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Objective Renal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is characterized by the acute deterioration of renal function during ischemia and renal inflammation. Cassia tora has various effects, including antioxidant, antidiabetic, and hypolipidemic properties. In the present study, we investigated whether C tora has a renoprotective effect on I/R-induced acute kidney injury in rats. Methods We fed Sprague-Dawley rats either C tora (100 mg/kg/d) or saline. One week later, ischemia was induced by bilateral renal pedicle occlusion for 30 minutes, followed by reperfusion. Rats were randomized into 3 major groups, which were treated as follows: 1. the sham operation group; 2. the I/R group; and 3. the I/R-C tora group. Results Compared to the sham group, the I/R group had higher levels of blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine in serum and lower expression of catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, antioxidant, and nitric oxide. Compared to the I/R group, the I/R-C tora group had higher expression of catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, antioxidant, and nitric oxide, as well as lower levels of blood urea nitrogen and creatinine in serum. Conclusions These results suggest that C tora has significant therapeutic effects in ischemic renal injury.

Background Sex plays an important yet often underexplored role in neurodevelopment and neurotoxicity. While several studies report the importance of sex regarding anesthesia-induced neurotoxicity in neonatal mice, only few have focused on the late postnatal period. Here, to further understand the importance of sex regarding the neurobiological changes after early anesthesia during the critical synaptogenic period, we exposed postnatal day 16, 17 (PND 16, 17) mice to sevoflurane in pediatric patients and performed detailed evaluations in the hippocampus. Methods PND 16, 17 mice received a single exposure of oxygen with or without sevoflurane (2.5%) for 2 h. Changes of the hippocampus were analyzed in male and female mice 6 h after exposure: excitatory/inhibitory synaptic transmission, protein/mRNA expression levels of excitatory/inhibitory synaptic molecules (GluR1, GluR2, PSD95, gephyrin, GAD65), and number of excitatory synapses. Results Sevoflurane exposure increased the frequency of miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents specifically in male mice (control: 0.07 ± 0.04 [Hz]; sevoflurane: 14.72 ± 0.08 [Hz]), while miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents were affected specifically in female mice. The protein/mRNA expression levels of excitatory synaptic molecules were also increased specifically in male mice. Unexpectedly, protein/mRNA expression levels of inhibitory synaptic molecules were increased in both sexes, and there was no male-specific increase of excitatory synapse number. Conclusions Exposure of mice to sevoflurane during the critical, late postnatal period induces sex-dependent changes in the hippocampus. Although often disregarded, our results confirm the importance of sex as a biological variable when studying the changes triggered by early anesthesia.

Fleet telematics aims to comprehensively control equipment groups through location tracking, maintenance control, and productivity monitoring of individual equipment based on real-time location and status transmitted to fleet control center from the equipment. Logistics industry, automobile industry, as well as transportation (land, sea, and air) industry are actively applying fleet telematics in order to efficiently and safely operate multiple groups of equipment. Earthwork, a basic operation for any type of construction, depends heavily on equipment. The productivity and safety of earthwork equipment are decided by effective management of the equipment. Therefore, fleet telematics can also improve the earthwork operation as well. The goal of this research is to develop a GPS only-based fleet telematics system for heavy earthwork equipment which can analyze time log information of each equipment using GPS location data without utilizing any other on-board sensors and CAN bus data. The earthwork site (loading and dumping area) and moving route, hazardous areas of the project are all visualized on a map via geo-fencing technology considering the characteristics of earthwork operation. Lastly, algorithms to analyze the utilization time of earthwork equipment using GPS location information are designed and their reliability are verified through field tests.

Objective Locally advanced bulky cervical cancer (LABCC) is characterized by poor local control. The objective of this study was to identify the clinicopathologic variables associated with one-year central-only recurrence, which will serve as criteria for adjuvant hysterectomy after radiation (AHR) in patients with LABCC. Study design Between January 2000 and August 2007, we retrospectively evaluated outcomes in 225 patients with LABCC who were initially treated with radiation or chemoradiation. Results Among the 225 patients with LABCC, there were 41 recurrences within one year after treatment (8 central-only and 33 pelvis and/or distant site recurrences). Age, stage, and treatment type were not associated with the one-year central-only recurrences, but tumor size ≥8 cm had a statistically significant association based on multivariate analysis (OR, 5.39; 95% CI, 1.15–25.31; p = 0.03). The combination of non-squamous cell (non-SCC) type and tumor size ≥8 cm had a significantly higher rate of recurrence within one year (OR, 43.0; 95% CI, 4.78–386.68; p Conclusions Of patients with LABCC, those with non-SCC tumors ≥8 cm in size were at high risk for early central-only recurrence after cisplatin-based chemoradiation, and represent the subset of patients for whom AHR is beneficial.

