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Background Blood pressure (BP) variability has reportedly been a risk factor for various clinical events. To clarify the influence of BP visit‐to‐visit variability on adverse events in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, a post hoc analysis of the J‐RHYTHM Registry was performed. Methods and Results Of 7406 outpatients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation from 158 institutions, 7226 (age, 69.7±9.9 years; men, 70.7%), in whom BP was measured 4 times or more (14.6±5.0 times) during the 2‐year follow‐up period or until occurrence of an event, constituted the study group. SD and coefficient of variation of BP values were calculated as BP variability. Thromboembolism, major hemorrhage, and all‐cause death occurred in 110 (1.5%), 121 (1.7%), and 168 (2.3%) patients, respectively. When patients were divided into quartiles of systolic BP‐SD (P =0.015 for thromboembolism; HR, 2.60, 95% CI, 1.36–4.97, P =0.004 for major hemorrhage; and HR, 1.85, 95% CI, 1.11–3.07, P =0.018 for all‐cause death) after adjusting for components of the CHA 2 DS 2 ‐VASc score, warfarin and antiplatelet use, atrial fibrillation type, BP measurement times, and others. These findings were consistent when BP‐coefficient of variation was used instead of BP‐SD. Conclusions Systolic BP visit‐to‐visit variability was significantly associated with all adverse events in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. Further studies are needed to clarify the causality between BP variability and adverse outcomes in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. Registration URL: https://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr/ ; Unique Identifier: UMIN000001569.

Increasing attention is being paid towards the potential of social innovation in responding to society's greatest challenges. While measures have been taken to support the flourishing of these innovations, they have thus far been made on ideal models of development, misaligned with what occurs in reality. This has led to the creation of supporting infrastructures that fail to respond to social innovators real needs. The paper seeks to provide a picture of the real social innovation development process through a case-based discussion coming from the results of, SIMPACT, a recently EU research project. The research demonstrates how SI actually takes place in constrained contexts and typically develops as a frugal answer to a social problem. The paper offers substantial empirical evidence that a support system is fundamental in making. SI thrive, thus providing relevant insights and guidance for policy making, with particular emphasis on the concept of SI ecosystems.

Purpose The chapter provides empirical research results on the peculiarities of social innovation and the specific features that its business model must support. It concludes by proposing a Social Innovation Business Model Canvas and steps towards Social Innovation typologies. Methodology/approach The research is based on the results of a comparative analysis of 25 business case studies and 32 biographies conducted within the SIMPACT research framework. We then implemented a process of reverse engineering to uncover the business models behind the cases which facilitated the creation of a typology for different social innovation business models. Reverse engineering is the application of tools and processes used to study new business ventures in comparison with existing ones. As such, it sheds further light on the broad characteristics of social business models and their value creation mechanisms. The evidence coming from the cases were analyzed within a new business model and clustered to identify a typology of business models of social innovations. Findings The main SIMPACT findings, resulting from the reverse engineering process and upon which our discussion is based, can be seen in the following distinguishing characteristics of SI business models. SI business models are: configured around finding complementarity between antagonistic assets and seemingly conflicting logics; often structured around a divergence in the allocation of cost, use, and benefit leading to multiple value propositions; modeled on multiactor/multisided business strategies, and developed as frugal solutions and through actions of bricolage. Four typologies of social innovation were identified: beneficiary as actor, beneficiary as customer, beneficiary as user, and community-asset-based models. Research implications While much attention has been placed on for-profit business models, there is little literature on social/not-for-profit business models. This chapter can add to this gap by providing substantial empirical evidence. Practical implications Practitioners in the field of social innovation, particularly the growing intermediary sector, could integrate the findings of the research in their work. Social implications The work is also leading to the construction of a future business toolbox for social innovation, which will be even more useful for incubators, accelerators, and supporting structures. Originality/value Research presented in this chapter is the result of an extensive comparative analysis across all of Europe, including examples of failure, and the first to propose a typology of SI Business Models.

