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We demonstrated a 9-aperture transmit and single aperture receive FSO system transmitting 35-WDM 400 Gb/s DP-PS-16-QAM signals over 220 m. By splitting the WDM signals into 9 groups, eye-safe transmit power density was enabled.

A novel hierarchical subcarrier rate and distribution matching has been implemented in an FPGA at 1.032 Tb/s. The implemented subsystem achieves seamless data flow among subcarriers at a resolution < 0.01 bit per channel use.

Introduction: Panic disorder (PD) has many comorbidities such as depression, bipolar disorder (BPD), and agoraphobia (AG). PD is a moderately heritable anxiety disorder whose pathogenesis is not well understood. Recently, a tri-allelic serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR/rs25531) polymorphism was reported to be more sensitive to personality traits compared to the bi-allelic 5-HTTLPR polymorphism. We hypothesized that the 5-HTTLPR/rs25531 polymorphism may lead to a pathological anxious state depending on the presence or absence of a comorbidity in PD. Methods: In this study, we investigated the relationship between comorbidities in PD and tri-allelic 5-HTTLPR polymorphisms. A total of 515 patients with PD (148 males, 367 females) were genotyped, and the Revised NEO Personality Inventory as well as anxiety-related psychological tests were administered. Depression, BPD, and AG were diagnosed as comorbidities. Results: For the tri-allele 5-HTTLPR genotype, a significant interaction effect was found between openness to experience and comorbid depression. Examination of the interaction between AG and the tri-allelic 5-HTTLPR genotype revealed that L’ allele carriers are associated with higher trait anxiety than the S’S’ genotype group in PD without AG. Conclusion: Some anxiety and personality traits can be characterized by the tri-allelic gene effect of 5-HTTLPR. These results suggest that tri-allelic 5-HTTLPR genotypes have genetic effects on the presence of comorbidities of PD.

Recent studies indicate that early-onset panic disorder (PD) may show distinct clinical characteristics. The authors compared patients with early-onset PD, patients with late-onset PD, and healthy control subjects in terms of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), the Val66Met polymorphism, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scores, and the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. In patients with early-onset PD, the STAI-T score was high in the Met/Met group, whereas the STAI-T score of the Val/Val group tended to be higher for healthy control subjects. The conflicting effect of the BDNF genotype between patients with early-onset PD and healthy control subjects suggests that the BDNF Met/Met genotype may increase trait anxiety in early-onset PD.

Family and twin studies have indicated that genetic factors have an important role in panic disorder (PD), whereas its pathogenesis has remained elusive. We conducted a genome-wide copy number variation (CNV) association study to elucidate the involvement of structural variants in the etiology of PD. The participants were 2055 genetically unrelated Japanese people (535 PD cases and 1520 controls). CNVs were detected using Genome-Wide Human SNP array 6.0, determined by Birdsuite and confirmed by PennCNV. They were classified as rare CNVs (found in

Soft-decision-based forward error correction (FEC) and its practical implementation for 100 Gb/s transport systems are discussed. In applying soft-decision FEC to a digital coherent transponder, we address the configuration of the frame structure of the FEC. For dual-polarized multilevel modulation formats, the keys are having the FEC frames constructed individually for each polarization and a multilane distribution architecture to align each frame. We present two types of soft-decision FEC. One is the concatenation of a Reed-Solomon code and a low-density parity-check (LDPC) code with 2-bit soft decision yielding a Q limit of 7.5 dB. The other, even more powerful, is a triple-concatenated FEC, with a pair of concatenated hard-decision-based block codes further concatenated with a soft-decision-based LDPC code for 20.5% redundancy. We expect that the proposed triple-concatenated codes can achieve a Q limit of 6.4 dB and a net coding gain of 10.8 dB at a post-FEC bit error ratio of 10-15. For the practical implementation of soft-decision FEC for 100 Gb/s systems, we developed field-programmable gate array boards to emulate it. The concept of hardware emulation, with a scalable architecture for the FEC decoder boards, is introduced by way of a pipelined architecture.

Background Several studies have reported an increased tendency towards anger in patients with panic disorder (PD). If this propensity for anger arises from the pathological process of PD, it may be associated with the duration of the illness. The present study therefore examined the relationship between duration of PD and the personality tendency to experience anger in PD patients. Methods Participants were 413 patients (132 men and 281 women; age = 38.7 years) with PD. Diagnoses were confirmed using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Illness duration ranged from less than a year to 51 years. After participants completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, we examined the association between illness duration and the Angry Hostility and Impulsiveness subscale scores. In the analysis, participants were divided into two groups by duration of illness (long group, n = 186 and short group, n = 200) using the median value (9 years) as a cut-off because of the skewed distribution of the duration. Patients with an illness duration of 9 years (n = 27) were excluded from the comparison. Results The duration of illness was significantly correlated with the Angry Hostility score (p = 0.002) after controlling for age. Scores were significantly higher in the long group than in the short group (p = 0.04). No significant association was observed between Impulsiveness scores and duration of illness. Conclusion The present study suggests that longer PD duration is related to a stronger tendency to experience anger.

