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Rituximab is an effective treatment for frequently relapsing/steroid-dependent nephrotic syndrome, but there is concern about infections caused by humoral immunodeficiency. We herein report a case of prolonged (7 weeks) severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. A 24-year-old man with minimal change disease treated with rituximab developed SARS-CoV-2 infection. The clinical response to remdesivir was soon transiently abolished. Treatment with casirivimab and imdevimab (REGEN-COV) monoclonal antibodies in combination with remdesivir resulted in complete clearance of the infection. The REGEN-COV antibody cocktail may improve the outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with humoral immunodeficiency.

Esophageal neuroendocrine carcinoma (ENEC) are rare and aggressive behavior with early dissemination and poor prognosis. According to previous reports, including case reports and reviews, the incidence of ENEC ranges from about 0.8–2.8%. Unfortunately, the rarity of this tumor has not yet permitted the prospective recruitment of patients in clinical trials, in order to establish the optimal therapy. The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal surgical treatment of ENEC. The histological diagnosis of ENEC was determined by examination of surgically resected specimens in patients who underwent surgery. The patients were selected from a prospective study of Department of Surgery, Institute of Gastroenterology Tokyo Women’s Medical University from 1968 to 2021. We study 27 cases of ENEC who performed operation with lymph node dissection. We investigated (1) the patient characteristics, (2) pathological findings including immunohistochemical profiles, (3) recurrence pattern, and survival curves, (4) ki-67 index. This study was approved by the ethics committee of Tokyo Women’s Medical University in Tokyo Japan. (1) gender (mail: female=23: 4), depth (T1: T2; T3: T4)=8: 3: 12: 4 Lymph node (N0: N1)=2: 25 (2) Immunohistochemistry of synaptophysin: chromogranin A: NCAM = 70.4%: 45%: 60% (3) recurrence pattern (liver: lung: Lymph node: bone: dissemination = 8: 6: 4: 2: 4) 50% survival rate (T1: T2-4= 19 months: 6.5 months) p=0.0202, numbers of lymph node (0-2: 3< = 19 months: 4mnths)p Cases in which long-term survival was obtained by surgical treatment was T1 or 0-2 numbers of lymph node. Ki-67 index was more than 80%.

Background Catheter dysfunction, especially omental wrapping, is a serious complication of peritoneal dialysis (PD). Although catheter implantation at a lower site was reported to prevent omental wrapping, this method could induce insufficient drainage of the PD solution and cause pain or a persistent desire to defecate, when the intraperitoneal catheter is of insufficient length or when its tip is in direct contact with the pelvic floor, respectively. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of a novel PD catheter insertion method of approaching from the McBurney point, from the outer side of the abdomen. Methods This retrospective study included 23 patients with end-stage renal disease who were started on PD from January 2017 to July 2018 at Ashikaga Red Cross Hospital, Tochigi, Japan. Among them, 16 patients underwent a PD catheter insertion using a conventional method, whereas 7 patients underwent a novel method of approaching from the McBurney point. Infectious and mechanical complications were evaluated until August 2020. Results There were 18 men and 5 women, with a mean age of 63.1 ± 13.6 years. All patients were followed up postoperatively for a mean duration of 27.2 ± 13.4 months. No patient experienced omental wrapping, insufficient drainage of the PD solution, and pain or persistent desire to defecate in both groups. Both the incidence of infectious and mechanical complications (times per patient-year) were not statistically different between patients undergoing a conventional and a novel PD catheter insertion (0.18 vs. 0.24; p = 0.79 and 0.03 vs. 0.16; p = 0.16, respectively). Conclusions This novel method of PD catheter insertion from the McBurney point was safe, caused less discomfort, and was effective in preventing catheter dysfunction.

This paper describes finite element method analysis (FEM analysis), results of burring processing of large diameter steel pipe and fracture criterion in burring process of large diameter steel pipe. In this study, the pipe is the 150A SGP pipe with a diameter of 165.2 mm and a wall thickness of 5 mm. The pipe is used for a plant as a flow channel of gas and liquid. A burring process of pipe is generally for forming the branch. The burring process is achieved by drawing of die from prepared hole. And the branch pipe is welded to the formed pipe. This process has some problem. One is the forming limit of pipe, and the other is needed to machining the end surface to be welded. Therefore, in this study, the forming limit of SGP pipe was estimated by FEM analysis of burring process. The parameters used for criteria for forming limit are the maximum shear stress and the equivalent strain. As a result of comparing the analysis result and the experimental result, the forming limit of the 150A SGP pipe was estimated that the maximum shear stress is 350 MPa and the equivalent strain is around 0.8.

