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Scanning and transmission electron microscopic studies of Ar+ sputter-induced cones on nickel-seeded silicon suggest that Ni atoms are highly deposited on the upper cone slope to form delta-winged cones at temperatures lower than 400 degrees Celsius. At temperatures below 200 degrees Celsius, Ni formed the seed layers, while nickel silicide is observed above 200 degrees Celsius, which is silicidized to NiSi2 above 300 degrees Celsius. NiSi2 formation is triggered by Ar+ bombardment. Around 500 degrees Celsius, an eutectic reaction between Ni and Si is triggered by impacting Ar+ ions.

Copyright of Journal of Phytopathology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Phytopathology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Phytopathology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Phytopathology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Phytopathology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Suicidal patients admitted to a psychiatric hospital are considered to be at risk of suicidal behavior (SB) and suicide. The present study aimed to seek predictors of SB recurrence of the high-risk patients by examining their post-hospitalization course., Method: The design was 2-year prospective follow-up study of patients consecutively admitted with SB to a psychiatric center in Tokyo. The DSM-IV diagnoses and SB-related features of subjects were determined in structured interviews. Subsequently, the subjects underwent a series of follow-up assessments at 6-month intervals. The assessment included inquiries into SB recurrence, its accompanying suicidal intent (SI) and SF-8 health survey. Analyses of serial change over time in the follow-up data and Cox proportional hazards regression analyses of SB recurrence were performed., Results: 106 patients participated in this study. The dropout rate during the follow-up was 9%. Within 2 years, incidences of SB as a whole, SB with certain SI (suicide attempt) and suicide were 67% (95% CI 58 - 75%), 38% (95% CI 29 - 47%) and 6% (95% CI 3 - 12%), respectively. Younger age, number of lifetime SBs and maltreatment in the developmental period were predictive of SB as a whole, and younger age and hopelessness prior to index admission were predictive of suicide attempt. Regarding diagnostic variables, anxiety disorders and personality disorders appeared to have predictive value for SB. Additionally, poor physical health assessed during the follow-up was indicated as a possible short-term predictor of SB recurrence., Conclusions: This study demonstrated a high incidence of SB and suicide and possible predictors of SB recurrence in the post-hospitalization period of psychiatric suicidal patients. Specialized interventions should be developed to reduce the suicide risk of this patient population.

Background: Patients admitted to a psychiatric hospital with suicidal behavior (SB) are considered to be especially at high risk of suicide. However, the number of studies that have addressed this patient population remains insufficient compared to that of studies on suicidal patients in emergency or medical settings. The purpose of this study is to seek features of a sample of newly admitted suicidal psychiatric patients in a metropolitan area of Japan., Method: 155 suicidal patients consecutively admitted to a large psychiatric center during a 20-month period, admission styles of whom were mostly involuntary, were assessed using Structured Clinical Interviews for DSM-IV Axis I and II Disorders (SCID-I CV and SCID-II) and SB-related psychiatric measures. Associations of the psychiatric diagnoses and SB-related characteristics with gender and age were examined., Results: The common DSM-IV axis I diagnoses were affective disorders 62%, anxiety disorders 56% and substance-related disorders 38%. 56% of the subjects were diagnosed as having borderline PD, and 87% of them, at least one type of personality disorder (PD). SB methods used prior to admission were self-cutting 41%, overdosing 32%, self-strangulation 15%, jumping from a height 12% and attempting traffic death 10%, the first two of which were frequent among young females. The median (range) of the total number of SBs in the lifetime history was 7 (1-141). Severity of depressive symptomatology, suicidal intent and other symptoms, proportions of the subjects who reported SB-preceding life events and life problems, and childhood and adolescent abuse were comparable to those of the previous studies conducted in medical or emergency service settings. Gender and age-relevant life-problems and life events were identified., Conclusions: Features of the studied sample were the high prevalence of affective disorders, anxiety disorders and borderline PD, a variety of SB methods used prior to admission and frequent SB repetition in the lifetime history. Gender and age appeared to have an influence on SB method selection and SB-preceding processes. The findings have important implications for assessment and treatment of psychiatric suicidal patients.

