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Background Few studies have investigated the burst pressure of side-to-side anastomoses comparing different stapling devices that are commercially available. Objectives We conducted side-to-side anastomoses with a variety of staplers and compared burst pressure in the crotch of the anastomoses. Setting Nagoya City East Medical Center. Methods We conducted side-to-side anastomoses with 9 staplers with different shapes and forms. Fresh pig small intestines were used. A side-to-side anastomosis was performed between 2 intestine specimens using a linear stapler. The burst pressure of the anastomosis was recorded. Results In total, 45 staplers were used for this experiment. The site of leakage in all cases was the crotch. Regarding the influence of the number of staple rows, the burst pressure in 3-row staplers was significantly higher than in 2-row staplers. With regard to the relationship between staple height and burst pressure, staples with a height slightly shorter than the intestinal thickness showed the highest burst pressure. In a comparison of staplers with uniform staple heights and stamplers with staples of 3 different heights, the latter had significantly lower burst pressures. Neoveil significantly increased the burst pressure in the crotch and contributed to the highest burst pressure of all the staplers used in this experiment. Conclusions In this experiment, we defined the important factors that influence burst pressure at the crotch of a stapled, side-to-side anastomosis. These factors include the number of staple rows, the height of the staple compared with the thickness of the tissue, uniformity of staple height, and reinforcement of the staple line. In any surgical case requiring intestinal anastomosis, selection of a stapler is a critical step.

Highlights • The indications for stripping of the esophagus have decreased due to the widespread of endoscopic mucosal resection and thoracoscopic surgery. • Even if indications for this procedure have decreased, this is an important option in the armamentarium of the esophageal surgeon., Introduction Patients with esophageal cancer frequently cannot tolerate thoracotomy due to their overall debilitated condition. Moreover, some patients have severe adhesions in the thoracic cavity. Eversion stripping of the esophagus is an option for resection in these patients. Presentation of case A 64-year-old man was admitted to our institution with the chief complaint of epigastric pain. Endoscopic examination showed a protruding lesion 22 cm from the incisors, with a superficial and circumferential mucosal irregularity on the distal side of the lesion. Biopsy revealed squamous cell carcinoma. Clinical stage was T1b(sm)N0M0, cStage I. In addition to the poor pulmonary status of the patient, adhesions in the intrathoracic cavity were predicted. The decision was made to perform esophageal resection without a thoracotomy. In order to ensure complete invagination of the esophagus, the esophagus was insufflated prior to stripping. The stripping process was observed with a gastroscope. During the stripping, the esophagus did not bunch up, and stripping was smooth and with minimal resistance. Discussion The stripping resection of the esophagus is an important option for the esophageal surgeon. In this case report, we describe a new eversion stripping method of the esophagus. This easy and reliable stripping method incorporates intraesophageal insufflation. Conclusion The indications for blunt esophageal dissection without thoracotomy have been decreasing. On the other hand, our method seems to be useful in optimal case of stripping of esophagus.

Introduction Various types of staplers are used for gastric tube formation after esophagectomy. Using a stapling device, a gastric tube can safely be created in a short amount of time. The problems with gastric tube creation using only linear type staplers include staple overlap as well as the problem of cost associated with using multiple staplers. To address this, both linear and radial type staplers have been introduced. We herein compare three methods of gastric tube creation. Methods From 2012 to 2014, 62 patients with esophageal cancer underwent esophagectomy with gastric tube reconstruction. We evaluated and compared the mean number of stapler loads and cost in each groups. Results The mean number of stapler loads was 6.24 in method A, 5.16 in method B, and 4.33 in method C. The mean cost accounting for total staple fires per case was 3116.07 dollars in the method A group, 2576.74 dollars in the method B group, and 2447.78 dollars in the method C group. Anastomotic leaks developed in 4 cases in the method A group and in 3 cases in the method B group. There were no anastomotic leaks in the method C group. Conclusion We hypothesize that by using radial type staplers, we can create a durable gastric tube and reduce the number of staplers and therefore reduce operative cost., Highlights • We herein compare three methods of gastric tube creation. • Using radial type staplers, we can create a durable gastric tube. • We also reduce the number of staplers and therefore reduce operative cost.

High sheet resistance multilayers consisting of Ga-doped ZnO (ZnO:Ga) and Ga-Y-codoped ZnO (ZnO:Ga,Y) films were investigated. These films were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering. The sheet resistances of substrate/(ZnO:Ga,Y)/(ZnO:Ga)/(ZnO:Ga,Y) multilayers are adjustable in the range of 450–1600 Ω/sq by choosing the proper thickness of the (ZnO:Ga) layer. This is because the (ZnO:Ga,Y) layer has a high resistivity of about 1 Ω cm and does not practically contribute the sheet resistance of the multilayers. The sheet resistance of the multilayers shows almost no change after a long heating at 100°C in air. This is probably due to the improvement in crystallinity of the (ZnO:Ga) layer deposited on the (ZnO:Ga,Y) underlayer and the protection of the (ZnO:Ga) layer from its oxidation by the (ZnO:Ga,Y) overlayer.