The rapid detection of changes in sensory information is an essential process for survival. Individual humans are thought to have their own intrinsic preattentive responsiveness to sensory changes. Here we sought to determine the relationship between auditory change-related responses and personality traits, using event-related potentials. A change-related response peaking at approximately 120 ms (Change-N1) was elicited by an abrupt decrease in sound pressure (10 dB) from the baseline (60 dB) of a continuous sound. Sixty-three healthy volunteers (14 females and 49 males) were recruited and were assessed by the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) for personality traits. We investigated the relationship between Change-N1 values (amplitude and latency) and each TCI dimension. The Change-N1 amplitude was positively correlated with harm avoidance scores and negatively correlated with the self-directedness scores, but not with other TCI dimensions. Since these two TCI dimensions are associated with anxiety disorders and depression, it is possible that the change-related response is affected by personality traits, particularly anxiety- or depression-related traits.

With the objective of developing a small blood pump with a levitated rotor, we propose a design scheme for an axial-type self-bearing motor. The axial type motor, which is basically composed of a disc motor and an axial magnetic bearing, controls both the rotation and the axial translation of the rotor. The proposed motor is similar to the bidirectional disc motor, except for changing the magnitudes of both sides of the flux to control the axial attractive force. However, the radial and tilt directions rely on passive stability, and, therefore, the rotor has poor damping which might cause damage to blood constituents. The design includes a hydrodynamic bearing for improving radial support properties. Finally, to confirm its functionality, an experimental prototype of the proposed motor has been constructed and incorporated into a mixed flow blood pump. The results indicated that the bidirectional axial-type self-bearing motor had high efficiency as a small continuous flow blood pump, delivering sufficient flow rate and pressure head.

To clarify the correlation between high-shear flow and hemolysis in blood pumps, detail shear velocity distribution was quantified by an experimental method with a model centrifugal blood pump that has a series data of hemolysis tests and computational fluid dynamic analyses. Particular attention was paid to the shear velocity near the casing surface in the volute where the high shear causes in circumferentially wide region that is considerable to cause high hemolysis. Three pump models were compared concern with the radial gap width between the impeller and casing (the radial volute width) also with the outlet position whereas the impeller geometry was identical. These casing geometries were as follows: model 1-the gap width is standard 3mm and the outlet locates to make a smooth geometrical connection with the volute, model 2-the gap width is small 0.5mm and the outlet locates to make the smooth geometrical connection with the volute, and model 3-the gap width is small 0.5mm and the outlet locates to hardly make the smooth geometrical connection with the volute but be similar radial position with that of model 1. Velocity was quantified with a particle tracking velocimetry that is one of the quantitative flow visualization techniques, and the shear velocity was calculated. Results showed that all large shear velocity existed within the layers of about 0.1mm from the casing surface and that those layers were hardly affected by a vane passage even if the gap width is 0.5mm. They also showed that the maximum shear velocity appeared on the casing surface, and the shear velocities of models 2 and 3 were almost twice as large as that of model 1. This finding is in full corresponding with the results of hemolysis tests which showed that the hemolysis levels of both models 2 and 3 were 1.5 times higher than that of model 1. These results suggest that detailed high-shear evaluation near the casing surface in the volute is one of the most important keys in estimating the hemolysis of a centrifugal blood pump.

To investigate deposition of platelets in centrifugal blood pumps, flow visualization analysis for a model centrifugal pump was conducted and the results were compared with those of a numerical analysis and an animal experiment. The region behind the impeller was investigated, and it was found that washout holes induced stagnation relative to the impeller along a belt at 52% radius for a rotational speed of 3130 rpm and a flow rate of 51/min. This result was in good agreement with the finding of computational fluid dynamic analysis which predicted stagnation at 54%. The visualization result was also compared to that of an experiment conducted on a dog at a rotational speed of 2600 rpm and a flow rate of 0.51/min. The flow visualization results, predicting stagnation at 68% radius, had a certain correlation with the animal experiment, which revealed platelet deposition at 55% radius.

