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We report here the superconducting properties of a Laves phase superconductor SrIr

We report NMR experiments on heavily electron-doped Fe-based superconductor in comparison with the results on the parent Fe-based compounds. The typical parent Fe-based compound LaFe(As1-x′P x′)O exhibits the re-emergent antiferromagnetic (AFM) order at x′ ~ 0.6 (AFM2) separated from the parent AFM order at x′ =0 (AFM1). Systematic 31P-NMR study on [Sr4Sc2O6]Fe2(As1−x P x )2 (SrSc42622), which has local lattice parameters of iron-pnictogen (FePn) layer similar to the series of LaFe(As1−x′/P x′)O, also revealed that the presence of AFM1 order is universal for most of parent Fe-based compounds. In contrast, the static AFM2 order was absent in this series, however, the dynamical low-energy AFM spin fluctuations are enhanced at around x ~ 0.8, indicating that the onset of the static AFM2 is quite sensitive to the local lattice parameters of FePn layer. In order to elucidate the further universality and diversity, we have carried out 77Se-NMR measurement on Li x (NH3)yFe2−δ Se2 (Tc = 44 K) in heavily electron-doped regime. Although the spin fluctuations at low energies does not significantly develops upon cooling, the moderate spin fluctuations were extracted at high temperatures from comparison of the temperature (T) dependences of Knight shift and nuclear relaxation rate (1/T 1 T). We discuss the universality and diversity of the relationship between the Tc and the characteristics of the spin fluctuations in the Fe-based compounds from a microscopic point of the NMR measurements.

Topological superconductors have attracted wide-spreading interests for the bright application perspectives to quantum computing. Cu0.3Bi2Se3 is a rare bulk topological superconductor with an odd-parity wave function, but the details of the vector order parameter d and its pinning mechanism are still unclear. Here, we succeed in growing CuxBi2Se3 single crystals with unprecedented high doping levels. For samples with x = 0.28, 0.36 and 0.37 with similar carrier density as evidenced by the Knight shift, the in-plane upper critical field Hc2 shows a two-fold symmetry. However, the angle at which the Hc2 becomes minimal is different by 90° among them, which indicates that the d-vector direction is different for each crystal likely due to a different local environment. The carrier density for x = 0.46 and 0.54 increases substantially compared to x ≤ 0.37. Surprisingly, the in-plane Hc2 anisotropy disappears, indicating that the gap symmetry undergoes a transition from nematic to isotropic (possibly chiral) as carrier increases., The understanding of the vector order parameter for Cu0.3Bi2Se3 topological superconductor remains unclear. Here, Kawai et al. report a surprising disappearance of the in-plane upper critical field anisotropy for CuxBi2Se3 single crystals with more carriers, indicating a transition from nematic to chiral superconducting gap symmetry.

We present the field and temperature behavior of the narrow Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) response in YbRh2Si2 well below the single ion Kondo temperature. The ESR g factor reflects a Kondo-like field and temperature evolution of the Yb3+ magnetism. Measurements towards low temperatures (>0.5K) have shown distinct crossover anomalies of the ESR parameters upon approaching the regime of a well defined heavy Fermi liquid. Comparison with the field dependence of specific heat and electrical resistivity reveal that the ESR parameters can be related to quasiparticle mass and cross section and, hence, contain inherent heavy electron properties.

(Sm,Gd)Al2 was expected to be a ferromagnet without net magnetization at a certain compensation temperature, TComp. For this material, X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) study on the spin and orbital moments of Sm 4f electrons has been carried out. The conventional magnetic field switching method is not suitable because the special magnetic property of this material and helicity switching method was tried. To get a quantitative estimation of the spin and orbital magnetic moments for 4f electrons in samarium ions, the correction factor for the sum rule of spin moment was obtained by a complete atomic multiplet calculation. From our study, the existence of long-range ordering of both spin and orbital magnetic moments at TComp is verified. The spin and orbital magnetic moments of Sm 4f electrons are found to align antiparallel with each other. When the temperature is lower (higher) than TComp, the magnitude of total spin magnetic moment, which includes the contributions from doped ions and conducting electrons, is found to be smaller (larger) than that of the orbital one.

