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Regulatory T cells (Treg) play a role in suppression of immune response, including anti-tumor immunity. We have recently reported that treatment of naïve CD4 T cells with adenosine A(2B) receptor antagonist PSB603 under Treg-skewing conditions inhibits expression of Foxp3, a marker of differentiation to Treg, without blocking IL-2 production or CD25 expression, which are activation markers, in CD4 T cells. We hypothesized that PSB603 suppresses cancer growth and metastasis by inhibiting induction of Treg, thereby facilitating anti-tumor immunity. In this study, we first examined the effect of PSB603 on tumor growth in B16 melanoma-bearing C57BL/6 mice. Administration of PSB603 significantly suppressed the increase of tumor volume as well as the increase of Treg population in these mice. The populations of CD4 and CD8 T cells were higher and splenic lymphocyte-mediated cytotoxicity towards B16 melanoma was significantly increased in PSB603-treated mice. We confirmed that PSB603 did not reduce the viability of B16 melanoma cells in vitro. Moreover, we also examined the effect of PSB603 on tumor metastasis in pulmonary metastasis model mice intravenously injected with B16 melanoma cells. The metastasis was also suppressed in PSB603-treated mice, in which the population of Treg was significantly lower. Overall, our results suggest that A(2B) receptor antagonist PSB603 enhances anti-tumor immunity by inhibiting differentiation to Treg, resulting in a delay of tumor growth and a suppression of metastasis.

Persistent spectral hole burning spectroscopy is applied to evaluate the low-temperature relaxation around the dye molecules doped in several types of polymers. The doped dye is tetraphenylporphine, and the measured polymers are vinyl polymers and main chain aromatic polymers. The changes of microscopic environments around the dye are evaluated from the changes in the hole profiles during temperature cycling experiments. The relaxation behavior of the polymers is discussed in relation to their chemical structures. (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

ポリメタクリル酸アルキル (PMMA, PEMA, PnPMA, PiPMA, PnBMA) を～50Kからガラス転移点付近まで昇温して陽電子消滅寿命を測定し, 長寿命成分を解析して自由体積の大きさ, 数濃度, および, 大きさ分布を求めた. また, 陽電子消滅寿命曲線を非線形最小二乗近似して得られた第3成分の寿命 (τ3) の解析から得られた自由体積の平均半径は同寿命曲線をラプラス逆変換して得られた自由体積の分布曲線の最多頻度の半径と一致した. 得られた結果から自由体積の温度による変化を追跡し, エステルに結合したアルキル基の効果を調べた. 自由体積の大きさや濃度は, 誘電緩和や動力学特性の温度変化から得られた分子運動の緩和点で変化することが認められた.

Background Parturition has been widely described as an immunological response; however, it is unknown how this is triggered. We hypothesized that an early event in parturition is an increased responsiveness of peripheral leukocytes to chemotactic stimuli expressed by reproductive tissues, and this precedes expression of tissue chemotactic activity, uterine activation and the systemic progesterone/estradiol shift. Methods Tissues and blood were collected from pregnant Long-Evans rats on gestational days (GD) 17, 20 and 22 (term gestation). We employed a validated Boyden chamber assay, flow cytometry, quantitative real time-polymerase chain reaction, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Results We found that GD20 maternal peripheral leukocytes migrated more than those from GD17 when these were tested with GD22 uterus and cervix extracts. Leukocytes on GD20 also displayed a significant increase in chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 (Ccl2) gene expression and this correlated with an increase in peripheral granulocyte proportions and a decrease in B cell and monocyte proportions. Tissue chemotactic activity and specific chemokines (CCL2, chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 1/CXCL1, and CXCL10) were mostly unchanged from GD17 to GD20 and increased only on GD22. CXCL10 peaked on GD20 in cervical tissues. As expected, prostaglandin F2α receptor and oxytocin receptor gene expression increased dramatically between GD20 and 22. Progesterone concentrations fell and estradiol-17β concentrations increased in peripheral serum, cervical and uterine tissue extracts between GD20 and 22. Conclusion Maternal circulating leukocytes display early chemotactic responsiveness, which leads to their infiltration into the uterus where they may participate in the process of parturition.

