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Some level-crossing control methods have been proposed as a subsystem of the Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) system. In this method, the warning starts according to the forecasted time when a train reaches the level crossing; the forecasted time is calculated on the basis of the speed and detected position of the train. Therefore, we have analytically clarified the quantitative relations among the train's position at the start of warning, train-running speed, and maximum train speed, which have not yet been shown. In this paper, we propose a speed-control method for reducing the warning time according to the train-speed characteristics in the train level-crossing control for the CBTC system. In addition, this method has been proposed for reducing the warning time when a train comes from the opposite direction according to the conventional level-crossing control. Therefore, we also propose the application of the speed-control method to the case when a train comes from the opposite direction. In addition, we show the effect of the reduction in the warning time by applying this method for speed control without train delay.

With a view to reducing the cost of on board positioning and speed detection equipment in train control systems using radio communications, for secondary lines, GPS positioning performance was investigated in the case where it is used in combination with MSAS (MTSAT Satellite-based Augmentation System). Results showed that it was possible when using this system to locate the vehicle on the track by using horizontal protection level, when on open track sections. Furthermore, tests carried out using only on board equipment show that it should be possible to build a system which does not rely on any ground installations.

Desde a definção do problema de obtenção de regras de associação, vários algoritmos eficientes foram introduzidos para tratá-lo. Entretanto, ainda hoje o problema apresenta várias dificuldades práticas para os mineradores, como a determinação de limiares adequados de suporte mínimo e confiança mínima, a manipulação de grandes conjuntos de regras, e a compreensão de regras (especialmente aquelas contendo muitos itens). Para tratar estes problemas, pesquisadores têm investigado a aplicação de técnicas interativas, sumarização (de conjuntos de regras) e representações visuais. Entretanto, nenhuma abordagem na qual os usuários podem entender e controlar o processo por meio da interação com o algoritmo analítico ao longo de sua execução foi introduzida. Neste trabalho, é introduzida uma abordagem interativa para extração e exploração de regras de associação que insere o usuário no processo por meio de: execução interativa do Apriori ; seleção interativa de itemsets freqüentes; extração de regras baseada em itemsets e orientada por agrupamentos de itemsets similares; e exploração de regras aos pares. Para validar a abordagem, foram realizados diversos estudos, apoiados pelo Sistema \'I IND.2\' E, com o objetivo de: comparar a abordagem interativa, sob diversos aspectos, com uma abordagem convencional de obtenção de regras de associação; avaliar o efeito de variar alguns parâmetros do processo nos resultados finais; e mostrar a aplicação dos recursos oferecidos em situações reais e com usuários reais. Os resultados indicam que a abordagem apresentada é adequada, tanto em cenários exploratórios quanto em cenários em que há um direcionamento inicial para o processo, à execução de certas tarefas de extração de regras de associação, pois: provém recursos capazes de evitar execuções inteiras do algoritmo antes que os resultados sejam analisados; gera conjuntos de regras mais compactos; preserva a cobertura de itemsets; favorece a reformulação de tarefas ou a formulação de novas tarefas; e provê meios para comparação visual de regras, aumentando o poder de análise do minerador Since the definition of the association rule mining problem, many efficient algorithms have been introduced to deal with it. However, the problem still presents many practical difficulties to the miners, such as the determination of suitable minimum support and minimum confidence thresholds, manipulation of large rule sets, and comprehension of rules (specially those containing many items). In order to deal with these problems, researchers have been investigating the application of interactive techniques, sumarization (of rule sets) and visual representations. Nonetheless, no approach in which users can understand and control the process through interaction with the analytical algorithm along its execution has been introduced. We introduce an interactive approach to extract and explore association rules that inserts the user into the process through: interactive execution of the Apriori ; interactive selection of frequent itemsets; itemset-based and cluster-oriented extraction of rules; and pairwise exploration of rules. To validate the approach, several studies have been conducted, supported by the \'I IND.2\' E System, aiming at: comparing the interactive approach, under several aspects, with a conventional approach to obtain association rules; evaluate the effect of different execution parameters in the final results; and illustrate its application in real situations and with real users. Results of these studies indicate that the approach is adequate, both in exploratory scenarios and in scenarios in which there is an initial guidance for the process, to the execution of certain association rule extraction tasks, because: it provides resources to avoid complete algorithm executions before results are analyzed; generates more compact rule sets for exploration; preserves rule diversity; favors the reformulation of tasks; and provides support for rule comparison, enhancing analysis capability for miners

