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Background and study aims: This study evaluated the long- term outcomes of mainly endoscopic hemostatic therapy for gastrointestinal variceal bleeding and of the transition of hemostatic therapy. Patients and methods: Among 1,163 patients treated for gastrointestinal varices between April 2006 and June 2020, a total of 125 patients who underwent emergency hemostatic therapy were enrolled. Survival rates and secondary evaluation points were analyzed. Additionally, patients were classified into two groups: the previous and latter term. Patients’ background, therapeutic method, and treatment results were compared between the groups. Results: 94.4% had cirrhosis. The average Child-Pugh score was 8.90. Successful primary hemostasis rate was 98.4%, and 5.6% died within 2 weeks, all with a Child-Pugh score ≥9. The respective 1- and 5-year survival rates for Child-Pugh grade A/B were 81.3% and 55.4%, while those for Child-Pugh grade C were 58.1% and 17.8%. Child-Pugh grade C or hepatocellular carcinoma was significantly associated with poor prognosis. In total, 21.6% experienced variceal re-bleeding; 62.9% of these cases were triggered by continued alcohol consumption. There was no significant difference in survival between patients with and without variceal re-bleeding and in post-treatment survival between the previous and latter terms. In the latter term, the number of cases caused by continued alcohol consumption significantly increased. Conclusions: Multidisciplinary treatment and continuation of proper management after hemostatic therapy for variceal bleeding are crucial. Continued alcohol consumption leads to variceal bleeding and re-bleeding; its proper management, including alcohol abstinence, is one of the major challenges left in the post-direct- acting antivirals era.

Studies have shown that Asian Americans are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced-stage thyroid cancer than other ethnic groups. Among Asian Americans, Filipino Americans (FA) have the highest thyroid cancer mortality rate compared to different subgroups. FA are known to be three times more likely to die of thyroid cancer than European Americans (EA). African American (AA) and Hispanic American (HA) patients have the worst cancer-specific survival rate compared to EA patients. Epidemiological studies in California have shown that thyroid cancer is the second most common cancer among Filipino American women (1). Although socioeconomic factors play a crucial role in cancer health disparities, thyroid cancer is an exception, where educated FA showed higher incidence/recurrence rates (2). Currently, no studies demonstrate the biological mechanism behind these discrepancies. We are the first to show differential expressions of a tumor suppressor gene (1) and miRNA profiles between FA versus EA (2). We have discovered a new oncogene, PDLIM7, also known as Enigma, with a stage-dependent enhancement in thyroid cancer tissues (3). Our Hiseq-miRNA profiling data showed significant downregulations of one of the well-known tumor suppressor miRNAs, Let-7 family genes. Some of the let-7 family genes are significantly downregulated in FA versus EA (2). Let-7 genes are known to regulate PDLIM family genes. Therefore, we hypothesize that the inverse correlation between PDLIM7 oncogene and Let-7 family genes is linked to advanced thyroid cancer in FA compared to all other ethnicities. In this study, we have expanded our patient cohorts by adding samples from AA and HA to our existing patient cohorts of EA and FA. We determined the differential PDLIM7 gene expression in different ethnic groups using the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) thyroid cancer datasets by UALCAN assay. We also confirmed the PDLIM7 gene and let-7 family expressions by RT-qPCR in different ethnic groups and correlated them to thyroid cancer staging. We found a significantly overexpressed PDLIM7 gene in FA with advanced-stage compared to EA/HA/AA. Among others, PDLIM7 did not show any significant difference. A higher expression of the PDLIM7 gene (*p Citation Format: Jaibir S. Pannu, Kristiana Rood, Celina R. Yamauchi, Alfred A. Simental, Mia C. Perez, Anthony Firek, Salma Khan. Inverse correlations between PDLIM7 and let-7 family gene expressions in advanced thyroid cancer tissues from specific racial/ethnic groups [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 15th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2022 Sep 16-19; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2022;31(1 Suppl):Abstract nr C061.

