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Background and objectives Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) antibodies, which are involved in the development of transfusion-related side effects such as transfusion-related lung injury, are sometimes found in males without a history of alloimmunization (eg, transplantation and transfusion). Whether HLA antibodies in male donors can interact with their target HLA specificities expressed on cells have not been completely investigated. Materials and methods The HLA antibodies detected in 7 male donors were characterized. Flow cytometry and immunocomplex capture fluorescence analysis were performed to evaluate the ability of these antibodies to bind with target HLA specificities expressed on cells. The association of these antibodies with complement was examined using anti-C1q antibody. Sustainability of HLA antibodies over time was compared in 26 male vs 57 female donors. Results The antibodies from all 7 donors recognized intact HLA molecules coated onto microbeads. The antibodies in 2 of 7 donors also recognized their target HLA specificities expressed on cells. Furthermore, the antibodies in one of these 2 donors showed HLA specificities that involved complement binding. Twenty-one of 26 initially positive male donors had turned negative for HLA antibody at least 1 year after their initial positive screening, whereas HLA antibody positivity was maintained for a long time in most female donors. Conclusion Males without apparent alloimmunization could have HLA antibodies that recognize their target HLA specificities on cells and that could potentially modify molecular events in affected cells.

Aim of the study : The authors present a novel and specific controlled ovarian stimulation protocol for fertility preservation in women with estrogen-positive receptor breast cancer undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The protocol foresees random start ovarian stimulation and the use of letrozole associated to tamoxifen. Material and methods : Forty breast cancer patients were included in the study. COS was performed either with recombinant FSH or hMG. Concomitantly with COS, letrozole in a dose of 5 mg and tamoxifen in a dose of 20 mg were given orally on a daily basis. The trigger was performed with 0.2 mg of triptorelin, in the presence of follicles ≥ 19 mm. Oocyte retrieval was scheduled 35–36 hours after triptorelin injection. Our main outcome measures were the number of oocytes collected and number of oocytes vitrified, the length of ovarian stimulation, total dose of gonadotropins administered, and levels of estradiol on the day of the trigger. Results : The mean age of patients was 30.43 ±4.25 years. Nineteen women commenced COS in the luteal phase, eleven in the early follicular phase and ten in the late follicular phase. The mean number of collected oocytes was 11.78 ±9.12 and the mean number of vitrified oocytes was 9.72 ±7.36. The mean duration of COS was 10.03 ±1.33 days. The mean estradiol concentrations on the triggering day was 623.10 ±441.27, and the mean dose of gonadotropins administered was 2540 ±713.10. Conclusions : The authors suggest that the protocol is efficient and may be a safe option for oocyte vitrification in these patients.

The risk of transfusion-transmitted infection (TTI) for severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) is a concern because person-to-person transmission resulting from contact with SFTSV-contaminated blood has been reported. To obtain information regarding the risk of TTI-SFTSV, antibody testing was performed for blood samples donated in an severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome-endemic area in Japan. No antibody-positive samples were detected among 3990 samples. This finding suggested that there were few cases of SFTSV infection among donors and that the risk of TTI-SFTSV was also estimated low in Japan.

Introduction and purpose The number of patients with right heart failure due to pulmonary hypertension has been increasing. Although several drugs have reportedly improved pulmonary hypertension, no treatments have been established for decompensated right heart failure. The heart has an innate ability to regenerate, and cardiac stem or progenitor cells (e.g., side population [SP] cells) have been reported to contribute to the regeneration process. However, their contribution to right ventricular pressure overload has not been clarified. Here, this regeneration process was evaluated using a genetic fate-mapping model. Methods and results We used Cre-LacZ mice, in which more than 99.9% of the cardiomyocytes in the left ventricular field were positive for 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-β-D-galactoside (X-gal) staining immediately after tamoxifen injection. Then, we performed either a pulmonary binding (PAB) or sham operation on the main pulmonary tract. In the PAB-treated mice, the right ventricular cavity was significantly enlarged (right-to-left ventricular [RV/LV] ratio, 0.24±0.04 in the sham group and 0.68±0.04 in the PAB group). Increased peak flow velocity in the PAB group (1021±80 vs 1351±62 mm/sec) was confirmed by echocardiography. One month after the PAB, the PAB-treated mice had more X-gal-negative (newly generated) cells than the sham mice (94.8±34.2 cells/mm2 vs 23.1±10.5 cells/mm2; p Conclusions Pulmonary pressure overload stimulated cardiac stem or progenitor cell-derived regeneration with a RV bias, and SP cell proliferation may partially contribute to this process. Acknowledgement/Funding JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP 17K17636, GSK Japan Research Grant 2016

