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To analyze the operating situation of a physician-staffed helicopter emergency medical service in eastern Shizuoka prefecture.A retrospective analysis was performed using the conveyance records reported by staff members of the physician-staffed helicopter. A comparison between 2007 (n = 619) and 2012 (n = 678) was performed.There were no significant differences between the 2 groups with regard to the sex, ratio of cardiopulmonary arrest, and survival ratio. In contrast, the duration from the request of dispatch to arrival at the hospital in 2007 was significantly longer than that in 2012 (53.7 vs 48.2 minutes, P0.0001). The average age in 2007 was significantly younger than in 2012 (55.7 vs 59.4 years, P0.01). The ratio of trauma case in the 2012 was higher than that in 2007 (47 vs 37%, P0.001). The ratio of severe cases in 2007 was higher than in 2012 (45 vs 39%, P0.05).Japan is an aging society. In eastern Shizuoka prefecture, the increase in the number of trauma and minor injury cases may have increased due to the emphasis on the importance of early medical intervention by the fire department.

The temperature dependence of the electric resistance and the magnetoresistance for both the as-grown carbon micro-coil obtained by chemical vapor deposition and those annealed at various temperatures up to 3000 °C were measured in the temperature range from 5 to 300 K. The activation energy estimated from resistance vs. temperature curves decreases essentially with the raise of the annealing temperature, which seems to show that coils annealed at higher temperature are graphitized with a higher degree of crystallization. Annealing temperature dependence of magnetresistance at 5 K is also thought to be due to the difference of graphitization degree. Field direction dependence of the room temperature magnetoresistance in the highly graphitized coils is consistent with the assumptions that the current flows helically along the fiber constituting the coil and that the increase of the resistance under magnetic field is due to the perpendicular component of the field to the current direction.

Temperature dependence of the electric resistance and the magnetoresistance for both the as-grown carbon micro-coil obtained by chemical vapor deposition and those annealed at various temperatures up to 3000°C were measured in the range from 5 to 300 K. The resistivity and the activation energy decreases with increase in the annealing temperature, which seems to show that coils annealed at higher temperature are more highly graphitized. All annealed coils show negative magnetoresistance at least at low temperature and under low magnetic field, and the positive part of the magnetoresistance becomes predominant under high magnetic field and at high temperatures in highly graphitized coils annealed at temperatures higher than 2500°C. This annealing temperature dependence of the magnetoresistance is assumed to be due to the difference of the carrier concentration by graphitization. The as-grown coil shows no magnetoresistance. The field direction dependence of the magnetoresistance suggests that the current flows helically along the fiber constituting the coil.

Crossline is one of the structurally defined adducts of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) which has both a crosslink and fluorescence similar to AGE-protein in vivo. Crossline was measured in serum and erythrocyte membrane proteins (EMP) from 52 type 2 diabetic patients using a specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay system. Serum and EMP crossline levels in the diabetic patients were significantly higher than those in normal control. The patients with advanced diabetic nephropathy (serum creatinine levels of more than 1.2 mg/dl) had markedly elevated serum crossline levels compared to those with moderate diabetic nephropathy (clinical proteinuria) (180. 7+/-51.7 vs. 71.8+/-18.4 pmol/ml; P0.01). On the other hand, there were no significant differences in EMP crossline levels between the two. EMP crossline levels in the patients with moderate diabetic nephropathy (8.8+/-2.9 pmol/mg protein) and those with advanced diabetic nephropathy (9.7+/-3.0 pmol/mg protein) were significantly higher than those without clinical proteinuria (6.4+/-1.9 pmol/mg protein; P0.01). The present study demonstrated that EMP crossline levels were associated with the presence of nephropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Serum crossline levels were significantly influenced by remaining renal function. The measurement of crossline from a blood sample could provide us with important information for the study of clinical evaluation and pathogenesis of diabetic complications.

The morphology and crystallography of solution-grown crystals of K 2 Mn 2 (SO 4 ) 3 having a cubic structure with the space group P2 1 3 have been examined. The crystals are a single crystal having a pentagonal–dodecahedral shape. The faces are nonsymmetrical pentagons with a shape similar to one another. The surface orientation deviates from {2 1 0} by about 1.5° and is indexed as {2 1 0.06}. The origin of the peculiar morphology has been discussed.

