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Dry powder inhalers (DPI) are frequently used by asthmatic patients, and the usage rate increases every year. The pharmacists at our hospital provided initial inhalation instructions on how the inhaler must be used but did not elaborate on the cleaning of the device. Therefore, the cleaning status of the inhaler is unknown, and there is a possibility of bacterial growth. This study investigated the cleaning status and hygiene of steroid drug inhalers used by elderly asthma patients. We administered a questionnaire to investigate the inhaler cleaning status after inhalation, and conducted a cross-sectional survey on hygiene using ATP measurement and bacterial culture examination. Considering the responses by 53 patients, it became clear that the ATP values of patients who answered "never cleaned" after inhalation were significantly higher than those who answered "cleaned every time". Moreover, some bacteria were detected in 62% of inhalers; 4 patients' inhalers contained bacteria other than normal oral microbial flora. In conclusion, because the inhalers used by elderly patients are in poor hygienic conditions, we must give cleaning instructions accordingly. We believe that it is necessary to give proper medical instructions along with instructions on the cleaning method with dry cloth.

Summary During neurodevelopment, the growth cone deciphers directional information from extracellular guidance cues presented as shallow concentration gradients via signal amplification. However, it remains unclear how the growth cone controls this amplification process during its navigation through an environment in which basal cue concentrations vary widely. Here, we identified inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) receptor type 3 as a regulator of axonal sensitivity to guidance cues in vitro and in vivo. Growth cones lacking the type 3 subunit are hypersensitive to nerve growth factor (NGF), an IP3-dependent attractive cue, and incapable of turning toward normal concentration ranges of NGF to which wild-type growth cones respond. This is due to globally, but not asymmetrically, activated Ca2+ signaling in the hypersensitive growth cones. Remarkably, lower NGF concentrations can polarize growth cones for turning if IP3 receptor type 3 is deficient. These data suggest a subtype-specific IP3 receptor function in sensitivity adjustment during axon navigation., Graphical Abstract, Highlights • IP3 receptor type 3 (IP3R3) controls axonal sensitivity to IP3-based guidance cues • IP3R3−/− growth cones are not attracted to NGF due to global Ca2+ responses • Lower NGF concentrations can polarize IP3R3−/− growth cones for attractive turning • NGF knockdown in vivo can revert abnormal trajectory of IP3R3−/− axons, Biological Sciences; Neuroscience; Molecular Neuroscience; Cellular Neuroscience

We have observed a metal-insulator transition of a quasi-two-dimensional electronic system in transition metal dichalcogenide 2H-TaSe $$_2$$ caused by doping iron. The sheet resistance of 2H-Fe $$_x$$ TaSe $$_2$$ ( $$0 \le x \le 0.120$$ ) single crystals rises about $$10^6$$ times with the increasing of x at the lowest temperature. We investigated the temperature dependence of the resistance and found a metal-insulator transition with a critical sheet resistance $$11.7 \pm 5.4$$ k $$\mathrm {\Omega }$$ . The critical exponent of the localization length $$\nu $$ is estimated $$0.31 \pm 0.18$$ . The values of the critical sheet resistance and $$\nu $$ are accordant to those of the chiral unitary class (less than $$h/1.49e^2=17.3$$ k $$\mathrm {\Omega }$$ and $$0.35 \pm 0.03$$ , respectively). We suggest that 2H-Fe $$_x$$ TaSe $$_2$$ is classified as the chiral unitary class, not as standard unitary class.

We investigate the charge density wave transport on the quasi one-dimensional system, orthorhombic tantalum trisulfide (o-TaS3), by applying a radio-frequency ac voltage. New ac–dc interference spectrum is observed in the differential conductance, which appears at both sides of the zero-bias peak. The frequency and amplitude dependences of the new spectrum do not correspond to those of any conventional ac–dc interference spectrum, namely integer and fractional Shapiro steps. The results suggest that there are unconventional internal degrees of freedom in the CDW. We propose that randomly distributed 2 π phase solitons contribute electrical conduction when both ac and dc voltages are applied. Our results provide a new insight for a general understanding of CDW dynamics.

We have investigated the time fluctuation of the charge density wave current in TaS3 ring crystals. The CDW current fluctuates between two discrete current values when a constant dc voltage is applied. We measured dc voltage dependence of the current switching. We discovered that the CDW current has the high current dominant regime and the low current dominant regime, and a hysteresis between the two regimes as a function of dc voltage.

