Application of a quick-freezing and deep-etching method to pathological diagnosis: a case of elastofibroma

A case of elastofibroma in a middle-aged Japanese woman was examined by the quick-freezing and deep-etching (QF-DE) method, as well as by immunohistochemistry and conventional electron microscopy. The slowly growing tumor developed at the right scapular region and was composed of fibrous connective tissue with unique elastic materials called elastofibroma fibers. A normal elastic fiber consists of a central core and peripheral zone, in which the latter has small aggregates of 10 nm microfibrils. By the QF-DE method, globular structures consisting of numerous fibrils (5-20 nm in width) were observed between the collagen bundles. We could confirm that they were microfibril-rich peripheral zones of elastofibroma fibers by comparing the replica membrane and conventional electron microscopy. One of the characteristics of elastofibroma fibers is that they are assumed to contain numerous microfibrils. Immunohistochemically, spindle tumor cells showed positive immunoreaction for vimentin, whereas alpha-smooth muscle actin, desmin, S-100 protein and CD34 showed negative immunoreaction. By conventional electron microscopy, the tumor cell had thin cytoplasmic processes, pinocytotic vesicles and prominent rough endoplasmic reticulum. Abundant intracytoplasmic filaments were observed in some tumor cells. Thick lamina-like structures along with their inner nuclear membrane were often observed in the tumor cell nuclei. The whole image of the tumor cell was considered to be a periosteal-derived cell, which would produce numerous microfibrils in the peripheral zone of elastofibroma fibers. This study indicated that the QF-DE method could be applied to the pathological diagnosis and analysis of pathomechanism, even for surgical specimens obtained from a patient.     

Clinical applications of the quick-freezing and deep-etching method to human diabetic nephropathy

Mesangial expansion and glomerular basement membrane (GBM) thickening were not different between normoalbuminuric (NA) and microalbuminuric (MA) type 2 diabetic patients. The quick-freezing and deep-etching (QF-DE) method allows us to examine three-dimensional ultrastructures of human renal glomeruli in vivo at high resolution. In the present study, the QF-DE method was applied to the renal biopsy from 6 type 2 diabetic patients without definable renal diseases other than diabetic nephropathy. Four patients were NA and the other two were MA. Three control specimens were normal parts in surgically resected kidneys of renal cell carcinoma. Replica membranes were prepared by the QF-DE method as previously described. By the QF-DE method, both GBM middle layer and mesangial matrix (MM) were composed of polygonal meshwork structures. The mesh pores of GBM and MM were more enlarged in size and irregular in shape in NA diabetic patients than those of the controls, and these ultrastructural changes became more obvious in MA patients. The diameters of mesh pores in the diabetic patients were significantly larger than those in the control subjects. In conclusion, the QF-DE method could be applied to needle renal biopsy and the present study has firstly clarified the difference of ultrastructural changes between NA and MA type 2 diabetic patients, which had not been disclosed by the conventional electron microscopy, were revealed by the QF-DE method.     

Identification of fungi using DNA sequences: an approach to identify Fusarium species isolated from domestic unpolished rice

Molecular approaches are being developed to provide for the rapid and objective identification of fungi. We attempted the identification of Fusarium species by a genetic analysis to validate practically the utility of a molecular approach for fungal identification and to reveal its limitations, and sequenced three regions, the 5' end of the 28S rRNA gene (D2 region) and the internal transcribed spacer 1 and 2 (ITS1 and ITS2) regions, in the rRNA genes. The DNA sequences of 38 Fusarium strains isolated from domestic unpolished rice were compared for similarity with entries in the GenBank. Based on this comparison, it was estimated that all these three regions, as a minimum, must be compared with the database to identify Fusaria at the species level. According to the combinations of sequences in the three regions, the 38 isolates were classified into 13 groups. Out of the 13 groups, 6 groups (20 isolates in total) could be identified as definite species based only on the sequence data. For the other 6 groups (17 isolates in total), candidate species were limited on the basis of the sequence similarity, and then the isolates were identified at the species level with the aid of morphology. Only one isolate could not be identified. These results verified that DNA sequence comparison with the GenBank database is useful for the identification of Fusarium species.     

