A smooth impact rotation motor using a multi-layered torsional piezoelectric actuator

A smooth impact rotation motor was fabricated and successfully operated using a torsional piezo actuator. Yoshida et al. reported a linear type smooth impact motor in 1997. This linear motor demonstrated a high output force and a long stroke. A superior feature of the smooth impact drive is a high positioning resolution compared with an impact drive. The positioning resolution of SIDM (smooth impact drive mechanism) is equal to the piezo displacement. The reported positioning resolution of the linear type was 5 nm. Our rotation motor utilized a torsional actuator containing multi-layered piezoelectric material. The torsional actuator was cylindrical in shape with an outer diameter of 15 mm, an inner diameter of 10 mm, and a length of 11 mm. Torsional vibration performance was measured with a laser Doppler vibrometer. The obtained torsional displacement agreed with the calculated values and was sufficient to drive a rotor. The rotor was operated with a saw-shaped input voltage (180 V; 8 kHz). The revolution direction was reversible. The maximum revolution speed was 27 rpm, and the maximum output torque was 56 gfcm. In general, smooth-impact drives do not show high efficiency; however, the level of efficiency of our results (max., 0.045%) could be increased by improving the contact surface material. In addition, we are studying quantitative consideration, for example, about the optimum pre-load or frictional force.     

Serological survey of antibody to Neospora caninum in Japanese dogs

Prevalence of antibody to Neospora caninum (NC) in Japanese dogs were examined. The antibody was positive in 15 of 48 dogs (31.3%) reared in the dairy farms that had case of the abortions due to NC infection or had the cattle seropositive to NC, whereas the prevalence was 7.1% (14 of 198 dogs) among the dogs kept in urban areas. In one dog breeder, all 17 Shetland sheepdogs older than 7 months were seropositive, and one pup was diagnosed as neosporosis 2 months before the first serological examination. The antibody titers of the dogs kept at this breeder were almost unchanged for 1.5 years. Serological evidence of the dogs in the dairy farms and urban areas indicates the transmission of NC between dogs and cattle. Also serological results of the dogs in one breeder may suggest the potential horizontal transmission among dogs.     

Use of bronchopulmonary lavage for eliminating inhaled fume particles from a patient with arc welder's lung

A 42-year-old man, who had worked as a welder for 20 years, was admitted to our hospital complaining of a dry cough. A chest radiograph showed diffuse small nodular shadows and chest computed tomography revealed small patchy opacities. A transbronchial lung biopsy specimen showed welding fume particles mainly located in alveolar space with mild fibrosis of alveolar septa. In order to prevent further fibrosis, bronchopulmonary lavage (BPL) was performed to eliminate the fume particles. The amount of iron particles derived from the total lavage fluid was 911.7 mg.     

Effects of pore diameter, bath surface pressure, and nozzle diameter on the bubble formation from a porous nozzle

The effects of the pore diameter, bath surface pressure, and nozzle diameter on the bubble formation from a porous bottom nozzle placed in a water bath and on the behavior of rising bubbles were investigated with still and high-speed video cameras and a two-needle electroresistivity probe. Three types of bubble dispersion patterns were observed with respect to gas flow rate, and they were named the low, medium, and high gas flow rate regimes. The transition boundaries between these gas flow rate regimes were expressed in terms of the superficial velocity at the nozzle exit, i.e., the volumetric gas flow rate per unit nozzle surface area. These transition boundaries were dependent on the pore diameter but hardly dependent on the bath surface pressure and the porous nozzle diameter. The characteristics of rising bubbles in each gas flow rate regime were investigated as functions of the three parameters.     

Trace elements in ribs of elderly people and elemental variation in the presence of chronic diseases

Element concentrations in ribs obtained from elderly Japanese people (17 males and 28 females; mean age, 81.5 years) were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), and ICP mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Nine elements--Na, Mg, P, K, Ca, Fe, Zn, Sr, and Pb--were determinable in most of the subjects by a combination of AAS and ICP-AES. The levels of these elements were generally comparable with those obtained in our previous study on ribs from younger Japanese. By the use of ICP-MS, Sn (median, 0.79 micrograms/g dry bone) and Ba (1.3 micrograms/g) were determinable in all of the subjects analysed (n = 35) and 18 other elements at lower concentration levels were also detected in some of the subjects. An exploratory statistical analysis was carried out to find element(s) of which level(s) in rib vary in the presence of degenerative chronic diseases, using information obtained from pathological autopsy reports and medical histories of the present subjects. It indicated that (i) Pb and Zn, (ii) Ba, and (iii) Sr levels in the ribs varied in the presence of cancer, cerebrovascular damage, and bone problems, respectively. The present results were discussed in relation to the results of the previous epidemiologic and experimental studies.     