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) can be used for various land applications, especially for safety-related applications such as train localization and car localization for the purpose of control. Although a significant amount of integrity assessment has been done in the field of air traffic control, integrity or reliability studies related to train and car applications have generally not been done to date. The most difficult factor in land applications of GNSS is multipath errors. It is known that GNSS signals may be reflected by buildings, walls, vehicles, and the ground. These reflected signals can interfere with reception of the signals coming directly from the satellites, a phenomenon known as multipath. To use GNSS-based position for these types of safety applications, not only position information but also reliability information have to be implemented. Therefore we need to evaluate the real multipath errors for the future reliability evaluation. In this study, we analyzed raw GNSS data obtained in a real-railway condition to demonstrate the accuracy of GNSS. These results will be very important for proposing a better positioning algorithm and for railway reliability estimation. GNSS data were derived from a large number of test runs of more than 2,000 km along several railway lines in the area of the West Japan Railway Company in Japan. First, we evaluated the accuracy to establish the GNSS position errors under real railway lines based on precise reference positions. The precise reference positions were prepared using local RTK-GNSS fixed positions, GNSS velocity, IMU, and a speed sensor equipped on the train. We analyzed the temporal multipath errors for each satellite to show the error distribution. Furthermore, to improve the accuracy of these data, several methods including signal strength check, pseudo-range check by Doppler frequency, and data screening by using the true distance between two antennae, were proposed. As a result, it was confirmed that large errors and jumps were greatly reduced. For example, the percentage of large horizontal error over 5 m was reduced approximately 66% by using our proposed multipath detection techniques.

The tissue distribution of Cu/Zn- and Mn-superoxide dismutases (SOD) in adrenal tumors was studied by an immunohistochemical technique, and the concentrations of both SODs were measured by a sensitive sandwich enzyme immunoassay technique. In the normal adrenal gland, both Cu/Zn- and Mn-SODs were localized predominantly in the reticular zone of the cortex. Cu/Zn-SOD was stained clearly in the inner fascicular zone of the cortex, but not in the medulla, whereas Mn-SOD was stained weakly in the medulla. In different adrenal tumors, the localization of both stained SODs reflected the origin of the tumor cell. Thus, in one section of a pheochromocytoma only Mn-SOD was stained clearly. The concentrations of both SODs in the tissues of medullary tumors were lower than those in the normal adrenal gland and adrenocortical adenomas. The concentration of Cu/Zn-SOD in the tumor tissue of Cushing's syndrome adenoma was higher, and that of Mn-SOD was lower than the concentrations in the normal adrenal gland. The ratio of the tissue concentrations of Mn-SOD to Cu/Zn-SOD was lower in adrenal medullary tumors and Cushing's syndrome adenomas than in the normal adrenal gland and primary aldosteronism adenomas, indicating the predominance of Cu/Zn-SOD in the former, and Mn-SOD in the latter. These data suggest that the localization of Cu/Zn- and Mn-SODs in adrenal tissues reflects the specificity of the adrenal cells that produce the tissue-specific hormones. An investigation of changes in these enzymes in adrenal tumors may also provide useful information on adrenal tumor cell differentiation.