The vascular structural remodeling function may be altered in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). To examine this possibility, we examined whether pressure loading-induced activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) is enhanced in the vasculature of prehypertensive SHR and whether angiotensin and endothelin systems in the vasculature are involved in the enhanced MAPK activation in SHR vasculature. Male 4-week-old SHR and age-matched Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY) were used. Aortae were perfused with Tyrode solution. Increases in perfusion pressure caused an increase in p42/p44 MAPK activity in WKY and SHR aortae. MAPK activities in SHR aortae perfused at 100 and 200 mmHg were greater than those of WKY. The enhanced MAPK activation in SHR aortae was greatly inhibited by the angiotensin receptor antagonist losartan but minimally by the endothelin receptor antagonist BQ123. Cyclic stretching of aortic vascular smooth muscle cells from SHR and WKY aortae produced an increase in p42/p44 MAPK activity. The stretch-induced MAPK activation was almost the same in both cells. These results indicate that pressure loading-induced MAPK activation is enhanced in aortae from prehypertensive SHR. It appears that the enhancement of MAPK activation results partly from enhanced angiotensin system in SHR aortae.

Mast cells exhibit a biphasic (immediate and delayed) eicosanoid-biosynthetic response after stimulation with particular cytokines or FcεRI (high affinity receptor for IgE) cross-linking. Treatment of rat serosal connective tissue mast cells (CTMC) with nerve growth factor (NGF) induced only the delayed phase of PGD2 generation that depended on inducible cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), but not constitutive COX-1, even though the subcellular distributions of these isoforms were similar. Experiments using several phospholipase A2 (PLA2) isozyme-specific probes and inhibitors suggested that both constitutive cytosolic PLA2 and inducible type IIA secretory PLA2 (sPLA2) are involved in NGF-initiated, COX-2-dependent, delayed PGD2 generation in rat CTMC. A type IIA sPLA2 inhibitor, but neither cytosolic PLA2 nor COX inhibitors, reduced, while adding exogenous type IIA sPLA2 augmented, NGF-induced COX-2 expression and its attendant PGD2 generation, indicating that the sPLA2-mediated increase in delayed PGD2 generation was attributable mainly to enhanced COX-2 expression. Type IIA sPLA2 and its close relative type V sPLA2 associated with fibroblastic cell surfaces increased NGF-induced COX-2 expression more efficiently than the soluble enzymes, revealing a particular juxtacrine sPLA2 presentation route. Surprisingly, catalytically inactive type IIA sPLA2 mutants, which were incapable of promoting arachidonic acid release from cytokine-primed cells, retained the ability to enhance COX-2 expression in CTMC, indicating that the COX-2-inducing activities of sPLA2 are independent of their catalytic functions.

Folic acid models, 1,3-dimethyl-6-(N-acylarylamino)methyllumazines 9, were synthesized from 6-bromomethyl-1,3-dimethyllumazine (6), which was derived from 5,6-diamino-1,3-dimethyluracil (1) by the condensation with 1,3-dihydroxyacetone, followed by bromination. The bromide 6 was also prepared by the cycloaddition between 3,6,8-trioxo-5,7-dimethyl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-3H-pyrimido[5,4-c][1,2,5]oxadiazine (4) and 1-propenyl trimethylsilyl ether followed by bromination. The folic acid models 9 were also directly synthesized from the oxadiazine 4 and 3-(N-acylaryl)amino-1-propenyl trimethylsilyl ether 8 by cycloaddition.

We have studied the oxygen adsorption effect on the Mn 2p X-ray adsorption and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) spectra of c (2×2) CuMn/Cu (0 0 1) two-dimensional surface alloy. The reduced integrated XMCD intensity upon 20 L O 2 exposure suggests that the Mn oxide layer is formed on the surface.

It is shown that equations of two-dimensional ideal magnetohydrodynamics may be regarded as geodesic equations on appropriate infinite dimensional Lie group. The physical interpretation of such a geometric picture is given using an analogy with two-and-a-half-dimensional ideal hydrodynamics. The sectional curvature responsible for the separation of neighbouring geodesics and, hence, for stability is calculated.

