a loop heat pipe (LHP) are key phenomena affecting the steady-state and transient operating behavior. This study conducts optical observation of liquid–vapor phase behavior in the evaporator using a transparent glass tube heated by far-infrared radiation during start-up of the LHP. A quartz wick-acetone LHP system is designed, fabricated, and operated successfully with a heat flux of 1 W/cm2 transported by the cylindrical evaporator. To investigate effect of the liquid–vapor phase distribution in the evaporator at the initial state, start-up experiments with eight phase patterns—which are either liquid-saturated or two-phase in each of the inlet of the vapor line, grooves, and compensation chamber (CC)—are performed. The phase distribution affects the temperature profile although it has no effect upon the steady-state characteristics, and nucleate boiling occurs in the wick or groove simultaneously with evaporator-temperature drop when both the grooves and the inlet of the vapor line are completely filled with liquid. Liquid–vapor displacements from start-up to the steady-state are classified into four transient behaviors, which include boiling in the CC and meniscus oscillation at the three phase contact line within the case, wick, and groove.

In this study a systematic comparison was carried out to assess differences on the accuracy between partial least squares (PLS) and support vector machine (SVM) regression algorithms in soil organic matter and particle size determinations using vis-NIR spectroscopy. The comparison consisted in investigating the influence on the size of calibration set on the external validation set accuracy. For this purpose, three vis-NIR soil libraries containing 14,212, 15,330 and 42,471 soil samples were used to determine sand, clay, and SOM content, respectively. To increase the variability of the results obtained, each calibration subset was randomly generated 49 times and for each iteration a PLS, SVM-Linear and SVM-RBF (radial basis function) regression models were built. These calibration subsets were composed by 250, 1000, 2000, 5000 and 8000 or 10,000 samples. In all situations the SVM-Linear obtained the worst accuracy results. For sand and clay determinations, SVM-RBF models shows a significant improvement on the accuracy, compared to PLS, when the calibration model was built using at least 1000 samples, resulting in a reduction of ~14–29% on the RMSEP. For SOM determinations the difference in RMSEP values of SVM-RBF and PLS starts to be significant when 2000 or more samples were used in calibration set, presenting a reduction of ~8–22% on the RMSEP values. In addition, for all soil attributes investigated between 20 and 27% of the external validation set (1173–2241 samples) were considered outliers and excluded by the PLS regression models. This loss of PLS performance for large calibration sets, indicates the correlation between the vis-NIR spectra and clay, sand and SOM contents tends to be more complex by increasing the variability/number of samples. Requiring the use of machine learnings models with high generalization capacity, such as the SVM-RBF, which increased the performance as the number of samples that compose the calibration set increased.

Purpose/objective(s) Radiotherapy (RT) with or without androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) plays a key role in the salvage treatment of prostate cancer recurrent after prostatectomy. However, not all patients benefit from salvage therapy, and there is an unmet need for biomarkers to distinguish responders from non-responders. Prostate cancer depends on androgen receptor (AR) signaling, and expression of AR splice variants (ARVs) that enable androgen-independent AR signaling is associated with resistance to ADT in the metastatic setting. Recent in vitro data suggest that ARVs also mediate DNA repair after irradiation, suggesting that ARV expression may also be a biomarker of resistance to RT. However, the landscape of ARV expression in primary prostate cancer and its effect on treatment outcomes remain unexplored. Here, we hypothesized that ARVs may be detectable in primary prostate cancer and furthermore may modulate response to salvage RT+ADT. Materials/methods We retrospectively identified 46 prostate cancer patients treated with prostatectomy followed by salvage RT+ ADT at a single institution from 1995 to 2012. Median age at salvage was 64.5 years. The indication for salvage therapy was biochemical failure after an undetectable post-operative PSA in 72%, gross local recurrence in 17%, and persistently elevated PSA after surgery in 11%. Median RT dose was 64.8 Gy, and all patients received concurrent ADT. We comprehensively interrogated the landscape of ARVs by performing ultra-deep targeted RNA-seq of archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded prostatectomy samples. Using a custom library of > 3000 primers spanning all AR exons and introns, we evaluated 21 native splice junction sites and 20 splice variants with a mean depth of coverage of > 5000x. We tested for association between splice variant expression and clinical outcomes using the log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards model. Results In total, 76% of patients had one or more detectable AR splice variants. The most commonly detected variants were AR-45 (exon 1b-2) in 41%, AR-V9 (exon 3-cryptic exon (CE) 5) in 20%, and AR-V7 (exon 3-CE3) in 13%. At a median follow-up of 33.8 months, biochemical progression-free survival (BPFS) at 3 years was 60%, distant metastasis-free survival was 90%, and overall survival was 100%. Among detected splice variants, only AR-V7 was associated with differential clinical outcomes, with a median BPFS of 10.9 months in AR-V7 positive vs 73.4 months in AR-V7 negative patients (P = 0.0020, HR 5.23, 95% CI 1.62-16.87). Conclusion Using a custom ultra-deep targeted RNA-Seq approach, we provide among the first comprehensive descriptions of the AR splice variant landscape in primary prostate cancer. Moreover, we show that detectable AR-V7 expression in prostatectomy specimens was associated with inferior outcomes following subsequent salvage RT+ADT, suggesting for the first time that AR-V7 may modulate outcomes for localized as well as metastatic disease.

