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An r.f. reactive sputter deposition technique was adopted to deposit ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films with high rate from a ZrTi alloy target combined with PbO pellets. The deposition characteristics, including the effects of the PbO area ratio, were discussed. A new deposition mode called the `quasi-metallic mode' was observed. Perovskite PZT films were prepared at a growth temperature as low as 450°C. However, because the target structure is unstable, we proposed a mixture target which consisted of Zr, Ti and PbO. Fundamental experiments were researched using the powder target. The perovskite PZT film could also be obtained at 450°C with better electrical properties.

In order to establish a design rule of the plasma reactors, a fundamental investigation was carried out. The results show that important points of the design criteria were flow speed of gas and power input to the discharge tubes. An engineering model of plasma reactor for 100 kVA diesel engine generating system was designed, constructed and tested. The reactor is composed of 3 blocks, 30 discharge tubes with 1 m long and they are driven by a high voltage inverter power source. The test results show that the fundamental data were applicable to the engineering model reactor and the required energy yield of NO oxidation process was almost attained. A scale up rule has also been confirmed

Prevention of hypoxic cell death is a key to successful liver transplantation. We developed a new method for preventing liver hypoxic cell death by introducing an anti-cell death gene directly into rat livers. When the human bcl-2 gene (hbcl-2) was directly transfected into rat livers together with non-histone chromosomal protein high mobility group 1 (HMG1) by the hemagglutinating virus of Japan (Sendai virus; HVJ)-liposome method, human Bcl-2 protein (hBcl-2) was efficiently expressed. Electron microscopy and fluorescence microscopy revealed that hepatocytes expressing exogenous hBcl-2 were almost completely protected the hypoxic cell necrosis. The expression of the hBcl-2 also inhibited activation of caspase-3 (-like) proteases and liver dysfunction. Thus, we conclude that transfection of the hbcl-2 gene through HVJ-liposome method is useful to prevent liver cell necrosis induced by hypoxia. This finding could lead to new strategies to avoid the hypoxic cell death, the major problem in liver transplantation.

Round-robin studies on relative sensitivity factors (RSFs) in secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) were conducted using bulk GaAs samples uniformly doped with various impurity elements. A total of 31 laboratories participated in two round-robins. More than 30 sets of relative ion intensities were obtained for B, Si, Cr, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, In and Te in GaAs. The RSFs for both positive and negative ions were derived for several types of SIMS instruments. The effect of primary ion incident angle was examined using quadrupole-based instruments and found to be the determining factor of the instrumental dependence of RSF. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Generation of total intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) was measured in XS52 cells, a Langerhans cell-like line, treated with different sized amorphous silica particles. The results suggested that exposure to amorphous nanosilica particles (nSPs) with a particle size of 70 nm induced a higher level of ROS generation than did exposure to micron-sized amorphous silica particles. This finding means that it is essential to examine the biological effects of ROS generated after exposure to nSPs, which will provide useful information for hazard identification as well as the design of safer nanomaterials.

The skin penetration and cellular localization of well-dispersed amorphous nanosilica particles (nSPs) with a diameter of 70 nm was analyzed in mice. Our results suggest that after topical exposure for three days the particles penetrate the skin barrier and are transported to the lymph nodes. These findings underscore the need to examine biological effects following dermal exposure to nSPs for the development of safer use of nSPs.

Congenital alimentary tract duplication is a rare disease. It most frequently occurs in the ileum, with the rectum being the rarest site. Herein, we report a 38-year-old woman who was referred to our hospital because of severe anal pain. On digital examination, a smooth, round, rubbery mass was palpable; it was located 5 cm from the anal verge in the posterior rectal wall. A CT scan demonstrated a 5-cm cystic lesion located anterior to the sacrum that was displacing the rectum anteriorly. Spontaneous remission of the tumor was evident; however, after 5 months of follow-up, the patient experienced the same severe anal pain. MRI demonstrated a recurrent cystic lesion. To prevent further complications and to confirm or deny malignancy, laparoscopic total mesorectal excision using the prolapsing technique was performed. Pathologically, the cystic lesion was diagnosed as a rectal duplication cyst. This is the first report of a rectal duplication cyst successfully treated by laparoscopic total mesorectal excision.

