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Conspicuous facial pores are one type of serious aesthetic defects for many women. However, the mechanism(s) that underlie the conspicuousness of facial pores remains unclear. We previously characterized the epidermal architecture around facial pores that correlates with the appearance of those pores in various ethnic groups including Japanese. The goal of this study was to evaluate the possible relationships between facial pore size, the severity of impairment of epidermal architecture around facial pores and sebum output levels to investigate the possible role of IGF-1 in the pathogenesis of conspicuous facial pores. The subjects consisted of 38 healthy Japanese women (aged 22-41 years). IGF-1 was measured using immunoradiometric assay. Surface replicas were collected to compare pore sizes of cheek skin and horizontal cross-section images of cheek skin were obtained non-invasively from the same subjects using in vivo confocal laser scanning microscopy and the severity of impairment of epidermal architecture around facial pores was determined. The skin surface lipids of each subject were collected from their cheeks and lipid classes were determined using gas chromatography/flame ionization detection. The serum level of IGF-1 correlated significantly with total pore area (R = 0.36, P0.05), with the severity of impairment of epidermal architecture around facial pores (R = 0.43, P0.05) and with sebum output levels (R = 0.41, P0.01). The sebum output levels correlated with total pore area (R = 0.32, P0.05). Our study found that serum levels of IGF-1 are correlated with facial skin characteristics including facial pore size and with the severity of impairment of epidermal architecture around facial pores.

Background Although patients with liver cirrhosis are supposed to tolerate ischaemia–reperfusion poorly, the exact impact of intermittent inflow clamping during hepatic resection of cirrhotic compared with normal liver remains unclear. Methods Intermittent Pringle's manoeuvre was applied during minor hepatectomy in 172 patients with a normal liver, 59 with chronic hepatitis and 97 with liver cirrhosis. To assess hepatic injury, delta (D)-aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and D-alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (maximum level minus preoperative level) were calculated. To evaluate postoperative liver function, postoperative levels of total bilirubin, albumin and cholinesterase (ChE), and prothrombin time were measured. Results Significant correlations between D-AST or D-ALT and clamping time were found in each group. The regression coefficients of the regression lines for D-AST and D-ALT in patients with normal liver were significantly higher than those in patients with cirrhotic liver. Irrespective of whether clamping time was 45 min or less, or at least 60 min, D-AST and D-ALT were significantly lower in patients with cirrhosis than in those with a normal liver. Parameters of hepatic functional reserve, such as total bilirubin, prothrombin time, albumin and ChE, were impaired significantly after surgery in patients with a cirrhotic liver. Conclusion Patients with liver cirrhosis had a smaller increase in aminotransferase levels following portal triad clamping than those with a normal liver. However, hepatic functional reserve in those with a cirrhotic liver seemed to be affected more after intermittent inflow occlusion.

Fexofenadine is a P-glycoprotein substrate of low bioavailability. It is primarily excreted into faeces as a parent drug via biliary excretion. The predictability from microdose data for the drug absorbed via transporters such as P-glycoprotein is not known. Therefore, this study assessed the predictability of therapeutic-dose pharmacokinetics of fexofenadine from microdosing data using non-radioisotope-labelled drug and liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS).In a single dose, randomized, two-way crossover study, eight subjects received a microdose (100 microg) or a therapeutic dose (60 mg) of fexofenadine. Blood samples were collected until 12 h after dosing, and assayed using LC/MS/MS.Plasma concentration-time curves of fexofenadine between microdose and therapeutic dose were similar. The mean +/- SD of C(max) normalized to 60 mg dose after microdose and therapeutic dose were 379 +/- 147 and 275 +/- 145 ng/mL respectively. The mean AUC(last) normalized to 60 mg dose after microdose and therapeutic dose were 1914 +/- 738 and 1431 +/- 432 ng/h/mL respectively. The mean dose-adjusted C(max) and AUC(last) after microdose were higher compared with those after therapeutic dose. Individual plots of C(max) and AUC(last) normalized to 60 mg dose, were similar for microdose and therapeutic dose. None of the pharmacokinetic parameters were statistically different using anova. Overall, the microdose pharmacokinetics profile was similar to, and hence predictive of, that of the therapeutic dose.For the P-glycoprotein substrate fexofenadine, the predictability of therapeutic-dose pharmacokinetics from microdose data was good. A microdose study using a non-radioisotope-labelled drug and LC/MS/MS is convenient, and has the potential to aid the early selection of drug candidates.