Excursion temperature dependences of spectral hole profiles in photochemical hole burning for free-base systems porphyrin/poly(alkyl methacrylate)s are investigated to see the relationship between relaxation properties and chemical structure of the polymers. The irreversible change in hole width is a characteristic of each polymer and is very similar to the relaxation behavior measured mechanically and dielectrically. Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) shows the highest thermal stability of hole profiles among the polymers presently studied with no marked appearance of local relaxation at 20-100 K. Poly(ethyl methacrylate) (PEMA) and poly(isopropyl methacrylate) (PiPMA) show an increase in hole width even at 20 K with a plateau region at 50-70 K, which is attributed to the rotation of the ethyl or isopropyl group around the C-O bond. Polymers which contain more than two serial methylene groups in the side chains (poly(propyl methacrylate), poly(butyl methacrylate), poly(isobutyl methacrylate)) show a similar relaxation behavior around 50-60 K, suggesting the onset of the rotation of the terminal ethyl or isopropyl group in the ester side chain around the C-C bond. Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) shows a similar excursion-temperature dependence probably due to the existence of branched oligomethylene side chains. The relaxation behavior is independent of the nature of chromophores, which indicates that irreversible hole broadening is controlled mainly by the local motion of the host matrices.

Absolute pitch (AP) possessors can name the pitch class of the note simply by hearing a periodic tone. It has been reported that the AP judgment can shift by one or two semitones when AP possessor become old. We confirmed this age-related AP shift by a series of psychophysical experiments with piano sounds as well as synthesized complex tones. AP possessors whose ages ranged from 20s to 50s participated in the experiments. The results showed that the aged participants were likely to assign the higher pitch classes than young participants for the piano sounds. Similar tendencies were observed for the synthesized, complex sounds if they contained lower order harmonics. The hearing levels, OAEs, and the frequency following responses (FFRs) of the EEG were also measured for the same participants. The hearing levels and OAE levels which could be indices in the cochlear mechanical properties could not explain the age-related AP shift. The phase locking values of the FFRs obtained at 98 and 220 Hz could neither ...

To improve cancer immunotherapy, it is important to understand how tumor cells counteract immune-surveillance. In this study, we sought to identify cell-surface molecules associated with resistance of leukemia cells to cytotoxic T cell (CTL)-mediated cytolysis. To this end, we first established thousands of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that react with MLL/AF9 mouse leukemia cells. Only two of these mAbs, designated R54 and B2, bound preferentially to leukemia cells resistant to cytolysis by a tumor cell antigen-specific CTLs. The antigens recognized by these mAbs were identified by expression cloning as the same protein, CD43, although their binding patterns to subsets of hematopoietic cells differed significantly from each other and from a pre-existing pan-CD43 mAb, S11. The epitopes of R54 and B2, but not S11, were sialidase-sensitive and expressed at various levels on leukemia cells, suggesting that binding of R54 or B2 is associated with the glycosylation status of CD43. R54high leukemia cells, which are likely to express sialic acid-rich CD43, were highly resistant to CTL-mediated cytolysis. In addition, loss of CD43 in leukemia cells or neuraminidase treatment of leukemia cells sensitized leukemia cells to CTL-mediated cell lysis. These results suggest that sialic acid-rich CD43, which harbors multiple sialic acid residues that impart a net negative surface charge, protects leukemia cells from CTL-mediated cell lysis. Furthermore, R54high or B2high leukemia cells preferentially survived in vivo in the presence of adaptive immunity. Taken together, these results suggest that the glycosylation status of CD43 on leukemia is associated with sensitivity to CTL-mediated cytolysis in vitro and in vivo. Thus, regulation of CD43 glycosylation is a potential strategy for enhancing CTL-mediated immunotherapy.

