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Radon has been known to dissolve well in water although the exact mechanism of this process is still not clear. Thus we investigate a correlation of the solubility of radon to solvent clusters. We found experimentally that the solubility decreases in ethanol–water solutions at certain ethanol contents. Calculation of the clathration enthalpies for a noble gas atom confined in (H2O)20 clusters were performed by using a DFT method to find a correlation between the theoretical enthalpies and experimental enthalpies of dissolution. It is suggested from the results that radon is water-soluble due to encapsulation in a water cluster.

In many high-temperature superconducting (HTS) rotating machines of radial flux type, the magnetic field from one side surface of the field pole is employed facing the armature winding. However, both side surfaces of the field pole can be effectively utilised to face the armature windings. Thus, we have applied the double armature structure in which both inner and outer armature rotors sandwiched the field pole stator in the HTS synchronous generator. We introduce the first step design and the electromagnetic study of the double armature synchronous machine for tidal current power generation. The double armatures with copper winding were adopted with a field pole composed of the HTS bulks. The power and the torque density were calculated with a low speed that depends on a 500 kW contra-rotating turbine design. In this paper, we comparatively studied three electromagnetic designs in which (1) a permanent magnet was used for the field pole, (2) the HTS bulk was employed as the field pole and (3) the field pole HTS bulk was arranged at an angle in the x-y plane, reducing torque ripple due to torque consistency and tilting of the HTS bulk plate. A generator model consistent with the input mechanical torque of the turbine was obtained from the analysis of compatibility with the 500 kW class tidal current power generation.

A bone metastasis from uterine cervical cancer normally indicates short life expectancy. Resection of the lesion is therefore palliative. The authors consider herein whether surgical resection can promote disease control while improving quality of life. A 33-year-old woman -presenting FIGO Stage IB 1 uterine cervical squamous cell carcinoma underwent a radical hysterectomy and pelvic irradiation. Twenty-two-months later, a solitary femoral metastasis was detected. Given the pain, imminent bone fracture, the patient's relative youth, absence of other metastases, and complete control of the primary lesion, wide excision of the lesion, and reconstruction were performed. Sixteen months later, she was disease-free and ambulatory using a cane. The findings of both the present case and the review showed that patients were disease-free for over one year after surgery, suggesting that resection may assist disease control as well as improve patients' quality of life.

The origins of low resistivity in H ion-implanted ZnO bulk single crystals are studied by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), nuclear reaction analysis (NRA) photoluminescence (PL), and Van der Pauw methods. The H-ion implantation (peak concentration: 1.45 × 1020 cm−3) into ZnO is performed using a 500 keV implanter. The resistivity decreases from 2.5 × 103 Ω cm for unimplanted ZnO to 6.5 Ω cm for as-implanted one. RBS measurements show that Zn interstitial as a shallow donor is not recognized in as-implanted samples. From photoluminescence measurements, the broad green band emission is observed in as-implanted samples. NRA measurements for as-implanted ZnO suggest the existence of the oxygen interstitial. The origins of the low resistivity in the as-implanted sample are attributed to both the H interstitial as a shallow donor and complex donor between H and disordered O. The activation energy of H related donors estimated from the temperature dependence of carrier concentration is 29 meV.

Several radiological methods of measuring anteversion of the acetabular component after total hip replacement (THR) have been described. These studies used different definitions and reference planes to compare methods, allowing for misinterpretation of the results. We compared the reliability and accuracy of five current methods using plain radiographs (those of Lewinnek, Widmer, Liaw, Pradhan, and Woo and Morrey) with CT measurements, using the same definition and reference plane. We retrospectively studied the plain radiographs and CT scans in 84 hips of 84 patients who underwent primary THR. Intra- and inter-observer reliability were high for the measurement of inclination and anteversion with all methods on plain radiographs and CT scans. The measurements of inclination on plain radiographs were similar to the measurements using CT (p = 0.043). The mean difference between CT measurements was 0.6° (-5.9° to 6.8°). Measurements using Widmer’s method were the most similar to those using CT (p = 0.088), with a mean difference between CT measurements of -0.9° (-10.4° to 9.1°), whereas the other four methods differed significantly from those using CT (p < 0.001). This study has shown that Widmer’s method is the best for evaluating the anteversion of the acetabular component on plain radiographs. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2014; 96-B:597–603.