A theory of vortex sound is formulated in the form of multipole expansions and an explicit formula is presented for the wave pressure excited by a time-dependent vorticity field localized in space. This is applied to the case of the oblique collision of two vortex rings at right angles, in which higher-order terms are important to represent asymmetric emission. The vortex motion and the generated waves are also studied experimentally and numerically. The initial setup of the two vortices is arranged so that they come into contact by their own motions and perform a reconnection of the vortex lines

Folic acid models, 1,3-dimethyl-6-(N-acylarylamino)methyllumazines 9, were synthesized from 6-bromomethyl-1,3-dimethyllumazine (6), which was derived from 5,6-diamino-1,3-dimethyluracil (1) by the condensation with 1,3-dihydroxyacetone, followed by bromination. The bromide 6 was also prepared by the cycloaddition between 3,6,8-trioxo-5,7-dimethyl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-3H-pyrimido[5,4-c][1,2,5]oxadiazine (4) and 1-propenyl trimethylsilyl ether followed by bromination. The folic acid models 9 were also directly synthesized from the oxadiazine 4 and 3-(N-acylaryl)amino-1-propenyl trimethylsilyl ether 8 by cycloaddition.

The architecture design phase is one of the most important steps in the system LSI development process. In this paper, we propose a C-based pipeline architecture design methodology and apply it to the design of the output probability computation circuit for a real time speech recognition system. Several variable length vector pipeline architectures accelerated by loop optimization, memory access optimizations, and application-specific circuit design were implemented to calculate the hidden Markov model (HMM) output probability at high speed and their performances evaluated.

We have deduced a local magnetic susceptibility from the temperature dependence of $\mathrm{Mn}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{L}_{23}$ soft x-ray magnetic circular dichroism spectra of $c(2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2)$ $\mathrm{Cu}\mathrm{Mn}∕\mathrm{Cu}(001)$ two-dimensional ordered surface alloy. The higher temperature magnetic susceptibility above $\ensuremath{\sim}40\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$ obeys the Curie-Weiss law, suggesting that the surface alloy is in a paramagnetic phase. The deduced spin magnetic moment from the temperature dependence of the local magnetic susceptibility is found to be highly suppressed from the predicted value.

A dynamical view of the cascade process in turbulence is presented consistently with the worm structure and the rate-of-strain field observed in the computer simulations, the negative skewness of the longitudinal velocity difference Δv s (s) across a distance s in the experimental observations, and Kolmogorov's law for the third-order structure function (Δv s )3. First, a model of a single worm under strain with negative skewness is considered. Then statistical average is taken to obtain the isotropy and homogeneity of a random system of strained worm having the Rankine-vortex structure. It is found that this system has the same statistical properties as Kolmogorov's law and Kolmogorov-Obukhov's law which are valid in homogeneous isotropic turbulence. Based on this analysis and the vorticity equation, one can derive a nonlinear evolution equation to describe straining of small-scale fluctuations under a background field of regular and fractional scaling exponent. This model predicts non-Gaussian statistics of both lateral and longitudinal velocity derivatives. Finally, based on the Kolmogorov refined similarity hypothesis and the 3D binomial Cantor set model for the distribution of the rate of energy dissipation, one can construct a probability distribution function for Δv s (s) which can predict the skewness and flatness, and simulate reasonably well the values observed in experiments.

The Co-S distances in the title compounds, [Co-(C 4 H 7 N 2 O 2 ) 2 (C 9 H 13 N)(C 6 H 5 S)] and [Co(C 4 H 7 N 2 O 2 ) 2 -(C 9 H 13 N)(C 7 H 7 OS)], are 2.2800(8) and 2.2885 (15) A, respectively. The electron-donating substituent on the para position of the arylthiolate lengthens the Co-S bond.

Speech recognition is becoming a popular technology for the implementation of human interfaces. However, conventional approaches to large vocabulary continuous speech recognition require a high performance CPU. In this paper, we describe a speech-recognition system designed using a C-based design methodology and compare three hardware implementations for the computationally intensive parts. Pipelining, parallel processing and cache memory solutions to compute the hidden Markov model (HMM) output probability at high speed were implemented and their performances evaluated. It is shown that designers can rapidly explore a wide range of complex circuits in a using this methodology and that real time speech recognition in small portable systems is possible.

The advantages and disadvantages of oxidative permanent and acid-type semi-permanent hair colors are evident. The former provides a longlasting "permanent" color, while the latter imparts less damage to the hair. We developed a novel acid-type hair color technology that can allow an acid dye and a metal ion to form a complex inside the hair similar to the oxidative hair color. It is well known that acid dye diffuses into the hair and creates an ionic bond with the positively charged amino acid residues of hair protein. However, the dye can be extracted easily from the hair by daily shampooing due to the weakness of the bond. In order to strengthen this bond and to prevent the extraction of the dye by shampooing, an aluminum chloride ion was chosen as the metal ion component to form the dye-metal complex. A proper composition of penetration enhancers, benzyl alcohol and ethyl alcohol, was required to allow acid dyes to interact with the aluminum chloride ion after each component penetrates deeply into the hair to form a complex inside the hair. To provide color brightness and a color longevity effect to hair color, glycolic acid was also selected due to the observation that a weak acid with a small molecular weight would enhance those effects.

