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Heat and chemical treatments are commonly employed as decontamination methods in the medical industry. However, there are limitations to these methods, and new decontamination techniques are in demand. Among the state-of-the-art techniques, atmospheric-pressure plasma treatment is considered the most promising approach. Reactive radicals and ultraviolet light, generated in the plasma, are used to kill bacteria located away from the plasma source. In this study, we examined the inactivation of Escherichia coli samples, placed inside a long flexible tube of a small diameter, with plasma jet injection. Depending on the sample position, the inactivation effects of the radicals and ultraviolet light change significantly. Our experimental results show that long-life radicals are effective in plasma treatment. Moreover, the effectiveness of radicals in plasma decontamination was established using mutant gene strains without resistance to specific reactive radicals.

Ectopic enrichment of oral microbes in the gut is a notable alteration in gut microbial balance. These microbes are likely delivered from the oral cavity with saliva and food; however, evidence of oral–gut microbial transmission is insufficient and needs further investigation. In this observational study, we examined 144 pairs of saliva and stool samples collected from community-dwelling adults to verify the oral–gut microbial link and identify the relevant influencing factors on the increased abundance of oral microbes within the gut. The bacterial composition of each sample was determined using PacBio single-molecule long-read sequencing of the full-length 16S ribosomal RNA gene and amplicon sequence variant (ASV) analysis. Although the bacterial compositions of salivary and gut microbiota were distinctly different, at least 1 ASV was shared between salivary and gut microbiota in 72.9% of subjects. Shared ASVs accounted for 0.0% to 63.1% (median 0.14%) of the gut microbiota in each subject and frequently included abundant Streptococcus salivarius and Streptococcus parasanguinis. Their total relative abundance in the gut was significantly higher in older subjects or those with dental plaque accumulation. The gut microbiota with ≥5% of shared ASVs displayed a higher abundance of Streptococcus, Lactobacillus, and Klebsiella and a lower abundance of Faecalibacterium, Blautia, Megamonas, and Parabacteroides. Our study presents evidence for the translocation of oral bacteria to the gut in community-dwelling adults and suggests that aging and dental plaque accumulation contribute to an increased abundance of oral microbes in the gut, which might be relevant to the compositional shift in the gut commensals.

A wide array of pathogens has the potential to injure the fetus and induce teratogenesis, the process by which mutations in fetal somatic cells lead to congenital malformations. Rubella virus was the first infectious disease to be linked to congenital malformations due to an infection in pregnancy, which can include congenital cataracts, microcephaly, hearing impairment and congenital heart disease. Currently, human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the leading infectious cause of congenital malformations globally, affecting 1 in every 200 infants. However, our knowledge of teratogenic viruses and pathogens is far from complete. New emerging infectious diseases may induce teratogenesis, similar to Zika virus (ZIKV) that caused a global pandemic in 2016–2017; thousands of neonates were born with congenital microcephaly due to ZIKV exposurein utero, which also included a spectrum of injuries to the brain, eyes and spinal cord. In addition to congenital anomalies, permanent injury to fetal and neonatal organs, preterm birth, stillbirth and spontaneous abortion are known consequences of a broader group of infectious diseases including group B streptococcus (GBS),Listeria monocytogenes, Influenza A virus (IAV), and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Animal models are crucial for determining the mechanism of how these various infectious diseases induce teratogenesis or organ injury, as well as testing novel therapeutics for fetal or neonatal protection. Other mammalian models differ in many respects from human pregnancy including placentation, labor physiology, reproductive tract anatomy, timeline of fetal development and reproductive toxicology. In contrast, non-human primates (NHP) most closely resemble human pregnancy and exhibit key similarities that make them ideal for research to discover the mechanisms of injury and for testing vaccines and therapeutics to prevent teratogenesis, fetal and neonatal injury and adverse pregnancy outcomes (e.g., stillbirth or spontaneous abortion). In this review, we emphasize key contributions of the NHP model pre-clinical research for ZIKV, HCMV, HIV, IAV,L. monocytogenes, Ureaplasma species, and GBS. This work represents the foundation for development and testing of preventative and therapeutic strategies to inhibit infectious injury of human fetuses and neonates.

