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We present a patient with positive donor-specific antibodies (DSA) and crossmatch of ABO-incompatible (ABOi) combined liver and kidney transplantation (CLKT). Antibody-mediated rejection did not occur and the graft had survived for over one year at the time of writing without infectious complications. A 56-year-old man with positive DSA and positive crossmatch underwent living donor CLKT. The preoperative protocol for ABOi consisted of a single dose of rituximab and total plasma exchange (TPE). The result of anti-B antibody titer for IgG was 1:32. The evaluations of complement-dependent cytotoxicity and flow cytometry cross-match revealed a change from T+/B+ to T-/B+. The patient required adult living donor CLKT. Acute rejection episodes were treated using antithymocyte globulin, and the kidney required 7 days' treatment to recover. No further rejection and infectious episodes have been observed in past 13 months since the transplant. DSA and crossmatches are important for antibody detection and analysis. In the rituximab era, TPE can be used to achieve a successful decrease in antibody titer. In countries with a severe shortage of cadaveric organ donors, it may be possible to select ABOi candidate donors with positive DSA and crossmatch.

Purpose Studies have shown that arecoline, the major alkaloid component of betel nuts, alters the activity of enzymes in the cytochrome P450 (CYP-450) family. Tacrolimus, an immunosuppressant that protects against organ rejection in transplant recipients, not only is mainly metabolized by CYP3A enzymes but also has a narrow therapeutic range. We aimed to investigate whether dose-adjusted blood trough levels of tacrolimus differed over time between betel nut-chewing and non–betel nut-chewing liver transplant recipients. Methods In this retrospective case-control study, 14 active betel nut-using liver recipients were matched at a 1:2 ratio to 28 non-betel nut-using liver recipients by sex, age, graft source, duration of follow-up after liver transplantation, and estimated glomerular filtration rate. Differences in liver function index, renal function index, and dose-adjusted blood trough levels of tacrolimus over an 18-month period were compared between the 2 groups by using the Generalized Estimating Equation approach. Results Dose-adjusted blood trough levels of tacrolimus tended to be significantly ( P = .04) lower in betel nut chewers (mean = 0.81, medium = 0.7, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.73 to 0.90) than in nonchewers (mean = 1.12, medium = 0.88, 95% CI = 1.03 to 1.22) during the 18-month study period. However, there was no significant difference in renal and liver function index between the 2 groups. Conclusion Liver transplant recipients receiving tacrolimus tend to have lower blood trough levels of the drug over time if they chew betel nuts.

A two-stage system for octachlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (OCDD)-contaminated soil remediation was developed. Soil washing using emulsified oil (EO) was applied in the first stage for OCDD extraction followed by the second stage of bioremediation using P. mendocina NSYSU for remaining OCDD biodegradation. The major tasks included (1) determination of optimal soil washing conditions for OCDD extraction by EO, (2) evaluation of feasibility of OCDD biodegradation by P. mendocina NSYSU under aerobic cometabolic conditions using EO as the primary substrate, and (3) assessment of the effectiveness of OCDD removal using the two-stage system. During the soil washing stage, EO with two different oil-to-water ratios (1:50 and 1:200) and pore volumes were tested with initial soil OCDD concentration of 21,000 µg/kg. Results indicate that EO could effectively improve the solubility and desorption of OCDD in soils. Up to 74% of OCDD removal could be obtained after washing with 60 PVs of EO and dilution factor of 50. After the soil washing process, enriched P. mendocina NSYSU solution was added into the reactor to enhance the aerobic biodegradation of remaining OCDD in soils. P. mendocina NSYSU could use adsorbed EO globules as substrates and caused significant OCDD degradation via the aerobic cometabolic mechanism. Approximately 82% of the remaining OCDD could be removed after 50 days of operation, and P. mendocina NSYSU played important roles in OCDD biodegradation. Up to 87% of OCDD was removed through the EO washing and biodegradation process. The two-stage system is a potential technology to remediate dioxin-contaminated soils.

