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Toward the 1 MV power supply system for the ITER neutral beam injector consisting of various components with oil insulation, gas insulation and vacuum insulation, design and manufacturing of dc ultra-high-voltage component have been progressed. Thermal design of long transmission line up to 100 m was established. In order to design the high-temperature water channel for the plasma grid at 1 MV potential, the resistivity of high-purity water at 180 °C was measured for the first time. With the obtained resistivity, realistic high-temperature water circulating system was designed. A high-voltage bushing to transmit multiple voltages simultaneously has been also developed through a careful experimental study on vacuum insulation characteristics with multi-gaps coaxial electrodes. With the empirical scaling the electrostatic screen was designed taking into account effect of multi-gap and expected deformation such as thermal elongation during operation. After the assembly, stable voltage holding of 240 kV at each stage was confirmed in the manufactured HV bushing.

Toward ITER, the long-pulse acceleration of MeV-class negative ion beams has been successfully demonstrated and R&Ds and the procurement of high-voltage components of 1 MV power supply system have been progressed. In the accelerator development after the production of 1 MeV beams, an extraction grid, where a water cooling is reinforced and the beam is steered by aperture offset to suppress grid heat loads, has been newly developed to extend the pulse duration of the MeV-class beams. As the result, a total grid heat load has been reduced from 20% to 10% of the total beam power. The beam pulse was successfully increased from 0.4 s to 60 s at 0.68 MeV, 100 A/m 2 and 12 s at 0.89 MeV, 156 A/m 2 beams. As for the procurement of the 1 MV power supply system, 1 MV insulating transformer as the critical component has been developed. In the mock-up, a dc 1.2 MV for 1 h with the margin of 20% was stably sustained. Through the R&Ds of the critical components, design of five power supplies procured by JAEA has been finalized, and out of which a testing power supply has been completed in June 2014.

The HV bushing has a function of a bulk head between insulation gas (SF6) of 0.6 MPa and vacuum, which is needed to insulate −1 MV in vacuum in ITER heating neutral beam (NB) injection system. Mechanical analyses were carried out to verify the mechanical integrity of the HV bushing composed of five-stage double-layered insulator columns with large brazed ceramic ring and fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) ring of which non-metallic material is required to satisfy a safety factor of ≥3.5. As for the FRP ring required sustaining the pressure load, seismic load and dead weight, it was confirmed that isotropic fiber cloth FRP rings having sufficient strength against shear stress should be used. The shape and fixation area of the Kovar sleeve were modified to lower the stress at the brazing area having vacuum leak tightness and pressure tightness against the air filled at 0.6 MPa. As a result, a design of the insulator for the HV bushing was established satisfying the requirement.

The outcome of treatment with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients is considerably variable and is also unpredictable. It would be useful clinically if physicians were able to predict responses to DMARDs prior to their administration. One possible cause of differences in efficacy and adverse drug reactions is genetic variation in how individuals metabolize drugs. Based on pharmacogenetics, tailor-made drug therapy, also called personalized drug therapy or individual drug therapy, will be possible with analysis of genetic polymorphism, such as single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), and analysis of haplotype and diplotype configuration. Several studies of the correlation between the genetic polymorphism of enzymes metabolizing several DMARDs and efficacy or adverse drug reactions have already been reported, suggesting that pharmacogenetics will be applicable to the treatment of RA in the near future.

Li 2 S–GeS 2 –Ga 2 S 3 glasses and thin films were prepared and their conductivities were compared. Bulk glasses were melted in Si-coated silica tubes. The glass-forming region was observed at cation ratios of 0 or 40–70% Li and less than 50% Ga. Thin films with a wider composition range were formed by RF sputtering. Conductivities were almost identical in bulk glasses and films of similar composition and increased along with increasing Li 2 S content. Conductivity and glass transition temperature ( T g ) increased slightly with addition of a moderate amount of Ga 2 S 3 . These results are due to the mixed-former effect.