Advances ･Molecular actors functioning at different stages of haustorium development have been identified, including quinone receptors, ethylene signaling components, and auxin transporters. ･Haustorial cells change their identities throughout multiple developmental stages of the haustorium in response to host signals. ･Genes involved in normal plant growth and development were co-opted for haustorium organogenesis by parasitic plants during their evolution. Nutrient availability is one of the critical factors for plant survival and is mediated mainly by the root system. In addition to the roots, some species have evolved novel organs specialized for the acquisition of organic and inorganic nutrients. For example, most legume species form root nodules that accommodate nitrogen-fixing bacteria to acquire fixed nitrogen, whereas carnivorous plants have developed digestive leaves that trap and kill prey to absorb additional nutrients (Markmann and Parniske, 2009; Thorogood et al., 2018). Parasitic plants form a multicellular organ, the haustorium, emanating from either their shoots or roots, to parasitize other plants in order to acquire water and nutrients (Yoshida et al., 2016). Plant parasitism has independently evolved at least 12 times among angiosperms (Westwood et al., 2010). The Orobanchaceae family includes the largest number of parasitic species and all, except the genus Lindenbergia, Rehmannia, and Triaenophora, are root parasitic plants (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, 2016; Li et al., 2019). Haustorium development proceeds in stages, including initiation, host penetration, and the formation of vascular connections. Recent progress in molecular and cellular biology has revealed that each phase is modulated by specific plant hormones, cellular programs, and signal exchanges between the host and parasite. In this review, we discuss recent updates on the molecular details of haustorium organogenesis in the Orobanchaceae family by focusing on genetic components and signaling molecules that function at each stage of haustorium development.

Electrochemical immunosensors have been developed to determine the carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9). They are based on screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) coated with layer-by-layer (LbL) films of carbon black (CB) and polyelectrolytes. Owing to a suitable choice of LbL film architecture, the procedures for immobilization of anti-CA19-9 antibodies on the electrode surfaces were straightforward. Mechanically flexible immunosensors were capable of detecting CA19-9 within a dynamic range of 0.01 to 40 U mL−1 and a limit of detection of 0.07 U mL−1 using differential pulse voltammetry. In addition to detecting CA19-9 at clinically relevant concentrations for pancreatic cancer in standard solutions, the immunosensors provide the determination of CA19-9 on cell lysate and human serum samples. Using LbL films led to immunosensors with superior performance compared to similar systems obtained by drop casting. The fabrication of this relatively simple, inexpensive platform is a demonstration that SPCEs modified with cost-effective materials are able to detect cancer biomarkers and may be adapted to other disposable immunosensors.

Parasitic plants infect other plants by forming haustoria, specialized multicellular organs consisting of several cell types, each of which has unique morphological features and physiological roles associated with parasitism. Understanding the spatial organization of cell types is, therefore, of great importance in elucidating the functions of haustoria. Here, we report a three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction of haustoria from two Orobanchaceae species, the obligate parasite Striga hermonthica infecting rice (Oryza sativa) and the facultative parasite Phtheirospermum japonicum infecting Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). In addition, field-emission scanning electron microscopy observation revealed the presence of various cell types in haustoria. Our images reveal the spatial arrangements of multiple cell types inside haustoria and their interaction with host roots. The 3-D internal structures of haustoria highlight differences between the two parasites, particularly at the xylem connection site with the host. Our study provides cellular and structural insights into haustoria of S. hermonthica and P. japonicum and lays the foundation for understanding haustorium function.

Parasitic plants infect other plants by forming haustoria, specialized multicellular organs consisting of several cell types each of which has unique morphological features and physiological roles associated with parasitism. Understanding the spatial organization of cell types is, therefore, of great importance in elucidating the functions of haustoria. Here, we report a three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction of haustoria from two Orobanchaceae species, the obligate parasite Striga hermonthica infecting rice and the facultative parasite Phtheirospermum japonicum infecting Arabidopsis. Our images reveal the spatial arrangements of multiple cell types inside haustoria and their interaction with host roots. The 3-D internal structures of haustoria highlight differences between the two parasites, particularly at the xylem connection site with the host. Our study provides structural insights into how organs interact between hosts and parasitic plants.One-sentence summaryThree-dimensional image reconstruction was used to visualize the spatial organization of cell types in the haustoria of parasitic plants with special reference to their interaction with host roots.