We investigated the conduction of electrons in a quasi two-dimensional random magnetic field (RMF) system, namely iron-doped transition metal dichalcogenide 2H-FexTa1−xSe2. We observed a clear metal–insulator transition by increasing the Fe doping rate. The temperature dependence of the resistances is consistent with the unitary class of Anderson localization. However, the observed critical sheet resistance is between 2 and 19kΩ, which is inconsistent with the unitary class (2h/e2=51.6kΩ). We propose that chiral symmetry can be present in 2H-FexTa1−xSe2 because the magnetoresistance of the crystals is similar to that of dirty graphites.

A1. Crystal morphology A1. Defects A2. Single crystal growth B1. Alloys abstract A cycloid, formerly known as a roulette, is a curve arising from a point on a circumference that rolls on its plane over a fixed straight line, and the cycloid shape is observed in many natural objects formed under a constraint. Here we report the discovery of cycloid-shaped crystals of TaSe3 obtained via the ''topology-change surgery'' of thin ring-shaped crystals. We cut the ring-shaped crystals with a focused ion beam. After being cut, they formed a cycloidal shape similar to Cyclotron trajectories of electrons under magnetic and electric fields. We conclude that the inhomogeneous curvature distribution minimizes the bending energy and shear modulation, which corresponds to our shear-less model.

Front-end modules (FEM) typically employ expensive III–V or SiGe technologies to provide relatively higher PA output power and lower LNA noise figure (NF) for larger distance coverage compared to what can be achieved in a CMOS transceiver SoC [1]. The WiFi FEM is typically designed as a standalone entity using linear and inefficient PA topologies, such as Class-A/AB, resulting in an FEM not taking advantage of the full capability of the transceiver SoC. Furthermore, due to the stringent EVM requirement, almost 10dB back-off from P sat is required, resulting in a poor PAE of out for the conventional Class-A/AB topologies regardless of device technology [1–3]. The CMOS FEM in Fig. 17.1.1 addresses the above issues and achieves performance comparable to that of GaAs/SiGe FEM but offers higher efficiency while using the full capability of the transceiver to enhance its performance. The proposed FEM integrates a PA, an LNA, a T/R switch, a transmit signal-strength indicator (TSSI) and an RF digital pre-distortion (DPD) calibration loopback path. It has two ICs integrated inside the same package. The PA, the LNA, and the DPD-loopback path are implemented on a 55nm bulk CMOS IC, while the T/R switch, PA output balun, and TSSI are integrated on a 0.18µm CMOS SOI IC.

We recently determined the values of intrinsic spin-orbit (SO) parameters for In 0.52 Al 0.48 As/In 0.53 Ga 0.47 As(10 nm)/In 0.52 Al 0.48 As (InGaAs/InAlAs) quantum wells (QW), lattice-matched to (001) InP, from the weak localization/antilocalization analysis of the low-temperature magneto-conductivity measurements [1]. We have then studied the subband energy spectra for the InGaAs/InAlAs double QW system from beatings in the Shubnikov de Haas (SdH) oscillations. The basic properties obtained here for the double QW system provides useful information for realizing nonmagnetic spin-filter devices based on the spin-orbit interaction [2]. Copyright © 2012 The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers.

We have synthesized micrometer-scale polyhedral ring crystals of TaS3 by the chemical vapor transportation method. The polyhedral ring crystals are closed-loop crystals with several vertices. We investigated the crystallinity and flatness of the facets by the electron backscatter diffraction technique and found that the orientation of the crystal axis changed abruptly at several points. Observing the size of the crystals, we found a new phase of topological crystals and propose a phase diagram of ring-polyhedral crystals in terms of radius and thickness. We also propose a mechanism of polygonization in which the vertices of the polyhedral crystals are formed from concentrated dislocations as a result of distance-dependent interactions between them.

We propose a mechanism to control the Rashba-induced subband splitting by a magnetic field using a symmetric double quantum well (QW) system, where the lowest two subbands are coupled by a position-dependent Rashba parameter α ( z ) . In such a system, all subbands are spin degenerate due to the time reversal symmetry and the spatial inversion symmetry at zero magnetic field, despite the presence of the Rashba spin–orbit interaction. Applying an external magnetic field parallel to the QW plane ( B ∥ y ^ ) lifts this spin degeneracy breaking the time reversal symmetry, where the spin splitting energies are controllable in the range between zero and 2.9 meV, the latter being on the same order of magnitude as a typical Rashba splitting in a narrow asymmetric QW. We find that the first and second subband energy levels for a selected spin state with k ∥ = ( k F , 0 , 0 ) anticross each other, and that the energy of the subband splitting Δ 0 , equivalent to the Rashba splitting for the case of single QWs, can be determined from the value of the anticrossing magnetic field B ac . These results suggest that the investigation in the symmetric double QWs would provide useful approaches for quantitative understanding of the Rashba spin–orbit interaction.

