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In a honeycomb-lattice Mott insulator α-RuCl3, an ultrafast magnetization is induced by circularly polarized excitation of spin-orbit excitons. An ultrafast 6-fs measurement clarifies that the orbital moment emerges from a coherent inter-orbital charge motion.

The aim of this study was to investigate the probability of facial nerve injury (FNI) in the treatment of condylar neck and subcondylar fractures (CN/SCFs) with percutaneous approaches and to identify factors predicting FNI. The data of 80 patients with 87 CN/SCFs were evaluated retrospectively. The primary outcome was FNI occurrence. The predictor variables were age, sex, aetiology, alcohol consumption, fracture site and pattern (dislocation or not), concomitant fractures, time interval to surgery, surgeon experience, plate type, and the dual classification of percutaneous approaches. The approaches were classified based on whether subcutaneous dissection traversed the marginal mandibular branch (MMB) deeply (deep group: submandibular and retroparotid approaches) or superficially (superficial group: transparotid, transmasseteric anteroparotid (TMAP), and high cervical-TMAP approaches). Twenty-two patients (27.5%) suffered FNI, of whom two in the deep group had permanent paralysis of the MMB. In the multivariate logistic regression model, deeply traversing surgery approaches (odds ratio 12.4, P=0.025) and the presence of a dislocated fracture (odds ratio 6.66, P=0.012) were associated with an increased risk of FNI. These results suggest that percutaneous approaches in the superficial group should be recommended for the treatment of CN/SCFs to reduce the risk of FNI.

Molecules essential for the induction of immunogenic cell death (ICD) are called damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). The effects of oncolytic herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) on the production of DAMPs were examined in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cells. The cytopathic effects of HSV-1 RH2 were observed in mouse SCCVII cells infected at a high multiplicity of infection (MOI), and the amounts of viable cells were decreased. After being infected with RH2, ATP and high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) were released extracellulary, while calreticulin (CRT) translocated to the cell membrane. A flow-cytometric analysis revealed an increase in the number of annexin-V and propidium iodide (PI)-stained cells; and the amount of cleaved poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) was increased. The killing effect of RH2 was reduced by pan-caspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk and the caspase-1 inhibitor z-YVAD-fmk, suggesting the involvement of apoptosis and pyroptosis. In C3H mice bearing synergic SCCVII tumors, the growth of tumors injected with the supernatant of RH2-infected cells was less than that of tumors injected with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). These results indicate that oncolytic HSV-1 RH2 produces DAMPs from SCC cells to induce cell death. This may contribute to the enhancement of tumor immunity by oncolytic HSV-1.

Low-intensity ultrasound is a useful method to enhance the delivery of drugs to target cells via a range of mechanisms including the transient formation of micropores in the cell membrane, a process known as sonoporation. The effect of ultrasound on oncolytic herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1) infection in oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was examined. Human SCC cell line SAS and oncolytic HSV-1 RH2, which was deficient in the neurovirulent γ134.5 gene and exhibited cell fusion actions, were used. Cells grown in multi-well plates were infected with HSV-1 and exposed to ultrasound in the presence or absence of microbubbles after an adsorption period. The number of plaques was significantly greater than that of the untreated control. SAS cells were inoculated subcutaneously into nude mice and tumors were produced. Tumors were injected with HSV-1 RH2 with or without microbubbles and then exposed to ultrasound through the covering skin. The amount of the virus in tumor tissues 3 days after the injection was higher in tumors treated with HSV-1 RH2 and ultrasound than in tumors treated with RH2 only. The expression of the HSV-1 antigen was also increased by ultrasound and microbubbles. Tumor growth was suppressed with HSV-1 RH2 in combination with ultrasound, especially with microbubbles. These results indicated that ultrasound increased the efficiency of the HSV-1 infection in SAS cells and nude mouse tumors. This method can potentially be useful to enhance the antitumor effects of oncolytic HSV-1 on head and neck cancer treatment.

We report hydrogen permeation through polysilicon thin film and/or single crystal silicon out of cavities filled with hydrogen and estimate the activation energy of the permeation between 450°C and 700°C. Being calculated from our data, the time required for permeation at 200°C of the cavity which is strictly covered by silicon is 105 times longer than that of the cavity which has diffusion pathways formed by silicon dioxide. To be best of our knowledge, this is a first report of hermeticity against hydrogen of sealing structures which is surrounded by silicon without silicon dioxide pathways.

