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We observed a superconducting diode effect (SDE) at 77 K in a YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) film irradiated with 75-MeV-Au ions directed 30°-off normal to the film surface. Up to 3% asymmetry in dc critical-current appeared remarkably in out-of-plane magnetic fields. In this field orientation, a conventional SDE does not emerge due to an asymmetric barrier to vortex entry between the film surface and the film–substrate interface. We also observed a sudden reversal of the diode polarity when the magnetic-field-angle was rotated across the ion-incident-angle. Our results indicate an unconventional SDE in YBCO films that include tilted 1D defects.

Peak detection of any time serial signals can be done using different methods. However, exact positions of the peaks cannot be achieved, if the method does not have a high sensitivity detection capability. It is known that various errors appear between the real peak value and the measured value; therefore, a true peak value can be obtained from the measured value by using a highly sensitive detection method. For this reason, spline interpolation is used to estimate the peak points from measured values. In this paper, highly sensitive peak detection of high-frequency signals based on FPGA is proposed using spline algorithm, which is capable of calculating the middle points using the first and last points on the signal. To evaluate the system, the histograms, the mean, and the variance of the peak values before and after spline interpolation are compared. Simulation results show that calculated peak points using splines and real peak values of a signal are very close to each other since the spline algorithm has very high calculation sensitivity. In addition, spline results show us how much error the existing peak values have.

Soft tissue tension is thought to have a great effect on the clinical performance of total joint replacement; such as shoulder, hip, knee, or ankle. However, there have been no reports quantifying these soft tissue tensions intraoperatively. For the shoulder, reverse total shoulder arthroplasty has been used in Japan since 2014. So the purpose of this study is to develop an instrument which tells us soft tissue tension intraoperatively. Surgeons would be able to utilize the measured values when assessing stability of the joint intraoperatively. We are developing the instrument using capacitive one-dimensional force sensors to measure the soft tissue tension for reverse shoulder arthroplasty. A capacitive one-dimensional force sensor can be made less than 1mm in thickness. And an electric circuit which measures its amount of capacitances also could be made pretty small. That's because we use capacitive force sensors for measuring the soft tissue tension. The whole instruments have to be sufficiently small enough such that its outer geometry could be same to an existing prosthesis. While a capacitive force sensor is good in its dimensions, however, it is very sensitive to noise. We try to improve signal noise ratio having whole dimensions small enough. Now, we have designed a 5mm diameter capacitive one-dimensional force sensor to operate in the 0–150N force range. This direction hopefully would be one of the promising ways for good clinical outcomes of joint replacement.

Introduction Pneumonia is a major cause of mortality in older adults and pneumococcus is one of the most important pathogens resulting in pneumonia in this population. Although pneumococcal vaccine is available in many countries, vaccine coverage is low, especially in developing countries. In Japan, a regular immunization program for older adults was begun in 2014. We investigated the social determinants of pneumococcal vaccination in older Japanese adults. Methods We analyzed data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES), a self-administered postal survey of community-dwelling adults aged 65 years or older. Pneumococcal vaccination status was ascertained by means of the question, “Have you been vaccinated for pneumococcus within the previous 5 years?”. Multilevel Poisson regression was used to examine associations of individual socioeconomic status and municipal subsidization for pneumococcal vaccination with vaccination status, after adjustment for age, self-rated health, underlying respiratory diseases, and living arrangement. Results Among the 166,776 respondents (76,944 men and 89,839 women) in 39 Japanese municipalities, 43.3% (72,274) had been vaccinated during the previous 5 years. Men were more likely than women to have been vaccinated (odds ratio [OR], 1.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.22–1.27). As compared with elders aged 65–69 years, older elders were significantly more likely to have been vaccinated (OR [95% CI]: 1.52 [1.47–1.56] for age 70–74 years, 2.37 [2.29–2.44] for age 75–79 years, 3.00 [2.89–3.12] for age 80–84 years, and 2.98 [2.84–3.13] for age 85 years or older). As compared with elders with incomes less than 0.5 million yen, those with higher equivalent incomes were significantly more likely to have been vaccinated (OR [95% CI]: 1.13 [1.05–1.22] for 1–1.99 million yen, 1.32 [1.23–1.42] for 2–3.99 million yen, and 1.42 [1.31–1.54] for 4 million yen or more). As compared with elders with less than 6 years of education, those with greater educational attainment were significantly more likely to have been vaccinated (OR [95% CI]: 1.39 [1.23–1.58] for 6–9 years, 1.63 [1.44–1.85] for 10–12 years, and 1.67 [1.47–1.89] for 13 or more years). Municipal subsidization for pneumococcal vaccination was not significantly associated with immunization status. Conclusions Immunization behavior in older adults was significantly associated with individual socioeconomic status but not with municipal subsidization for pneumococcal vaccination.

