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National surveys were conducted in Japan to assess the current practices for circulatory management of extremely-low-birth-weight infants (ELBWIs) in acute phases. Approximately 80 and 100 institutions were surveyed in 2006 and 2011, respectively. Echocardiography was identified as an important diagnostic tool at 95% of the surveyed institutions. Furthermore, 74% of the institutions survey in 2011 used vasodilator agents. In 2011, the mean velocity of circumferential fiber shortening (mVcfc) and left ventricular end-systolic wall stress (ESWS) were used by 60% of the surveyed institutions to evaluate the relationship between afterload of the left ventricle and left ventricular contractility. Overall, the data collected from these national surveys clarified the current practices for circulatory management of ELBWIs in Japan, particularly the use of echocardiography and cardiovascular agents, including catecholamines and vasodilators.

We have fabricated a LUT-based FPGA device with functionalities measuring within-die variations in a 90 nm process. Variations are measured using ring oscillators implemented as a configuration of the FPGA. Random variations are dominant in a 48 x 48 configurable array laid out in a 3 mm x 3 mm square region. It has a functionality to measure delays on actual signal paths between flip flops by providing two clock pulses. Measured variations are used to maximize the operating frequency of each device by choosing the optimal paths. Optimizations of routing paths using a simple model circuit reveals that performance of the circuit is enhanced by 2.88% in average and a maximum of 9.34%.

We propose a method to reduce inter-subject variation which is due to multiplicative factor assumed to be present in measurement of MEG amplitudes. The method is to multiply each subject's data by a constant such that inter-subject variance is minimized. After the conversion, usual ANOVA is formally applied using newly derived ‘ F ’-tables. Simulation shows that when the subject effect is indeed multiplicative, the proposed conversion yields a stronger power of detection of the effect of experimental conditions than the conventional ANOVA.

Paramagnetic liposomes were evaluated as carriers for drug delivery systems. These results showed that intercalated phytol cause suitable membrane rigidification and advantageous phase separation, which could affect membrane-related processes.

In this paper, we show that speed and yield of reconfigurable devices can be enhanced by utilizing within-die (WID) delay variations. An LUT Array LSI is fabricated to confirm whether FPGAs have clear WID variations to be utilized. We can measure delay variations by counting the number of LUTs a signal propagates within a certain time. Clear die-to-die (D2D) and WID variations are observed. We propose a variation model from the measurement results. Adequacy of the model is discussed from randomness of the random component. Effect of the speed and yield enhancement is confirmed using the proposed model. Yield increases from 80.0% to 100.0% by optimizing configurations.

Lung overstretch involves mechanical factors, including large tidal volumes (VT), which induce inflammatory responses. The current authors hypothesised that inspiratory flow contributes to ventilator-induced inflammation. Buffer-perfused rabbit lungs were ventilated for 2 h with 21%, O2+5%, CO2, positive end-expiratory pressure of 2-3 cmH2O and randomly assigned to either: 1) normal VT (6 mL x kg(-1)) at respiratory rate (RR) 30, inspiration:expiration time ratio (I:E) 1:1, low inspiratory flow 6 mL x kg(-1) x s(-1); 2) large VT (12 mL x kg(-1)) at RR 30, I:E 1:1, high inspiratory flow 12 mL x kg(-1) x s(-1) (HRHF); 3) large VT at RR 15, I:E 1:1, low inspiratory flow 6 mL x kg(-1) x s(-1) (LRLF); or 4) large VT at RR 15, I:E 1:2.3, high inspiratory flow 10 mL x kg(-1) x s(-1) (LRHF). Physiological parameters, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-8 and activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2, p38 and stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK)/ c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)) were measured. HRHF increased weight gain, perfusate IL-8 and phosphorylation of ERK1/2, p38 and SAPK/JNK. These responses were absent during LRLF but present during LRHF. Changes in TNF-alpha were small. Tissue IL-8 and phospho-ERK1/2 staining was localised primarily to smooth muscle, adventitia and bronchial epithelium within larger bronchioles and arterioles. These results indicate that mild overstretch of perfused lungs during high inspiratory flow enhances inflammatory signalling by cells in lung regions most affected by strong turbulent airflow.