A timing-verification method for practical use is presented. The scheme can be applied to circuits which involve complicated timing behaviors. Conventional methods are discussed. The definitions of several terms are given. A detailed description of the approach is presented. Experimental results for two digital circuits implemented on gate-array VLSIs are presented. >

We report the development of LiNbO/sub 3/:Ti optical modulators with low resistive Si double slit structure for improving the thermal stability and the long-term reliability for high-speed transmission systems, including submarine transmission systems.

In this paper, we propose a new testability analysis method for Register-Transfer Level (RTL) descriptions. The proposed method is based on the idea of testability analysis in terms of data-flow and control structure which can be extracted from RTL designs. We analyze testability of RTL descriptions with more testability measures than those of conventional gate-level testability, so that the method provides information for design for testability (DFT). We have implemented the presented method and experimental results show that we can reduce circuit cost for test and achieve highly testable circuits by DFT using our RTL testability analysis.

This paper presents a novel way of evaluating architecture of embedded custom DSPs which helps designers optimizing the datapath configuration and the instruction set. Given a datapath structure, it evaluates the performance in terms of an estimated number of steps to execute the target program on the datapath. A concept of "parallel constraint" is newly introduced, which enables evaluation of the impact of instruction format design on the performance without explicitly specifying the instruction format. The number of execution steps is estimated by a combination of static analysis and dynamic analysis. It enables fast and precise estimation of actual performance in the early design stage. We show some experimental results on an actual signal processor to demonstrate the accuracy of estimation and the usefulness of this method in architecture design.

We present an architecture evaluation system which aids designer optimization of the datapath configuration and the instruction set of embedded custom DSPs. Given a datapath structure, it evaluates the performance in terms of an estimated number of steps to execute the target program on the datapath. A concept of "parallel constraint" is newly introduced, which enables evaluation of the impact of instruction format design on the performance without explicitly specifying the instruction format. Thus, designers can evaluate the performance of architectural variations in the early design stage. We applied the system to some actual designs of signal processors. We show some applications of the system to actual signal processors.

A digital still camera image processing system on chip is presented in this paper The still camera system is different from a video camera system in many aspects. In a video camera system, many problems like slight color errors, random noises and some kind of artifacts would be averaged away by freshening operation, but they would be unacceptable in a still camera system. Therefore modules on the chip like AE/AF/AWB are designed as re-constructive, so camera makers could easily use basic functions on the chip to develop their products with their special know-how. The system also can process both a primary color and a complementary color image data array.

Usually there is only a single CCD sensor in digital still camera. The CCD data array is interpolated into R, G, B planes to construct a complete color image. The interpolation attenuates the high frequency signal of the image, so a sharpening filter is used to compensate for the effect of blur. Pixel artifacts like zipper effect etc. are introduced by the sharpening operation. This paper presents an even-number-size-mask band pass filter, which can restore the color image's high frequency signal with no zipper effect. An image processing technique based on the compensation filter is proposed and experiments show satisfactory results.

Our method utilizes the local interconnect between adjacent transistors, which is available in some salicide processes, and optimizes the transistor placement of a cell considering both area and the number of local interconnects. In this way we reduce the number of metal wires and contacts, The circuit model is not restricted to conventional series-parallel CMOS logic, and our method enables us to synthesize CMOS pass-transistor circuits, Experimental results show that our method uses the local interconnect effectively, and optimizes both cell area and metal wirelength.