Acute neuropathic pain (ANP) resulting from civilian and combat traumatic injuries has dramatic impact on society at large as it poses with significant personal and economic burden. With opioid abuse epidemic currently in public eye across all levels of society, it is pertinent new therapeutic modalities are needed to effectively treat and resolve ANP. Neuroinflammation is recognized as one of the primary drivers of acute neuropathic to chronic pain transition leading to prolonged disability and loss of productivity. We hypothesize that the lack of molecular and cellular targeting specificity to effectively engage key cellular players in the neuronal injury milieu leads to non-opioid and local analgesia pain control failures in some patients. Here we present novel nanomedicine strategies for targeted non-opioid drug delivery directly to the key cells at the site of injury, immune cells and nerves. Since drug delivery is cell targeted, smaller drug doses are expected to produce similar or improved therapeutic effects over non-targeted therapies. Further we achieve overall dramatically decreased systemic exposure (up to 1000 fold), which can diminish unwanted side effects. Presented nanomedicine formulations provide sustained drug release leading to dosing frequency decrease and extended duration of therapeutic effects (up to 30 days or longer). As designed, these pain directed nanomedicines could improve patient response to treatment while minimizing systemic exposure/overdose risk, tolerance and/or dependency. To the best of our knowledge this is the first example of dual administration (systemic and local) nanomedicine design for acute post-trauma pain applicable to both civilian and military settings. We present fabrication and optimization of immune cell and nerve targeted nanoformulations. Evaluation for controlled release kinetics and safety of the these systems with optimized drug payloads in vivo in rat models of nerve injury and mouse inflammatory pain models following local and systemic administration is also presented.

Background To clarify the influence of hypertension and blood pressure ( BP ) control on thromboembolism and major hemorrhage in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, a post hoc analysis of the J‐ RHYTHM Registry was performed. Methods and Results A consecutive series of outpatients with atrial fibrillation was enrolled from 158 institutions. Of 7937 patients, 7406 with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (70.8% men, 69.8±10.0 years) were followed for 2 years or until an event occurred. Hypertension was defined as a systolic BP ≥140 mm Hg, a diastolic BP ≥90 mm Hg, a history of hypertension, and/or antihypertensive drug use. Hypertension was an independent risk factor for major hemorrhage (hazard ratio 1.52, 95% CI 1.05–2.21, P =0.027) but not for thromboembolism (hazard ratio 1.05, 95% CI 0.73–1.52, P =0.787). When patients were divided into quartiles according to their systolic BP at the time closest to the event or at the end of follow‐up (Q1, CI 1.75–4.74, P CI 1.02–2.53, P =0.041) after adjustment for components of CHA 2 DS 2 ‐ VAS c score, warfarin use, and antiplatelet use. A systolic BP of ≥136 mm Hg was an independent risk factor for thromboembolism and major hemorrhage. Conclusions BP control appears to be more important than a history of hypertension and baseline BP values at preventing thromboembolism and major hemorrhage in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. Clinical Trial Registration URL : http://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr . Unique identifier: UMIN 000001569.

Thus far, many contributions in the field of design have described design’s role in the life cycle of a successful Social Innovation (SI). Design, in fact, has been proposed by many authors to be the most suitable approach to developing SI initiatives from their start-up to release. In particular, some authors have proposed Design Thinking as the best methodology for the development of new SIs; while others, promote Participatory Design as the best method to support SIs, heralding its process of collaboration, networking and coproduction. Nevertheless, many research results have demonstrated that the need to find a balance between social and economic objectives is one of the main barriers to SI. This paper discusses these general results as they have been elaborated in the context of the SIMPACT European project and focuses on the value of design competences to better design SI products, services and brands, which is explored through the discussion of two well established cases of SI in Europe.

