Breast carcinoma with myeloid metaplasia--a case report

A 49 year-old female had been suffering from primary myelofibrosis since February 1987 without receiving any treatment. In 1994, a breast mass was detected. Breast tumor biopsy revealed tubular carcinoma with intraductal components and multinucleated giant cells in the loose and myxoid stroma. The giant cells were thought to be megakaryocytes because both Factor VIII and platelet glycoprotein GP IIIa were detected in their cytoplasm. While additional mastectomy specimens and the axillary lymph nodes also revealed prominent myeloid metaplasia, there was no proliferation of the cancer cells. Granulocytic series stained for chloroacetate esterase and very few erythrocytic series were observed. This is the first case in which breast carcinoma and myeloid metaplasia coexisted in the same breast tumor.     

Crystallization of potassium titanate from the amorphous phase

By using amorphous potassium titanates as the starting materials, a sintered body of K₂Ti₄O₉ or K₂Ti₆O₁₃ with porous and fibrous textures was prepared. K₂Ti₂O₅ and a new phase, K₆Ti₄O₁₁ were synthesized by the thermal reaction of KNO₃ with TiO₂ at 1000° C for 10 to 20 h. On leaching in water to expel excess of potassium ions, both phases became amorphous. After mixing and moulding these amorphous materials in the desired proportion, a sintered body containing fibrous crystals of K₂Ti₄O₉ was readily fabricated by heating at 1000° C for 12 h. When 5 wt % B₂O₃ was added to the amorphous phases, single phase K₂Ti₆O₁₃, with a fibrous texture grew well on heating at 1000° C for 12 h. Addition of PVA polymer to the amorphous phases was responsible for controlling the porosity of the sintered body, e.g. about 52% theoretical density at 20 wt% PVA polymer. The optimum conditions for preparing the amorphous phases were systematically examined and the effect of the chemical reaction environments, such as different crucible materials on the calcination of KNO₃ and TiO₂ were also discussed.     

Synthesis of Metastable Tetragonal (t') Zirconia–Ceria Solid Solutions by the Polymerized Complex Method

Homogeneous metastable tetragonal ( t ') solid solutions of ZrO₂— x mol% CeO₂ ( x = 20 and 50) were successfully synthesized by the organic polymerized complex method. The citric acid-ethylene glycol solution containing Zr and Ce ions was polymerized at about 140°C and then heat-treated at about 350°C to obtain a precursor. The black precursor was heated at 450°C and then fired up to 1300° or 1590°C, resulting in the homogeneous solid solutions.     

Mechanism of electrodeposition of copper from cupric pyrophosphate solutions

Cathodic polarization curves were measured for copper in cupric pyrophosphate solutions of different concentrations and temperatures. A rotating disc electrode was used to eliminate concentration polarization. For all solutions, two potential regions are distinguishable in the polarization curve; one is less negative than a critical potential E_b around ?0.75 V vs sce (Region I) and the other more negative than E_b (Region II). A weak adsorption of pyrophosphate ions and hence some inhibition of the electrodeposition of copper is expected for Region I but there is no adsorption in Region II. The exchange current density i_o for the copper deposition was obtained by extrapolating the Tafel relation observed in Region II to the rest potential corresponding to the equilibrium potential. The following reaction mechanisms are proposed to explain the dependence of i_o on the concentration of Cu(P₂O₇)^6?₂ and P₂O^4?₇ ions.

Apparent activation energies are estimated to be about 11 kcal/mol in both cases.     

Color ellipsoscope for real-time imaging of nanometer-scale surface phenomena

An imaging method was developed based on null ellipsometry with a white-light source. It is useful for visualizing the kinetics of fast surface phenomena on the nanometer scale.     