The nucleotide sequences of the HA1 domain of the H1 hemagglutinin genes of A/duck/Hong Kong/36/76, A/duck/Hong Kong/196/77, A/sw/North Ireland/38, A/sw/Cambridge/39 and A/Yamagata/120/86 viruses were determined, and their evolutionary relationships were compared with those of previously sequenced hemagglutinin (H1) genes from avian, swine and human influenza viruses. A pairwise comparison of the nucleotide sequences revealed that the genes can be segregated into three groups, the avian, swine and human virus groups. With the exception of two swine strains isolated in the 1930s, a high degree of nucleotide sequence homology exists within the group. Two phylogenetic trees constructed from the substitutions at the synonymous site and the third codon position showed that the H1 hemagglutinin genes can be divided into three host-specific lineages. Examination of 21 hemagglutinin genes from the human and swine viruses revealed that two distinct lineages are present in the swine population. The swine strains, sw/North Ireland/38 and sw/Cambridge/39, are clearly on the human lineage, suggesting that they originate from a human A/WSN/33-like variant. However, the classic swine strain, sw/Iowa/15/30, and the contemporary human viruses are not direct descendants of the 1918 human pandemic strain, but did diverge from a common ancestral virus around 1905. Furthermore, previous to this the above mammalian viruses diverged from the lineage containing the avian viruses at about 1880.

The prevalence of cigarette smoking among Japanese men has been consistently high compared with Western males over the past 30 years. However, during the same period, the incidence of and mortality rates for lung cancer have consistently been lower in Japan than in Western countries (‘Japanese smoking paradox’). The odds ratio/relative risk of cigarette smoking for lung cancer mortality/incidence relative to the same number of cigarettes smoked per capita in Japan, were apparently lower than those in Western countries. This must be the cause driving the ‘Japanese smoking paradox’. Furthermore, low carcinogenic ingredients in Japanese cigarettes and a congenitally-related resistance to smoking-related lung carcinogenesis emerged as the main factors which have brought the ‘Japanese smoking paradox’.

Recent studies into the in vivo absorption and biological influence of particulate matter, especially nanomaterials (NMs), have raised worldwide concerns over their safety. However, it is often technically difficult to conduct these studies because NMs are too small to be observed by optical microscopy. Here, we attempted to establish a new method to visually detect NMs on tissue samples. Specifically, we have analyzed titanium dioxide particles with a diameter of 5 microm, which are widely used in cosmetics, using frozen tissue sections by synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence analysis.

The thermal activation energy for ion transport and related junction formation in a polymer light-emitting electrochemical cell (LEC) has been determined by measuring the transient behavior of light emission as a function of temperature from 257 K to 297 K. We find the initial time derivative of the light intensity to have an Arrhenius temperature dependence, with an activation energy of 1.6 eV. Our devices utilize a flourene-based polymer emitter which fluoresces at red/near-infrared wavelengths. The polymer matrix includes phenyl alkoxy-substituted PPV and an electrolyte/dopant system based on both solid polymer and ionic liquid dopants. Transient measurements of current and light emission have been used to capture the kinetics of both junction formation and junction decay and to measure variations in optical external quantum efficiency during device turn-on. This work was supported by the Rapid Reaction Technology Office (RRTO) of the Department of Defense and by National Science Foundation Grant DMR 0804527.