Genetic and gender differences are among the factors that have a role in the etiology of panic disorder (PD). It is thought that PD is related to neurotransmitter pathways, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), both of which are involved in the regulation of the monoamine mechanism. We examined the interactions of BDNF, COMT and gender differences in terms of personality characteristics in PD. The subjects were 470 patients (178 men, 292 women) with a DSM-IV diagnosis of PD, and 458 healthy controls (195 men, 263 women). The subjects were further clinically characterized using the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). COMT Val158Met polymorphisms (rs4680) and BDNF Val66Met (rs6265) polymorphisms were genotyped using allelic discrimination by a real-time PCR assay. A multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was performed with STAI and NEO-PI-R scores as the dependent factor, gender and genotyping groups (BDNF and COMT) as fixed factors, and the covariate of age in the PD and healthy control groups. Post hoc MANCOVA tests were conducted to evaluate COMT × BDNF interactions. An interaction of BDNF × COMT × gender was confirmed in the PD group by MANCOVA on STAI scores and NEO-PI-R Neuroticism and Extraversion scores, whereas no association of such interactions was observed in the healthy controls. The anxiety sensitivity of the COMT Met+BDNF Val/Val carriers was higher than that of the COMT Val/Val+BDNF Val/Val carriers by post hoc MANCOVA. A significant BDNF × COMT × gender interaction was observed in the PD patients but not in the controls. Our findings partly demonstrated the involvement of a gene × gene × gender interaction in the pathogenesis of PD.

A centrifugal blood pump for artificial heart has to have low hemolysis and no thrombus formation. For finding and removing the fluid dynamic causes of the above mentioned phenomena, flow visualization was utilized, as flow visualization can identify the high shear and stagnation locations which relate to hemolysis and thrombus formation respectively. In the present paper, general fluid dynamic characteristics of centrifugal blood pumps will be extracted, through analyzing four typical centrifugal pumps with flow visualization technique. Finding shear in the volute and diffuser regions, confirming vortex formation at washout holes, and quantitative analysis of the flow in the inlet regions are the shown examples. The obtained results correspond well to hemolysis tests, which proves that flow visualization is a useful tool in developing and analyzing blood pumps for artificial hearts.

The concatenation of low-density parity-check and Reed-Solomon codes for forward error correction has been experimentally demonstrated for the first time in this letter. Using a 2-bit soft-decision large-scale integration and high-speed field-programmable gate arrays, a net coding gain of 9.0 dB was achieved with 20.5% redundancy with four iterative decoding for an input bit-error rate of 8.9 times 10-3 at 31.3 Gb/s.

With a 250% scaled-up pump model, high speed video camera, and argon ion laser light sheet, flow patterns related to hemolysis were visualized and analyzed with 4 frame particle tracking software. Different flow patterns and shear distributions were clarified by flow visualization for pumps modified to have different hemolysis levels. A combination of in vitro hemolysis tests, flow visualization, and CFD analysis suggested a close relationship between hemolysis and high shear caused by small impeller/casing gaps. Because arbitrary cross sections can be illuminated by laser light sheet, flow visualization is a useful tool in finding locations related to hemolysis in the design process of rotary blood pumps.

To establish quantitative, efficient design theories for centrifugal blood pumps, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses were compared to the results of flow visualization tests and hemolysis tests, mainly on the Nikkiso centrifugal blood pump. The results turned out to coincide in the velocity vector plots. CFD analysis revealed that the smaller the gap is, the greater the shear stress becomes. This tendency becomes even greater with a radial gap change. Hemolysis study also indicated that the smaller the gap is, the greater the hemolysis. CFD analysis in comparison with hemolysis tests could be a useful index for developing blood pumps in the future.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the flow condition and hemolysis level by integrating hemolysis test, flow visualization and computational fluid dynamics(CFD)to establish design criteria for the good hemocompatible centrifugal pump. Axial and radial gaps between the impeller tip and casing wall of Nikkiso centrifugal blood pump were modified independently and flow condition and hemolytic property of these pumps were examined. Examined gaps were 1.5, 1.0, and 0.5 mm for axial gap and 3.0, 2.0, 1.0, and 0.5 mm for radial gap, respectively. The pumps with the axial gap of 0.5 mm and the radial gap of 0.5 mm showed higher hemolysis level than the other pumps showed. Maximum shear stress in the pump, estimated by CFD, were increased by decreasing the radial gap from 3.0 to 0.5 mm. Regional flow pattern change at the tongue region by decreasing radial gap was observed by flow visualization. Gaps between impeller tip and casing wall are dominant factors to determine hemolytic property of the centrifugal pump. Relationship between regional flow pattern and blood trauma should be investigated in the future.

