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The active Shirley method has been recently proposed for reproducibly estimating the background and peaks of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra because of its automatic tuning of starting and ending points of the Shirley-type background spectra. This reproducibility is significantly affected not only by a software algorithm of the active Shirley method but also by a choice of the initial ending points or a shape of Voigt function. In this work, we provided an example of the reproducibility of XPS analysis for SiO2 film (9.2 nm thick) on Si wafer by changing the range of initial ending points or a shape of Voigt function in the active Shirley method. It demonstrated that the thickness of the SiO2 film was estimated at 9.71 ± 0.14 nm from noisy Si 2p peaks in the commonly-used range.

We developed and implemented a fully automated method to perform X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectral analysis based on the active Shirley method and information criteria. Our method searches a large number of initial fitting models by changing the degree of smoothing, and then optimizes the peak parameters and background parameters to obtain a large number of fitting results. The goodness of those optimized models is ranked using information criteria. As a result of applying this algorithm to measured XPS spectra, we found that, using the Bayesian information criterion (BIC), a simple model with reasonably good agreement and a moderate number of peaks was selected. The model selected by the BIC was close to the result of peak fitting performed by XPS analysis experts., Journal of Electron Spectroscopy and Related Phenomena. 239 (2020) 146903

The electron spectroscopies, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy, and so on have been used for surface chemical analysis of nanostructured specimens. Simulation softwares comparing a simulated electron spectrum with an experimental one have played an important role in revealing the layered nanostructure of specimens, and the widespread use of the simulation softwares, therefore, boosts the commonly accepted capability of the analysis with the electron spectroscopies to a higher level. This report proposes an XML data format for effectively describing simulated results so that the format can promote discussing the results and storing them in a database that helps a user to master the simulation softwares. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Paratuberculosis (Ptb), caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map), is a chronic enteritis that affects many ruminants and other wild animals worldwide. Ptb is a great concern in animal health and in etiology of human Crohn's disease (CD). In the present study, we detected Map-specific insertion sequence IS900 of DNA in tissue sections surgically removed from lesions of patients with CD (29 samples), ulcerative colitis (UC) (17 samples), and non-inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) (20 samples). We then compared the histopathological findings of 29 CD and 17 UC cases with those of 35 cases of bovine Ptb, since few comparative pathological studies of human IBD and Ptb have been conducted. The QPCR examination indicated positive results in 13.37% of CD cases, 3.57% of UC cases, and 10% of non-IBD cases. Human CD tissues typically exhibited destructive full thickness enteritis with severe lympho-plasma infiltration and scattered additional granulomas; UC lesions exhibited much less inflammation than CD lesions. Non-IBD control samples did not exhibit pathological changes. Human CD and UC lesions were very different from Ptb lesions that are characterized by predominant granuloma formation. Immunohistochemistry for Map antigen and acid-fast staining were negative in all human IBD cases but were always positive in Ptb cases. Our present comparative study strongly suggests that we reconsider the previous hypothesis that “Map infection” causes CD, even though human intestines were considered to have been exposed to the Map antigen containing the DNA.

It becomes important to measure mechanical properties of local area of materials because of downsizing of industrial materials, and the fracture of materials often starts at the nanoscale defects. Therefore, the measurement of hardness of the local area of materials is one of key technologies to develop new materials. Nanoindentation is the depth sensing indentation method and can measure the mechanical properties of nanoscale area of materials. The hardness of materials under the controlled environment like high temperature is a big issue in energy or environment industries. Therefore, it becomes important to measure high temperature mechanical properties of nanoscale area of materials by nanoindentation. However, the shape of indenter may change when an indenter contacts to the material surface at high temperatures, and the nanoindentation at high temperatures may lead to inaccuracy of measurements. Nanoindentation does not measure indented are directly but converts the indentation depth to the indented area by area function. In order to correctly convert the indentation depth to the indented area, it is necessary to derive the area function of indented area at high temperatures. In this report, the area function is proposed that considers the change of indenter shape during repeating contact at heated materials. By using this proposed area function, nanoindentation hardness and the reduced modulus of sapphire were obtained at 303K, 473K, 673K, 873K and 1073K successfully. The nanoindentation can be used at high temperatures, if this proposed area function is used.