A monolithically integrated and highly sensitive InGaAs-2DEG Hall device with a very low temperature coefficient has been fabricated by a pseudomorphic In 05.2 Al 0.48 As/In 0.8 Ga 0.2 As heterostructure with a very high electron mobility of 16 000 cm 2 /V s. The product sensitivity of this Hall device is as large as 320 V/A T with a temperature coefficient of −0.035%/K and a Hooge noise parameter of 9 × 10 −4 . The magnetic sensitivity, four times as large as that of an epitaxial GaAs Hall device, increases linearly with the drive current up to 40 mA, and the maximum sensitivity of 15 V/T is obtained without any amplification. The minimum magnetic fields detectable by means of this Hall device with a high S / N ratio are expected to be 2 × 10 −6 T and 6 × 10 −8 T at operating frequencies of 1 Hz and 1 kHz, respectively.

Pre- and post-scission multiplicities of proton and α particle have been measured in the reactions of 19 F + 181 Ta, 197 Au, 208 Pb and 28 Si + 197 Au, 208 Pb and 16 O + 197 Au. Pre-scission data show no systematic deviation from statistical model calculations if measured emission barriers for charged particles are taken into account in the transmission coefficient calculations. This suggests that the transient time during which fission widths reach a stationary value at saddle point is less than about 10 −20 sec. Post-scission multiplicities of proton and α particle show steep increases with compound nucleus excitation energies.

It is shown that the principal axis of elasticity (abbreviated to PAE) can be rotated from the structural axis by giving a specific fiber orientation or stacking sequence of a fiber composite beam. The theoretical results for PAE obtained by the use of the laminated plate theory agree with the experimental results for PAE of GFRP and CFRP laminated cantilever beams in the static flexural and torsional tests. It is illustrated from the flexural-torsion analysis and the static test that the angle of torsion at the free end of the beam is zero when the center of gravity of the beam with an eccentric mass coincides with the PAE. The natural frequencies of a beam involving an eccentric mass can be predicted by solving the characteristic equation of a simplified vibration equation of two degree-of-freedom system. The flexural-torsion coupling effects are discussed by using the coupling coefficient in the equation. Solving the vibration equation subjected to the sinusoidal excitation, it is proved that the torsional amplitude of the free end of the beam is zero when the center of gravity is on the PAE. The experimental results of the sinusoidal excitation test agree with the analytical solution of the vibration equation.

Novel 4-arylpyrimidine derivatives were synthesized by the oxidation of 4-aryl-1,4-dihydropyrimidines, and their effects on anti-anoxic (AA) activity in mice and anti-lipid peroxidation (ALP) activity in rat brain mitochondria were investigated. Among these compounds, ethyl 6-methyl-2-phenyl-4-(4-pyridyl)-5-pyrimidinecarboxylate (4b) has AA activity (10 mg/kg, i.p.) and ethyl 6-methyl-4-(3-nitrophenyl)-2-phenyl-5-pyrimidinecarboxylate (4f) has ALP activity (73% inhibition at 10(-5) g/ml). The latter compound (100 mg/kg, i.p.) was also effective on arachidonate-induced cerebral edema in rats with comparable potency to that of vitamin E.