To determine whether adjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) improves the outcome of cervical cancer patients with intermediate risk factors.Between January 2000 and June 2006, the medical records of 735 patients who had undergone radical surgery for Stage IB-IIA cervical cancer were reviewed retrospectively. Of the 735 patients, 172 with two or more intermediate risk factors (i.e., lymphovascular space involvement, deep stromal invasion, and tumor size≥2 cm) were grouped as follows according to the adjuvant treatment received: 34 patients, no further treatment; 49 patients, RT; and 89 patients, CRT. The significance of the clinical parameters and recurrence-free survival of each group were analyzed.Of the 172 patients with any of the intermediate risk factors, 137 (79.6%) had two or more intermediate risk factors. Of the 172 patients, 12 developed recurrences (6.4%)-(7.0%), with 6 in the pelvis and 6 in distant sites. All 12 recurrences occurred in those who had two or more intermediate risk factors (sensitivity, 100%); however, only six recurrences were detected in patients who met the Gynecologic Oncology Group criteria for the intermediate-risk group (sensitivity, 50%; Z test, p.05). A statistically significant difference was found in the 3-year recurrence-free survival rate among the no further treatment, RT, and CRT groups (67.5%, 90.5%, and 97.5%, respectively; p.05). The incidence of Grade 3-4 hematologic and gastrointestinal toxicities was not significantly different statistically between the RT and CRT groups (6.1% and 13.4%, respectively; p.05).Postoperative adjuvant CRT can improve the outcome of cervical cancer patients with intermediate risk factors, with low increase in toxicity.

We fabricated hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) solar cells on SnO 2 coated glass using a seed layer insertion technique. Since rich hydrogen atoms from the μc-Si:H deposition process degrade the SnO 2 layer, we applied p-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon (p-a-Si:H) as a window layer. To grow the μc-Si:H layer on the p-a-Si:H window layer, we developed a seed layer insertion method. We inserted the seed layer between the p-a-Si:H layer and intrinsic bulk μc-Si:H. This seed layer consists of a thin hydrogen diluted silicon buffer layer and a naturally hydrogen profiled layer. We compared the characteristics of solar cells with and without the seed layer. When the seed layer was not applied, the fabricated cell showed the characteristics of a-Si:H solar cell whose spectral response was in a range of 400–800 nm. Using the seed layer, we achieved a μc-Si:H solar cell with performance of V oc =0.535 V, J sc =16.0 mA/cm 2 , FF=0.667, and conversion efficiency=5.7% without any back reflector. The spectral response was in the range of 400–1100 nm. Also, the fabricated device has little substrate dependence, because a-Si:H has weaker substrate selectivity than μc-Si:H.

We have developed p–i–n/p–i–n-type protocrystalline silicon (pc-Si:H) multilayer tandem solar cells. The purpose of this work is to make a thin film silicon solar cell with low degradation by combining the virtues of a pc-Si:H multilayer and tandem structure. The usefulness of the pc-Si:H multilayer as a low degradation top and bottom cell was confirmed when we achieved a low degradation ratio of 10.0%. Notably, this tandem cell stabilized rapidly, within 1 h. Nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) grains embedded in a pc-Si:H multilayer were detected with the aid of a planer transmission electron microscope. The isolated nc-Si grains may suppress the photocreation of dangling bonds due to non-radiative recombination in an a-Si:H matrix. Because of these embedded nc-Si grains, the pc-Si:H multilayer has a fast and high light-induced metastability.

A p-a-Si:H layer, deposited by a photo-assisted chemical vapor deposition (photo-CVD) method, was adopted as the window layer of a hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) solar cell instead of the conventional p-μc-Si:H layer. We verified the usefulness of p-a-Si:H for the p-layer of the μc-Si:H solar cell by applying it to SnO 2 -coated glass substrate. It was found that the quantum efficiency (QE) characteristics and solar cell performance strongly depend on the p-a-Si:H layer thicknesses. We applied boron-doped nanocrystalline silion (nc-Si:H) p/i buffer layers to μc-Si:H solar cells and investigated the correlation of the p/i buffer layer B 2 H 6 flow rate and solar cell performance. When the B 2 H 6 flow rate was 0.2 sccm, there was a little improvement in fill factor (FF), but the other parameters became poor as the B 2 H 6 flow rate increased. This is because the conductivity of the buffer layer decreases as the B 2 H 6 flow rate increases above appropriate values. A μc-Si:H single-junction solar cell with ZnO/Ag back reflector with an efficiency of 7.76% has been prepared.

