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Abstract Structural and electrical properties of AgInS2 (AIS) thin films grown by single-source thermal evaporation method were studied. The X-ray diffraction spectra indicated that the AIS single phase was successfully grown by annealing above 400∘C in air. The grain size of the AIS crystals was above 2.5 μm from the surface photograph. Furthermore, the AIS grain sizes became large with increasing the annealing temperatures. All the samples indicated n-type conduction by the Van der Pauw technique. The carrier concentrations and the resistivities of the AIS films at room temperature were in the range of 1019–1022 cm−3 and 10−1–10−3 Ωcm, respectively. Therefore the mobilities increased from 0.6 to 6.0 cm2/Vs with increasing the grain sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. In chronic renal failure patients, the parathyroid glands progress from diffuse hyperplasia to nodular hyperplasia, and it is important to distinguish between these as the latter form is more aggressive. This progress can be confirmed histologically, but the present study aimed to determine whether the different types of hyperplasia could be distinguished by power-Doppler ultrasonography (US).
Methods. Twenty-one consecutive renal failure patients were scheduled to undergo parathyroidectomy (PTx). Of 70 resected parathyroid glands, 63 were assessed by pre-operative power-Doppler US, classified into four groups based on the flow signal pattern and then correlated with the post-operative histopathology.
Results. With power-Doppler US imaging, 60.0% of glands without a signal inside the gland were diagnosed as diffuse hyperplasia or diffuse hyperplasia with early nodularity. Of glands with in-gland signals, 83.7% were nodular or had a single nodule typical of nodular hyperplasia. Even when the focus was on parathyroid glands weighing ≤0.5 g, similar results were obtained.
Conclusions. Power-Doppler US imaging is a useful method for determining the pathological features of parathyroid glands and is recommended for selecting the most suitable therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate nonstationary boundary effect for a quantum flux in superconducting quantum nanocircuits. This is a circuit analogue of the dynamical Casimir effect in quantum field theory. We describe a scheme for producing rapidly movable (non-material) boundaries introduced by time-dependent potential and for detecting photons out of the vacuum in the circuit. We also discuss an experimental feasibility of our approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]