Samples of a bulk Bi-Pb-Sr-Ca-Cu-O system and a thick film of the Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O system are soaked in distilled water and the change in the superconductivity characteristics is measured. For the bulk samples, the maximum magnetization in the magnetization curve and the critical current density increase for the first 18 hours of soaking and then decrease during the subsequent soaking time. The critical temperature shows monotonic decrease throughout the soaking. A thick-film sample is almost the same as a bulk sample, i.e. the critical current density of the thick film first tends to increase for a short time due to its greater surface area then tends to decrease during the subsequent soaking. The critical temperature of the film sample also shows a slight deterioration as a result of the water soaking.

The authors have developed and tested a 400-V 100-A-class fault current limiter wound with AC superconducting wire with ultrafine NbTi filaments. The limiter consists of noninductively wound superconducting trigger coils and a superconducting limiting coil which acts as a reactor. Excessive fault currents initiate quenching in the trigger coils and these currents, which have flown in trigger coils in nonfault conditions, are commutated from the trigger coils to the limiting coil. In an experiment, a fault current level was successfully limited to 120 A with a limiter whose terminal voltage at the limiting condition was 420 V.

A typical 1/f noise is excited in GaAs filament with the Hooge noise parameter of about alpha /sub H/=2*10/sup -3/. The noise level increases in proportion to the square of the terminal voltage, and decreases approximately in inverse proportion to the total number of carriers within the device. A transition from the typical 1/f noise characteristics to the diffusion noise characteristics of MESFETs was observed when the electric field was increased above 1 kV/cm. The noise parameters were also investigated as a function of the device width between 2 and 200 mu m. Deep levels within the n-GaAs active layer and the high electric field are the main factors of the nonideal 1/f characteristics. >

The charge transport in the copper-oxygen chain/ladder layers of ${(\text{La},\text{Y})}_{y}{(\text{Sr},\text{Ca})}_{14\ensuremath{-}y}{\text{Cu}}_{24}{\text{O}}_{41}$ is investigated along two crystallographic directions in the temperature range from 50 to 700 K and for doping levels from $y\ensuremath{\approx}6$ (number of holes ${n}_{h}l1$) to $y=0$ (number of holes ${n}_{h}=6$). A crossover from a one-dimensional hopping transport along the chains for $y\ensuremath{\ge}3$ to a quasi-two-dimensional charge conduction in the ladder planes for $y\ensuremath{\lesssim}2$ is observed. This is attributed to a partial hole transfer from chains to ladders when the hole doping exceeds ${n}_{h}\ensuremath{\approx}4$ and approaches fully doped value ${n}_{h}=6$. For $y\ensuremath{\lesssim}2$ a weak dielectric relaxation at radio frequencies and a microwave mode are detected, which might be recognized as signatures of a charge-density wave phase developed at short length scales in the ladder planes.

Exact solutions of the first order differential equation with delay are derived. The equation has been introduced as a model of traffic flow. The solution describes the traveling cluster of jam, which is characterized by Jacobi’s elliptic function. The system is related to some soliton systems.

The optical sensitive protein ldquobacteriorhodpsin (BR)rdquo can be applied to a detection part of a high-speed recognition sensor for the moving body. We fabricated the CNTFET on which the BR is directly functionalized by biotin-avidin method. For the BR- CNTFET device, optical response is observed at start point and end point of irradiation of white light. It is due to the structural relaxation of BR and the movement of proton in BR on the CNTFET.

Pre-scission $^{1}\mathrm{H}$ and $^{4}\mathrm{He}$ in $^{16}\mathrm{O}$${+}^{197}$Au reactions are measured in coincidence with fission fragments in the compound nucleus excitation energy of 48 to 99 MeV. Observed coincident energy spectra of $^{1}\mathrm{H}$ and $^{4}\mathrm{He}$ are shifted towards lower energies compared to statistical model calculations. The data are analyzed in terms of the spin-dependent level density and emission barriers for the charged particles. The analysis shows that the effect of the spin-dependent level density on the energy spectrum is small and the effective emission barriers for particle emissions are reduced by 1.0\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.4 MeV for $^{1}\mathrm{H}$ and 1.8\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.4 MeV for $^{4}\mathrm{He}$ relative to the corresponding fusion barriers calculated by using optical potentials.