EZH2, a catalytic component of the polycomb repressive complex 2, trimethylates histone H3 at lysine 27 (H3K27) to repress the transcription of target genes. Although EZH2 is overexpressed in various cancers, including some hematologic malignancies, the role of EZH2 in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has yet to be examined in vivo. In the present study, we transformed granulocyte macrophage progenitors from Cre-ERT;Ezh2flox/flox mice with the MLL-AF9 leukemic fusion gene to analyze the function of Ezh2 in AML. Deletion of Ezh2 in transformed granulocyte macrophage progenitors compromised growth severely in vitro and attenuated the progression of AML significantly in vivo. Ezh2-deficient leukemic cells developed into a chronic myelomonocytic leukemia–like disease with a lower frequency of leukemia-initiating cells compared with the control. Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing revealed a significant reduction in the levels of trimethylation at H3K27 in Ezh2-deficient leukemic cells, not only at Cdkn2a, a known major target of Ezh2, but also at a cohort of genes relevant to the developmental and differentiation processes. Overexpression of Egr1, one of the derepressed genes in Ezh2-deficient leukemic cells, promoted the differentiation of AML cells profoundly. Our findings suggest that Ezh2 inhibits differentiation programs in leukemic stem cells, thereby augmenting their leukemogenic activity.

We report periodic nanostructure on solid material irradiated by scanning continuous wave (CW) laser. Long periodic nano strip grating lines (nano-SGL) formed, not in a spot, but along the trace of the beam scan, literally parallel to each other with a at trough between the strip lines. The period of nanostructure was varied with the laser power between 500 nm and 800 nm, which equals to wavelengths used for laser scanning of green and infrared lasers. Thermal simulation and Raman spectra indicated the temperature of target exceeded the melting temperature to form the periodic nanostructure on target materials.

Within a dynamic health research environment with trends toward increasing accountability, governments and funding agencies have placed increased emphasis on knowledge translation (KT) as a way to optimize the impact of research investments on health outcomes, research products and health service delivery. As a result, there is an increasing need for familiarity with the principles of KT frameworks and components of KT strategies. Accordingly, health research trainees (graduate students and post-doctoral fellows) must be supported to enhance their capacity to understand KT principles and the practicalities of implementing effective KT practices.In this paper, the unique opportunities and challenges that trainees within an interdisciplinary research team encounter when they begin to understand and apply constructive and relevant KT practices are considered. Our commentary is based on trainee experiences within the Preterm Birth and Healthy Outcomes Team (PreHOT), an interdisciplinary research team.

In most vertebrates, sex steroids play a critical role in gonadal development, maturation of germ cells, and development of secondary sexual characteristics. Sex steroids are synthesized in steroid-producing cells (SPCs) in the testis known as Leydig cells, as well as in thecal and granulosa cells in the ovary. In SPCs, cholesterol is sequentially catalyzed by a set of steroidogenic factors and enzymes in order to produce sex steroids. Therefore, integrated expression of the genes involved in steroidogenesis is critical for the proper production of sex steroids. In the present study, regulatory mechanisms of steroidogenic factors and enzymes were examined. We focused on hsd3b, star and ad4bp/sf-1 as well as the description of temporal and spatial expression of these genes during gonadal development in medaka (Oryzias latipes). During testicular development, hsd3b, star and ad4bp/sf-1 were co-expressed in the interstitial somatic cells subsequent to the formation of the seminiferous tubule precursor, suggesting that ad4bp/sf-1 regulated the transcription of both hsd3b and star. During ovarian development, the expression pattern of hsd3b coincided with that of cyp11a1, but not with that of aromatase. Although ad4bp/sf-1 was mainly expressed in presumptive follicular cells, it was also detected in hsd3b positive interstitial cells in the developing ovary. Contrary to our expectations, the onset of star expression occurred during a later stage of ovarian development than the expression of other steroidogenic enzymes. Thus, the regulation mechanism of star transcription appears to differ from that of the other steroidogenic enzymes in the developing ovary, but not in the developing testis.

