Neural mechanism of pupillary dilation elicited by electro-acupuncture stimulation in anesthetized rats

The neural mechanisms to reflex dilation elicited by electro-acupuncture stimulation were investigated in anesthetized rats. Two needles, with 160 microns diameter and about 5 mm apart, were inserted into the skin and underlying muscle of a hindpaw. Repetitive 20 Hz, 0.5 ms electrical pulses at various intensities were used for stimulation for 30s. The pupil size was magnified about 44 times via a microscope and was continuously recorded on a videotape. Electro-acupuncture stimulation at more than 0.5 up to 6 mA induced stimulus intensity-dependent pupil dilation. These responses were abolished by the severance of the sciatic and saphenous nerve of the stimulated hindlimb. Compound action potentials were recorded from the distal cut end of the tibial of a saphenous nerve following electro-acupuncture stimulation of the hindpaw. The mean threshold of the compound action potentials of the myelinated fibers in saphenous nerves was 0.18 mA, while that of unmyelinated fibers was 3.0 mA. The mean threshold of the compound action potentials of the myelinated fibers in the tibial nerve was 0.20 mA of unmyelinated fibers was 3.3 mA. Severance of bilateral trunks did not affect the response, while severance of the third cranial nerves abolished the responses. In conclusion, electro-acupuncture stimulation applied to the hindpaws of the anesthetized rats induced excitation of myelinated or of both myelinated and unmyelinated afferent fibers of the tibial and saphenous nerve, and involved a reflex response of pupil dilation through the third cranial parasympathetic efferent nerve.     

Geochemical characteristics of the Yufuin outflow plume, Beppu hydrothermal system, Japan

Thermal water at Yufuin (Kyushu Island, Japan) is tapped through about 820 shallow wells and used mainly for hot-spring bathing purposes. Chemical and isotopic data for fluids from wells and fumaroles in Yufuin and Beppu indicate that the thermal activity at Yufuin represents a dilute, westward-flowing hydrothermal outflow plume from the Beppu hydrothermal system. Two other (eastward-flowing) outflow plumes have long been recognized at Beppu, but the Yufuin outflow plume is first recognized here. The Yufuin outflow plume is apparently a mixture of two end-member fluids: (1) deep high-temperature (250–300°C) fluid from the Beppu system having high chloride concentration (1400–1600 mg/L) and a δ¹⁸O value near −6.0%, and (2) meteoric water having low chloride concentration (≤7 mg/L) and a δ¹⁸O value near −9.2%.A permeable conduit for the vertical and lateral transport of deep fluid from the Beppu system is provided by the Yufuin Fault zone, which extends westward from the southern flank of Mt. Tsurumi volcano to the town of Yufuin. Stable isotope ratios and chloride concentrations for shallow groundwaters near the eastern end of the fault, at an elevation near 700 m, are consistent with those required for the low-chloride meteoric end-member of the Yufuin thermal waters. Recharge of this meteoric water, as well as mixing with the Beppu deep fluid, may occur along the Yufuin Fault. Enthalpy-chloride relations indicate additional conductive heating of the Yufuin waters, in the amount of 350–500 kJ/kg beyond that which can be accounted for by mixing between Beppu deep fluid and meteoric water. This could be a result of conductive heating with convection to a depth of 1–2 km. Estimates of the magnitude of the heat source for the Beppu hydrothermal system should take into account the heat being discharged at Yufuin.     

A feasibility study of a direct-mapping parallel processing method to solve linear equations in load-flow calculation

With the growing size and complexity of power systems, system analysis—such as transients calculation—takes much time. Hence, fast calculation methods are required. Although parallel processing is a hopeful method, there have been difficulties in the parallel solution of linear equations which appear in power-flow calculations by the Newton-Raphson method. This paper aims at the fast calculation of the power-flow problem by means of parallel processing. In order to improve the suitability to the parallel solution of the differential equation in transients calculation, we assume the use of a direct-mapping parallel processing machine to map directly the network of a power system onto a network of processors. Under this assumption, we propose a new parallel-processing-oriented method in which the linear equation is solved by linear iterations between nodes with Aitken acceleration. We simulate the method on three model power systems and compare this Parallel Iterative Method (PIN) with a Parallel Direct Method (PDM) which uses the banded matrix according to the number of operations required. As a result, we can expect that PIM may solve linear equations faster than PDM with m processors, although the PIM might be inferior to the PDM with m × m processors, where m denotes the half-band width of the banded matrix.     

Carcinosarcoma of the rectosigmoid colon: report of a case

We report an unusual case of carcinosarcoma of the colon. An 80-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with lower abdominal pain. Computed tomography showed a large pelvic mass, 18cm in maximal diameter, and barium enema and colonoscopy both showed a type-2 tumor in the sigmoid colon. We performed Hartmann's procedure with resection of the ileocolic segment. Immunohistochemical stains of the resected specimen revealed that most of the tumor consisted of spindle cell sarcoma with neural and muscle differentiation, while only the superficial area of an ulcerated lesion contained adenocarcinoma positive for carcinoembryonic antigen. The patient died of a fast-growing recurrent pelvic tumor 6 months postoperatively. Our experience of this case and our review of eight other cases in the English literature indicate that wide resection provides the best chance of cure, but careful postoperative follow-up is essential.     

