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Background and objective Immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4)-related disease is a multi-organ disorder that can include the lungs. IgG4-related lung disease can present in various forms; the clinical, radiological and pathological features of patients with this disease have been assessed. Methods Forty-eight patients suspected of having IgG4-related lung disease, with a high serum concentration of IgG4 and abundant IgG4-positive plasma cell infiltration into the intrathoracic organs, were retrospectively evaluated. Their clinical features, chest imaging findings and pathological findings were examined, with final diagnoses made by an open panel conference. Results Of the 48 patients, 18 with extrathoracic manifestations were diagnosed as having IgG4-related lung disease. Most of these patients were middle-aged to elderly men. IgG4-related lung disease was characterized by high serum concentrations of IgG and IgG4, normal white blood cell count and serum C-reactive protein concentration and a good response to corticosteroids. Common radiological findings included mediastinal lymphadenopathy and thickening of the perilymphatic interstitium, with or without subpleural and/or peribronchovascular consolidation. Pathological examination showed massive lymphoplasmacytic infiltration with fibrosis in and around the lymphatic routes, with distribution well correlated with radiological manifestations. Conclusions The findings suggest that the intrathoracic manifestations of IgG4-related lung disease develop through lymphatic routes of the lungs and show various clinical characteristics. Because some lymphoproliferative disorders show similar findings, the correlation of clinicoradiological and pathological characteristics is crucial for the diagnosis of IgG4-related lung disease.

Background and Objectives Primary blast injury is produced by shock waves. Blast injuries to lungs are extremely critical threats to survival, but their etiology is largely undefined. The majority of animal models for these injuries use explosive or complex experimental settings, limiting the laboratory study of blast injury. The aim of this study was to establish a small-animal model for blast injuries, using laser-induced stress waves (LISWs) with high controllability, high reproducibility, and easy experimental settings. Study Design/Materials and Methods LISWs were used to produce isolated pulmonary blast effects in mice. An LISW was generated by the irradiation of an elastic laser target with 532-nm nanosecond laser pulses of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. Histopathological evaluations of damage to lung tissue were conducted to estimate the relevance between peak pressure and trauma intensity. Blood pressure, heart rate, and percutaneous oxygen saturation were monitored for 60 minutes. Results We could flexibly control the peak pressure of the shock wave by varying the laser energy. Non-lethal doses of LISWs caused pulmonary contusions with alveolar hemorrhages depending on peak pressure. Pulmonary contusion was observed only in areas that were exposed to LISWs, allowing study of isolated injuries without concomitant ones. These injuries caused decreased blood pressure, heart rate, and percutaneous oxygen saturation, immediately after LISW exposure. Conclusion Mice exposed to thoracic LISWs showed pathologic and physiologic changes similar to those seen in other studies in this area, and in clinical practice. Our newly developed model allows fine management of trauma intensity, and concomitant injuries of the exposed animals were limited. This novel mouse model of blast injury using LISWs is suitable for detailed studies of blast lung contusion and other blast injuries in the laboratory. Lasers Surg. Med. 42:313–318, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

One limitation to the use of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to identify orthopedic infections has been apparent false-positive results, possibly due to the detection of dead bacteria. We recently showed that the use of DNA-binding agent propidium monoazide (PMA) could distinguish viable from heat-inactivated bacteria, and, in this study, we investigated whether the same technique can be applied to bacteria killed by two antibiotics with distinctly different mechanisms of action, a test of greater clinical relevance than thermal inactivation. Staphylococcus aureus and S. epidermidis were inactivated by vancomycin and gentamicin and treated with PMA or left untreated before DNA extraction. The threshold cycle difference of antibiotic-treated bacteria with and without PMA pretreatment was investigated with PCR primers for the 16S rDNA and tuf genes. Our results indicated that PMA effectively inhibited detection by PCR of bacteria, which had been inactivated by either vancomycin or gentamicin. The effect was statistically significant at 24 h after treatment (Ct difference consistently >3; p 4; p