Pre- and post-scission {sup 4}He particle multiplicities for the {sup 19}F+{sup 197}Au reaction in the excitation energy range of 43 to 90 MeV have been measured in coincidence with fission fragments. The coincident {sup 4}He particles measured at backward angles are accounted for by evaporation from a compound nucleus and fission fragments. The most probable center-of-mass energy of the {sup 4}He particles measured at backward angles is shifted towards lower energies by {approx}2 MeV compared to a statistical model calculation performed by assuming {sup 4}He emission from a spherical compound nucleus. The observed pre-scission {sup 4}He multiplicity as a function of excitation energy is compared to a set of statistical-model calculations which also included the delayed onset of fission. The comparison shows that the observed energy dependence of the pre-scission {sup 4}He multiplicity is reproduced by the calculation without taking into account the delayed onset of fission if the reduced emission barrier for {sup 4}He is assumed in the calculation. The emission mechanism of the pre-scission {sup 4}He is discussed.

Low-frequency noise behaviour in modulation-doped A1As/GaAs superlattice dual-drain magnetic sensors is presented for a variety of device geometries and operating conditions. The output noise power evaluated from measurement data for the various geometries indicates that devices with a minimal drain separation are desirable. Such geometries exhibit a high output signal as well as a relatively lower output noise power, when operated in the differential mode, at low device currents. The low noise is due to a positive correlation in the drain noise voltages, particularly in the low-frequency regime.

We examine what information can be obtained from fission angular distributions through precise measurements and an analysis in terms of the simple statistical model of Ericson. We report on the systematics of the decoupling angle and present the role of the angular momentum coupling between the entrance and the exit channel. The results indicate that the directional coupling of the angular momentum in the entrance and the exit channel is always strong for heavy-ion induced fission, and the angular momentum coupling plays a decisive role on the angular distribution of fission fragments. The average channel spins of fission fragments 〈If〉 are deduced through the decoupling angles determined experimentally. They agree well with γ-multiplicity measurements.

Gel filtration fractions of human hepatic cytosol obtained from an autopsy liver were examined for elution of bile acid oxidoreductases. Several enzymes including 3 alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3 alpha-HSD), 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3 beta-HSD), 3-ketosteroid reductase, and dihydrodiol dehydrogenase eluted mainly in the 30,000-40,000 Mr fractions known to contain the newly identified bile acid binder (Stolz, A., Sugiyama, Y., Kuhlenkamp, J., and Kaplowitz, N. (1984) FEBS Lett. 177, 31-35). These enzyme activities could be resolved into six peaks of dihydrodiol dehydrogenase activity on chromatofocusing, some of which also had oxidoreductase activity with bile acids. Using equilibrium dialysis, the major lithocholate-binding activity was found to coelute with 3 beta-HSD, completely separate from 3 alpha-HSD. Reexamination of the surgical liver specimen originally used to purify the bile acid binder confirmed these results. The peak fraction from chromatofocusing, which exhibited the bulk of binding activity with bile acids, had 3 beta-HSD activity, whereas other fractions had 3 alpha-HSD. Anti-serum to the previously purified binder identified a single 36-kDa protein in both liver specimens and exclusively in the chromatofocusing fractions containing both the binding and 3 beta-HSD activity. However, upon further purification of the binder from this fraction, 3 beta-HSD activity was separated from the binder, but the homogeneous protein retained dihydrodiol dehydrogenase activity. Thus, in contrast to the rat in which the major bile acid binder is identical to 3 alpha-HSD, in human liver the bile acid binder is distinct from 3 alpha-HSD and copurifies with a different oxidoreductase that has dihydrodiol dehydrogenase activity but no activity with bile acids.

We propose a dynamical model for collective biological motion, which is based on 2-dimensional optimal velocity model. The property of the model is investigated by numerical simulation. Various patterns of group emerge by changing parameters of the model and density of organisms.