Biomass is sustainable and a source for renewable energy to overcome the limitation of fossil fuel. The research used woody pellet feedstock with 0.79 g/cm3 of bulk density and 6 mm diameter in the syngas production. Therefore, downdraft gasifier reactor with a stainless steel pipe 500 mm length and 120 mm inner diameter produced syngas as producer gas. Reciprocated Internal Combustion Engine (R-ICE) was used to drive the syngas production from biomass gasification process with 1800 rpm ± 20 rpm in constant engine speed. The Indication of Mean Effective Pressure (IMEP) and Excess Air Rate (EAR) were applied as the parameters for analyzing the system. Kawasaki FD750 with single cylinder was implemented to test the effect of syngas instability. Oxidizer and fuel for the engine were mixed in the venture which typed Heinzmann, GM 50 to make homogenous fuel. The laminar flow meter type of Sokken, LFE-25B was adapted to measure the intake air flow rate, and the digital ignition system of Altronic, CD200D was used to control the ignition timing. In conclusion, the synthetic gas (syngas) as the main fuel will not be enough to replicate drive on R-ICE.

It has recently been reported that the transverse acetabular ligament (TAL) is helpful in determining the position of the acetabular component in total hip replacement (THR). In this study we used a computer-assisted navigation system to determine whether the TAL is useful as a landmark in THR. The study was carried out in 121 consecutive patients undergoing primary THR (134 hips), including 67 dysplastic hips (50%). There were 26 men (29 hips) and 95 women (105 hips) with a mean age of 60.2 years (17 to 82) at the time of operation. After identification of the TAL, its anteversion was measured intra-operatively by aligning the inferomedial rim of the trial acetabular component with the TAL using computer-assisted navigation. The TAL was identified in 112 hips (83.6%). Intra-observer reproducibility in the measurement of anteversion of the TAL was high, but inter-observer reproducibility was moderate.Each surgeon was able to align the trial component according to the target value of the angle of anteversion of the TAL, but it was clear that methods may differ among surgeons. Of the measurements of the angle of anteversion of the TAL, 5.4% (6 of 112 hips) were outliers from the safe zone.In summary, we found that the TAL is useful as a landmark when implanting the acetabular component within the safe zone in almost all hips, and to prevent it being implanted in retroversion in all hips, including dysplastic hips. However, as anteversion of the TAL may be excessive in a few hips, it is advisable to pay attention to individual variations, particularly in those with severe posterior pelvic tilt.Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2014;96-B:306–11.

Measurements for internal dose assessment are required to be conducted based on the distribution of radionuclides in the body, which may change depending on the lapsed time. In this study, a biokinetic analysis code, which can be used in practical radiation control is developed, and the results of (60)Co and (137)Cs biokinetics are visualised as examples by drawing the depositions for each organ and tissue in a figure of the body as a function of lapsed time. In addition, based on visualised biokinetics, precautions for in vivo measurements are also discussed. These discussions led to the conclusion that the information of visualised biokinetics is useful for actual measurements in practical radiation control.

The strong light-field effect of (TMTTF)2AsF6 was investigated utilizing 1.5-cycle, 7-fs infrared pulses. The ultarfast (20 fs) and large (40%) response of the plasma-like reflectivity edge (0.7 eV) was analyzed by the changes in omega_p=sqrt(ne2/(epsilon_0*epsilon(infty)*m)} (n: number of charges in the 1/4 filled-band, m: mass of charge, epsilon(infty): dielectric constants for high-frequency and vacuum, e: elementary charge). The 3% reduction in omega_p is attributed to the 6% increase in m. Furthermore, 20 fs oscillation of omega_p in the time domain indicates that the plasma-like edge is affected by the charge gap (0.2 eV) nature. Theoretical calculations suggest that the Coulomb repulsion plays an important role in the increase in m.

Primary dynamics of photo-induced melting of charge order (CO) and metallic domain formation in [bis(ethlylenedithio)] tetrathiafulvalene (BEDT-TTF) salts α-(BEDT-TTF)2I3 were studied using an infrared (1.4 μm) pump–probe spectroscopy with a time resolution of 30 fs. Faster (

The magnetoresistances (MRs) of Cr and Cr0.985V0.015 (Cr–V) alloy have been measured at high pressures up to 2.0 GPa in order to elucidate the relation between the transport properties and spin density wave (SDW) antiferromagnetic state. The resistance of Cr is found to increase with increasing magnetic field (H). MR ratios of Cr and Cr–V alloy at room temperature are nearly 0% and 0.3% at 7 T, respectively. But at 77 K, these are 70% and 30% at 7 T at ambient pressure, respectively. MR ratio of Cr at 77 K is found to show a peak ∼1.3 GPa but that of Cr–V alloy decreases smoothly with pressure. The origins of the pressure dependence in the magnitude of MR are discussed in connection with the SDW antiferromagnetic states.