Objective To examine the interaction between heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1), a stress-induced antiinflammatory protein, and tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) in human peripheral blood monocytes. Methods Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were obtained from healthy donors or from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) receiving the anti–tumor necrosis factor α (anti-TNFα) monoclonal antibody infliximab. CD14+ cells were isolated by magnetic cell sorting, cultured with TNFα or auranofin, and transfected with a plasmid encoding HO-1 or an HO-1–specific small interfering RNA vector. Protein and messenger RNA (mRNA) levels were examined by immunoblotting and real-time polymerase chain reaction. Cytokine levels in culture supernatants were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. HO-1 gene transcription was evaluated using a luciferase reporter gene assay. Actinomycin D and cycloheximide were used to monitor the stability of mRNA and protein. Results HO-1 is constitutively expressed by CD14+ PBMCs from healthy donors. TNFα suppressed HO-1 expression by accelerating the decay of mRNA without affecting gene transcription or protein stability. Forced expression or selective knock-down of the HO-1 gene expression resulted in down-regulation or up-regulation, respectively, of proinflammatory cytokine synthesis by monocytes. Treatment with infliximab significantly increased HO-1 mRNA levels and reduced TNFα synthesis by PBMCs from RA patients. Conclusion TNFα accelerated inflammatory responses by down-regulating HO-1 expression in human monocytes. TNF antagonists may block this TNF-dependent suppression of HO-1 expression, resulting in an amelioration of inflammation.

We improved the photoelectron spectro-holography apparatus for high-speed and high-energy photoelectron detection. The combination of an aperture for ±1.4° acceptance angle at the diffraction plane and a 64-channel detector realized the high-speed XPS and rapid x-ray photoelectron diffraction (XPED) measurements Furthermore, high-energy XPS and XPED measurements excited by Cu Ka have been performed.

For more precise and rapid x-ray photoelectron diffraction (XPED) measurements, we have improved an angle-resolved electron energy analyser developed a ±1.4° diffraction plane aperture mode, and a novel high-speed 64-channel detector. In this study, a large number of photoelectrons from a newly developed diffraction plane aperture mode were detected by a novel high-speed detector, facilitating rapid and precise XPED measurements. The Ti 2p XPED patterns from an SrTiO3(001) surface also revealed the performance of this improved analyser. In addition, high-speed XPS measurements from an Ag polycrystal were performed for several milliseconds. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Background There are few reports on the clinical, radiologic, and pathologic features of pure mica pneumoconiosis. Methods A case of definite pure mica pneumoconiosis in a rubber factory worker is reported with the clinicopathological findings. Results Chest HRCT demonstrated subpleural and peribronchovascular interstitial thickening. The characteristic histologic features were pulmonary fibrosis accompanied by prominent histiocytic granulomas containing giant cells. Conclusions Pure mica pneumoconiosis can be identified by specific radiologic and pathologic findings. Am. J. Ind. Med. 45:246–250, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Imitating Garwood's 3-parameter technique, an experimental parameter J max was introduced to predict fatigue crack growth rate (da/dN) over a wide range including small scale yielding and large scale yielding. It was found that for a ΔK-increasing fatigue test condition, J max is a valid parameter. A significant crack growth acceleration, caused by a transition of fracture mechanism, occurs when J max = J IC . The fracture mechanism involving striation formation when J max J IC . Equations to predict the effect of stress-ratio on J max as well as on da/dN are given.

The in vitro inhibitory effect of magnosalin, a compound derived from 'Shin'i' (Flos Magnoliae), on the proliferation of synovial cells from rheumatoid MRL/1 mice and normal C57BL/6J mice (control) was evaluated. DNA synthesis in synovial cells was induced with 5% fetal bovine serum (FBS) or interleukin-1α (IL-1α, 1 U/mL), and measured with a [ 3 H]-thymidine incorporation assay. Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) were used in some experiments. FBS (5%)-stimulated proliferation (cell number) was significantly greater in MRL/1 mouse synovial cells than in C57BL/6J synovial cells. Magnosalin (23.9 μM) inhibited [ 3 H]-thymidine incorporation into both MRL/1 and C57BL/6J mouse synovial cells, whereas magnoshinin (23.4 μM) inhibited [ 3 H]-thymidine incorporation only into normal C57BL/6J synovial cells. Corticosterone, bucillamine, and tetrandrine, positive controls, also inhibited [ 3 H]-thymidine incorporation into synovial cells. Reticuline (100 μM) and coclaurine (100 μM), structural moieties of tetrandrine, had no significant effects except for an inhibitory effect of coclaurine on normal C57BL/6J cells. Butylidenephthalide (100 μM), a compound derived from Cnidium Rhizome, did not inhibit [ 3 H]-thymidine incorporation into synovial cells of MRL/1 or normal mice. IL-1α, bFGF, and PDGF each stimulated [ 3 H]-thymidine incorporation into synovial cells of normal mice in a concentration-dependent manner in the presence of 1% FBS. Of these cytokines, IL-1α was the most effective at the lowest concentration (0.57 pM ; 1 U/mL) ; it was as effective as 5% FBS. Both magnosalin (2.39 μM) and tetrandrine (0.1 μM) inhibited IL-1α (1 U/mL)-induced [ 3 H]-thymidine incorporation into normal C57BL/6J synovial cells. Magnosalin appears to be an important lead compound for the development of a new class of antirheumatic agents.