Background Although catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) has recently been shown to improve the cardiac function and even mortality in patients with heart failure (HF) and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), few studies have examined the outcomes of AF catheter ablation in patients with HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Purpose To verify the impact of AF catheter ablation on the cardiac function and HF status in patients with HFpEF. Methods We studied 306 patients with HF who had a history of an HF hospitalization and/or preprocedural serum BNP levels >100pg/ml (age, 68.9±8.2 years old; male, 66.3%; non-paroxysmal AF, 63.1%, left atrial diameter [LAD], 42.5±6.3 mm; left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF], 60.6±12.0%) out of 596 consecutive patients who underwent pulmonary vein isolation-based catheter ablation of AF. The patients with an LVEF ≥50% were defined as having HFpEF (n=262; age, 69.0±8.2 years old; male, 64.5%; non-paroxysmal AF, 61.8%, LAD, 42.1±5.9 mm; left LVEF, 64.0±8.2%) and the remaining patients with an LVEF Results AF recurred in 60 patients with HFpEF (22.9%) and in 14 with HFrEF (31.8%) during the 12 month follow-up (p=0.27), however, sinus rhythm was maintained at 12 months in most of the patients (253 patients with HFpEF [96.6%] and 42 patients with HFrEF [95.5%]) (p=0.71). Figure 1 compares the changes in the cardiac function parameters and NYHA functional class from baseline to the 12-month follow-up stratified by the HF subgroup. Both the patients with HFpEF and HFrEF had significant improvements in the serum BNP levels, chest thorax ratio, and LVEF determined by echocardiography. LA reverse remodeling as shown by a significant reduction in the LAD was observed in both HF subgroups, however, the E/E', an index of the LV diastolic function, did not significantly change in either of the subgroups. Similar to the patients with HFrEF, an improvement in the NYHA functional class was seen in those with HFpEF. Conclusions Catheter ablation of AF may benefit patients with HFpEF as well as those with HFrEF. Sinus rhythm maintenance achieved by AF catheter ablation in patients with HFpEF may lead to LA reverse remodeling and a better LV systolic function, thereby improving the NYHA functional class. It is unclear whether changes in the LV diastolic function may contribute to this favorable process. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None

International audience; The protocooperation between Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus relies on metabolite exchanges that accelerate acidification during yogurt fermentation. Conflicting results have been obtained in terms of the effect of the Strep. thermophilus urease and the NH3 and CO2 that it generates on the rate of acidification in yogurt fermentation. It is difficult to perform a systematic study of the effects of urease on protocooperation because it is necessary to distinguish among the direct, indirect, and strain-specific effects resulting from the combination of the strains of both species. To evaluate the direct effects of urease on protocooperation, we generated 3 urease-deficient mutants (Delta ureC) of fast- and slow-acidifying Strep. thermophilus strains and observed the effects of NH3 or CO2 supplementation on acidification by the Delta ureC strains. Further, we examined 5 combinations of 3 urease-deficient Delta ureC strains with 2 CO2-responsive or CO2 -unresponsive strains of L. bulgaricus. Urease deficiency induced a shortage of ammonia nitrogen and CO2 for the fast- and slow-acidifying Strep. thermophilus and for the CO2-responsive L. bulgaricus, respectively. Notably, the shortage of ammonia nitrogen had more severe effects than that of CO2 on yogurt fermentation, even if coculture with L. bulgaricus masked the effect of urease deficiency. Our work established (1) that urease deficiency inhibits the fermentative acceleration of protocooperation regardless of the Strep. thermophilus and L. bulgaricus strain combinations, and (2) that urease is an essential factor for effective yogurt acidification.

Background Sick sinus syndrome (SSS) and atrial fibrillation (AF) frequently coexist and interact to initiate and perpetuate each other. Several retrospective or small cohort studies have suggested that successful catheter ablation of AF may help to waive device implantations in patients with paroxysmal AF plus SSS, however, no prospective large studies are so far available on this scenario. Purpose We aimed to elucidate the device implantation-free survival after catheter ablation of paroxysmal AF with coexisting SSS in a prospective large-scale registry. We also determined the risk factors for device implantations after catheter ablation of paroxysmal AF. Methods The Kansai Plus Atrial Fibrillation (KPAF) study is a multi-center prospective registry that enrolled 5,019 consecutive patients that underwent an initial pulmonary vein isolation-based radiofrequency catheter ablation of AF. This study was comprised of 3,226 patients with paroxysmal AF registered in the KPAF study (age, 64.8±10.5 years old; female, n=999 [31.0%]; left atrial diameter [LAD], 37.5±8.0 mm; left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF], 65.3±8.4%, CHADS2 score, 1.09±1.05). The atrial tachyarrhythmia-free and device-free survivals after catheter ablation were compared between patients with SSS (n=368; tachy-brady syndrome, 88%) and without SSS (control; n=2,858). Results The atrial tachyarrhythmia-free survival was almost identical between the two groups both after the first ablation session (Fig.1A) and after the last procedure with an average of 1.3±0.5 sessions. At baseline, the devices had already been implanted in 53 (14.4%) SSS and 36 (1.3%) control patients. In the remaining patients, devices were newly implanted in 54 (17.1%) SSS and 62 (2.2%) control patients during the follow-up of 3 years after the catheter ablation (Figure 1B). In the SSS group, devices were implanted predominantly within 6 months after the catheter ablation, and atrial tachyarrhythmia recurrence preceded the device implantation in 48 (89%) patients. Multivariate predictors of device implantations after the paroxysmal AF ablation included: SSS (hazard ratio [HR] 6.85, 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.61–10.19, p75 years old (HR 1.69, 95% CI 1.08–2.64, p=0.019), a female gender (HR 2.16, 95% CI 1.44–3.24, p Figure 1 Conclusions Device implantations could be waived in >80% of patients with SSS at 3 years of follow-up after the catheter ablation of paroxysmal AF in this real world all comer prospective registry. In addition to coexisting SSS, predictors of device implantations after paroxysmal AF ablation included: the elderly, a female gender, a large LA, and a reduced LVEF. Acknowledgement/Funding None

Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) is one of the most accurate modes of obtaining thyroid nodule biopsies, however, up to 25% of biopsies still yield indeterminate results. There is an increasing number of thyroidectomies due to indeterminate nodules by FNA alone. Therefore, more accurate and time efficient diagnostic approaches for analyzing indeterminate thyroid nodules is required. Recent studies showed that Enigma is associated with different cancer types, including thyroid cancer progression and calcification through its interaction with bone morphogenic protein-1 (BMP-1) and tyrosine kinases linked to mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. Our published data on Enigma protein analysis with immunohistochemistry showed promising findings to discriminate malignant versus benign nodules. We also showed a thyroid cancer stage-dependent enhancement of Enigma protein expression. In this study, we are investigating Enigma at a gene expression level by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), which is more time-efficient, quantitative, and requires less tissue than immunohistochemistry. We extracted mRNA/DNA/proteins from fresh malignant and benign thyroid nodules using a Qiagen AllPrep DNA/RNA/Protein Mini Kit. After verification of the quantity and purity by NanoDrop, isolated mRNA was then run through Enigma-RT-qPCR. MAPK assay was done by western blotting using MAPK-antibody. Our initial results found that Enigma-mRNA expression level was 3-fold higher in malignant compared to benign thyroid tissues. This finding supports our previous protein expression data with a relative quantitative difference in Enigma-mRNA expression level between malignant and benign thyroid nodules. MAPK expression was upregulated in thyroid cancer compared to benign nodules. We conclude that Enigma-RT-qPCR can be used effectively in FNA samples derived from thyroid nodules, which could potentially enhance the diagnostic accuracy of indeterminate nodules and decrease unnecessary thyroidectomies. Furthermore, both Enigma and MAPK were highly expressed in advanced tumor in the same tissues. Future study is needed to establish the functional interaction of Enigma-MAPK activity in thyroid cancer cells.

Using stacks of Ly-a images of 2128 Ly-a emitters (LAEs) and 24 protocluster UV-selected galaxies (LBGs) at z=3.1, we examine the surface brightness profiles of Ly-a haloes around high-z galaxies as a function of environment and UV luminosity. We find that the slopes of the Ly-a radial profiles become flatter as the Mpc-scale LAE surface densities increase, but they are almost independent of the central UV luminosities. The characteristic exponential scale lengths of the Ly-a haloes appear to be proportional to the square of the LAE surface densities (r(Lya) \propto Sigma(LAE)^2). Including the diffuse, extended Ly-a haloes, the rest-frame Ly-a equivalent width of the LAEs in the densest regions approaches EW_0(Lya) ~ 200 A, the maximum value expected for young (< 10^7 yr) galaxies. This suggests that Ly-a photons formed via shock compression by gas outflows or cooling radiation by gravitational gas inflows may partly contribute to illuminate the Ly-a haloes; however, most of their Ly-a luminosity can be explained by photo-ionisation by ionising photons or scattering of Ly-a photons produced in HII regions in and around the central galaxies. Regardless of the source of Ly-a photons, if the Ly-a haloes trace the overall gaseous structure following the dark matter distributions, it is not surprising that the Ly-a spatial extents depend more strongly on the surrounding Mpc-scale environment than on the activities of the central galaxies.