We investigated the heat transfer characteristics of HTS tape, which is impregnated with solid nitrogen–solid neon hybrid refrigerant. We have proposed such refrigerant as high performance heat capacitor for the HTS power applications in a temperature range from 10 K to 30 K. The experiments were carried out with the use of the Gifford–McMahon (GM) cryocooler. Bi-2223/Ag tape conductors were subjected to this study, and impregnated with the refrigerant. After stabilizing the temperature of the tape with the bias current, the voltage of such tape was measured as a function of time. Furthermore, temporal traces of the temperature were also measured at different two points, i.e., surface and 2 mm apart from the tape, respectively. We repeated such measurements for different ratios of neon/nitrogen and operating temperature. It was shown that so-called dry-out phenomenon was overcome by the use of our proposed hybrid refrigerant. Detailed discussions with respect to cooling behavior of the boundary layer between the aforementioned refrigerant and the HTS tape are to be presented.

The spray and mixture properties are the vital factors that control the fuel—air mixing formation, subsequent combustion, and exhaust emission processes in direct injection (DI) diesel engines. In the current study, by means of the ultraviolet-visible laser absorption-scattering (LAS) technique, the spray and mixture properties of the evaporating fuel spray injected by hole-type DI diesel injector are quantitatively investigated under various injection conditions in terms of spray tip penetration, spray cone angle, equivalence ratio distributions of liquid/vapour phases, mass of ambient gas entrained, and evaporation ratio etc. The principle and imaging procedures of the LAS technique are first summarized and discussed. Then, the effects of injection pressure and nozzle hole diameter on the spray and mixture properties are examined in particular. The results show that — for the injection system and ambient conditions in this study — increasing the injection pressure from 90 MPa to 120 MPa results in approximately 40 per cent more ambient gas being entrained into the spray on average, and the effect of nozzle hole diameter on the mixture properties shows two contrasting trends.

Objective: We attempt to clarify specific imaging findings useful for differential diagnosis between endometrioid cancer and clear cell cancer. Methods: We examined magnetic resonance imaging features on 11 endometrioid cancer and 9 clear cell cancer patients. We compared them, focusing on the locularity, characteristic and growth pattern of solid components, and association with endometrial diseases. Results: Endometrioid cancer had a predominantly multilocular appearance, but clear cell cancer showed almost equally multilocular and unilocular appearances. For the growth pattern, endometrioid cancer in 6 patients demonstrated a "centric pattern" and an "eccentric pattern" in 4, whereas clear cell cancer showed predominantly an eccentric pattern. An internal slit in the solid component was seen in 4 endometrioid cancer patients but not seen in any of the patients with clear cell cancer. Conclusions: The magnetic resonance imaging appearance of the internal slit in solid components and the presence of endometrial disease are key factors in differentiating endometrioid cancer from clear cell cancer, although lesion locularity and growth pattern are not specific in both.