Macrophages play an essential role in the early immune response against Toxoplasma and are the cell type preferentially infected by the parasite in vivo. Interferon gamma (IFNγ) elicits a variety of anti-Toxoplasma activities in macrophages. Using a genome-wide CRISPR screen we identify 353 Toxoplasma genes that determine parasite fitness in naїve or IFNγ-activated murine macrophages, seven of which are further confirmed. We show that one of these genes encodes dense granule protein GRA45, which has a chaperone-like domain, is critical for correct localization of GRAs into the PVM and secretion of GRA effectors into the host cytoplasm. Parasites lacking GRA45 are more susceptible to IFNγ-mediated growth inhibition and have reduced virulence in mice. Together, we identify and characterize an important chaperone-like GRA in Toxoplasma and provide a resource for the community to further explore the function of Toxoplasma genes that determine fitness in IFNγ-activated macrophages., Using a genome-wide CRISPR screen, the authors here identify Toxoplasma genes that counteract the anti-parasitic activity of interferon gamma in murine macrophages. One of these genes, dense granule protein GRA45, is critical for the trafficking of GRA effectors and affects virulence in mice.

Macrophages play an essential role in the early immune response againstToxoplasmaand are the cell type preferentially infected by the parasitein vivo. Interferon gamma (IFNγ) elicits a variety of anti-Toxoplasmaactivities in macrophages. Using a genome-wide CRISPR screen we identified ∼130Toxoplasmagenes that determine parasite fitness in naїve macrophages and ∼466 genes that determine fitness in IFNγ-stimulated murine macrophages, seven of which we investigated and confirmed. We show that one of these genes encodes dense granule protein GRA45, which contains a putative chaperone-like domain, and which we show is critical in preventing other GRA effectors from aggregating. Parasites lackingGRA45mislocalize GRA effectors upon secretion, are more susceptible to IFNγ-mediated growth inhibition, and have reduced virulence in mice. Our results provide a resource for the community to further explore the function ofToxoplasmagenes that determine fitness in IFNγ-stimulated macrophages.IMPORTANCEThe intracellular parasiteToxoplasma gondiican cause congenital infections and severe disease in immunocompromised patients. The cytokine IFNγ can block parasite replication by upregulating a variety of toxoplasmacidal mechanisms in many cells, including macrophages.Toxoplasmapreferentially infects macrophages. Therefore, the parasite has evolved mechanisms to survive in these cells in the presence of IFNγ. Here, we generated pools ofToxoplasmamutants for every gene and determined which mutants were specifically depleted in IFNγ-stimulated macrophages, thus identifying parasite genes determining fitness in these cells. We show that one of these genes encodes for a dense granule protein (GRA45) that plays an important role in preventing other GRA effectors from aggregating. Parasites without GRA45 mislocalize GRA effectors upon secretion, have enhanced susceptibility to IFNγ-mediated growth inhibition, and are avirulent in mice. Thus, our screen provides a resource to theToxoplasmacommunity to determine the function ofToxoplasmagenes that affect its fitness in IFNγ-stimulated macrophages.

Nanostructured capacitive biosensors, combined with inexpensive fabrication technologies, may provide simple, sensitive devices for detecting clinically relevant cancer biomarkers. Herein, we report a novel platform for detecting the pancreatic cancer biomarker CA19-9 using low-cost screen-printed interdigitated electrodes (SPIDEs). The SPIDEs were modified by carbon nano-onions (CNOs) and graphene oxide (GO) films, on which a layer of anti-CA19-9 antibodies was immobilized. The modification with CNOs and GO significantly improved the analytical performance of the biosensor, which displayed superior results to those prepared only with GO. The biossensor exhibited high reproducibility and a relatively low limit of detection of 0.12 U mL-1. Using these devices in combination with information visualization methods we were able to detect CA19-9 in whole cell lysates of colorectal adenocarcinoma. The fabrication of these low-cost, disposable immunosensors is a successful attempt to explore CNOs in capacitive biosensors, which may be extended for detection of different cancer biomarkers., CAPES (001), CNPq, INEO and FAPESP (2012/15543-7, 2013/14262-7, 2015/01770-0, 2016/00991-5 and 2017/12096-3). M.N.C is grateful for the economic support from Vicerrectoria de Investigaciones and the Centro de Excelencia en Nuevos Materiales (CENM) from the Universidad del Valle.