We present the results of deep near-infrared imaging observations of the z=3.1 proto-cluster region in the SSA22a field taken by MOIRCS mounted on the Subaru Telescope. We observed a 21.7 arcmin^2 field to the depths of J=24.5, H=24.3, and K=23.9 (5 sigma). We examine the distribution of the K-selected galaxies at z~3 by using the simple color cut for distant red galaxies (DRGs) as well as the photometric-redshift selection technique. The marginal density excess of DRGs and the photo-z selected objects are found around the two most luminous Ly alpha blobs (LABs). We investigate the correlation between the K-selected objects and the LABs, and find that several galaxies with stellar mass M_* = 10^9-10^11 M_solar exist in vicinity of LABs, especially around the two most luminous ones. We also find that 7 of the 8 LABs in the field have plausible K_s-band counterparts and the sum of the stellar mass possibly associated with LABs correlates with the luminosity and surface brightness of them, which implies that the origin of Ly alpha emission may be closely correlated with their stellar mass or their previous star formation phenomena., Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in PASJ Vol.60, No.4

We present the results of an intermediate resolution (~2 angstrom) spectroscopy of a sample of 37 candidate Lyman alpha blobs and emitters at redshift z=3.1 using the DEIMOS spectrograph on the 10 m Keck telescope. The emission lines are detected for all the 37 objects and have variety in their line profiles. The Lyman alpha velocity widths (FWHM) of the 28 objects with higher quality spectra, measured by fitting a single Gaussian profile, are in the range of 150 - 1700 km/s and correlate with the Lyman alpha spatial extents. All the 12 Lyman alpha blobs (>16 arcsec^2) have large velocity widths of > 500 km/s. While there are several possible physical interpretations of the Lyman alpha velocity widths (motion of gravitationally-bound gas clouds, inflows, merging of clumps, or outflows from superwinds), the large velocity widths of the Lyman alpha blobs suggest that they are the sites of massive galaxy formation. If we assume gravitationally-bound gas clouds, the dynamical masses of the Lyman alpha blobs are estimated to be ~10^12 - 10^13 Msun. Even for the case of outflows, the outflow velocities are likely to be the same order of the rotation velocities as inferred from the observational evidence for local starburst galaxies.

We obtained a deep wide-field (32' ? 24') narrowband (?c = 4977?,?? = 77?) image of a field including the protocluster at z = 3.1 in the SSA22a field studied by Steidel et al. using the Subaru Telescope. The field we observed is about 10 times as large as that studied by Steidel et al. We detected 283 highly confident strong Ly? emitter candidates at z ~ 3.1 down to 25.8 AB mag with the observed equivalent width larger than 154 ?. These strong Ly? emitter candidates show a highly nonuniform distribution with the beltlike region of high surface density, which is found to extend over ~60 Mpc in comoving scale. The average number density of the strong Ly? emitter candidates in this high-density region is 3 times as high as that of a blank field. The probability of finding such a large-scale high-density peak is as small as 0.1% in the context of the CDM structure formation scenario, if we assume a linear bias parameter b ~ 4. In addition to these strong Ly? emitters, we also detected 49 Ly? absorbers, which show significant deficit in the narrowband image. We further detected 74 extended emitters, which have significant fluxes over the areas of 18 arcsec2 or more. Interestingly, both these absorbers and extended emitters show sky distributions very similar to that of the strong Ly? emitters. This supports the reality of the large-scale structure at z = 3.1 and suggests that galaxy formation preferentially occurs in the high-density region of strong Ly? emitters.

We reported in a previous paper the discovery of large-scale structure of Lyman Alpha emitters (LAEs) at z=4.86+-0.03 with a projected size of 20 Mpc x 50 Mpc in narrow-band data of a 25' x 45' area of the Subaru Deep Field (Omega_0=0.3, lambda_0=0.7, H0=70 km/s/Mpc). However, the surveyed area, which corresponds to 55 Mpc x 100 Mpc, was not large enough that we can conclude that we are seeing a typical distribution of z~5 LAEs. In this Letter, we report the results of follow-up imaging of the same sky area using a new narrow-band filter (NB704, lambda_c=7046 A and FWHM=100 A) to detect LAEs at z=4.79, i.e., LAEs lying closer to us by 39 Mpc on average than the z=4.86 objects. We detect 51 LAEs at z=4.79+-0.04 down to NB704=25.7, and find that their sky distribution is quite different from the z=4.86 LAEs'. The clustering of z=4.79 LAEs is very weak on any scales and there is no large-scale high- contrast structure. The shape and the amplitude of the angular correlation function are thus largely different between the two samples. These results demonstrate a large cosmic variance in the clustering properties of LAEs on scales of ~ 50 Mpc.