Psychiatric patients who have shown suicidal behavior (SB) are belived to be at a particularly high risk of suicide. However, the number of studies that have sought ways to prevent suicide in this patient population is limited. The present study investigated the diagnosis and SB-related characteristics of psychiatric inpatients showing suicidal behavior prior to admission. One-hundred and fifty-seven eligible subjects were recruited from patients consecutively admitted to a large psychiatric facility during a 20-month period in 2006 and 2007, and underwent extensive research interviews. Percentages of diagnoses based on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, Clinician Version (SCID-I, CV) in this series were: affective disorders, 62%; anxiety disorders, 55%; substance use disorders, 38%; psychotic disorders, 27%; and eating disorders, 10%. Eighty-seven percent of the subjects were diagnosed as having some type of personality disorder (PD) in the SCID-II interview. Borderline PD was diagnosed in 56% of the subjects, making it the most frequent type of PD in this series. Frequent SB in these subjects involved: self-cutting, 40%; overdosing, 32%; self-strangulation, 14%; and jumping, 11%. Step-wise logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the association of dichotomized SB-related clinical characteristics with diagnostic categories (affective disorders, psychotic disorders, substance use disorders, anxiety disorders, and cluster A, B and C PDs). The analysis demonstrated that three diagnostic categories were dominant in the association with clinical characteristics. Cluster B PD was associated with a history of overdosing, greater aggressiveness, interpersonal and life-situational life events, and childhood maltreatment (physical abuse and neglect). Anxiety disorders were related to histories of overdosing, dissociative symptoms in SB, excessive worry concerning life problems, and childhood neglect. Affective disorders were mainly associated with the characteristics of SB or SB-related symptoms: severe depressive symptoms and hopelessness, potentially fatal SB before admission such as self-strangulation, and dissociative symptoms in SB, though they did not show a significant relationship with pre-SB characteristics such as life events or childhood maltreatment. These findings will be helpful to develop treatment guidelines, SB-prevention strategies, and future research regarding suicidal psychiatric patients.

Work-Personality means a person's motivation, values and attitude toward labor, general abilities which make his/her work performance efficient, which can be grasped through observation of behavior patterns in working situations. Problems connected with Work-Personality may cause schizophrenics some vocational difficulties. The author made out a "Work-Personality Insufficiency (WPI) Rating Scale" with 15 items, in order to estimate the employability of schizophrenics, and examined its inter-rater reliability by means of ANOVA-ICC and the results were sufficient enough. Then, WPI was applied to 71 schizophrenic outpatients of Tokyo Metropolitan Chubu Comprehensive Mental Health Center (Occupational Training Unit). Also positive and negative symptoms were estimated at admission, and some indicies of historical data were collected. These data were examined statistically as shown below. (1) Construct validity was verified through factor analysis of scores at admission. (2) By comparison of admission scores between two groups of employed and unemployed at discharge, the average score of employed was significantly low (p < 0.01), and the correlation between the discharge state and the total WPI score was significantly high (r = 0.472, p < 0.01), which proved predict validity. (3) The total score of negative symptoms correlated to WPI scores. Also the total score of positive symptoms correlated to some components of WPI scores. (4) By comparison of WPI scores between at admission and at discharge, reduction of disability was seen mainly in interpersonal area, which meant the improvement of patients' adaptability to work situation. Work performance in the narrow sense, however, seemed to make little development, which meant the limited effect of prevocational training with limited time. (5) Indicies of historical data had no relations to outcome and WPI, which showed the difficulty of predicting vocational prognosis from these variables directly. From above, the author concluded that WPI could be utilized to the vocational issues of prolonged schizophrenic patients, and discussed the predictors of vocational prognosis.