We studied the polymorphism of alpha1-antichymotrypsin (ACT), very low density lipoprotein receptor (VLDLR) and apolipoprotein E (ApoE) genes in 200 control subjects and 65 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) in Japanese. The subjects consisted of 30 patients with early onset familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD), a patient with late onset FAD, 29 patients with an early onset isolated form of AD, and 5 patients with late onset AD. ApoE genotypes were significantly different between controls and FAD (p0.0005) or AD (p0.05), and patients carrying at least one ApoE epsilon4 allele were found in 44% of FAD and 34.3% of AD; both were significantly different (p0.001) from the controls (12.5%). ACT genotypes and allele frequencies were not different among these groups except for genotypes between ApoE epsilon4 FAD and ApoE epsilon4 controls (p = 0.019). There was a slight but significant increase of the 5 repeat allele of VLDLR in AD (p = 0.014), but the difference was rather diminished in the presence of an ApoE epsilon4 allele. None of combinations of ACT and VLDLR genotypes in the presence or absence of an ApoE epsilon4 allele gave significant difference. Thus, we conclude that among the reported genetic risk factors, ApoE epsilon4 is the only definite risk factor for both FAD and AD, and the VLDLR polymorphism might be associated with AD cases in Japanese.

The concentrations of the non-volatile biogenic amines that form during storage of the adductor muscle of scallop ( Pecten maximus ) and the skeletal muscles of mackerel (Scomber scombrus) and herring ( Clupea harengus ) were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography, using postcolumn derivatisation with o-phthalaldehyde. Initially, concentrations of amines were low in all muscles but, as time of storage progressed, the concentration of agmatine increased steadily in scallop muscle reaching a level of 100 mg per 100 g wet weight after 10 days of storage in ice or 3 days at 10°C. In mackerel and herring only slight increases were observed, with levels of less than 1.0 mg after 10 days in ice or 2 days at 10°C. In scallop, arginine, the precursor of agmatine, decreased steadily in concentration. In herring muscle, histidine, the precursor of histamine, decreased considerably in concentration, whereas in mackerel it changed only slightly. © 1997 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd

Thin films of the Li2SGeS2Ga2S3 glass system were prepared by RF sputtering. In the films, Ge contents became higher than in targets and oxygen contents were lower, using careful procedures. The conductivity of the film showed a comparable value to a bulk glass with similar composition.

In order to evaluate the correlation between immunohistochemical and morphometric data on the same histological sections, we have developed a flexible color image analyzer (Microcomputer-Assisted Picture Processing System type II, MAPPS-II), and established an effective method to analyze the immunostained colorectal neoplasms based on the color recognition theory of human visual system. Colorectal adenomas and adenocarcinomas were stained with a monoclonal antibody C 12, which recognizes abnormal H antigen, using Avidin-Biotin method and diaminobenzidine (DAB, brown dye). Nuclei were stained with Hematoxylin (blue dye). Density and colorimetric analyses revealed two results: (A) Separation of immunostained brown area from blue nuclei was best performed by plotting the representative sample areas on a standard chromaticity diagram, which displays the hue and saturation of colors simulating color of human visual system. (B) After separation of immunostained areas, usual density analysis was useful for the assay of nuclear morphometric information. Using these programs, normal mucosa was negative for C 12, and showed low nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio (NCR). Adenoma was occasionally focally positive for C 12, and showed medium NCR. Carcinomas were C 12 positive, and showed high NCR. Our method permits nuclear counterstaining by hematoxylin instead of low contrast methyl green, which will widen the field of combined immunohistochemical and morphometric study.

The concentrations of the biogenic amines, tyramine, putrescine, cadaverine, histamine, agmatine, spermine and spermidine, present in the gonads of herring (Clupea harengus), mackerel (Scomber scombrus) and scallop (Pecten maximus), were determined in 0.5 M perchloric acid extracts by high-performance liquid chromatography using postcolumn derivatisation with o-phthalaldehyde. The highest overall concentrations were in mackerel gonads and the lowest in herring. Agmatine and spermine were each present in mackerel tissues at concentrations greater than 20 mg per 100 g. The total amounts of amines in the testes of scallop were, on average, 9mg per 100 g greater than in the ovaries; tyramine and agmatine were of higher concentrations in the testes. Histamine was absent in herring gonads and, if present in those of other species, was at concentrations of less than 1.0 mg per 100 g.