Recently, we developed a low-temperature X-ray diffractometer with a dilution refrigerator. By using this measuring system, we investigated phase transitions of PrPtBi (T C =1.35 K ) and Ce 0.7 La 0.3 B 6 (T C =1.4 K ) . These phase transitions are expected to be electronic quadrupole ordering. But it has been unknown if these are ferro- or antiferro-quadrupole ordering. From the temperature dependence of the lattice constant and the full-width at half-maximum of the diffraction spectrum, it was found that the phase transition of PrPtBi seemed to be antiferro-quadrupole ordering and the phase IV in Ce(0.7)L(0.3)B6 to be ferro-quadrupole ordered state.

The X-ray powder diffraction patterns of Mn 1− x Os x ( x ≦0.36) alloys quenched from 1223 K show the β-Mn structure in which Os atoms preferentially occupy site 1, whereas the patterns of the specimens quenched from 873 K exhibit the α-Mn structure below x =0.14. Using the resultant data, we have determined the phase diagram of the Mn–Os alloy system for the first time. The Neel temperature of β-Mn 1− x Os x ( x ≦0.36) alloys determined from the magnetic susceptibility increases with increasing Os concentration. The electronic specific heat coefficient, γ , of samples with relatively low Os concentration is considerably large due to spin fluctuations.

The X-ray powder diffraction patterns of γ-MnRh disordered alloys show lattice distortions, namely, face-centered-tetragonal (fct) and -orthorhombic (fco) structures, depending on the Rh concentration. In the temperature dependence of magnetic susceptibility, an anomaly associated with the lattice distortions is observed below the Neel temperature. These results were used to construct a phase diagram of the γ-MnRh disordered alloy system. The lattice distortions could be correlated to the magnetic susceptibility affected by the spin density wave structures in analogy with γ-MnNi and γ-MnGa alloy systems.

The dependence of magnetoresistivity on the temperature and the magnetic field for the antiferromagnetic CePb2 heavy fermion compound has been investigated. In the paramagnetic temperature region above the Neel temperature TN = 3.6 K, the magnetoresistivity exhibits a negative magnetic field dependence due to the Kondo effect. From Schlottmann's scaling for the Kondo impurity model, the characteristic Kondo field and the Kondo temperature TK were found to be about 5.1 T and 0.8 K, respectively. The value of TK is relatively in accord with the value evaluated from the paramagnetic Curie temperature and also the relation between TK /TN and a specific heat jump associated with the magnetic ordering. In the antiferromagnetic temperature region, the magnetoresistivity at 2 K shows a broad peak around 6 T, suggesting that the antiferromagnetic spin configuration is changed under applied magnetic field.

Concentration dependences of the room temperature lattice constant and the Neel temperature of Mn100−xRhx (19 ≤ x ≤ 30) ordered alloys were investigated. The room temperature lattice constant becomes larger with increasing x. The Neel temperature also increases with the increase of x, and the high Neel temperature is not explained by an exchange interaction as a function of the Mn–Mn distance, but by the number of 3d electrons in the Mn site. Associated with spin fluctuations, the paramagnetic susceptibility increases with increasing temperature and shows a tendency to be saturated.

Since the prediction of a CDW state in alkali metals by Overhauser in 1962, many groups tried to observe this state. However no clear evidence has been reported. We attempted to observe the phase transition in potassium and observed anomalous behavior at about 20 K in magnetic susceptibility, specific heat and lattice constant. To confirm the phase transition at about 20 K in potassium, a muon-spin-relaxation ( μ + SR ) experiment was performed between 10 and 50 K. Temperature dependence of the dynamical μ + SR rate increases below about 20 K.