Introduction and purpose Cardiac cell therapy to patients with heart failure after myocardial infarction (MI), has shown little improvement in cardiac function. The rate of engraftment after cell transplantation (TX) to the ischemic heart is low because of the leakage of transplanted cells without scaffold, the friction between the graft and thorax, and poor vascularization to the graft. We created a novel TX method (Figure 1) to transplant adipose-derived stromal cells (ASCs) with scaffold into the pericardial space where the pericardium protected the graft. We evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of pericardial TX of ASCs on the cardiac function and remodeling after MI. Methods We isolated ASCs from the brown adipose tissue of donor mice (C57BL6-Tg (CAG-EGFP), five weeks). ASCs increased and differentiated into spontaneously beating myocytes, endothelial cells, and pericytes three weeks after ex vivo culture. Cells were trypsinized and mixed with self-assembling peptides scaffold. Each graft (100μl gel scaffold) had 1×106 ASCs. To make recipient MI mice (C57BL6, 12 weeks), we ligated the left coronary artery through small chest incision without cutting rib bone to avoid postoperative adhesions. We confirmed the deterioration of cardiac function by echocardiography (n=21) and MRI (n=4) three weeks after MI. Then, recipient MI mice had TX (syngeneic, no immunosuppression). We opened the pericardium and transplanted the graft into the pericardial space. By suturing the pericardium, the graft was fixed on the MI scar area (Figure 1). We labeled donor cells with GFP and the scaffold with biotin. We evaluated cardiac function of TX group (n=10) and control group (MI with sham TX, n=11) by echocardiography. Results In the scaffold, donor cells increased three days to two weeks after TX, and slightly decreased four weeks after TX. The graft thickness was 0.9±0.2mm (two weeks after TX) and 0.7±0.2mm (four weeks after TX). There were many vWF positive vessels in the scaffold and some of which were GFP positive. Echocardiography showed that left ventricular diastolic dimension (LVDd) of TX group, did not increase four weeks after TX (ΔLVDd = −0.02mm, P=0.80). While, LVDd of control group significantly increased (ΔLVDd = +0.23mm, P=0.02) due to cardiac remodeling after MI. MRI confirmed the increase in left ventricular wall thickness in the MI scar area up to 4 weeks in TX group (n=2). Conclusions Pericardial transplantation of ASCs prevents cardiac remodeling. Its beneficial effect might be mediated by improved rate of engraftment, neovascularization, and increased ventricular wall thickness in the MI scar area. Acknowledgement/Funding Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research

Fertility preservation is an important concern in breast cancer patients. In the present investigation, we set out to create a specific protocol of controlled ovarian stimulation (cos) for oocyte cryopreservation in breast cancer patients. From November 2014 to December 2016, 109 patients were studied. The patients were assigned to a specific random-start ovarian stimulation protocol for oocyte cryopreservation. The endpoints were the numbers of oocytes retrieved and of mature oocytes cryopreserved, the total number of days of ovarian stimulation, the total dose of gonadotropin administered, and the estradiol level on the day of the trigger. Mean age in this cohort was 31.27 &plusmn, 4.23 years. The average duration of cos was 10.0 &plusmn, 1.39 days. The mean number of oocytes collected was 11.62 &plusmn, 7.96 and the mean number of vitrified oocytes was 9.60 &plusmn, 6.87. The mean estradiol concentration on triggering day was 706.30 &plusmn, 450.48 pg/mL, and the mean dose of gonadotropins administered was 2610.00 &plusmn, 716.51 IU. When comparing outcomes by phase of the cycle in which cos was commenced, we observed no significant differences in the numbers of oocytes collected and vitrified, the length of ovarian stimulation, and the estradiol level on trigger day. The total dose of follicle-stimulating hormone and human menopausal gonadotropin administered was statistically greater in the group starting cos in the luteal phase than in the group starting in the late follicular phase. Our results suggest that using a specific protocol with random-start ovarian stimulation for oocyte cryopreservation in breast cancer patients is effective and could be offered to young women undergoing oncologic treatment.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is administered to many patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) prior to surgery, but it is also true that some of these patients demonstrated no response to the therapy following surgery. In addition, the prognosis of advanced case such as ESCC patients with lymph node metastasis has remained relatively low. Programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) in conjunction with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) has been studied as a potential mechanism of "immune escape" in several human malignancies. Therefore, in this study, we studied PD-L1 status in carcinoma cells and forkhead box protein 3 (FOXP3) and CD8 status among TILs in the residual tumors of primary and metastatic sites following NAC. We also studied the association of these factors with the clinicopathological findings in 44 patients with ESCC harboring lymph node metastasis. There was discordance in the pathological response to chemotherapy between the primary tumor and lymph node metastasis, and histologically identified resistance to NAC in lymph node metastases tended to be correlated with an adverse clinical outcome (P = 0.0765) than resistance in the primary tumor. Both univariate and multivariate analyses for disease-specific survival (DSS) revealed that the PD-L1 status of carcinoma cells in metastatic lymph nodes and a higher FOXP3/CD8 ratio in the primary tumor were both significantly correlated with an eventual adverse clinical outcome of the patients (P = 0.0178, P = 0.0463, respectively). These results all indicated that the PD-L1 status of carcinoma cells in metastatic lymph nodes and the FOXP3/CD8 ratio in primary tumors could predict eventual clinical outcomes in ESCC patients with NAC.