Every year, many people are injured by slipping and falling accidents when walking. Clarification of the mechanism of slipping and falling may provide insight into possible solutions. The purpose of this study was to reveal the behavior of the shoe sole contact during walking by measuring both contact pressure distribution and the slippage of shoe sole blocks. A force plate with a walkway made of glass was produced to observe the contact area between the walkway and the shoe sole. The total internal reflection of light was used to distinguish the contact area and noncontact area of the shoe sole. The slippage of the shoe sole was measured by time-sequence position variations of each block. As a result, a large traction coefficient and a large slippage of the shoe sole block were found to occur immediately after the heel strike. Slippage was also detected at the period of toe off. Moreover, the maximum contact pressure of each block varied from 1.0MPa to 3.0MPa in the contact area.Copyright © 2011 by ASME

Amorphous silica nanoparticles (nSPs), are widely used in medicines, cosmetics and food. However, due to their reduced particle size they are suspected to pose new risks induced by changes in biological reactivity and kinetics, which differ from those of bulk materials. In a previous study, we showed that silica particles with a diameter of 70 nm penetrated the stratum corneum (SC) of mouse skin and were taken up by living cells such as keratinocytes and Langerhans cells. To clarify the relationship between particle size, distribution and cellular response, we have evaluated size-dependent intracellular localization and cytotoxicity of silica particles, using the mouse epidermal Langerhans cell line XS52. On treatment with silica particles of diameters 70, 300, and 1000 nm, cellular uptake and cytotoxicity increased with reduction in particle size. These results suggest that smaller sized silica particles induced greater cytotoxicity against Langerhans cells, which was correlated with the quantity of particle uptake into the cells.

The post-operative changes in the serum levels of CRP and serum amyloid A (SAA) were investigated prospectively in 106 patients after posterior lumbar interbody fusion. In 96 patients who did not have complications related to infection within the first year after operation, the median levels of CRP before operation and on days 3, 7 and 13 after were 0.02 (0.01 to 0.03), 9.12 (2.36 to 19.82), 1.64 (0.19 to 6.10) and 0.53 (0.05 to 2.94) mg/dl, respectively and for SAA, 2.6 (2.0 to 3.8), 1312.1 (58.0 to 3579.8), 77.3 (1.8 to 478.4), 14.1 (0.5 to 71.9) μg/ml, respectively. The levels on day 3 were the highest for both CRP and SAA and significantly decreased (p < 0.01) by day 7 and day 13. In regard to CRP, no patient had less than the reference level (0.1 mg/dl) on day 7. In only three had the level decreased to the reference level, while in 93 it was above this on day 13. However, for SAA, the levels became normal on day 7 in 10 cases and on day 13 in 34 cases. The ratios relative to the levels on day 3 were significantly lower for SAA compared with CRP on day 7 and day 13. Of the ten patients with infection in the early stages, the level of CRP decreased slightly but an increase in SAA was observed in six. We concluded that SAA is better than CRP as a post-operative inflammatory marker.

Low-temperature (T) heat-capacity measurements under hydrostatic pressure of up to p=2.1 GPa have been performed on single-crystalline CeCu2Si2. A broad superconducting (SC) region exists in the T-p phase diagram. In the low-pressure region antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations and in the high-pressure region valence fluctuations had previously been proposed to mediate Cooper pairing. We could identify these two distinct SC regions. We found different thermodynamic properties of the SC phase in both regions, supporting the proposal that different mechanisms might be implied in the formation of superconductivity.

Two influenza A viruses were isolated from pigs in Thailand in January 1988 during the early febrile stage of an influenza-like illness. The isolates contained hemagglutinin and neuraminidase antigens related to those of swine H1N1 influenza virus. This result based on the virus isolation is compatible with the epizootiological evidence that, unlike the human influenza with peak activity in summer (May-July), swine influenza virus is prevalent in the winter season (November-January) in Thailand. The proportion of sera with hemagglutination-inhibiting antibody was higher to A/NJ/8/76 than to A/sw/Iowa/15/30. Likewise, hemagglutination-inhibition tests with monoclonal antibodies indicated that hemagglutinin antigen of the isolates was very similar to that of A/NJ/8/76 virus. In agreement with the serological survey and antigenic characteristic, genetic relatedness between the isolates from Thailand and A/NJ/8/76 virus was also demonstrated by the oligonucleotide mapping of RNA, suggesting that they may be of the same origin.