The ylide formation between a singlet carbene and a carbonyl compound has been studied by laser flash photolysis (LFP) of (biphenyl-4-yl)chlorodiazirine (BCD) in propanone and cyclopentanone, and by product analyses. (Biphenyl-4-yl)chlorocarbene (BCC) adds to the carbonyl compound to yield an equilibrium amount of the carbonyl ylide (CY) which has an absorption maximum around 490 nm. The rate constants of CY formation and dissociation have been determined. CY decays by unimolecular and bimolecular mechanisms. In the photoreaction of BCD with propanone, an aryl olefinic ketone and aryl α-hydroxy ketone were obtained. In the presence of dimethyl fumarate, the photoreaction of BCD in propanone gives a dihydrofuran derivative. The measured ratios of reaction products are in good agreement with ratios calculated from measured rate constants, which indicates that the rate constants are reliable.

SummaryBackground Interleukin (IL)-18 has been shown to activate basophils to produce histamine and IL-4 and to induce naive T cells to differentiate into T-helper (Th) 2 cells. However, when expressed together with IL-12, IL-18 induces Th1 cell development and inhibits IgE synthesis. Previously we reported that serum IL-18 levels were elevated in the sera from atopic dermatitis-model mice NC/Nga, prior to the onset and during the development of dermatitis. Objectives We studied whether neutralization of IL-18 activity might affect dermatitis in NC/Nga mice, to investigate the role of IL-18 on dermatitis. Methods NC/Nga mice were given weekly anti-IL-18 antibody starting at 5 weeks of age to 13 weeks and development of dermatitis, scratching behaviour and serum IgE concentrations were evaluated. Results Continuous injections of anti-IL-18 antibody failed to inhibit the onset and development of dermatitis and IgE elevation. The treatment, rather, tended to lead to an exacerbation of dermatitis and scratching behaviour. In addition, the administration of anti-IL-18 antibody did not ameliorate the responsiveness of lymphocytes to IL-4, which was previously demonstrated as an immunological abnormality in the mouse. Conclusion This study demonstrates that, at least in NC/Nga mice, IL-18, although excessively expressed before the onset of dermatitis, shows antiallergic actions.

Measurement of the magnetic fields of the lung, called magnetopneumography, provides a good tool for those engaged in lung research. The distribution of accumulated particles in the lung, however, is not accurately reflected by a measurement value for magnetic flux density alone. Actually, it is necessary to determine the distribution of particles in the lung quantitatively to be able to apply results for clinical use. To estimate the distribution and amount of magnetic dipoles, we used a spatial filter to reduce noise in the measurement values. An analytical result by the least squares method is provided that uses a method for removing the noise included in the measurement values with a spatial filter. This analysis method is called magnetic noise elimination.