Masticatory muscle tendon-aponeurosis hyperplasia (MMTAH) is a new disease associated with limited mouth opening that is often misdiagnosed as a temporomandibular disorder; subsequently, patients are mistakenly treated with irreversible operations. Due to the poor presentation and characterization of symptoms, the underlying pathological conditions remain unclear. We have previously conducted a proteomic analysis of tendons derived from one MMTAH subject and one facial deformity subject using two-dimensional fluorescence difference gel electrophoresis and liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. However, the results were obtained for only one subject. The aim of the present study was to confirm the expression of specific molecules in tendon tissues from multiple subjects with MMTAH by applying two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Of the 19 proteins identified in tendons from both MMTAH and facial deformity patients, fibrinogen fragment D and beta-crystallin A4 were up-regulated, whereas myosin light chain 4 was down-regulated in MMTAH. We also found fibrinogen to be expressed robustly in tendon tissues of MMTAH patients. Our data provide the possibility that the distinctive expression of these novel proteins is associated with the pathology of MMTAH.

The objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of the protocols for superstimulation of follicular growth in Thai native heifers. Heifers (n = 20) were randomly divided into four groups of five heifers/group. Heifers were given a single dose by i.m. administration of 100 mg Follicle Stimulating Hormone dissolved in polyvinylpyrrolidone (FSHp) at 24 h. Ovum pick up (OPU) occurred at 72 h (F24O72 protocol; Group 1) or 96 h (F24O96 protocol; Group 2), and at 36 h and OPU at 72 h (F36O72 protocol; Group 3) or 96 h (F36O96 protocol; Group 4) after follicular ablation. The dynamics of ovarian follicular growth were monitored by twice-daily ultrasonographic examinations. Blood sample collections were performed every 12 h after initiation of treatment for assessment of FSH, E2 and P4 profiles. All heifers were subjected to eight repeated sequential sessions of OPU. The follicular deviation commenced 245.32 h after follicular ablation in all groups. The circulatory FSH surged quickly from 24 to 36 h (>0.8 ng/ml) after follicular ablation and circulatory estrogen levels steadily increased from 36 h until OPU in all groups. At the end of the OPU sessions, the mean number of aspirated follicles/heifer/session in F36O72 protocol (Group 3) and F36O96 protocol (Group 4) were higher than in the two other groups (p

Background The recent Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident was one of more than 200 serious nuclear/radiation incidents (accidents and disasters) that occurred worldwide since 1945. The current Fukushima disaster is in the recovery phase with the decreasing levels of radiation in the environment. However, fears and stigma related to the perceived risk of radiation exposure persist among the general population. Introduction To improve on students’ preparedness for social and public health challenges after a radiation incidence, radiation education was provided for undergraduate public health nursing students. Aim This case study reports the development and implementation of the first class of radiation education in public health nursing, as well as students’ reflections on their class experience. Methods We included a 90-min radiation class in an undergraduate public health nursing course in Tokyo, Japan. Lectures/discussion on technical and environmental aspects provided the minimally essential content for basic radiation knowledge. After class, all the 65 students were invited to freely write their reflections on the class. With their consent, 61 students’ anonymous written accounts were qualitatively analysed. Results Five themes emerged: awareness of ignorance about radiation, problems produced by the mass media, becoming knowledgeable about radiation, public health nurses’ role, and trustful and enjoyable lecture. Discussion The class inspired students to consider social, psychological and relational aspects of knowing and not knowing about radiation and their future professional role. Conclusion and implications for nursing Once radiation is taught at school, nursing students will emerge as professionals with the belief that radiation is within their professional purview. Education is key to disaster prevention, preparation, response and recovery. Given the ubiquitous nature of health challenges after a radiation incident, radiation education is indispensable for nursing students worldwide.

Fabrication of high quality InP nanopillar structures, with the help of self-masking properties and using the electron cyclotron resonance ion etching techniques, can be a easy demanding and one step large scale production method compared to the traditional, expensive and multi-step complicated methods. In this paper regular arrays of crystalline and high aspect ratio InP nanopillars were fabricated by low energy electron cyclotron resonance Ar + ion irradiation technique. Several scanning electron microscopy images were utilized to investigate the width, height, and orientation of these nanopillars. The average width and length of these nano-pillars were about 50 nm and 500 nm, respectively. Cross-sectional high resolution transmission electron microscopy studies revealed that these nanopillars are crystalline in nature. Photoluminescence measurements also revealed the crystalline nature as well as the enhancement in PL intensity due to the large surface area of the nanopillars.

Many yield functions have been proposed in academia to describe the complicated shapes of yield surfaces of metals. However, many of the commercial FEM codes provide only classical yield functions. Moreover, it takes a long time for engineers to implement newly proposed yield functions to commercial FEM codes. The Japan Association for Nonlinear CAE (JANCAE), a non-profit organization, developed the Unified Material Model Driver for plasticity (UMMDp) subroutine suite with the cooperation of industry users of CAE and the engineers of software venders. This subroutine provides several anisotropic yield functions, and is applicable to most of the commercial FEM codes. The users can implement their own anisotropic yield functions easily using the UMMDp. This paper presents the basic framework of UMMDp and the development activities performed with many volunteers.