The relaxation times (T1 and T2) of water proton in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) were measured with solutions containing bovine fibrinogen (Fbg), fibrin degradation products (FDP) and with fibrin-gel (Gel), at varying protein concentrations (0.7-70 mg/ml). Both T1 and T2 declined exponentially with increasing protein concentration. At a protein concentration of 35 mg/ml, the T1 of Fbg, Gel and FDP were 2.32, 2.12 and 2.82 s and the T2 values were 0.35, 0.17 and 0.70, respectively. The relaxation times for the control samples (0.2 M borate buffer) were 3.41 (T1) and 2.28 (T2). When the relaxation rates (the inverse of T1 and T2), R1 and R2 were plotted against the protein concentration, there were positive linear correlations between them. Using the slopes of the plots, the hydration value of each protein was calculated. The hydration value (g of H2O/g of protein) was 0.24 for Fbg, 0.34 for Gel and 0.14 for FDP.

Protein transduction domains (PTDs), such as Tat, antennapedia homeoprotein (Antp), Rev and VP22, have been extensively utilized for intracellular delivery of biologically active macromolecules in vitro and in vivo. There is little known, however, about the relative transduction efficacy, cytotoxicity and internalization mechanism of individual PTDs.We examined the cargo delivery efficacies of four major PTDs (Tat, Antp, Rev and VP22) and evaluated their toxicities and cell internalizing pathways in various cell lines.The relative order of the transduction efficacy of these PTDs conjugated to fluorescein was RevAntpTatVP22, independent of cell type (HeLa, HaCaT, A431, Jurkat, MOLT-4 and HL60 cells). Antp produced significant toxicity in HeLa and Jurkat cells, and Rev produced significant toxicity in Jurkat cells. Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that the uptake of PTD-fluorescein conjugate was dose-dependently inhibited by methyl-beta-cyclodextrin, cytochalasin D and amiloride, indicating that all four PTDs were internalized by the macropinocytotic pathway. Accordingly, in cells co-treated with 'Tat-fused' endosome-disruptive HA2 peptides (HA2-Tat) and independent PTD-fluorescent protein conjugates, fluorescence spread throughout the cytosol, indicating that all four PTDs were internalized into the same vesicles as Tat.These findings suggest that macropinocytosis-dependent internalization is a crucial step in PTD-mediated molecular transduction. From the viewpoint of developing effective and safe protein transduction technology, although Tat was the most versatile carrier among the peptides studied, PTDs should be selected based on their individual characteristics.

Recent lower hybrid current drive (LHCD), and heating (LHH) experiments on JT-60 are reported. The current drive product of neRpIRF approximately 12.5*1019 m-2 MA was achieved at the LH power of approximately 4.5 MW, and the CD efficiency, the energy confinement, the global power balance and the heat load on divertor plates were investigated in high power LHCD plasmas. Nearly steady state H-mode discharges were found during LHCD with two different frequency injections. Sawtooth suppression in NB heated plasmas by LHCD have shown an improvement in confinement near the plasma center. Parametric instabilities in LH heating experiments were significantly reduced by increasing the plasma current, and the stored energy increased linearly with heating power of up to approximately 9 MW at ne approximately 7*1019 m-3 and Ip=2.75 MA. Parametric instabilities near the plasma edge in the ion heating regime were also reduced in peaked density plasmas produced by pellet injection and LH waves increased the central plasma pressure at ne(0) > 1.4*1020 m-3.

An expandable space-division (SD) switch architecture and a bipolar circuit design for gigabit-per-second crosspoint-switch LSIs are described. An expandable 2-Gb/s 16*16 crosspoint switch LSI which employs a novel switch structure, a novel circuit design, and a super self-aligned process (SST-1A) is developed. A switching module and partial 1:n nonblock, full 1:1 nonblock switching network architecture are also presented. Using the LSI and the switching network architecture, an experimental 620-Mb/s network system is demonstrated. >

A very rare developmental anomaly showing bilaterally persistent sciatic arteries was found in a cadaver of 89 year old female. Both right and left sciatic arteries arose from the internal iliac arteries and appeared between the piriformis and superior gemellus muscles at the buttock, being about 10 mm in diameter. Each artery, which accompanied by the companion vein, i.e. sciatic vein, sent the branches to the gluteus maximus and the flexor muscles of thigh. On the other hand, the femoral arteries of both lower limbs were smaller than usual, measuring 4.7 mm in left and 5.2 mm in right. The terminal vessels of those were joined to the sciatic arteries at the popliteal fossa. In addition, the present case also had another developmental anomaly, i.e. superficial brachial artery in the right upper limb.