Nowadays, industrial products are downsized, and the structure of materials is controlled with the nanometer precision, and it becomes very important to measure the mechanical properties of local area of bulk material. Especially the hardness and the elastic modulus are important mechanical properties. The orientation dependence of hardness and reduced modulus of single crystal sapphire surface was investigated by nanoindentation. The conventional technique to measure the hardness of materials using an optical micrometer cannot evaluate mechanical properties of a local region of several µm or less. However, nanoindentation can measure mechanical properties of very small surface area of materials, and is expected to detect the micro structure dependence of mechanical properties. Nanoindentation uses very small indenter made of diamond, and measures the indentation depth. The measured depth is converted to the indented area size using the area function. The area function of the indenter can be obtained using a standard material (fused quartz) in advance. Therefore nanoindentation can measure the indented area size without using an optical micrometer. In this report, it was shown that the nanoindentation could detect the structure dependence of mechanical properties of materials. The specimen was a single crystal sapphire with c - axis surface, and the indenter was Berkovich type diamond tip. It was confirmed that the nanoindentation hardness was the lowest, and the reduced modulus was the largest, when the ridge line of indenter was oriented to the m - axis of single crystal. The nanoindentation could detect the structure dependence of a local area of mechanical properties materials.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) decided to establish a Technical Committee 201 (TC201) on the standardization of surface chemical analysis in 1991. Since then, TC201 has published 38 ISO standards. They concern the vocabulary, instrument specifications, pretreatments of specimen, the procedures for analysis, apparatus alignments, measurement conditions, quantification and reporting formats. In this paper, ISO standards on the calibration of energy and intensity scales of electron spectrometers are briefly introduced. Common Data Processing System is the software for assisting in using ISO standards, and its functions for the calibration of energy and intensity scales are also introduced.

About 40 years have passed, since commercial surface analyses instruments for electron spectroscopy appeared, and these instruments are now widely used in production lines as well as research fields. Since 1982, many international research projects have been executed under VAMAS umbrella, and a lot of information has been obtained to improve the reliability of surface analyses. In 1991, ISO TC201 was established to achieve the standardization of surface chemical analyses, and 38 ISO standards have been published. In this paper, the research results on the improvement of the reliability of electron spectroscopy are introduced, and the ISO standards directly relating to the electron spectroscopy are explained.

In the pathogenesis of doxorubicin (DXR)-induced cardiomyopathy, oxidative stress appears to play an important role. It has been reported that pentosidine and N(epsilon)-(carboxymethyl)lysine (CML), advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), are formed by the combined processes of glycation and oxidation and play a significant role in the process of complications of diabetic mellitus. We investigated the potential involvement of AGE formation in DXR-induced cardiomyopathy in rats. Male Crl:CD(SD) rats received intravenous injection of DXR at 2mg/kg or saline once weekly for 8 weeks, with or without daily treatment with the AGE formation inhibitors, aminoguanidine (AG, 25 mg/kg/day, i.p.) and pyridoxamine (PM, 60 mg/kg/day, i.p.). Time-course experiments revealed significantly increased pentosidine and CML in the heart in the DXR group from Week 6. These findings coincided with a decrease in fractional shortening (FS), an index of cardiac function, and the development of cardiomyopathy characterized by vacuolated hypertrophic myocardial fibers. There was a significant correlation between the myocardial AGEs and FS or plasma cardiac troponin-I. Immunohistochemical staining showed localization of pentosidine to the cytoplasm of vacuolated myocardial cells. In DXR-treated rats, oxidative stress was enhanced prior to any observed increase in pentosidine and CML levels in the heart. Hyperglycemia was not observed throughout the study period. Intervention by AG or PM treatment ameliorated the functional and morphological changes induced by DXR in the heart, in addition to lowered myocardial pentosidine and CML levels. These results suggested that DXR accelerates the formation of pentosidine and CML in the heart through enhanced oxidative stress and that AGE formation is involved in DXR-induced cardiomyopathy. The findings may enable development of novel preventive therapies and predictive biomarkers of DXR-induced cardiomyopathy.

Macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) is a hemopoietic cytokine with a primary role in placental physiology. Gene expression of M-CSF in the bovine endometrium shows a temporal upward trend during early and mid pregnancy. This study determined the plasma M-CSF levels during pregnancy using ELISA. In experiment 1, to investigate the relationship between the concentration of M-CSF in peripheral blood and pregnancy, the plasma M-CSF levels were determined in 125 pregnant and 21 non-pregnant Japanese Black cows. The pregnant animals were divided into nine groups based on the month of pregnancy. An ELISA for bovine M-CSF established previously was used according to the authors' instructions. In experiment 2, the plasma M-CSF level was determined to investigate the temporal changes in its concentration in the peripheral blood during pregnancy. In experiment 1, the plasma M-CSF level varied from month to month during pregnancy; the mean level in the first-month of pregnancy was significantly higher than those in the third and last months of pregnancy and non-pregnancy (P

In ultimate asseismic design of ductile frame structures, plastic deformation and plastic hinge are generally permitted, and some preferred failure modes are often selected. It is an important problem that whether the designed structure collapses according to the designed failure mode, because of the large uncertainties included in external loads and member strength. In this paper, an identification procedure of failure modes for frame structures is developed, and the likely collapse modes of frame structures under uncertain load and member strength are investigated under assumption of normal distributed and non-normal distributed external loads and member strength. It is found that the occurrence order of likely collapse mode is much influenced by the distribution of the random variables. The occurrence order of collapse modes for column over designed structures are investigated and it is found that the increase of column over-design factor can effectively avoid the story collapse mode in probabilistic means.

Three recombinant proteins, Map10, Map39, and Map41, produced based on nucleotide sequences obtained from the screening of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis genomic library expressed in Escherichia coli significantly elicited gamma interferon production in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from infected cattle. Two of these proteins were members of the PPE protein family.

Electron irradiation effect on depth profiling of a SiO 2 /Si(1 0 0) surface has been studied. A theoretical model for electron stimulated desorption (ESD) and gas adsorption on the solid surface has been proposed. The ESD process on the solid surface has been evaluated by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) combined with a depth profiling technique. Our model can explain the observed ESD effect in low electron current densities less than 30 A/m 2 . In higher current densities, the deviation from the model appears because dynamic diffusion process becomes dominant. Furthermore the dependencies of the ion sputtering rate and the depth resolution on the current density of the electron radiation have been observed quantitatively, whose origin has been discussed based on a model.

Micrometer pixelated arrays comprised of different functional organic molecules were formed on a polymer film using a laser implantation and transfer dry processing technique. The spatial distribution of the implanted organic molecules and the extended pattern that they formed could be controlled with high resolution as determined using fluorescence microscopy. The individual molecular implant pixels had a diameter of less than 4 μm. This method of molecular manipulation is both precise and reproducible and could therefore be used in many applications such as molecular devices, molecular sensors, non-linear optical devices, drug delivery and opto-electronic displays.

The generation of multinucleated giant cells (MGC) from cells of the bovine monocyte-macrophage lineage was investigated. Freshly isolated monocytes were incubated with the conditioned medium (CM) of peripheral blood mononuclear cell cultures treated with Concanavalin A for 1-4 days (CM1 to CM4). Only CM1 generated MGC despite similar concentrations of IFNgamma in all CMs. Nevertheless, MGC formation from monocytes was enhanced by adding either macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) or granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), MGC formations from macrophages were observed only when macrophages were cultured with GM-CSF plus CM. These results indicate that several mechanisms to generate MGC from bovine monocytes-macrophage lineage cells exist, and that GM-CSF is a major mediator of MGC formation in cattle.

Electrochemical buffing and chemical polishing can easily control surface roughness on a nano scale. We studied the effect of surface nano roughness on friction in a vacuum and under atmospheric pressure. A vacuum friction measurement system was developed in order to evaluate the sliding friction coefficient under a variable load from 0.49 N to 0.98 mN and at variable pressure from 10 5 to 10 −5 Pa. Friction measurements were executed on type 304 austenitic stainless steels as typical vacuum materials with nano order surface roughness, prepared by chemical polishing and electrochemical buffing. The same value of the friction coefficient was found in a vacuum as under atmospheric pressure when the surface roughness was about 40 nm to 1.5 μm on steel samples. Steel samples with a maximum height of surface roughness ( R max ) of around 100 nm shows the same result of low friction in a vacuum as that under atmospheric pressure.