The present interlaboratory validation study was performed in order to evaluate the use of Chinese hamster lung cell lines that employs crystal violet staining (CHL–CVS) as an alternative cytotoxicity test to the Draize eye irritation test (Draize test) for cosmetic ingredients. Ten substances, nine of which were surfactants, were evaluated at seven laboratories in the first phase of the validation study; 15 substances including dyes and lipids were evaluated at seven laboratories in the second phase of the validation study; 14 substances including acids and alkalis were evaluated at four laboratories in the third phase of the validation study. The logEC50 values obtained for CHL–CVS were compared with the maximal average Draize total score (MAS) for a 10% (w/v) solution of 38 cosmetic ingredients as well as isotonic sodium chloride solution. The interlaboratory coefficient of variation (CV) for EC50s was 35.6%, which was considered to be within a tolerable range. The correlation coefficient and the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient between the in vitro and in vivo tests were −0.729 and 0.709, respectively. The prediction ability of the proposed method was assessed from the linear regression line for a MAS cut-off point of 15. According to this analysis, four substances (two alcohols and two acids) were determined to be false negative. The present study revealed the following characteristic factors of this method: (1) CHL–CVS could be applied to all the test substances including dyes and lipids in this study; (2) The results for medium-insoluble substances varied according to the laboratory; (3) The correlation between the in vivo and in vitro data for acids and alcohols (lower mono-ol) differed from that of the other substances. These results suggested that the CHL–CVS might have a potential to predict the Draize MAS if definite criteria can be established for the compounds to be applicable.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the effect of chronic exposure to welding fumes on pulmonary function by a direct estimate of fumes accumulated in the lungs. METHODS: The strength of the residual magnetic field of externally magnetised lungs (LMF) was used as an estimate of fumes accumulated in the lungs. The results of forced spirometry manoeuvres obtained in 143 of 153 male welders in the original sample were cross sectionally evaluated according to LMF. Seven conventional forced spirogram indices and two time domain spirogram indices were used as pulmonary function indices, and height squared proportional correction was performed when necessary. RESULTS: The distribution of LMF values was considerably skewed towards positive. There was a weak but significant positive relation between age and log transformed LMF. Obstructive pulmonary function indices correlated well with LMF. After adjustment for age and smoking, however, a significant association with LMF was only found with percentage rate of forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1%) divided by forced vital capacity (FVC) and mu, and average component of assumed time constant distribution of lung peripheral units. Neither FVC nor vital capacity (VC), as indices of restrictive disorders, showed a significant association with LMF. Based on the results of multiple regression analyses, a 0.6% decrease in FEV1% and 0.039 unit increase in mu were expected for each doubling of LMF. CONCLUSION: Obstructive changes in pulmonary function were found to be related to level of cumulative exposure to welding fume in male Japanese arc welders after controlling for age and smoking, assuming that LMF adequately reflects accumulation of welding fumes in the lungs.

Low temperature photoluminescence (PL) measurements of Si + ion-implanted GaAs samples were investigated by varying the ion beam current. Electrical measurements proved that higher activation rates can be obtained by using low ion beam currents (3 nA cm −2 ) compared with higher ones (60 nA cm −2 ). In the PL spectra, broad emissions at 840–850 nm can be observed when the dose is higher than 2×10 13 cm −2 and it is more noticeable when using high ion beam current. Since the broad PL emission appears when electrical activation rate decreases, we tentatively attributed this broad emission to a defect-related one.

Electrical and optical properties in Cd+ singly and Cd+ + P+ dually implanted GaAs have been investigated. Samples were annealed by a furnace and characterized by the Van der Pauw method at room temperature and photoluminescence (PL) measurement at 2 K. It is found that a higher activation efficiency of the Cd impurities could be obtained by coimplantation of phosphorous ions. The optimum condition is that Cd+ ions and P+ ions are implanted with the same concentration for high dose implantation. In PL spectra, the intensity of the conduction band to Cd acceptor transition, (e, Cd), in the Cd+ implanted sample increases with increasing phosphorous concentration, which is consistent with the electrical results. PL spectra at the long wavelength region measured by a germanium detector show that P+ ion coimplantation does not produce any deep levels in GaAs. All the results indicate that phosphorous is an ideal species for coimplantation.