Background Biliary leakage after T-tube removal is a frequent cause of morbidity in liver transplant recipients. The aim of this study was to determine the factors that predict the development of biliary leakage after T-tube removal in living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) recipients. Methods Of the 144 patients who underwent LDLT with right-lobe liver grafts during the period January 2007 to May 2013 at a single medical center, 40 received biliary anastomosis with T-tube placement. Subjects were grouped into either a biliary leakage or non-biliary leakage group on the basis of the presence or absence of abdominal symptoms associated with signs of peritoneal irritation after T-tube removal. Recipient, graft, operative, and postoperative factors were included in a forward, stepwise multiple logistic regression model to identify the most important risk factors for biliary leakage after T-tube removal. Results Biliary leakage developed in 9 (22.5%) patients after T-tube removal. Risk factors associated with biliary leakage included the number of abdominal surgeries performed [odds ratio (OR) = 12.6, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.1–20.4] and duration of T-tube placement (OR = 6.9, 95% CI: 1.2–10.7). Conclusions Biliary leakage after T-tube removal is associated with significant morbidity in LDLT recipients. We suggest that T-tube placement be used sparingly in LDLT biliary reconstruction. When used, a T-tube should not be removed earlier than 8 months after placement, especially in recipients who have received primary abdominal surgery.

Background The current study investigated risk factor related to gram-negative bacterial (GNB) infection by Acinetobacter baumannii and non–A baumannii groups, in liver transplantation (OLT) recipients. Materials and Methods All patients with OLT and their living donors were analyzed retrospectively. After excluding those with Gram-positive and fungal infections 89 patients remained in the study including 59 who were noninfected and 30 with GNB infection. The risk factors for GNB infection were classified into the preoperative versus the postoperative periods. Results GNB-infected patients were classified as non–A baumannii versus A baumannii (15 patients per group). A significant difference was observed in the numbers of intensive care and hospitalized days, hemodialysis requirement, and reoperation frequency compared with the noninfected group. Infection also correlated with hospital mortality, overall survival, and Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores with significance upon univariate but only the last feature on multivariate analysis. Conclusions Preoperative MELD scores were more likely to be higher among the non–A baumannii compared with the A baumannii–infected group. However, the 1-year survival of the A baumannii–infected subjects was lower than that of the non–A baumannii infected group.

Candida infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in neonatal intensive care units. Mortality following Candida bloodstream infections is as high as 40%, and neurodevelopmental impairment is common among survivors. Because invasive fungal infections are common and extremely difficult to diagnose, empirical treatment with antifungal therapy should be considered in high-risk, low-birth-weight infants who fail to quickly respond to empirical antibacterial treatment. Risk factors to consider when deciding to administer empirical antifungal therapy include: prior exposure to third-generation cephalosporins, extreme prematurity, and presence of central venous catheters.

Background Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) must be applied in early stages to perfuse organs before donation in order to expand the donor pool. The aim of this study was to examine the benefits of ECMO for potential organ donors with multiple complications. Materials and methods This retrospective review describes patients with ECMO support who were on the verge of brain death and therefore potential subjects for organ donation. Results Six organ donors with severe neurological damage under ECMO support completed the procedures, namely, two women and four men of ages 19 to 58 years (mean, 32 years). Three donors completed the brain-death determination procedure, one failed the procedure, and two experienced cardiac asystole prior to the procedure and were unable to be declared dead even after resuscitation. Nine kidneys and three livers were successfully retrieved from 5/6 donors, leading to 11 successful transplantations: eight kidneys, two livers, and one simultaneous kidney-liver transplantations. The organs functioned well and the recipients made full recoveries. Conclusions ECMO allows for the maintenance of abdominal organ tissue perfusion without warm ischemia before organ procurement, providing sufficient time for safe organ donation procedures and reducing the risk of unpredictable cardiac arrest that could result in the donor death and graft loss.

The individuals of tertiary amines, including imidazole (1-amine), 1,2-dimethylimidazole (2-amine), 2,4,6-tris(dimethylamino-methyl)phenol (3-amine), 1-methylimidazole (4-amine), and 2-methylimidazole (5-amine), were added into UV-curable epoxide resins, respectively, and the effects on UV/thermal conversions, thermal properties and adhesion strengths for various types of substrates were investigated. According to the experimental results, the extent of effects of amines on physical properties was found in the order of: 3-amine > 4-amine > 1-amine > 2-amine > 5-amine. The resin with 3-amine exhibited the highest glass transition temperature ( T g = 72.3 °C) value and the lowest coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE = 70.8 ppm/°C), which also exhibited the highest adhesion strengths on various substrates, on glass (greater than 199 kg/cm 2 ), ITO (greater than 182 kg/cm 2 ), PET (115 kg/cm 2 ), and stainless steel (232 kg/cm 2 ), and possesses great potentials for advanced opto-electronic applications.