ITO films deposited on ZrO 2 undercoats by sputtering were investigated. The ITO films have a fine grain structure, compared to a grain–subgrain structure of conventional ITO films grown on a glass substrate. The grain structure of the ITO films grown on ZrO 2 consists of 30–50 nm wide almost parallel-sided columns. The surface grains have a good uniformity in shape and size. The microstructure and electrical properties of the ITO films changed with increasing ZrO 2 thickness. This indicates that the microstructure and properties of ITO films can be controlled by the ZrO 2 film thickness. The OLED fabricated on the ITO films on ZrO 2 worked with lower driving voltage than the one fabricated on conventional ITO films at the same luminance.

In this study, we investigated activity of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) of lung cancer by newly developed film in situ zymography (FIZ) stamp method, which allows visual localization of gelatinolytic activity within the cut surface of a tumor. We performed FIZ stamp method and conventional gelatin zymography in 39 resected specimen of lung cancer. The degree of gelatinolytic activity was scored (FIZ score) and correlated with the clinicopathological factors of the tumor. FIZ score of normal lung was very low. Lung cancer tissue had consistently higher FIZ score than the matched normal lung tissue. There were statistically significant differences in the FIZ score according to the pathological stage (P = 0.0015), nodal status (P = 0.0007) and lymphatic invasion (P = 0.0004). Direct correlation was observed between the FIZ score and MMP-2 activity (rho = 0.568, P = 0.0030) as quantitated using conventional gelatin zymography. MMP-2 may play an important role in the lymphatic invasion of lung cancer. FIZ stamp method may be a simple and useful diagnostic aid for the presence of cancer cells in the resected specimen.

A new sputter method for high rate deposition of TiO 2 was developed for application to the common planar magnetron sputter system. In this method, DC power is applied to plasma sprayed TiO 2− X targets using a sputter gas of a few percent of O 2 diluted with Ar and then TiO 2 films are deposited with a high deposition rate (eight times higher than that by the conventional method) and a good uniformity of thickness and refractive-index distribution.

A new sputter technique for high rate deposition of TiO2 was developed for applying to conventional planar magnetron DC sputter system. In this technique, TiO2 films are deposited by using a plasma-sprayed TiO2−X target and Ar sputter gas including a few percent of O2 gas. The deposition rate efficiency (deposition rate per applied power density) was almost 8 times larger than that of the conventional sputter method. This technique also has an advantage that there is no damage done to the under layer during the deposition. The Low-E coatings, being multi-stacks of Ag/TiO2, were obtained even in the case of no protective layer on Ag film and their optical properties were better than those of Low-E coatings including ZnO as the dielectric layer, because of the high refractive index of TiO2.

A new sputter technique for high rate deposition of TiO2 was developed for applying to common planar magnetron sputter system. With this technique, using plasma sprayed TiO2−x targets and a sputter gas of a few percent of O2 diluted with Ar, TiO2 films are deposited with a high deposition rate efficiency (deposition rate per applied power density) being almost eight times larger than that of the conventional sputter method using Ti target and O2 sputter gas.

Transparent conductive films of Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) were deposited on glass substrates by dc magnetron sputtering using a ZnO target with Ga 2 O 3 content of 3 to 10 wt%. The dependence of electrical properties on substrate temperature, Ga 2 O 3 contents in the sputtering target and magnetic field strength at the target surface were investigated. It was found that the resistivity depended on both substrate temperature and Ga 2 O 3 content. At substrate temperatures of 100°C, resistivity decreased with increasing Ga 2 O 3 content and 6.5 × 10 −4 ω cm was obtained for a Ga 2 O 3 content of 7.5–10.0 wt%. When the substrate temperature was increased to 300°C, GZO films deposited using 4.5 to 5.7 wt% Ga 2 O 3 targets had a resistivity of 2.7 × 10 −4 ω scm. In addition, the resistivity was found to decrease with increasing magnetic field strength. When the substrate temperature and Ga 2 O 3 content were 100°C and 7.5 wt%, respectively, the resistivity decreased from 6.5 × 10 −4 to 2.9 × 10 −4 ω cm by increasing the magnetic field strength from 3.0 × 10 −2 to 6.5 × 10 −2 T. The minimum resistivity of 2.2 × 10 −4 ω cm was obtained at 250°C (Ga 2 O 3 content:5.7 wt%) for a magnetic field strength of 6.5 × 10 −2 T. The decrease in resistivity was due to the increase both in carrier concentration and mobility.