In order to assess the benefits of superior rooting ability of rice (Oryza sativa L.) for growth after transplanting under water-limiting conditions, genetic differences in the rooting ability of rice seedlings 30 d after sowing, with their visible roots either pruned or not pruned, were quantified by several root parameters 4 d after transplanting (DAT), under flooded or non-flooded paddy fields (four treatments in total), together with production traits at maturity. Ninety-eight recombinant inbred lines from the two japonica ecotypes, a lowland variety Otomemochi, and an upland variety Yumenohatamochi, were genotyped with 107 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Otomemochi in general produced more adventitious roots, partitioned a greater proportion of biomass to roots, and had a greater increment of root dry weight (DeltaRW) at 4 DAT than Yumenohatamochi, but these variety differences were less clear under non-flooded conditions without root pruning. Several quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with rooting ability were identified mainly in chromosomes 1, 4, and 6 across the four treatments or in combined analysis. On the other hand, QTLs for DeltaRW around RM2357 in chromosome 5 and for maximum new root length in RM215-RM205 in chromosome 9 were found only under root pruning treatments and under non-flooded conditions without root pruning, respectively. Greater DeltaRW was associated with higher head dry weight per hill at maturity only in the non-flooded and root-pruning treatments. This study suggests the importance of rooting ability after transplanting and, possibly, other mechanisms for adaptation to non-flooded conditions.

YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) film was prepared by fluorine-free metalorganic deposition (MOD) on a 2-inch-diameter CeO2-buffered yttria-stabilized zirconia (CbYSZ) substrate. The MOD-YBCO films on a flat CbYSZ prepared using a metal acetylacetonate-based coating solution demonstrated high critical current density (Jc), the average being higher than 4 MA/cm2 at 77.3 K and in a self field using an inductive method. The Jc distribution was uniform in the whole area of the MOD-YBCO films on the large size substrates. Cross sectional transmission electron microscopic images of the MOD-YBCO film exhibited a very smooth CeO2/ YSZ and CeO2 buffer layer/ YBCO film interfaces. Both the buffer and the YBCO layers were dense; however, a small amount of (100)-oriented YBCO occurred inside the matrix of (001)-oriented YBCO layers. Also, some distinct dislocations were observed at the CeO2/ YBCO interface. From around the stepped surface of the CeO2 buffer layer there seemed to grow a slightly distorted (001)-oriented YBCO domain, however, the domain restored its (001)-oriented periodicity in the region at some distance above the steps. Such growth mode is considered to correlate the high Jc of the MOD-YBCO film with very small average roughness of CeO2 buffer layer.

Epitaxial YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 7/ (Y123) films were obtained by metal-organic deposition (MOD) using a simple, low-cost vacuum technique without gas flowing. The total pressure and oxygen partial pressure in the furnace were controlled to be 10 kPa and 10 Pa, respectively, by evacuation with a rotary pump followed by refilling with a mixture of O/sub 2/ and N/sub 2/ (O/sub 2/ content: 1000 ppm). XRD analyses exhibited that c-axis-oriented epitaxial Y123 films have successfully been obtained on CeO/sub 2/-buffered YSZ (100) (CbZ) and CeO/sub 2/-buffered sapphire (012) (CbS) substrates. In-plane alignments of these films were as high as that of the CeO/sub 2/ buffer layer. The film on the CbZ demonstrated a high critical current density J/sub c/ of /spl sim/2.1 MA/cm/sup 2/ at 77 K all over the film; the fluctuation of J/sub c/ being within /spl plusmn/10% of the average. Inductive T/sub c/ measurement showed a very sharp peak with T/sub c/=90.5 K. Inductive-J/sub c/ and T/sub c/ of the Y123 film on CbS were 1.1 MA/cm/sup 2/ and 89.6 K, respectively, whereas the T/sub c/ of the Y123 film on LaAlO/sub 3/ was lower than 77 K owing to the occurrence of the a-axis grains.

Epitaxial cerium oxide (CeO/sub 2/; thickness: 40 nm) buffer layers were deposited on large area (maximum size 10/spl times/30 cm/sup 2/) R-cut single-crystal sapphire (/spl alpha/-Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/) substrates by double electron-beam guns. Substrate heater-and-holder system was modified to maintain the substrate temperature uniform over the large area during deposition. Oxygen gas of a pressure 4/spl times/10/sup -2/ Pa was introduced to keep radio frequency plasma. When the substrate temperature was controlled in the range 640/spl deg/-700/spl deg/C, the CeO/sub 2/ buffer showed a complete [001] orientation and very smooth surfaces by x-ray diffraction analysis and atomic force microscopic observations, respectively, in the whole area of the large size substrates. These buffer layers without post-deposition annealing were quite suitable for preparing YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 7/ (YBCO) films by a metal-organic deposition (MOD) using a metal acetylacetonate-based solution. The average critical current density of the 210-nm-thick MOD-YBCO film was in excess of 2.6 MA/cm/sup 2/ measured by an inductive method at 77.3 K.