Preparation of UV-curable intercalated/exfoliated epoxide/acrylateclays nanocomposite resins with the addition of specific monomers and solvent via the consideration of solubility parameter and chemical reactivity was carried out in this work. Due to the good compatibility with surfactant in acrylateclays and the cationic oligomer in resin matrix, the two additive monomers dispersed uniformly in resin matrix with the swollen acrylateclays before UV curing. As revealed by conversion ratio and DTG analyses, chemical bonds between the two additive monomers, the cationic oligomers and surfactant in acrylateclays were formed during UV irradiation. This, in turn, generated a hybrid acrylate-based/epoxy network and effectively enlarged the lamellae spacing of inorganic clays in nanocomposite resins prepared in this work. The XRD and TEM characterizations revealed that the intercalated clay domains containing exfoliated lamellae about 1 nm in thickness uniformly disperse in polymeric matrix. The nanocomposite resin containing 5 wt.% inorganic filler possessed the physical properties as follows: T d-5% = 213 °C, CTE = 80.5 ppm/°C, moisture absorption = 6.12%, average optical transmittance = 83.17%, and adhesion strength on glass substrate = 43.8 kgf/cm2. The analyses above indicated that the formation of polymeric interpenetrating networks and nanometer-scale exfoliation of clay lamellae not only improve the thermal properties and resistance to moisture permeation, but also retain highly optical transmittance and satisfactory adhesion strength of nanocomposite resins prepared in this work. A better device lifetime property was hence achieved when the nanocomposite resins were applied to the packaging of OLEDs.

The work reported demonstrates that the yellowness of UV-curable epoxide resins can be improved by adding certain tertiary amines in appropriately determined amounts. According to the results of our experiments, 2.0 wt% benzoyl peroxide added to a resin effectively enhances the crosslinking density, and phenolic free radicals are produced during UV curing, which consequently induce yellowness via the reaction of oxygen and the free radicals. Imidazole (1-amine) and tertiary amines, including 1,2-dimethylimidazole (2-amine), 2,4,6- tris(dimethylaminomethyl)phenol (3-amine), 1-methylimidazole (4-amine) and 2-methylimidazole (5-amine), were chosen to be added to resins, and their effects on UV conversion and yellowness were investigated. According to the experimental results, tertiary amines in the resin can provide a certain degree of improvement in yellowness index (� YI) and color parameter (� E ∗ ab) of the resin sample. Whatever the type of tertiary amine, it is found that the optimum content of amine in resin is 1.0 wt%. Also, among the studied amines, the 3-amine exhibits the highest UV reactivity and the best efficiency for yellowness improvement with values ofa ∗ , � b ∗ , � YI andE ∗ ab as low as −1.4, 6.23, 11.27 and 6.48, respectively.  2007 Society of Chemical Industry

This work studies the effects of the monomer types, the number of hydroxyl functional groups (–OH) on polyol monomers, and the equivalent weight ratio of dicycloaliphatic epoxide to polyol for cationic polymerization (the R value) on the adhesion strength of UV-curable epoxy resins applied to organic light-emitting device (OLED) packaging. It was found that the volume shrinkage of resins after UV curing is related to the crosslinking density of the resin. The smallest volume shrinkage implied the highest adhesion strength of resin on glass substrate since the internal stress was minimized. This study observed that the resin containing polyol monomer is able to achieve the smallest degree of shrinkage (1.72%) and the highest adhesion strength (153.35 kg/cm 2 ) on glass substrate.

Preparation and property characterization of encapsulation resin contained hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) as inorganic filler were carried out in this work. The dielectric properties, coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), thermal conductivity, curing kinetics, adhesion strength and viscosity of the resins with the load of hBN filler ranging from 9.2 to 25.7 vol.% (20–70 wt.%) were evaluated. It was found that the dielectric properties of resin containing SiO2 filler are inferior to that containing hBN. Also, the resins possessed lower CTE and the higher T g when the hBN contents were high (>15 vol.%) and the resin containing 25.7 vol.% hBN exhibited the largest thermal conductivity of 1.08 W/m K. Adhesion strength of the composite resins decreased with increase of hBN content and the adhesion strength on various substrates was found to be in the order of: alumina > Si wafer > eutectic PbSn solder.