Cd in GaAs is an acceptor atom and has the largest atomic diameter among the four commonly-used group-II shallow acceptor impurities (Be, Mg, Zn and Cd). The activation energy of Cd (34.7 meV) is also the largest one in the above four impurities. When Cd is doped by ion implantation, the effects of lattice distortion are expected to be apparently different from those samples ion-implanted by acceptor impurities with smaller atomic diameter. In order to compensate the lattice expansion and simultaneously to adjust the crystal stoichiometry, dual incorporation of Cd and nitrogen (N) was carried out into GaAs. Ion implantation of Cd was made at room temperature, using three energies (400 keV, 210 keV, 110 keV) to establish a flat distribution. The spatial profile of N atoms was adjusted so as to match that of Cd ones. The concentration of Cd and N atoms, [Cd] and [N] varied between 1 × 1016 cm−3 and 1 × 1020 cm−3. Two type of samples, i.e., solely Cd+ ion-implanted and dually (Cd+ + N+) ion-implanted with [Cd]=[N] were prepared. For characterization, Hall effects and photoluminescence (PL) measurements were performed at room temperature and 2 K, respectively. Hall effects measurements revealed that for dually ion-implanted samples, the highest activation efficieney was ∼ 40% for [Cd] ( = [N]) = 1 × 1018 cm−3. PL measurements indicated that [g-g] and [g-g]i (i = 2, 3, α, β, …), the emissions due to the multiple energy levels of acceptor-acceptor pairs are significantly suppressed by the incorporation of N atoms. For [Cd] = [N] ≥ 1 × 1019 cm−3, a moderately deep emission denoted by (Cd, N) is formed at around 1.45−1.41 eV. PL measurements using a Ge detector indicated that (Cd, N) is increasingly red-shifted in energy and its intensity is enhanced with increasing [Cd] = [N]. (Cd, N) becomes a dominant emission for [Cd] = [N] = 1 × 1020 cm−3. The steep reduction of net hole carrier concentration observed for [Cd]/[N] ≤ 1 was ascribed to the formation of (Cd, N) which is presumed to be a novel radiative complex center between acceptor and isoelectronic atoms in GaAs.

The mechanism of isomerization of allyl thiocyanate to allyl isothiocyanate has been investigated both experimentally and theoretically. The kinetic study indicates that the reaction is unimolecular and is not ionic. The entropy of activation suggests strongly that the mechanism involves a cyclic transition state. The rate of reaction was retarded to a small extent in polar solvents relative to that in nonpolar solvents. Ab initio MO calculations indicate, in agreement with the experimental results, that the reaction proceeds through a cyclic transition state, one in which the SCN moiety is almost linear. Thus, this is a [3,3] sigmatropic rearrangement. The charge separation in the transition state was substantial. The retardation of the reaction in polar solvents was attributed to the difference in solvation in the original state and in the transition state. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

In order to improve the activation efficiency of ion-implanted Cd atoms in GaAs, dual incorporation of Cd with group V elements of N and P was carried out by high energy ion implantation method. The concentration of Cd, [Cd] was varied between 1 × 10 16 cm −3 and 3 × 10 21 cm −3 and the relative concentration between Cd and N was kept at unity ([Cd] = [N]). In dually Cd + + N + ion-implanted GaAs samples, a broad emission for [Cd] = [N] = 1 × 10 19 cm −3 was dominatly observed slightly below the conduction band. The Cd acceptor-related transitions and the emissions attributed to acceptor-acceptor pairs were significantly quenched. This broad emission temporarily designated as (Cd, N) was also observed for [Cd] = [N] = 3 × 10 19 cm −3 and [Cd] = [N] = 1 × 10 20 cm −3 . The orgin of (Cd, N) was suggested to be due to complexes between a Cd acceptor and a N isoelectronic impurity.

An attempt has been made to differentiate between in vivo and in vitro skin reactions to a homologous series of surfactants (sodium alkyl sulfate, R-OSO 3 Na) and to determine the usefulness of percutaneous absorption in vitro as an alternative test system. Sodium alkyl sulfate showed considerable biological activity by virtue of its polar head groups. The length of the lipophilic chain in the surfactants was an important factor in their overall activity. The following in vivo tests were performed: a primary skin irritation test in guinea pigs, a primary eye irritation test in rabbits and a closed patch test in humans. Peak skin irritation occurred with C 10 -C 16 sodium alkyl sulfate, which had lipophilic groups of different alkyl chain lengths. Cell injury was also evaluated by the neutral red dye uptake assay in rabbit corneal (RC) cells. C 4 and C 6 compounds had no effect, while maximal effects occurred with C 18 . Protein denaturation and haemolysis occurred with C 10 -C 16 compounds. In the percutaneous absorption test in guinea pig skin, permeation was low for the C 18 compound and high for the C 4 compound. The results with the C 18 compound suggest that differences between cell injury and skin irritation result from skin permeation. Although the C 18 compound caused cell injury, membrane destruction and protein denaturation were more severely with the C 10 -C 16 compounds, owing to their strong haemolytic and protein-denaturation action.