Low defect density a-plane GaN films were successfully grown by sidewall epitaxial lateral overgrowth (SELO) technology. Using this technology, a-plane GaN films with atomically flat surface were grown. The threading dislocation and stacking fault densities in the overgrown regions were lower than 10 6 cm -2 and 103 cm -1 , respectively. We also fabricated and characterized a-plane-GaN-based LEDs using SELO technology. The light output power of a blue-green LED was shown to monotonically increase with decreasing of threading dislocation density.

The growth of a-plane AlN (a-AlN) on r-plane sapphire substrate and the epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) of a-AlN on patterned a-AlN has been performed by high-temperature metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. The ELO a-AlN layers coalesced well on the a-AlN template with trenches formed along 〈100〉. A detailed study of the microstructure by transmission electron microscopy revealed that the stacking faults due to facet slip are completely annihilated above the trenches of the patterned AlN. Furthermore, a dislocation density as low as 9.1×107 cm–2 was achieved by ELO. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Crack-free and low-dislocation-density AlGaN was successfully grown on grooved AlN layer. UV light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with a peak wavelength of 330 nm on these AlGaN films were fabricated. The efficiency of the UV LEDs is found to be strongly affected by the crystalline quality of the underlying AlN.

ジャガイモを主原料としている既存製品，およびGABAを添加したモデル的なGABA強化ジャガイモ主原料菓子のそれぞれをラットに強制単回経口投与によるGABAの体内への吸収性，および血圧に対するGABAの影響について検討をし，以下の結果を得た．（1）GABA強化ジャガイモ主原料菓子の投与30分後に血中GABA濃度が最大となった．（2）GABA強化ジャガイモ主原料菓子（ジャガイモ主原料菓子）投与2～8時間後において顕著な血圧降下作用が観察された．（3）GABAの投与濃度依存的な血圧降下作用を示した．（4）高血圧自然発症ラット（SHR）では，血圧降下作用が観察されたが，正常血圧ラット（WIST）では影響は認められなかった．

In this paper, we discuss an ohmic contact resistance (R c ) in a recessed-gate normally-off AlGaN/GaN MIS-HEMT with a δ-doped GaN Cap Layer. This structure ensures high uniformity of a threshold voltage (V th ) by a selective dry-etching of GaN over AlGaN at a gate region. At the δ-doped region of the GaN cap layer, diffusion of electrons toward the surface leaves excess ionized donors, resulting in compensation of negative polarization charges between the GaN cap and the AlGaN barrier. Thanks to this effect, we successfully obtained an low R c of less than 0.1 Ωmm by reduction of band-barrier at the interface between the GaN cap and the AlGaN barrier.

We report on two children with acute encephalopathy showing mild clinical manifestations and reversible white matter lesions. In both patients, MRI revealed high intensities on T (2)-weighted imaging and marked reductions of water diffusion in the white matter of the bilateral centrum semiovale and the corpus callosum. These abnormalities disappeared along with the neurological symptoms within a week in both patients. These children represent a characteristic group of patients among childhood acute encephalopathy.

Of 875 idiopathic carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) cases, 101 (11.5%) required trigger digit release operations within three years before and/or after carpal tunnel release (CTR); these 101 cases were investigated, retrospectively. Trigger digit release (TDR) was performed most often after the CTR, especially within three months. Next most common was at the same time as the CTR. The TDR performance rate after CTR was 5.9%. The nerve conduction study (NCS) comparison between trigger digits-associated CTS and isolated CTS showed that pre-operative distal motor latency was significantly more delayed in trigger digits-associated CTS, while there was no evidence of any difference due to age or gender. The difference of operative method (open or endoscopic procedure) did not influence the incidence rate of trigger digits after the CTR. This study suggested that trigger digits-associated CTS has a previously developed wide-ranging narrowing of the flexor tendon sheath.

A simple method of ileocolostomy was performed in rats. The colon near the cecum was ligated, including its arteries and veins. Main artery and vein of the cecum were ligated. Then, the cecum was cut out. A longitudinal incision was made on the anti-mesenteric side of the proximal end of the colon, approximately 7-8 mm long. A 21-G needle was inserted toward the incision 2 cm away from the proximal end of the anti-mesenteric side of the colon. A nylon suture was knotted once to the distal end of the ileum and was introduced into the tip of the needle which had previously been passed through the colon. Then, the needle was removed. The suture was pulled to introduce the distal end of the ileum into the colonic lumen. Then, the suture was knotted once on the colon again to fix the ileum to the colon. The incision in the proximal end of the colon was not closed. At the 2nd week after the operation, X-ray examinations demonstrated that the ileocolonic passages with no leakage at the anastomotic site were quite satisfactory. At the 4th week after the operation, there were no macroscopic or microscopic complications at the anastomotic site. The mucosal and serosal epithelia of the ileum and colon continued smoothly. This simple method may be very effective in preparing anastomosis in the gastrointestinal tract, especially in small laboratory animals for nutritional and surgical experiments.