Many yield functions have been proposed in academia to describe the complicated shapes of yield surfaces of metals. However, many of the commercial FEM codes provide only classical yield functions. Moreover, it takes a long time for engineers to implement newly proposed yield functions to commercial FEM codes. The Japan Association for Nonlinear CAE (JANCAE), a non-profit organization, developed the Unified Material Model Driver for plasticity (UMMDp) subroutine suite with the cooperation of industry users of CAE and the engineers of software venders. This subroutine provides several anisotropic yield functions, and is applicable to most of the commercial FEM codes. The users can implement their own anisotropic yield functions easily using the UMMDp. This paper presents the basic framework of UMMDp and the development activities performed with many volunteers.

Phase-shifting digital holography is applied to measure the shapes and positions of rough surfaces from the averaged conjugate product of the reconstructed complex amplitudes, named complex coherence factor, corresponding to dual wavelengths. The phase of the averaged product at the object plane provides the shape of the surface, whereas the peak position of the modulus with respect to reconstruction distance provides the position of the surface. The phase is almost free from speckle noise and easy to be unwrapped. The resultant resolution of surface shape amounts to a few tens of micrometres. The sensitivity of the position measurement that requires no marking on the object is several per cent of object distance from a charge-coupled device (CCD). The method corresponds to the detection of the position of maximum contrast of the fringes to be observed in conventional holographic interferometry. It makes use of fringe phase for shape mea- surement and fringe contrast for position measurement. Both the theory explaining the principle and experimental results are presented.

We analyze the vertical separation of a regulator when a government delegates the task to monitor a regulated firm to an intermediate institution called a “middleman”. We deal with the double adverse selection problem between the government and the middleman, and between the middleman and the firm. We reach three main conclusions. First, we clarify the condition under which vertical separation is socially superior to vertically integrated regulation. Second, we show that when the middleman and the firm are able to collude by using a side contract, collusion can lead to information-sharing effects that enhance social welfare. Third, it is socially desirable for the government to offer a collusion-proof contract to the middleman if the collusion inefficiency is much larger than the expected socially desirable information-sharing effects.

X-ray photoelectron, emission, and Auger electron spectra of diamond, graphite, and fullerene have been analyzed by deMon density-functional theory (DFT) calculations using the model molecules adamantane derivative (C 1 0 H 1 2 (CH 3 ) 4 ), pyrene (C 1 6 H 1 0 ), and C 6 0 , respectively. The theoretical valence photoelectron, C Kα X-ray emission, and Auger electron spectra for the allotropes are in good accordance with the experimental ones. The combination analysis of the valence X-ray photoelectron and C Ka X emission spectra enables us to divide the valence electronic distribution in the individual contributions for pa- and pπ-bonding MOs of the carbon allotropes, respectively. The experimental Auger electron spectra of the allotropes can be classified in each range of ls-2p2p, ls-2s2p, and 1s-2s2s transitions for C KVV spectra, and in individual contributions of the chemically different carbon atoms from the theoretical analysis.

症例は18歳女性,未熟児出生で脳性麻痺が有り,著明な脊椎側弯を合併していた.便秘で時に浣腸を要していた.腹部膨満を主訴に来院し,腹部単純X線,CT検査にて著明に拡張した腸管ガスを認めた.大腸内視鏡検査で右側結腸に先細り閉塞を認めた.開腹すると盲腸が異常に拡張し,回盲部が反時計回りに360度捻転しており,盲腸軸捻転症と診断,右側結腸切除を行った.術後呼吸管理に難渋したが6カ月後に退院した.若年者の盲腸軸捻転症には精神疾患の合併例が多く,また脊椎側弯を多く伴っている.盲腸軸捻転症の発症誘因には臥床傾向,便秘などの他に脊椎の弯曲異常も関与しているものと思われた.

We analyzed the temperature dependence of the amplitude of modulated structures of [N(CH 3 ) 4 ] 2 ZnCl 4 crystal in the incommensurate (INC) phase by measuring the EPR spectra for Mn 2+ doped single crystal. The amplitude of the vibrational modulation linearly increased with decreasing temperature. Applying Frank and Van der Merwe model, we simulated the EPR spectra in the INC phase. The simulated spectra agreed with the observed one very well. We, therefore, revealed that the vibrational modulation in this INC phase is due to the interaction between the harmonic chain of inter-particles and the modulation due to underlying potential which comes from the commensurate structure.

