Microstructures of SiO2 and TiOX films deposited by atmospheric pressure inductively coupled micro-plasma jet

Atmospheric-pressure inductively coupled micro-plasma jet was used for deposition of SiO₂ and TiO_x thin films. Si and Ti alkoxides respectively were vaporized into Ar gas to be decomposed thermally in the Ar plasma jet, being deposited as the metal oxide films. Microstructures of the films were investigated as changing the plasma conditions such as Ar gas flow rate and concentration of the alkoxides in Ar gas. The SiO₂ and TiO_x films deposited at higher Ar gas flow rates were composed of particles of micron or submicron sizes. The SiO₂ film was composed of a single layer of the particles and the particles sometimes formed unique aggregation structures. On the other hand, the TiO_x film had a structure in which the particles were piled up randomly. The structures suggested that the SiO₂ particles grew on the substrate whereas TiO_x particles were formed in plasma gas phase.     

Oesophageal cancer coexisting with colorectal lesions

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the incidence of colorectal lesions in patients who present with oesophageal cancer. DESIGN: Prospective open study. SETTING: University hospital, Japan. SUBJECTS: 135 of 218 patients who presented with squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus during the seven year period 1988-1994 were randomly allocated to have a barium enema examination. INTERVENTIONS: Barium enema examinations, and if colorectal lesions were found, colonoscopy and biopsy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Incidence of coexistent colorectal lesions. RESULTS: No abnormal findings were found in 52 (39%), diverticula were present on 37 (27%), benign polypoid lesions in 51 (38%), and malignant lesions in 6 (4%). We examined the clinical and histopathological details of all patients to see if it was possible to distinguish the patients at high risk of developing oesophageal and colorectal cancer but could find no differences among the groups. CONCLUSION: Asymptomatic colorectal lesions are relatively common in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus in Japan.     

Synthesis of ZnO single crystals by the flux method

Zinc oxide (ZnO) single crystals have been grown at temperatures ranging from 450–900 °C and for 1–12 h, using hydrous KOH and NaOH melts as fluxes. For a KOH flux, brown ZnO single crystals with diameter 0.5 mm × 7.5 mm were grown under conditions of 500 °C for 20 h and white crystals of diameter 0.5 mm × 7 mm were grown at 800 °C for 20 h, using a small crucible (average 50 ml). When a large crucible (average 400 ml) was used, ZnO single crystals with diameter 0.5 mm × 8 mm were formed at 900 °C for 30 h. When using a KOH + NaOH (1∶1) flux, light-brown and long crystals with diameter 1.0 mm × 18 mm could be grown. The grown ZnO single crystals were bounded with only both p- and m-faces. It seems that crystal qualities were good under conditions of 900 °C for 30 h. The following mechanisms of dissociation and formation of ZnO single crystal from KOH (or NaOH) + ZnO melt seemed to occur $$KOH(or{\text{ NaOH}}){\text{ }} \to {\rm K}^ + {\text{ (or Na}}^{\text{ + }} {\text{) + OH}}^ - $$ $$ZnO{\text{ + 2 OH}}^ - \to {\text{ ZnO}}_{\text{2}}^{{\text{2}} - } {\text{ + H}}_{\text{2}} {\text{O,}}$$ $${\text{ZnO}}_{\text{2}}^{{\text{2}} - } {\text{ }} \to {\text{ ZnO + O}}^{{\text{2}} - } .$$      

A system based on specific protein-RNA interactions for analysis of target protein-protein interactions in vitro: successful selection of membrane-bound Bak-Bcl-xL proteins in vitro

Ribosome display systems are very effective and powerful tools for in vitro screening of transcribed mRNAs that encode proteins (or peptides) with specific (known or unknown) functions. We have modified such a system by exploiting the interaction between a tandemly fused MS2 coat-protein (MSp) dimer and the RNA sequence of the corresponding specific binding motif, C-variant (or Cv). We placed the MSp dimer at the N-terminus of a nascent protein and the Cv binding motif was attached to the 5' end of the protein's mRNA. This configuration enhanced the stability of the ribosome-mRNA complex. We demonstrate here that this improved ribosome display system provides an effective method for identifying the gene for a protein that binds to a protein of interest. We visualized the formation of polysome complexes in this advanced polysome display by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and found that the AFM images of polysomes in our system were different from those observed in the case of conventional ribosome display systems. Our results suggest that our technology might usefully complement yeast two-hybrid assays.     

High-cycle fatigue properties at cryogenic temperatures in forged- and rolled-Ti–5% Al–2.5% Sn ELI alloys

High-cycle fatigue properties were investigated at 4, 77 and 293 K in Ti–5% Al–2.5% Sn ELI alloys, in which mean alpha grain sizes were about 30 mm in the rolled material and 80 mm in the forged material. The ultimate tensile strengths of both materials were almost same and increased with decreasing temperature. The fatigue strength of each material also tended to increase with decreasing temperature. At 293 K, the fatigue strength of each material was almost equivalent. At 4 and 77 K, however, the fatigue strength of the rolled material was higher than that of the forged material. Concerning the rolled material, the fatigue strengths at 10⁶ cycles at 4 and 77 K were about 1.6 and 1.5 times higher than that at 293 K, respectively. On the other hand, in the forged material, it should be noted that the fatigue strengths in longer-life region (over 10⁶ cycles) were almost equivalent not depending on test temperatures. Fatigue cracks initiated in the specimen interior independently of test temperatures and materials (we call this type of crack initiation ‘sub-surface crack initiation’) and formed facet-like structures at the sub-surface crack initiation sites at 4 and 77 K. The size of each facet-like structure corresponded closely to the grain size itself. The sizes of crack initiation sites were smaller in the rolled material than in the forged material. Since sub-surface cracks, which form facets or crack initiation sites, are supposed to act as defects, it is concluded that grain refinement leads to reduce the size of crack initiation site and this contributes effectively to improve the fatigue strength in high-cycle region at cryogenic temperatures.     