Development of a high‐resolution RGBW flexible display using a white organic light‐emitting diode with microcavity structure and that of a side‐roll touch panel

In this study, white organic electroluminescent devices with microcavity structures were developed. A flexible high‐resolution active‐matrix organic light‐emitting diode display with low power consumption using red, green, blue, and white sub‐pixels formed by a color‐filter method was fabricated. In addition, a side‐roll touch display was developed in combination with a capacitive flexible touch screen.     

Hydrocarbons with a homoconjugated polyene system and their monoepoxy derivatives: Sex attractants of geometrid and noctuid moths distributed in Japan

Although several sex pheromones of the family Geometridae have been characterized, investigations on Japanese species are limited. In order to obtain more information, screening using known sex pheromones and their analogs was carried out. The (Z,Z,Z)-3,6,9-triunsaturated and (Z,Z)-6,9-diunsaturated hydrocarbons with straight C¹⁹-C²¹ chains were synthesized by the Grignard coupling reaction as a key step starting from linolenic and linoleic acids, respectively. Oxidation of the homoconjugated trienes withm-chloroperoxybenzoic acid yielded a 111 mixture of three monoepoxy derivatives that could be separated by silica gel chromatography. The chemical structure of each positional isomer was confirmed using two-dimensional NMR techniques and MS measurements, which enabled characteristic fragment ions from the isomers to be identified. Field tests using lures incorporating only one of the above six hydrocarbons or nine epoxides were carried out in a forest in Tokyo. Consequently, attraction of male moths of 14 geometrid species in addition to four species in another family, the Noctuidae, was observed. It was concluded that hydrocarbons with a homoconjugated polyene system and the monoepoxy derivatives are important components of sex pheromones produced by Japanese lepidopterous insects, particularly the geometrid moths.     

In situ magnetoresistance measurements of a nanoconstricted nickel-iron film with in-plane configuration

A test element (TE) with an Ni-Fe point contact (PC) in planar configuration was fabricated using an etching process with a horizontal incidence ion beam. Successive in situ magnetoresistance (MR) measurements were carried out in the etching apparatus without breaking the vacuum to prevent the oxidation of the PC. The TE showed the MR ratio around 12%, which was much larger than an anisotropic MR ratio of the film. It showed low (high) resistance with a magnetic field direction of parallel (antiparallel) magnetic geometry of the pinned and free area.     

D-Amino Acids in Non-gelling Components of Gelatin

Abstract

As a possible cause of the non-gelling property of the sol fraction of gelatin, we considered that higher D-amino acid content should result in decreased formation of helices. The sol fractions ivere extracted from gelatin gels and hydrolyzed to amino acid mixtures. The rates of reaction with D-amino acid oxidase (D-AOX) were recorded for thehydrolyzates. For a comparison, residual gels were also treated similarly. The sol fractions always gave higher results than the residual gels for the three types of gelatin examined. The result also showed that the rates obtained from the sol fractions were in the order: limed ossein > limed hide > acid pigskin.

To examine the reliability of this procedure the D-form content for each amino acid in the sol from the limed hide gelatin was compared with that of the residual gel. The contents in the sol were higher than those in the residue for most of the amino acids which racemized. The results indicate that the increased racemization of amino acids on the extraction of gelatin from raw materials is a cause of the non-gelling property.     

1.3-/spl mu/m AlGaInAs strain compensated MQW-buried-heterostructure lasers for uncooled 10-gb/s operation

We have successfully fabricated 1.3-/spl mu/m AlGaInAs strain-compensated multiple-quantum-well (MQW) buried-heterostructure (BH) lasers by narrow-stripe selective metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy. Based on the optimization of AlGaInAs strain compensated MQW and the Al-oxidation-free BH process, we obtained a low-threshold current of 12.5 mA and a relaxation frequency of more than 10 GHz at 85/spl deg/C for Fabry-Perot lasers. For distributed feedback lasers, we demonstrated a 10-Gb/s operation and transmission of over 16 Km for a single mode fiber at 100/spl deg/C. Furthermore, a record-low 25.8-mA/sub p-p/ modulation current for a 10-Gb/s modulation at 100/spl deg/C was demonstrated with shorter cavity and high grating-coupling coefficient. A median life of more than 1/spl times/10/sup 5/ h at 85/spl deg/C was estimated after an aging test of over 5000 h for these lasers. These superior characteristics at high temperatures were achieved by the combination of the high differential gain of AlGaInAs strain compensated MQW and the BH structure.