The “surface charge limit (SCL)” phenomenon in negative electron affinity (NEA) photocathodes with GaAs–AlGaAs superlattice and InGaAs–AlGaAs strained-layer superlattice structures has been investigated systematically using a 70 keV polarized electron gun and a nanosecond multi-bunch laser. The space-charge-limited beam with multi-bunch structure (1.6 A peak current, 12 ns bunch width and 15 or 25 ns bunch separation) could be produced from the superlattice photocathodes without suffering the SCL phenomenon. From the experimental results, it has been confirmed that the SCL phenomenon is governed by two physical mechanisms at the NEA surface region, the tunneling of conduction electrons against the surface potential barrier (escaping process) and that of valence holes against the surface band bending barrier (recombination process); these effects can be enhanced using the superlattice structure and heavy p-doping at the surface, respectively. We conclude that a superlattice with heavily p-doped surface is the best photocathode for producing the multi-bunch electron beam required for future linear colliders.

Fractal coding was applied to image segmentation and contour detection. The encoding method was the same as in conventional fractal coding, and the compressed code, which we call the fractal code, was used for image segmentation and contour detection instead of image reconstruction. An image can be segmented by calculating the basin of attraction on a mapping that is a set of local maps from the domain block to the range block. The local maps are parameterized using the fractal code, and contours of the objects in the image are detected by the inverse mapping from the range block to the domain block. Some objects in the test image Lena were segmented, and the contours were detected well. The proposed methods are expected to enable compressed codes to be used directly for image processing.

The transmuted-C related luminescence and net carrier concentration are studied by combining photoluminescence, liquid scintillation, and Raman scattering. GaN single crystal films grown by metalorganic-vapor-phase epitaxy are irradiated with fast and thermal neutrons at fluxes of 3.9 × 1013 cm−2s−1 and 8.15 × 1013 cm−2s−1, respectively. Irradiation time is 48 hours. The calculated 72Ge and 14C concentrations are 1.24 × 1018 cm−3 and 1.13 × 1018 cm−3, respectively. The transmuted 14C is detected by the liquid scintillation method to survey β-rays emitted in the process of 14C decays from 14N. Tritium (3H) is also emitted by a (n,t) reaction of 14N due to the neutron irradiation above 4.5 MeV. Photoluminescence relating to C, DX-like center of Ge and yellow luminescence band are observed in 1000 °C annealed NTD-GaN. The free electron concentration estimated from Raman scattering is 4.97 × 1017 cm−3. This value is lower than that from the transmuted Ge concentration, suggesting the compensation due to the transmuted 14C acceptors.

Magnetite (Fe3O4) was doped with radioactive 111mCd and 111In ions as impurities, and their residence sites and thermal stability were investigated by means of time-differential perturbed angular correlation (TDPAC) spectroscopy. Well-defined TDPAC spectra unequivocally show their sites: Cd ions are stably located only in the tetrahedral A site in all the temperature range of the present observation (77 K–873 K); In ions also specifically occupy the A site at low temperature, but at high temperature part of them select the B site in a reversible fashion. The energy difference between the A and B sites for the accommodation of In was experimentally determined to be 0.119 (9) eV by assuming a Boltzmann distribution for the populations of the 111In probe in the respective sites. The element-dependent thermal stabilities observed for Cd and In were well corroborated by density functional theory calculations. The successful observation of thermally activated site-to-site displacement of impurity In ions in Fe3O4 is reported.

Applying fractal coding to image segmentation was attempted as its new application. The encoding method is the same as the conventional fractal coding method, and the fractal-code is used for image segmentation. An image can be segmented by calculating basins on a dynamical system parametrized by the fractal-code. It is shown that the new method has the ability to segment regions that have fine pixel-patterns as masses.

Valence X-ray photoelectron and Raman spectra of a chitosan film modified by Kr+ion beam bombardment were analyzed from quantum chemical calculations. Experimental Raman spectra of the carbonized film with Kr+ion bombardment were found to be due to four component contributions of chitosan (Chito), diamond-like carbon (DLC), graphite (GP), and amorphous carbon (AC). By considering the four components contribution, we performed depth profile assignments in nm and μm ranges of the chitosan film in valence X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman shift experiments from calculations of the statistical average of orbital potential (SAOP) method of Amsterdam density functional (ADF) program, and B3LYP/6-31G(d, p) level in GAUSSIAN 09 software, respectively, using the model molecules. Carbonizations of the film by Kr+irradiation were obtained as Chito: DLC: AC: GP = 2:1:0.5:0.375 in the μm range from Raman shift analysis, while they were determined as Chito: DLC: AC: GP = 2:1:1:2 in the nm range from valence X-ray photoelectron spectral analysis.