Introduction Emergencies care in occupational health care for organisations and groups and their individual departments and support for personal injuries and illnesses including life crises. However, the details of emergencies care in occupational health care are unclear. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the competencies required of occupational health nurses (OHNs) in emergency care. This study forms a part of efforts to construct a continuing education system for OHNs to improve their competencies in emergency care. Methods A semi-guided interview was conducted with 10 OHNs. Referencing the data obtained from the research on continuing education for OHNs and the data obtained from the research on core curricula of nursing universities in Japan, these interview results were categorised base on their similarities and examined for their competencies in emergency care. Results All participants in this study were women with 7–28 years of experience in occupational health nursing. The number of total employees at the workplace of each participant was assessed and it was established that for 2 of the participants there were Conclusion The results suggested that to provide emergency care, OHNs must be able to identify life crises when they are occurring and provide emergency treatment, engage in preventive activities to prevent emergencies from occurring or aggravating, and exhibit ethical behaviour and professionalism in emergencies. Based on these details, we intend to further investigate the content of education and develop a continuing education program for OHNs.

Introduction Resilience is a personal characteristic that assists recovery from psychological impact. This study aimed to examine resilience-related factors focusing on the meanings of ‘work’. Methods This was a case study. A semi-guided interview was conducted with a participant in December 2014. We gathered narratives and analysed qualitatively and descriptively. Our University ethics committee approved this study. Results The participant was a woman in her 30 s.The source of psychological impact was a surgery to remove uterine cancer in her 20 s. Her current work involved giving lecturers on the importance of medical examination. The interview lasted 64 min. From the interview, 102 codes, 42 sub categories, and 11 categories were obtained. The extracted items included decline of self-esteem, acceptance of one’s situation, existence of supporters, sorting out feelings through work, clarification of one’s role, and being an advocator of uterus cancer. Discussion Resilience after experiencing psychological impact was related to work and clarification of one’s role through the work. Working plays a significant role in supporting one’s resilience. It is necessary to facilitate environmental system that achieves good balance between work and treatment.

Introduction The health guidance system that focused on Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) for people over 40 years old was launched in 2008 in Japan. This study aimed to evaluate the health guidance courses and the cost effectiveness of the program. Methods The three courses of the health guidance program for male workers of an automobile parts manufacturing company (age 19 to 60) having the risk of metabolic syndrome were conducted in May – July 2016, November – January 2016 and January – March 2017. Each course of the health guidance was held for three months in which lectures related to MetS and exercises were taught. In addition, physical measurements were recorded. Health education concerning hypertension and salt intake was held in the third course. The indicators of the effects of the health guidance were taken as the amount of change in weight, blood pressure and the measurement of the abdominal circumference. We conducted this study with the approval of the ethics committee of the university that I belonged to. Results Nmber of subjects was 199 male workers. The cost of one course was 6900–7550 Japanese Yen/person. While there were no significant differences between the effectiveness of the health guidance courses seasonally (summer/winter) nor the age of the workers, the effects of the health guidance were different from the first and third courses from that of the 2d course which was conducted around New Year’s and was the worst of the three. The first course that was held in spring was the most effective and had the highest cost effectiveness. Conclusion Previous research reported that there was seasonal variation in body weight and HbA1c. In addition to the influence of seasonal fluctuation, further analysis involving factors of the subjects’ health knowledge and physical activity is necessary.

