Successful treatment of a giant bulla by thoracoscopic excision and laser ablation

A 39-year-old male complaining of shortness of breath on mild exertion. Radiographs revealed that a giant bulla occupied more than half the area of the right lung field. Thoracoscopic excision of the giant bulla was performed using some autosutures. After the emphysematous lesion was consolidated by laser ablation, it was sutured using PDS thread. The bulla in the left lung was similarly excised 3 weeks after the first procedure. The FEV1.0% improved from 72% to 89% after excision and laser ablation of a giant bulla and bullae. Thoracoscopic excision and laser ablation of a giant bulla appears to be an effective alternative to conventional thoracotomy.     

Directional characteristics of radiation reflection on rough metal surfaces with description of heat transfer parameters

In this paper we clarify directional characteristics of thermal radiation reflection on rough metal surfaces and establish a technique for determining the parameters for heat transfer computation of radiation energy exchange among surfaces. Directional distribution of bidirectional reflectance ρ of surfaces of root‐mean‐square roughness Σ = 0.1 to 1 µm to the irradiation of a visible laser of wavelength λ = 0.6328 µm and to that of an infrared laser of λ = 3.39 µm is investigated experimentally. The optical roughness (Σ/λ) ranges from 0.028 to 1.27. A measure of the magnitude of specular reflection is presented. A model for describing the ρ distribution is presented, and the experimental results of the ρ distribution are analyzed quantitatively and systematically to determine the values of the specular reflection component R_s and the perfect‐diffuse reflection component R_d of the hemispherical reflectance R_H, which are input parameters for radiation heat transfer computation. © 2002 Scripta Technica, Heat Trans Asian Res, 31(2): 76–88, 2002; DOI 10.1002/htj.10008     

Swing of the lever arm of a myosin motor at the isomerization and phosphate-release steps

In muscle, the myosin head ('crossbridge') performs the 'working stroke', in which ATP is hydrolysed to generate the sliding of actin and myosin filaments. The myosin head consists of a globular motor domain and a long lever-arm domain. The 'lever-arm hypothesis' predicts that during the working stroke, the lever-arm domain tilts against the motor domain, which is bound to actin in a fixed orientation. To detect this working stroke in operation, we constructed fusion proteins by connecting Aequorea victoria green fluorescent protein and blue fluorescent protein to the amino and carboxyl termini of the motor domain of myosin II of Dictyostelium discoideum, a soil amoeba, and measured the fluorescence resonance energy transfer between the two fluorescent proteins. We show here that the carboxy-terminal fluorophore swings at the isomerization step of the ATP hydrolysis cycle, and then swings back at the subsequent step in which inorganic phosphate is released, thereby mimicking the swing of the lever arm. The swing at the phosphate-release step may correspond to the working stroke, and the swing at the isomerization step to the recovery stroke.     

Malignant mesenchymoma in the scrotum. A case report

A 67-year-old man visited our hospital with the chief complaint of painless swelling of the left scrotal content. An elastic hard mass was palpable in the left scrotum. Resection of the tumor, including the left scrotal skin, was performed. The tumor originated from the scrotal wall and did not communicate with the testis, the epididymis or spermatic cord. Histologically, the tumor was diagnosed as a malignant mesenchymoma composed of liposarcoma, chondrosacoma and osteosarcoma. Malignant mesenchymoma is very rare, especially in the scrotum. Our case that originated from the scrotal wall is the first one reported in Japan.     