We have measured the magnetic torque of the ring-shaped crystals of TaSe3 by using piezoresistive cantilevers in order to investigate the superconducting topological properties. We measured three ring samples and we observed that the magnetic torque of the ring crystals oscillates with increasing the external magnetic field. The first peak of Sample A (radius: 37.9μm) was 1.21 Gauss and that of Sample B (24.5μm) was 3.70 Gauss and that of Sample C (15.6μm) was 4.73 Gauss, respectively. We found that the first peak depends on the length of the circumference itself. If there are such relation between the peak field and the length of the circumference, it is natural that vortices in the ring crystal were placed along the circumference. From these results, we suggest that vortices exist as cylinder vortices in the rings and this phenomenon gives a new experimental evidence of topological effect in superconductor.

We report the experimental detection of the anisotropic spin–orbit interaction (SOI) in InGaAs/InAlAs quantum wells, using spin interference experiments in arrays of rectangular loops with their sides aligned to the [1 1 0] and [ 1 1 ¯ 0 ] crystallographic directions. While the gate voltage is tuned, the time reversal Aharonov–Casher (TRAC) oscillations exhibit higher frequencies when the loops have their longer side along the [1 1 0] direction, clearly highlighting the anisotropy of the SOI. We find that a simple spin interferometer model, including both the Rashba and the Dresselhaus SOIs, reproduces qualitatively the TRAC oscillations.

We point out that the electric field formed in the surface inversion layer in InAs nanowires leads to effective magnetic fields, due to the Rashba effect, that are mostly aligned along the wire axis, i.e., parallel to the external magnetic field B . While this situation leads to some similarities in spin splitting between the Zeeman and Rashba effects, extensive theoretical simulations revealed that large and small spin splittings should take place alternately at Fermi energies with increasing magnetic field B , as a result of the competition between the Rashba and Zeeman spin splittings. We suggest that an experimental detection of such characteristics should bring up quantitative insights into the relative strengths between the Rashba and Zeeman magnetic fields.

We report the magnetoresistance of a charge-density wave (CDW) in $o$-TaS$_3$ whiskers at 4.2 K under a magnetic field up to 5.2 T. An anisotropic negative magnetoresistance is found in the nonlinear regime of current-voltage characteristics. The angle dependence of the magnetoresistance, studied by rotating the magnetic field upon the $c$-axis, exhibited a two-fold symmetry. The magnetoresistance amplitude exhibits maxima when the field is parallel to the $a$-axis, whereas it vanishes to the $b$-axis. The observed anisotropy may come from difference in interchain coupling of adjacent CDWs along the $a$- and $b$-axes. Comparison of the anisotropy to the scanning tunneling microscope image of CDWs allows us to provide a simple picture to explain the magnetoresistance in terms of delocalization of quantum interference of CDWs extending over the $b$-$c$ plane., 12 pages, 4 figures

We investigate the ac conductivity of charge density wave (CDW) rings, which are topologically different from whiskers. We synthesize ring crystals of NbSe3, a CDW material, by the selenium droplet spooling method. The ac conductivity is measured for both the rings and the whiskers in the frequency range of 10 kHz–150 MHz. We analyze the frequency dependence of the ac conductivity of the CDW rings and the whiskers using a simple washboard potential model. The result suggests that the CDW rings have a larger effective mass and a higher pinning frequency than the CDW in the whiskers and that the topology of the crystals plays an important role in CDW dynamics.

We have synthesized single crystals doped with Cu atoms in TaSe3 which exhibits no Charge Density Wave (CDW) transition, and measured precisely the temperature dependence of the resistance. We discover an anomalous sharp dip in the temperature derivative of the resistance at about 91 K in Cu-doped TaSe3 , which is never observed in pure TaSe3 . The dip suggests that there is a phase transition with a relative increase in resistance. In addition, the dip is “γ ” shaped. We reveal that the same “γ ”-shaped dip in dR /dT is commonly observed at the CDW transition temperature in many CDW conductors, which is a universal consequence resulting from the opening and growth of a CDW gap on a Fermi surface. Furthermore, the result of the single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis implies that Cu-doping increases the lattice parameter of the a -axis and c -axis and decreases that of the b -axis, leading to an improvement in the nesting condition. Based on the “γ ”-shaped dip and the result of the single-crystal XRD analysis, we conclude that a CDW emerges by Cu-doping in TaSe3 .