In this study we investigated five different types of organo-functional silanes containing vinyl, epoxy, amino, methacrylic and acrylic groups in the cationic polymerization of epoxide resin and studied their effects on epoxide adhesion strength to indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate via a pull test. The adhesion strength of epoxide resins was found to be in the order vinyl > methacrylic > acrylic > epoxy > amino. The silane containing vinyl group enhanced the adhesion strength, since it was able to promote free-radical polymerization. As to the silane containing amino group, it retarded the photo-polymerization of cationic photoinitiator in the resin and thus the lowest adhesion strength was observed. It was found that the resin sample containing 1 wt% of vinyl group silane possessed the highest adhesion strength of 91.42 kg/cm2 to ITO glass. An excessive amount of silane added in the resin generated too much H2O that diluted the concentration of resin and deteriorated the adhesion strength.

In this paper, we perform a systematic evaluation of the impact of Global Positioning System radio occultation (GPSRO) data on typhoon track prediction over the Northwestern Pacific. Specifically, we perform data assimilation and forecast experiments using the Typhoon Weather Research and Forecasting (TWRF) system at 45 km resolution on eleven typhoons (with a total of 327 cases) in the period of 2008–2010 over the Northwestern Pacific, with or without the use of GPSRO refractivity observations. On average, about 100 GPSRO soundings are assimilated over a 12 h partially cycling assimilation period. The results indicate that the assimilation of GPSRO data reduces the 72 h track forecast errors by approximately 12 km (5%). Although this is only a modest improvement, it is statistically significant. The assimilation of GPSRO data improves the analysis and the forecast of temperature, water vapour, and wind fields. Further analysis shows that the reduction in typhoon track forecast errors can be attributed to the improved prediction of Western Pacific Subtropical High (WPSH) and its associated circulation, which leads to better forecasting of the environmental steering flow.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, especially in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Since there was no published study regarding PAH in the Chinese SSc population, we aimed to describe a cohort to provide some data for early diagnosis.We evaluated 236 systemic sclerosis patients prospectively registered in the EUSTAR (European League Against Rheumatism Scleroderma Trial and Research Group) database from the Peking Union Medical College Hospital from 2009 to 2012. Among them, 33 individuals received right heart catheterisations (RHC) while the remaining patients were grouped by echocardiographic data. These patients were classified into two groups, PAH and non-PAH group. Their clinical and laboratory features were statistically analysed to identify possible risk factors for PAH in Chinese SSc population.The possible prevalence of PAH in SSc patients was approximately 11% in our study. Digital ulcers (52.0% vs. 31.2%), telangiectasias (64.0% vs. 37.6%) and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) (60.0% vs. 36.2%) were more common in SSc patients with PAH. Some laboratory results were also proved to be significantly correlated with it. Logistic regression analysis showed that telangiectasias (OR=2.888, 95% CI=1.176-7.093), presence of GERD (OR=2.592, 95% CI=1.067-6.296), anti-RNP positivity (OR=24.384, 95% CI=1.978-36.651), IgA level elevation (OR=8.745, 95% CI 4.838-122.896) and FVC/TLCO ratio (OR=97.067, 95% CI 12.475-755.271) were associated with an increased odds for PAH in SSc patients.This study described possible predictors of PAH in Chinese SSc population, which have been supported by similar studies in other ethnic groups.

N-acetyltransferase(NAT)-catalyzed reactions can result in activation or detoxification of arylamine carcinogens. Studies were conducted to examine the dose effects of berberine on inhibition of growth versus arylamine NAT activities in strains of Helicobacter pylori collected from peptic ulcer patients. An inhibition-of-growth study on H. pylori demonstrated that berberine elicited a dose-dependent growth inhibition in the H. Pylori cultures. The results on the NAT activity was determined using acetyl coenzyme A recycling assay and high pressure liquid chromatography. Cyto-sols or suspensions of H. pylori with or without selected concentrations of berberine cotreatment showed different percentages of 2-aminofluorene and p-aminobenzoic acid acetylation. The data indicated that there was decreased NAT activity associated with increased levels of berberine in the H. pylori cytosols and suspensions. The apparent values of Km and Vmax also decreased after cotreatment of berberine in both examined systems. This report is the first finding of berberine inhibition of arylamine NAT activity in strains of H. pylori.