症例は48歳の女性.主訴は左前頸部の腫瘤.既往歴として20歳時より,進行性筋ジストロフィーに罹患し,車椅子生活を送っていた. 2000年4月,前頸部腫脹を初発症状として来院.甲状腺左葉の単発性腫瘤で, USおよび穿刺吸引細胞診で良性濾胞腫瘍と診断され,経過観察されていた. 2002年11月,突然の下血を初発として多発性肺転移を伴う直腸癌が診断され,ハルトマン手術(人工肛門造設)が施行された. 2003年4月,頸部腫瘤の増大と嚥下時の違和感が出現し, US,穿刺吸引細胞診上悪性所見は認めなかったが,患者の強い希望で, 5月手術目的で入院となった.入院時の患者の身体所見は,筋ジストロフィーのため下半身麻痺があるが,全身状態は良好.前頸部から左側頸部にかけて大きさ6×5cmの弾性硬の腫瘤を触れ,一部に硬い結節(1.0×1.0cm)を触れた.甲状腺機能は正常で,血中サイログロブリンは軽度上昇し, CEAとCA19-9は著しい上昇を示し,直腸癌の再燃・増殖が推定された. 2003年5月,全麻下に甲状腺左葉切除術を施行.腫瘍は左葉から峡部に及ぶが,周囲組織への浸潤,リンパ節転移などを疑う所見はなかった.病理所見では,全周性に明瞭な被膜を有する濾胞腺腫の中に壊死傾向の著しい腫瘍細胞の増殖を認め,既往の直腸癌の転移と診断された.良性腫瘍である甲状腺濾胞腫瘍の内部に他の癌の転移が起きることは極めて稀である.

症例は54歳,男性. 1994年6月,腹痛を主訴にCT検査を受け,左副腎腫瘤を指摘された.高血圧症は認めないが,尿中カテコラミン(CA)は高値を示した. CT, MRIでは,左腎門部と大動脈に接し,腎動静脈の間に発育する境界明瞭で嚢胞性変化を伴う最大径約10cmの腫瘤を認めた. 131I-MIBGシンチで腫瘤部と骨盤部に集積を認め, CTで仙骨部に腫瘤を確認し,仙骨転移を伴う左副腎悪性褐色細胞腫(無症候性)と診断した. 10月,左腎合併左副腎摘出術を施行.腫瘍は径10×6×4.5cm,重量145gで腎実質への浸潤はなかった.組織学的には,分泌顆粒を持つ大小不同の好塩基性細胞の充実性増殖を認め,褐色細胞腫と診断された,術後,尿中CAおよび代謝物は高値を持続し, 4カ月後に仙骨部分切除術施行後には,全ての尿中CAは正常化した. 4カ月後歩行可能となり退院.術後8年経過した現在,再発を認めない.悪性褐色細胞腫の治療には手術,化学療法,動脈塞栓, 131I-MIBG内照射などが挙げられるが,いまだ確立されてはいない.われわれは仙骨部に単発性転移を伴った悪性副腎褐色細胞腫に対して,原発および転移病変の二期的切除を施行し良好な結果を得た.

In spite of the tough pitch copper material is used for the many kinds of conductors of electrical machining devices, the fatigue phenomenon of the tough pitch copper material does not still clarify under variable stresses considering to a service loading. Then, constant stress amplitude fatigue tests were carried out for the tough pitch copper sheet material and then the fatigue life under variable stresses were predicted by Miner's law using constant stress tests results as shown S-Ndiagram. The program fatigue tests consist of two steps and multifold stress levels were carried out for tough pitch copper sheet specimens compared with the fatigue lives predicted by using Miner's law. As it was clear that the fatigue lives predicted by using Miner's law were shorter than the experimental program fatigue lives under variable stresses in service loading, so new practical diagram modified from original S-N diagram was proposed. The fatigue lives predicted by using new S-N diagram coincide with experimental fatigue lives under variable stress consist of two or three step and multifold stress levels.

A case of invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast and localized in the right nipple is reported. The patient was a 65-year-old woman. Beginning in January 1997, she noticed gelosis surrounding the right nipple, but did nothing about it. During an examination in April of that year, she was persuaded to undergo additional tests, and was referred to this clinic. The right nipple measured 15×15mm, with a height of 10mm, and was slightly larger than the left nipple. Through palpation, a mass was found with indistinct, elastic boundaries directly under the nipple, but no bleeding or sores on the surface. Mammography confirmed the presence and shape of the mass, while ultrasonography showed a low-echo, uneven tumor area measuring 18×17×10mm with an irregular edge. Biopsy results suggested ductal carcinoma, with the possibility of an adenoid tumor; therefore, we elected to resect the nipple area. A pathological study showed the tumor to be an invasive type of ductal carcinoma, but there was no residual tumor at the resection site, and the remaining breast and axillary region were treated with radiotherapy. Discussion: Other diseases localized to the nipple include Paget's disease and adenoma of the nipple, so it is important to distinguish these from breast cancer. In particular, the latter type leads often to resection of the nipple. Most cases of cancer of the nipple are Paget's disease complicated by noninvasive ductal carcinoma, so it is unusual to find a case where the primary tumor in the nipple was an invasive tumor.