The characteristics of a waveguide optical isolator using a nonreciprocal phase shift are discussed. The isolator has the advantage of not needing phase-matching and complicated magnetization control. It is shown that the degradation of characteristics due to deviations in the waveguide parameters can be retained within acceptable limits by current technologies. Also, a rare earth iron garnet crystal suitable for constructing this isolator has been developed. >

A conducting crystal of (phthalocyaninato)cobalt hexafluoroarsenate CoPc(AsF6)0.5 is prepared by an electrochemical method. Temperature-dependent electrical conductivity of dc and 9.4 GHz shows that CoPc(AsF6)0.5 is a narrow-gap semiconductor with activation energies of 327 K for dc and 138 K for 9.4 GHz. Thermoelectric power is +40 μV/K - +50μV/K in the range 100–300 K. The sign of the thermoelectric power is consistent with our earlier spectroscopic result that Pc ring is mainly oxidized contrary to the analogous material CoPcI. Optical spectrum along the c axis exhibits strong and weak peaks at 0.29 eV and 1.2 eV. Magnetic susceptibility is composed of a Curie-Weiss part with C = 0.056 emu mol−1 and a nearly temperature-independent part with the magnitude of 5 × D−4 emu/mol/ All these data indicates the localizaion of holes (U>4t) like in (TMTTF)2X and Ag(DMe-DCNQI)2. This localization seems to be related to the exchange interaction between the unpaired d-electron on Co and the π-electron on macrocyclic ligand.

High‐temperature superconductors allow a compact and efficient way to provide high‐torque density to rotating machines with excellent operation. A field pole, providing flux density of more than 1.5 T around the armature, was initially designed for an axial‐gap type with the flux parallel to the rotor axis. Melt‐growth Gd‐123 bulks as well as Bi‐2223 wire windings have been successfully assembled on the rotor disk. No iron core was used, though being an auxiliary flux control found in most HTS motors. Both bulk and wire types have realized a practical motor operation within a limited output range. For bulks, a 15 kW, 720 rpm, synchronous motor was designed and tested in the group of TUMSAT, Kitano Seiki and University of Fukui. A bulk field pole was cooled down by liquid nitrogen and was magnetized in the motor. To enhance the output power to more than 30 kW, we developed a thermosyphon system using condensed neon. Another field pole with HTS wire for large‐scale marine propulsion is also discussed on a 100 kW, 230 rpm tested machine. A closed‐cycle condensed neon associated with thermal insulation is also reported.

A self-affine mapping system which has conventionally been used to produce fractal images is used to fit rough lines to contours. The self-affine map's parameters are detected by analyzing the blockwise self-similarity of a grayscale image using a simplified algorithm in fractal encoding. The phenomenon that edges attract mapping points in self-affine mapping is utilized in the proposed method. The boundary of the foreground region of an alpha mask is fitted by mapping iterations of the region. It is shown that the proposed method accurately produces not only smooth curves but also sharp corners, and has the ability to extract both distinct edges and blurred edges using the same parameter. It is also shown that even large gaps between the hand-drawn line and the contour can be fitted well by the recursive procedure of the proposed algorithm, in which the block size is progressively decreased. These features reduce the time required for drawing contours by hand.

The magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effect on NaK-nitrogen two-phase flow and heat transfer has been experimentally studied in a vertical round tube in a transverse magnetic field. This study covered a wide range of two-phase flow patterns from bubbly flow to annular/annular-dispersed flow, including flow pattern observation and measurements of phase distributions, liquid film behavior and heat transfer coefficients. MHD effects on local flow structures and heat transfer mechanisms have been discussed based on these measurements. It has been found that the application of a magnetic field brought about a significant asymmetric behavior both in two-phase flow structures and heat transfer. The angular dependence of heat transfer in annular/annular-dispersed flow is particularly stressed.

Phase-shifting digital holography is applied to measure shape and positions of rough surfaces from the phase and modulus of the product of the reconstructed complex amplitudes corresponding to dual wavelengths. The sensitivity of the position is one hundredth of focal depth and that for surface shape proved to be a few tens of micrometers. Theory and experimental results are presented.