BackgroundIncidence of adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction (AEG) is increasing in Japan as well as Western Country. However, there is no consensus on treatment strategy. The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal range of resection and lymph node dissection for Siewert type II AEG and to develop a strategy for treatment that includes adjuvant therapy to improve the survival rate. MethodsWe retrospectively investigate 88 cases of advanced AEG in patients who underwent surgery with lymph node dissection with 52 cases of superficial AEG, 23 of whom underwent endoscopic treatment (endoscopic mucosal resection [EMR] or endoscopic submucosal dissection [ESD]), and 29 of whom underwent surgery with lymph node dissection. ResultsThe optimal lymph nodes to resect for advanced AEG were in the inferior mediastinum (No. 110), in the lesser curvature (Nos. 1, 3, 7), No. 2, and No 11. According to area of actual lymph node metastasis, lymphadenectomy of lymph nodes 1, 2, 3, 7, and 11 was sufficient to improve survival of patients with superficial AEG. If esophageal involvement was >40 mm, we performed esophagectomy through right thoracotomy. The 5-year overall survival rates were 88% for patients treated with ESD, 78% for those with superficial AEG who under-went surgery, and 24% for those with advanced AEG (p = 0.011). Despite of lymph node dissection, twenty-five patients experienced lymph node metastasis after operation in advanced AEG and there were many disseminations in advanced AEG. There were no differences in survival between patients who received postoperative adjuvant therapy with S-1 for advanced AEG and those who received surgery alone (p = 0.5192).Conclusion Although surgical procedures of superficial and locally advanced AEG are standardized, the role of adjuvant therapy for AEG is still controversial. We recommend nab-paclitaxel plus radiotherapy for advanced AEG as neoadjuvant therapy.

Incidence of adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction is increasing in Japan. However, in early cases (T1), there is no consensus on treatment strategy. The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal range of resection and lymph node dissection according to lymph node metastasis status and vascular invasion in early adenocarcinoma (T1) of the esophagogastric junction. Methods We investigated patient characteristics, surgical procedures, recurrence pattern, and optimum extent of lymph node dissection in 22 patients who underwent surgery in our hospital from 2000 to 2016 and were diagnosed with early adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction (by Nishi’s classification). Results Four patients with lymph node metastasis, the depth of invasion was sm2 and lymphatic invasion was positive (ly1–ly3, focal lymphatic invasion to prominent lymphatic invasion). In all cases, the site of lymph node metastasis was the lesser gastric curvature. None of the patients developed postoperative lymph node recurrence. An examination of the outcomes revealed that the metastases were hematogenous in all patients with a depth of invasion of sm2 and a positive venous invasion (v1, focal vascular invasion). Conclusion We conclude that transhiatal esophagectomy should be selected as a minimal requirement, and that dissection of the abdominal lymph node (particularly on the lesser curvature side of the superior part of the stomach) is sufficient, for patients with early adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction. In cases where the depth of invasion is sm2 or greater and vascular invasion is present, patients may require adjuvant therapy regardless of lymph node metastasis status.

Generally we use the stomach after esophagectomy as an organ of reconstruction. But we could not use it after we performed gastrectomy. We investigated the usefulness of the reconstruction with pedicled jejunum or pedicled right colon. Methods We performed esophagectomy from 2000 to 2015.15 patients use the reconstruction with pedicled jejunum as a A.10 patients use the reconstruction with pedicled right colon as a B. We study (1) background (2) complication. Results Average Age A:67.1 B:65.5 location (upper:middle:Lower) A:0:14:1 B:1:4:5 depth of tumor invasion (T1:T2:T3:T4) A:9:3:3:0 B:3:5:2 Stage (0:I:II:III:IVa) A:2:6:4:3:0 B:0:1:3:4:2 Reconstruction route (posterior mediastinal:retrosternal:antethoracic) A:4:2:9 B:0:5:5 The reason of the gastrectomy (ulcer: cancer) A 10:5 B 0:10 (distal gastrectomy:total gastrectomy) A:15:0 B:4:6 Reconstruction (BillrothI: BillrothII: Roux-Y) A:12:3:0 B:2:2:6 Complication (leakage)A:B = 3:0 (ileus)A:B = 2:0(weight loss)A:B = 10:0 (diarrhea)A:B = 3:5. Conclusion The best practice of reconstruction method is a reconstruction with pedicled jejunum without stomach. We can use the jejunum without damage of the vessel in the mesenteri of the jejunum.