Document recommendation systems for locating relevant literature have mostly relied on methods developed a decade ago. This is largely due to the lack of a large offline gold-standard benchmark of relevant documents that cover a variety of research fields such that newly developed literature search techniques can be compared, improved and translated into practice. To overcome this bottleneck, we have established the RElevant LIterature SearcH consortium consisting of more than 1500 scientists from 84 countries, who have collectively annotated the relevance of over 180 000 PubMed-listed articles with regard to their respective seed (input) article/s. The majority of annotations were contributed by highly experienced, original authors of the seed articles. The collected data cover 76% of all unique PubMed Medical Subject Headings descriptors. No systematic biases were observed across different experience levels, research fields or time spent on annotations. More importantly, annotations of the same document pairs contributed by different scientists were highly concordant. We further show that the three representative baseline methods used to generate recommended articles for evaluation (Okapi Best Matching 25, Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency and PubMed Related Articles) had similar overall performances. Additionally, we found that these methods each tend to produce distinct collections of recommended articles, suggesting that a hybrid method may be required to completely capture all relevant articles. The established database server located at https://relishdb.ict.griffith.edu.au is freely available for the downloading of annotation data and the blind testing of new methods. We expect that this benchmark will be useful for stimulating the development of new powerful techniques for title and title/abstract-based search engines for relevant articles in biomedical science. © The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press.

Magnetic alignment is a new crystal alignment process which enables tri-axial orientation without epitaxial growth at room temperature. In order to investigate the effectiveness of this magnetic tri-axial alignment process, we attempted to fabricate tri-axially oriented ErBa2Cu4O8 (Er124) ceramics by a slip-casting technique under two different modulated rotation magnetic fields (MRFs); uni-directional rotation type and oscillation type. For improvement of the degrees of tri-axial orientation in the Er124 green compacts slip-casted under MRFs, appropriate choice of sample-rotation method, magnetic field condition, control of mean diameter of source powders, and viscosity of slurry was found to be important in the case of MRFs induced by the sample-rotation. At the current stage, the degree of inplane orientation with ∼10 in Er124 was achieved.

Cu particles that have been reductively generated at the oxidized surface of a boron-doped diamond electrode (O-BDD) can be removed from the electrode's surface by the repulsive electrostatic force of the surface dipole moment during a potential cycle of a solution of Cu 2+ ions. The objective of this study was to isolate various metal particles other than Cu by use of a fluorine-terminated BDD surface (F-BDD) with a stronger surface dipole moment than O-BDD, and to clarify the mechanism of the metal particles’ separation from the electrode. During the potential cycle treatment of Cu 2+ ions using F-BDD, the reionization of the reduced Cu could be suppressed in the presence of dissolved oxygen, and the Cu particles were separated from the electrode surface as CuO. A similar result was seen with O-BDD. The degree of separation of the Cu particles could be drastically enhanced by raising the upper potential limit in the potential cycle from +0.2 to +0.8 V. By setting the upper potential to a potential greater than the metal–metal oxide equilibrium line in the potential-pH equilibrium diagram of the Cu–water system (Pourbaix Diagram), oxidation of the reduced metal surface by reaction with dissolved oxygen could be accelerated and the surface of metal particles could be insulated. The Cu particles were forced from the BDD surface by the electrostatic repulsion from the surface dipole moment of F-BDD. Also, it turned out that the physical adsorption of chloride ions (Cl − ) on the electrode surface intensified the electrostatic repulsive force between the F- or O-BDD surface and the metal particles, and thus increased the degree of the metal particles’ separation. For Zn with a metal–metal oxide equilibrium potential of approximately −0.8 V at pH 7, complete separation of the Zn particles was achieved with F-BDD by setting the upper potential limit to +0.8 V (vs. Ag/AgCl), decreasing the Zn 2+ concentration (1/10 that of Cu 2+ ) and optimizing the sweep rate to minimize the Zn particle diameter. This result was hard to achieve with O-BDD. The separation of metal particles other than Cu was achieved with F-BDD because of its stronger surface dipole moment. However, with noble type metals (such as Pt and Ni) that have metal–metal oxide equilibrium potentials higher than the upper potential limit for potential cycling with F-BDD (+0.8 V), the surfaces of the reduced metal particles were not insulated and metal particles were deposited on the BDD surface. In order to isolate metal particles from the electrode, it was necessary to apply a maximum potential over that of the metal–metal oxide equilibrium line in the Pourbaix Diagram during the potential cycle.