Birth size has been associated with adult life diseases, but the endocrine factors that are likely involved are not established. We evaluated the associations of maternal and cord blood hormones with birth size in normal pregnancies, and examined possible effect modification by maternal height, on the basis of prior suggestive evidence. In a prospective study of normal singleton pregnancies in Boston, USA and Shanghai, China, maternal hormone levels at the 27th gestational week were available for 225 pregnancies in Boston and 281 in Shanghai and cord blood measurements for 92 pregnancies in Boston and 110 in Shanghai. Pearson partial correlation coefficients of log-transformed hormone levels with birth weight and length were calculated. Overall, positive correlations with birth weight were found for maternal estriol (r = 0.19; p < 0.001) and progesterone (r = 0.15; p < 0.001) and these associations were more evident among taller mothers. There was an inverse association of cord blood progesterone (r = -0.16; p < 0.03) with birth weight. In Boston, cord blood IGF-1 was positively associated with birth weight (r = 0.22; p < 0.04) and length (r = 0.25; p < 0.02), particularly among taller mothers (r = 0.43 and 0.38, respectively; p < 0.02), whereas among taller mothers in Shanghai the associations of IGF-2 with birth size appeared to be at least as strong as those of IGF-1. In conclusion, maternal estriol and progesterone, and cord blood IGF-1 were positively correlated with birth size. All correlations tended to be more pronounced among offspring of taller mothers. Among taller mothers in Shanghai, IGF-2 appeared to be at least as strongly associated with birth size as IGF-1. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media.

Conventional nitride/oxide (NO)-based storage dielectric has been demonstrated to possess the capability to extend its employment in trench dynamic random access memory (DRAM) by additional NH/sub 3/ nitridation and in situ N/sub 2/O reoxidation. Through this technique, cell capacitance could be enhanced by 12.2% as compared with NO dielectric while preserving tunneling current below 1 fA/cell. Even with NH/sub 3/ nitridation and consequent well-known introduction of electron traps, the great improvement in tunneling leakage and reliability are exhibited after N/sub 2/O treatment. With prominent electrical properties, this technique proves its eligibility for next-generation DRAM before the maturity of introduction of high-/spl kappa/ material into production.

Tobacco leaves infected with two strains and their reciprocal RNA 3 pseudorecombinants of cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) were examined by immunoelectron microscopy. In addition to the regular detection of CMV in the cytoplasm and vacuoles, immunogold-labelled viral proteins occurred commonly in the nuclei and at the periphery of impacted nucleoli in all four samples examined. However, viral protein was present only in the euchromatin region and rare in the heterochromatin region.

In previous work the primary structure of a previously unknown protease was deduced from the sequence of a dog mastocytoma cDNA. The predicted preproprotein shares some features with mast cell tryptases but is no more than 49% identical in sequence to known trypsin-like enzymes, including dog tryptase. This study explores the expression of this protein, termed dog mast cell protease-3 (dMCP-3). A polyclonal Ab was raised to a peptide corresponding to residues 166-181 of the deduced sequence. Anti-dMCP-3(166-181) Ig recognizes dMCP-3 expressed as a CheY fusion protein in Escherichia coli and binds to a approximately 36-kDa protein in extracts of dog mastocytomas. The Ab does not recognize dog tryptase, dMCP-3s closest known relative in mastocytoma cells. When used with fluorescein-conjugated and alkaline phosphatase-conjugated secondary Abs, anti-dMCP-3(166-181) Ig yields punctate cytoplasmic staining in mastocytoma cells, suggesting localization to intracellular granules. Staining is greatly reduced by preincubation with synthetic dMCP-3 peptide, supporting the specificity of the Ab. Immunohistochemical staining of normal dog tissues reveals scattered dMCP-3 reactive cells in skin, intestine, trachea, and lung parenchyma. Double staining with Ab and methylene blue shows that anti-dMCP-3(166-188) Ig recognizes extravascular mononuclear tissue cells with metachromatic granules. In addition, cytoplasmic staining is seen in polymorphonuclear leukocytes within vessels in tissue sections and in leukocytes harvested from blood. Hybridization of dMCP-3 cDNA to dog skin RNA provides further evidence of dMCP-3 gene transcription in normal tissue. Thus, this study provides immunochemical evidence of dMCP-3 expression in dog mast cell tumors, normal tissue mast cells, and neutrophils.