Generally we use the stomach after esophagectomy as an organ of reconstruction. But we could not use it after we performed gastrectomy. We investigated the usefulness of the reconstruction with pedicled jejunum or pedicled right colon. Methods We performed esophagectomy from 2000 to 2015.15 patients use the reconstruction with pedicled jejunum as a A.10 patients use the reconstruction with pedicled right colon as a B.We study (1) background (2) complication. Results Average Age A:67.1 B:65.5 location(upper:middle:Lower)A:0:14:1 B:1:4:5 depth of tumor invasion (T1:T2:T3:T4)A:9:3:3:0 B:3:5:2 Stage(0:I:II:III:IVa)A:2:6:4:3:0 B:0:1:3:4:2 Reconstruction route(posterior mediastinal:retrosternal:antethoracic)A:4:2:9 B:0:5:5 The reason of the gastrectomy (ulcer: cancer)A 10:5 B 0:10 (distal gastrectomy:total gastrectomy)A:15:0 B:4:6 Reconstruction(BillrothI法:BillrothII法:Roux-Y) A:12:3:0 B:2:2:6 Complication (leakage)A:B = 3:0. (ileus)A:B = 2:0(weight loss)A:B = 10:0 (diarrhea)A:B = 3:5. Conclusion The best practice of reconstruction method is a reconstruction with pedicled jejunum without stomach. We can use the jejunum without damage of the vessel in the mesenteri of the jejunum. I want to show you our video.

Cardiac metastasis is uncommon and rarely diagnosed antemortem. Here, we describe a case of symptomatic cardiac metastasis from esophageal adenocarcinoma. A 64-year-old man developed chest symptoms 26 months after curative esophagogastrectomy for esophageal adenocarcinoma. Initially, ischemic cardiac disease was suspected based on electrocardiography findings, but an infiltrative tumor was seen morphologically in the wall of the interventricular septum and apex. No other lesions were detected. Histological examination of a transcatheter biopsy specimen indicated that the cardiac tumor was metastasis from esophageal adenocarcinoma. Chemoradiotherapy with cisplatin relieved his symptoms, and he had resumed normal activities. However, he opted not to undergo further aggressive treatment due to severe adverse effects from cisplatin. Seventeen months after completion of chemoradiotherapy, metastases to the right ventricle and the left thighbone were detected and he died 27 and 24 months after the diagnosis of cardiac metastasis and completion of chemoradiotherapy, respectively.

This paper reports the screw forming of aluminum alloy A7075 by semi-solid forging. The experimental devices are a servo press machine and a die cushion. The program motion was used for forging. The nominal diameter of screw is M10. The molten aluminum alloy A7075 was stirred and then semi-solid forged into a female screw under 40 tons with 10 seconds holding during forging. The solid phase rate was 0.3. The microstructure of the specimen that is isometric crystal had sphericalization, and refinement. In the results of compression test at room temperature, the maximum compression rate was 29.4% and the maximum nominal stress was 540 MPa. The screw tightening torque was estimated over 57.55 N · m by torque test. This value indicates for produced M10 screw that the strength is over strength category 8.8 of JIS. These results are indicated that the produced screw is suitable for general applications. In the results of optical observation, the male screw of die transferred to the aluminum forgings. And the surface of screw portion had crack free surface. In summary, screw forming by semi-solid forging of aluminum alloy A7075 was possible.