We reviewed the clinical outcomes of vascularized nerve grafts for the repair of large nerve gaps (longer than 20 cm) after severe trauma to an upper extremity. Six patients who underwent vascularized sural nerve grafting (five to the median nerve and one to the ulnar nerve) with a monitoring skin flap were evaluated. The length of the vascularized sural nerve grafts ranged from 20 to 30 cm, with a mean length of 23.3 cm. All but one of the monitoring skin flap grafts was successful. In those patients for whom the monitoring skin flap graft was successful, the mean static-2PD at the corresponding fingertip was 14.2 mm (range 10-20 mm). Evaluation of these patients with the Semmes-Weinstein test produced the following results: filament 6, two patients; filament 10, three patients. The results of this study show that vascularized sural nerve grafting should be considered as a clinical alternative for nerve reconstruction in patients with nerve defects longer than 20 cm.

Background: Patients with cervical cancer who develop pelvic recurrence after primary surgery are usually treated with radiation-based therapy. However, their prognoses are dismal. We conducted a phase I study of combined radiation, hyperthermia and intra-arterial (IA) carboplatin for local recurrence of cervical cancer. Patients and methods: Patients with local recurrence of cervical cancer without extrapelvic recurrence were included in this study. Carboplatin was given as a 5-min IA infusion without hydration just before pelvic radiation every day. External pelvic irradiation (1.8 Gy/day for 28 days) was performed according to local standard schedules. After 20 Gy had been administered, hyperthermia was performed once a week with a radio frequency heating system for four cycles. Results: Fifteen patients were entered through the four dose levels of carboplatin. The maximum tolerated dose was determined to be 25 mg/m2 and the dose-limiting toxicities were leukocytopenia, neutrocytopenia and diarrhea. Grade 3/4 leukocytopenia and diarrhea were observed in nine (60%) and three (20%) of 15 patients. Tumor responses included five complete responses and nine partial responses, and the overall response rate was 93.3% (14 of 15) (95% confidence interval 59.4% to 100%). Tumor reductions were observed only at 20 Gy in 10 cases of 14 responders (71.4%). Conclusion: The combination therapy of radiation, hyperthermia and IA carboplatin is safe and well-tolerated for locally recurrent cervical cancer.

We achieved a potential well more than fifty times deeper than the plasma electron temperature, down to -0.3 kV with the electrode biasing, by the cross-field radial arcing current of up to 150 A which flows between the small electron-emitting electrode (LaB6) inserted to the plasma center and the stainless-steel wall of vacuum chamber. The empirical scaling of the radial resistance of plasma Rr on the radial arcing current Ib and the toroidal magnetic field BT is found to be Rr ∼ Ib-1.2BT1.0. Structural dynamics of negative potential well formation is observed: the potential dip propagates from the plasma core to the periphery. The ion saturation current also increases, starting from the inner region. The fluctuation frequency in Isat changes abruptly from 200 kHz to 30 kHz in a time of around 0.25 ms after negative biasing.

The development of highly informative DNA markers, such as simple sequence repeats (SSRs), is essential for breeding to select agronomically important traits and for genetic studies in pear. We developed SSR markers by using two approaches, RAHM (random amplified hybridization microsatellites) and 5' anchored PCR methods. Segregation analysis of the SSRs revealed that amplified fragments were derived from the same loci, using 3 sets of progenies from crosses between pear varieties. Genetic diversity was characterized using 32 varieties, including 10 from Japanese pear (Pyrus pyrifolia), 9 from Chinese pear (P. bretschneideri, P. ussuriensis), 10 from European pear (P. communis) as well as 3 wild relatives (P. calleryana). Diversity of SSR genotypes was observed among species as well as within species and 65 putative alleles were detected. The use of seven SSR markers was sufficient to differentiate between all of the 32 varieties.