1. Both activities of NADH- and NADPH-linked aquacobalamin reductases were found in some human tissues, liver, kidney pancreas, heart, spleen, lung, cerebrum, cerebellum, adrenal glands, stomach, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, colon and bone marrow. 2. Human liver contained both enzymes with higher specific activities than any other tissues. 3. The liver NADH-linked enzyme was distributed in both mitochondrial (approx. 60%) and microsomal (40%) fractions; similar to the distribution of the NADPH-linked enzyme, but of which 40% activity was found in the mitochondria and the remaining activity was recovered in the microsomes. 4. The results suggest that the synthetic systems of the cobalamin coenzymes occur in both mitochondria and microsomes of human liver.

The addition of poly(ADP-ribose) chains to nuclear proteins has been reported to affect DNA repair and DNA synthesis in mammalian cells. The enzyme that mediates this reaction, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, requires DNA for catalytic activity and is activated by DNA with strand breaks. Because the catalytic activity of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase does not necessarily reflect enzyme quantity, little is known about the total cellular poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase content and the rate of its synthesis and degradation. In the present experiments, specific human autoantibodies to poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and a sensitive immunoblotting technique were used to determine the cellular content of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase in human lymphocytes. Resting peripheral blood lymphocytes contained 0.5 X 10(6) enzyme copies per cell. After stimulation of the cells by phytohemagglutinin, the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase content increased before DNA synthesis. During balanced growth, the T lymphoblastoid cell line CEM contained approximately 2 X 10(6) poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase molecules per cell. This value did not vary by more than 2-fold during the cell growth cycle. Similarly, mRNA encoding poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase was detectable throughout S phase. Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase turned over at a rate equivalent to the average of total cellular proteins. Neither the cellular content nor the turnover rate of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase changed after the introduction of DNA strand breaks by gamma irradiation. These results show that in lymphoblasts poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase is an abundant nuclear protein that turns over relatively slowly and suggest that most of the enzyme may exist in a catalytically inactive state.

Samples of M x Ta 1− x Se 2 (M  Re, Os, Ir, Pt) were prepared from the elements by reaction at 850 °C and 950 °C. Only two compounds Re 1 2 Ta 1 2 Se 2 and Os 1 3 Ta 2 3 Se 2 crystallize in the 2H b polytype structure. The lattice parameters of Re 1 2 Ta 1 2 Se 2 and Os 1 3 Ta 2 3 Se 2 are a = 3.316 and c = 12.943 A and a = 3.343 and c = 12.943 A respectively. The electrical resistivities of these diselenides show semiconducting behaviour. A weak paramagnetism is observed in Re 1 2 Ta 1 2 Se 2 and Os 1 3 Ta 2 3 Se 2 . The Curie constants are 1.17 × 10 −5 and 6.48 × 10 −6 e.m.u. K g −1 . No anomalies of the resistivity or the magnetic susceptibility are observed in the temperature range 10–290 K. The stabilization principle of the new 2H b polytype family is discussed.

The densities and elastic properties of RO · SiO2 and RO · 2 SiO2 glasses (R = Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba or their mixtures) have been determined to obtain the compositional dependences of volume and bulk modulus of alkaline-earth silicate glasses. The mean atomic volume was found to vary almost linearly with glass composition for a series of RO · SiO2 or RO · 2SiO2 glasses, although there exists a slight negative deviation from the linearity for RO · 2SiO2 glasses when two kinds of alkaline-earth oxides were mixed. The change in glass volume agreed fairly well with the value calculated on the basis of the difference in ionic size of alkali-earth ions being subtituted each other. The bulk moduli of RO · SiO2 and RO · 2SiO2 glasses were found to vary in reciprocal proportion to the four-thirds power of the volume when R was changed from one kind to another, indicating that the difference in internal energy of glass arises mainly from the change in Coulombic attraction due to their size difference. These results seemed to show that the glass structure of a series of RO · 2SiO2 or RO · 2SiO2 glasses remains almost unchanged except the local a change around R ions when R is subtituted from one kind to another.

A process of cell division in the blastular wall of the starfish, Asterina pectinifera , was observed, and an attempt was made to model with a computer simulation the way in which cell number increases in such a tissue. Dividing cells at stages between the 2 11 -cell and the beginning of rotation were observed to shift these positions to the outer surface of the cell sheet by rounding up, after which they divide and slip back into the sheet as two columnar daughter cells. The change of a polygonal pattern of the blastular wall by cell division was simulated by making use of geometrical models of polygonal cells and the rule of the direction of cell division which was confirmed by observation. The simulation proves valid for describing changes of polygonal patterns of cell sheets including dividing cells.