12300 ps/nm, 2.4 Gb/s nonregenerative optical fiber transmissionexperiment and effect of transmitter phase noise

A nonregenerative optical transmission experiment with a chromatic dispersion of more than 10000 ps/nm is reported. Externally intensity-modulated 2.4 Gb/s optical signals were transmitted over 710 km of nondispersion-shifted optical fiber using ten Er-doped fiber amplifiers with a total net optical gain of 125 dB. Although the total chromatic dispersion amounted to 12300 ps/nm, the power penalty observed was as small as 0.5 dB, and an error floor was not observed. The effect of transmitter phase noise associated with fiber chromatic dispersion was experimentally investigated     

Growth factors increase pericellular proteoglycans independently of their mitogenic effects on A10 rat vascular smooth muscle cells

Several reports suggest that serotonin2A (5HT2A) receptors and this receptor-mediated phosphatidyl inositol (PI) hydrolysis signal transduction system are altered in platelets of depressed patients. Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (Ins[1,4,5]P3), an important component of the PI signaling system, plays a crucial role in various physiological processes by releasing Ca2+ from intracellular stores after binding with Ins(1,4,5)P3 receptors. To examine the role of Ins(1,4,5)P3 receptors in depression, we determined [3H]Ins(1,4,5)P3 binding sites and expressed protein levels of Ins(1,4,5)P3 receptors in platelets of depressed patients (n=15) and normal control subjects (n=17). We observed that the mean Bmax of [3H]Ins(1,4,5)P3 binding to Ins(1,4,5)P3 receptors was significantly higher in platelets of depressed subjects compared with normal control subjects, whereas there was no significant difference in K(D) between these two groups. The immuno-detectable expressed level of Ins(1,4,5)P3 receptor protein was also significantly increased in depressed patients in contrast to the levels of normal control subjects. Moreover, a significant correlation was observed in Bmax and the protein level of Ins(1,4,5)P3 receptors. The increase in the number of [3H]Ins(1,4,5)P3 binding sites in platelets of depressed subjects appears to be due to an increase in the amount of Ins(1,4,5)P3 receptor proteins. These results suggest that Ins(1,4,5)P3 receptors may be involved in the pathophysiology of depression.     

Synthesis and photovoltaic properties of soluble fulleropyrrolidine derivatives for organic solar cells

Organic solar cells made from bi-layer thin-film heterojunctions having poly((2-methoxy-5-(2′-ethylhexyloxy)-p-phenylene)vinylene) (MEH-PPV) as an electron donor and fulleropyrrolidine derivatives as an electron acceptor were investigated. We synthesized soluble fulleropyrrolidine derivatives substituted different chain lengths for the organic solar cell. Due to the high solubility and sufficiently long chain length of fulleropyrrolidine derivatives, though those are monomers, a thin film (about 80–90 nm) could be fabricated individually by the spin-coating method. The fill factor of the bi-layer device was achieved to be 0.46, which is higher than that of the single-layer device by a polymer/fulleropyrrolidine derivative blend film of 0.37, due to the decrease of the recombination.     

X-ray investigation of cleavage plane of single layered manganite La0.5Sr1.5MnO4

The top layer of a cleaved surface of the single layered manganite La_0.5Sr_1.5MnO₄ is measured with crystal truncation rod scattering. Knowledge of the surface structure of strongly correlated electron systems is needed for nano-science and device application of such systems. The result shows that the cleaved surface is terminated by La/Sr layer and has little surface roughness.     

A quantitative evaluation of time-independent and time-dependent deformations of lead-free and lead-containing solder alloys

A method to separate plasticity and creep is discussed for a quantitative evaluation of the plastic, transient creep, and steady-state creep deformations of solder alloys. The method of separation employs an elasto-plastic-creep constitutive model comprised of the sum of the plastic, transient creep, and steady-state creep deformations. The plastic deformation is expressed by the Ramberg-Osgood law, the steady-state creep deformation by Garofalo’s creep law, and the transient creep deformation by a model proposed here. A method to estimate the material constants in the elasto-plastic-creep constitutive model is also proposed. The method of separation of the various deformations is applied to the deformation of the lead-free solder alloy Sn/3Ag/0.5Cu and the lead-containing solder alloy Sn/37Pb to compare the differences in the plastic, transient creep, and steady-state creep deformations. The method of separation provides a powerful tool to select the optimum lead-free solder alloys for solder joints of electronic devices.