Recently, the value chain coordination has been drawing much attention of both researchers and practitioners. One of the most prevalent approaches would be “revenue-sharing”, where a supplier providing products to a retailer works together with the retailer, and the two parties agree upon a contract so as to increase their respective profits. More specifically, the wholesale price of the supplier to the retailer is reduced to w, and in exchange, the retailer would return the (1 – θ) portion of its revenue to the supplier. The purpose of this paper is to analyze this revenue-sharing scheme by exploring the θ - w plane and the order quantity Q for improving the expected profits of both the supplier and the retailer. In particular, the region of (θ, w) is identified explicitly, in which the improvement for both would be assured. Furthermore, several new scenarios are proposed, along which the two parties may reach agreement comfortably.

The procedure of repeated-measures ANOVA assumes the linear model in which effects of both subjects and experimental conditions are additive. However, in electroencephalography and magnetoencephalography, there may be situations where subject effects should be considered to be multiplicative in amplitude. We propose a simple method to normalize such data by multiplying each subject's response by a subject-specific constant. This paper derives ANOVA tables for such normalized data. Present simulations show that this method performs ANOVA effectively including multiple comparisons provided that the data follows the multiplicative model.

Photo-carrier generation in phenothiazine crystal was studied with two-color, two-step excitation. The results indicate the presence of an intermediate state with a lifetime of ∼60μs, which seems to be the CT state already inferred from the electroabsorption spectroscopy and was expected to be long-lived.

The present study was conducted to investigate whether typical isoprenyl compounds (TICs) can control liposomal fusion reactions through changes in the physical properties of membranes. The fusion capabilities of TIC-incorporated liposomes were characterized by measuring the 13C spin-lattice relaxation times (13CT1) and the gel permeation chromatogram (GPC) patterns. The 13CT1 relaxivities of some of these TIC-liposomes were remarkably enhanced at 27 degrees C. The highest 13CT1 value obtained was for the beta-carotene-liposome, which ruptured, and was attributed to the highest membrane fusion reactivity. The other TIC-liposomes incorporated with alpha-tocopherol, canthaxanthin, or coenzyme Q10 also induced significant fusion and did not rupture in comparison with the beta-carotene-liposome. These results show that the incorporations of TICs into lipid bilayers are useful to control liposomal nanocarriers for suitable membrane packing and advantageous phase separation, which could affect membrane-related processes.

We have fabricated an LUT-based FPGA device with functionalities measuring within-die variations in a 90nm process. Measured variations are used to configure each device to maximize the operating frequency by allocating critical paths in faster portions. Variations are measured using ring oscillators implemented as a configuration of the FPGA. Placement optimization using a simple model circuit reveals that performance of the circuit is enhanced by 4% in average, which is the same amount as the measured within-die variations. The yield is enhanced by 32% to the worst case.

We have fabricated an LUT-based FPGA device with functionalities measuring within-die variations in a 90nm process. Measured variations are used to configure each device to maximize the operating frequency by allocating critical paths in faster portions. Variations are measured using ring oscillators implemented as a configuration of the FPGA. Placement optimization using a simple model circuit reveals that performance of the circuit is enhanced by 4% in average, which is the same amount as the measured within-die variations. The yield is enhanced by 32% to the worst case.

