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Aims The aim of this study was to investigate the significance of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) ligands produced in syncytiotrophoblasts during normal pregnancy. Main methods We examined the expression of EGFR ligands in human pregnancy by real-time PCR, and analyzed the relationship between EGFR ligands and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) or human placental lactogen in amniotic fluid by ELISA. In addition, we also examined the EGFR ligands in syncytiotrophoblasts and the amount of hCG secretion in JAR, JEG3 and BeWo cells in the presence of each EGFR ligand. Key findings In order to identify possible candidates among the EGFR ligands, we examined the predominant expression of an EGFR ligand in the chorionic villi and amniotic fluid during normal pregnancy, and analyzed the relationship between EGFR ligands and hCG in trophoblastic model cells. Amphiregulin was primarily expressed throughout human pregnancy and stimulated the secretion of hCG, indicating that amphiregulin is a key molecule among EGFR ligands. Significance Amphiregulin may play a pivotal role in the development or maturation of placenta.

A direct overwrite method by light intensity modulation using only an external magnet is described. The recording medium consists of an exchange-coupled RE-TM alloy quadrilayer film. Good recording characteristics were obtained, including a C/N ratio of better than 47 dB at a bit length of 0.76 ?m without a residual signal. The process in which the second layer is initialized is particularly important. M-H loop measurements revealed that the second layer has two different coercivities with respect to the magnetization states of the other layers; the coercivity of the second layer is smaller than that of a single layer of the same material when the sublattice magnetization of the first layer is antiparallel to the fourth layer magnetization. These phenomena aid in the initialization of the second layer.

Objective: To examine the obstetrical risk factors for death and brain injury among extremely-low-birth-weight (ELBW) infants (birth weight

Objective: To identify the most important epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor ligand in the LH or hCG signal pathway in human ovary. Design: A retrospective clinical study. Setting: Tertiary university hospital. Patient(s): Ninety-eight infertile patients who underwent IVF–embryo transfer. Intervention(s): Sera and follicular fluid were collected at the time of oocyte retrieval. The levels of EGF, transforming growth factor-alpha (TGFa), and amphiregulin (AR) were measured in follicular fluid and sera by using ELISA. Main Outcome Measure(s): The relationships between the level of AR and level of hCG, fertilization rate, and embryo quality. Result(s): Amphiregulin was abundantly expressed in follicular fluid after hCG stimulation. Although large differences were found between AR and both EGF and TGFa in follicular fluid, no significant difference was detected in the levels of the three EGF receptor ligands in sera. The level of AR was inversely correlated with the fertilization rate and hCG level, whereas little significant association was observed between the level of AR and embryo quality. Conclusion(s): Amphiregulin was expressed most dominantly among EGF receptor ligands tested and may mediate the hCG signal in human oocyte maturation. Elaborate interaction between AR and hCG may be required for an optimal oocyte maturation. (Fertil Steril� 2009;91:1035–41. � 2009 by American Society for Reproductive Med

In this review article the possible applications of anti-tumor-associated antigen (TAA) antibodies in the therapy of cancer have been summarized. First, recombinant monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) are increasingly being used as therapeutic agents, especially in combination with anti-cancer drugs. Second, conjugation of antibody therapy with toxins or radioisotopes offers more therapeutic approaches. Third, development of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) or natural killer (NK)-cell populations with anti-TAA antibody activity may be important for the success of cancer immunotherapy because the downregulated HLA class I molecules and the non-ubiquitous expression of NK receptor ligands in tumor tissues constitute the major tumor escape mechanism facing tumor-specific CTL- and/or NK-cell-mediated responses. Finally, in cancer gene therapy, the strategies to target viral vectors carrying therapeutic genes to tumor tissues by modifying the tropisms with MAbs or their genes against TAAs are also very promising.

We find that the phase coherence factor derived from Hall effect measurements of single-crystal thin-film field-effect transistors of pentacene, which relates the intrinsic charge transport with the phase coherence, has a strong correlation with the thermal fluctuations of transfer energies between neighboring molecules. This observation also holds true for other organic semiconductors such as tetracene, dianthrathiophene (DAT)-V, and dinaphtho[2,3-b:2′,3′-f]thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (DNTT). This gives us clues for constructing flexible molecular systems with high carrier mobility.

We report a case of pituitary dwarfism and diabetes insipidus due to pituitary stalk transection in a pregnant Japanese woman, 138 cm in height, born by breech delivery with no evidence of ante- or intrapartum asphyxia. The patient had no central nervous disturbance, was diagnosed with pituitary dwarfism during childhood and was treated at another hospital with growth hormone supplement from 5 to 14 years of age. This patient was referred to our department at 17 weeks' gestation due to a change of residence. At 30 weeks' gestation, she was hospitalized for assessment of hydronephrosis and polyuria (15-20 L/day). Analysis of a 24-h urine sample showed creatinine clearance of 157 mL/min and urine osmolality of 38 mOsm/L. The patient's urine output decreased after receiving a test dose of 0.75 g of 1-desamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin (DDAVP). Cranial magnetic resonance imaging showed transection of the pituitary stalk. Subsequently, the patient's urine output was well controlled by a maintenance dose of 0.275 mL/day intranasal DDAVP. A cesarean section was performed at 37 weeks, as the patient height was 138 cm, and a pelvic X-ray showed cephalopelvic disproportion. She delivered a female baby weighing 2302 g, and both 1- and 5-min Apgar scores were 9. The patient was followed up after 4 months and showed no visual deterioration or polyuria while on DDAVP therapy, while the neonate grew favorably.