症例は53歳,女性.発熱,腹痛,腹部膨満感を主訴に来院.下腹部に圧痛,腹膜刺激症状を認め,腹部US, CT, MRI検査では二個の充実性腫瘤を含む巨大な嚢胞性病変を認めた.腹膜偽粘液腫を伴う虫垂粘液嚢胞腺癌を疑い開腹した.多量の粘液貯留が予測されたが,腹腔内には膿性腹水が充満していた.腹水を除去すると白苔と粘液塊に覆われた二個の手拳大の蜂巣状腫瘍を認めた.右半結腸切除術を予定したが炎症による組織の脆弱化のため腸管吻合は危険と判断し粘液除去および腫瘍摘出術とした.病理診断は虫垂粘液嚢胞腺癌であった.術後6カ月目に手術創から粘液の漏出を認め,その後同部は直径約3cmの瘻孔を形成した.術後2年6カ月が経過した現在も粘液の漏出が持続している.膿性腹水の原因は明らかではないが,虫垂の穿孔や破裂,腫瘍の消化管浸潤によって腸内細菌が腹腔内に漏出したものと考えられた.

BACKGROUND Few nomograms can predict overall survival (OS) after curative resection of advanced gastric cancer (AGC), and these nomograms were developed using data from only a few large centers over a long time period. The aim of this study was to develop and externally validate an elaborative nomogram that predicts 5-year OS after curative resection for serosa-negative, locally AGC using a large amount of data from multiple centers in Japan over a short time period (2001-2003). PATIENTS AND METHODS Of 39 859 patients who underwent surgery for gastric cancer between 2001 and 2003 at multiple centers in Japan, we retrospectively analyzed 5196 patients with serosa-negative AGC who underwent Resection A according to the 13th Japanese Classification of Gastric Carcinoma. The data of 3085 patients who underwent surgery from 2001 to 2002 were used as a training set for the construction of a nomogram and Web software. The data of 2111 patients who underwent surgery in 2003 were used as an external validation set. RESULTS Age at operation, gender, tumor size and location, macroscopic type, histological type, depth of invasion, number of positive and examined lymph nodes, and lymphovascular invasion, but not the extent of lymphadenectomy, were associated with OS. Discrimination of the developed nomogram was superior to that of the TNM classification (concordance indices of 0.68 versus 0.61; P < 0.001). Moreover, calibration was accurate. CONCLUSIONS We have developed and externally validated an elaborative nomogram that predicts the 5-year OS of postoperative serosa-negative AGC. This nomogram would be helpful in the assessment of individual risks and in the consideration of additional therapy in clinical practice, and we have created freely available Web software to more easily and quickly predict OS and to draw a survival curve for these purposes.

We succeeded in growing almost completely relaxed, high-quality, thick GaInN films on an m -plane GaN template with grooves along the 〈0 0 0 1〉 direction, using lateral-growth technology. Reciprocal space mapping of asymmetrical X-ray diffraction confirmed almost complete relaxation. By transmission electroscopic characterization, the growth of GaInN film with a threading dislocation density of approximately 1×10 8 cm −2 was confirmed.

We report the fabrication of an epitaxial lateral overgrown (ELO) GaInN layer on a high crystalline-quality-grooved GaN template, which is improved by a sidewall ELO (SELO) technology. The photoluminescence peak intensity of ELO-grown GaInN layer on the SELO GaN underlying layer is twice as high as that of ELO-grown GaInN layer on the m-plane GaN template. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

GaInN-based light-emitting diodes having m-plane heterostructures and multi quantum well (MQW) were fabricated on m-plane SiC by sidewall-seeded epitaxial lateral overgrowth. Defects such as stacking faults or dislocations strongly affect the emission wavelength and efficiency of MQW. Control of the V/III ratio during growth is found to be very effective for growing GaN from only one sidewall, by which we can reduce the area of the high-defect-density region. A light emitting diode (LED) with high internal quantum efficiency and an almost single peak LED was successfully fabricated. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

A high-crystalline-quality thick m-plane Ga0.92In0.08N film has been realized by epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO). The photoluminescence intensity of thick ELO-GaInN is about 6 times stronger than that of conventional thick GaInN. We fabricated a light-emitting diode (LED) having a GaInN/GaN multiquantum wells (MQWs) active layer on an ELO-GaInN layer. Satellite peaks of (1010) in the 2θ/ω-scan X-ray diffraction profile from this LED can be clearly observed, suggesting that MQWs having a sharp interface are grown. This new LED exhibits blue-light emission with a peak wavelength of 450 nm.