Questionnaire of cryopreserved allograft valves in Kyushu and Yamaguchi area

Japanese Society of Cryopreserved Thoracic Tissue Implantation was recently set up. Cryopreserved allograft valves are about to pervade in Japan. To clarify the interest, demands and supply of cryopreserved allograft valve in the area of Kyushu and Yamaguchi, we performed questionnaire investigation regarding this issue. Collection rate of this questionnaire was 87.5% (35/40 hospitals). Ninety-seven percent of the hospitals answered that they were interested in cryopreserved allograft. Ninety-four percent of the hospitals answered that they did not ethically hesitate to use cryopreserved allograft. Ninety-one percent of the hospitals hoped to perform cardiac surgery using allograft aortic valve if allograft is available. With respect to securing donors of allograft, two-third of the hospitals did not decide whether they could be involved in obtaining donors of allograft. As the number of the cadaver kidney donors is about 20 per year in the area of Kyushu and Yamaguchi, shortage of donors of allograft valve is anticipated.     

The mechanism of activation of bovine prothrombin by an activator isolated from Echis carinatus venon and characterization of the new active intermediates

Bovine prothrombin was activated, in both the absence and presence of dissopropyphosphofluoridate (DEP) and benzamidine, by an activator which was highly purified from the venom of Echis carinatus (saw-scaled viper, ECV). The process of activation was monitored by sodium dodecysulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and the reaction products were isolated and chemically characterized. In the absence of the inhibitors, prothrombin yielded two fragments with molecular weights of 28,000 and 57,000, of which the former was the N-terminal fragment of the zymogen and the latter was intermediate 1, consisting of a single polypeptide chain. Intermediate 1 was subsequently converted to an active intermediate, named intermediate ECV, without decrease of molecular weight. This new intermediate ECV, which showed little clotting activity but a strong alpha-N-tosyl-L-arginine methyl ester (TAME)-esterolytic activity and which bound with hirudin or antithrombin III, consisted of two polypeptide chains with molecular weights of 35,000 of 27,000 daltons. The former was indentified as the thrombin B chain with the N-terminal sequence Ile-Val-Glu-Gly and C-terminal serine, and the latter was a fragment with N-terminal Ser-Gly-Gly, linked to the thrombin A chain. On prolonged incubation, intermediate ECV autocaralytically yielded a fragment (inner fragment) of 14,000 daltons with N-terminal serine and the clotting enzyme alpha-thrombin [EC 3.4.21.5], which consists of A and B chains. In the presence of the inhibitors, intermediate ECV and the N-terminal fragment were accumulated in the activation mixture. On the other hand, when prothrombin was activated by the venom activator in the presence of hirudin, antithrombin III, or p-nitrophenyl p'-guanidinobenzoate, it did not yield any fragments but was converted to a derivative with two polypeptide chains having molecular weights of 51,000 and 34,000 daltons, of which the former consisted of N-terminal fragment, the inner fragment, and thrombin A chain, and the latter was thrombin B chain. This new prothrombin derivative, named prothrombin ECV, formed a high-molecular-weight complex, associating with antithrombin III. The complex was not dissociable even in the presence of SDS. Moreover, prothrombin ECV reacted with p-nitrophenyl p'-guanidinobenzoate. On the basis of the results described above, the mechanism of activaton of prothrombin by Echis carinatus venom activator can be summarized as follows: The venom activator first cleaves an Arg-Ile bond liniking thrombin A and B chains in the zymogen molecule, forming an active derivative, prothrombin ECV. This active derivative converts autocatalytically to intermediate ECV, liberating the N-terminal fragment, and active intermediate ECV generates alpha-thrombin, releasing the inner fragment. Thus, only a single peptide bond cleavage along the polypeptide chain of prothrombin is associated with activation by the venom activator...