1. Antagonistic properties of OPC-28326 ([4-(N-methyl-2-phenylethylamino)-1-(3,5-dimethyl-4-propionyl-aminobenzoyl)] piperidine hydrochloride monohydrate), a selective peripheral vasodilator, were investigated by analysing the data from functional studies in various tissues from the rat and binding studies of the drug to alpha(2)-adrenoceptor subtypes. 2. Using a human recombinant receptor and rat kidney cortex, we found that OPC-28326 displays affinities to alpha(2A)-, alpha(2B)- and alpha(2C)-adrenoceptors with K(i) values of 2040, 285, and 55 nM, respectively. The K(i) values of yohimbine for alpha(2A)-, alpha(2B)-, and alpha(2C)-adrenoceptors were 3.0, 2.0 and 11.0 nM, respectively. 3. B-HT 920, an alpha(2)-adrenoceptor agonist, produced a pressor response via peripheral postsynaptic alpha(2)-adrenoceptor stimulation (thought to be an alpha(2B)-subtype) in a reserpine-pretreated pithed rat preparation. OPC-28326 (3 - 30 mg kg(-1), i.v.) and yohimbine (0.3 - 3 mg kg(-1), i.v.) caused dose-dependent rightward shift in the pressor dose-response curve induced by B-HT 920. The apparent pA(2) values were 1.55 (0.87 - 2.75, 95% confidence interval) and 0.11 (0.06 - 0.21) mg kg(-1), respectively. The potency of OPC-28326 was about 14 times less than that of yohimbine. 4. Clonidine inhibited the tension developed by electrical stimulation, of the rat vas deferens, by its peripheral presynaptic alpha(2A/D)-adrenoceptor action. OPC-28326 (1 - 100 microM) and yohimbine (10 - 1000 nM) caused a rightward shift in the concentration-response curve of clonidine. The pA(2) values were 5.73 (5.54 - 5.91) and 7.92 (7.84 - 8.01), respectively, providing evidence for a potency of OPC-28326 of about 155 times less than that of yohimbine. 5. Mydriasis was induced by brimonidine via stimulation of central alpha(2A/D)-adrenoceptors in anaesthetized rats. Intravenous OPC-28326 had no effect on this action, even at a very high dose of 10 mg kg(-1) i.v., while yohimbine (0.1 - 0.3 mg kg(-1) i.v.) inhibited mydriasis in a dose-dependent manner, indicating that OPC-28326 was at least 100 times less potent than yohimbine in regard to the anti-mydriatic effect. 6. These data suggest that OPC-28326 preferentially exerts peripheral and postsynaptic antagonistic actions on the alpha(2B)- and alpha(2C)-adrenoceptor subtypes.

We discovered the first nonpeptide arginine-vasopressin (AVP) V(2)-receptor agonist, OPC-51803. Pharmacological properties of OPC-51803 were elucidated using HeLa cells expressing human AVP receptor subtypes (V(2), V(1a) and V(1b)) and compared with those of 1-desamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin (dDAVP), a peptide V(2)-receptor agonist. OPC-51803 and dDAVP displaced [(3)H]-AVP binding to human V(2)- and V(1a)-receptors with K(i) values of 91.9+/-10.8 nM (n = 6) and 3.12+/-0.38 nM (n = 6) for V(2)-receptors, and 819+/-39 nM (n = 6) and 41.5+/-9.9 nM (n = 6) for V(1a)-receptors, indicating that OPC-51803 was about nine times more selective for V(2)-receptors, similar to the selectivity of dDAVP. OPC-51803 scarcely displaced [(3)H]-AVP binding to human V(1b)-receptors even at 10(-4) M, while dDAVP showed potent affinity to human V(1b)-receptors with the K(i) value of 13.7+/-3.2 nM (n = 4). OPC-51803 concentration-dependently increased cyclic adenosine 3', 5'-monophosphate (cyclic AMP) production in HeLa cells expressing human V(2)-receptors with an EC(50) value of 189+/-14 nM (n = 6). The concentration-response curve for cyclic AMP production induced by OPC-51803 was shifted to the right in the presence of a V(2)-antagonist, OPC-31260. At 10(-5) M, OPC-51803 did not increase the intracellular Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)) in HeLa cells expressing human V(1a)-receptors. On the other hand, dDAVP increased [Ca(2+)](i) in HeLa cells expressing human V(1a)- and V(1b)-receptors in a concentration-dependent fashion. From these results, OPC-51803 has been confirmed to be the first nonpeptide agonist for human AVP V(2)-receptors without agonistic activities for V(1a)- and V(1b)-receptors. OPC-51803 may be useful for the treatment of AVP-deficient pathophysiological states and as a tool for AVP researches.