When BALB/c mice were treated with a Kampo (Japanese herbal) medicine "Sho-seiryu-to (SST)" (1 g/kg, 10 times) orally from 7 days before to 5 days after the infection and infected with mouse-adapted influenza virus A/PR/8/34 by nasal-site restricted infection, SST caused increment of the influenza virus hemagglutinin-specific IgA antibody secreting cells in nasal lymphocyte but not in Peyer's patch lymphocyte at 6 days after infection in comparison with water-treated mice. Oral administration of SST also augmented IL-2 receptor beta chain+ (activated) T-cell in Peyer's patch lymphocyte, but not in the nasal lymphocyte. We previously reported that SST showed potent anti-influenza virus activity through augmentation of the antiviral IgA antibody titer in the nasal and broncho-alveolar cavities of the mice (T. Nagai and H. Yamada, 1994, Int. J. Immunopharmacol. 16, 605-613). These results suggest that oral administration of SST shows anti-influenza virus activity in the nasal cavity by activation of T-cell in Peyer's patch lymphocyte and stimulation of production of anti-influenza virus IgA antibody in nasal lymphocyte. When ovalbumin-sensitized allergic pulmonary inflammation model mice were administered orally with SST (1 g/kg) from 8 days before (11 times) or from 2 h after (4 times) to 4 days after the infection and infected with mouse-adapted influenza virus A/PR/8/34, replications of the virus in the both nasal and broncho-alveolar cavities or only nasal cavity were significantly inhibited at 5 days after infection in comparison with water-treated control by augmenting antiviral IgA antibody, respectively. These results suggest that SST is useful for both prophylaxis and treatment of influenza virus infection on patients with allergic pulmonary inflammation, such as bronchial asthma.

Anomalous origin of the right coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ARCAPA) is a rare anomaly. It may contribute to myocardial ischemia or sudden death, although the lesion is usually asymptomatic. We report a sudden death case of a 58-year-old man with ARCAPA coexisting with severe atherosclerotic coronary artery disease. He had been healthy until he complained of chest pain, several days before death, despite the discovery of heart murmur in childhood and suspicion of valvular heart disease. The autopsy revealed not only typical findings of the right coronary anomaly with well-developed collateral circulations but also severe atherosclerotic lesions of the left coronary artery, and ischemic change of the myocardium in the left and right coronary arterial perfusion territory. In addition to the "coronary steal" phenomenon primarily caused by ARCAPA, the reduced flow of both coronary arteries and further increase of "coronary steal" due to atherosclerotic obstructive coronary disease might have contributed to the patient's death.

Troglitazone, a novel oral antidiabetic agent, was evaluated to determine whether it could have hypoglycemic effects in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats when a marginal mass of islets was transplanted and hyperglycemia persisted after transplantation. Lewis rats (RT1(1)) were used as both donors and recipients. Five hundred fresh islets were transplanted beneath the kidney capsule of STZ-induced diabetic recipients. Troglitazone was administered orally (0.34 mmol/kg/day) for 7 days before and for 60 days after islet transplantation. Neither troglitazone treatment without islet transplantation (n = 8) nor islet transplantation alone (n = 7) could produce normoglycemia (11 mmol/L) in diabetic recipients by 60 days after transplantation. In marked contrast, seven of 10 rats receiving islet grafts and treated with troglitazone became normoglycemia at 26.9 +/- 16.4 days (mean +/- SD; n = 7) after transplantation. Removal of the kidney bearing the grafts promptly resulted in the normoglycemic recipients (n = 4) becoming diabetic again. Light and electron microscopically, the intact islets with well-granulated beta cells could be observed in the transplant site of the normoglycemic recipients. These findings clearly demonstrate that the hyperglycemia in STZ-induced diabetic rats receiving an insufficient number of islet grafts to reverse diabetes was ameliorated by troglitazone treatment.

A new method for measuring three magnetization vector components with a Kerr microscope is proposed. By controlling the polarization distribution of a reflected light beam, it becomes possible to measure an in-plane component of the magnetization vector while simultaneously counteracting sensitivity to other components. And by switching the polarization distribution control, all three magnetization vector components can be measured. When combined with a gain switched violet laser diode based sampling method and a solid immersion lens, wide bandwidth and excellent spatial resolution is achieved.

Radial arterial spasm in uremic patients undergoing construction of internal arteriovenous (AV) dialysis fistulas was investigated transcutaneously using ultrasonic Doppler flowmetry. In 6 of 16 control patients, the radial arterial blood flow was significantly decreased for 20 min after anastomosing, indicating vasospasm. Vasospasm did not occur in 15 patients who were continuously administered prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) intravenously (10 ng/kg/min) during surgery. The arterial blood flow was significantly increased in patients receiving PGE1 in comparison with control patients not receiving PGE1 and in whom vasospasm did not occur. Regarding patency of hemodialysis access, the fistula was obstructed in one control patient with radial arterial spasm, but not in patients with PGE1 infusion. Our study suggests that PGE1 may be effective in preventing vasospasm in patients undergoing placement of internal AV dialysis fistulas.