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) insufflation for endoscopy has been reported to provide superior recovery and is expected to reduce the risk of serious complications, including air embolism and tension pneumothorax, whereas general anesthesia offers some advantages not found under intravenous sedation. Little is known about the effect of prolonged CO 2 insufflation into gastrointestinal tracts on arterial CO 2 tension (PaCO 2 ). Here we introduce the use of general anesthesia with CO 2 insufflation for esophagogastroduodenal endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective observational study was conducted in a university-affiliated hospital. A total of 100 patients were scheduled for esophagogastroduodenal ESD under general anesthesia with CO 2 insufflation, using standardized anesthesia techniques and unchanged ventilatory settings. Arterial blood gas analyses were repeated at predetermined time intervals. RESULTS: Of the initial 100 participants, 94 patients undergoing ESD and four patients undergoing endoscopic mucosal resection completed the study. The median procedure time was 122 minutes (range 29 – 309 minutes). The median baseline PaCO 2 of 28 mmHg increased to a median peak PaCO 2 of 39 mmHg ( P < 0.001), with marked inter-individual variability in the time courses of changes in PaCO 2 . The correlation coefficient of PaCO 2 with the procedure time was low (r = 0.194; n = 577, P < 0.0001). FEV 1.0 % (forced expiratory volume in 1 second/forced vital capacity) of < 70 % and esophagoscopy vs. gastroduodenoscopy were relative enhancement factors of PaCO 2 . CONCLUSION: Increases of PaCO 2 during esophagogastroduodenal ESD under general anesthesia with CO 2 insufflation remained within acceptable or readily controllable ranges, and are little enhanced by prolongation of the procedure. Esophagogastroduodenal ESD can be performed safely and feasibly with this procedure.

This paper presents a systematic method of countermeasure for environmental conservation to harmonize natural environments with hydro-power development based on two hydro-power construction in which Komatsu conducted directly as a project management in Japan. Since the 1990s, Sustainable Development was required in United Nation Conference on Environment and Development (the Earth Summit) as a commitment. In the construction of Okinawa pilot seawater pumped-storage power plant, and expanding construction for Okutadami and Otori hydro-power developments, project areas were located in biodiversity such as where precious endangered animals and birds have inhabited. Therefore, various countermeasures for environmental conservation in natural environments were proposed in order to harmonize construction of hydro-power development with natural environments. The proposed managements were systematically conducted by integrating the following measures:  Basic-countermeasure: design and countermeasure of preventive conservation for precious animals before the construction;  Countermeasure for hardware activities: field investigation for analyzing natural phenomenon, application of adaptive management in consideration of the conservation for precious animals, replanting in modified grounds based on natural resilience

The hydrophilicity of the SiO 2 (top)/TiO 2 (under) double layer films prepared by vacuum evaporation was investigated. The as-deposited SiO 2 /TiO 2 double layer films showed very good hydrophilicity (water contact angle: ∼0°). Their hydrophilicity, however, is deteriorated by the organic contamination adsorbed on the film but the hydrophilicity can be recovered by UV light irradiation. TOF-SIMS (time-of-flight secondary-ion-mass-spectrometry) measurements revealed that the amount of organic compounds adsorbed on the films decreased with the UV light irradiation. Secondarily, the amount of both Si–OH and Ti–OH groups changed little by the UV light irradiation. Thus, it can be concluded that the hydrophilicity of the SiO 2 /TiO 2 double layer films is due to the stable Si–OH groups and the photo-catalytic TiO 2 underlayer maintains the hydrophilicity of the double layer films by decomposing organic contaminants on the film surface. This SiO 2 /TiO 2 double layer film has been in practical use for the automobiles' exterior rear view mirrors.