Copper alloy C19210 have excellent corrosion resistance, heat resistance, and conductivity, and is used for precision electronic parts such as lead frame materials. Conventionally, copper alloy strips are manufactured by repeating heat treatment and cold rolling, and have a problem that it is multi-process and production cost is expensive. On the other hand, twin roll casting can improve the above problems because strips are made directly from molten metals. In this study, twin roll strip casting of copper alloy C19210 using commercial scale machine was operated. The aims of this study is to investigate the possibility of strip casting for copper alloy. The effect of the side dam and release agent was researched. The effect of rolls speed on the strip surface condition was researched. The improved side dam prevented molten metal leakage. The release agent prevented sticking of the manufactured strip to the roll surface. The strip produced at roll speed of 7 m/min and 10 m/min had a lot of metallic luster. Moreover, the strip produced at roll speed of 7 m/min had more metallic luster than the strip produced at roll speed of 10 m/min. The lower the roll speed is, the greater the rolling load is. At a roll speed of 7 m / min, the rolling load became the maximum rolling load of the equipment. For producing strips with copper alloy C19210, higher rolling loads are preferred.

Background and Aims The Japanese Government and the Japanese Society of Nephrology (JSN) have enacted measures against chronic kidney disease (CKD) since 2008. Since then, the number of age-adjusted dialysis initiations has decreased. However, the absolute number has not decreased due to aging of the population. In response, the Japanese Government launched new CKD measures in 2018, with a focus on earlier intervention by nephrologists, utilizing referral criteria from family doctors to nephrologists. The primary goal of the new measures is to decrease the annual number of dialysis initiations nationwide by 10% by 2028. The Japan Kidney Association (JKA), also established in 2018, has appointed representatives in each prefecture to work on CKD measures according to the local requirements in cooperation with the Government, family doctors, and organizations. The large number of family doctors and medical examinations facilities that refer to the hospital in central Tokyo lead to difficulty determining the referral criteria that is used. Therefore, the aim of this study is to formulate new CKD measures in our hospital as one of the JKA representatives of Tokyo. Method A retrospective survey of medical history was conducted for 104 patients who initiated hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis at our hospital in 2018. These patients represent approximately 3% of the total number of dialysis initiations in Tokyo, with 33 patients originating from outside Tokyo prefecture. Of the 104 patients, 80 were male with an average age 65.9 years. The primary disease of patients was comprised of 30 with diabetic nephropathy, 25 with renal sclerosis, 16 with chronic glomerulonephritis, 4 with polycystic kidney disease, and 29 from other or unknown diseases. Results Of the 86 patients whose information was confirmed, 45 patients were referred to nephrologists from 15 departments in our hospital, including 12 from diabetic departments, 7 from urology departments, 4 from cardiovascular departments, 3 from the emergency department, oncology department, and neurology department, and 11 from various other departments. The remaining 41 patients were from outside our hospital (30 from family doctors and 11 from medical examination facilities). Of the 57 patients whose eGFR was confirmed at referral, 21 were referred with eGFR Conclusion According to the medical history of 104 patients who initiated dialysis at our hospital in 2018, the timing of referral to nephrologists was often later than recommended. Patients were referred to nephrologists from at least 15 departments in our hospital. Therefore, it is important for the referral criteria to be widely disseminated not only among family doctors but also among hospital departments and medical examination facilities. Specifically, in-hospital referrals are considered to be less burdensome for patients than out-of-hospital referrals and are therefore expected to be first-targets for new strategies. In addition, in recent years, the frequency of measurement of sCr and eGFR has increased in medical examinations, where the dissemination of referral criteria becomes even more important. Furthermore, the JSN and the JKA have committed to develop medical staff, including nurses/public health nurses, registered dietitians, and pharmacists, to be certified kidney disease educators who have basic knowledge of CKD. Since these occupations can intervene before referral to nephrologists, they are expected to have a significant effect on CKD measures.

Introduction: Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are one of the most commonly used medications for hypertension. Rarely, ACE inhibitors have the potential to cause a syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH). Case presentation: A 70-year-old woman with > 10 years ACE inhibitor therapy with normonatremia suddenly developed severe SIADH when she took a liquid diet in the uneventful perioperative period, with hemodynamic stability and no surgical complications. She promptly recovered from SIADH subsequent to discontinuing the ACE inhibitor therapy and changing her diet. Therefore, it was assumed that excess antidiuretic hormone secretion due to an ACE inhibitor and free water load from the liquid diet contributed to hyponatremia in our patient. Conclusion: Patients treated with an ACE inhibitor can latently experience inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone, and rapidly develop severe hyponatremia together with additional factors affecting water or salt homeostasis regardless of the length of the administration duration. Clinicians should monitor serum sodium levels in such patients not only just after the initiation of ACE inhibitors but also upon the appearance of those factors.