After a laser annealing experiment on Si wafer, we found an asymmetric sheet resistance on the surface of the wafer. Periodic nano-strip grating lines (nano-SGLs) were self-organized along the trace of one-time scanning of the continuous wave (CW) laser. Depending on laser power, the nano-trench formed with a period ranging from 500 to 800 nm with a flat trough between trench structures. This simple method of combining the scanning laser with high scanning speed of 300 m min − 1 promises a large area of nanostructure fabrication with a high output. As a demonstration of the versatile method, concentric circles were drawn on silicon substrate rotated by a personal computer (PC) cooling fan. Even with such a simple system, the nano-SGL showed iridescence from the concentric circles.

Recent advances in stem cell biology have identified tumor-initiating cells (TICs) in a variety of cancers including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Polycomb group gene products such as BMI1 and EZH2 have been characterized as general self-renewal regulators in a wide range of normal stem cells and TICs. We previously reported that Ezh2 tightly regulates the self-renewal and differentiation of murine hepatic stem/progenitor cells. However, the role of EZH2 in tumor-initiating HCC cells remains unclear. In this study, we conducted loss-of-function assay of EZH2 using short-hairpin RNA and pharmacological inhibition of EZH2 by an S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase inhibitor, 3-deazaneplanocin A (DZNep). Both EZH2-knockdown and DZNep treatment impaired cell growth and anchorage-independent sphere formation of HCC cells in culture. Flow cytometric analyses revealed that the two approaches decreased the number of epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM)(+) tumor-initiating cells. Administration of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or DZNep suppressed the tumors by implanted HCC cells in non-obese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficient mice. Of note, however, DZNep but not 5-FU predominantly reduced the number of EpCAM(+) cells and diminished the self-renewal capability of these cells as judged by sphere formation assays. Our findings reveal that tumor-initiating HCC cells are highly dependent on EZH2 for their tumorigenic activity. Although further analyses of TICs from primary HCC would be necessary, pharmacological interference with EZH2 might be a promising therapeutic approach to targeting tumor-initiating HCC cells.

Low-dose trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole for Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia prophylaxis after allogeneic hematopoietic SCT

Objective To present an estimation of the pregnancy rate after IVF or intracytoplasmic sperm injection stratified by blastocyst morphology and age. Design Retrospective analysis. Setting Private IVF clinic. Patient(s) A total of 1,488 single frozen-thawed blastocyst transfer cycles. Intervention(s) All frozen-thawed blastocysts used in the study were obtained in the patients' first oocytes retrieval cycles. Main Outcome Measure(s) Clinical pregnancy rate (CPR), viable pregnancy rate (VPR), and delivery rate (DR) according to blastocyst morphological score (Gardner and Schoolcraft score) in three different age groups: women aged 22–33 years, 34–37 years, and 38–45 years. Result(s) The quality of blastocysts degraded as age group increased. The proportions of good-quality blastocysts (grades 4 and above) were 62.3%, 56.3%, and 41.1% in age groups of 22–33 years, 34–37 years, and 38–45 years. Within the same blastocyst quality, CPR, VPR, and DR tended to be lower with increased age. Chances of pregnancy were reduced by 60% or more for women 38 years and older with blastocyst morphology of grades 1 and 2. Significant trends were observed for both age and blastocyst morphology groups. Conclusion(s) There was a significant correlation between blastocyst quality and CPR, VPR, and DR in addition to the influence of age on the three rates. The findings may help predict successful pregnancy in single-blastocyst transfer.