An increase in the sheet resistance at small diffusion regions is caused by the formation of high resistivity phases of nickel silicide. The increase in the sheet resistance strongly depends on the size of diffusion region at which nickel silicide is formed. On the condition under which NiSi is formed at large diffusion regions, Ni3Si2 is formed at small N* diffusion regions and NiSi2 is formed at small N* diffusion regions. The uniformity of sheet resistance at small N* diffusion regions is improved by increasing the first anneal temperature. The uniformity of sheet resistance at small N* diffusion regions is not improved enough by increasing the first or second anneal temperature. It is considered that the transformation from Ni3Si2 to NiSi2 occurs at small N* diffusion region between 500degC and 550degC.

With the advancement of wireless communication, widespread devices and mobile communication technologies have realized location-aware services. In such an environment, the necessity for an effective service discovery is becoming increasingly important, but because of the static property, conventional technologies such as re-setting various TTL (time to live) face the difficulties when considering dynamic situation. In this paper, autonomous community area construction technology composed of autonomous service search technology and autonomous service area construction technology is proposed as the service retrieval technology in dynamic and distributed environment. In autonomous service search technology, the searching area is set dynamically by the response of service provider(SP) in a single request. Thus, the timeliness can be improved in the situation where location of SP is unpredictable. Autonomous service area construction technology achieves the service retrieval by adopting the idea of dynamic data caching technology. The simulation result shows the effectiveness of the technology.

This paper describes how, when train operation is disturbed because of an accident or natural disaster, passengers have to decide what they should do to get to their destination as early as possible. However, unfortunately, this is not an easy task for passengers since sufficient information for decision-making is rarely provided to them. Therefore, the paper has developed a passenger support system which informs passengers of information on the optimal routes to their destinations by taking into consideration the predicted resumption time from the disturbance and the expected required time to each destination. More concretely, the system helps passengers decide whether to take the detour routes to their destinations or wait for the resumption of disturbed operation and continue their journey on the originally scheduled route. The system consists of an optimal route calculation engine and diversified man-machine interfaces, each of which is designed for a specific guidance application. Resumption time and required time to each destination are predicted based upon “resumption process model” whose parameters are determined by the statistical analysis of past data of train operation disturbances. The evaluation test of the prototype system is now being carried out by having a number of subjects in order to prove its effectiveness.

A 10-day-old neonate with Darling type Ia of total anomalous pulmonary venous connection is presented. The left pulmonary vein entered the right thoracic cavity behind the right atrium and drained into the innominate vein together with the right lower, middle and upper pulmonary veins. The patient was treated with right-sided approach. The postoperative course was uneventful. To our knowledge, this case is the first successful correction of this subtype of anomaly in Japan.

We describe circular/spherical robots for crawling and jumping. Locomotion over rough terrain has been achieved mainly by rigid body systems including crawlers and leg mechanisms. This paper presents an alternative method of moving over rough terrain, one that employs deformation. First, we describe the principle of crawling and jumping as performed through deformation of a robot body. Second, in a physical simulation, we investigate the feasibility of the approach. Next, we show experimentally that prototypes of a circular robot and a spherical robot can crawl and jump.

We have measured elastic scattering angular distributions for {sup 58}Ni+{sup 60}Ni at E{sub {sup 58}Ni} =204, 220, 236, and 250 MeV and for {sup 62}Ni+{sup 64}Ni at E{sub {sup 64}Ni} =250 MeV. The measured angular distributions show bell-shaped structures at backward angles for both systems at E{sub lab}=250 MeV which are due to the neutron pair exchange between identical cores for the projectile and target. The pair exchange has been analyzed by using the macroscopic form factor. For elastic scattering the coupled-channels analyses have been performed. The data are reproduced well. The possibility of a nuclear Josephson effect is discussed. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}