Large fluctuations in blood glucose are reported to promote the micro- and macrovascular complications associated with Type 2 diabetes. Postprandial plasma glucose and glycaemic spikes are more strongly associated with atherosclerosis than fasting plasma glucose or HbA1c level 1. Therefore, safe and effective interventions, including diet, are needed to reduce glycaemic variability and minimize hypoglycaemic events. The continuous glucose monitoring system is capable of detecting hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia that may be undetectable by self monitoring blood glucose and HbA1c 2. In particular, the mean amplitude of glycaemic excursions is a significant determinant of overall metabolic control, as well as increased risk of diabetes complications. We reported acute effects of eating vegetables before carbohydrates on postprandial glucose and insulin levels 3 and the long-term glycaemic improvements in patients with Type 2 diabetes 4. The method of the education included nutritional advice given in the form of a simple and easy meal plan of eating vegetables before carbohydrates. In order to reduce postprandial hyperglycaemia, patients were encouraged to consume every meal by eating vegetables prior to carbohydrates. In this study we evaluated whether eating vegetables before carbohydrates could reduce the daily postprandial glucose excursions assessed by continuous glucose monitoring system in Japanese patients with Type 2 diabetes and subjects with normal glucose tolerance. Consecutive patients with Type 2 diabetes were recruited among outpatients regularly attending a diabetes clinic, the Kajiyama Clinic located in Kyoto, Japan, from 2011 to 2012. Diagnosis of diabetes was made according to the World Health Organization criteria. Confirmation of normal glucose tolerance was based on fasting blood glucose < 5.6 mmol/l and 2-h glucose concentration in an oral glucose tolerance test < 7.8 mmol/l. All participants were assigned to perform the continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS, Medtronic Minimed Gold; Medtronic Minimed, Northridge, CA, USA) for 72 h by eating test meals of vegetables before carbohydrates and carbohydrates before vegetables on the 2nd and the 3rd day in a randomized crossover design. The test meals consisted of rice/bread, meat/fish and 500 g of vegetables, and contained 21 g of dietary fibre and 125.6 kJ kg−1 per day. The energy ratio of protein, fat and carbohydrates was 17, 25 and 58%, respectively. The subjects ate the first dish of vegetables for 5 min, then the main dishes, and consumed rice or bread with a 10-min interval between vegetables and carbohydrates in each meal, and then vice versa. The glucose fluctuations were assessed by the following parameters obtained from the continuous glucose monitoring system and compared between the day of eating vegetables before carbohydrates and the day of eating the carbohydrates before the vegetables: the mean plasma glucose, standard deviation (sd), mean amplitude of glycaemic excursions and the largest amplitude of glycaemic excursions, postprandial plasma glucose, incremental area under the curve 0–3h (IAUC0–3h), and incremental glucose peak. Nineteen outpatients with Type 2 diabetes [men/women 6/13; age 65.5 ± 9.4 years, duration of diabetes 16.4 ± 10.2 years; BMI 22.5 ± 3.1 kg/m2; HbA1c 55.0 ± 10.9 mmol/mol (7.2 ± 1.0%); fasting plasma glucose 8.06 ± 2.67 mmol/l, diet/oral hypoglycaemic agents/insulin + oral hypoglycaemic agents 3/3/13; mean ± sd or n] and 21 subjects with normal glucose tolerance [men/women 2/19; age 29.8 ± 11.3 years; BMI 20.8 ± 3.0 kg/m2; HbA1c 36.0 ± 6.6 mmol/mol (5.4 ± 0.6%); fasting plasma glucose 4.89 ± 0.50 mmol/l] were enrolled in the study. The levels of standard deviation, mean amplitude of glycaemic excursions, largest amplitude of glycaemic excursions, 1-h postprandial plasma glucose of breakfast, IAUC0–3h of lunch and dinner, mean IAUC0–3h and incremental glucose peak were significantly reduced when the participants ate vegetables before carbohydrates compared with the reverse regimen in both subjects with Type 2 diabetes and those with normal glucose tolerance; however, the values of mean plasma glucose were not different in either of the subject groups (Table 1). Two-hour postprandial plasma glucose levels of lunch and dinner, and IAUC0–3h of breakfast were also significantly reduced in patients with Type 2 diabetes, while 1-h postprandial plasma glucose levels of lunch and dinner were significantly decreased in subjects with normal glucose tolerance. The reason for the reduction of postprandial plasma glucose levels by eating vegetables before carbohydrates can be explained, partly, by the dietary fibre content in the vegetables taken before the carbohydrates. Dietary carbohydrates consumed after vegetables were digested slowly and required less insulin for subsequent metabolic disposal 5. Other factors may influence the glycaemic response and digestion of carbohydrates in the small intestine, including the rate of digestion, cooking method, transit time and rate of intestinal absorption. Vegetables given before carbohydrates might stimulate incretin hormone secretion, which leads to the reduction in glycaemic excursions 6. Table 1 Characteristics of glycaemic excursion in subjects with Type 2 diabetes and normal glucose tolerance In this study, we demonstrated that eating vegetables before carbohydrates reduced the postprandial glucose excursions compared with the reverse regimen in both subjects with Type 2 diabetes and those with normal glucose tolerance using continuous glucose monitoring system for the first time. The result of this study is important because eating vegetables before carbohydrates could be a novel method to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease 7–10. As one of the educational points in nutrition, the advice to patients with Type 2 diabetes should be to eat vegetables before carbohydrates, and this advice could even be applicable to healthy subjects in order to prevent future cardiovascular events.

The posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) was imaged by MRI throughout flexion in neutral tibial rotation in six cadaver knees, which were also dissected, and in 20 unloaded and 13 loaded living (squatting) knees. The appearance of the ligament was the same in all three groups. In extension the ligament is curved concave-forwards. It is straight, fully out-to-length and approaching vertical from 60° to 120°, and curves convex-forwards over the roof of the intercondylar notch in full flexion. Throughout flexion the length of the ligament does not change, but the separations of its attachments do. We conclude that the PCL is not loaded in the unloaded cadaver knee and therefore, since its appearance in all three groups is the same, that it is also unloaded in the living knee during flexion. The posterior fibres may be an exception in hyperextension, probably being loaded either because of posterior femoral lift-off or because of the forward curvature of the PCL. These conclusions relate only to everyday life: none may be drawn with regard to more strenuous activities such as sport or in trauma.

This paper presents an anthropomorphic robot hand, called the Gifu hand II, which has a thumb and four fingers, all the joints of which are driven by servomotors built into the fingers and the palm. The thumb has four joints with four-degrees-of-freedom (DOF), the other fingers have four joints with 3-DOF, and two axes of the joints near the palm cross orthogonally at one point, as is the case in the human hand. The Gifu hand II can be equipped with six-axes force sensor at each fingertip, and a developed distributed tactile sensor with 624 detecting points on its surface. The design concepts and specifications of the Gifu hand II, the basic characteristics of the tactile sensor, and the pressure distributions at the time of object grasping are described and discussed herein. Our results demonstrate that the Gifu hand II has a high potential to perform dexterous object manipulations like the human hand.

Recycling of Municipal Solid Waste is vigorously promoted in Japan and the necessity of energy recovery from organic waste is increasing. An anaerobic digestion demonstration plant for organic waste in Kyoto City, Japan has been operated for about two years. Three kinds of wastes (garbage and leftovers from hotels, yard waste and used paper) mixed at various ratios are used. The plant has maintained stable operations with each mixture, generating biogas by the decomposition of VS at the rate of about 820 m3N/ton-VS.

The Sanriku Balloon Center (SBC), which belongs to the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, was built in 1971. The launching field of SBC was 140 m in length and 20 m in width. In Japan, the balloon launching method that we have been using since 1971 is a kind of static launching method. In 1998, we extended the launching field 20 m in length and created a new launcher at this point. We have recently developed a “semi-dynamic” launching method. This newly developed launcher is different from the launcher used in the dynamic launching method, it is fixed to the ground creating freedom of rotation around the vertical axis. It is also possible for the launcher to lift up a payload to a height of 5 m from the ground. We succeeded in launching the first test balloon by using this new launching method on September 6, 1999. Utilizing the new launching machine, it became possible to launch a balloon with a volume of 1,000,000 m 3 and a total lift of 2 tons, even in Japan.