We have recently reported that members of the heparin-binding group II subfamily of secretory PLA(2)s (sPLA(2)s) (types IIA and V), when transfected into 293 cells, released [(3)H]arachidonic acid (AA) preferentially in response to interleukin-1 (IL-1) and acted as "signaling" PLA(2)s that were functionally coupled with prostaglandin biosynthesis. Here we show that these group II subfamily sPLA(2)s and the type X sPLA(2) behave in a different manner, the former being more efficiently coupled with the prostaglandin-biosynthetic pathway than the latter, in 293 transfectants. Type X sPLA(2), which bound only minimally to cell surface proteoglycans, augmented the release of both [(3)H]AA and [(3)H]oleic acid in the presence of serum but not IL-1. Both types IIA and V sPLA(2), the AA released by which was efficiently converted to prostaglandin E(2), markedly augmented IL-1-induced expression of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 in a heparin-sensitive fashion, whereas type X sPLA(2) lacked the ability to augment COX-2 expression, thereby exhibiting the poor prostaglandin E(2)-biosynthetic response unless either of the COX isozymes was forcibly introduced into type X sPLA(2)-expressing cells. Implication of phospholipid scramblase, an enzyme responsible for the perturbation of plasma membrane asymmetry, revealed that the scramblase-transfected cells became more sensitive to types IIA and V, but not X, sPLA(2), releasing both [(3)H]AA and [(3)H]oleic acid in an IL-1-independent manner. Thus, although phospholipid scramblase-mediated alteration in plasma membrane asymmetry actually led to the increased cellular susceptibility to the group II subfamily of sPLA(2)s, several lines of evidence suggest that it does not entirely mimic their actions on cells after IL-1 signaling. Interestingly, coexpression of type IIA or V, but not X, sPLA(2) and phospholipid scramblase resulted in a marked reduction in cell growth, revealing an unexplored antiproliferative aspect of particular classes of sPLA(2).

In this paper, we propose a scheduling method for synchronous communication between threads in the Bach hardware compiler. In this method, all communications are extracted from a behavioral Bach-C description and statically prescheduled to synchronize communications between threads if possible. Then all the operations and communications of each thread are synthesized independently according to the prescheduling result. Consequently, we can synthesize large system LSIs efficiently, because we do not need to synthesize the whole system descriptions at once to synchronize communications. Experimental results show that our method improves throughput of synthesized circuits and is applicable to large systems designed with the Bach hardware compiler.

We examined the relative contributions of five distinct mammalian phospholipase A2 (PLA2) enzymes (cytosolic PLA2 (cPLA2; type IV), secretory PLA2s (sPLA2s; types IIA, V, and IIC), and Ca2+-independent PLA2 (iPLA2; type VI)) to arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism by overexpressing them in human embryonic kidney 293 fibroblasts and Chinese hamster ovary cells. Analyses using these transfectants revealed that cPLA2 was a prerequisite for both the calcium ionophore-stimulated immediate and the interleukin (IL)-1- and serum-induced delayed phases of AA release. Type IIA sPLA2 (sPLA2-IIA) mediated delayed AA release and, when expressed in larger amounts, also participated in immediate AA release. sPLA2-V, but not sPLA2-IIC, behaved in a manner similar to sPLA2-IIA. Both sPLA2s-IIA and -V, but not sPLA2-IIC, were heparin-binding PLA2s that exhibited significant affinity for cell-surface proteoglycans, and site-directed mutations in residues responsible for their membrane association or catalytic activity markedly reduced their ability to release AA from activated cells. Pharmacological studies using selective inhibitors as well as co-expression experiments supported the proposal that cPLA2 is crucial for these sPLA2s to act properly. The AA-releasing effects of these sPLA2s were independent of the expression of the M-type sPLA2 receptor. Both cPLA2, sPLA2s-IIA, and -V were able to supply AA to downstream cyclooxygenase-2 for IL-1-induced prostaglandin E2 biosynthesis. iPLA2 increased the spontaneous release of fatty acids, and this was further augmented by serum but not by IL-1. Finally, iPLA2-derived AA was not metabolized to prostaglandin E2. These observations provide evidence for the functional cross-talk or segregation of distinct PLA2s in mammalian cells in regulating AA metabolism and phospholipid turnover.

The advantages and disadvantages of oxidative permanent and acid-type semi-permanent hair colors are evident. The former provides a longlasting "permanent" color, while the latter imparts less damage to the hair. We developed a novel acid-type hair color technology that can allow an acid dye and a metal ion to form a complex inside the hair similar to the oxidative hair color. It is well known that acid dye diffuses into the hair and creates an ionic bond with the positively charged amino acid residues of hair protein. However, the dye can be extracted easily from the hair by daily shampooing due to the weakness of the bond. In order to strengthen this bond and to prevent the extraction of the dye by shampooing, an aluminum chloride ion was chosen as the metal ion component to form the dye-metal complex. A proper composition of penetration enhancers, benzyl alcohol and ethyl alcohol, was required to allow acid dyes to interact with the aluminum chloride ion after each component penetrates deeply into the hair to form a complex inside the hair. To provide color brightness and a color longevity effect to hair color, glycolic acid was also selected due to the observation that a weak acid with a small molecular weight would enhance those effects.