A 68-year-old woman was admitted with congestive heart failure and septic shock associated with suspected mitral valve acute infective endocarditis. Echocardiography revealed vegetations attached to both mitral leaflets, prolapse of the posterior mitral leaflet and severe mitral regurgitation. Emergent surgery was performed. The anterior mitral leaflet displayed multiple vegetations. The entire anterior leaflet of mitral valve was replaced with pericardium. The posterior mitral leaflet of the middle scallop was prolapsed with an attached vegetation. Quadrangular resection was performed. A commissural reconstruction by sliding commissuroplasty for a prolapse of both anterior and posterior leaflets in the paracommissural area and autologous pericardial mitral annuloplasty was performed. Mitral regurgitation disappeared postoperatively, and the patient is now doing well as of 5 years postoperatively.

We have derived the uniform time-domain asymptotic solutions for the scattered fields by a dielectric cylinder and an impedance cylinder. By comparing with the reference solution obtained numerically, we have confirmed the accuracy and validity of the proposed time-domain asymptotic solutions.

We treated 93 patients who developed left ventricular free wall rupture after acute myocardial infarction. Medical management including pericardial drainage was performed in 78 patients (84%), but 67 of them died. All 11 surviving patients showed an oozing type rupture. Surgical repair was performed in 15 patients (16%). As a result, 9 patients died and 6 survived. All but 1 of the patients who died presented with a blow-out rupture. Blow-out type rupture occurred in 3 and oozing type rupture in 3 of the surviving patients. One patient with blow-out type rupture underwent implantation of a left ventricular assist device following percutaneous cardiopulmonary support (PCPS), because of low output syndrome after the operation. The device was successfully removed 7 days after implantation. In all of the 3 patients with oozing type rupture, sutureless technique was successfully performed using fibrin-glue or fibrin-glue sheet fixation. After a mean follow-up period of 7 years after operation, 5 of 6 are still alive. To improve the clinical outcome of left ventricular free wall rupture, it is important for surgeons to closely liaise with physicians, to perform surgical repair as soon as possible, and to utilize a circulatory support system after operation. Therefore, we developed a new PCPS system compatible with emergency cardiac surgery and a new left ventricular assist system draining via the left ventricle.

Studies on the scattering of electromagnetic fields by a dielectric cylinder have been an important research subject for a variety of applications in the area of antennas and propagation. In this study, a time-domain asymptotic analysis is discussed for the scattered electromagnetic fields when the cylindrical wave radiated from a magnetic line source is incident on a dielectric cylinder. We assume the Gaussian-type modulated pulse source whose spectrum is distributed in the high-frequency domain. The time-domain scattered field solutions derived in this paper are applicable in the transition regions near the geometrical boundaries, produced by the incident ray on the dielectric cylinder from the tangential direction, and near the caustics, produced by the family of the reflected ray group on the concave side of the dielectric cylinder. Comparisons of the time-domain asymptotic solution with the reference solution calculated numerically from a combination of the eigenfunction representation and the First Fourier Transform (FFT) code confirm the validity and the utility of the proposed time-domain asymptotic solution.

The structure of para‐chlorobenzyl alcohol (pCBA) and para‐bromobenzyl alcohol (pBBA) crystals are characterized by the O–H⋯O hydrogen bonded chains along c axis. The direction of the hydrogen bond in the low temperature phase (LTP) is opposite to that in the room temperature phase (RTP). These transitions are related to the hydrogen bonds. We performed the molecular dynamics simulation of pCBA and pBBA crystals in the LTP and RTP using forces determined by gradient of the energy within semiempirical molecular orbital calculation (PM3). From the distribution of the hydrogen atom of −OH group, we found that the hydrogen atoms in the LTP vibrate at the equilibrium position within one site or asymmetric potential. In the RTP, the hydrogen atoms of pBBA are jumping between the two sites in the symmetric double minimum potential.