Although differential detection methods having superior fading resistance and, in general are effective in digital land mobile communications systems, phase shifts due to frequency offsets become a major factor that deteriorates the error rate in these differential detection methods. Although various frequency-offset compensating methods have been studied and developed, the maximum amount of frequency offset that can be compensated is limited due to the ambiguity of the phase, which has become a problem in estimating the phase shift due to a frequency offset. In this paper, a method for compensating frequency offset by double differential encoding of transmission data sequences, which allows a resolution of the forementioned problem even when a large frequency offset occurs, is proposed and the error rate performance in the application of a /4-shift QPSK scheme is evaluated by computer simulation. As a result, it is shown that the proposed method has superior compensating performance on land mobile communications channels.

This paper proposes a high-accuracy positioning service for terrestrial mobile communication systems which employs the global positioning system (GPS) with the differential method (DGPS). The proposed system provides a high-accuracy navigation service to land-based mobile communication users. The proposed system also provides a comprehensive vehicle control service to the transportation companies when both forward and return links are available in the terrestrial-based mobile communication systems. This paper also assesses the performance of the DGPS method by computer simulations and a field experiment in an urban area to identify the viability of the proposed system under an actual environment. The relationship between average ranging time rate and the average visible number of satellites in various operating environments also is investigated.

We have investigated the therapeutic effect of CH‐271 fusion polypeptide containing both cell‐binding domain (C‐274) and heparin‐binding domain (H‐271) of fibronectin in combination with anticancer drugs such as doxorubicin (DOX) or mitomycin C (MMC) on tumor metastasis of different types of tumors. CH‐271 fusion polypeptide alone significantly inhibited both liver and lung metastasis when it was co‐injected with L5178Y‐ML25 T‐lymphoma, RAW117‐H10 B‐lymphoma or B16‐BL6 melanoma cells, and spontaneous lung metastasis of B16‐BL6 melanoma cells when administered i.v. seven times before or after surgical excision of the primary tumors. Combined treatments with CH‐271 and either DOX or MMC significantly inhibited liver and lung metastasis of lymphoma or melanoma cells respectively, as compared with either treatment alone or the untreated control. Administrations of CH‐271 and DOX in combination substantially prolonged the survival time of mice injected i.v. with L5178Y‐ML25 cells. CH‐271 or DOX was effective for inhibiting the invasion of LS178Y‐ML25 cells into Matrigel in a concentration‐dependent manner. Our previous study has shown that CH‐271‐mediated inhibition of tumor invasion may be due in part to the anti‐cell adhesive property without affecting the cell growth, whereas the anti‐invasive effect of DOX was established to have resulted from the growth inhibition of tumor cells. Moreover, the combination of CH‐271 with DOX provided a more effective inhibition of tumor invasion into Matrigel than did either alone. Thus, we have demonstrated that the combination of anti‐cell adhesive CH‐271 and anticancer drugs such as DOX or MMC, i.e. anti‐adhesion therapy and chemotherapy, is a new approach that offers enhanced (additive) inhibitory effects on tumor metastasis and invasion.

Both the expansion of optical networks and their maintenance techniques are becoming increasingly important During optical fiber cable transfer work, while securing user's services, it is very important to develop optical cable transfer splicing systems for efficient cable transfer which raises the possibility of low-cost maintenance. In this paper, the realizable configuration of the optical fiber identification equipment used in the optical cable transfer splicing system is investigated. The structures of the two identification systems of local injection/local detection and end-face injection/local detection is proposed and the required functions together with the design guidelines of these two systems are clarified. Further, the design method and characteristics of the local injection and local detection equipments together with evaluation method of the transfer connection losses are presented. Finally, it is shown that the allowable distances of the local injection/local detection and end-face injection/local detection systems are 11 km and 29 km, respectively.