We report our recent activities for a development of a new X-ray interferometer with a beam splitter and discuss a possible observation of some celestial objects. The X-ray interferometer consists of two flat mirrors and one flat beam splitter. Samples of the beam splitter and the mirrors have been designed and fabricated. We measured the reflectivity of the mirrors and the reflectivity and transmission of the beam splitters with a synchrotron source at KEK-PF. Obtained results of the mirrors are roughly consistent with the design values, but the reflectivity of the beam splitter is roughly half of the design value. Using these measured values, we estimated required area and observation-time to obtain fringe signals of celestial objects. We concluded that a broad-band interferometer using non-dispersive high spectral resolution detector, such as the micro-calorimeter array, is essential for the future development.

Nippon Steel has developped the technology for automating the operation of all coke oven machines at Oita, Yawata and Kimitsu Works. The ratio of automatic operation exceeds 90 % and for certain machines 93 %. The manpower requirements of these coke-oven batteries have decreased considerably. The problems arising from this new situation require further measures to be taken in the future and even higher ratios of automatic operation should be achieved.

Background: The ratio of umbilical vein (UV) and maternal artery (MA) concentrations of vecuronium may more accurately determine the placental transfer ratio during caesarean section. This ratio potentially correlates with the time from induction of anaesthesia to delivery (I-D time). The aim of this study was to determine the UV/MA ratio of vecuronium and its relationship with the I-D time. Methods: Eighteen pregnant women at full term undergoing caesarean section were studied. The parturient was given intravenously 0.01 mg/kg vecuronium as a priming dose, followed 180 s later by 0.11 mg/kg vecuronium as an intubation dose and 4 mg/kg thiamylal. The time from the injection of the intubation dose to the clamping of the umbilical cord was regarded as the I-D time. At the time of clamping the umbilical cord, blood samples were collected and the UV and MA of vecuronium were measured. Results: The UV/MA ratio and the I-D time, expressed as the mean (SD), were 0.056 (0.016) and 280 (57) s, respectively. The regression equation indicated y=0.0083+0.00017×(R2=0.381, r=0.617, P=0.0063, I-D time (s)=x, UV/MA=y). Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that the UV/MA ratio of vecuronium as an index of the placental transfer becomes smaller as the delivery time after injection of this drug becomes shorter during caesarean section.

A 67-yr-old patient with septic shock caused by gram-positive infection fell into circulatory collapse. Direct hemoperfusion with an endotoxin-removing column was then carried out for 120 min. As a result, blood pressure and systemic vascular resistance increased significantly during this therapy. Cardiac output changed from hyperdynamic to normodynamic, and plasma endotoxin level decreased. After this treatment, the patient recovered. From this experience, we consider that the endotoxin-removing column may be effective for septic shock patients.

A 3.3-V, 1-W, 240-Mbps extended-partial-response maximum-likelihood read/write-channel large-scale-integration chip for hard disk drives has been developed. Power consumption of 1 W was achieved by using a 3.3-V power supply, a 0.4-/spl mu/m CMOS process, and a 3.3-V CMOS analog circuit design. Our approach to achieving a high transfer rate of 240 Mbps was to develop an interleaved subranging pipeline lookahead analog/digital (A/D) converter architecture. The power consumption of this A/D converter is 200 mW at 255 MHz. The read-mode channel path combines an acquisition-mode analog phase-locked loop (PLL) and a tracking-mode precision digital PLL, enabling the use of a long-latency pipeline A/D converter in the digital PLL. Consequently, a bit error rate of 10**(-9) at a signal-to-noise ratio of 24.5 dB has been achieved.

The actuator proposed and developed here for hydraulic control in space is called the flexible hydraulic actuator (FHA). The actuator consists of an oilproof rubber core tube with a cover of braided durable string cords (aramid fiber). With sufficient increase of the internal pressure, the FHA contracts in the axial direction a maximum of about 30% of the full effective length, exerts large output force in the axial direction and has small weight. The main features of the FHA are that it needs no lubrication and has no leakage. The precise mathematical model of the FHA in static is derived and compared with experiments. The dynamics of a single-arm model of a manipulator composed of the two FHAs are investigated experimentally. An internal pressure control method with flow rate compensation is proposed to improve the stability and the responsiveness of the system. Also, the disturbance estimation-observer is employed to eliminate the effect of the system parameter changes and disturbances.