In this article we report theoretical as well as experimental studies of the electric-field-induced refractive index change in InGaAs/InP quantum-well structures, viz., quantum-film, quantum-wire, and quantum-box structures. The refractive index change, easily measured using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer setup, was around 1%, 4%, and 7% in quantum film, quantum wire, and quantum box, respectively, in the longer-wavelength region corresponding to the positive refractive index change peak. Moreover, we will discuss that the refractive index change dependency on the polarization of incident light in a quantum film can be controlled by introducing suitable tensile strain in it. It was found that for a well width of 11 nm, 0.3% tensile strain should be induced to obtain polarization-independent refractive index change. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

We examined metabolic and functional changes when forebrain ischemia was induced in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats by bilateral carotid artery occlusion. In addition, the protective effect of clentiazem was evaluated in this model. Rats were anesthetized with urethane. Cerebral blood flow was measured with a laser Doppler flowmeter. Cerebral high-energy phosphates and intracellular pH were measured by phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Electroencephalographic activity was evaluated as the summation of its amplitude. These parameters were monitored during a 30-minute period of ischemia and recirculation. Clentiazem was given orally as pretreatment (10 mg/kg twice a day for 3.5 days). Bilateral carotid occlusion caused a decrease in cerebral blood flow to approximately 5% of the preischemic level and the disappearance of electroencephalographic activity. Occlusion also caused a decrease in ATP and phosphocreatine (to 48.7 +/- 4.3% and 23.7 +/- 2.2% of preischemic levels, respectively) as well as intracellular pH (from 7.3 +/- 0.1 to 6.0 +/- 0.1). During recirculation the reversal of these changes was variable: high-energy phosphates were partially restored, but electroencephalographic activity and intracellular pH showed little improvement. Hypoperfusion (55.7 +/- 11.5% of the preischemic flow) developed after reactive hyperemia. Pretreatment with clentiazem lessened the decrease in cerebral blood flow (control, 4.8 +/- 1.4%; clentiazem, 14.1 +/- 4.1% of the preischemic level; P < .05) and prevented the disappearance of electroencephalographic activity in some rats during ischemia. Clentiazem also prevented postischemic hypoperfusion and accelerated the restoration of high-energy phosphates, intracellular pH, and electroencephalographic activity during recirculation. Carotid artery occlusion induced stable forebrain ischemia in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats. Clentiazem improved the metabolic and functional disturbances that occurred in this ischemic model, and its beneficial effect appeared to be due mainly to the relative preservation of cerebral blood flow during carotid occlusion.

The authors hypothesized that inconsistent SIgA response to exercise is caused by the different adaptative status of subjects to a cold environment. The purposes of the study were to examine whether moderate-intense exercise in a cold environment decreases SIgA and whether adaptation to a cold environment has any effect on SIgA.Young male skaters, short track (N=9) and inline (N=10), participated in this study. All subjects cycled for 60 min at 65% VO(2max) in cold (ambient temperature: 5 +or - 1 degrees Celsius, relative humidity 41 + or - 9%) and thermoneutral (ambient temperature: 21 + or - 1 degrees Celsius, relative humidity 35 + or - 5%) conditions. Saliva samples were collected as follows: before and after 1hour of environmental exposure; immediately, 30-min, 60-min and 120-min after the exercise.Salivary SIgA and saliva flow rate decreased after the exercise in both groups only in thermoneutral conditions. The SIgA secretion rate did not decrease after moderate-high intensity exercise in a cold environment, and the SIgA response to exercise was not affected by the different adaptative status of subjects to the cold environment.

The concentration dependence of the room-temperature lattice constant and the Neel temperature of Mn100−xRhx (15⩽x⩽30) disordered and ordered alloys was investigated in order to clarify the difference in the antiferromagnetic properties. The room-temperature lattice constant increases with increasing x and the difference between the disordered and ordered alloys was hardly observed. The Neel temperature increases with increasing x in both the disordered and ordered states. This behavior is not explained by the variation of the strength of the exchange interaction as a function of the Mn–Mn distance but by the number of 3d electrons in the Mn site. The Neel temperature in the ordered state is 130–160 K higher than that in the disordered state, indicating that the exchange interaction is enhanced by ordering.

An evaluation of the bending loss of single-mode fibers based on the measured mode field is described. The field decay constant and the normalized field intensity in the cladding are determined. Experimental results verified the validity of this method. Its accuracy is determined by the accuracy of field measurement. The mode field is calculated from the far-field distribution measured with finite dynamic range of more than 50 dB. Far-field measurement with finite dynamic range limits the accuracy of field evaluation. Dispersion shifted fibers are easier for evaluation because of the wider far-field distribution. Bending loss and mode field diameter can be measured simultaneously, and the method is applicable to any single-mode fibers with a matched clad structure. A microbending loss formula is also determined by the decay constant and the normalized field intensity in the cladding as well as uniform bending loss. >

Temperature dependence of magnetic susceptibility and electrical resistivity of (Ce1-xLax)Pb2 compounds have been investigated in order to study the effect of substituting La for Ce in a heavy fermion system. The effective magnetic moment estimated from the Curie-Weiss law agrees with that of the theoretical trivalent Ce-ion and independent of the La concentration in high temperatures. The temperature dependence of the magnetic contribution to the electrical resistivity continuously changes from a dense to dilute Kondo regime with increasing La concentration. This behavior would be correlated to a reduction of the Kondo temperature by the substitution of La for Ce.