We studied the effects of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) and canine embryonic fibroblasts (CEF) on IVM, IVF and IVC of canine oocytes. Cumulus-oocyte complexes were harvested from ovaries by slicing, and in vitro maturation was evaluated in three different conditions: culture media only (control), co-culture with MEF, or co-culture with CEF. The oocytes were cultured for 48 or 72 h. Only oocytes larger than 100 microm in diameter with a homogeneous dark cytoplasm and two or more layers of cumulus cells were used. The culture medium was TCM 199+10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) with 100 IU/mL penicillin and 100 microg/mL streptomycin. After 48 h of IVM, the oocytes were fertilized in vitro with fresh canine spermatozoa that had been selected by a swim-up method, and the oocytes and spermatozoa were co-cultured in modified Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate solution (TYH) for up to 20 h in 5% CO2 in air at 38.5 degrees C. After insemination, oocytes were transferred to three different conditions (the same as for IVM) and were cultured. After 48 or 72 h of maturation in vitro, the maturation rate of MII oocytes cultured in co-culture of MEF and CEF was higher than for oocytes cultured in control (P0.05). Although the rate that reached the MII stage was not different in the 48 and 72 h cultures, the percentage of degenerated oocytes was greater at 72 h in all three treatment groups. The proportion of monospermic and polyspermic oocytes was not different among the three treatment groups. Cleavage rates were higher in the MEF and CEF treatment groups than in the control group (P0.05). Co-culture with CEF developed the embryo up to the 16-cell stage, and with MEF up to morula stage. In conclusion, co-culture of embryonic fibroblast cells enhanced nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation of canine oocytes.

Autonomous community overlay network (CON) is a decentralized architecture that forms a community of individual end-users (community members) having the same interests and demands in somewhere, at specified time. It enables them to mutually cooperate and share information without loading up any single node excessively. For flexible and efficient communication among community members, an autonomous multilayer community overlay network (multilayer-CON) is proposed. This paper illustrates an approach to reconstruct the multilayer-CON on a top of a dynamic, unpredictable, and heterogeneous Internet environment by divide and integrate sub-communities. Furthermore, it evaluates the performance of the community communication over the multilayer-CON and gives evidence of the existence of the tradeoff relationship between the communication delay and construction overhead.

A group of users having a common preference and situation is called community where a service according to their preference and situation is provided. Real-time marketing for this service requires real-time property and accuracy of these preferences obtained by a service provider. Autonomous decentralized community system that consists of autonomous nodes and autonomous synchronization technology have been proposed to achieve timeliness by reducing the number of preferences data towards a service provider. Although this technology achieves high accuracy, many varieties of preference cannot be aggregated within a deadline. In this paper, heterogeneous processes about timeliness and accuracy are introduced. An autonomous cooperation technology is proposed to achieve both real-time property and accuracy. In this technology, each node autonomously switches from high-accuracy and low-response process to low-accuracy and high-response process. Consequently, high accuracy result in real-time is procured. Simulation results show effectiveness of the proposed technology.

Information services in accordance with users' preference, utilization place and time are required more and more. Autonomous Decentralized Community System (ADCS) has been proposed to provide such services. ADCS consists of many autonomous stationary nodes and its network covers lands. In ADCS various services are provided on the network and their locations are unpredictable. To utilize these services, distributive service discovery technology is available. However, it has problem on response time. This paper proposes the Autonomous Service Search Technology which consists of two techniques. One is search area restriction technique that does not limit request propagation area, but broadcast reply message. The reply follows and catches up with request message propagation, and consequently request forwarding area is restricted. The other is termination detection technique that enables each node to detect termination autonomously by recursive judgment. The effectiveness of proposal on response time is shown by simulation.