We derive a novel uniform asymptotic solution (extended UTD solution) for the field scattered by a dielectric circular cylinder. The extended UTD solution, derived by applying higher-order asymptotic formulas for the cylindrical functions, can be applied in the wide area extending from the illuminated region to the deep shadow region where the current UTD becomes increasingly inaccurate with the increasing frequency and azimuthal distance. We also derive the modified UTD solution from the new extended Pekeris carot function by applying the residue theorem. The modified UTD solution is the improved version of the current GTD and the UTD, and can be applied uniformly from the transition region in the illuminated region to the deep shadow region, including the region near the cylinder where the UTD deviates substantially from the eigenfunction solution. Comparisons with the exact solution calculated from the eigenfunction expansion confirm the validity and the utility of the extended UTD solution and the modified UTD solution.

This paper describes the SiN-capped HfSiON gate stacks for 65 nm-node low-standby-power transistors with improved bias temperature instabilities (BTI). By employing SiN-cap on HfSiON and the counter-implant for adjustment of pFET's threshold voltage (V/sub TH/), the symmetrical V/sub TH/ values for nFETs and pFETs have been obtained. The nitrogen incorporation in the interfacial oxide prevents the interface states generation under positive bias temperature stress. Negative BTI can be improved by reducing the thickness of SiN-cap. 10-year lifetimes for both positive and negative BTI have been achieved.

A deep and long cruising range AUV (autonomous underwater vehicle) named "URASHIMA" (AUV-EXI; development code name), has been developed by JANISTEC since 1998. URASHIMA can cruise long distance in the sea and collect sea data and water samples automatically for offshore exploration. The dimensions and weight of URASHIMA are 10m (L), 1.3m (W), 1.5m (H), and about 7.5 tons in the air. There are two very important key technologies for a long cruising range autonomous underwater vehicle. One technology is the power source. URASHIMA has two types of power sources. One is a high capacity lithium-ion rechargeable battery. The other one is solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell. With these power sources the vehicle capable of performing long ranges missions. The estimated cruising ranges are about 100 km by using battery and about 300 km by using fuel cell each other at three knots. The other technology is the navigation system. The AUV cruises independently without any communications between the mother ship and vehicle. It is very important to know its present position and forward environment. URASHIMA has highly accurate navigation sensors, such that the inertial navigation system (INS) consists of three sets of ring laser gyro and accelerometers, obstacle avoidance sonar (OAS), Doppler velocity log (DVL) and acoustic homing sonar. The AUV enables long distance cruising independently with these navigation sensors. The sea-going tests started in June 2000. The equipment, hardware, software, and autonomous functions, will be improved gradually. In these sea trials, URASHIMA achieved a dive to3518 m and cruised 132.5 km in autonomous navigation mode.

A 41-year-old man had undergone resection of a left atrial myxoma 5 years previously. Echocardiography revealed a new mass in the right atrium. Because of had increased in size gradually, removal of the right atrial mass involving full-thickness resection of the fossa ovalis was performed. Cardiac myxoma has the potential for heterotopic recurrence.

An AUV goes along a pre-programmed route depending on the INS position; it is useful to watch the vehicle status and give commands correcting position error or alternating control mode by the existing state from a surface vessel in test phases. The AUV system has a digital acoustic communication system, capable of 4100 m maximum range in duplex. The communication range is shorter because the acoustic signal to noise ratio decreases at the AUV when a vertical thruster is operated. Noise is caused by reduction gear in the thruster unit. The reduction gear is improved to decrease the noise. The communication range is enhanced 2.5 times compared to previously, even if the thruster is operated in the sea. This article describes an investigation of low noise reduction gear for the acoustic down-link and test results.

Publisher Summary Woody waste from thinning of forests is one of the most potentially useful forestry energy resources for the future. The ultimate potential resources of thinned wood in Japan are estimated at 25Mt-dry biomass/year. Woody biomass forms a promising energy resource in Japan. There are many types of woody wastes available from the forestry industry: wood from thinning of the forest, logging residue in the forest at cut-over areas or at forest roadsides, timber factory waste wood outside the forest, wooden building wastes, mainly in urban areas. Other forestry wastes are sometimes considerable, however, increasing the level of these resources are difficult practically because of the limitations of the timber industry in Japan. The area of afforested land that could possibly be thinned in Japan is 10M ha (M-=million); this could be accompanied, with some difficulty, by additional thinning for a total forest area of 25M ha. This chapter discusses the origin of Japan's forestry waste and some ways to expand their forestal resources.