Development of new conductors of the cable‐in‐conduit type for HTS coils with high performance

A new type of cable‐in‐conduit conductor composed of HTS tapes was proposed as a winding for high‐performance HTS coils with high current capacities and low AC losses. In the fabrication of the conductor, the twist of stacked tapes around their axes was made before inserting them inside conduits. The twist angle should be changed continuously along the axis to reduce face‐on oriented magnetic fields applied to the tape in the winding conductor during coil operation. In order to confirm the high current capacity of this type conductor, two single‐layered solenoidal coils wound with sample conductors composed of five stacked Bi‐2223 tapes with bias angles of 20 and 0° were fabricated and tested in liquid nitrogen. A copper magnet system was used in this experiment to generate the spread magnetic field with a spread angle of 20° from the coil axis to the radial direction, which simulates the profile of magnetic fields near the edge windings of practical coils. A large improvement on critical‐current degradation affected by spread magnetic fields was successfully observed for the test coil wound with the 20° bias conductor. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 153(4): 12–19, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20218     

Compact stranded superconducting conductors with both low ac loss and high stability II. Experiment to confirm fundamental performance

In our previous paper, we proposed a new method for designing compact stranded superconducting conductors as a solution to the dilemma that low loss and high stability could not be simultaneously attained in commonly used conductors. By adjusting the twist pitches and directions of the sub-cables in the conductor, inter-sub-cable coupling losses in it are decreased. As a result, not only the total coupling loss in the conductor is decreased, but also high stability is maintained due to the low contact resistance between the sub-cables. The fundamental performance of the conductors designed using our method has been confirmed through measurements of the coupling loss and the minimum quench energies in the conductor. Our measurements are, in this case, carried out using Rutherford cables with strands instead of the conductors with sub-cables. The results obtained successfully show the validity of our new design method.     

Efficiency analysis of the Solarflow – An innovative solar-powered desalination unit for treating brackish water

The Solarflow was invented at The Environmental Technology Centre, Murdoch University (the Murdoch ETC) in Perth, Western Australia as part of a doctoral thesis in the early 1990s researching suitable water treatment systems for remote indigenous communities. The design has been modified since this time by its original manufacturer but full commercialisation was not achieved. The current owner Solco Pty Ltd was keen to further improve the efficiency and lower the purchase cost of the unit and engaged the Murdoch ETC to undertake further testing.The Solarflow is a self-contained solar-powered unit capable of producing 400 L/day of high quality drinking water from brackish water via reverse osmosis and requires only 120 W of photovoltaic power. This is achievable due to its innovative energy recovery system. In order to assess the unit's efficiency more accurately the latest high-rate data logging technology from the ResLab laboratory at Murdoch University was employed. This enabled quantification of the Solarflow's unique and complex waveforms of the four key parameters: voltage, current, pressure and flow. The results of this testing are presented in this paper.     

Tissue factor pathway inhibitor inhibits aortic smooth muscle cell migration induced by tissue factor/factor VIIa complex

Tissue factor (TF), a transmembrane glycoprotein, forms a high affinity complex with factor VII/VIIa (FVIIa) and thereby initiates blood coagulation. Tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) is an endogenous protease inhibitor of TF/FVIIa-initiated coagulation. We previously reported that TF was a strong chemotactic factor for cultured vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs). In this study, we examined the contribution of FVIIa and the effect of TFPI to TF-induced cultured SMC migration. TF/FVIIa complex showed a strong migration ability, however, neither TF alone nor FVIIa induced SMC migration. TF/FVIIa treated by a serine protease inhibitor and the complex of TF and inactivated FVIIa (DEGR-FVIIa) did not stimulate SMC migration. Pretreatment with hirudin and the antibodies to alpha-thrombin and factor X had no effect on TF/FVIIa-induced SMC migration, although alpha-thrombin and factor Xa also induced SMC migration respectively. TFPI markedly inhibited TF/FVIIa-induced SMC migration in a concentration-dependent manner, but did not affect the SMC migration induced by platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB, basic fibroblast-growth factor (bFGF), or alpha-thrombin. These results indicate that the catalytic activity of TF/FVIIa complex is important on SMC migration, and TFPI can reduce SMC migration as well as thrombosis.     

Prediction of short-term changes in symptom severity by baseline plasma homovanillic acid levels in schizophrenic patients receiving clozapine

The relationship between pretreatment levels of plasma homovanillic acid (pHVA) and the outcome of clozapine treatment was studied in 18 male patients with schizophrenia who were resistant to treatment with conventional neuroleptics. After 6 months of clozapine treatment, 7 patients demonstrated > or = 20% decrease in the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) (responders), while 11 patients did not (non-responders). Responders and non-responders did not differ with respect to the baseline pHVA level. The BPRS Positive Symptom scores at 6 weeks and 3 months, but not those at baseline and 6 months, following initiation of clozapine treatment negatively correlated with pHVA levels for all patients. The correlations became stronger when only responders were included. No significant correlation between Positive Symptom scores and pHVA levels was observed for non-responders. The BPRS Total and Negative Symptom scores did not correlate with pHVA for all patients, responders or non-responders at any time. The percent decrease in the BPRS Positive Symptom scores from baseline at 6 weeks following clozapine treatment correlated significantly with pHVA levels in responders. These results suggest that pretreatment levels of pHVA can be used to predict relatively short-term changes in the positive symptoms of patients with schizophrenia receiving clozapine treatment, particularly for clozapine responders.