In this paper, we propose a yield and speed enhancement scheme using a reconfigurable device. An LUT array LSI is fabricated on a 90nm process to measure process variations of LUTs. D2D and WID variations are clearly observed. Reconfiguration using the measurement process variations boosts yield and also increases the average operating speed by 4.1%. In addition, it is proved that expansion of WID variations make the proposed method more effective

A reconfigurable device can be utilized to enhance speed and yield on the sub-100nm device technologies, in which large within-die (WID) variations will degrade speed and cause huge yield loss in conventional fixed-structured ASICs. In the proposed scheme, configurations of all fabricated chips are optimized according to measured intra variations of LUTs and switch matrixes. Two LSIs are fabricated in a 90nm CMOS process. We successfully measured WID variations on the first LUT array LSI. The speed is enhanced by 4.1% in average on the second variation-aware FPGA LSIs to optimize configurations by the measured WID variations

It is possible to enhance speed and yield of reconfigurable devices utilizing WID variations. An LUT array LSI is fabricated on a 90nm process to measure WID and D2D variations. Performance fluctuations are measured by counting the number of LUTs through which a signal is passing within a certain time. D2D and WID variations are clearly observed by the measurement.

Photoluminescence spectroscopy is used to investigate some of the recently reported effects of implantation dose and dose rate on the electrical activation of Si dopant in GaAs. Two new luminescence bands are observed to emerge in our spectra with the increasing Si dose at doses (∼2×1013 cm−2) where the carrier concentration is known to saturate. The higher energy band at the ∼840–880 nm wavelength shows a more pronounced rise in strength with increase in dose rate from 3 nA/cm2 beam current density to 60 nA/cm2. The deep-level luminescence band extending from ∼1000 to ∼1600 nm wavelength dominates the spectra for both the low-dose-rate and high-dose-rate samples above a dose of ∼2×1013 cm−2. The observed rapid generation of type-I dislocations above this dose suggests this band is related to some impurity Cottrell atmospheres around the dislocations in GaAs.

In this paper, we analyze the inverse problem of magnetopneumography (the magnetic field pattern produced from the lung) by radial basis function networks (RBFN) with smoothing ability. We show that radial basis function is naturally derived by calculation of the magnetic fields and RBFN composes of elements with such output function that is useful for the inverse problem of magnetopneumography.

Deterministic chaos is not only a profound scientific concept but also ubiquitously found in both natural and artificial real-world systems. From the viewpoint of engineering, the deterministic chaos has many possible applicabilities. In this report, the authors study the application of chaotic neural networks (CNN) to the traveling salesman problem (TSP) as a concrete example of possible application of deterministic chaos. First, a neuron model with chaotic dynamics, which comprises CNN as the element, is explained and its nonlinear dynamics are demonstrated. Second, the network representations for neurocomputing approaches to TSPs are described. Last, it is shown that CNN have high ability to solve TSPs.

For some time, we have been using a large device, in our laboratory, to measure the remanent field from magnetic contaminants in the human lung (magnetopneumography, or MPG). But this device is too large and cumbersome to transport to worksites to assess the magnetic contaminants in the lungs of workers. Further, it is inconvenient and expensive for workers of small or medium-sized companies to come to our campus to be magnetically examined. To solve this problem, we have developed a succession of portable devices which can easily be transported to worksites to perform MPG measurements. We here describe our most recent portable MPG device, and present a typical result of the MPG measurements. The lungs of many workers have so far been measured, and we find that the device can produce accurate measurements at the worksites, beyond our expectation. One reason, we find, is that the background magnetic noise at worksites usually is much less than that at our Kanda campus, located in the center of Tokyo, where the level of magnetic noise caused by subways is high. Therefore, some measurements, which are unable to be done at our campus,can be successfully completed at worksites by using this portable device. We note that the level of the magnetic noise during the recordings greatly depends on the exact location of the workplace measuring site.