This paper proposes a frequency regulation technique for the stable operation of parallel connected UPS system under the independent control proposed by authors group. The features of independent control of parallel UPS are (1) stable operation is guaranteed by sensing the output current of each UPS, and no communication is required between the UPSpsilas, (2) The phase and amplitude of each UPS voltage are generated by a simple PI controller, (3) The lateral current between the UPSpsilas are compensated by the lateral current compensator, (4) the load sharing is autonomously achieved, (5) the system frequency changes depending on the control gains and load. The last disadvantage is now solved by adding a simple control loop in the independent control. The paper presents the theory, simulation and experiments.

We observe continuous terahertz-wave emission from a stack of intrinsic Josephson junctions made of slightly Pb-doped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O. We investigate how Pb doping affects the c-axis current–voltage and emission characteristics. The terahertz emission spectra are measured by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and reveal that the emission frequency is remarkably increased by Pb doping, an effect that we attribute to cavity resonance.

Purpose: Hypo-fractionated stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) with intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is nowadays one of the treatment strategies for prostate cancer. There are few reports on planning study of prostate cancer by CyberKnife with respect to the urethral dose because of the invisibility in CT. We have investigated a planning method using fixed collimators with considering dose homogeneity, conformity and urethral dose. Methods: Radiotherapy treatment planning of prostate cancer were under a clinical trial approved by the institutional review board. The prescription dose of 35 Gy were delivered to the PTV in five fractions with the urethral catheter. Urethra position was identified by pretreatment CT and catheter, which was inserted before treatment planning CT and released after the treatment. All plans agreed to the criteria as shown in table 1, and the following constraints were recommended as well: the prescribed iso-dose line should be from 70% to 90%; the total MU should be below 50,000 MU; the minimum MU per beam should be larger than 15 MU; the estimated delivery time (excluding patient setup time) by Multiplan with image time interval of 60 s should be less than 35 min. Collimator size and position were decided as shown in figure 1. Fixed collimator of 15 mm was positioned around urethra and PTV for avoiding high dose of urethra and achieving conformity, and fixed collimator of 30 or 40 were positioned around PTV for achieving dose homogeneity. Results: With this method, all constraints were achieved. (Table 1, Figure 2) Max dose of urethra was ranging from 103.9% to 114.2%, because urethra position was identified by pretreatment CT and urethral catheter. Conclusion: Hypo-fractionated SBRT with IMRT utilizing urethral catheter could be a promising new treatment option for prostate cancer. This work was supported by JSPS Core-to-Core program Number 23003.

A mechanical resonance and time delay degrade the control performance. In order to design a desired control system, a precise numerical model that represents resonance characteristics and time delay in a mechanical system to be controlled is necessary. This paper presents an identification method using the iterative process of the linearized and weighted total least squares method. The proposed identification method derives a transfer function without any prior knowledge of resonance characteristics and time delay. The order of the transfer function is determined by using a coefficient diagram that shows coefficients of the denominator of the transfer function. Identification results for a three-mass and a four-mass experimental system are shown to demonstrate the performance of the proposed identification method.

Stacks of intrinsic Josephson junctions in high-Tc superconductors are a promising source of intense, continuous, and monochromatic terahertz waves. In this paer, we establish a fluorescence-based temperature imaging system to directly image the surface temperature on a Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ mesa sample. Intense terahertz emissions are observed in both high- and low-bias regimes, where the mesa voltage satisfies the cavity resonance condition. In the high- bias regime, the temperature distributions are shown to be inhomogeneous with a considerable temperature rise. In contrast, in the low-bias regime, the distributions are rather uniform and the local temperature is close to the bath temperature over the entire sample.

