Daily Lifestyle and Inflammatory Skin Diseases

Throughout life, it is necessary to adapt to the Earth’s environment in order to survive. A typical example of this is that the daily Earth cycle is different from the circadian rhythm in human beings; however, the ability to adapt to the Earth cycle has contributed to the development of human evolution. In addition, humans can consume and digest Earth-derived foods and use luxury materials for nutrition and enrichment of their lives, as an adaptation to the Earth’s environment. Recent studies have shown that daily lifestyles are closely related to human health; however, less attention has been paid to the fact that obesity due to excessive energy intake, smoking, and alcohol consumption contributes to the development of inflammatory skin diseases. Gluten or wheat protein, smoking and alcohol, sleep disturbance, and obesity drive the helper T (Th)1/Th2/Th17 immune response, whereas dietary fiber and omega-3 fatty acids negatively regulate inflammatory cytokine production. In this review, we have focused on daily lifestyles and the mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory skin diseases.     

KRAS/BRAF Analysis in Ovarian Low-Grade Serous Carcinoma Having Synchronous All Pathological Precursor Regions

Ovarian low-grade serous carcinoma is thought to begin as a serous cystadenoma or adenofibroma that progresses in a slow stepwise fashion. Among the low-grade serous carcinomas, there is a high frequency of activating mutations in the KRAS or BRAF genes; however, it remains unclear as to how these mutations contribute to tumor progression. This is the first report to track the histopathological progression of serous adenofibroma to low-grade serous carcinoma. Each stage was individually analyzed by pathological and molecular genetic methods to determine what differences occur between the distinct stages of progression.     

Blends of thermoplastic polyurethane and polypropylene. II. Thermal and morphological behavior

Neat thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), polypropylene (PP), and TPU/PP blends with different weight ratios that were prepared in a twin‐screw extruder were investigated with differential scanning calorimetry and light and scanning electron microscopy. The results confirmed PP matrix to TPU matrix phase inversion in the concentration region between 60/40 and 80/20 TPU/PP blends. The total degree of crystallinity of the blends and the crystallization temperature of PP decreased with increasing TPU content. On the other hand, the addition of elastomeric TPU to PP significantly increased the spherulite size of PP. The TPU melt islands in the PP matrix prolonged the crystallization of PP during solidification, and this enhanced the growth of spherulites. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Fabrication and lithium intercalation properties of epitaxial Li2RuO3 thin films

Lithium intercalation in a lithium excess layered material Li₂RuO₃ was investigated using two-dimensional model electrodes with a restricted reaction plane of (002). Li₂RuO₃ films were synthesized on Al₂O₃(0001) substrate by a pulsed laser deposition, and X-ray diffraction measurements confirmed epitaxial growth of Li₂RuO₃(002). Electrochemical characterization using cyclic voltammetry and charge/discharge measurements indicated electrochemical reactions with a discharge capacity of 200 mAh g^− 1 for the film deposited at 400 °C followed by post-annealing at 550 °C. The electrochemical activity on the (002) plane indicated three-dimensional lithium diffusion in the two-dimensional layered rocksalt structure through the lithium sites in the transition metal layer.     

Highly polarized single-c-domain single-crystal Pb(Mn,Nb)O(3)-PZT thin films

In-plane unstrained single-c-domain/single-crystal thin films of PZT-based ternary ferroelectric perovskite, ξPb(Mn,Nb)O3-(1 - ξ)PZT, were grown on SrRuO(3)/Pt/MgO substrates using magnetron sputtering followed by quenching. The sputtered unstrained thin films exhibit unique ferroelectric properties: high coercive field, Ec > 180 kV/cm, large remanent polarization, P(r) = 100 μC/cm(2), small relative dielectric constants, ε* = 100 to 150, high Curie temperature, Tc = ~600 °C, and bulk-like large transverse piezoelectric constants, e31,f = -12.0 C/m(2) for PZT(48/52) at ξ = 0.06. The unstrained thin films are an ideal structure to extract the bulk ferroelectric properties. Their micro-structures and ferroelectric properties are discussed in relation to the potential applications for piezoelectric MEMS.     

Two-dimensional “transXend” detector with band structure absorbers for third-generation energy-resolved computed tomography with improved spatial resolution

Energy-resolved computed tomography (CT) is a method that can generate multiple CT images reconstructed by the X-rays in specific energy ranges. We have previously discussed a lattice absorber type of X-ray detector for energy-resolved CT. We have now developed a band absorber type detector with the aim of improving spatial resolution. We compare spatial resolution and contrast-to-noise ratios for the two types of detectors.     

A mixed integer programming approach to designing periodic frame structures with negative Poisson’s ratio

Materials and microstructures with specific configurations are able to have negative Poisson’s ratio. This paper proposes a topology optimization methodology of frame structures to design a planar periodic structure that exhibits negative Poisson’s ratio. Provided that beam section of each existing member is chosen from a set of some given candidates, we can reduce the topology optimization problem to a mixed-integer linear programming problem. Since the proposed approach treats frame structures and stress constraints are rigorously addressed, the optimal solution contains no hinge region. A heuristic method with local search is used to solve large-scale problems. Numerical examples and fabrication test demonstrate that planar periodic frame structures exhibiting negative Poisson’s ratio can be successfully obtained by the proposed method.