A new algorithm which solves a Toeplitz system having t unknowns with computational complexity of 0(t2) is proposed. The solving algorithm is based upon iterative solutions of Toeplitz systems for sub-Toeplitz-matrices of the given Toeplitz matrix and works well even when some of the sub-Toeplitz-matrices is singular. That is, the solving algorithm is a generalized version of the Levinson algorithm in the sense that its solving process is quite similar to that of the Levinson algorithm and it overcomes the defect which the Levinson algorithm possesses. We may expect that the accuracy of the new solving algorithm is superior to those of the Brent-Gustavson-Yun algorithm and the solving algorithm based upon Euclid algorithm, when the given Toeplitz matrix is a type of matrices such as a covariance matrix, since the former algorithm uses sub-Toeplitz-matrices and the latter algorithms use sub-Hankel-matrices.

In order to simulate the thermally-induced vibration phenomenon of the flexible thin boom structure of the spacecraft such as the thin solar panel and the flexible cantilever with the attached tip mass in space, the thermally-induced vibration including thermal flutter of the flexible thin boom with the concentrated tip mass was experimentally investigated at various thermal environments using a heat lamp and both vacuum and air condition using the vacuum chamber. In this experimental study, divergence speed, natural frequency and thermal strains of the thermally-induced vibration were comparatively evaluated at various thermal environment conditions. Finally the thermally-induced vibration of the flexible boom structure of the earth orbit satellite in solar radiation environment from the earth eclipse region including umbra and penumbra was simulated using the vacuum chamber and power control of the heating lamp.

The N-geneous method is a recently developed method for determination of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in human serum. In the present study, we attempted to adapt this method to bovine serum. The values of LDL-C obtained using the N-geneous method were highly correlated with those from the method using ultracentrifugation and heparin sepharose affinity chromatography (r = 0.934, p0.001). The reproducibility of this method was acceptable (intra-assay CV 4.2%, inter-assay CV 7.6%) for clinical use. Using the N-geneous method, serum LDL-C was evaluated in cows around parturition, and in cows with fatty liver induced by fasting. The concentration of LDL-C decreased significantly in cows close to parturition. A reduced concentration of LDL-C was also observed in cows with fatty liver. In both cases, the changes of LDL-C were similar to those of apolipoprotein B (apoB)-100, and the values of LDL-C were highly correlated (r = 0.876, p0.001) with those of apoB-100. These results suggest that the concentration of LDL-C reflects the level of apoB-100. The N-geneous method is simple and rapid, and might to be a useful tool to elucidate the clinical significance of LDL-C in bovine serum.

In a lumped element isolator having three windings with general cross-angle /spl theta/ and /spl phi/, the ideal isolator conditions are derived using circuit analysis. The angle /spl theta/ can be arbitrary, however /spl phi/ is restricted to on the bisector of cross-angle /spl theta/ or compensation angle of /spl theta/. We found that the isolator with /spl theta/=/spl phi/=60 [deg] behaves the same as the one of conventional structure with /spl theta/=/spl phi/=120 [deg]. However, the former has 0-degree phase shift and the later 180-degree phase shift between input and output. The theoretical prediction was experimentally confirmed with 800MHz-band isolator.

Physiological cholestasis linked to immature hepatobiliary transport systems for organic anions occurs in rat and human neonates. In utero, the placenta facilitates vectorial transfer of certain fetal-derived solutes to the maternal circulation for elimination. We compared the ontogenesis of organic anion transporters in the placenta and the fetal liver of the rat to assess their relative abundance throughout gestation and to determine whether the placenta compensates for the late maturation of transporters in the developing liver. The mRNA of members of the organic anion transporting polypeptide (Oatp) superfamily, the multidrug resistance protein (Mrp) family, one organic anion transporter (OAT), and the bile acid carriers Na+-taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide (Ntcp) and bile salt export pump (Bsep) was quantified by real-time PCR. The most abundant placental transporters were Oatp4a1, whose mRNA increased 10-fold during gestation, and Mrp1. Mrp1 immunolocalized predominantly to epithelial cells of the endoplacental yolk sac, suggesting an excretory role that sequesters fetal-derived solutes in the yolk sac cavity, and faintly to the basal syncytiotrophoblast surface. The mRNA levels of Oatp2b1, Mrp3, and Bsep in the placenta exceeded those in the fetal liver until day 20 of gestation, suggesting that the fetus relies on placental clearance of substrates when expression in the developing liver is low. Mrp3 immunolocalized to the epithelium of the endoplacental yolk sac and less abundantly in the labyrinth zone and endothelium of the maternal arteries. The placental expression of Oatp1a1, Oatp1a4, Oatp1a5, Oatp1b2, Oat, Ntcp, Mrp2, and Mrp6 was low.