3-D magnetic measurements of the bilateral somatosensory evoked fields (SEFs) by electric stimulus to the right thumb for four normal subjects were carried out, using a three-dimensional (3-D) second-order gradiometer connected to 39-channel SQUIDs, which can detect magnetic field components perpendicular to the scalp (Br) and tangential to the scalp (Btheta, Bphi) simultaneously. To discuss the relationship between the phase lag and stimulus repetition frequency (SRF), the delay times of a component synchronous with the SRFs (1.99 to 27.02 Hz) were calculated by the convolution of the reference signal and the SEF wave (BPF: 15-40 Hz). The phase lag characteristic to the SRF in the contralateral hemisphere to the stimulus was linear in the ranges below 8 Hz and above 8 Hz in all magnetic components. The phase lag characteristic of the ipsilateral hemisphere to the stimulus was linear in only below-8 Hz in all components. It was tested for significance of the linear regression slope (beta not = 0, P0.05).

Kernel Principal Component Analysis (Kernel PCA) is one of the methods to perform PCA in high dimensional space. The purpose of this paper is to examine what components are obtained by Kernel PCA and evaluate effectiveness of the components as feature. Simulation's results show that Kernel PCA can get superior performance to PCA.

We explore an approach to recognizing Japanese Hiragana characters utilizing independent components of input images (we call this method ICA-matching). These components are extracted by the fast ICA algorithm proposed by Hyvarinen and Oja (1997). We propose several formats of inputs, which are different in how a character image is transformed into time sequences. From recognition experiments, we show that ICA-matching outperforms conventional methods in some cases. However, in order to realize high performance, we focus on the following parameters: dimensions of feature vectors and the rate of noise added to the training data. The question of how these parameters are related to the performance of ICA-matching is discussed.

We describe the performance of multilayer neural network with hidden units of nonmonotonic activation functions. Our previous work has shown that the network was effective in improving two difficulties: a convergence to local minima and a slow learning speed for the exclusive-OR and the binary addition problems. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the performance of the proposed network for more complicated tasks, that is, N-bits parity tasks and two spirals task. Furthermore, we evaluate the generalization performance of the network for an acoustic diagnosis. The results show that the networks are effective for the tasks and have the same generalization performance as the networks with the sigmoidal activation functions.

It is important for this diagnosis to detect the surging phenomena which lead to the destruction of the blower. Since the surging sound is a non-stationary signal, the wavelet transform is more suitable for the pre-processing method than FFT transform. The dyadic wavelet transform is used as the pre-processing method. The multi-layered neural network is used as the discrimination method. The results show that the neural network with the wavelet transform can detect the surging sound perfectly.

Summary Background We have previously shown that persimmon leaf extract and its major flavonoid constituent, astragalin, inhibited histamine release by basophils and that oral administration of these substances prior to the onset into an atopic dermatitis (AD) model mouse, NC/Nga, prevented development of dermatitis. Objectives This study was designed to assess the clinical therapeutic effect of persimmon leaf extract and astragalin in NC/Nga mice suffering from dermatitis and the dose–response preventive effects of persimmon leaf extract on dermatitis and transepidermal water loss (TEWL). Methods The efficacy of persimmon leaf extract or astragalin in NC/Nga mice was judged by measurement of skin severity, scratching behaviour, serum IgE levels or TEWL. Results Oral administration of persimmon leaf extract (250 mg kg−1) or astragalin (1·5 mg kg−1) for 4 weeks into NC/Nga mice with overt dermatitis resulted in a decrease in the severity of the condition. The preventive effect of persimmon leaf extract on the dermatitis was dose-dependent and continuous intake of persimmon leaf extract significantly decreased its onset and development. In addition, TEWL was also suppressed at a persimmon leaf extract dose of 250 mg kg−1. No significant adverse reaction by these substances could be observed. Conclusions These observations suggest that persimmon leaf extract or the flavonoid astragalin may be alternative substances for the management of AD.