A compact and high-particle-flux thermal-lithium-beam source for two-dimensional measurement of electron density profiles has been developed. The thermal-lithium-beam oven is heated by a carbon heater. In this system, the maximum particle flux of the thermal lithium beam was ~4 × 10(19) m(-2) s(-1) when the temperature of the thermal-lithium-beam oven was 900 K. The electron density profile was evaluated in the small tokamak device HYBTOK-II. The electron density profile was reconstructed using the thermal-lithium-beam probe data and this profile was consistent with the electron density profile measured with a Langmuir electrostatic probe. We confirm that the developed thermal-lithium-beam probe can be used to measure the two-dimensional electron density profile with high time and spatial resolutions.

Ca-substituted epitaxial YbBa 2 Cu 4 O 8 (Yb124) films were prepared by a coating-pyrolysis process to enhance the superconducting transition temperature. The Ca-doped Yb124 films showed higher T c values, e.g., 81 K, by AC-susceptibility measurement for the film with a nominal composition of Yb : Ca : Ba : Cu = 0.95 : 0.05 : 2 : 4. These films contained a small proportion of Ca-doped YbBa 2 Cu 3 O y [Yb(Ca)123] as an impurity phase. However, these high T c values should be attributed not to Yb(Ca)123 but to (Yb 1-x Ca x )Ba 2 Cu 4 O 8 , because both the slow- and fast-cooled films showed almost the same T c values, that are higher than those of the Ca-free films.

Summary Background There have been extensive studies regarding which types of T lymphocytes are involved in psoriasis vulgaris (PV). However, it has remained unclear which types of T lymphocytes might directly contribute to psoriasiform epidermal and vascular hyperplasia. Objectives To understand the role of T-cell receptor (TCR)Vα24+ invariant natural killer (iNK)T cells in the development of PV. Methods Seventeen patients were enrolled in this study. Using biopsy samples of PV plaques, TCRVα24+ iNKT cells were investigated regarding their cytokine production to understand their roles in development of disease. Results The number of interferon (IFN)-γ+ iNKT cells correlated with the length of the psoriasiform hyperplasia rete ridge and the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index. IFN-γ+ iNKT cells in psoriatic skin exhibited higher C-C chemokine receptor (CCR)5 expression, and the amount of C-C chemokine ligand (CCL)5, a ligand for CCR5, was increased in capillary veins of psoriasis plaques. CCR5+ iNKT-cell numbers significantly correlated with the number of capillary vein endothelial cells expressing CCL5 in PV. Furthermore, the number of CCL5+ capillary veins correlated with the maximum rete ridge length. Conclusions IFN-γ/CCR5 expression in iNKT cells and CCL5 expression in vessels of dermal papillae correlate with the development of psoriasiform hyperplasia and microabscess. We propose that these iNKT cells may become useful targets for development of novel therapeutic approaches to PV.

A 640-GHz heterodyne superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) receiver will be installed in Superconducting Submillimeter-wave Limb Emission Sounder (SMILES) on the Japanese Experiment Module of the International Space Station. SMILES will simultaneously detect twelve emission lines of stratospheric molecules in the limb sounding method. The SIS receiver is operating in single sideband (SSB) mode, and we employ a new type of Martin-Puplett interferometer consisting of two sets of a wire grid and a flat mirror for the SSB filter. The SIS mixers and intermediate-frequency low noise amplifiers will be cooled to 4.5 K and 20 K, respectively, by a Stirling refrigerator combined with a Joule-Thomson circuit used for the first time in space.

We have found a novel anti-allergic agent, M50367, which suppresses IgE biosynthesis and eosinophil accumulation in vivo. In this study, we evaluated the ability of M50367 to modulate Th1/Th2 balance in Th2-background BALB/c mice and to inhibit airway hyperresponsiveness in a murine model of atopic asthma. Oral M50367 at 3–30 mg/kg/day exhibited 51 to 73% reduction of IL-4/IL-5 production and 2- to 5-fold augmentation of IFN-γ production by Ag-stimulated cultured splenocytes of the mice sensitized with DNP-Ascaris. These alterations in Th1/Th2 cytokine production were accompanied by 55–85% suppression of plasma IgE level. Oral M50367 at a dose of 10 mg/kg/day significantly inhibited Ig-independent peritoneal eosinophilia by 54%, which was induced by repeated i.p. injections of Ascaris suum extract. To develop airway hyperresponsiveness caused by allergic airway inflammation, BALB/c mice were sensitized with i.p. OVA injections, followed three times by OVA inhalation. Oral M50367 significantly inhibited the increase in airway reactivity to acetylcholine, together with the elevation of plasma IgE level and pulmonary eosinophilia, which were observed in vehicle-treated mice 1 day after the last inhalation. Moreover, M50367 treatment reduced IL-4 and IL-5 production and tended to enhance IFN-γ production, not only by cultured splenocytes, but also in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. These results suggest that M50367 has a modulating ability of Th1/Th2 balance to down-regulate Th2 response in the circulating system as well as at the sites of inflammation, and may be beneficial for the treatment of allergic disorders such as atopic asthma.