Time-resolved measurements of the ionization states of warm dense aluminum via K-shell absorption spectroscopy are demonstrated using betatron radiation generated from laser wakefield acceleration as a probe. The warm dense aluminum is generated by irradiating a free-standing nanofoil with a femtosecond optical laser pulse and was heated to an electron temperature of ∼20-25 eV at a close-to-solid mass density. Absorption dips in the transmitted x-ray spectrum due to the Al^{4+} and Al^{5+} ions are clearly seen during the experiments. The measured absorption spectra are compared to simulations with various ionization potential depression models, including the commonly used Stewart-Pyatt model and an alternative modified Ecker-Kroll model. The observed absorption spectra are in approximate agreement with these models, though indicating a slightly higher state of ionization and closer agreement for simulations with the modified Ecker-Kroll model.

Following the Chicxulub impact, many foraminifera in near-surface waters perished, but bottom-dwelling species survived. Impact experiments suggest that sulphate in Chicxulubs target rocks was released as predominantly sulphur trioxide, which would have been converted to sulphuric acid in the atmosphere and swept down swiftly by larger particles, acidifying the ocean surface.

Purpose Magnitude of functional recovery of the left ventricle (LV) is one of the critical determinants of prognosis post-implantation of ventricular assist device (iVAD) for non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NIDCM). Although predictive factors of the functional recovery are not fully understood, presence of immunocompetent cells in the myocardium is reported to be associated with the pathological stage and/or the myocardial viability. We aimed to explore relationships between functional recovery post-iVAD implantation and distribution of the immunocompetent cells in NIDCM. Methods In the last 5 years, iVAD such as HeartMateII was implanted in 50 patients with NIDCM for bridge-to-transplantation purpose, followed by β blocker and/or ACE inhibitor in the aim to enhance functional recovery. Results During the iVAD support, 12 patients (24%) underwent heart transplantation, while 2 patients (4%) died due to cerebral infarction. Four patients (8%) were treated for congestive heart failure in-hospital, while freedom from heart failure was 96±0.0% at 1 year and 89±0.1% at 5 years. Echocardiographical dimension of the LV was a significant predictive factor of heart failure post-iVAD implantation (P Conclusion Despite aggressive medical treatments post-iVAD implantation, functional recovery was not frequently seen in advanced stage of NIDCM. Immunocompetent cells in the LV myocardium might be a key to predict myocardial viability of this pathology.

Serum biochemical analysis was undertaken to study the pathophysiological details of emaciation disease of the tiger puffer fish Takifugu rubripes (Temminck and Schlegel). Serum parameters were measured by biochemical analysis using automated dry chemistry and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Serum concentrations of albumin, amylase, calcium, creatinine, glucose and total protein were significantly lower in the emaciated fish when compared with those of normal fish. Regression analyses found close correlation between concentrations of total protein, albumin, amylase, glucose and progress of the disease. In contrast, serum alanine aminotransferase increased significantly in emaciated fish indicating liver function disorder. Further, GC/MS metabolic profiling of the puffer serum showed that the profile of the emaciated fish was distinct to that of non-infected control. The serum content of amino acids including glycine, 5-oxo-proline and proline, and ascorbic acid, fumaric acid and glycerol increased significantly in serum in moderately emaciated fish. The serum glucose, linolenic acid and tyrosine level decreased significantly in the late phase of the disease. Our results clearly show that prolonged intestinal damage caused by myxosporean infection impairs absorption of nutrients, resulting in extreme emaciation.

We discuss the experiments done with the 200 TW laser system at ALLS facility. A maximum intensity of 1022 W/cm2 is achieved on target to accelerate electrons directly by the laser field in relativistic regime.

Summary By using a rectangular type tissue expander, the skin is expanded as a cuboid. To cover a skin defect effectively, it is necessary to cut the expanded skin and to spread it out as a flap. We designed the lambda incision of the lateral wall of the expanded cuboid. In principle we make one lambda incision on each lateral wall (a total of 2 incisions). However, if the defect is triangular, one lambda on one side is sufficient. If it is a trapezoid, one lambda on one side and two lambdas on the opposite side are used. The lambda incision was applied in 11 cases. In almost all, the expanded skin could be spread out well and the lesions could be resected. There were no complication due to lambda incisions.