To simulate the perceptual extraction of temporal structures of speech, the authors have been proposing an event-plausibilty model that detects the occurrence of subevents in continuous speech signals based on a auditory processing. One of its core components is the filterbank module that simulates the mechanical frequency analysis of the basilar membrane in the cochlea. In this paper, output by the new model using a dynamic compressive gammachirp (dcGC) auditory filterbank was compared with the previous model using a gammatone auditory filterbank. The most important difference between these filters was the nonlinear dynamic level-dependence of the new filter; the previous filterbank was linear. Simulation results revealed that no significant advantage for the new filter (dcGC) was observed for event detection by the event-plausiblity model, which suggests that the algorithm for the event-plausibility model has robustness against differences in peripheral auditory processing. Index Terms: auditory processing, temporal perception, event detection, auditory image model

Drawings were made on various types of paper using lead pencils of grades from 4H through 10B. Raman spectroscopy verified both G and D peaks on all the drawings on PC print paper, PC photopaper, kent paper, and paper for silver halide print. After irradiation with a scanning femtosecond laser, silver halide paper drawn on with a 10B lead pencil maintained its surface flatness compared with the other types of paper. Raman spectroscopy on silver print paper showed a high-intensity G peak and a low-intensity D peak. After irradiating the scanning femtosecond laser on silver halide paper drawn on with a 10B lead pencil, Raman spectroscopy showed a high-intensity G peak and less intense of D peak together with a 2D peak around 2,700 cm−1 corresponding to the existence of multigraphene.

L. Introduction Recently it becomes possible to fabricate silica glass coatings onto various kinds of materials by heating coated polysilazane films ; (-SiHz-NH-)" [-3]. This technique attracts much interests in wide area of industry for making protective hard coatings, electrical insulating layers, thermal or chemical resistive films, highly transparent or antireflection coatings, and gas barrier coatings. To produce high quality silica glass coatings from the polysilazane precursor, heating processes above 600 C' are necessary to remove residual nitrogen atoms or Si-OH impurities. Lowering of the process temperature is necessary for fabricating high quality silica glass coatings onto thermally unstable substrates such as plastics or semiconductive devices. In this paper, we demonstrate a room temperature photochemical fabrication of silica glass coatings by utilizing a vacuum ultraviolet (V[JV) light inadiation obtainable by recently developed high power xenon excimer lamps. The quality of the photochemically fabricated coatings are elucidated here by spectroscopically investigating their chemical structwes, ffid compared with the thermally fabricated coatings.