The objective of this study was to retrospectively assess whether the sonographic findings from transvaginal color Doppler ultrasound (TV-CDU) are helpful in the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy. Thirty-four patients who received surgery for ectopic tubal pregnancies were preoperatively evaluated using TV-CDU. The presence or absence of color vascularity within the ectopic masses was examined. The relationship between the presence or absence of blood flow in the tubal mass and the corpus luteum cyst, or the serum β-hCG values, was evaluated. Color vascularity within the adnexal mass was detected in 27 of 34 (79.4%) patients with ectopic pregnancies by TV-CDU. Color vascularity within the mass was observed in 18 of 24 (75.0%) patients with a questionable adnexal mass that had no obvious gestational sac in B-mode images. Moreover, color vascularity was seen in all four patients with a serum β-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) value of less than 500 mIU/ml. However, it was difficult to identify the blood flow of the adnexal mass in six of the nine (66.7%) patients with a corpus luteum cyst in the ipsilateral ovary. No relationship was observed between the serum β-hCG concentrations and the resistance indices, or the peak systolic velocity. The detection of color vascularity by TV-CDU in patients with an ectopic pregnancy is helpful for diagnosis, especially for patients with either a questionable adnexal mass in B-mode images or lower serum β-hCG concentrations.

We present a hybrid circuit fabricated by means of MicroElectroMechanical System (MEMS) process technology. It has been newly developed as a component for the application to wireless communication system. The hybrid circuit consists of inductors and shunt capacitors, which have been fabricated on a silicon wafer. In our device, an etched 30 /spl mu/m deep cavity is utilized to minimize insertion losses of transmission lines for inductors. Moreover, the bottom of cavity is metallized for the ground biasing of shunt capacitors. Our metallized cavity structure and proposed fabrication process scheme for that have the advantages in terms of insertion loss issue and a variety of applicability in RF MEMS field. In S-parameter measurement, we obtained 2.03 dB and 2.18 dB as insertion losses and 21.63 dB as return loss at 12 GHz. The measured frequency characteristics are also well agreed with the simulation results.

This paper presents a newly developed pressure sensor. The principle of its pressure measurement is based on heat transfer from a heat source fabricated on a sensor element to a metal diaphragm, to which pressure is applied. The lower linearity errors less than /spl plusmn/1.0%FS without any compensation and the lower consumption power, 10 mW, are achieved by using a reference heater and an optimization of the sensor element.

This paper presents a grounded coplanar waveguide (GCPW), which is useful in RF-MEMS devices in order to effectively reduce noise from neighboring transmission lines. The GCPW structures demonstrated here were fabricated by front-surface-only processes on a single silicon wafer. A silicon nitride membrane supports the coplanar waveguide, which is located above a ground plane formed on an etched silicon cavity We found that the insertion losses of the 50-/spl Omega/ GCPW's with a 26-/spl mu/m-wide signal line and a 6-/spl mu/m-deep cavity do not exceed 0.4 dB/mm up to 20 GHz, which agreed with the simulated loss. The demonstrated maximum depth of metallized cavity is 30 /spl mu/m, which enables the GCPW's loss to be as low as 0.08 dB/mm at 20 GHz.

A novel lumped-element hybrid is presented. The hybrid is disposed on a newly developed dielectric-air-metal (DAM) cavity, which consists of an SiN membrane above a metallized 30-um-deep cavity made by a micromachining process. This process enables to make every component be worked from one-side of a silicon (Si) substrate, and to leave back-side as a part of a package. This is indispensable to realize a very thin MEMS-packaged-device consisting of two wafers bonded. Also, patterned metal grounds can provide all kinds of lumped elements. Among those, series inductors are investigated in detail. A hybrid with series inductors and shunt capacitors is fabricated. Good agreement between the measured and simulated results was obtained to validate this structure for fabrication of micro-size microwave components on an Si substrate.

We report a case of acute pancreatitis, which occurred after delivery in a woman who had an uneventful course of pregnancy and parturition. A 17-year-old Japanese woman was referred to our department because of nausea and vomiting two hours after delivery, followed by severe abdominal and back pain. On admission, in addition to elevated serum and urine amylase, plain computed tomography demonstrated a swollen pancreas and high density in the peripancreatic lesion with a large amount of ascites, suggesting the presence of an inflammation of the pancreas as well as peripancreatic lesion. Accompanied by subsiding abdominal and back pain, serum amylase concentration gradually decreased and returned to a normal level on the 11th postpartum day. Acute pancreatitis must be kept in mind when evaluating patients presenting with abdominal pain after delivery.