The new JEM-2010FEF electron microscope provides useful techniques based on energy filtering as an omega-type energy filter is integrated into a thermal field-emission 200 kV transmission electron microscope. For example, the zero-loss imaging improves the contrast of high resolution lattice images as well as images of precipitates or lattice defects in alloys. The acquisition time for elemental mapping with core-loss electrons is one order in magnitude shorter than with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The removal of inelastically scattered electrons enables us to observe weak lines in convergent-beam electron diffraction patterns from a thicker specimen with a probe size 1-2 nm in diameter. A combination of the field emission gun and sensitive recording media such as an imaging plate and a slow-scan CCD camera makes the energy filtering more powerful.

YbBa2Cu4O8(Yb124) films were prepared on SrTiO3(001) and SrTiO3(110) substrates by coating-pyrolysis process at ambient pressure, and the alignments of these films were investigated by XRD θ-2θ scanning and XRD pole-figure analysis. Films prepared on SrTiO3(001) consisted of almost single-phase [001]-oriented epitaxial Yb124. On the other hand, films on SrTiO3(110) consisted of [107]-oriented epitaxial Yb124 and other impurity phases, one of which was considered to be so-called “other perovskite” phase.

Laboratory measurements of a backscattered signal for large spherical scatterers are performed to investigate the range of applicability of approximate theory, which the authors used in interpreting the measured depolarization signatures of rain. The measured linear depolarization ratios (LDRs) are in remarkably good agreement with theoretical calculations.

1 cm ×12 cm rectangular YBCO films for fault current limiter devices were prepared by MOD. Usually, solution coating in MOD is carried out by spin coating. However, there are some problems associated with spin coating of large-size rectangular substrates. Namely, the maximum substrate dimension is limited by cup size and motor torque of the apparatus. It was found that wire-bar coating is a promising alternative; this method is more easily scaled up to a large size at lower cost. By both methods, YBCO films with high Jc's around 2 MA/cm2 were obtained on CeO2-buffered sapphire. So far, the uniformity of Jc in the YBCO films prepared by spin coating was better than those by wire-bar coating.

A new implementation of the Silicon Audio player is presented. It decodes data which has been encoded by the MPEG/Audio Layer II algorithm standardized by the ISO (International Standardization Organization). The encoded data is stored in a semiconductor memory card. Decoding is carried out by an MPEG/audio decoder chip. Thanks to this dedicated LSI chip, the power consumption of the player is reduced so that the player could be driven by four nickel-metal hydride batteries for four and a half hours. Since the Silicon Audio player has no mechanical movement, it is robust against vibration that has been a serious problem for portable audio players. The recording time is defined as a function of the memory-card capacity and the compression ratio. Assuming one eighth compression with a sampling rate of 48 kHz, a 24-minute recording is possible with a 32-Mbyte memory card.