Single-crystal growth and characterization of Cu2O and CuO

We have prepared a large number of crystals of cuprous oxide (Cu2O) by various procedures. Photoluminescence spectra of these crystals were studied to examine the concentration of defects, especially copper vacancy VCu to seek favourable conditions for growing Cu2O crystal. High-quality single crystals of Cu2O were prepared by the floating-zone melting method in air. Several synthetic crystals (specimens FA, FZ and GZ) and also a natural crystal were studied by X-ray analysis, inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy analysis, optical absorption, photoluminescence, photoconductivity and cyclotron resonance absorption, photoluminescence, photoconductivity and cyclotron resonance absorption to characterize their optical and electrical qualities. The best values of mobility and scattering time of photocarriers at T = 4.2 K are estimated to be h1.8 × 105 cm2 V–1 s–1 and h60 ps for positive holes, and 1.3 × 105 cm2 V–1 s–1 and 70 ps for electrons in Cu2O. Further, we report preliminary experimental results on transport property of crystals also of cupric oxide (CuO) purified by the floating-zone melting method.     

Lyapunov function-based obstacle avoidance scheme for a two-wheeled mobile robot

An obstacle avoidance scheme of a two-wheeled mobile robot is shown by selecting an appropriate Lya- punov function. When considering the obstacle, the Lyapunov function may have some local minima. A method which erases the local minima is proposed by using a function which covers the minima with a plane surface. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by numerical simulations.     

An application of the 2-nitrobenzenesulfenyl method to proteomic profiling of human colorectal carcinoma: A novel approach for biomarker discovery

In the development of novel biomarkers, the proteomic approach is advantageous because using it the cancer-associated proteins can be directly identified. We previously developed a 2-nitrobenzenesulfenyl (NBS) method to improve quantitative proteome analysis. Here, we applied this method to proteomic profiling of colorectal carcinoma (CRC) to identify novel proteins with altered expression in CRC. Each pair of tumor and normal tissue specimens from 12 CRC patients was analyzed, and approximately 5000 NBS-labeled paired peaks were quantified. Peaks with altered signal intensities (>1.5-fold) and occurring frequently in the samples (>70%) were selected, and 128 proteins were identified by MS/MS analyses as differentially expressed proteins in CRC tissues. Many proteins were newly revealed to be CRC related; 30 were reported in earlier studies of CRC. Six proteins that were up-regulated in CRC (ZYX, RAN, RCN1, AHCY, LGALS1, and VIM) were further characterized and validated by Western blot and immunohistochemistry. All six were found to be CRC-localized, either in cancer cells or in stroma cells near the cancer cells. These results indicate that the proteins identified in this study are novel candidates for CRC markers, and that the NBS method is useful in proteome mining to discover novel biomarkers.     

Ethnicity, culture, and sexual aggression: Risk and protective factors.

Explanatory models of sexual aggression were examined among mainland Asian American (n = 222), Hawaiian Asian American (n = 127), and European American men (n = 399). The Malamuth et al. (N. M. Malamuth, D. Linz, C. L. Heavey, G. Barnes, & M. Acker, 1995; N. M. Malamuth, R. J. Sockloskie, M. P. Koss, & J. S. Tanaka, 1991) confluence model of sexual aggression, which posits impersonal sex and hostile masculinity as paths to sexual aggression, was consistently supported. Culture-specific moderators of sexual aggression were also identified. Whereas loss of face was a protective factor against sexual aggression in the Asian American samples, it generally was not a protective factor among European Americans. These findings are not a function of actual or perceived minority status. An implication is that theoretical models may need to be augmented with cultural constructs for optimal application in certain ethnic group contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Route guidance by a car navigation system based on augmented reality

Car navigation systems play a prominent role in road traffic safety and traffic regulation. However, it is necessary to improve the route guidance of car navigation systems so that they accurately and quickly recognize small differences in location. Thus, to increase the ease of understanding and safety of car navigation systems, navigation systems based on augmented reality have been proposed for providing guidance at road intersections. We are currently developing a car navigation system based on augmented reality, called AR‐Navi. We investigated designs for the display of road intersection guidance that can be easily understood even when limited information is available and proposed a “best shot” display method that does not use moving images. In addition, we implemented a prototype system that includes these methods and conducted driving experiments on public roads to evaluate the ease of understanding and safety of AR‐Navi. Using the evaluation results, we confirmed that the ease of understanding and safety is similar in the case of AR‐Navi and CG‐Navi. We also clarified the characteristics of AR‐Navi. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 180(2): 43–54, 2012; Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.22278