Background: Because major depression and panic disorder are both more prevalent among females and since several lines of evidence suggest that genetic factors might influence an individual's vulnerability to panic disorder, gene-gender interactions are being examined in such psychiatric disorders and mental traits. A number of studies have suggested that specific genes, e.g. catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), might lead to distinct clinical characteristics of panic disorder. Method: We compared gender-specific personality-related psychological factors of 470 individuals with panic disorder and 458 healthy controls in terms of their COMT Val158Met polymorphism and their scores on the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) with a 1-way analysis of covariance. Results: In the male panic disorder patients, the NEO PI-R score for openness to experience was significantly lower in the Met/Met carrier group, whereas there was no such association among the female panic disorder patients or the male or female control groups. Conclusion: The gender-specific effect of the COMT genotype suggests that the COMT Val/Met genotype may influence a personality trait, openness to experience, in males with panic disorder.

Background We examined the rate of bipolar I (BPD-I) and bipolar II disorders (BPD-II) in panic disorder (PD) patients, and compared clinical and psychological variables between PD patients with and without bipolar disorders (BPD). Methods Participants were 649 Japanese patients with PD (215 men and 434 women, 38.49±10.40 years) at outpatient clinics for anxiety disorders. Constructive interviews using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) were conducted to confirm the diagnosis of PD, agoraphobia, and BPD, as well as the presence and severity of suicide risk in each subject. Clinical records were also reviewed to confirm the diagnosis of PD and BPD. Participants then completed several questionnaires, including the State Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait scale, the Anxiety Sensitivity Index, and the Revised Neuroticism-Extraversion- Openness Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R). Results We found that 22.34% of the PD patients had BPD (BPD-I: 5.24%, BPD-II: 17.10%). PD patients with BPD-I showed higher prevalence and severity of suicide risk, trait anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, and neuroticism, and lower agreeableness (subscales of the NEO-PI-R) than those with BPD-II and those without BPD. Limitation First, we could not investigate the order of the onset of PD and BPD. Second, BPD patients without PD were not studied as another control group for PD patients with BPD. Conclusion PD patients had high prevalence of BPD. Both PD patients with BPD-I and those with BPD-II had high severity of suicide risk, trait anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, neuroticism, and agreeableness, though these characteristics were more prominent in patients with BPD-I.

Electronic pre-equalization of chromatic dispersion for 43 Gb/s DQPSK has been demonstrated employing a developed test chip. The chip enables the BER in fibre with 2450 ps/nm of dispersion to be improved to 7.6E-05 without an optical dispersion compensator.

Electronic pre-equalization for 43 Gb/s DQPSK has been demonstrated for the first time. Waveform distortion caused by bandwidth narrowing to 18.1 GHz by cascaded 10 Gb/s ROADMs has been adequately pre-equalized by a SiGe-BiCMOS LSI with 6-bit, 43 GS/s digital-to-analog converters.

The photochemical formation of silver metal films from silver salts of high molecular weight carboxylic acids has been studied. On irradiation with a low pressure mercury lamp in wet air at room temperature, the films first became yellow-brown in colour owing to the formation of colloidal silver. After prolonged irradiation, the irradiated surface of the silver salt films of natural high molecular weight carboxylic acids (silver alginate, silver pectate) readily changed into silver mirrors. When silver alginate films were photolysed at 77 K, a broad absorption band below 600 nm and a small peak near 335 nm, probably due to silver clusters, appeared. In this method, silver atoms in the various aggregation states (atoms, clusters, colloids, bulk metal) can be formed by changing photolysis conditions. The preparation of matrix-supported silver films reported by other research groups has been reviewed briefly.

This paper presents a compensation method of matrix converter drive system in case of commutation voltage error and unbalanced input voltage with disturbance observer. There are two compensation disturbances. One is commutation voltage error. This is caused by the dead-time between the turn-on and turn-off of the IGBT mode switches. The other is unbalanced input voltage. As the matrix converter has no DC-link, unbalanced input voltage cause the low performance to the output load. To realize high performance AC motor drive system, we can't ignore these problems. Adapting the disturbance observer by a feed-back proposed method to output current control, the robust control under these conditions can be realized. In this paper, the proposed method has been validated by the theoretical analysis with a Bode diagram and simulation results.

An axial self-bearing motor is proposed which can drive an axial blood pump without physical contact. It is a functional combination of the bi-directional disc motor and the axial active magnetic bearing, where it actively controls single degree-of-freedom motion, while other motions such as lateral vibration are passively stable. For application to a blood pump, the proposed self-bearing motor has the advantages of simple structure and small size. Through the finite element method (FEM) analysis and the experimental test, its good feasibility is verified. Finally, the axial flow pump is fabricated using the developed magnetically suspended motor. The pump test is carried out and the results are discussed in detail.