AIMS: To investigate the effectiveness of digoxigenin incorporated double stranded DNA probes produced by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), for the detection of Pneumocystis carinii, using in situ hybridisation (ISH). METHODS: Formalin fixed, paraffin wax embedded sections of 26 human lung samples from 11 patients with P carinii pneumonia (PCP), and 15 with various types of fungal and viral pneumonia, were obtained during necropsy or transbronchial lung biopsy. Three additional PCP induced rat lung samples were also tested. PCR probes were prepared using the digoxigenin labelling mixture, and they were amplified from the DNA of a PCP induced rat lung after administration of dexamethasone, on the basis that 5S ribosomal RNA sequences are identical in human and rat P carinii. ISH was performed using this probe, and visualised using the digoxigenin nucleic acid detection kit. An immunohistochemical study using anti-human Pneumocystis monoclonal antibody was also carried out in parallel. RESULTS: ISH positively stained eight (of eight) lung necropsy specimens from patients with PCP, three (of three) transbronchial lung biopsy specimens from patients with PCP, and none of the three PCP induced rat lung specimens. In contrast, none of the specimens from patients with pneumonia caused by Aspergillus sp (n = 5), Candida sp (n = 4), Cryptococcus sp (n = 2), mucormycosis (n = 2), or cytomegalovirus (n = 2) were positive on ISH or immunohistochemistry. CONCLUSIONS: Using a digoxigenin labelled PCR probe for the entire 5S rRNA sequence in conjunction with conventional staining, ISH is highly reactive and specific for the diagnosis of PCP.

Summary In mass production of semiconductors, wire bonding is used to make electrical connections between an electrode terminal on a semiconductor chip and an outer lead terminal. Cu wire offers good corrosion resistance and high electrical and thermal conductivity. Cu wire can also be directly bonded to Cu alloy lead frames by stitch bonding. For this reason, practical application of the Cu wire bonding process is anticipated. Cu wire stitch bonding on Cu alloy lead frames, however, faces numerous difficult problems. This paper describes an investigation of the effects of the bonding conditions and surface states on bondability during Cu wire stitch bonding. It is necessary to exercise good control of the wire deformation behaviour to obtain good bondability in thermosonic Cu wire bonding (hot‐pressure bonding combined with ultrasonic vibration). The surface state of the Cu alloy lead also affects the bondability. If the surface roughness of the Cu alloy lead is more than 0.4 μm or if the thickness of th...

The usefulness of the serial section method was investigated in four bone marrow aspirates, four biopsies and nine autopsy specimens obtained from patients with miliary tuberculosis who were admitted to our hospital between 1974 and 1994. In original sections, granulomas consistent with tuberculosis were found in two out of four aspirate specimens (50%) but in none of the four bone marrow biopsies. By using serially out sections, however, granulomas were detected in two more aspirate specimens and two biopsies which were negative in original sections. Consequently four of four aspirates (100%) and two of four biopsies ((50%) became positive. In addition, the distribution of granulomas was investigated using vertebral bone marrows obtained from 12 autopsy cases. We divided the vertebral bone marrows obtained from 12 autopsy cases. We divided the vertebra into the peripheral and central portions. Granulomas were more frequently found in the peripheral portions than in the central. The higher detection rate of granulomas in the peripheral bone marrow when the biopsy and aspiration needles easily reach, suggests that bone marrow aspiration and/or biopsy would be a useful procedure for the diagnosis miliary tuberculosis. Therefore if serial sections were utilized for such samples in the miliary tuberculosis patients, the detection rate is expected to became much higher.

A 18-year-old male was admitted to another hospital complaining of his chest X-ray. After transfer to our hospital, increased serum antibody titers to simultaneous M. pneumoniae and C. psittaci were noted. These antibody titers decreased after about four months. Positive results for M. pneumoniae was obtained by Polymerase chain reaction in the right pleural effusion. Based on these findings, this case was diagnosed as M. pneumoniae and C. psittaci pneumonia. A transbronchial lung biopsy and a bronchial biopsy revealed rare histological findings, including histiocytic intra-alveolar pneumonia with palisaded granuloma and small foci of necrosis in the left upper lobe and eosinophilic bronchitis in the right middle bronchus. His chest X-ray and chest CT showed a nodular shadow, obstructive pneumonia and pleural effusion which are rare in M. pneumoniae and C., psittaci pneumonia.