Abstract 402 Polycomb group proteins are transcriptional repressors that epigenetically regulate transcription via histone modifications. There are two major polycomb-complexes, the Polycomb Repressive Complexes 1 and 2 (PRC1, PRC2). PRC2 contains SUZ12, EED, and EZH1/EZH2, and catalyzes the trimethylation of histone H3 at lysine 27 (H3K27me3), silencing target-genes. We have shown that the self-renewal of Ezh2-deficient HSCs is not compromised and H3K27me3 marks are not completely depleted in the absence of Ezh2, possibly as a result of Ezh1 complementation. EZH2 is generally thought to act as an oncogene in lymphoma and solid tumors by silencing tumor suppressor genes. Recently however, loss-of-function mutations of EZH2 have been found in myeloid malignancies such as AML, MDS and MPN, suggesting that EZH2 also functions as a tumor suppressor, although it remains unclear how EZH2 prevents the transformation of myeloid malignancies. RUNX1 is a critical transcription factor in the regulation of the self-renewal and differentiation of HSCs. RUNX1 mutations are frequently found in MDS, AML following MDS (MDS/AML) and de novo AML patients. One of the most frequent mutations, RUNX1S291fs, lacks the transactivation domain in C-terminus, but retains the RUNT DNA biding domain, resulting in a dominant negative phenotype. RUNX1S291fs-transduced bone marrow cells have been shown to generate MDS/AML in vivo. Given that RUNX1 and EZH2 mutations coexist in MDS and AML patients as reported recently, we generated a novel mouse model of MDS utilizing RUNX1S291fs retrovirus and Ezh2 conditional knockout mice in order to understand how EZH2 loss contributes to the pathogenesis of MDS upon genetic mutation of RUNX1. We first harvested CD34-Lin-Sca1+c-Kit+(LSK) HSCs from tamoxifen-inducible Cre-ERT;Ezh2wild/wild (EW) and Cre-ERT;Ezh2flox/flox (EF) mice (CD45.2) and transduced these cells with RUNX1S291fs retrovirus or an empty vector, which contains IRES-GFP. Then, we transplanted RUNX1S291fs-transduced Cre-ERT;Ezh2wild/wild (S291EW) or Cre-ERT;Ezh2flox/flox (S291EF) HSCs into lethally irradiated recipient mice (CD45.1) together with life saving dose 1×105 CD45.1 bone marrow cells. At 6 weeks post transplantation, we deleted Ezh2 via administration of tamoxifen, and observed disease progression until 12 months post transplantation. The empty vector transduced control mice with or without Ezh2 (EW and EF) did not develop myeloid malignancies. Two out of 16 S291EW mice died due to MDS progression, while 12 out of 16 and 1 out of 17 S291EF mice developed MDS and MDS/AML, respectively. S291EF mice showed significantly shorter median survival than S291EW mice (314 days versus undefined, p=0.037). In the peripheral blood, we observed significantly lower CD45.2+GFP+ chimerism in S291EF mice; however S291EF mice eventually showed macrocytic anemia and variable white blood cell counts accompanied with dysplastic features of MDS. Despite low CD45.2+GFP+ chimerism in peripheral blood, S291EF mice showed a higher chimerism of CD45.2+GFP+ cells in the bone marrow and had a significantly increased number of LSK and CD34-LSK cells compared to EW, EF, and S291EW mice, indicating that Ezh2 loss promoted HSCs/progenitors expansion, but impaired myeloid differentiation in the presence of RUNX1S291fs. We also saw enhanced apoptosis of CD71+Ter119+ erythroblasts in S291EF MDS mice, which may account for the anemia we observed. Since S291EF MDS bone marrow cells were transplantable in secondary experiments, we performed limiting-dilution assays to evaluate the frequency of MDS initiating cells and found that the frequency of MDS initiating cells was much higher in S291EF pre-MDS Lin-Mac1-Kit+ cells compared to S291EW pre-MDS Lin-Mac1-Kit+ cells. To understand this molecular mechanism, we performed gene expression analysis during MDS progression. S291EF MDS LSKs showed 1979 and 1875 dysregulated (>5-fold) genes, compared to EW LSK and S291EF pre-MDS LSK, respectively. We are now working to understand how these dysregulated genes are involved in the development of RUNX1S291fs-induced MDS after deletion of Ezh2. In summary, we have successfully recapitulated the clinical feature of MDS in mice reconstituted with Ezh2 null HSCs expressing a RUNX1 mutant, and demonstrated that Ezh2 functions as a tumor suppressor in this context. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Photochemical hole burning (PHB) is attracting an interest as a means for frequency-domain optical storage. Besides, PHB is expected as a probe for understanding the dynamic behavior in polymers at low temperatures. The low-temperature properties of polymers have been investigated mechanically and dielectricly for many years. In the present study, excursion temperature dependence of hole profile for chromophore/polymer systems is investigated, and is compared with mechanical and dielectric behavior of polymers, so as to get hold of the relationship between relaxation properties and chemical structure of polymers.