Measured sets of angles of legs in 28 tetrapod ZnO particles produced by oxidizing zinc in air have been analyzed in terms of the octahedral multiple twin (octa-twin) nucleus model proposed previously (J. Crystal Growth 134 (1993) 275; Phil Mag. A 69 (1994) 1125). Nineteen sets of them coincide with the angle relation for the octa-twin nucleus completely relaxed by cracking along twin boundaries; the initial octa-twin nucleus is accompanied by a large elastic strain of 5%. The other sets, except two, can also be well interpreted by the growth process from some types of incompletely relaxed nucleus, where legs grow with some nucleus twins unrelaxed without forming cracks.

Whiskers of β-HfP (hexagonal), α-ZrP (cubic), and β-TiP (hexagonal) have been prepared from HfCl 4 /ZrCl 4 /TiCl 4 + PCl 3 + H 2 + Ar gas mixtures at 1050–1250°C using the mixed-metal impurity-activated chemical-vapor-deposition process. The growth conditions, morphology, and other properties were examined. The mixed impurities of Si + Pt and Si + Pd were very effective for the growth of these whiskers. The growth direction of HfP and TiP is the c -axis, and that of ZrP is 〈111〉 and the a -axis. Some whiskers changed their growth axes from one orientation to another during growth. The whiskers were very stable during a 40 min immersion in a concentrated HCl solution.

New ternary compound crystals of (Cr 0.26 Fe 0.74 ) 3 Si 2 have been obtained by an in-situ chemical vapor deposition process, using the in-situ reaction of SUS 410 powder with Si 2 Cl 6 and H 2 . Well-formed twinned crystals, ball-like crystals and whiskers were simultaneously obtained under the same conditions. The new twinned crystals have the same hexagonal lattice as that of (Cr,Fe) 5 Si 3 . The twinned crystals with a diagonal length of 0.3–1 mm and whiskers 3 mm long were obtained at 1100 °C after 2 h. The crystals were much more corrosion and oxidation resistant than was the SUS 410 plate.

Transmission electron microscopy at the central part of tetrapod-shaped ZnO particles, produced by oxidizing zinc vapor in air, has revealed that there exist trigonal-pyramid crystals other than the leg crystals at the center. Scanning electron microscopy of fractured tetrapod particles has shown characteristic facetted fracture surfaces. These results, together with the etch patterns on the surfaces of the particles which exhibit polarities of the constituent crystals, are consistent with the previously proposed growth model from an inversion-type octa-twin embryo.

The prototype morphology of tetrapod zinc oxide particles, which was studied in detail in a previous paper [J. Crystal Growth f128 (1993) 1095] has been interpreted completely by the growth model from a multiple inversion-twin embryo.

The morphology of tetrapod-like zinc oxide particles, produced by oxidizing zinc vapor, has been examined by optical and electron microscopy. In most of the particles, three to four among six angles between four legs of a tetrapod are 102 o . The four legs grow along the c-axis from a nucleus which has been identified to have also the wurtzite structure

GaAs needle crystals with the zincblende structure were grown by reacting a mixture of Ga and Ga2O3 with As in a closed quartz tube. The six lateral surfaces of the needles are parallel to the {112} planes. The growth axis is the [111] polar direction. Some of them changed their growth axis from one of the polar axes to another during growth. Examinations of the crystals by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction clarified the detailed morphology. The polarity of grown crystals was determined from a study of etch pits revealed on the {111} and {112} planes by an HF+H2O2 etchant.

GaP whiskers were grown by reacting a mixture of Ga and Ga2O3 with P in a closed quartz tube. The three lateral surfaces of the whiskers are parallel to the {112} planes. The growth axis is the [111] polar direction. Two types of GaP whiskers were grown: straight whiskers and bent whiskers composed of several straight element whiskers. Some of the whiskers contain rotation twins. They are classified into two types: one is rotated around the 〈111〉 growth direction and the other around one of the 〈111〉 directions other than the growth direction.