This paper describes a digital-calibration technique, which corrects gain errors due to capacitor mismatch and offset errors due to charge injection in redundant radix-4 pipelined analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). The error coefficients are directly measured using an integral nonlinearity (INL) plot. The proposed method simplifies the error-measurement process and removes on-chip measurement circuits in the ADC. Computer simulations show that the maximum INL of 15 LSB in an uncalibrated 15-bit ADC is reduced to less than 0.3 LSB using the digital calibration.

We present very wide dynamic range (WDR) CMOS image sensor that integrates improved high-speed column-parallel cyclic ADCs.The proposed signal readout technique of extremely short accumulation (ESA) enables the dynamic range to be expanded to a very high illumination region.Including the ESA signals,a total of four different accumulation time signals are read out in one frame period using a burst readout technique.To achieve the high-speed and high-quality signal readout required for multiple exposure signals,column parallel high-speed A/D converters are integrated at the upper and lower sides of the pixel arrays.This improved cyclic ADC,with reduced random noise,better linearity and offset deviation,expands the dynamic range in the low illumination region.The resulting dynamic range is maximally dB.The improved 12-bit cyclic ADC has a differential non-linearity (DNL) of 0.3LSB.

In myocardial infarction and Chagas's disease, some physiopathological aspects are common: cardiomyocyte loss due to ischemia leads to a reduction of contractility and heart function. Different cells have been proposed for cellular cardiomioplasty.Our goal was to evaluate the method of co-culture of skeletal muscle (SM) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) for cell therapy of heart failure in Chagas's disease (CD) and myocardium postinfarction (MI).For MI, 39 rats completed the study at 1 month. Seventeen rats received cell therapy into the scar and 22 rats only medium. For CD, 15 rats completed the study at 1 month including 7 that received cell therapy and eight followed the natural evolution. All animals underwent ecocardiographic analysis at baseline and 1 month. Left ventricular, ejection fraction, end systolic, and end dyastolic volume were registered and analyzed by ANOVA. The co-culture method of SM and MSC was performed at 14 days (DMEM, with 15% FCS, 1% antibiotic, IGF-I, dexamethasone). Standard stain analysis was performed.For MI ejection fraction in the animals that received the co-cultured cells increased from 23.52+/-8.67 to 31.45+/-8.87 (P=.006) versus the results in the control group: 26.68+/-6.92 to 22.32+/-6.94 (P=.004). For CD, ejection fraction in animals that received the co-cultured cells increased from 31.10+/-5.78 to 53.37+/-5.84 (P.001) versus the control group values of 36.21+/-3.70 to 38.19+/-7.03 (P=0.426). Histopathological analysis of the animals receiving co-cultured cells demonstrated the presence of myogenesis and angiogenesis.The results validated the product of SM and MSC co-cultures for treatment of diseases.

A wide dynamic range CMOS image sensor with a burst readout multiple exposure method is proposed. In this method, maximally four different exposure-time signals are read out in one frame. To achieve the high-speed readout, a compact cyclic analog-to-digital converter (ADC) with noise canceling function is proposed and arrays of the cyclic ADCs are integrated at the column. A prototype wide dynamic range CMOS image sensor has been developed with 0.25-/spl mu/m 1-poly 4-metal CMOS image sensor technology. The dynamic range is expanded maximally by a factor of 1791 compared to the case of single exposure. The dynamic range is measured to be 19.8 bit or 119 dB. The 12-bit ADC integrated at the column of the CMOS image sensor has DNL of +0.2/-0.8 LSB.