Magnetic and specific heat measurements of Ce5Pb3 compound with a Mn5Si3-type structure have been carried out. The magnetic susceptibility shows two peaks at 3.5 and 20.5 K due to the magnetic transitions. The paramagnetic Curie tempertature and the effective magnetic moment obtained from the magnetic susceptibility are -8.2 K and 2.6μB, respectively. These results indicate that 4 f electrons are localized in high temperatures and the ground state is antiferromagnetic. The electronic specific heat coefficient, γ, is about 120 mJ/Ce-mol K2, and the Debye temperature, θD, is estimated to be 150 K. From these results, it is concluded that Ce5Pb3 is an antiferromagnetic heavy-fermion compound. The Neel temperature TN of Ce5Pb3 compound is higher than that of other Ce-Pb compounds, which is related to the two kinds of Ce sites.

We developed a novel technique to investigate individual properties of microorganisms on a chip using in-situ microfabrication of permeation membrane with photo-crosslinkable resin. A cage having vertical permeation membrane was fabricated in situ in the microchannel by providing the photo-crosslinkable resin and curing it in situ by the focused UV irradiation. An arbitrary selected individual cell was transported inside the cage by the newly developed laser micromanipulation method employing a microtool made by the local thermal gelation. The cage was freely and properly constructed at arbitrary position in the microchannel. Since the cage is made of the permeable membrane, we can culture the cells in it and observe their chemical reactions microscopically by providing growth media or reagents. In experiment, we confirmed repeatability of on-demand analysis of isolated individual yeast cells.

We report the discovery of a large-scale coherent filamentary structure of Lyman alpha emitters in a redshift space at z=3.1. We carried out spectroscopic observations to map the three dimensional structure of the belt-like feature of the Lyman alpha emitters discovered by our previous narrow-band imaging observations centered on the protocluster at z=3.1. The feature was found to consist of at least three physical filaments connecting with each other. The result is in qualitative agreement with the prediction of the 'biased' galaxy-formation theories that galaxies preferentially formed in large-scale filamentary or sheet-like mass overdensities in the early Universe. We also found that the two known giant Lyman alpha emission-line nebulae showing high star-formation activities are located near the intersection of these filaments, which presumably evolves into a massive cluster of galaxies in the local Universe. This may suggest that massive galaxy formation occurs at the characteristic place in the surrounding large-scale structure at high redshift., Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letters

We report the properties of the 35 robust candidates of Ly-alpha blobs (LABs), which are larger than 16 arcsec^2 in isophotal area and brighter than 0.7 x 10^-16 ergs s^-1 cm^-2, searched in and around the proto-cluster region at redshift z=3.1 discovered by Steidel et al. in the SSA22 field, based on wide-field (31'x23') and deep narrow-band (NB497; 4977/77) and broad-band (B,V, and R) images taken with the prime-focus camera on the Subaru telescope. The two previously known giant LABs are the most luminous and the largest ones in our survey volume of 1.3 x 10^5 Mpc^3. We revealed the internal structures of the two giant LABs and discovered some bubble-like features, which suggest that intensive starburst and galactic superwind phenomena occurred in these objects in the past. The rest 33 LABs have isophotal area of about 16-78 arcsec^2 and flux of 0.7-7 x 10^-16 ergs s^-1 cm^-2. These 35 LABs show a continuous distribution of isophotal area and emission line flux. The distributions of average surface brightness and morphology are widespread from relatively compact high surface brightness objects to very diffuse low surface brightness ones. The physical origins of these LABs may be (i) photo-ionization by massive stars, or active galactic nuclei, or (ii) cooling radiation from gravitationally heated gas, or (iii) shock heating by starburst driven galactic superwind. One third of them are apparently not associated with ultra-violet continuum sources that are bright enough to produce Ly-alpha emission, assuming a Salpeter initial mass function. The 90% of these LABs are located inside the high surface density region of the 283 relatively compact and strong Ly-alpha emitters selected in our previous study. This suggests that these LABs may be the phenomena related to dense environment at high redshift., 27 pages, 16 figures, to be published in AJ, for high resolution figures, see http://optik2.mtk.nao.ac.jp/~matsdayi/figures/