Many types of electronic watthour meters have been developed; however, they are complicated and expensive for household meters. Therefore, cutting cost of the meters has been required especially for the most popular single-phase three-wire (one-phase three-wire) system in Japan. For this purpose, the authors developed a very simple one-phase three-wire watt-to-pulse frequency converter (W-F converter) for the watthour meter. In this new converter, a general-purpose one-chip quad operational-amplifier (op-amp) IC is used as a main component of the converter, for lower initial cost without a custom IC. As the one-chip quad op-amp IC has four op-amps, two op-amps are used for two watt sensors, and the other two op-amps for a de current-to-pulse frequency converter (I-F converter). The watt sensor uses a multiplier using an approximate pulse-width modulation (APWM) with only a comparator with hysteresis and a CR circuit, replacing the conventional Miller integrator which needs an op-amp. Therefore, the total number of op-amps of the developed one-phase three-wire W-F converter is reduced to four, obtained by one one-chip IC. Although the APWM has nonlinearity, it is negligible without instability. As the converter developed does not need any special custom IC or component and is very simple, the total cost can be very low. >

Inverse techniques using atmospheric transport models are developed to estimate the CO2 sources and sinks based on the observed data. In comparison with the ground-based monitoring network, CO2 measurements for vertical profiles in the troposphere have been due to the limited observations by using campaign-style aircrafts and the commercial airlines with limited spatial and temporal coverage. The differential absorption lidar (DIAL) with the range resolution is expected to bring several advantages over passive measurements, for example, daytime coverage and neglecting influences of aerosol and cirrus layers. We have succeeded to develop the 1.6 μm DIAL technique using direct detection method for measurement of CO2 concentration profiles in the atmosphere. This paper describes the advanced CO2 1.6 μm DIAL technique consisting of the optical parametric generator (OPG) transmitter (10mJ/pulse) that excited by the LD pumped Nd:YAG laser with high repetition rate (500Hz) and the receiving optics that included the large telescope with 60cm diameter and the photomultiplier tube with high quantum efficiency (~8%) operating at the photon counting mode and the narrowband interference filter (0.5nm bandwidth) for daytime observations. The CO2 concentration profiles from ground to an altitude of 12km are conducted to measure with better than 1% standard deviation using 500m bins by this CO2 DIAL.

A case of huge duodenal diverticulum in a child presenting with acute pancreastitis, which showed a variety of molphologies in preoperative imaging diagnosis, is reported here. 10-year-old boy was admitted to the hospital because of acute pancreatitis and treated conservatiely. From abdominal ultrasonography and CT findings, a cystic lesion around the head of pancreas was suspected. By a duodenal fiberscope, a round mucosal projection was found at the inside of the duodenal second portion, and it seems a findings of the oppresion from the outside of duodenum. Vater's ampulla could not be determined. DIC revealed a 7.0×5.0cm circular collection of medium around the end of the common bile duct. Hypotonic duodenography revealed a cyst of 8cm in diameter connected to the second portion. Duodenal diverticulum was strongly suspected, and operation including intraoperative frozen section diagnosis was carried out. The orifice of the diverticulum was rather pin hole size and the divertiticulum itself was located at the inner dorsal side of the doudenal second portion. The bile duct and pancreatic duct opened into the diverticulum. Open drainage of the diverticulum into the duodenal second portion and sphincteroplasty were performed. The patient recovered from the operation without any troubles.

The backscattering linear depolarization ratios of major types of tropospheric aerosol particles (Asian and Saharan mineral dust, sea salt, and ammonium sulfate) were measured using a laboratory chamber for interpreting the polarization lidar measurement of tropospheric aerosols. The values obtained from Asian and Saharan mineral particles were 0.39 +/- 0.04 to 0.05 (mean +/- standard deviation) for a high number of concentrations in the supermicrometer range and 0.17 +/- 0.03 to 0.14 +/- 0.03 in the submicrometer range. The values were 0.08 +/- 0.01 for sea-salt crystals, 0.04 +/- 0.003 for ammonium sulfate crystals, and 0.01 +/-or = 0.001 for both liquid droplets in the submicrometer range. These values can serve as a reference for estimating aerosol type using lidar measurement.