The ROVs with thin cable system have been developed in JAMSTEC. The thin cable system is very convenient for AUVs, therefore it has been applied for the AUVs that have been developed in JAMSTEC. Conventional ROV systems need the thick cable to supply electric power from mother ship to under-sea vehicle. In the thin cable system, a thick cable is not necessary because a power source like a battery is installed in the vehicle. The communication between the vehicle and mother ship just needs to include observation data from vehicle and control data from mother ship. The data are communicated through only one optical fiber cable that is about 1 mm in diameter. The thin cable system is called "UROV system" in JAMSTEC. UROV system has some merits because of thin cable. First, since the optical fiber cable with the length of 10 km is installed in the small cylindrical case called "spooler", the onboard system is very compact against conventional ROVs. Second, if a tether cable gets entangled in something like under-sea structure, it is considered that a vehicle can not be recovered in worst case. In the case of UROV system, the vehicle can be recovered because it has safety sequence that will release the ballast for surfacing. UROV system has other merits. For example, there is no cable drag. UROV system is available not only ROV but also AUV. URASHIMA developed by JAMSTEC has 3 operation modes. UROV mode is one of these operation modes. This mode is mainly useful for debugging in early stage of developing. When troubles happen, it is difficult for normal AUV that has no cable to know the detailed state on real-time. In that case, in URASHIMA, UROV mode is very convenient debugging of software and hardware. Furthermore, URASHIMA can survey like ROV by optical communication for UROV mode, for example, to watch the TV image on real-time. This paper describes UROV system for 7,000 m class UROV, UROV7K, and AUV, URASHIMA.

We are pursuing research on programming languages for massively parallel processing. The objective of the research is the following two points according to the top level research objective of our Massively Parallel Processing Principle Research Project: firstly to develop a prototype of a massively parallel programming language and compiler system, which is competitive to commercial language systems like data parallel C, Fortran D or HPF; and secondly to explore a massively parallel computation model, and design an experimental language as an implementation of the newly explored massively parallel computation model. >

A deep sea cruising AUV "URASHIMA" has been developed by JAMSTEC since July 1998. Some performance tests for URASHIMA on the land, in the tank and dock have been already finished in March 2000. Sea trials for URASHIMA have been done since June 2000 at Sagami-bay and Suruga-bay. URASHIMA has 2 types of power source. One is a lithium-ion (Li-ion) rechargeable battery and another is a fuel cell. URASHIMA will be able to cruise for about 100 km with Li-ion rechargeable battery and it will cruise for about 300 km with a fuel cell. The test is divided 2 stages by the power sources. The first stage will be planned for a few years cruising with Li-ion rechargeable battery. The goal of the first stage is the depth of 3,500 m, which is the maximum operation depth of URASHIMA, and the range of about 100 km. The second stage will be planned cruising with fuel cell after the first stage. The goal of the second stage is the depth of 3,500 m and the range of 300 km, which is the maximum operation range of URASHIMA. URASHIMA has 3 operation modes, which are UROV mode, acoustic control mode and autonomous mode. UROV mode is to monitor the state of URASHIMA with fiber optics. Acoustic control mode is to control URASHIMA with acoustic communication. Autonomous mode is to cruise on pre-set schedule. The instruments for science researches are an automatic multi-water-sampling system, a CTDO meter, a side-scan sonar, a low light level snap shot digital camera and TV camera.

Japan Marine Science and Technology Center has been developing a long-range autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) since 1998. This vehicle was named "AUV-EX1" and it is designed to have a capability of cruising up to 300 kilometers along a pre-programmed route. The body is a streamlined shape with a total length of 10 meters and its weight of 7.5 tons. For long range cruising, key technologies are energy source and navigation. Electric-energy is supplied from lithium ion rechargeable battery and it can be combined with a fuel cell. The navigation system is based on a high accuracy inertial navigation system. The vehicle is designed to gather scientific data by an on-board water sampler, side scan sonar and CTDO. This paper presents the overview of the AUV-EX1 and test plan in the future.

JAMSTEC started on the development project of AUV in 1998 fiscal year, and the first test machine AUV-EX1 which renamed Urashima has been developed in March 2000. Urashima has many excellent features. The cruising range is relatively long and working depth is very deep. It has a new inertia navigation system with ring laser gyros. The fuel cell system will be selected for its power device. From this June, the first test in the sea of Urashima and the fuel cell test on ground have started. This paper introduces the feature of Urashima, and shows an outline of these tests.