Described is a patient with concurrent discrete gliomas: a pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma with anaplastic features and an anaplastic oligoastrocytoma. The distinct and morphologically dissimilar tumors demonstrated similar genetic abnormalities by loss of heterozygosity and comparative genome hybridization. Clonality and proteomic analyses highlighted an independent origin for the two tumors. Proteomic methods may prove useful in cases where the differential diagnosis and pathogenetic origin of tumors are uncertain, as well as more globally for its ability to provide insight into specific expression of proteins that may serve as unique markers of tumorigenesis or as novel targets of therapy.

A 10-b 30-MS/s low-power CMOS pipelined analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is described. The ADC using a pseudodifferential architecture and a capacitor cross-coupled sample-and-hold stage consumes 16 mW with a single 2-V supply. The chip is fabricated in a standard 0.3-/spl mu/m two-poly three-metal CMOS technology. The achieved low-power dissipation normalized by the sampling frequency of 0.52 mW/MHz is superior to other high-speed low-power ADCs reported. The ADC has a signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratio of 54 dB at an input frequency of 15 MHz. The maximum differential and integral nonlinearity are 0.4 and 0.5 LSB, respectively.

Prodynorphin, a multifunctional precursor of several important opioid peptides, is expressed widely in the CNS. It is processed at specific single and paired basic sites to generate various biologically active products. Among the prohormone convertases (PCs), PC1 and PC2 are expressed widely in neuroendocrine tissues and have been proposed to be the major convertases involved in the biosynthesis of hormonal and neural peptides. In this study we have examined the physiological involvement of PC2 in the generation of dynorphin (Dyn) peptides in mice lacking active PC2 as a result of gene disruption. Enzymological and immunological assays were used to confirm the absence of active PC2 in these mice. The processing profiles of Dyn peptides extracted from brains of these mice reveal a complete lack of Dyn A-8 and a substantial reduction in the levels of Dyn A-17 and Dyn B-13. Thus, PC2 appears to be involved in monobasic processing, leading to the generation of Dyn A-8, Dyn A-17, and Dyn B-13 from prodynorphin under physiological conditions. Brains of heterozygous mice exhibit only half the PC2 activity of wild-type mice; however, the levels of Dyn peptides in these mice are similar to those of wild-type mice, suggesting that a 50% reduction in PC2 activity is not sufficient to significantly reduce prodynorphin processing. The disruption of the PC2 gene does not lead to compensatory up-regulation in the levels of other convertases with similar substrate specificity because we find no significant changes in the levels of PC1, PC5/PC6, or furin in these mice as compared with wild-type mice. Taken together, these results support a critical role for PC2 in the generation of Dyn peptides.

A cylindrical-type drift chamber consists of an appropriate array of cylindrical single wire proportional counters and has a simple structure. It is shown that a quadratic function reproduced the space-time relationship in the cylindrical-type drift chamber filled with PR gas (Ar:methane=90:10). The difference in the drift times in pair-cells is simply converted into the incident position of charged particles perpendicular to the anode wire using the quadratic function of the space-time relationship. Furthermore, the quadratic function improves the position resolution. A backgammon pattern is employed for the cathode pad of the cylindrical drift chamber. The cylindrical drift cell with a backgammon-shaped cathode pad gives the position resolution along the anode wire. The position resolution in one sigma along the anode wire is obtained to be 1.7 mm on average. The cylindrical-type drift chamber with a backgammon-shaped cathode pad may be applied to a two-dimensional position sensitive detector with a compact structure and simple signal-processing electronics.

Let Σ(a1 ,a 2 ,... , an) be a Seifert fibered homology 3-sphere with a1 even. We show that if µ(Σ(a1 ,a 2 ,... , an)) = 1 mod 2, then the class of Σ(a1 ,a 2 ,... , an) has infinite order in the homology cobordism groupof homol- ogy 3-spheres. In the proof we use Seiberg-Witten's monopole equation on four- dimensional V-manifolds.