After two cases of amoebic colitis were detected at an institution for the mentally retarded in the Yamagata prefecture of Japan, the prevalence and epidemiology of Entamoeba histolytica infection at the institution were investigated. When the 76 residents with mental retardation were checked by serology and stool examinations, 40 (53%) showed evidence of infection with E. histolytica (i.e. E. histolytica-specific antibodies in their serum, Entamoeba cysts in their stools, and/or E. histolytica-specific antigens in their stools). The cysts were all assumed to be those of E. histolytica since all nine of the 18 cyst-positive stool samples investigated using a PCR (that distinguishes E. histolytica from E. dispar) were found positive for this species. The E. histolytica found in the institution in Yamagata appears to have been brought into the institution, from a similar institution in Kanagawa prefecture, by a mentally retarded individual who relocated from Kanagawa to Yamagata. Isolates of E. histolytica recovered during an outbreak in the institution in Kanagawa appear genotypically identical to the genotyped isolates collected in the outbreak investigated in the present study. The 40 infected individuals in Yamagata were each treated for 10 days with metronidazole or diloxanide furoate. The residents and staff of the institution were encouraged to wash their hands more frequently and more thoroughly, and the staff were asked to clip residents' fingernails and to improve the cleanliness/sterilization of the surfaces in the institution that were most likely to be contaminated with E. histolytica (lavatories, handrails, doors, doorknobs, washrooms, clothing etc). In the last 5 years of follow-up since the instigation of these and other infection-control measures, and the last treatments, no cases of E. histolytica infection have been found in the institution. This encouraging result offers hope and guidance to those attempting to control outbreaks of E. histolytica infection in other institutions.

The 200TW ALLS laser system (30 fs, 5J) is used to accelerate electrons through laser wakefield and generate betatron emission in the 10keV range. Single shot phase contrast images of a series of nylon fibers with diameter ranging from 10μm to 400μm have been obtained in different geometries and are interpreted with a comprehensive model of x-ray propagation integrating the properties and geometries of the imaging beam line. A simple figure of merit, which can give indication on the interface sharpness of a phase object, is used to assess the quality of the imaging beam line.

This paper discusses some aspect of the experimental effort in high field science (up to 1022 W/cm2) done with the high peak power (>200TW) laser system at the Advanced Laser Light Source facility (ALLS). A maximum intensity of 1022 W/cm2 has been achieved on target. The present experiments explore the acceleration of electrons directly by the laser field (DLFA) in the transition between the relativistic and ultra-relatisitic regimes. Electrons are accelerated to multi-MeV energies using radially (TM01) and azimuthally (TE01) polarized modes and the contribution of various acceleration processes is briefly discussed.

We have developed a laser wakefield generated X-ray probe to directly measure the temporal evolution of the ionization states in warm dense aluminum by means of absorption spectroscopy. As a promising alternative to the free electron excited X-ray sources, Betatron X-ray radiation, with femtosecond pulse duration, provides a new technique to diagnose femtosecond to picosecond transitions in the atomic structure. The X-ray probe system consists of an adjustable Kirkpatrick-Baez (KB) microscope for focusing the Betatron emission to a small probe spot on the sample being measured, and a flat Potassium Acid Phthalate Bragg crystal spectrometer to measure the transmitted X-ray spectrum in the region of the aluminum K-edge absorption lines. An X-ray focal spot size of around 50 μm was achieved after reflection from the platinum-coated 10-cm-long KB microscope mirrors. Shot to shot positioning stability of the Betatron radiation was measured resulting in an rms shot to shot variation in spatial pointing on the sample of 16 μm. The entire probe setup had a spectral resolution of ~1.5 eV, a detection bandwidth of ~24 eV, and an overall photon throughput efficiency of the order of 10(-5). Approximately 10 photons were detected by the X-ray CCD per laser shot within the spectrally resolved detection band. Thus, it is expected that hundreds of shots will be required per absorption spectrum to clearly observe the K-shell absorption features expected from the ionization states of the warm dense aluminum.

Transitional vertebrae (TV) may be one of the risk factors for lumbar disc herniation. It is not clear, however, whether the presence of TV can affect the development of nerve-root symptoms. Our aim was to clarify this relationship. A total of 501 patients with lumbar degenerative disease and nerve-root symptoms was studied in respect of their level and the presence of TV. As a control group, 508 patients without low back pain or nerve-root symptoms were studied to establish the incidence of TV. In patients with disc herniation, the incidence was statistically higher and the mean age lower in patients with TV than in those without. In most patients, the symptomatic disc level was just above the TV. Similarly, in those with stenosis of the spinal canal without spondylolisthesis, the symptomatic disc level was most commonly just above the TV.