We investigate the hydrogen doping effect on polycrystalline ZnO thin films prepared by the photoassisted metalorganic chemical vapor deposition technique. In situ post-deposition hydrogen doping was performed using mercury-sensitized photodecomposition of hydrogen gas. From Fourier transform infrared spectra, we observe small changes in O–H bond-stretching local vibrational modes as a result of hydrogen doping. The photoluminescence measurements reveal that intentional hydrogen doping significantly suppresses nonradiative recombination centers in the ZnO films. The undoped ZnO film reveals a heavily n-type as-grown conductivity due to the high hydrogen content, but it is unstable in a humid air atmosphere. However, the electrical stability is significantly improved as a result of hydrogen doping.

Atomic force microscopes (AFM) have been widely used for precision metrology. However, most conventional AFM revealed their limits in accuracy due to the inferior characteristics of piezoelectric tube scanner. In order to overcome these limits, we introduced the new XE AFM, which has a z-scanner separated from the x–y scanner. With the new XE AFM, we were able to successfully measure dimensions of pole-tip recession (PTR) in magneto-resistance (MR) head, which had been difficult to be measured by conventional AFM. In addition, we found that it is important to use non-contact AFM, not tapping mode AFM for accurate measurement of PTR since the tapping force can depress the pole-tip region and make the PTR value appear larger than it actually is. In order to confirm this phenomenon, we performed force modulation microscopy and contact mode AFM at various force set points.

Scanning capacitance microscopy (SCM) has been gaining attention for its capability to measure local electrical properties in doping profile, oxide thickness, trapped charges and charge dynamics. In many cases, stray capacitance produced by different samples and measurement conditions affects the resonance frequency of a capacitance sensor. The applications of conventional SCM are critically limited by the fixed operating frequency and lack of tunability in its SCM sensor. In order to widen SCM application to various samples, we have developed a novel SCM sensor with variable operating frequency. By performing variable frequency sweep over the band of 160 MHz, the SCM sensor is tuned to select the best and optimized resonance frequency and quality factor for each sample measurement. The fundamental advantage of the new variable frequency SCM sensor was demonstrated in the SCM imaging of silicon oxide nano-crystals. Typical sensitivity of the variable frequency SCM sensor was found to be 10−19 F/V.

Clinical utility of computational models is crucial in the applications of medical data visualization. Previously we have developed a new class of volumetric models whose parameters are functions in conjunction with physically based deformable modeling framework, and have applied the technique to estimate the left ventricular (LV) wall motion. We have successfully showed that the model parameter functions characterize the LV motion of normal and abnormal states and that no further non-trivial post-processing is required for anatomically meaningful interpretation. In an effort to evaluate the LV model, this paper presents a method and results from a strain analysis based on the nodal displacements of the deformable LV model. Furthermore, in order to visualize the local quantities on the volumetric model for an effective analysis, we also developed a methodology to assist in assessing the cardiac function utilizing principal strains, Von-Mises’ yield criteria, and a smoothing filter. Each strain tensor component was in the range of values observed in other reported studies. The application of a smoothing filter on the model improved in visualizing the overall trend of each strain variation. With our platform for a comprehensive strain analysis, we have augmented a clinical utility to the deformable models with parameter functions.

A numerical analysis of a moving-bed heat exchanger with solid particles inside vertical pipes has been performed using the finite difference method. The governing differential equation was derived assuming a uniform axial velocity for the solid particles. The moving-bed heat exchanger was either of the countercurrent, parallel or cross-flow type. For each, the thermal performance of the heat exchanger was calculated as a function of non-dimensional parameters such as characteristic length, Biot number and ratio of heat capacities of gas to solid particles. For cross flow, effects of the numbers of vertical pipes and passes were determined.

We present scanning tunneling microscope images that confirm a 1 3 ML adatom model for the Ga induced 3 × 3 reconstruction of Si(111). We have also identified the bonding site of the Ga adatoms in this structure as the threefold site above second layer Si atoms. The images also show the presence of defects that arise from Si adatom replacement.