B. Stearothermophilus remains alive even under intense electric field, since spores formed are highly resistant to damage from electric field effects. This paper describes the effects of pulsed electric field on B. Stearothermophilus (ATCC no, 12980). An aqueous suspension of B. Stearothermophilus spores was placed between parallel planar electrodes and subjected to pulsed electric fields of up to 189 kV/cm, which are obtained from a high-voltage pulsed voltage generator. Either a Blumlein generator or a magnetic compression circuit with a semiconductor opening switch was used as the pulsed voltage generator. The spores that survived the treatment were detected by a colony counting method. The growth activities were measured using a microbial calorimetry technique. The temperature and pH of the spore suspension remained unchanged during the treatment. It was found that the growth activity of B. Stearothermophilus was affected by the pulsed electric field. while no remarkable lethal effect was observed in the range of up to 40 kV/cm.

To ascertain the safety of repeat apheresis donation, hematological and biochemical tests were performed on 511 donors with a donation rate of over 6 times per year for a period of 12-19 months.Repeat donors who had apheresis more than 6 times in the previous year were chosen. Data for the repeat donors at the start of the experiments were compared with those at the end of the study. Blood samples were taken prior to donation. Serum protein, albumin, immunoglobulin G, A, and M, serum ferritin levels were determined by biochemical tests.When compared to prospective donors of 400 ml, WBC, lymphocytes, and serum ferritin levels were lower in a roughly frequency-dependent manner in female and male donor groups at the beginning of the study. All the data for the male group remained almost constant with increasing frequency of apheresis donation. However, in the female group, ferritin levels significantly decreased with over 21 donations.The present data showed that the serum ferritin level of the female donors decreased the most with increasing frequency of apheresis donation. The cumulative RBC left in the collecting chamber and for the laboratory test is discussed in relation to a possible cause of iron deficiency in frequent apheresis donors.

The magnetisation transfer ratio (MTR), a quantitative tissue characteristic, and the pallidal index were measured in the globus pallidus of 37 patients with hepatic cirrhosis and 37 control subjects. The MTR decreased with severity of the disease, as indicated by the serum total bililubin, indocyanine green 15-min retention rate, and plasma ammonia. The pallidal index correlated significantly with haematological parameters, although the correlation coefficients tended to be lower than those between MTR and haematological parameters. This change in MTR corresponded to the results of the manganese chloride experiments. T1 shortening in the pallidum of patients with cirrhosis is presumably caused by paramagnetic effects, and possibly attributed to manganese deposition.

Recently many types of magnetically induced super-resolution (MSR) have been proposed for high-density recording on magneto-optical (MO) disks. Among them, double-mask rear-aperture detection (D-RAD) is the most promising, because of its high resolution and its crosstalk advantage. However, D-RAD requires a high external magnetic field for MSR readout. We investigated MSR by D-RAD in order to reduce the readout magnetic field. By optimizing the structure of MSR by D-RAD, we achieved a small magnetic field of −100 Oe for readout. In recording on a D-RAD MO disk with land/groove recording, a C/N of more than 45 dB for a mark length of 0.27 μm and a cross-talk level of less than −40 dB at a track pitch of 0.7 μm were achieved. In addition, a combination of light intensity modulation direct overwrite (LIMDOW) with D-RAD was achieved by adding on MSR switching layer to D-RAD.

We report the growth of single crystals by a flux method in ambient pressure and tri-axial orientation under modulated rotation magnetic fields (MRFs) on REBa2Cu4O8 (RE124, RE; rare earth elements) compounds. RE124 crystals were grown for RE = Y, Sm, Eu, Gd, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, and Yb through appropriate choice of source compounds. All the obtained RE124 powders were tri-axially aligned in MRF of 10T, whereas magnetization axes depended on the type of RE. Moreover, it was found from the changes in the degrees of c-axis and inplane orientation that tri-axial magnetic anisotropies of RE124 also depended on the type of RE. This indicates that it appropriate choice of RE is important for the fabrication of tri-axial oriented ceramics in lower magnetic field conditions.