Dispersed electrical energy storage systems are expected to work for load leveling, fluctuation smoothing, uninterruptible power supply and emergency power source. Their introduction seems to be essential in order to control the future complicated energy utility networks. In this paper, the characteristics of promising energy storage systems by pumped hydro, compressed air, secondary batteries, superconducting magnet, flywheel or capacitors have been surveyed and discussed. From the results, their characteristics and suitable application fields have been clarified.

A new conceptual combination of Brayton and inverted Brayton cycles with a heat sink by intercooling, which is dubbed the mirror gas turbine, has been evaluated and proposed in this paper. Prior to such evaluations, a preliminary test on the inverted cycle without intercooling was made experimentally to confirm the actual operation. The conventional method of recuperation in gas turbines can be replaced by the mirror gas turbine with a low working temperature of about 450°C at heat exchanger. The combined cycle of Brayton/Rankine for electricity generation plant may be improved by our concept into a system with steam turbines completely removed and with still high thermal efficiency. Ultra-micro turbines will be possible, producing the output power less than 10 kW as well as thermal efficiency of 20 percent.

著者人数: 20名, 資料番号: SA1002901000

The behavior and design of reinforced concrete blast resistant structures are supported by intensive numerical simulations, and the effects of various parameters on the results is of great interest. Finite element simulations were performed in the nonlinear dynamic domain with modified concrete and steel constitutive models. Ten different cases were implemented, each with different reinforcement details. In addition, each case included both a coarse mesh and a fine mesh to determine the effects of mesh resolution on the numerical simulations. Gravity and loading conditions were altered to investigate their influences on the results. Deformations and stress distributions in both the concrete and steel were examined to determine the composite structural behavior and the extent of predicted damage for the various cases. The observations from these analyses highlighted relationships between the simulation parameters and the corresponding outcome. Conclusions and recommendations are presented that could assist in the development of efficient numerical simulations in this general area.

One hundred and thirty-four patients with idiopathic scoliosis were treated between 1973 and 1993 in our hospital, and 53 were followed for a minimum of 10 years in a retrospective study. Forty-five were female and 8 male with an average age of 32 years at follow up. Dwyer instrumentation was used in 17 and Zielke in 36. The curve was thoracic in 16, thoracolumbar in 27 and lumbar in 10. The average preoperative Cobb angle was 64 degrees. The average angle at follow up was 21 degrees with 62% of the average correction maintained (61% in the Dwyer and 65% in the Zielke). Most patients were satisfied subjectively and we recommend this type of operation.