Novel opacity calculations, which treat in detail the spectra of medium-Z ions [Rogers and Iglesias, Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. 79, 507 (1992)], produce results that are substantially different from opacity calculations extant in the literature. These new opacities provide solutions to a number of outstanding problems in astrophysics, thus providing an indirect validation of the theory. We report the results of an experiment measuring the photoabsorption in the spectral region from 50 to 120 eV of x-ray-heated iron which corroborate these new opacity calculations.

In this paper, we discuss recent developments in our work on N-polar GaN heterostructure transistors. While most work in GaN devices has been on Ga-polar films, the opposite direction of polarization provides advantages that could be useful for different device applications. We will first discuss implications of the reversed polarization on transistor design.

Efficiency calibrations of multiple high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors are being maintained at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Four generally available software packages for HPGe detector gamma-ray spectrum analysis, including the one currently used at NIST, were tested on spectra collected from two HPGe detectors at different source-to-detector distances and using point sources and ampoules as calibration geometries. The resulting efficiency curves were inter-compared.

Birth weight is positively associated with the risk of breast cancer in the offspring and the underlying process is likely to involve the pregnancy endocrine milieu. We have examined the association of diet and related factors during pregnancy with the levels (at the 16th and 27th gestational week) of maternal pregnancy oestradiol, oestriol, sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), progesterone and prolactin, in a cohort of 270 Caucasian women who delivered in a major hospital in Boston, USA. Oestradiol and oestriol were not strongly associated with any of the diet-related variables, but SHBG was significantly and consistently related inversely to pre-pregnancy body mass index and weight gain during pregnancy, and positively to vegetable and pulses intake. Pregnancy progesterone was associated positively with alcohol and inversely with polyunsaturated lipid and vitamin B12 intake, whereas pregnancy prolactin was inversely associated with cereal consumption. If the pregnancy hormones studied are indeed involved in the intra-uterine origin of breast cancer, these findings, if confirmed, would focus dietary advice to pregnant women, with a view to reducing the risk of breast cancer in the offspring, towards avoidance of excess energy intake and an emphasis on plant foods. This advice does not contradict current dietary advice on prudent diet during pregnancy and throughout life. © 2006 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Background: There is substantial evidence that higher levels of activity reduce the risk of mortality, but several research questions remain about the protective effect of physical activity. We aimed to quantify the effect of physical activity on overall mortality in younger women and to assess the effect of past versus current activity. Methods: During 1991-1992, we enrolled 99,099 women, age 30-49 years, from the entire country of Norway and one Swedish region, in a population-based cohort study. The women provided information on physical activity level at age 14 and 30 years and at enrollment, as well as information on other personal characteristics at enrollment. We achieved complete follow-up into 2003 using record linkages to nationwide registers. We used Cox proportional hazard models to calculate multivariate relative risks (RRs) of dying from any cause. Results: During an average 11.4 years of follow-up, 1,313 women died. Risk of death decreased with increasing physical activity at enrollment (5 categories; P for trend < 0.0001) and was reduced by half in the highest compared with the lowest category (RR = 0.46; 95% confidence intervals = 0.33-0.65). This protective effect was consistent across strata of age at entry, smoking, country, and education. After adjustment for physical activity at enrollment, activity at age 14 and 30 was not associated with mortality. Conclusions: Current physical activity substantially reduces mortality among women. This association is observed even with low levels of physical activity and is accentuated with increased physical activity.