The reaction of gem-dibromocyclopropanes (1) with a higher-order organ-ocuprate prepared from CuCN and commercially available MeLi, followed by the addition of MeI in situ, afforded dimethylcyclopropanes (2) in good yields. The differential substitution reaction of dibromide (1a) in one pot with the higher-order organocuprate and allyl bromide gave a compound (8) in the moderate selectivity as shown in Table 3. Its stereochemistry was deduced by the reaction mechanism.

A novel mechanical optical fiber switch by rotation has been proposed; the dynamic and switching characteristics have been studied. The structure, operational principle and analysis of the mechanical property, e.g., switching torque, have been evaluated. To characterize dynamic motion, the rotational transfer response time of switching and the transfer function were investigated. It was theoretically and experimentally confirmed that the optical switch has an internal feedback mechanism. The connection loss between multimode fibers caused by deviations of the rods, balls, and optical fibers has also been theoretically and experimentally investigated. In the test optical switch, the switching connection loss was 0.68 dB and the rotational transfer response time in 1 × 6 switching was 134 ms. These experimental results agree with the theoretical results.

The transfer splicing of optical fiber cables is performed at night using released circuits; this involves time-consuming manual work. To achieve highly efficient optical cable transfer splicings, development of low-loss transfer components is expected to speed up transfer operations. This in turn reduces interruption time and identification of cable fibers and also controls synchronization of each function and details required. This paper proposes an efficient system for the optical transfer splicing of the existing cables to the new ones. This system uses single-mode multifiber connectors. The design method and related details of rapid transfer, fiber identification and synchronous transfer control are described. The transfer splicing characteristics of this newer, more efficient system are evaluated and it is verified experimentally that satisfactory results are possible.

In the transfer of optical trunk cables, it is advantageous from the viewpoints of repeater span and line losses to carry out the task via devices installed at the network center. This paper investigates the optimization of the drive conditions of the transfer connector and deviations of the synchronism between the centers. Achievement of synchronous transfer time of less than 10 ms equal to that of DWS and its design guidelines are clarified. Further, to suppress the transfer failure probability in the case of burst error in the control line, the variable abort ratio method is used in the synchronous controller and the possibility of achieving failure rates below 10−5 is indicated. Finally, the performance of the manufactured synchronous transfer system optimized for field applications, and its synchronous transfer characteristics are indicated. From the results, it is shown that the system can be put into practical uses.

With a view to improving the core illumination technique to confirm the optical fiber core in construction and maintenance, a structural design is presented for a single-mode optical connector with an optical accessing function that enables monitoring the illumination signal and with a capability of injecting the illumination signal externally. In this paper, an optical waveguide is placed from the single-mode optical fiber tip to contact with the latter. The other end of the optical waveguide is removed from the container. Next, the relationship between the connecting loss of the proposed connector and the monitoring efficiency, the one between the index of refraction of the UV epoxy for connecting the optical waveguide and the monitoring efficiency, and that between the connecting loss and the injection efficiency are studied so that the structural design of the present connector is established. Further, an optical connector was fabricated for trial. When the sum of the monitoring efficiency and the injection efficiency is −75.6 dB for the optical source wavelength of λ = 1.3 μm and is −80.8 dB for λ = 1.55 μm. Since the minimum receiving level of the receiver is −90 dBm and the maximum output power of the source is +10 dBm, it is confirmed that the illuminating signal light can be injection detected at an arbitrary connecting point.

With regard to the direct transfer splicing of optical fibers in which the fibers are cut, moved, and spliced to other fibers at arbitrary locations along the line, the results of basic investigations on fiber vibrations when the fibers are cut and moved are presented. The solution method of the fiber longitudinal and lateral vibrations due to the tensile force and bending moment exerted when it is cut is indicated. The relation among fiber length, tensile force, settling time of vibrations, and loss variations are clarified. With regard to the behavior of fiber movement, the solution method of the lateral vibrations when one terminal is fixed also is presented and the relation among movement speed, fiber length, and settling time is determined. From these investigations, the requirements under which the loss variations associated with fiber cutting and its movements can be kept below 1 dB are clarified.