Baseball batters must react to pitches delivered to different locations within the strike zone by modulating their movements. In tee-batting practice, such batters place a ball on a tee stand at a location, where they intend to hit the ball, assuming a particular pitch's trajectory. In the present study, we analysed three-dimensional movements in tee-batting to identify characteristics of the batters' intended impact locations across the strike zone, thereby investigating spatiotemporal features of movement modulation. More specifically, 10 experienced baseball batters performed tee-batting at their preferred impact locations at nine different heights and courses within the strike zone. The distribution of impact locations showed regularity, i.e., the location shifted forward for balls placed high and inside, while it shifted backward for balls placed low and outside. Furthermore, trunk and arm movements showed systematic modulation as the impact locations changed. The duration of bat movement was also location dependent, i.e., hitting the inside ball took more time than hitting the outside ball. Our results indicate that even though movements among body segments were properly coordinated to adjust the bat swing for different impact locations, fine timing adjustments were also required to hit the ball at those preferred impact locations and therefore properly react to differences in flight paths.

Cisplatin is the most widely used anticancer drug in the world. Mono-chloro and none-chloro complexes of cisplatin may be believed to be the activated compounds. The separation of these compounds using octa decyl silyl column or aminopropylsilyl silica gel column is difficult because of high-reactivity and structural similarity. In this study, cisplatin, hydroxo complexes, and OH-dimer were determined by HPLC using a naphthylethyl group bonded with silica gel (πNAP) column. The analytical conditions of HPLC were as follows: analytical column, πNAP column; wave length, 225 nm; column temperature, 40°C; mobile phase, 0.1 M sodium perchlorate, acetonitrile, and perchloric acid (290 : 10 : 3), flow rate, 1.0 mL/min. Sample (20 µL) was injected onto the HPLC system. Retention time of cisplatin, mono-chloride, OH-dimer, and none-chloride was 3.2, 3.4, 3.6, and, 4.3-6.6 min, respectively. Measurable ranges with this method were 1×10-5 to 4×10-3 M for cisplatin. Correlation coefficient of the calibration curves of cisplatin was 0.999 (p

With the recent progress of cloud and distributed computing technologies, data migration and replication among distributed data centers grows rapidly. To manage a simplified scenario that a single sender sends a large-sized file to multiple recipients, i.e., one-to-many file transfer, on a network with full-duplex links, we are developing the Multipath-Multicast (MPMC) file transfer. A file is appropriately divided into equally-sized blocks; different blocks are concurrently transmitted to the same recipient on multiple paths; while the same block is concurrently transmitted to multiple recipients by multicast, aiming at shorter reception completion times of all recipients. However, on large-scale complex network topologies, it is not easy to find a good block transfer schedule, i.e., that realizes the reception completion times of most recipients close to their lower-bounds in MPMC. In this report, therefore, a gossiping approach to allow block transfer among recipients is introduced into MPMC and evaluated through simulation on two real backbone topologies. Since unused capacities of links in the original basic MPMC can be utilized in the MPMC with gossiping, a good schedule can be found more easily compared with the basic MPMC even with the same simple greedy block allocation.