In order to control pressure rise in a vacuum chamber, a radio-frequency magnetron cosputter deposition system has been developed and boron nitride and copper composite (BN/Cu) film was coated onto the inner surface of a vacuum chamber in the shape of a cylinder. Outgassing rate of the BN/Cu coated chamber was estimated with a pressure rise method to be about 5×10−12 Pa m s−1, which was two orders lower than that of the noncoated vacuum chamber in the same shape as the BN/Cu coated chamber. Mass spectra of the residual gas in the chamber indicated that the outgassing of various gas species, such as hydrogen gas, nitrogen gas, and oxygen gas, were reduced by the BN/Cu coating. These results concluded that the BN/Cu coating could control pressure rise in a vacuum chamber.

We successfully cloned and sequenced porcine toll-like receptor (TLR2) and TLR6 cDNA from porcine alveolar macrophages stimulated with 10 microg/ml lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The open reading frames (ORFs) of the porcine TLR2 and TLR6 cDNA were shown to be 2358 and 2391 bp in length and to encode 785 and 796 amino acids, respectively. The predicted amino acid sequence of porcine TLR2 was 72.3% homologous to human TLR2 and 61.0% homologous to murine TLR2. That of porcine TLR6 was 74.4% homologous to human TLR6 and 66.1% homologous to murine TLR6. Porcine TLR2 and TLR6 genes were both mapped to porcine chromosome 8 (TLR2: SSC8q21.1 --21.5; TLR6: SSC8p11.1 --p21.1) by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and radiation hybrid mapping. Western blot analysis confirmed that TLR2 and TLR6 proteins were both expressed in porcine alveolar macrophages. Further, antiporcine TLR2 and TLR6 antibodies synergistically blocked tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) production by porcine alveolar macrophages stimulated with Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae. These results indicated that both TLR2 and TLR6 are important in the recognition of M. hyopneumoniae in porcine alveolar macrophages and will be useful in understanding innate immunity against M. hyopneumoniae.

Bovine interleukin-21 (IL-21) cDNA was cloned and sequenced from bovine peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) stimulated with 10 μg/ml concanavalin A (ConA), 10 μg/ml phytohemagglutinin (PHA), and 50 ng/ml phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) for 48 h. The open reading frame of the bovine IL-21 cDNA is 459 bp in length and encodes 152 amino acids. The predicted amino acid sequence is 78.2 and 58.5% homologous to the human and murine IL-21 amino acid sequences, respectively. Recombinant bovine IL-21 was expressed by a baculovirus expression system. The bovine IL-21 was processed to the mature form in insect cells and secreted to the supernatant confirmed by N-terminal amino acid sequencing. The recombinant bovine mature IL-21 induced the proliferation of human IL-2-dependent cells, ILT-MAT. The mRNA expression for bovine IL-21 was observed in the spleen, but not in the brain, heart, lung, liver, and kidney. The bovine IL-21 identified in this study may provide new methods for the enhancement of innate immunity in cows.

We have successfully fabricated nano islands of boron nitride directly on a substrate by triggering with internal stress. Boron nitride nano islands grew on the surface of films made from a boron nitride–copper complex synthesized by a cosputter method combined with heat treatment in a high vacuum. The properties of the islands such as size, shape and adhesion force were analyzed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) in a high vacuum. Topographical images of AFM showed that the islands size drastically changed as a function of the heat treatment temperature. This technique is a promising candidate for the fabrication of nano structures on large surface area of substrates.

VAMAS project was set up at the economic summit at Versailles in 1982. The objective of VAMAS project is to establish the reliability of metrological technologies vital to the development of new materials and processing. The round robins of VAMAS project could clearly indicate the standardization process for surface chemical analysis, and TC 201 was established in ISO in 1991 to make the international standards for surface chemical analysis. At present, the number of P-members of TC 201 is 10 and that of O-members is 20. TC 201 is composed of 8 SC and 1 WG. The objective of SC and WG is to propose the new work items and to establish international standards for their covering surface chemical analysis methods. Until now, 12 international standards have been published. At the same time of the establishment of TC 201, TC 202 was also established in ISO to make the international standards for micro beam analysis. In Japan, we established the domestic committee to support the activities of TC 201 and TC 202.