Neuropeptide FF (NPFF) is a part of a neurotransmitter system acting as a modulator of endogenous opioid functions. At this time, no non-peptide or peptide NPFF-antagonists have been discovered. Here, we demonstrate that Neuropeptide Y (NPY) ligands, in fact possess significant ability to interact with the human NPFF(2) receptors. NPY Y(1) antagonist BIBP3226 and mixed Y(1) antagonist/Y(4) agonist GR231118 are able to displace with low affinity, 50 -- 100 nM, the specific binding on NPFF receptors expressed in CHO cells as well as in rat dorsal spinal cord, an affinity however superior to those determined against Y(2), Y(4) or Y(5) receptors. Furthermore, BIBP3226 which is unable to inhibit the forskolin-stimulated cyclic AMP production mediated by NPFF(2) receptors, antagonizes the effect of NPFF, revealing the first antagonist of NPFF receptors. These properties of NPY ligands on Neuropeptide FF receptors must be considered when evaluating pharmacological activities of these drugs.

1. Neuropeptides FF (NPFF) and AF (NPAF) are involved in pain modulation and opioid tolerance. These peptides were known to act through uncharacterized G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR). We describe here, using an aequorin-based assay as screening tool, that an orphan GPCR, previously designated HLWAR77, is a functional high affinity receptor for NPFF and related peptides. This receptor is further designated as NPFFR. 2. Binding experiments were performed with a new radioiodinated probe, [(125)I]-EYF, derived from the EFW-NPSF sequence of the rat NPFF precursor. Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell membranes expressing NPFFR bound [(125)I]-EYF with a K(d) of 0.06 nM. Various NPFF analogues and related peptides inhibited [(125)I]-EYF specific binding with the following rank order (K(i)): human NPAF (0.22 nM), SQA-NPFF (0.29 nM), NPFF (0.30 nM), 1DMe (0.31 nM), EYW-NPSF (0.32 nM), QFW-NPSF (0.35 nM), 3D (1.12 nM), Met-enk-RF-NH(2) (3.25 nM), FMRF-NH(2) (10.5 nM) and NPSF (12.1 nM). 3. The stimulatory activity of the same set of peptides was measured by a functional assay based on the co-expression of NPFFR, G(alpha 16) and apoaequorin. The rank order of potency was consistent with the results of the binding assay. 4. Membranes from NPFFR expressing CHO cells bound GTP gamma[(35)S] in the presence of SQA-NPFF. This functional response was prevented by pertussis toxin treatment, demonstrating the involvement of G(i) family members. 5. SQA-NPFF inhibited forskolin induced cyclic AMP accumulation in recombinant CHO cells in a dose dependent manner. This response was abolished as well by pertussis toxin pre-treatment. 6. RT -- PCR analysis of human tissues mRNA revealed that expression of NPFFR was mainly detected in placenta, thymus and at lower levels in pituitary gland, spleen and testis.

We examined the role of prostaglandin (PG) E receptors in the secretion of aldosterone. PGE2 is known to exert its various biological functions by binding to PGE receptors. There are four subtypes of PGE receptors, EP1, EP2, EP3, and EP4. Among the PGE receptors EP2 and EP4 subtypes are coupled to Gs protein and stimulate adenylyl cyclase. In this study, PGE2 caused a dose-dependent increase in aldosterone production from the rat adrenal zona glomerulosa cells in vitro accompanied with an increase in intracellular cAMP concentration. A specific agonist for EP2, butaprost, did not increase the cAMP production or the aldosterone release, suggesting the possibility that EP4 mediates the secretion of aldosterone by PGE2. Northern blot hybridization analysis disclosed that EP4 gene was expressed in the rat adrenal gland but that EP2 gene was not. In situ hybridization revealed that EP4 mRNA is present abundantly in the zona glomerulosa of rat adrenal gland. These findings suggest that the PGE2-EP4 system is involved in the regulation of aldosterone secretion from the rat adrenal gland.