Background Definitive chemoradiotherapy for esophageal cancer which was unresectable tumor has become common therapy. In recently, we have perform chemoradiotherapy for resectable tumor because esophagectomy for esophageal cancer is an invasive surgical procedure. But some cases were recurrent. We examined the treatment strategy and clinical outcomes of salvage esophagectomy after definitive chemoradiotherapy for esophageal cancer. Methods We reviewed 46 cases of subjects with esophageal cancer who underwent salvage esophagectomy after definitive chemoradiotherapy with more than 50Gy of radiation from 2000 to 2017. We exam (1) Back ground (2) Term after Chemoradiotherapy (3)Surgical approach (4) Route of reconstruction (5)Rang of lymphanodectomy (6)Complication (7)Prognosis. Results Age 63.0(43–79), Male: Female = 44:2, Location: Upper/Middle/Lower = 15/25/8, T1/T2/T3/T4 = 11:2:25:8 R0: R1: R2 = 35:9:2 (2) Within1 year/More than 1 year = 31/15 (3) Neck digection/Right thoracotomy: Left thoracotomy: laparotomy = 8:31:5:2 (4) Mediastinal rute/Ante/Retro = 34:9:3 (5) 1 Field:2 Field:3 Field = 11:27:8 (6) Anastleakage/Pneumonia/Abcess/Meningitis/Fluid in the thoracic cavity = 11: 9: 4: 1: 8 (7) 5-years survival rate was 36%. Hospital death was4.3% Conclusion There were high rate complications for salvage esophagectomy after definitive chemoradiotherapy for esophageal cancer. Patients should be carefully selected for salvage esophagectomy.Surgeons should consider the indications and techniques for esophageal surgery to increase cure rates and decrease morbidity. Disclosure All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

Background Incidence of adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction is increasing in Japan as Europe or America. However, there is no consensus on treatment strategy. The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal range of resection and lymph node dissection according to lymph node metastasis status in adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction Methods We investigated 75 patients who were diagnosed with advanced adenocarcinoma(A) of the esophagogastric junction and 22 patients were diagnosed with early adenocarcinoma(B). Results (1) Location(EG: E = G: GE: G) A = 37:20:17:1 B = 5:4:13(2)The depth of tumor (m2: m3: sm1: sm2: sm3: T2: T3: T4) = 1:6:2:10:3:13:59:3)(3) Degree of lymph node metastasis(n + : n-) A = 49:26 B = 4:18 (4) Surgical approach (Right thoracotomy:Left thoracoabdominal incision:Laparotomy (Transhiatal approach) A = 13:47:15 B = 1:5:16 (5) Neoadjuvant therapy (Chemotherapy before operation:Chemo-radiotherapy before operation:Chemotherapy after operation:Chemo-radiotherapy after operation) A = 1:12:33:1 B were without neoadjuvant therapy (6) Lymph node metastasis (Number of metastasis of lymphnode/Area of the dissection of lymphnode) Cervical: Upper thoracic: Middle: Lower: abdominal A = (1/7, 2/13, 4/31, 15/62, 46/75) B = (0/1, 0/3, 0/8, 4/22) (7) Type of the recurrence (Cervical Lymph node: mediastainal lymphnode: abdominal lymphnode: dissemination: Liver: Lung: Born: Remunant esophagus: Skin: Brain: Other disease) A = (3:8:6:13:9:4:2:1:1:1) B = (0:0:0:0:1:0:1:0:0:0:3) (8) Index (metastatic rate x3-yearOS/100)A = No1: No2: No3: No.7: No11: No20: No110: No112 = 12.1:10.6:12.9:13.5:18.1:50:12.9:9.09 B were not showed because incidence of metastasis of the lymph node were low.(9) 5-years survival rate for advanced cancer was 38% and early cancer was 88% Conclusion Proximal gastrectomy may be a minimally invasive surgical technique in for early and advanced adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction according to the lymph node metastasis status. Surgical resection has been mainstream treatment but It was necessary to perform definitive or neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Disclosure All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

The magnetic field effects on DNA electrophoresis have been investigated under the gradient and the homogeneous magnetic fields. The electrophoretic distance of the DNA is different between them. The increase and decrease in the electrophoretic velocity are discovered in the gradient magnetic fields. The acceralation and decceralation of DNA are observed in the negative and positive gradients of the magnetic fields, respectively. The results are discussed with the magnetic force and a new separation method of DNAs is suggested.

Chiral mesoporous organosilicas with helicity perfectly controlled were synthesized by using N-myristoyl-l-alanine and bis(triethoxysilyl)ethylene in the presence of l-arginine; the left-/right-handed ratios for the helical particles have proved to be 0/100.