Abstract 57 The polycomb group proteins function in gene silencing through histone modifications. They have been characterized as a general regulator of stem cells, but also play a critical role in cancer. EZH2 is a catalytic component of the polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) and tri-methylates histone H3 at lysine 27 to transcriptionally repress the target genes. Although EZH2 is over-expressed in various cancers including hematological malignancies, it remains unknown how EZH2 contributes to the initiation and/or progression of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). To understand the role of EZH2 in AML, we transformed granulocyte macrophage progenitors (GMPs) from Cre-ERT;Ezh2+/+ and Cre-ERT;Ezh2flox/flox mice with the MLL-AF9 fusion gene. Then, Ezh2 was deleted by inducing nuclear translocation of Cre by adding tamoxifen to culture. We found that proliferation of Ezh2δ/δ transformed cells was severely compromised upon deletion of Ezh2 (Ezh2δ/δ) in liquid culture. They gave rise to a significantly reduced number of colonies in replating assays. Of note, while Ezh2+/+ cells formed compact colonies composed of immature myeloblasts, Ezh2δ/δ cells formed dispersed colonies composed of differentiated myeloid cells. We next transplanted Cre-ERT;Ezh2+/+ and Cre-ERT;Ezh2flox/flox GMPs transformed by MLL-AF9 into recipient mice. All the recipient mice developed AML by 3 weeks after transplantation. At 3 weeks after transplantation, we depleted Ezh2 by intraperitoneal injection of tamoxifen. Deletion of Ezh2 significantly prolonged the survival of the recipient mice (60 days vs. 76 days, p Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films were prepared on steel substrates by eleven suppliers using different types of equipment utilized in each company's own coating formation process. The deposition methods include sputtering, electron cyclotron resonance chemical vapor deposition (ECR-CVD), plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), arc ion plating (Arc), filtered arc deposition (FAD), and plasma-based ion implantation (PBII). Some correlation of mechanical properties seems to be valid in a narrow range of parameters produced by a particular deposition method. In order to investigate general correlations in a wide range of parameters, various DLC films were prepared by different suppliers on the same substrate, and were evaluated in exactly the same manner. Independent of deposition methods, there existed correlations of the hardness, elastic modulus and Raman shift with a wide range of mass density.

To investigate the perceptual cues that detect arrivals of new auditory events, the detectability of deviation applied to an isochronous temporal structure was measured. The stimuli were sequences of complex tones whose formant frequencies alternate between two steady values. Five steady parts were connected by four formant glides. The isochronous structure was introduced exclusively in the intervals between the starting points of the glides or in the intervals between the ending points by adjusting the durations of the glides and the steady parts in a compensatory manner. Since the harmonic components stop and start one after the other during the glides, it is difficult to define the arrival of new events in an entirely physical view. The perceptual difference in detectability between the starting and ending conditions and its dependency on the frequency region could reveal the perceptual cues that are effective in extracting temporal relations of auditory events. The results will be compared with those obtained with sinusoidal stimuli whose frequencies were modulated in a similar way as the formant frequency in this paper, and they will be discussed by reference to a computational model of auditory event detection. [Work supported by JSPS No. 16200016.]

When we hear continuous sound signals, we extract the timing between each segment although each segmental boundary is acoustically unclear. In order to investigate on which points we perceive the temporal structures in sound signals, perceptual experiments were conducted to measure the sensitivity in detecting the temporal deviation by using sound signals containing frequency glides. The following question was raised: What would provide a more effective cue to detect a change in the temporal structures, the starting point or the ending point of glides? Five segments of steady parts, of which high and low were alternated, were connected with four frequency glides, while the amplitude was fixed. By randomizing the duration of glide parts and adjusting the duration of steady parts compemsatively, one can exclusively add a certain degree of fluctuation on the starting point or ending point of glides. The task was to detect a temporal deviation from an isochronous structure. The thresholds of detection were me...

Titanium oxide thin films are prepared by the sol–gel technique with 172 nm vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) irradiation using a Xe2 * excimer lamp. The effect of VUV irradiation on spin-coated films was investigated by UV-visible absorption, X-ray photoelectron, Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectroscopies. The results showed that VUV irradiation causes the removal of hydroxyl and organic functional groups from the transparent coating film without causing the reduction of titanium, so that the film begins to transform into an oxide from a hydroxide. It was found that VUV irradiation onto a dried coating film is effective in accelerating the formation of Ti–O networks and crystallization.