SR-11 strain of Seoul virus was inoculated into new-born female rats. These rats at the age of 13 weeks were mated with uninfected male rats. The virus was transmitted to the male rats, but the offsprings were not infected from their mather rat owing to the maternal antibody. No intrauterine transmission of the virus was observed. We assumed that SR-11 type strain of Seoul virus could not be disseminated among rats in nature.

A 0.9 MeV microwave electron gun system has been designed as a high-brightness injector for a free-electron laser system. The electron beam is generated by a one-and-a-half-cell S-band microwave cavity and transported through an achromatic magnetic system consisting of two bending magnets and a quadrupole magnet located between them. Simulations predict a peak current of more than 45 A, a normalized rms emittance of less than 2π mm mrad in any direction, and an energy spread of 26 keV at the end of the system. The microwave electron gun has been fabricated and is being tested. Manufacture of the magnetic bunching system is under way.

Transparent crystallized glasses consisting of nonlinear optical Ba(2)TiSi(2)O(8) nanocrystals are prepared in Eu(2)O(3)-, Nd(2)O(3)-, and Er(2)O(3)-doped 40BaO-20TiO(2)-40SiO(2) glasses by a conventional heat treatment method in order to clarify the optical properties of rare-earth (RE) ions in nanocrystals. The electronic polarizabilities of crystallized glasses are evaluated from the values of density and refractive index, and are found to decrease due to nanocrystallization, which indicates that the chemical bonding state in the crystallized glasses is more covalent compared to the precursor glasses. It is proposed from x-ray diffraction analyses and photoluminescence spectra of Eu(3+) ions that RE ions such as Nd(3+) and Eu(3+) are incorporated into Ba(2)TiSi(2)O(8) nanocrystals. The Judd-Ofelt parameters, Omega(t) (t=2, 4, and 6), of Nd(3+) and Er(3+) ions are evaluated from optical absorption spectra. It is observed that the Omega(2) parameter of Nd(3+) and Er(3+) increases largely due to nanocrystallization, suggesting that the site symmetry of Nd(3+) and Er(3+) ions in nanocrystallized glasses is largely distorted due to their incorporations into the Ba(2+) sites in Ba(2)TiSi(2)O(8) nanocrystals. The change in the Omega(4) and Omega(6) parameters due to nanocrystallization is small. It is proposed that nonlinear optical Ba(2)TiSi(2)O(8) nanocrystals including RE ions would have a high potential as active optical materials.

By replacing the total-variation (TV) norm in the TV variational denoising model by the Besov norm defined with the orthonormal wavelet coefficients of an image, the TV variational model is converted into the LI variational model in the wavelet domain, and its solution is the classical wavelet shrinkage. The wavelet shrinkage denoising scheme works well for monochrome images; but its direct application to color images does not utilize cross-correlations among the three primary color channels, and hence in most cases it produces several noticeable artifacts as side effects. To utilize the inter-channel cross-correlations, this paper introduces the TV norms of color differences and color sums into the classical TV variational model. Moreover, this paper replaces all the TV norms by the Besov norms, and then derives new wavelet shrinkage for color-image denoising. Experimental simulations demonstrate that the utilization of inter-channel cross-correlations alleviates the side effects of denoising, and improves picture quality of denoised images, as well as we have expected.