Current oncolytic viruses exert only limited antitumor activity on their own. There is a need to increase their oncolytic capability. We evaluated the effect of a differentiating reagent, hexamethylene bisacetamide (HMBA), on the antitumor activity of a gamma(1)34.5-deficient herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) R849 for human oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cells. Hexamethylene bisacetamide increased the viral yield, especially at a low input multiplicity of infection (MOI), and the transcription of immediate early genes of HSV-1. Hexamethylene bisacetamide treatment promoted the cytopathic effect of R849 and increased the proportion of dead cells. Hexamethylene bisacetamide produced more apoptotic cells in R849-infected cells as compared with parental HSV-1(F)-infected cells. The growth of oral SCC xenografts in nude mice was markedly suppressed by treatment with R849 in combination with HMBA, and the survival of the co-treated animals was significantly prolonged as compared with that of animals treated with R849 only. Herpes simplex virus type 1 mRNA was expressed in tumors and trigeminal neurons, but not in brain, lung, liver, and kidney. These results indicate that HMBA enhances the antitumor activity of R849 through the expression of immediate early genes without increasing its toxicity. Hexamethylene bisacetamide can be used as an enhancing agent for oncolytic therapy with HSV-1 mutants.

Mandibular reconstruction is required after segmental resection of the mandible. Several techniques have been proposed but have several drawbacks. A modified system (based on Leibinger's titanium-positioning system) that can reposition the residual mandible easily and accurately without interfering with the reconstructive procedure was developed. This system has been used successfully in more than 10 patients, with no complications.

Organ doses and effective doses were calculated for monoenergetic electrons from 0.1 to 200 MeV using the EGS4 Monte Carlo simulation code and the MIRD-5 human phantom in various non-uniform exposure geometries: anterior-posterior (AP) and posterior-anterior (PA). Below 1 MeV, the skin is the main contributor to the effective dose conversion coefficients for each exposure geometry; however, above 1 MeV the calculations showed that the effective doses of partial exposures depended on the incident electron energy, the place and the size of the exposure on the body.

To estimate radiation hazards in the accidental exposure to energetic electrons, effective doses were calculated with the EGS4 Monte Carlo simulation code and the MIRD-5 human phantom for high energy electron beams like those from a LINAC in which non-uniform exposure of the human body would occur. The calculations show that the effective doses depend on the incident electron energy and beam size and on the place of the exposure of the body.

p34(cdc2) is a protein kinase that plays an important role in the control of the cell cycle and regulation of activity of the tumor suppressor gene. Previously, we demonstrated that cisplatin (CDDP) induced growth suppression resulting in differentiation of teratocarcinoma F9 cells. In the present study, we investigated the mechanism of cell cycle retardation by CDDP in F9 cells, focusing on p34(cdc2). After the induction of differentiation with CDDP, F9 cells were arrested at the late S+G2/M. After treatment with CDDP, the level of the expression of cdc2 mRNA did not change. However, the half-life of p34(cdc2) was greatly reduced, thus, the level of p34(cdc2) protein was decreased. These findings suggest that the cell cycle arrest by CDDP is due partly to the induced instability of p34(cdc2) in F9 cells.

樹上および追熟中のトマト果実を対象に, 理化学的測定および官能検査を行い, 色による食味の定量的評価の可能性を検討した.得られた結果は次のとおりである.(1) 樹上果実と追熟果実の着色パターンが異なり, 追熟果実は樹上果実より着色が均一に進んだ.温度20℃, 相対湿度85%の条件下で催色期に採取した果実を追熟すると, 7日間でa/b値が0.06から1.70に増加し, 目減りが2%と小さかった.(2) 果汁の糖度は, a/b値が0.79以上の樹上果実では4.9Bx°と一定であり, 追熟果実ではa/b値が0.79の時に5.3Bx°の最大値が得られた.pHは樹上果実と追熟果実とともにa/b値の増加に伴って上昇した.(3) 追熟果実はほとんどの官能検査内容について, a/b値が高いほど, 得点が高かった.同一のa/b値において, 樹上果実は追熟果実より高い評価を得た.樹上果実と追熟果実の食味はそれぞれのa/b値により定量的に評価しうることが明らかになった.