A photoinduced insulator-metal transition has been found in crystals of ${\mathrm{Pr}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Ca}}_{x}{\mathrm{MnO}}_{3}$ with various doping levels ($x=0.31$, 0.35, 0.40, 0.45, and 0.50). The current-voltage relationship and the temperature dependence of the stability of the metallic region indicate that the metallic states of all $x$ are of the same origin, and exclude the Joule heating as the mechanism of sustaining the metallic phase. The driving force for the transition is clearly the collapse of the charge-ordered state by the photocarriers.

Temporal and spatial properties were investigated for the recently discovered photoinduced insulator to metal transition in Pr 0.7 Ca 0.3 MnO 3 . Time evolution of the photocurrent upon irradiation with a laser pulse and its laser-power and applied-voltage dependence were measured and analyzed. Irradiation patterns were controlled and sample length and width were varied. Two components of the photocurrent were separated. The slow component which was concluded to be critical for the transition, was suggested to originate from small metallic “islands” being created within the electrode gap by the irradiation. Measurements done on samples with the controlled width gave proof of the shrinking of the conduction path with decreasing current, supporting the picture of the conduction path being under stress from the surrounding charge ordered, antiferromagnetic bulk and being sustained by the current. Lack of dependence of the resistance on the sample length was observed, indicating that the major contribution to...

The purpose of this research is to support users' mealtime communication by changing their utterance rate during meals. By logging and analyzing the utterance rate, or the ratio of utterance length to mealtime length, we determined the relationship between the utterance rate and the distribution of the community to which each meal companion belonged. Using this relationship, we developed a real-time feedback system that presented a pre-estimated utterance rate with rate at the present time during a meal. This utterance rate was estimated according to logged utterance rate data and input data about members at the table. In order to evaluate our system, we asked six users to use it. As a result, we found out that users almost always wanted to increase the utterance rate and users' utterance rates increased as they wanted after using our feedback system.

The gene coding for d-3-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (HBDH) was cloned from Pseudomonas fragi. The nucleotide sequence contained a 780 bp open reading frame encoding a 260 amino acid residue protein. The recombinant enzyme was efficiently expressed in Escherichia coli cells harboring pHBDH11 and was purified to homogeneity as judged by SDS-PAGE. The enzyme showed a strict stereospecificity to the D-enantiomer (3R-configuration) of 3-hydroxybutyrate as a substrate. Crystals of the ligand-free HBDH and of the enzyme-NAD+ complex were obtained using the hanging-drop, vapor-diffusion method. The crystal structure of the HBDH was solved by the multiwavelength anomalous diffraction method using the SeMet-substituted enzyme and was refined to 2.0 A resolution. The overall structure of P.fragi HBDH, including the catalytic tetrad of Asn114, Ser142, Tyr155, and Lys159, shows obvious relationships with other members of the short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR) family. A cacodylate anion was observed in both the ligand-free enzyme and the enzyme-NAD+ complex, and was located near the catalytic tetrad. It was shown that the cacodylate inhibited the NAD+-dependent D-3-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenation competitively, with a Ki value of 5.6 mM. From the interactions between cacodylate and the enzyme, it is predicted that substrate specificity is achieved through the recognition of the 3-methyl and carboxyl groups of the substrate.

A recombinant form of D-3-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.30) from Pseudomonas fragi has been crystallized by the hanging-drop method using PEG 3000 as a precipitating agent. The crystals belong to the orthorhombic group P2(1)2(1)2, with unit-cell parameters a = 64.3, b = 99.0, c = 110.2 A. The crystals are most likely to contain two tetrameric subunits in the asymmetric unit, with a VM value of 3.29 A3 Da(-1). Diffraction data were collected to a 2.0 A resolution using synchrotron radiation at the BL6A station of the Photon Factory.

We have developed the first magnetic resonance (MR) microscope using a high critical-temperature superconducting bulk magnet. The bulk magnet comprises six annular bulk superconductors (60 mm outer diameter, 28 mm inner diameter, 20 mm high) made of c-axis oriented single-domain EuBa2Cu3Oy crystals. The magnet was energized using a superconducting NMR magnet operating at 4.7 T. The inhomogeneity of the trapped magnetic field measured with MR imaging was 3.1 ppm (rms) in the ϕ6.2 mm×9.1 mm cylindrical region. Three-dimensional MR images of a chemically fixed mouse embryo acquired with voxels of (50 μm)3 demonstrated the potential of our system.