Synechococcus sp., strain Miami BG 043511, was used as biological material to examine whether cyanobacteria, like photosynthetic bacteria, can utilize sulfide as electron source for H2 photoproduction. We found that sulfide can have either an inhibiting or a stimulating effect on the H2 production of the cyanobacterium, depending on growth conditions, age and sulfide concentration in the nutrient solution. When sodium sulfide (more than 5 mM) was added, H2 production was inhibited in three-day-old cells. The inhibition was negligible with seven-day-old cells, whereas a stimulating effect was measured with 15-day-old cells in the stationary growth phase. At the latter stage the limited light intensity and the deficiency in nutrients represent extreme stress conditions for the organism. The stimulating effect of sulfide under these stress conditions could be enhanced by increasing sulfide concentrations. The stimulating effect of sulfide on H2 production was further confirmed by administering gradually increasing sulfide concentrations to immobilized cells. Our results suggest that Synechococcus sp. strain Miami BG 043511 is able to use sulfide as electron donor for H2 photoproduction, especially under stress conditions.

The tribochemical response of hot-pressed boride ceramics, ZrB 2 , B 4 C, ZrB 2 + B 4 C and ZrB 2 + B 4 C + SiC , has been investigated in air and in de-ionized water. In dry air, the coefficients of friction for all materials tested were about 0.9–0.95, while in humid air of relative humidity (r.h.) 95% they ranged from 0.2–0.3, except for that of ZrB 2 , which was 0.4. Hertzian fractures were noted on the worn surfaces of monolithic boride and ZrB 2 + B 4 C composite, but not on those of SiC-toughened boride or SiC-toughened ZrB 2 + B 4 C . In water, ZrB 2 underwent very severe tribochemical degradation, as suggested by the following reaction: ZrB 2 +10 H 2 O → Zr ( OH ) 4 + 2 H 3 BO 3 + 5 H 2 , while B 4 C, ZrB 2 + B 4 C and ZrB 2 + B 4 C + SiC underwent less tribochemical degradation, and showed lower specific wear rates than ZrB 2 in water.

Purine nucleoside phosphorylase (purine nucleoside:orthophosphate ribosyltransferase, EC 2.4.2.1) has been purified 125-fold from the homogenate of chicken livers and some of the properties of the purified enzyme have been studied. This enzyme had a pH optimum at around 6.o. At high substrate levels of inosine the reaction rate was increased, suggesting that substrate activation of the enzyme had occurred. The enzyme activity was completely lost after 48 h at −20°. The inhibition by nucleotides and SO 4 2− is a characteristic of this enzyme and has not been previously reported.

1. 1.|5′-Nucleotidase (5′-ribonucleotide phosphophydrolase, EC 3.1.3.5) was partially purified from chicken liver. This is the first time it has been possible to obtain 5′-nucleotidase from the hepatic tissue of uricotelic animals and it was found to be kinetically distinct from 5′-nucleotidases obtained from other sources. 2. 2.|5′-Mononucleotides having a keto group at position 6 in the purine base are the most active substrates of this enzyme. 5′-IMP is the most active substrate among the 5′-nucleotides tested, and it is about 10 times more active than 5′-AMP. 3. 3.|This enzyme has an optimum pH at 6.5 and requires divalent metal ions. In the absence of divalent metal ions, the enzyme is almost inactive. 4. 4.|Inosino, guanosine p-chloromercuribenzoate (PCMB) and NaF inhibit this enzyme. Of these inhibitors, PCMB was found to be the most potent. 5. 5.|The general properties of the enzyme are described, and its possible metabolic function is discussed.

By the RF-plasma method, preparation of silicon carbide and silicon nitride powders from alkoxysilanes (Si(OC2H5)4, (CH3)2Si(OC2H5)2 and (CH3)2Si(OCH3)2) and from SiCl4-NH3 system, respectively, was studied. In the preparation of silicon carbide, the reaction product consisted of β-SiC, free carbon and silicon oxide. The amount of SiC in the powder product increased with rising reaction temperature or with increasing [H2]. The amount of SiC increased with decreasing C/Si ratio in alkoxysilanes and was estimated to reach 100% when the C/Si ratio is around 3. In the preparation of silicon nitride, the reaction product was white and non-crystalline powders with a particle size of 0.01-0.02μm. The composition of powders was virtually independent of [NH3] and close to that of Si3N4. Heat treatment at 1550°C was necessary to obtain the crystalline α-Si3N4.