OBJECTIVES This study was aimed at evaluating the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of basiliximab in Japanese pediatric renal transplant patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study was carried out with the approval of the Institutional Review Board of our institution. Written consent was obtained from the legal representative of each patient, as also from the patients themselves where possible. Eligible patients were Japanese pediatric patients weighing less than 35 kg and younger than 15 years of age who were scheduled to undergo renal transplantation. Each patient was given intravenous basiliximab at the total dose of 20 mg administered in two divided doses of 10 mg each on the day of transplantation and on the fourth day after transplantation. Cyclosporine and corticosteroids were also administered as the basic concomitant maintenance immunosuppressive therapy. The time course of changes in the serum basiliximab concentrations and the percentage of CD25+ T-lymphocytes in the peripheral blood were determined up to 26 weeks after the transplantation to calculate the period of suppression of the CD25+ T-lymphocytes. Serum basiliximab was measured by an ELISA technique, and the percentage of CD25+ T-lymphocytes in the peripheral blood was determined by flow cytometry. RESULTS 6 Japanese pediatric patients weighing less than 35 kg and aged over 1 year and less than 15 years who were scheduled to undergo renal transplantation were enrolled in this study. In regard to the time course of changes of the serum basiliximab concentration, after the peak serum concentration was reached, basiliximab was gradually eliminated from the blood with a mean half-life of 7.06 days. CD25+ T-lymphocytes in the peripheral blood were suppressed completely when the serum concentration of basiliximab was over 0.2 microg/ml, and the period of suppression of the CD25+ T cells was 40.3 - 51.7 days (mean +/- SD; 45.8 +/- 4.9). CONCLUSION Changes in the serum concentration of basiliximab and the period of suppression of CD25+ peripheral blood T-lymphocytes in Japanese pediatric renal transplant patients were similar to those reported for non-Japanese pediatric transplant patients and Japanese adult renal transplant patients with a cyclosporine and corticosteroid regimen. This indicates that expected efficacy can be obtained in Japanese pediatric renal transplant patients using the recommended dosing regimens validated by non-Japanese studies.

A 17-ns nonaddress-multiplexed 4-Mb dynamic RAM (DRAM) fabricated with a pure CMOS process is described. The speed limitations of the conventional DRAM sensing technique are discussed, and the advantages of using the direct bit-line sensing technique are explained. A direct bit-line sensing technique with a two-stage amplifier is described. One readout amplifier is composed of a two-stage current-mirror amplifier and a selected readout amplifier is activated by a column decoder output before the selected word line rises. The amplifier then detects a small bit-line signal appearing on a bit-line pair immediately after the word-line rise. This two-stage amplification scheme is essential to improving access time, especially in the case of a CMOS process. The high sensitivity of the readout amplifier is discussed, and the electrical features and characteristics of the fabricated DRAM are reported. >

A case of hemophagocytic syndrome (HPS) refractory to corticosteroid therapy was successfully treated by plasma exchange. The patient was a 56-year-old woman who had undergone regular hemodialysis for 10 years for complicated myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and then had had lung tuberculosis. After the onset of tuberculosis, she suffered from HPS and was treated by antituberculosis agents and high dose corticosteroid administration without any effect on the HPS. After adding a series of plasma exchanges, the HPS improved gradually, and her MDS began to respond to corticosteroid therapy. Plasma hypercytokinemia due to HPS was corrected by plasma exchange, and the correction of a high level of plasma inflammatory cytokine was considered to be one of the contributing factors for the improvement of HPS. These results suggest that therapeutic plasma exchange should be considered as a therapeutic tool for HPS refractory to conventional therapy.

BACKGROUND Collagenase infusion into the pancreatic duct is an essential step in human islet isolation. We developed a new method for ductal canulation and collagenese infusion. METHODS A total of 53 pancreata were divided into two groups: group 1 (n=23), the new tube method, and group 2 (n=30), the standard angiocatheter method. In group 1, a polyethylene tube was inserted into the duct and pushed to the tail. The tail was first expanded, followed by expansion of the body and then the head, by pulling out the tube. RESULTS Total islet number and number/g pancreas (mean+/-SE) were significantly higher in group 1 (481,123+/-43,218 and 8,010+/-722) (mean+/-SE) than in group 2 (300,974+/-35,122 and 5,090+/-515, P

Embedded DRAMs have superior features for applications that require very high memory bandwidth, such as graphics and multimedia. To achieve high memory bandwidth, various techniques such as widening input/output pins shrinking the unit array size, and performing a read operation and a write operation concurrently have been reported. However, these embedded DRAM macros incur considerable area penalty to obtain high memory bandwidth. Among the techniques for achieving high bandwidth, the concurrent read/write operation is a very effective method in performing a read-modify-write function and a double-buffer function for the graphics applications. A pseudo-two-port embedded DRAM macro that performs concurrent read/write operations at high frequency without sacrificing cell efficiency is reported in this paper. To accomplish this, a read/write cross-point switch circuit (RWCC) and distributed steering redundancy switches (DSRS) are introduced. A 32 Mb macro is characterized via a test-chip fabricated in a 65 nm embedded DRAM process.

The heat energy consumed by individual customers in a district heating system that uses hot water is found by integrating the flow rate (volume/second) and multiplying it by the temperature difference between the incoming and outgoing water. An electronic integrating heat meter is developed for this purpose using a programmable unijunction transistor (PUT) and linearized thermistor sensors. The temperatures of the incoming and outgoing radiator water are measured by means of the thermistor sensors mounted on the pipes connected to the radiator, and their temperature difference is converted to a current. The current is applied to a current-to-pulse frequency converter using the PUT that operates only during the time of the constant width of the pulses generated by a water-flow meter and correspond to the water-flow volume. Therefore, the number of counted output pulses of the current-to-pulse frequency converter shows the integrated multiplication of the flow rate and the temperature difference, which is the heat energy. The electronic circuit is simple and therefore not expensive. The accuracy of the heat meter is within +or-2% for a temperature difference up to 40 degrees C. >