Mid-term results of mitral valve repair for mitral regurgitation were evaluated in 173 consecutive patients (mean age 53 years, 107 males, 66 females) treated from July 1991 to March 1998. Pathological causes of the mitral valve disease were degenerative in 118 patients, infective endocarditis in 25, rheumatic in 13, and ischemic in 8 (ischemic cardiomyopathy in 7). The principal technique was chordal replacement with expanded polytetrafluoroethylene sutures for prolapse of the anterior leaflet, and Carpentier's sliding leaflet technique for prolapse of the posterior leaflet. Most patients received ring annuloplasty with a rigid ring and flexible band (physiological remodeling annuloplasty). Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography was used after 1993. There were 7 operative deaths (4%) and 7 mitral valve replacements (4%) during the same operation. Successful repair was achieved in 96% of patients with mitral regurgitation. Mean follow-up was 35 months (range 2 to 78 months). Survival at 6 years was 85 +/- 10% of all patients, 98 +/- 2% in degenerative cases. Six patients required reoperation (1.2%/patient-year) and mean time interval between initial operation and reoperation was 33.1 months. Four patients with atrial fibrillation had thromboembolic events (0.8%/patient-year). There were no anticoagulant-related complications. Freedom from reoperation and all valve-related event at 6 years was 88 +/- 6% and 84 +/- 6%. Late postoperative Doppler echocardiography revealed satisfactory results in 93% of the patients. Mitral valve repair using chordal replacement, sliding plasty and ring annuloplasty provides excellent mid-term results.

A 39-year-old woman presented with atresia of the right atrial orifice of the coronary sinus with a persistent left superior vena cava detected at cardiac catheterization. She was admitted with frequent episodes of angina at rest and on exertion. Coronary angiography, including spasm provocation test, yielded normal results. However, left coronary arteriography demonstrated a dilated coronary sinus and a persistent left superior vena cava draining into the innominate vein. The contrast medium leaked slightly into the right atrial cavity through the obstructed orifice of the coronary sinus. Atresia of the coronary sinus orifice is a rare malformation usually found at autopsy. Only 3 cases have been reported in Japan. This is the first adult Japanese case detected when the patient was still alive.

To clarify age-related differences in the characteristics of IgA nephropathy, we investigated 117 patients of all ages. The number of patients in the second decade of age was larger than that in the other age decades. There was no difference in sex in all age brackets. About one half of the patients under ten years of age presented as acute nephritis, but their prognosis was favorable. Patients over 10 years, most of whom were detected by chance, tended to have a greater degree of proteinuria, a lesser degree of creatinine clearance, a higher frequency of hypertension, and a higher level of serum cholesterol with age. Although the intensity of mesangial cell proliferation was not changed, the grade of glomerulosclerosis, interstitial change, and arteriosclerosis increased and the prognosis became poor as age advanced. Treatment with corticosteroids and antiplatelet agents was less effective in adults, especially in the older age brackets than in children because the frequency of histologically chronic lesions increased. In these cases, lipid-lowering agents and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors may be helpful in preventing the progression.

The safety and efficacy of one-year administration of propiverine hydrochloride (BUP-4 tablets) were assessed in facilities affiliated with the Department of Urology of Yokohama City University School of Medicine. Changes in subjective symptoms showed significant improvement in mean frequency of urination in the daytime from 10.3 +/- 4.0 times before administration to 7.1 +/- 2.9 times 1 year after the start of administration, in mean frequency of voiding at night from 4.2 +/- 1.7 times to 2.1 +/- 1.1 times and in mean incidence of urinary incontinence from 2.9 +/- 2.1 times to 0.7 +/- 1.0 times. The final degree of overall improvement rate was 82.0% (41/50 cases). Adverse effects were observed 26 times in 22 patients, the incidence being 15.6% (22/141 cases). They consisted of digestive symptoms in 9.9% (6 events of dry mouth, 4 of constipation, 2 of abdominal discomfort, 2 of diarrhea and 1 of gastritis), urinary tract symptoms in 3.5% (4 of dysuria and 1 of residual urine), abnormal laboratory findings in 1.4% (increase in glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase, glutamic-pyruvic transaminase or lactate dehydrogenase levels) and others (1.4%). These results provide further evidence of the safety and efficacy of propiverine hydrochloride (BUP-4 tablets) even when administered for a long-term in the treatment of patients with pollakiuria and urinary incontinence.