The fatigue crack growth tests of the SUS 631 stainless steel foil (thickness : 0.05 mm) were carried out in a wide range of fatigue crack growth rate covering the threshold stress intensity factor range lKth. The effects of aging hardening treatment and the stress ratio on the fatigue crack growth characteristics were investigated on the basis of fracture mechanics. The crack growth rate was measured using the center notched specimens of solution heat treatment (1313K, 2s) foil (STF) and two kinds of aging treatment (703 K, 1 h and 753 K, 1 h) foils. Crack growth tests were conducted at 10 Hz and the stress ratio R=0.1 and R=0.5. The main results obtained are as follows ; (1) The Paris'law could also be applied between da/dN and lK to the SUS 631 stainless steel foil in a special region of da/dN and it was shown to be da/dN=C (lK)m. (2) In a low-lK region the crack growth rate da/dN of aging treatment foil was higher than that of the STF and was accompanied by a small threshold value lKth. On the other hand, in a high-lK region da/dN of ageing treatment foils was lower than that of STF. (3) Fatigue crack growth resistance of a higher temperature aging material was higher than that of a lower temperature aging material with a higher tensile strength. (4) Crack closure level (Kop/Kmax) was rapidly increased as the maximum stress intensity factor Kmax decrease for each material at R=0.1 and R=0.5.

In order to clarify the fatigue behavior and fracture micromechanism for cold rolled steel foil of semi-austenitic precipitation hardening stainless steel SUS631 so as to evaluate its fatigue characteristics, fatigue tests and hardness measurements before and after the fatigue tests were carried out on the stainless steel foil of 0.05mm in thickness for as-received material and two kinds of ageing treated materials. The fracture surface of these foil specimens was observed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The main results obtained are summarized as follows. (1) The fatigue strength of as-received material was improved by ageing hardening treatment, the fatigue limit of the material ageing treated at 753 K for 1 hour was larger than that at 703 K for 1 hour. (2) After fatigue testing, the hardness of as-received material was increased, but the hardness of ageing hardening treated materials was decreased. The variations in the hardness before and after fatigue tests for these materials indicated that as-received material showed cyclic hardening behavior, and ageing hardening treated materials showed cyclic softening behavior. (3) From these observed results of the fracture surface and the cross section of fatigue cracks, there were distinctions in the crack growth path, failure pattern and fracture micromechanism on these materials, furthermore, the fatigue behavior of the foil material was very different from that of a bulk material.

In order to clarify the effect of hardening treatment on the strength characteristics of foil specimen of SUS 631 stainless steel (thickness : 0.05 mm), various hardening treatments were done to the foil specimen which solution heat treatment was applied at 1313 K for 2 sec (STF material called here). The strength and the hardness of the foil specimens were measured on STF material and hardening treatmented materials by a tensile test and a micro-vickers hardness test. The fracture surfaces of the foils were also observed by SEM. The main results obtained are summarized as follows. (1) Compared with usual hardening treatment method which is"conditioning of austenite +ageing treatment"for a common SUS 631 steel, ageing hardening treatment was appropriate hardening treatment method for the SUS 631 steel foil. Necessary strength, hardness and toughness could be obtained by selecting a suitable ageing condition. (2) From these experimental results, it was shown that precipitation strengthening micromechanism which resulted from ageing hardening treatment could produce a great effect strength characteristics of the steel foils. (3) The tensile fracture patterns of the materials differed with ageing temperature.