Sensorless torque control of salient-pole synchronous motor atzero-speed operation

A position and speed sensorless control using the counter electromotive force of a permanent-magnet motor (PM) debases the control performance at a low speed. We propose a controllable system at full speed, including a zero speed using saliency. At low speed, the sensorless control is made by observing a current ripple at a time when alternating voltage has been applied to a salient-pole motor. Also, for discriminating the S and N poles of the magnet, magnetic saturation is used. A device has been applied to the motor rotor to allow the magnetic saturation to come about easily. Furthermore, at a time of high speed, drive at a full-speed range has been accomplished by switching smoothly over to a sensorless driving system making use of counter electromotive force. All algorithms are implemented by software, and this system can operate successively from starting to high-speed operation. The paper discusses the operational principles at a low speed, analysis and experimental results, the control scheme, how to changeover the control mode at high speed, and the experimental results     

Characterization of Ti/Si binary oxides prepared by the sol-gel method and their photocatalytic properties: The hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis of CH3CCH with H2O

Titanium-silicon (Ti/Si) binary oxides having different Ti content were prepared by the sol-gel method and utilized as photocatalysts for the hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis of CH₂CCH with H₂O. The photocatalytic reactivity and selectivity of these catalysts were investigated as a function of the Ti content and it was found that the hydrogenolysis reaction (C₂H₆ formation) was predominant in regions of low Ti content, while the hydrogenation reaction (C₃H₆ formation) proceeded in regions of high Ti content. The in situ photoluminescence, diffuse reflectance absorption, FT-IR, XAFS (XANES and EXAFS), and XPS spectroscopic investigations of these Ti/Si binary oxides indicated that the titanium oxide species are highly dispersed in the SiO₂ matrices and exist in a tetrahedral coordination exhibiting a characteristic photoluminescence spectrum. The charge transfer excited state of the tetrahedrally coordinated titanium oxide species plays a significant role in the efficient photoreaction with a high selectivity for the hydrogenolysis of CH₃CCH to produces mainly C₂H₆ and CH₄, while the catalysts involving the aggregated octahedrally coordinated titanium oxide species show a high selectivity for the hydrogenation of CH₃CCH to produce C₃H₆, being similar to reactions of the powdered TiO₂ catalysts. The good parallel relationship between the yield of the photoluminescence and the specific photocatalytic reactivity of the Ti/Si binary oxides as a function of the Ti content clearly indicates that the high photocatalytic reactivity of the Ti/Si binary oxides having low Ti content is associated with the high reactivity of the charge transfer excited state of the isolated titanium oxide species in tetrahedral coordination, [Ti³⁺-O⁻]*.     

Swelling behavior of crosslinked hydroxypropylcellulose films retaining cholesteric liquid crystalline order,II. Effects of temperature,solvent, and pH

Crosslinked hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC) films were cast from the cholesteric liquid crystalline HPC solution in methanol. The films retained the cholesteric liquid crystalline order. The dependences of swelling behavior of our films in water and propanol on temperature and on pH of the solvent were determined. The response of our films to the changes in water, temperature and in pH was discussed. In water, the equilibrium swelling ratio (B_e) decreased with temperature whereas B_e increased with temperature in propanol. For a given composition of water and propanol, B_e was independent of temperature. B_e in the acidic solvents was higher than in the alkaline solvents. The response data to the stepwise change in temperature revealed that the deswelling behavior was more rapid than the swelling behavior in water, and the swelling-deswelling behavior was reversible. The response to the stepwise change in pH was almost the same as that of the change in temperature, but the surface of the film was attacked by the acid and became fluffy with increasing soaking time.     