The effects of garlic on diethylnitrosoamine (DEN)-induced hepatocarcinogenesis were examined in male Wistar rats using the medium term bioassay system of Ito based on the two-step model of hepatocarcinogenesis. Carcinogenic potential was scored by comparing the number and area/cm(2) of induced glutathione S-transferase placental form (GST-P) positive foci in the liver with those of the corresponding group (control) of rats given diethylnitrosoamine alone. Treatment with garlic (therapeutic dose 20 mg/kg body wt/day) reduced significantly the number (50% reduction, p < 0.003) and area (48% reduction, p < 0.0007) of GST-P positive foci compared with the control group of animals receiving distilled water. Histopathological examination of rat livers using H & E staining indicated that there was no significant difference between the control group and the garlic treated group in the two pathological parameters namely granularity and vacuolation of the cytoplasm. Our results provide strong supportive evidence for the anticarcinogenic activity of garlic.

The enhancement effect of surface decomposition using supersonic beam was found for the first time, in the fabrication of GaN quantum dots on AlGaN/6H-SiC(0 0 0 1) surfaces by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy. GaN quantum dots were successfully fabricated using Si which was supplied by supersonic beam of CH 3 SiH 3 , while the GaN dots could not be formed using usual beam of CH 3 SiH 3 . The optical properties of the fabricated GaN quantum dots were investigated by photoluminescence measurements. The advantage by using supersonic beam technique in the enhancement of surface reaction was demonstrated.

Lund (Jakobsson) の組織学的悪性度評価法を用い, 扁平上皮癌30例について一次治療前と再発時の組織学的悪性度を生検標本より求めた。外科療法群 (S群) 10例と放射線治療群 (R群) 20例に分け, Lund の8項目と総点数について, 両群の変化を比較した。悪性度総点数の増加した症例は, S群で40%, R群で75%であった。総点数の平均値の変化は, S群で0.5点 (18.4→18.8) (ns), R群で3.2点 (18.8→22.0) (p

The factors inducing the formation of style- and stigma-like (SSL) structures by ovule culture in tobacco were investigated. In juvenile ovules which were excised from flower buds containing pollen grains at unicellular stage, the key to the formation of these structures seems to be isolation of the ovules with placenta from surrounding tissues and organs. Plant growth substances were not necessary for these formations in the ovules. However, kinetin was necessary for these formations in more advanced ovules which were excised from flower buds containing pollen grains at bicellular stage. In media containing kinetin, ovule-like structures were also observed on the basal part of style-like structures. The ability of pollen germination on the stigma-like tissues and pollen tube penetration into style-like structures was confirmed. This observation seems to indicate that these structures have the same functions as normal stigmas and styles. Moreover, the morphological characteristics of the SSL structures were similar to those of normal tissues.

We performed subpicosecond pump-and-probe measurements of CuCl nanocrystals at 77 K using a UV pump light of moderate intensity and high repetition rate and also a UV white probe light. For CuCl nanocrystals embedded in a glass matrix and in an NaCl matrix, we compare the temporal behavior of the non-linear change in the confined exciton absorption band induced by the existence of one exciton per nanocrystal. The decay time of the non-linear change is found to be much faster in the glass matrix than in NaCl, reflecting shortening of the exciton lifetime due to the photofatigue effect.

This paper presents a new approach to partially automating a human expert's proficient interpretation skills for data and knowledge fusion in signal-understanding tasks. The authors start by recognizing the fact that signal interpretation is attributed much to a human expert's domain-specific, pattern-perceiving capability of grasping raw signals by structured representations having multiple levels of abstraction, rather than to some objectively defined knowledge. In other words, that is an emergent or self-organizing process, where information is regarded as perceptual as opposed to objectively defined. First, they attempt to organize such structured representations by usage of a hierarchical clustering method of data analysis. Then, based on these representations they model a human expert's interpretation skill as an activity of searching for an optimum combination of those perceptual units within that structured representation space being constrained by the data. In order to implement this activity, they introduce a genetic algorithm and apply it to the structured representation space assimilating a human analyst's creative interpreting task in flexibly shifting the focal view of attention from the coarse to the precise. They implement a working system for signal understanding of the remote sensing data of seismic prospecting and show the results output by the system.

We have investigated the dynamics of confined excitons and their optical nonlinearities in CuCl quantum dots embedded in NaCl and glass matrices using subpicosecond band-to-band excitation. The quantum dots in the glass matrix exhibit a smaller blue shift of the exciton bands and much weaker optical gain due to biexcitons.