The development of optical fiber cable transfer splicing systems is being advanced to increase the speed of connection of in-use circuits to new ones, an operation that has been necessary in cable joints, branches, etc. In the construction of these systems, the conservation of the action-objectives of the in-use fiber between two different points must be confirmed and, therefore, the fiber identification techniques play the most important role. In this paper, considering the identification of in-use fibers, the conditions of bent fiber light injection and detection and their coupling systems are discussed. As to the bent fiber light injection, the relations among the ray angle of incidence which results in the injected optical signal to propagate as a core mode, the bending radius, the thickness deviations of the UV coat and the refractive index of the matching material are investigated. The bent-injection coupling efficiency in relation to the axial displacement between the identifying fiber and the injected one also is investigated. It is found that large coupling efficiencies can be achieved if the incident light beam spot-size is reduced and the light-source wavelength is increased. As to the condition of the bent fiber light detection system, the detection efficiency in regard to the source wavelength when the detected optical signal inside the core corresponds to the injected light is discussed. It is shown that large detection efficiency can be achieved if the optical source-wavelength is increased and the bending radius is kept below 6 mm.

Cholesteric liquid crystal micro-capsules (CLC-MCs) with a perpendicular alignment shell were investigated. The CLC-MC cell showed high contrast ratio up to 17:1, reflectance over 30% and uncolored white appearance in bright state. A photo-addressable electronic paper using the CLC-MC and an organic photoconductor was also demonstrated.

A novel photoaddressable electronic paper has been developed. It has a spatial light modulator (SLM) structure that consists of microencapsulated cholesteric liquid crystal and an organic photoconductive layer between flexible plastic thin films. An A6- size prototype E-Paper sheet exhibits greater than 20% reflectivity, a 4:1 contrast ratio and a wide viewing angle. Images transferred by the projection of a 2D image with a 200 ms electrical pulse exhibit nonvolatility without power and excellent stability against deformation of the sheet.

This paper discusses and evaluates optical-loss change characteristics which occur in the process of installing the optical-fiber splicing points and slack fibers into an optical-fiber organizer. First, as the optical-loss change factors, bend lateral force and twisting were discussed. Their effects on the loss characteristics have been studied theoretically and experimentally so that the main factor for degrading the transmission characteristics is the bending process of the slack fiber. Next, the evaluation method for the optical-loss change characteristics is studied at the fiber joint for the analog baseband video signal transmission. It is found that the allowable optical output vs. optical-loss change ratio SNRC is 37.1 dB, and the bend radius is satisfying the present allowable SNRC at all frequency components of the optical loss change is more than 18 mm. Also, the relationship was studied between the bending radius of the fiber satisfying this SNRC and the changing frequency. It is found that the allowable bend radius can be relaxed by about 20 percent by doubling the fiber organizing time. Further, the optical-loss change characteristics have been evaluated for the individual organization and the simultaneous organization. It is pointed out that the individual organization is suited for subscriber optical cables.

A method to improve the transient stability of bulk power transmission system is presented. The method stabilizes the control of parallel ac-dc transmission systems using an approximate switching curve. The optimal switching curve is approximated by a power series and the resulting switching curve is determined independent of type and duration of faults that occur to the system. In addition, coefficients of the switching curve can be calculated on a off-line basis which allows use of simple on-line algebraic calculations in emergency conditions.

Two autopsy cases which showed marked depletion of the right ventricular musculature of the heart accompanied with marked infiltration of the adipose tissue were reported. The first cases was an 18-year-old female who died of right sided congestive heart failure after about 4-years clinical course. The autopsy disclosed marked dilation of the right atrium and ventricle. The entire free wall of the right ventricle was markedly thin. Microscopically, most of the myocardial fibers of the right ventricle were replaced by fat and fibrous tissue. The second case, a 15-year-old boy, whose identical twin was previously diagnosed as arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia designated by Fontaine et al., died suddenly during exercise. He showed no cardiac symptoms but electrocardiogram was abnormal. Autopsy revealed majority of the myocardial fibers of the right ventricular free wall were replaced by fatty tissue. In both cases, fatty infiltration was mainly noticed at the epicardial side and some myocardial fibers remained in the fatty tissue showed hypertrophic and/or degenerative changes. Review of the literature on similar cases showing depletion of the right ventricular musculature including so-called adult's Uhl anomaly, ARVD and dilated right ventricular myocardiopathy was conducted and the relationship of the present cases with these lesions was discussed.