The localization of Cu/Zn- and Mn-superoxide dismutase (SOD) in breast cancer tissue (12 papillotubular carcinomas, 21 solid-tubular carcinomas, 16 scirrhous carcinomas, 1 medullary carcinoma, 1 secreting carcinoma, 1 lobular carcinoma, 1 Paget’s disease) was investigated via an immunohistochemical technique using antihuman Cu/Zn- and Mn-SOD antibodies in 10% formalin fixed-paraffin embedded thin sections. Both SODs stained strongly in the normal breast gland, but not clearly in many cancer tissues. Furthermore, Cu/Zn-SOD stained more strongly in well differentiated tubular carcinomas than in poorly differentiated tubular carcinomas. It tended to stain less in tumors which recurred or had a poor outcome, and in tumors with a diploid pattern on DNA flow cytometry. Mn-SOD staining was similar to that of Cu/Zn-SOD, but no significant differences among subgroups was found, since the incidence of positively staining tumors was too small in all groups. The intensity of SOD staining seems to change in relation to cell proliferation and differentiation in breast carcinoma, and may be a prognostic indicator, since SOD decreased in poorly differentiated carcinoma and in tumors which developed distant metastasis. Thus, the localization of SOD in breast cancer tissue can provide useful information for cancer treatment.

This offshore berth was constructed for Idemitsu Hokkaidou Refinery to receive crude oil from 300, 000DWT class tanker. It is one of the largest jacket-type offshore berth in the world with 10, 000t steel. The crude oil was unloaded from the first tanker in Aug. 73, only 10 months after the beginning of construction.Its performance is sound through 24 years operation. On the basis of experiences of construction and operation, this paper presents the technical key suggestion that should be considered in planning, designing, operating and maintaining offshore berths and offshore facilities generally.

A new QPSK demodulating scheme (adaptive carrier tracking (ACT)) enabling high-speed carrier tracking has been developed for application to digital mobile communications demodulators. The ACT demodulating scheme, unlike the conventional detection tracking which extracts the carrier by averaging the phases, establishes the phase synchronization and frequency synchronization independently, without using phase-averaging techniques. This method enables high-speed tracking of the carrier phase, thereby improving demodulation characteristics of burst signals and demodulation characteristics under Rayleigh fading to the same degree as those of differential detection. In addition, by adopting the digital oscillator of the new scheme, frequency synchronization of a higher speed than coherent detection that allows avoidance of the false lock has been achieved. A new phase likelihood comparison (PLC) diversity comparing the accuracy of the data obtained from the signal reception phase has been developed, thereby improving the sensitivity and characteristics of detection with respect to co-channel interference over those of conventional coherent detection and differential detection using the reception level comparison diversity. The ACT demodulation LSI with the diversity implemented by an entirely digital circuit yields good demodulating characteristics and a low power consumption of less than 9 mW, which corresponds to about 1/20 of the conventional differential detection circuit. The foregoing results confirm the practicability of the ACT demodulation method.