A study was undertaken to investigate the possibility of 500-lead TAB gang bonding using a fully automated inner lead bonder. It resulted in establishing inner lead bonding techniques for 504-lead test dies 12.7 mm*12.7 mm with a 90- mu m lead pitch. The inner lead bonder has a maximum applied bonding force of 30 kgf, an alignment accuracy of 10 mu m, and an index time 3.9 s, including a 1-s bonding time. A discussion is presented of the machine's alignment accuracy, bonding accuracy, acceptable bonding conditions, the effects of tool planarity and parallelism on bond strength and bump deformation, and bond strength degradation caused by tool contamination, while using the test dies. The bonder had sufficient accuracy of machine alignment (+or-10 mu m) and process parameters to achieve good bonds. Optimal bonding ranges, which were not strict limitations, were established. Using a laser interferometer, it was possible to measure the diamond chip deformation at elevated temperatures. When a bonding tool having a planarity less than 1 mu m was set to make bond height difference between the ends of dies within 8 mu m, good bonds could be obtained. Increasing tool temperature was effective in extending the bonding count at which bond strength degradation took place. Tool cleaning restored the bond strength lost by this degradation. >

Saturation effects in salient pole synchronous machines are generally modelled by assuming that the saturation effect is primarily limited to the field pole. However, saturation of the stator teeth and core can also become saturated such as when operating as a generator with a leading power factor load. This paper addresses the modeling and simulation of simultaneous saturation of both the stator and rotor taking into account the correct components of flux linkage which contribute to these effects. Suitable saturation curves are computed using finite element methods. Simulation results are shown using the new saturation model.

Anterior mediastinal paraganglioma is a rare neoplasm and its pathogenesis has not yet been fully understood. The treatment of choice is complete surgical resection, however, its hypervascular nature and proximity to the great vessels makes resection challenging. Operations for paraganglioma have been referred to as a surgical challenge. Moreover, definitive preoperative diagnoses of mediastinal paraganglioma are rarely made, which has made it difficult for thoracic surgeons to prepare for such a challenge preoperatively. We report a case of anterior mediastinal paraganglioma, which was resected successfully under cardiopulmonary bypass, followed by arterioplasty of the pulmonary main trunk.

The photoinduced indentation hardening of C60 crystals was investigated in ultraviolet-visible light. The hardening strongly depended on the wavelength of the illumination light: the magnitude increased with increasing wavelength, and then reached a maximum at 700 nm. This indicated that red light is more effective than ultraviolet light in the hardening. The wavelength dependence of the hardening is discussed in terms of an interplay between the effective depth of the photoinduced polymerization and the penetration depth of the indenter.

The balance between human activity and the environment has been destroyed for some time because of rapid development in all parts of the world. The coexistence of development and the environment is achieved by technical and economic approaches. The technical approach takes into account such factors as air pollution measures, conserving energy, and recycling resources, while the economic approach accounts for the costs of environmental disruption and providing safeguards such as wildlife conservation and management plans. The economic development of Japan in the 1950s required substantial electric power. As a result, environmental and industrial pollution increased. The economy of Japan reached a new high in the 1960s, and the generation of electric power was overtaken by thermal power; which in turn was superseded by natural gas and atomic power following the energy crisis of the 1970s. The Japanese economy was depressed during the 1990s, but has recently shown signs of a gradual recovery. Accordingly, the demand for electric power has increased over recent years. The energy sources that will replace oil in the future are atomic power, natural gas, and wind power. Hydropower stations discharge only minor carbon dioxide, and are therefore better for the environment than atomic and natural power stations. The environmental cost of the development of hydropower stations is discussed in this paper.

We present a case of pulmonary sclerosing hemangioma with multiple involvements. Pulmonary sclerosing hemangioma is a relatively rare neoplasm. Although it is thought to be benign, cases with lymph node metastasis or multiple pulmonary involvement have been reported in clinical settings. To date, no case has been reported with mortality due to sclerosing hemangioma, however its clinical characteristics of multiple spread and lymphnode metastasis have not yet been elucidated.

A 128×8b CMOS SRAM with TTL input/output levels will be presented. The SRAM has been fabricated in a 1.0μm double-poly silicon double-metal CMOS technology Chip size is 8×13.65mm. Typical standby current is 5μA with 100mW dissipatlon at 10MHz. Noise immunity has been achieved from a dual threshold level data transfer.