A computational study has been performed to simulate the interaction of a shock wave impinging on a vortex ring moving toward it. A numerical model is developed on the basis of the experimental findings. The basic equations of the multicomponent, axisymmetric, viscous, and heat conducting gas flow are discretized by the explicit second-order MacCormack method, complemented by the shock-capturing FCT smoothing technique.

The phase change due to the polymerization of the ferromagnetic tetrakis-dimethylamino-ethylene (TDAE)-C 60 has been reconfirmed by applying pressures in situ up to P c =7 kbar in an ESR cavity. This transition is irreversible and the phase above P c is stable even after releasing pressure. The pressure-dependent g -factor indicates the revival of the TDAE + spins. Moreover, the ferromagnetism disappears simultaneously at P c . The de-polymerization of the polymerized (pressure-released) crystal has been confirmed for the first time by the high-temperature ESR study. This transition is also irreversible and the polymer phase is stable up to 470 K. The de-polymerized phase is considered to be the original ferromagnetic one.

It has been difficult to diagnose the deep-seated fungal infection. Limulus test which originally has been developed to detect endotoxin in blood is also activated by (1--3)-beta-D-glucan, the cell wall component of the fungi. Factor G in limulus lysate is activated by (1--3)-beta-D-glucan and not by endotoxin. The quantitative assay of (1--3)-beta-D-glucan is possible by the G-test using factor G. (1--3)-beta-D-glucan in RPMI culture medium of Candida albicans was periodically measured using G-test and the effect of antifungal drug or neutrophil to the changes of (1--3)-beta-D-glucan in the culture medium was studied. Increase in the level of (1--3)-beta-D-glucan was in parallel with the growth of Candida albicans. G-test may be applied to the clinical diagnosis of fungal infection.

A dynamical mechanism is considered which connects the cascade with nongaussian statistics of velocity gradients. Turbulence is characterized by the continuous excitation of all scales, but in the Fourier space of the velocity field, the excited amplitude decreases rapidly with increasing wave numbers so that contribution to the total kinetic energy from the small scale components is negligibly small. Roughly speaking by the central limit theorem, the sum of a large number of Fourier modes is distributed normally when the Fourier amplitudes of different wave numbers are independent in the energy-containing eddies (Batchelor 1953).

Evidences are accumulating to show that the theory of vortex sound in the aeroacoustics can describe characteristic features of the waves radiated by a localized vortex motion at low Mach numbers. Examples are given for collisions of two vortex rings and interaction of a vortex ring with a cylinder. An unresolved problem in our study so far is whether there exists a monpolar (i.e. isotropic) component in the radiated waves which can be attributed to the viscous dissipation of kinetic energy. A discussion is given about implication of the octapole component observed in the experiment of oblique collision of two vortex rings.

Purified alanine carrier proteins were cleaved into peptides either chemically after solubilization in 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol or proteolytically with lysylendopeptidase. From the amino acid sequence analyses of these peptides, we synthesized a DNA probe and utilized it for successful cloning of a gene encoding the alanine carrier protein (acp gene). The 5'-flanking region was determined by an inverse polymerase chain reaction, and an open reading frame consisting of 1,335 nucleotides was found. The amino acid sequence deduced from the open reading frame consists of 445 amino acids, and all the partial amino acid sequences determined are included in the sequence. Although the calculated M(r) of 47,803 is significantly larger than the apparent M(r) of 42,500 as reported previously (Hirata, H., Kambe, T., and Kagawa, Y. (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 10653-10656), an in vitro translation experiment revealed that the product of the acp gene migrates at a position coinciding with that of the purified alanine carrier. Hydropathy analysis suggests that the protein contains at least 8 hydrophobic segments presumably spanning membrane. A homology search on a database reveals relatively high scores of homology with either the Escherichia coli melibiose carrier or the human Na+/glucose symporter, particularly in the region from Leu246 to Glu286. Furthermore, the region also reveals low but significant similarities to other Na(+)-coupled symporters.