The direct overwrite characteristics by light power modulation on a magnetooptical disk with exchange coupled rare-earth-transition-metal (RE-TM) quadrilayers film are described. In this system, it is important to investigate the relationship between the laser power and the bias field margins. These margins are defined by the Curie temperature and the temperature dependence of the reversal field of each layer. Good recording characteristics were obtained, such as a carrier-to-noise ratio >49 dB on a bit length of 0.76 mu m. A fairly wide power margin of +or-20% was obtained, and a wide tolerance on the bias magnet construction was allowed. For achieving a read cycle of more than 10/sup 8/, it was necessary to keep the read power smaller than 1.5 mW at 2400 rpm. >

A direct overwrite mechanism of the exchange-coupled quadri-layered film using light intensity modulation has been investigation. The initializing process in the overwrite mechanism was studied. It was found that the writing layer had two different coercivities depending on the magnetization state of its adjacent layers. The coercivity of the writing layer in the initializing process was lower than that of the single layer. Thus, the overwrite recording was achieved with good recording characteristics. How this phenomenon plays a critical role in the initializing process was clarified. It was also found that this process occurred well above room temperature. >

To achieve a higher storage density on an overwritable exchange-coupled quadrilayer magnetooptic (MO) disk, the overwrite recording characteristics using the optical head with 680-nm laser diode were investigated. High recording sensitivity was obtained and the write power was estimated to be about 10 mW at 22-m/s linear velocity. Carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR) of more than 46 dB was obtained at the 0.66- mu m mark length, and 0.5- mu m/b recording with a bit error rate less than 1*10/sup -5/ was obtained at 1.2- mu m track pitch. The authors conclude that 130-mm double-sided direct overwrite MO disk could have 2.5 Gbyte storage capacity. If 1.0- mu m track pitch disk can be used, a storage capacity of 3.5 Gbyte might be expected. >

The possibility of high-density overwrite recording using the light modulation method in magnetooptical disks has been investigated. It was found that the area around a mark written by irradiation of high power was erased spontaneously, regardless of the prerecorded states. It is effective for high-linear-density recording. On a disk with a track pitch of 1.4 mu m, signal deterioration by thermal interference was not observed after recording at an adjacent track with an off-track of 0.2 mu m. >

To achieve a higher density recording on the overwritable exchange-coupled quadrilayer MO disk, the overwrite recording characteristics using 680nm laser diode were investigated. High recording sensitivity is obtained on the disk with about 1000A magnetic film. CNR more than 46dB is obtained at 0.66μm mark length, and 0.5μm/bit recording with bit error rate less than 1×10-5 succeeds at 1.2μm track pitch zone.

The possibility of edge recording on direct overwrite exchange-coupled multilayer media was evaluated. It has been established that overwrite media are not inferior to conventional magnetooptical (MO) media in edge recording because overwrite methods which use light power modulation have an advantage of reduced standard deviation of edge jitter even if the residual signal level is high. In this paper, direct overwrite exchange-coupled quadrilayer media were examined to prove this advantage.

The direct overwrite methods on magneto-optical discs by light power modulation and especially the initializing process in the method using quadrilayered film are reviewed. This process is investigated further here. It is shown that decrease in the coercivity of the middle layer of exchange-coupled triple layers depends on magnitude of its hysteresis loss and that the initializing process is easier to occur at higher temperature than the ambient temperature.

Detailed studies have been performed on various spectroscopic properties such as time dependence and excitation wavelength dependence of the fluorescence anisotropy for fluorescein molecules introduced into rat thymus lymphocytes. Experimental results have been found to be well interpreted in terms of the coexistence of two types of dye molecules, i.e., free and bound molecules. The fluorescence spectrum of only the bound molecules has been obtained from the difference in the time-resolved spectra of fluorescence with two polarization directions. The time gate has been set at a sufficiently late time after the excitation, so that the polarization memories of the free molecules are lost. The spectrum thus determined agrees very well with that calculated from the spectral data in the stationary condition. From the above results, we come to the conclusion that the main factors which determine the fluorescence anisotropy inside the cell are the fraction and the anisotropy of the bound dye molecules. Finally, we discuss how these factors are related to biological quantities.

The degree of polarization of fluorescence from fluorescein, introduced into living lymphocytes, changes according to physiological conditions of the cells and also with antigenic stimulations on lymphocytes. This property can be used for a sensitive detection of malignant diseases. However, the physical mechanism of this fluorescence depolarization is not yet known.

We have found possibility of performing direct overwriting by light intensity modulation with only one conventional bias magnet using a new type of exchange-coupled double-layered film. The biggest characteristic of this film is existence of hysteresis of temperature distribution in the film for the light intensity and that makes overwriting possible.