Objective: Late phase response (LPR) is difficult to investigate in patients with perennial nasal allergy because of their continuous presentation with nasal symptoms. Contribution of histamine to the LPR is also controversial. In this study, we investigated whether exogenous histamine can induce LPR in asthmatic patients with perennial nasal allergy to house dust. Methods: A total of 40 asthmatic children were divided into clinical, subclinical and non-rhinitis groups based on their daily nasal symptoms. Changes in nasal patency and in inflammatory cells in nasal secretion were quantitatively measured for 6 h by acoustic rhinometry and light microscopy respectively before and after nasal challenge with allergen or histamine. Results: The allergen challenge produced a significant biphasic decrease in nasal patency in the subclinical group and a marginal decrease in the clinical group, with increases in eosinophils 6 h after the challenge. By contrast, histamine challenge induced significant responses in the clinical group and only a slight response in the subclinical group. Eosinophils also accumulated in nasal secretion of the clinical group to significant levels 6 h after histamine challenge. Eosinophil accumulation following histamine challenge was earlier than that after exposure to allergen. Conclusion: We conclude that LPR can be demonstrated in asthmatic children with perennial nasal allergy. Exposure to exogenous histamine also induced LPR, mediated mainly by eosinophil-related mediators.

The stress concentrations of plates with circular holes and notches in cosine residual stress fields were investigated by the finite element analysis.When the plate had a central circular hole, the residual stress at the bottom of the hole remained always tensile, even though the initial (no-hole)residual stresses at that point were compressive.In case of the plate with a circular hole in higher order cosine residual stress fields, the concentrated stresses at the concentrated stresses at the bottom of the hole repeatedly followed with retardation the sign of the initial residual stress.The stress concentration problems due to welding residual stresses were studied by these cosine residual stress results using the superposition principle combined with Fourier's series expansion.The results of the superposition agreed quite well with the analytical results using the original welding residual stress distribution.

In this paper, we apply H∞ control theory to the level-control of a continuous casting machine. The level-control has two major problems of parameter variations and disturbance-pattern variations. In order to cope with these problems, we make up a table which consists of multiple H∞ controllers. By switching one H∞ controller to another properly, adaptability as well as robustness is achieved. This method has been applied to an actual machine and the results show a 40% decrease in level error.

We describe a rare case of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with a large neck lymphadenopathy. A 37-year-old woman suffered from large and diffuse neck swelling with tenderness and high fever. Antinuclear antibody and a decrease in the number of lymphocytes were recognized in her blood. After hospital admission, erythema repeatedly appeared in her face and limbs. Dorsal discoid eruption was also recognized. The high fever continued for 9 days. Antibiotics were ineffectual. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, however, ultimately cured these symptoms.SLE is rarely effectively treated with steroids. Moreover, potential side effects of steroids must be considered. However, our case suggests that early recovery using steroids should be realized in patients who complain of severe symptoms. Furthermore, it is necessary to treat such severe cases as quickly as possible to avoid complications involving other organs.

Malignant lymphoma is a systematic disease which frequently manifests itself first in the head and neck region.Although the diagnosis of a malignant lymphoma is not difficult, the addition of infection in the affected lymphoid tissues makes the histological diagnosis complicated. A prudent evaluation and repeated biopsies are required in cases complicated by infected lymphoid tissues. On the other hand, the administration of antibiotics, drainage and debridement of the affected region are essential for the severe inflammation of the deep neck. We recently experienced a 60-year-old male patient with a malignant lymphoma and severe infection of the neck.Debridement of the infected neck region and subsequent reconstruction of the defect in the neck were performed in this case.A pectoralis major musculocutaneous flap was elevated, passing through the retro-clavicular space, and the defect in the neck was then covered by this flap without any complication.Combined chemotherapy was performed by the medical department, and achieved a complete response.This reconstructive procedure enabled the satisfactory covering of defects in the upper neck region.