A calculational method is presented to evaluate equivalent doses of tissues or organs and effective dose for high energy radiations, where the radiation weighting factor given in ICRP 60 was replaced by an average quality factor estimated from the Q-L relationship in ICRP 60. The equivalent doses of tissues or organs and fluence to effective dose conversion coefficients are calculated for photons up to 10GeV with a Monte Carlo code EGS4 in which a mathematical model of an anthropomorphic phantom is included. The equivalent doses for 24 tissue and organs have been calculated for AP and PA incidence of aligned and expanded photons from I MeV to 10 GeV. The effective doses were obtained by summing the equivalent doses with tissue weighting factors from ICRP 60. It is also demonstrated that the kerma approximation overestimates significantly the effective dose for photons above 10 MeV.

cis-Diammine dichloroplatinum(II) (CDDP) is the salt of a platinum compound which has been noted to have a wide spectrum of activity against malignant disorders. We have studied the effects of CDDP on embryonal carcinoma F9 cell differentiation. In the presence of this agent in vitro, the cells showed rapid morphological changes, a marked increase in the mRNA expression of various differentiation markers accompanied by a loss of tumorigenicity. These results indicate that the differentiation of F9 cells is induced with CDDP.

This paper presents a method for designing a set of rules for a general knowledge-based controller. For this purpose, we first introduce a representation and analysis scheme called influence diagram from a field of the decision theory, and provide a generic model for a sensor-based control. We show that a rationally-designed control rule set can be obtained by performing probabilistic reasoning and by compiling the solutions obtained from this model. Next, as a practical application, we apply the method to the design of the knowledge-based control system for a wastewater treatment (i. e., sewage disposal) plant. We attemp to explicate the expert operator's cognitive map concerning with this plant by influence diagrams and show that our method derives a set of control rules that is rationally designed for establishing the coordinate control of multiple processes. Finally, the derived control rules are applied to an actual plant for the sewage disposal and the control result is shown.

To test the possibility of a peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR) γ agonist to treat neuropathic pain, we examined the effects of pioglitazone, a PPARγ agonist, on tactile allodynia and expression of activated microglia in the dorsal horn of spinal cord using neuropathic pain model. The unilateral sciatic nerve was partially ligated (PSL) in male ICR mice. Pioglitazone (1-25 mg/kg p.o.) was administrated to mice once daily for five days immediately after PSL. We stimulated the footpad of the hind paw of mice using a von Frey filament to estimate tactile allodynia on day 5 of PSL. The activated microglia in the lumbar spinal cord was observed by immunohistochemistry with anti-Iba1 antibody, a marker for activated microglia. The number of Iba1-immunoreactive cells was counted in the dorsal horn spinal cord. On day 5, significant allodynia was developed in PSL mice. Pioglitazone significantly attenuated the tactile allodynia in a dose of 1-25 mg/kg. However, these doses of pioglitazone did not affect nociceptive responses in sham mice. Moreover, on day 6, the number of activated microglia was significantly increased in the ipsilateral dorsal horn of mice. The increase in the number of activated microglia induced by PSL was significantly suppressed by pioglitazone (1-25 mg/kg p.o.). Pioglitazone did not affect the number of activated microglia in sham mice. These results suggest that PPARγ activation inhibits the development of tactile allodynia and the expression of activated microglia in the dorsal horn of spinal cord in mice with PSLinduced peripheral nerve injury.

We investigated whether dysfunction of p53 and E-cadherin participate in invasiveness and metastasis of human gastric carcinoma. We examined twenty-five human gastric carcinomas for p53, E-cadherin, alpha- and beta-catenin gene alteration by the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (RT-PCR-SSCP) method and sequencing analysis. Three samples (13%) showed p53 gene mutation (two missense mutations and 6 bp deletion). 25% (3/12) of the carcinomas with lymph node metastasis had p53 gene mutations. One sample (4%) showed E-cadherin silent mutation. We were not able to detect alpha- or beta-catenin gene alteration. Therefore we investigated tyrosine-phosphorylation of E-cadherin, a and beta-catenin. Tyrosine-phosphorylated beta-catenin was detected in 13% (2/15) of poorly differentiated carcinomas. These results suggest that the p53 gene mutations have some correlation with lymph node metastasis, and tyrosine phosphorylation of beta-catenin rather than cadherin/catenin gene mutation is at least partly responsible for the loosening of cell-cell contact and invasiveness of poorly differentiated carcinomas.

We present a case of post-traumatic osteonecrosis of the radial head in a 13-year-old boy which was treated with costo-osteochondral grafts. A satisfactory outcome was seen at a follow-up of two years and ten months. Although costo-osteochondral grafting has been used in the treatment of defects in articular cartilage, especially in the hand and the elbow, the extension of the technique to manage post-traumatic osteonecrosis of the radial head in a child has not previously been reported in the English language literature. Complete relief of pain was obtained and an improvement in the range of movement was observed. The long-term results remain uncertain.