A 94-GHz HEMT (high-electron-mobility transistor) mixer was designed and fabricated using a 0.1- mu m-gate HEMT device and a hybrid microwave integrated circuit. The mixer downconverts the 92-96-GHz RF to a 8-12-GHz IF (intermediate frequency). At 4-dBm LO (local oscillator) drive, the mixer showed 5.8-dB conversion loss, 12.4-dB noise figure, and -3.2-dBm input power at the 1-dB gain compression point. The HEMT mixer is suitable for a 94-GHz missile seeker application where available W-band LO power is extremely low. The HEMT mixer can be monolithically integrated with a HEMT low-noise amplifier to form a low-cost, small-size, and low-weight receiver front end for use in millimeter-wave smart munitions. >

A Q-band high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) amplifier was designed and fabricated. This three-stage circuit utilizes 0.2- mu m*60- mu m micron HEMT devices. The amplifier has a measured gain of greater than 10 dB from 42 to 47.5 GHz and a peak gain of 16 dB at 44.5 GHz. >

Image processing, verification, and compression techniques are integrated to construct a telephone customer maintenance subsystem in which a legitimate transaction is carried out after the step of verifying the genuineness of the seal imprint on the request form. The key contents includes a distance or similarity metric, matching algorithm, and seal coding. The distance or similarity measure between seals is based on a generalized Euclidean distance which is insensitive to stroke width, minor spatial deformation, broken lines, etc. A block Huffman coding technique is used to reduce the storage of seal imprints. A reasonably good identification rate and 40% storage reduction of sample seals demonstrate that the proposed approach is effective. A 58% storage reduction can be attained when a flexible arithmetic coding method is used. >

As part of an on‐going effort to develop diagnostics for energetic charged particles from laboratory and space experiments, we examined the possibility that particle identification could be expedited by varying the applied bias voltage on silicon surface barrier detectors (SBDs). Using MeV protons, tritons, and alphas, we performed spectroscopy experiments whereby we observed changes of the energy spectrum as a function of the bias voltage. These particles were either generated via a Cockcroft–Walton linac as fusion products, or emitted from radioisotopes. The results indicate that, contrary to commonly held belief, the detector sensitive depth is not generally the depletion depth. Indeed for partially depleted SBDs the performance is not greatly degraded even for zero bias.

In conjunction with {gamma}-ray diagnostic development for the NOVA Upgrade and Alcator C-MOD experiments, we have assembled a comprehensive set of absolutely calibrated {gamma}-ray sources and several {gamma}-ray detectors. These tools will be used in characterizing and calibrating new {gamma}-ray diagnostic systems as they are assembled. The {gamma}-ray sources comprise both radioisotopes and nuclear reactions. The latter are generated in the MIT Cockcroft--Walton fusion-product generator. The detectors include several standard'' NaI(Tl) scintillators and a high-resolution germanium detector. This paper briefly discusses the diagnostics planned for NOVA Upgrade and Alcator C-MOD. In addition it describes the {gamma}-ray sources and detector characterizations we have performed in the laboratory.

A high‐intensity, charged‐particle‐induced x‐ray (PIXE) source has been developed for the purpose of characterizing x‐ray detectors and optics, and measuring filter transmissions. With energetic proton beams up to 165 keV, intense line x radiations (0.5 A≤λ≤111 A) have been generated from the K, L, M, and N shells of elements 4≤Z≤92. The PIXE spectrum has orders‐of‐magnitude lower background continuum than a conventional electron beam or radioactive α‐fluorescence source [C. K. Li, R. D. Petrasso, K. W. Wenzel et al. (to be published)].

We are developing activation diagnostics for monitoring energetic charged-particle fluxes in space and laboratory plasmas. More immediately, we plan to use activation to measure the time-integrated proton flux from D--{sup 3}He fusion reactions in Alcator C-MOD, providing a measure of the time-averaged D--{sup 3}He fusion rate. We demonstrated the technique's feasibility by inducing significant gamma activity in a titanium sample exposed to D--{sup 3}He protons created in our Cockcroft--Walton generator. The titanium target received a fluence of 5.5{times}10{sup 9} protons at 14.7 MeV (of order what a 3-cm{sup 2} target should receive from one shot in Alcator C-MOD) and became activated by the{sup 48}Ti({ital p},{ital n}){sup 48}V reaction. The activity's spectrum from a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector showed the characteristic 0.984- and 1.312-MeV lines of {sup 48}V. The measured activity agreed reasonably well with theory. An absence of activity at those energies before D--{sup 3}He activation eliminated background or D--D product-induced activity as the gamma source. We intend to repeat the experiment with a chromium target to evaluate that material's diagnostic potential.