A 65-year-old female with a heart murmur developed progressive symptom of chest oppression. She was diagnosed severe aortic valve stenosis with echocardiogram. Antibody screening revealed anti-Jr(a) antibody. Preoperatively, erythropoietin was administered. Over 14 days, a total 1,000 ml of her blood was drawn and stored for autologous transfusion. The aortic valve was replaced with ATS mechanical valve [18 mm advanced performance (AP)]. Following surgery, her stored blood was administered to him. But her HCT was 17% on the 1st postoperative day. Frozen thawed red cells were transferred 7th postoperative day.

We will discuss patterning of conducting polymers using ink jet printing, along with controlled surface oxidation reaction, to yield a variety of patterns with various grey scale levels. We will also present our recent findings on hybrid (organic/inorganic) nanothick solar cells and possible ways to improve their performance

We will present our work on the use of ink-jet printing to pattern conductive polymers for use as electrodes with predefined shapes and controlled conductivity.

A 24-year-old man who had left ventricular (LV) false aneurysm, which is caused by mitral valve infective endocarditis, underwent aneurysmectomy, direct closure of aneurysmal mouth and concomitant mitral valve replacement. Post-operative course was uneventful. It has been reported that the etiology of this false aneurysm was due to the vegetations' friction, which could have caused an initial endocardial ulceration that progressively expanded into the myocardium. The false aneurysmal wall should be completely removed in order to eliminate the possibility of recurrence of the infective endocarditis. We believe that the surgical treatment should be carried out as soon as possible after completion of diagnosis because the aneurysmal wall is usually quite thin and could rupture easily.

When microcrystalline silicon is used as intrinsic layer of a thin film solar cell, the thickness must be several /spl mu/ms because of the lower optical absorption coefficient compared with amorphous silicon. Therefore, we prepared microcrystalline silicon films up to 3 /spl mu/m in thickness by a hydrogen-radical CVD method and examined the film thickness dependence of their structural properties. The deposition rate increased as film thickness became thicker. The obtained microcrystalline silicon films indicated [111] preferential orientation and the grain size was about 30 nm. The surface roughness of microcrystalline silicon films was observed using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The crystallinity as well as the rms roughness was increased with an increase in film thickness. The average diameter of projection divisions measured by AFM was around 90-270 nm, and much larger than the grain size. This result suggests that a projection division was formed by more than several crystalline grains.

A 52-year-old man underwent aortic valve replacement with freestyle stentless xenograft, using subcoronary technique for active infective endocarditis in June, 2001. Eighteen month later he had late prosthetic valve endocarditis associated with aortic annular abscess due to Staphylococcus epidermidis infection. The abscess was debrided and gelatin-resorcin-formalin glue (GRF glue) was injected into the abscess cavity. Abscess cavity was closed with continuous running suture of 3-0 polypropylene stitches. Finally the aortic valve was replaced with ATS mechanical valve (20 mmAP). After administration of vancomycin and gentamicin for 4 weeks, he discharged on 57th postoperative day in good condition. We strongly suggest that GRF glue is essential to close the aortic annular abscess of combined with aortic regurgitation due to active infective endocarditis.

In unspecified bit rate (UBR) service provided by ATM networks, users send cells into networks with no feedback; no guarantee cells may be dropped during congestion. This paper describes a congestion control scheme using active network technology to avoid congestion in a conventional ATM network. The Ants routing algorithm for congestion control associated with active networks is implemented. The routing algorithm uses information that is monitored and revised according to the congestion status of output ports and sends commands to other switching elements. The active switching elements share information about traffic levels of the interconnection network and reciprocate customized programs for rerouting cells in the presence of congestion at a switching element's output ports. As a result, it is possible to build an active switching network that can avoid congestion in a conventional ATM network.

The optimum dielectric design of gas circuit breakers (GCB) in a consistent design philosophy is described. Many electric field calculations were carried out on 3 GCB models and the relation between the key design parameters such as distance between tank and shield, major radius of shield electrode and full open distance were analyzed. As a result, it was found that there is a minimum curve in the relation between full open distance and the electric field strength. Using this minimum curve and the allowable electric field strength, we can design the optimum GCB structure. It is also shown, as an example, how to design the optimum GCB of 300 kV by using 3 GCB models.