Summary form only given. In recent years, ytterbium-ion (Yb)-doped materials have been recognized having attractive potential for laserdiode (LD) pumped solid state lasers. One of the features of the Yb-doped materials is that it can incorporate very high concentrations of the Yb-ions with low concentration quenching. Highly laser ion-doped materials with short absorption length permit the use of thin gain media with high pump absorption efficiency. The thin media are useful for high efficiency oscillation by high intensity pumping, i.e., LDs with low beam quality can be used as pump sources with high mode-matching efficiency between the laser beam and the pump beam. For example at room temperature, the highest efficiencies, which close to the laser quantum limit of 91% and are the highest in the lasers to our knowledge, are obtained by continuous-wave (CW) microchip Yb:YAG lasers with a high ion concentration of 20 at.% by high intensity pumping [1]. Although the pump source was a Ti:sapphire laser, these results suggest that these efficiencies can be also obtained from LD pumped CW lasers with higher Yb-ion concentration materials, such as the stoichiometric Yb-doped materials, in which Yb-ion concentration is the highest in the Yb-doped materials.Until now, laser oscillations of only two stoichiometric Yb materials have been reported [2-5]. On YbAG, which is one of the stoichiometric material, it has several advantages. The thermal conductivity of the YbAG is two times larger than that of the other. The fractional thermal population at the lower laser level, which is corresponding to the reabsorption loss, of the YbAG is much smaller than that of the other because of higher energy separation of the lower laser level and the ground state. The YAG is optically isotropic, stable, and robust compared to the other Yb-doped host materials. In previous studies, we have achieved continuous-wave YbAG laser oscillations by using a microchip gain material to minimize the reabsorption loss by optimum thickness [4]. Although the pump source was a Ti:sapphire laser, the pump wavelength of 937 nm is suitable for LD pumping. Here, we present a continuos-wave microchip stoichiometric YbAG laser at room temperature by multimode LD pumping [5]. It is the first report for the continuous-wave oscillation of stoichiometric Yb laser by LD pumping, in our knowledge. We used a microchip YbAG laser gain material which was also used in the previous experiment [4]. The pump source was a low-brightness, multi-mode single emitter LD (OSRAM) with an emitter area of 1 μm × 200 μm. When the output power of the LD was 720 mW, the wavelength was 940 nm. The LD beam was focused in the laser crystal with a spot area of 30 μm × 150 μm. The pump absorption efficiency was 94%. In this experiment, the maximum pump intensity in the laser crystal was 19 kW/cm2 for the absorbed pump power. The peak wavelength of the lasing was 1079 nm which is a similar result in the previous experiment by Ti:sapphire laser pumping [4]. Figure 1 shows the output power of the YbAG laser by multi-mode LD pumping and Ti:sapphire laser pumping as a function of the incident pump power. The lasing threshold intensity for the absorbed pump power was around 4 kW/cm2. The maximum slope efficiency and the maximum optical-to-optical efficiency were 13% and 10%, respectively for the absorbed pump power. These efficiencies are low compared to those of the Ti:sapphire-laser pumped laser due to its low mode-matching efficiency andhigh lasing threshold. The optical-to-optical and slope efficiencies will be increased by multi path pumping schemes, which are usually used in thin-disk lasers, and precise compensation of thermo-optic effects.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the usefulness of width and morphology of the inferior cortex of the mandible on panoramic radiographs in the diagnosis of postmenopausal osteoporosis. METHODS The width and morphology of the mandibular inferior cortex on panoramic radiographs were compared with trabecular bone mineral density (TBMD) of the 3rd lumbar vertebrae (L3) measured by dual energy quantitative computed tomography in 29 premenopausal and 95 postmenopausal women. RESULTS There was a significant negative correlation between the width (Kendall's tau = -0.36, p < 0.001) and morphology (Kendall's tau = -0.49, p < 0.001) of the mandibular inferior cortex and the L3 TBMD. Regression analysis showed that significant linear relationships were observed between the L3 TBMD and age (p < 0.001), cortical width (p < 0.05), morphology (p < 0.05), controlling body mass index, number of teeth present and menopausal status (R2 = 0.42). CONCLUSION Our results suggest that panoramic radiography could be reliable in screening fo...

In analysis of the probability of tooth loss with age, the exact time of tooth loss is often unknown, although it is clear whether a tooth remains or has been lost. That is, left censoring is inevitable during data sampling. This may provide a biased estimate if such data are dealt with by the product-limit method, which is a common method of survival analysis. To reduce such a bias in estimating the age-specific probability of tooth loss, we developed a survival analysis method taking left censoring into consideration. Four hundred and forty-six panoramic radiographs obtained in a daily clinical practice were used. The frequency of tooth loss with age was assumed to follow the Weibull hazard model, and a likelihood function taking left censoring into consideration was defined to estimate the probability of tooth loss. The estimate obtained from our method was compared with that from the product-limit method to examine whether the effect of left censoring was reduced. We found that the probability of tooth loss estimated by the product-limit method was biased by left-censored data, and that the bias was reduced when our method was used. A Monte Carlo simulation study, in which the true tooth loss time was given, also showed that our method provided an estimate closer to the true value. Our method is considered to be more accurate in estimating the probability of tooth loss, since it reduces the bias caused by left-censored data.

Gene therapy offers a novel approach to treating human joint diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. In the present study, we have used the retrovirus, MFG-IRAP, to transfer the human IL-1 receptor antagonist protein (IRAP) gene to rabbits' knees and have assessed its impact on inflammatory and chondrodestructive aspects of the acute phase of antigen-induced arthritis in these joints. Surprisingly, intra-articular expression of IRAP was three- to fivefold higher in arthritic knees than in nonarthritic knees, accumulating to levels of over 20 ng/knee in the highest expressing joints. This level of expression produced a marked chondroprotective effect but a milder anti-inflammatory one. Both the increased cartilage matrix catabolism and the inhibition of matrix synthesis that occur in antigen-induced arthritis were abrogated in the presence of the IRAP gene; the latter effect was particularly strong. Of the indices of inflammation that were examined, only leukocyte influx into the joint space was inhibited, and this effect declined with time. Concentrations of rabbit IL-1 were reduced by the IRAP gene, suggesting inhibition of an autocrine induction loop. These data demonstrate that the course of arthritic disease in the rabbit knee can be altered by genetic manipulation, thus encouraging the further development of gene treatments for human joint diseases.