It is known that by applying a soft decoding algorithm to the error-detecting code in the ARQ system, a hybrid ARQ system can be realized in which error detection and correction are possible. This paper discusses the application of the soft decoding algorithm to the ARQ system, where the multivalued digital modulation is employed. A scheme for a practical system is proposed, including the detection of channel measurement information in the multivalued digital modulation system and estimation of error patterns. By the proposed method, the hybrid ARQ system can easily be realized by adding some peripheral circuits to the conventional ARQ receiver. Theoretical study is made on the number of error patterns that can be estimated for a long block length as well as the probability of miss and the probability of retransmission request. The proposed scheme was applied experimentally to the ARQ system employing SG VIII V.29 modem based on CCITT recommendation, and the usefulness of the proposed scheme was verified by experiment.

One of the advantages of dc power transmission over ac transmission is that the dynamic stability of the ac system can be improved greatly by connecting a dc transmission system in parallel to the ac system and controlling the dc power in the case of disturbance. The suboptimal feedback coefficient matrix for the parallel ac-dc system usign a linear model is derived. The suboptimal gain of the automatic voltage regulator (AVR) is derived and the effect of AVR gain on the control performance of the suboptimal regulator is analyzed. It is shown that the proposed suboptimal control, in which only two output variables (magnitude of generator terminal voltage and time derivative of terminal voltage phase angle) are used as feedback signals, is as effective as the optimal control in which all state variables are used as feedback signals.

The transient stability of an ac-dc hybrid system can be improved greatly by controlling the power flow of the dc transmission line. In this study the optimal changeover curve of dc current setting value on the phase plane with a quadratic curve are approximated. The coefficients of this curve are calculated in advance taking into account the loading condition of the power system and hence the proposed control scheme can be used for emergency control of the power system. The main conclusions from this study were that: to facilitate transient stability analysis, the dc transmission line is represented by equivalent load admittances, which vary every second with the operating condition of the transmission line; the action of the speed governor increases the damping coefficient of the power system and reduces the control time which means that the admissible range of the dc current setting value can be reduced by increasing the governor gain; and the optimal change-over curve of the dc current setting value is approximated by a quadratic curve, whose coefficients can be calculated in advance taking into account the loading condition of the power system. The suboptimal changeover curve thus obtained makes it possible to change the settingmore » value of dc current without time delay in emergency condition. While the case of three-phase short-circuit fault was specifically discussed, it is possible to extend the results obtained to the case of successful or unsuccessful reclosing. The proposed method could also be applied to multimachine systems by using equivalent network reduction methods.« less

The Wagner coding method utilizing analog information of a received signal in the decoding of single parity check code is known to have a similar ability to that of single error correcting code. Also, it possesses a simple decoding operation. This paper proposes a concrete example of the Wagner coding method applicable to multi- DPSK system. Example solutions are shown to the problems such as in the parity check coding scheme which can be used in the DPSK channel, extracting scheme of the channel measurement information in the case of multi-DPSK system, and the error correcting scheme which can be applied after the differential decoder. Further, the theoretical analyses of BER (Bit Error Rate) performance are made for the case where white Gaussian noise is offered as a signal quality degradation factor and the case where phase jitter is contained in the recovered carrier. Consequently, it is clarified that by simply adding some peripheral circuits to the conventional DPSK modulator/demodulator, the proposed scheme compares favorably with the conventional 4-DPSK system by 2-dB improvement in the BER performance against white Gaussian noise and also offers considerable immunity against phase jitter. the equipment is actually fabricated in the case where the proposed method is applied to a 4-DPSK system and the effectiveness of the proposed method is confirmed through experiments.

The occurrence of lawsonite is described from pelitic schists of the lower-grade part of the pumpellyite-bearing subzone of the chlorite zone in the Asemi River area of central Shikoku. The lawsonite-bearing parageneses are consistent with the generally accepted view that the Sanbagawa facies series represents higher pressures than the lawsonite-bearing facies series in New Zealand.

— Near-threshold fatigue crack growth and crack closure were investigated in a nodular cast iron. Fracture surface roughness was promoted by spheroidal graphites. The spheroidal graphites are partially crushed to form powder which accumulates within the crack and thus enhance crack closure. The marked influence of stress ratio on near-threshold crack growth is due to graphite-induced crack closure. When the contribution of graphite-induced crack closure is excluded, the crack growth characteristics are insensitive to stress ratio, and the threshold behaviour for crack growth tends to disappear. In this case, Young's modulus becomes a controlling material parameter for the power law relationship between crack growth rate and stress intensity range.