In order to investigate the influence of puffer volume V/sub P/ and operating force to dielectric performance of GCB at current interruption, we calculated the prospective dielectric withstand voltage V/sub W/ between arcing contacts. The withstand voltage was calculated by the electric field strength appearing on arcing contacts and the allowable electric field strength E*/sub W/ of hot gas due to thermal puffer action. We clarify that large initial puffer volume V/sub P/ can increase withstand voltage V/sub W/ at current breaking point and also that an optimum point exists in operating force F. For example, it was found that in case of the operating force of 1000 kgf, the puffer volume V/sub P/ of 1.2 liter would be best choice in the interrupting condition of i=50 kA and arcing time of 1.35 cycle.

A 52-year-old man was admitted to our hospital on October, 1997 with complains of left anterior chest pain. A chest X-ray and computed tomography on admission showed evidence of a mass in the left anterior mediastinum. The patient was treated with combination chemotherapy [cisplatin (CDDP), etoposide (VP-16)] and radiation therapy (2 gray x 25 days), preoperatively. Median sternotomy revealed a tumor invading into the left anterior chest wall, the pericardium, and partial pleura. The tumor was extirpated with combined resection of invaded organs. Microscopically and immunohistochemically, the tumor was diagnosed mixed small cell and undifferentiated squamous cell carcinoma documented by Snover et al. The patient was discharge on March 1998, but 2 years later after operation, he was dead by recurrent. We reported a rare case of thymic carcinoma.

1. We investigated the cytoprotective effect of low-dose nitric oxide (NO) on NO-induced cell death in mouse macrophage-like cell line RAW264. 2. Sodium nitroprusside (SNP), an NO donor, at a high concentration (4 mM) released cytochrome c from mitochondria and induced death in RAW264 cells. Acetyl-L-aspartyl-L-glutamyl-L-valyl-L-aspart-1-al (Ac-DEVD-CHO, 100-200 microM), a caspase-3 inhibitor, attenuated the SNP-induced cell death in a concentration-dependent manner. 3. Pretreatment with 100 microM SNP for 24 h, which had no effect on cell viability, attenuated the cell death and reduced cytochrome c release from mitochondria to the cytosol induced by 4 mM SNP. 4. LY83583 (1-3 microM) and 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3,-a]quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ, 30-100 microM), soluble guanylate cyclase inhibitors, negated the protective effect of the 100 microM SNP pretreatment. 5. Pretreatment with 1 mM dibutylyl guanosine-3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (DBcGMP), a cell-permeable guanosine-3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP) analogue, for 24 h inhibited both cytochrome c release and cell death induced by SNP. 6. Protein kinase G inhibitor KT5823 (10 microM) significantly reduced the cytoprotective effects of low-dose SNP and DBcGMP. 7. These results indicate that low-dose NO protects RAW264 cells from NO-induced apoptosis through cGMP production and activation of protein kinase G.

The magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equilibrium and local mode stability of a low aspect ratio reversed field pinch (RFP) plasma is studied. The dependences of the equilibrium and stability properties, and bootstrap current (BSC) profile on the plasma pressure profile, β value and cross sectional shape are investigated with a view of obtaining stable, high β and high BSC‐driven equilibria against high‐m localized Mercier mode. In addition, the neoclassical MHD RFP equilibria including bootstrap current effects are calculated self‐consistently and compared with the classical MHD equilibria.

To suppress a flicker that occurs in a power system with arc furnaces, the authors have developed a self-commutated static flicker compensator (SFC). To verify the SFC's compensation performance, the authors performed experiments with a mini-model and an analog simulator. As a result of these experiments, it was confirmed that the current deviation of the SFC output current was less than the desired value of 5%, and the response time of current control was about 1 ms. They also tested the flicker compensating effect with an actual SFC which was installed in a power system. The SFC achieved a flicker suppression factor of 36%, and has been operating trouble-free since April 1995.