In this paper, we propose a new speech communication system to convert oral motion images into speech. We call this system "The Image Input Microphone." It provides high security and is not affected by acoustic noise because it is not necessary to input the actual utterance. This system is especially promising as a speaking-aid system for people whose vocal cords are injured. Since this is a basic investigation of media conversion from image to speech, we focus on vowels, and conduct experiments on media conversion of vowels. The vocal-tract transfer function and the source signal for driving this filter are estimated from features of the lips. These features are extracted from oral images in a learning data set, then speech is synthesized by this filter inputted with an appropriate driving signal. The performance of this system is evaluated by hearing tests of synthesized speech. The mean recognition rate for the test data set was 76.8%. We also investigate the effects of practice by iterative listening. The mean recognition rate rises from 69.4% to over 90% after four tests over four days. Consequently, we conclude the proposed system has potential as a method of nonacoustic communication., (c)1995 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE.

We developed a signal evaluation system of flexible array eddy current testing (ECT) probes for inspecting complexly shaped metal surfaces. Our probes employ excitation and pickup coil pairs arrayed on a bendable substrate to measure curved targets. Since the developed probes produce signals due to the change in the relative position between the coil pair, an evaluation module for flaw signal identification is integrated into the system. The identification utilizes signal phase combination of the coil pairs. It is represented as a two‐dimensional diagram constituting the phase values of two of the coil pairs with different positions. The phase of signals around flaws is significantly affected by their orientations. The diagram is therefore capable of separating flaw information from other information and of imaging flaw positions. We applied the system to complex geometric mock‐ups. Flaw signals were successfully identified and the images obtained for identified positions could be used to efficiently meas...

目的・対象・方法:1983年1月～1992年11月の約10年間に当教室で検索した外科的・内視鏡的切除材料のうち最大径20mm以内の大腸上皮性腫瘍422例の大きさ・型・組織学的性状・深達度を検索し,大腸癌の組織発生・進展のメインルートを多角的に検討した.成績:(1)最大径5mm以内の微小癌の約2/3がde novo癌であり,その多くは表面陥凹型癌であった.(2)ポリープ型早期癌は微小癌も含め腺腫共存率が高かった.(3)早期癌中の粘膜下浸潤癌の占める率はポリープ型癌よりも表面型癌で高く,15mm以下の粘膜下浸潤癌の68%(13/19例)は表面型癌であった.(4)癌が大きくなるにつれて隆起部と陥凹部の両方を合わせもつ表面型癌(IIa+IIc, IIc+IIa)が増えた.(5)進行癌の多く(14/15例)は表面型癌に類似した.まとめ:大腸癌発生・進展経路は約2/3がde novo発生→陥凹→(隆起)→粘膜下浸潤→進行癌,約1/3が腺腫→隆起→癌化→粘膜下浸潤→進行癌であると推定された.

A bioassay study of Pasak bumi (Eurycoma longifolia) led to the isolation of four quassinoids, pasakbumin-A (1), -B (2), -C (4), and -D (7). Both pasakbumin-A (= eurycomanone) 1 and pasakbumin-B 2 exhibited potent antiulcer activity. This prompted us to test some modified quassinoids to reveal that ailanthone (8), the main quassinoid of Ailanthus altissima, and its α-epoxide (9) have potent activity and less toxicity. Thus, quassinoids which are generally recognised as antitumor compounds were revealed to have antiulcer activity.

Bone structure is deeply related to its mechanical function, and is maintained adaptation by remodeling. Among many investigations concerning the mathematical modeling of bone remodeling, the physiological range of mechanical stimuli has been studied mainly. In this study, mathematical models of surface remodeling in disuse and overuse windows are formulated by paying attention to the osteocyte apoptosis and targeted remodeling, and are unified with that in the physiological window. The fundamental characteristics of the unified model are examined through numerical cases.