Although the treatment plan for laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers is already well established, the prognosis for hypopharyngeal cancer is still poor. Our purpose in the present report is to provide some hints for the improvement of the prognosis for these diseases.In our department, from March 1986 to August 1994, 62 patients with laryngeal cancer and 21 with hypopharyngeal cancer underwent initial treatment. In the 62 patients with laryngeal cancer, recurrence was observed in 13 cases; and in the 21 with hypopharyngeal cancer, recurrence was observed in 7 cases.Five patients who had a recurrence in the larynx were saved with a second radical operation. On the other hand, distant metastasis was observed in 4 cases, and these patients died from their metastasis.In the 7 patients with a recurrensce of hypopharyngeal cancer, 3 cases were observed in the primary region, 2 were in the cervical region, and 2 were in distant organs.In the department, laryngeal cancer is first treated with radiotherapy to preserve the voice, and hypopharyngeal cancer is first treated with a radical operation including preoperative chemotherapy and postoperative radiotherapy for improvement of the prognosis.

Osteosarcoma arising from the maxilla is a rare tumor of the head and neck region, accounting for only 6% to 7% of all osteosarcomas. Although therapy for maxillary cancer is well established, that for sarcoma of the maxilla, especially osteosarcoma is less clearly defined. In our department, a case of osteosarcoma arising from the maxilla was treated with surgery and chemo-radiotherapy. Surgery preceded postoperative irradiation with adjuvant intra-arterial chemotherapy. In the literature, surgery is the most readily available form of therapy, whereas radiotherapy and chemotherapy are not commonly used in the treatment of osteosarcoma. The Japanese literature suggests that a combination of chemotherapy and surgery might improve the outcome in cases of osteosarcoma of the maxilla.In cases of osteosarcoma, recurrence at the primary site is common, and the prognosis in these cases is generally poor. Therefore, precise evaluation of the extent of the osteosarcoma is more essential. In our patient, 3-dimension CT was used preoperatively, and proved useful for the evaluation of the extent of disease and the determination of suitable operative procedures.

Three cases of right non-recurrent laryngeal nerve recognized during operations for thyroid cancer are reported. This anomaly of the recurrent nerve is explained by the process of nerve and blood vessel development from the embryologic branchial arches, since it is known to be associated with an anomalous origin of the right subclavian artery from the aortic arch. In two of our three cases, an aberrant right subclavian artery was postoperatively detected by esophagography and MRI. Recurrent nerve injury is one ofthe most important complications of posed by thyroid operations, and surgeons must be awere of the most important complications of posed by thyroid operations, and surgeons must be awere of the possibility of non-recurrent laryngeal nerves, especially on the right side.

We performed the topology-change surgery for ring-shaped crystals of tantalum triselenide (TaSe3) to investigate the interplay between the closed-ring topology and elasticity/plasticity of the crystals. We cut the TaSe3 rings using a focused ion beam and observed that the curvatures of the open rings increased from their initial curvatures. We found that a change in the radius is proportional to inverse square of the thickness of the crystals, which corresponds to an inhomogeneous distribution of edge dislocations. From the distribution, we suggest the existence of cylindrical domain walls in the ring-shaped crystals as a result of the crystal topology.

We report the determination of the intrinsic spin‐orbit interaction (SOI) parameters and phase coherence times for In0.52Al0.48As/In0.53Ga0.47As/In0.52Al0.48As quantum wells (QWs) from the analysis of the weak antilocalization (WAL) measurements at dilution temperatures. We find that the Dresselhaus SOI is mostly negligible in this system and that the intrinsic parameters for the Rashba effect, aSO≡α/ is determined quantitatively to be aSOm*/me = (1.46–1.51×10−17NS[m−2])eA2, where NS is the sheet carrier density. We also provide the values of the phase coherent time τφ extracted from the WAL analysis and the transport mobility μ obtained from the Hall and Shubnikov‐de Haas (SdH) measurements.

Here we report the structural study of ${\text{NbSe}}_{3}$ topological crystals via synchrotron x-ray measurements on individual microcrystals. Topological crystals are characterized by the shape of a ring or a twisted loop, thereby representing a translational and orientational order confined in topologically nontrivial, curved geometries. The crystal lattice of topological crystals is under considerable amount of strain. The volume-averaged strain asymptotically increases with thickness and curvature of a crystal. We present a structural model in which a ring crystal is composed of well-ordered domains in the shape of concentric cylinders. The internal structure reflects periodic accumulation and release of strain during the growth.