Objetivou-se com este trabalho utilizar regras de associação para identificar forças de mercado que regem a comercialização de touros com avaliação genética pelo programa Nelore Brasil. Essas regras permitem evidenciar padrões implícitos nas transações de grandes bases de dados, indicando causas e efeitos determinantes da oferta e comercialização de touros. Na análise foram considerados 19.736 registros de touros comercializados, 17 fazendas e 15 atributos referentes às diferenças esperadas nas progênies dos reprodutores, local e época da venda. Utilizou-se um sistema com interface gráfica usuário-dirigido que permite geração e seleção interativa de regras de associação. Análise de Pareto foi aplicada para as três medidas objetivas (suporte, confiança e lift) que acompanham cada uma das regras de associação, para validação das mesmas. Foram geradas 2.667 regras de associação, 164 consideradas úteis pelo usuário e 107 válidas para lift ≥ 1,0505. As fazendas participantes do programa Nelore Brasil apresentam especializações na oferta de touros, segundo características para habilidade materna, ganho de peso, fertilidade, precocidade sexual, longevidade, rendimento e terminação de carcaça. Os perfis genéticos dos touros são diferentes para as variedades padrão e mocho. Algumas regiões brasileiras são nichos de mercado para touros sem registro genealógico. A análise de evolução de mercado sugere que o mérito genético total, índice oficial do programa Nelore Brasil, tornou-se um importante índice para comercialização dos touros. Com o uso das regras de associação, foi possível descobrir forças do mercado e identificar combinações de atributos genéticos, geográficos e temporais que determinam a comercialização de touros no programa Nelore Brasil. The aim of this work was to use association rules to identify forces that govern bull trade with genetic evaluation by Programa Nelore Brasil. Those rules permit to highlight patterns implicit in the transactions of large databases, which indicate determining causes and effects of supply and trade of bulls. In the analysis, it was considered 19,736 records of traded bulls, 17 farms and 15 attributes related to expected differences on the progenies of sires, place and time of sale. A system with user-driven graphical interface that allows generation and interactive selection of association rules was used. Pareto analysis was applied for the three objective measures (support, trust and lift) that follow each one of the association rules to validate them. It was generated 2,667 association rules, 164 considered to be useful by the user and 107 valid for lift ≥ 1.0505. The farms participating in the Nelore Brasil program present expertise in bull offering according to maternal ability characteristics, weight gain, fertility, sexual precocity, longevity, yield and termination of carcass. The genetic profiles of the bulls are different for standard and Mocho Nellore varieties. Some Brazilian regions are market niche for sires without registered herd. The analysis of evolution of the market suggests that Mérito Genético Total (MGT), the official index of the Program Nelore Brasil has become an important index for commercialization of bulls. By using association rules, it was possible to discover market forces and to identify combinations of genetic, geographical and temporal attributes that determine commercialization of bulls in Nelore Brasil program.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is involved in tumor angiogenesis and other pathophysiological processes. We studied the localization of VEGF in human thyroid tissues to clarify its involvement in proliferative processes in a variety of thyroid disorders. Immunohistochemical analysis using purified rabbit polyclonal anti-human VEGF or anti-human CD34 antibody and a streptavidin–biotin peroxidase complex detection system was performed on 58 tissue specimens from 53 patients with different thyroid disorders and 5 normal thyroid glands. Vascular endothelial growth factor was not detected in normal thyroid follicular cells. However, some thyroid tumor cells expressed VEGF in the cytoplasm (papillary carcinoma, 10/18; follicular carcinoma, 1/3; medullary carcinoma, 2/2; follicular adenoma, 3/11; adenomatous goiter, 2/4). In benign follicular adenoma and adenomatous goiter, weak expression of VEGF was found in small areas of the tumor, whereas in malignant thyroid tumors, it was strongly expressed in many cells. However, VEGF was not expressed in anaplastic carcinoma, malignant lymphoma, or Graves’ disease. Angiovascular cells stained with CD34 antibody in tissues from different thyroid disorders reflected statistically significant differences in papillary carcinoma, follicular adenoma, and Graves’ disease compared with normal thyroids, and such cells showed a trend toward increases in medullary carcinoma and adenomatous goiter. In contrast, low vascularity was observed in anaplastic carcinoma, malignant lymphoma, and follicular carcinoma. Because VEGF probably functions as a hypoxia-inducible angiogenic factor, overexpression of this mediator, concomitant with hypervascularity, may be induced more strongly in malignant thyroid tumors, which need more oxygen to proliferate, than in benign follicular tumors. However, neither VEGF nor CD34 was expressed in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma, which is an extremely poorly differentiated malignant tumor. CD34 but not VEGF was expressed in the hyperplastic thyroid tissues of Graves’ disease composed of nontransformed cells. Thus, the expression of VEGF concomitant with CD34 is suggested to reflect both the transformation and differentiation state of malignant tumors.

Miners face many challenges when dealing with association rule mining tasks, such as defining proper parameters for the algorithm, handling sets of rules so large that exploration becomes difficult and uncomfortable, and understanding complex rules containing many items. In order to tackle these problems, many researchers have been investigating visual representations and information visualization techniques to assist association rule mining. In this chapter, an overview is presented of the many approaches found in literature. First, the authors introduce a classification of the different approaches that rely on visual representations, based on the role played by the visualization technique in the exploration of rule sets. Current approaches typically focus on model viewing, that is visualizing rule content, namely antecedent and consequent in a rule, and/or different interest measure values associated to it. Nonetheless, other approaches do not restrict themselves to aiding exploration of the final rule set, but propose representations to assist miners along the rule extraction process. One such approach is a methodology the authors have been developing that supports visually assisted selective generation of association rules based on identifying clusters of similar itemsets. They introduce this methodology and a quantitative evaluation of it. Then, they present a case study in which it was employed to extract rules from a real and complex dataset. Finally, they identify some trends and issues for further developments in this area.