The authors report the absorption-coefficient variation of a tensile-strained InGaAs/InP quantum well measured throughout the spectral range near and away from the bandgap. They discuss the spectral absorption-coefficient variation spectra of an unstrained, a 0.15%, a 0.30%, and a 0.45% tensile-strained quantum well and show that the difference between the wavelengths of absorption-coefficient variation peaks for TE and TM modes becomes zero with 0.3% tensile strain. It is shown that this wavelength difference varies linearly with the magnitude of the strain. >

We have experimentally observed the polarization independent electric field induced absorption coefficient variation in an InGaAs/InP tensile strained quantum well (QW) structure for the first time. We have also found that the field induced absorption coefficient/refractive index variation of strained QW for the transverse electric (TE) mode does not change appreciably from that of an unstrained one. Based on these results, we propose tensile strained QW for polarization independent optical switch/modulator.

New optical fiber filters are fabricated using a Mach Zehnder interferometric structure in a twin core fiber. It is possible to change the filtering characteristics by bending the twin core fiber.

The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) curves and the temperature dependence of magnetic susceptibility for /spl gamma/-MnRh ordered alloys show a marked peak associated with the magnetic transition. The Neel temperature of Mn/sub 77/Rh/sub 23/ and Mn/sub 75/Rh/sub 25/ ordered alloys is determined to be about 830 and 850 K, respectively. The paramagnetic susceptibility increases with increasing temperature, showing an itinerant electron characteristics. The thermal expansion coefficient becomes small below the Neel temperature due to a large spontaneous volume magnetostriction, taking about 5/spl times/10/sup -6//K around room temperature. Such alloys with a small thermal expansion coefficient would induce some strain in multilayers because of the difference between the thermal expansion.

Concentration dependence of the Neel temperature of /spl gamma/-Mn/sub 100-x/Ru/sub x/ (31/spl les//spl times//spl les/37) alloy systems has been investigated. The Neel temperature increases with decreasing Mn concentration in analogy with /spl gamma/-Mn-Ir and /spl gamma/-Mn-Rh alloys. The Neel temperature of the present alloy system is the highest in disordered /spl gamma/-Mn-TM (TM/spl equiv/Fe,Ni,Rh,Pd,Ir and Pt) alloys, suggesting that the Neel temperature becomes higher with a decreasing number of 3d electrons in the Mn site.

The authors studied the pharmacological properties of N-(6-(2-(5-bromopyrimidin-4-yl)-4-(2-hydroxy-1, 1-dimethylethyl)benzensulfonamide sodium salt sesquihydrate (T-0201), a new nonpeptide endothelin (ET) receptor antagonist, in vitro and in vivo. In binding studies, T-0201 competitively antagonized the specific binding of [125I]-ET-1 to human cloned ETA receptors (the Ki value was 0.015 +/- 0.004 nM). T-0201 weakly inhibited [125I]-ET-1-binding to human cloned ETB receptors; the Ki value was 41 +/- 21 nM. T-0201 shifted the concentration-response curve of ET-1-induced contraction of the isolated rat aorta (ETA receptors) to the right (pA2 = 9.0 +/- 0.2). In the isolated rat trachea, a selective ETB agonist sarafotoxin S6c-induced contraction was inhibited by T-0201 (pA2 = 6.8 +/- 0.3). T-0201 also caused the inhibition of ET-1-induced contraction of the isolated rabbit pulmonary artery (pA2 = 5.7 +/- 0.3). In anesthetized rats, T-0201 (0.01-1 mg/kg) inhibited the pressor response to exogenous big ET-1 (1 nmol/kg i.v.), after both i.v. and p.o. administration, in a dose-dependent manner. The significant inhibitory effect of orally administered T-0201 on big ET-1-induced pressor response lasted for 4 hr at 0.1 mg/kg and for 8 hr at 1 mg/kg. Thus the present study demonstrates that T-0201 is a highly potent, long-lasting, orally active and selective ETA receptor antagonist.

A high splice loss over 0.5 dB is induced when a fiber with Aeff over 110 μm 2 is spliced with a conventional fiber. The loss can be reduced down to a half of an initial value or less by the mode-field conversion technique.