We have fabricated a high yield integrated memory array processor (IMAP) LSI, which features a high memory bandwidth (1.28-GB/s) and low power consumption (4-W max.) and which contains a 2-Mb SRAM with 1.28-I/O's and 64 processor elements (PE's) in one chip. A high-bandwidth and low-power memory circuit design is the key technology to realize the IMAP-LSI. We adopted following new designs for memory circuit. (1) Memory access time is designed to be twice as fast as PE execution time (2) Employment of dynamic power control mode, which reduces the memory power consumption down to 30% of maximum power without a loss in access-speed (3) Simplified synchronization with PE's (4) 4-way block redundancy. These design techniques are suitable for future system integrated ULSI's. >

A new audio-data compression and storage system, the Silicon Audio, is presented. It employs the MPEG/Audio Layer II algorithm for data compression, which has been standardized by ISO (International Standardization Organization). A semiconductor memory card is equipped with to store the compressed signal. Decoding is carried out by a general purpose digital signal processor and a specially designed gate array chip. The package includes some special designs with vivid colors for the outdoor and sporting use. Since it has no mechanical movement, it is robust against vibration that has been a serious problem for portable audio players. The recording time is defined as a function of the memory-card capacity and the compression ratio. >

An integrated memory array processor (IMAP) LSI has peak performance of 3.84 GIPS and is suitable for high-speed, low-level image processing (LIP). Keys to performance are: integration of 64 simple processing elements (PEs) and 2 Mb SRAM with 128 b I/O, and single-instruction stream multiple-data stream (SIMD) parallel processing by use of 1.28 GB/s on-chip processor-memory bandwidth. A large number of active sense amplifiers ordinarily used in a wide memory bandwidth creates the problem of large power consumption. The number of active sense amplifiers here is reduced by a factor of 4 by accessing half of each word at a time, but accessing it at twice the speed of the PE clock. This keeps power consumption low. Each memory block can perform indexed addressing within its pages. This capability contributes to IMAP flexibility and efficiency in LIP. To raise yield, the architecture employs 4-way block replacement redundancy. IMAP is fabricated in 0.55 /spl mu/m BiCMOS 2-layer metal process technology. >

Using micromechanical force magnetometry, we have measured the magnetization of the strong-leg spin-$1/2$ ladder compound $({\mathrm{C}}_{7}{\mathrm{H}}_{10}\mathrm{N}{)}_{2}{\mathrm{CuBr}}_{2}$ at temperatures down to 45 mK. Low-temperature magnetic susceptibility as a function of field exhibits a maximum near the critical field ${H}_{c}$ at which the magnon gap vanishes, as expected for a gapped one-dimensional antiferromagnet. Above ${H}_{c}$ a clear minimum appears in the magnetization as a function of temperature, as predicted by theory. In this field region, the susceptibility in conjunction with our specific-heat data yields the Wilson ratio ${R}_{W}$. The result supports the relation ${R}_{W}=4K$, where $K$ is the Tomonaga-Luttinger-liquid parameter.

Background In April 2009, Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 has reported from Mexico and has spread so rapidly in the worldwide. However, the number of dead cases caused by this infection has a big difference among the counties and regions. We describe the considerable reasons why first Nations people have experienced such high rate of severe conditions from the socioeconomic point of view which are related to healthcare.

A structural change produced by electron irradiation near surfaces of 03B1-Al2O3 was observed through high resolution electron microscopy and electron diffraction. Initially smooth surfaces become rough during TEM observations at 200 and 400 kV and holes appear with a prefered orientation of growth. Planar defects are also produced near the surfaces; they appear as dark- or bright-lines parallel to the (001) plane when the specimen is observed along the [110] direction, and they are also visible along the [001] direction as a periodic modulation of bright dots. The defects give rise to streaks and extra spots in electron diffraction patterns along [110] and [001], respectively. A formation mechanism and model of the defects were proposed; the defects are induced by inelastic scattering on Al plane parallel to (001) through rearrangement of Al ions and Al-vacancies. Three quaters of the atomic sites of the Al plane are occupied by Al ions and one quater is vacant, while 2/3

We describe ferumoxides-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging findings in a 60-year-old man with confluent hepatic fibrosis in advanced cirrhosis. The extension and internal structure of confluent fibrosis were well demonstrated with ferumoxides-enhanced proton-density spin-echo magnetic resonance images, showing a wedge-shaped area of high signal intensity corresponding to the extension of fibrosis and internal focal areas of low signal intensity, presumably corresponding to residual functioning liver parenchyma. This case suggests a potential utility of ferumoxides-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging for characterizing this tumor-mimicking disorder.