The present paper deals with the dynamic stability of a flexible flight body accommodated with a heavy payload at its nose and subjected to end rocket thrust. The thrust acts on the flexible flight body as a follower load, thus the flight body may lose its stability by body-divergence or body-flutter. The intended aim of the paper is to reveal the effect of heavy payload on dynamic stability of slender flight bodies under rocket thrust. It is assumed that a payload is a rigid body, but not a mass point. The slender flight body is simplified into a uniform free-free beam having a spherical rigid body at its nose. A large rigid body at the nose of the beam applies a lumped inertia force on the nose, in addition to a distributed inertia force along the axis of the beam. Extended Hamilton's principle is applied to the considered beam for driving the equations of motion. Application of finite element method yields a standard eigen-values. It is shown that a large rigid body at the tip lowers the flutter bound considerably, As extreme cases, the free-free beam having no payload can be simplified into Feodosiev's beam, while the beam having an infinitely large rigid sphere leads to Beck's column. Thus the proposed beam can be the missing link between Feodosiev's beam and Beck's column.

We demonstrated SONOS flash memory with a SiO/sub 2//High-k/SiO/sub 2/ structure based on a 2-bit/cell scheme. We evaluated three kinds of high-k dielectric films which were Si/sub 3/N/sub 4/, Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ and HfO/sub 2/. Among these films, Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ showed superior retention characteristics. The charge loss amount of Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ at 150/spl deg/C is almost the same as that of Si/sub 3/N/sub 4/ at 25/spl deg/C. HfO/sub 2/ showed poor retention characteristics. In addition, we have found that each film has a different charge loss mechanism. We speculate that Si/sub 3/N/sub 4/ causes vertical charge migration, Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ causes scarcely any leakage, and HfO/sub 2/ causes lateral charge migration. As a consequence, Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ is very suitable for a charge trapping layer in multi-bit SONOS memory.

Coin-shaped multicrystalline Si1-xGex crystals were grown using a Brigdman method combined with die-casting growth. Si1-xGex alloy is known as a candidate material for producing Auger generation, which creates more than one electron/hole pair per absorbed photon. Since Si1-xGex alloy shows a complete series of solid solutions, precipitating crystals with a certain composition of silicon or germanium by conventional selective growth methods is burdensome. Using die-casting combined with Bridgman growth brought about Si1-xGex precipitation in a form completely different from that predicted by the Si-Ge phase diagram. By combining this growth with subsequent heat treatment of the precipitated Si1-xGex sample, Si1-xGex (x= 0.5 ± 3 %) could be obtained. Indirect band-gap energy was estimated by measuring room-temperature optical absorption coefficient of the grown samples.

To improve the reliability of metal evaporated tape (ME tape), SiO/sub x/ overcoat was investigated. The durability of ME tape overcoated with SiO/sub x/ was greatly improved by lubricating with C/sub 18/H/sub 37/OP(H)(O)OH (mono octadecyl phosphite: MOP), which showed more than 10 hours life time in a still mode durability test (relative speed of head to media: 11.3 m/s). Since MOP was solid at room temperature, adhesion did not occur and friction force during the test reduced by 25% compared with perfluoropolyether liquid lubricant. Corrosion of ME tape was prevented by SiO/sub x/ overcoat prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). Water transmission rate of PECVD-SiO/sub x/ was one tenth that of physically deposited SiO/sub x/, which suppressed surface corrosion of ME tape in an atmosphere of 60/spl deg/C 90%R.H. and of 4 ppm SO/sub 2/ (40/spl deg/C 80%R.H.).