We measured the magnetic torque of the ring-shaped crystals of TaSe3 by using piezoresistive cantilevers to investigate the superconducting topological properties. We measured three ring samples and we observed that the magnetic torque of the ring crystals oscillates with increasing external magnetic field. The magnetic periods of Sample A radius: 37.9 m, Sample B 24.5 m, and Sample C 15.6 m were 2.166.610 2 G, 4.691.810 1 G, and 5.443.810 1 G, respectively. We found that hundreds of vortices collectively and simultaneously penetrated the ring crystal. When such a phenomenon occurs, it is natural that the vortices in the ring crystal would be positioned along the circumference. From these results, we suggest that vortices exist as cylinder vortices in the rings, and this phenomenon provides unambiguous experimental evidence of the topological effect in a superconductor.

We investigate the topological effect of charge density wave (CDW). We found a ``beat'' Shapiro step structure in ${\text{NbSe}}_{3}$ topological (ring) crystals. We interpreted it as an evidence of the circulating CDW current that flows in the rings and modifies the CDW fundamental frequency, namely, narrow-band-noise frequency. This result also implied that a precursor of Fr\"ohlich's CDW supercurrent emerged in the ring system.

We investigate charge density wave (CDW) dynamics in ring-shaped crystals of NbSe3. We performed a measurement of the frequency dependence of resistance for a closed-ring topology (ring-shaped crystal without edge) and an open-ring topology (cut ring-shaped crystal with two edges) in the 300 kHz to 1.3 GHz frequency range. Comparison of the frequency dependence of the resistance indicated that the pinning potential in the closed-ring topology was smaller than that in the open-ring topology. This result suggests existence of a CDW circulating current in NbSe3 ring-shaped crystals.

We developed a simple algorithm, i-Score (inhibitory-Score), to predict active siRNAs by applying a linear regression model to 2431 siRNAs. Our algorithm is exclusively comprised of nucleotide (nt) preferences at each position, and no other parameters are taken into account. Using a validation dataset comprised of 419 siRNAs, we found that the prediction accuracy of i-Score is as good as those of s-Biopredsi, ThermoComposition21 and DSIR, which employ a neural network model or more parameters in a linear regression model. Reynolds and Katoh also predict active siRNAs efficiently, but the numbers of siRNAs predicted to be active are less than one-eighth of that of i-Score. We additionally found that exclusion of thermostable siRNAs, whose whole stacking energy (DeltaG) is less than -34.6 kcal/mol, improves the prediction accuracy in i-Score, s-Biopredsi, ThermoComposition21 and DSIR. We also developed a universal target vector, pSELL, with which we can assay an siRNA activity of any sequence in either the sense or antisense direction. We assayed 86 siRNAs in HEK293 cells using pSELL, and validated applicability of i-Score and the whole DeltaG value in designing siRNAs.

Objective The goal of this study was to determine if visual information and test paradigms affect clinical olfactory test results. Methods Three hundred and ninety-seven Japanese patients with complaints of olfactory dysfunction were administered both a new clinical olfactory test, the Odor Stick Identification Test for Japanese (OSIT-J), and the Japanese benchmark olfactory test, T&T olfactometry. Four different methods were used to administer the OSIT-J combining paradigms using word or picture–word alternatives with the four-plus alternative method based on a top–down strategy or the two-step identification method based on a bottom–up strategy. OSIT-J scores were compared for the different methods, referring to benchmark scores obtained with T&T olfactometry. Results OSIT-J scores using picture–word alternatives and the four-plus alternative method showed a stronger correlation with T&T olfactometry test scores than those using word alternatives and the two-step identification method, respectively. The average OSIT-J scores of the four-plus alternative method using picture–word alternatives were significantly higher than those using word alternatives in anosmic and severely hyposmic patients. The time required to administer the OSIT-J using both picture–word alternatives and the four-plus alternative method was the shortest of the four OSIT-J methods. Conclusions Visual information and test paradigms may affect clinical olfactory test results. The OSIT-J method using picture–word alternatives and the four-plus alternative method may be the most suitable for clinical practice.

We investigate the bimodal fluctuation of charge density wave (CDW) current through ring-shaped crystals (typical diameter is a few ten ) of orthorhombic tantalum trisulfide . We find that the CDW current changes between two types of the bimodal fluctuation, and exhibits hysteretic behavior as a function of the dc voltage. The hysteresis of the fluctuation modes suggests that the CDW rings involve several metastable sliding states, which might be a manifestation of single-valuedness of the CDW phase field with a strong periodic boundary condition of the ring geometry.