Heat transfer and pressure loss characteristics of very compact heat sinks with plate fins cooled by jets

High-performance and very compact heat sinks have been developed for effective cooling of VLSIs with high heat-generation densities. Their heat transfer and pressure loss characteristics in air-jet cooling have been experimentally studied. The highly compact heat sinks were plate-fin arrays with a very small fin pitch of 0.4–2.0 mm. The rectangular jet nozzle width that gave the highest cooling performance was 30 to 40% of the streamwise length of the heat sinks. The influence of fin height on heat transfer became weak when the ratio of the height to the thickness of the fin exceeded approximately 35. When the air flow rate was constant, the thermal conductance increased as the fin pitch decreased. For a constant fin pitch, heat sinks with smaller fin thickness showed larger thermal conductance at a given blower power consumption. In our experimental range, the heat dissipation rate per unit heat sink volume increased as the base plate area of the heat sink became small. © 1998 Scripta Technica, Heat Trans Jpn Res, 27(6): 399–414, 1998     

Detection of possible voltage collapse buses in stressed power systems based on information from multiple solutions in load flow calculations

Conventionally, most voltage stability indices, including the voltage instability proximity index (VIPI), have been formulated for the overall system. Voltage instability phenomena, however, can occur locally and then cause cascade collapses throughout the system. Therefore, it is of some importance to establish an index that can locate the possible voltage collapse buses in power systems efficiently. In this paper, we describe the local properties of the information of multiple solutions in load flow calculation and their use in voltage instability assessment. It should be noted that this kind of information is formatted in the voltage space rather than in the specified value space. Therefore, it is difficult to obtain information in the specified value space, and the qualitative property in a simple one-machine one-load (two-bus) power system may not be generalized for multimachine multiload power systems. We present our investigation by considering several model systems and quantitatively comparing them with the two-bus power system. Taking advantage of the power flow formulation, it can be concluded that the localization of the voltage variation vector that indicates the initial direction of the voltage collapse will provide exact information for identifying problem buses in the system. The nose curves of problem buses can be obtained for monitoring purposes at the same time. With the application of these results and VIPI, an emergency countermeasure is suggested for monitoring and delaying possible voltage collapse in stressed power systems. © 1997 Scripta Technica, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn 119(1): 45–54, 1997     

Permeability of oxygen and nitrogen gases in ethyl cellulose solid films retaining cholesteric liquid crystalline order

Ethyl cellulose (EC) films that retain lyotropic and thermotropic cholesteric liquid crystalline order, and an amorphous EC film were prepared. The liquid crystalline order was identified by optical measurements. The comparative permeability of oxygen and nitrogen gases for three kinds of EC film was determined, and the applicability of the EC films that retained cholesteric liquid crystalline order to oxygen enrichment are discussed. The permeability of oxygen or nitrogen gas for the liquid crystalline films was lower than that for the amorphous ones. The activation energy for the permeability coefficient of oxygen gas was ca. 3.5 kcal/mol. The ratio of permeability coefficient for oxygen gas to that for nitrogen gas was less than 4. Interestingly, the permselectivity of oxygen and nitrogen gases for the liquid crystalline films was greater than that for the amorphous ones. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Crosslinked hydroxypropyl cellulose films retaining cholesteric liquid crystalline order. I. Effects of cast conditions and heat treatment on the textures and order of films

To eliminate the shear-induced band texture and wrinkled texture observed on the free surface of cellulosic solid cast films retaining cholesteric liquid crystalline order, we proposed a storing process of the cast solutions: the solution is stored in the same solvent vapor atmosphere as the solution. The effect of cast conditions (the storing time) on those textures and the cholesteric liquid crystalline order was determined using the lyotropic liquid crystalline solution of hydroxypropyl cellulose in methanol with crosslinker. Furthermore, the effect of heat treatment on the liquid crystalline order in the cast films was determined. The resultant crosslinked films were observed with a polarized microscope and a scanning electron microscope, and were investigated with circular dichroism. Our findings showed that the proposed storing process is needed before starting the cast process. During the process the textures vanished, due to the relaxation of the residual stress in the solution, the cholesteric liquid crystalline order became stable, and the cholesteric pitch decreased with increasing storing time. The heat treatment also affected the liquid crystalline order of the films; the peak in the circular dichroism spectrum sharpened and shifted with heat treatment, and the shift in peak seemed to depend on the crosslinker concentration. Furthermore, the crosslinking proceeded with heat treatment. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.