Extracting association rules from large datasets typically results in a huge amount of rules. An approach to tackle this problem is to filter the resulting rule set, which reduces the rules, at the cost of also eliminating potentially interesting ones. In exploring a new dataset in search of relevant associations, it may be more useful for miners to have an overview of the space of rules obtainable from the dataset, rather than getting an arbitrary set satisfying high values for given interest measures. We describe a rule extraction approach that favors rule diversity, allowing miners to gain an overview of the rule space while reducing semantic redundancy within the rule set. This approach adopts an itemset-driven rule generation coupled with a cluster-based filtering process. The set of rules so obtained provides a starting point for a user-driven exploration of it.

About 28% of patients with the Crow-Fukase syndrome exhibit glucose intolerance which may be induced by low serum levels of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). We report a patient with the Crow-Fukase syndrome who exhibited non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) worsened prior to admission. He received the DHEA sulfate (DHEA-S) infusion test to evaluate aromatase activity. This patient exhibited an increase in aromatase activity measured by the conversion of the intravenously loaded DHEA-S to estrogen, and low serum levels of DHEA and DHEA-S. These abnormalities returned to nearly normal during the administration of prednisolone, 60 mg per day. No adverse effect on his diabetes was observed during the corticosteroid treatment. Five control patients with diabetes but without the Crow-Fukase syndrome showed no increase in the conversion of DHEA-S to estrogen, which suggests that aromatase activity is normal in diabetes. The increase in aromatase activity in our patient may have led to a low serum concentration of DHEA that in turn caused glucose intolerance and a deterioration of the diabetes prior to admission. Glucocorticoid therapy may be beneficial in Crow-Fukase syndrome to improve the distorted metabolism of DHEA with no adverse effect on the diabetes.

The effect of 11 derivatives of 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNM) on the replication of HIV-1 was studied. Compared with DNM, seven of them showed remarkable inhibition of HIV-1-induced syncytium formation at significantly low concentrations which were not cytotoxic. Two derivatives were found to markedly reduce the infectious virus yields from cell lines chronically infected with HIV. Analysis of HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins showed that the derivatives induced modification of the processing of not only gp120/160 but also the transmembrane glycoprotein gp41. The modification of the processing of the transmembrane glycoprotein gp41 might play an important role in the inhibition of virus replication at a step after the binding of gp120 to CD4. The enhanced anti-HIV activity of DNM derivatives reported here could increase the possibility of non-toxic therapeutic intervention in HIV infections.

A new antibiotic SF2487 has been isolated from the culture broth of Actinomadura sp. SF2487. The structure of antibiotic SF2487 was determined by spectroscopic analyses of the sodium salt and X-ray diffraction analysis of the silver salt. The antibiotic represents a new member of polyether group antibiotics known as the acyltetronic acid type 4. The antibiotic is weakly active against Gram-positive bacteria and exhibits antiviral activity against influenza virus in vitro.

ナリンギナーゼの力価の測定で,反応後の基質(ナリンギン)の減少量をHPLC法とDAVIS変法とで定量し比較した。(1) DARIS変法の呈色では,ナリンギンの他,反応中間体であるプルニン及び反応生成物であるナリンゲニンが同時に発色し,正確な力価の測定はできなかった。ナリンゲニンは標準溶液による補正が,又プルニンは岡田のDAVIS変法により存在比を算出し補正をすることが可能であったが,いずれの場合も複雑な操作を必要とした。(2) HPLC法は反応後のナリンギン,プルニン及びナリンゲニンの分離定量が可能であり,ナリンギナーゼの本質であるα-ラムノシターゼの力価を容易に,かつ正確に測定することができた。従って著者らは,ナリンギナーゼ力価の測定におけるナリンギン減少量の定量には,HPLC法が最も適していると結論した。

低炭素鋼の疲労き裂の進展に及ぼす正または負の平均応力の影響を平面曲げについて検討し次の結論を得た. (1) 破断疲労限度は平均応力の影響を受ける. (2) 停留き裂の発生疲労限度は平均応力に依存しない. (3) 最大応力一定のもとでの疲労き裂の進展には,最小応力が影響する. (4) 最大応力が負の場合でも疲労き裂は進展することがある.この場合の進展速度は,最大応力が生の場合より遅くなり,疲労寿命は極めて長くなる.