In order to improve the pressure stability, h-BN/Cu complex film was coated by magnetron co-sputtering deposition inside a vacuum chamber in the shape of a cylinder, and the pressure stability in this chamber was measured by a buildup method. The pressure in the h-BN/Cu coated vacuum chamber increased from 1.0 × 10-8 Pa to 1.6 × 10-5 Pa through 24 hours. This pressure was two orders lower than that of non-coated vacuum chamber with the same shape as the h-BN/Cu coated vacuum chamber. The outgassing rate calculated from the slope of the pressure increase curve was about 5 × 10-12 Pa·m·s-1, which explains that this h-BN/Cu coating is effective to an improvement of the pressure stability in a vacuum chamber.

Low frictional coating films made of copper and boron nitride on stainless steel substrates were synthesized by magnetron co-sputter deposition. Friction force of the coating films was observed by a vacuum friction measurement system and a lateral force microscope. Coating film properties, such as surface morphology, internal stress and surface energy, were also observed by a conventional contact angle measuring system, a scanning auger electron spectrometer and an atomic force microscope. Internal stress and surface energy can be significantly modified depending on coating conditions indicating that they are dependant variables. This technique of co-sputtering deposition is a promising candidate for the control of friction force and surface nano-structures and is well applicable to a vacuum switch, aerospace coatings and microelectromechanical systems.

We cloned and sequenced a cDNA that contains the coding sequence of the porcine interleukin-18 receptor alpha chain (PoIL-18Ralpha). Based on the conserved nucleotide sequences between human (HuIL-18Ralpha) and murine IL-18Ralpha (MuIL-18Ralpha), we performed reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with total RNA prepared from porcine peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) stimulated with PoIL-12 to clone the cDNA of PoIL-18Ralpha. The open reading frame (ORF) of the PoIL-18Ralpha cDNA is 1620 base pairs (bp) in length and encodes 539 amino acids. The predicted amino acid sequence showed 68.2% and 50.2% identity to the human and murine amino acid sequences, respectively. Stimulation with concanavalin A (ConA) and IL-12, but not with IL-4, was shown to upregulate the expression of IL-18Ralpha mRNA in pig PBLs by RT-PCR analysis. Flow cytometric analysis also demonstrated that IL-18Ralpha was constitutively expressed on PoPBLs, and this expression was augmented by ConA stimulation. Furthermore, the PoIL-18Ralpha gene was mapped by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to porcine chromosome 3 (3q13-q14), near the location at which the IL-1beta gene had already been mapped. The present results will be helpful for understanding PoIL-18 and interferon gamma (IFN-gamma)-mediated T helper 1 (Th1) cell development.

Low frictional coatings made of copper, boron nitride, and oxygen on a stainless steel substrate were synthesized by magnetron cosputter deposition combined with excimer laser irradiation. The frictional force of the coating films was observed by a system developed for measuring vacuum friction. The coating properties were also observed by a conventional contact angle measuring system, a scanning Auger electron spectrometer, and a Vickers hardness measuring system. The surface layer of the coating films was oxidized by the excimer laser irradiation. Surface energy and film hardness were also modified by the laser irradiation. Frictional coefficients as low as 0.075 were achieved after irradiating the films under ultrahigh vacuum conditions. Since these coating films have already been oxidized and irradiated with high energy UV light they will be applicable for aerospace coatings.

Boron nitride–copper complex (BN/Cu) films were synthesized using a magnetron co-sputtering method using different discharge times. The frictional force of the coating films of BN/Cu was observed with a vacuum-friction measuring system with variable vacuum pressure. Scanning auger electron microscopy and contact angle measurements were carried out in order to characterize the BN/Cu films. Two elements of surface energy were estimated from the contact angle of two solutions. Frictional coefficients as low as 0.1 were achieved for the BN/Cu films under ultra high vacuum (UHV) conditions. It was found that alteration of the composition of boron nitride with copper in the mixture under different discharge times was effective in controlling the frictional force on the film surface under UHV.