Energy-loss near-edge structure (ELNES) and first-principles calculation of electronic structure of nickel silicide systems

The electronic structures of nanometre-sized nickel silicide systems, Ni(2)Si and NiSi, have been studied by energy-loss near-edge structure (ELNES) and first-principles band structure calculations. Experimental ELNES of Ni L(3)- and Si L(2,3)-edges could be explained well using theoretical spectra calculated for the ground state without the core hole, suggesting metallic properties for both silicides. It was shown that a slight difference in ELNES spectra of Ni(2)Si and NiSi comes from the coupling among the Ni d and Si p, d states in the unoccupied bands. The density of states and the contour plots of all the valence electron densities for Ni(2)Si, NiSi together with NiSi(2) show that Ni(2)Si has the bond with the strongest covalent character between Ni and Si atoms and the most transition metal-like character of the Ni 3d band among the three silicides.     

Fluoroscopic bone fragment tracking for surgical navigation in femur fracture reduction by incorporating optical tracking of hip joint rotation center

A new method for fluoroscopic tracking of a proximal bone fragment in femoral fracture reduction is presented. The proposed method combines 2-D and 3-D image registration from single-view fluoroscopy with tracking of the head center position of the proximal femoral fragment to improve the accuracy of fluoroscopic registration without the need for repeated manual adjustment of the C-arm as required in stereo-view registrations. Kinematic knowledge of the hip joint, which has a positional correspondence with the femoral head center and the pelvis acetabular center, allows the position of the femoral fragment to be determined from pelvis tracking. The stability of the proposed method with respect to fluoroscopic image noise and the desired continuity of the fracture reduction operation is demonstrated, and the accuracy of tracking is shown to be superior to that achievable by single-view image registration, particularly in depth translation.     

Tangent height registration method for the Version 1.4 data retrieval algorithm of the solar occultation sensor ILAS-II

The Improved Limb Atmospheric Spectrometer-II (ILAS-II) is a satellite-borne solar occultation sensor onboard the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite-II (ADEOS-II). The ILAS-II succeeded the ILAS. The ILAS-II used four grating spectrometers to observe vertical profiles of gas volume mixing ratios of trace constituents and was also equipped with a Sun-edge sensor to determine tangent heights geometrically with high precision. The accuracy of gas volume mixing ratios depends on the accuracy of the tangent height determination. The combination method is a tangent height registration method that was developed to give appropriate tangent heights for the ILAS-II Version 1.4 data retrieval algorithm. This study describes the method used in the ILAS-II Version 1.4 retrieval algorithm to register tangent heights. The root-sum-square total random error is estimated to be 30 m, and the total systematic error is 180 m at an altitude of 30 km. The influence of the tangent height errors on the vertical profiles of gas volume mixing ratios in ILAS-II Version 1.4 is estimated by using the relative difference. The relative difference for each species is within 7% (20%) for an altitude shift of +/-100 m(+/-300 m).     

Near-infrared spectroscopic sensing system for online monitoring of milk quality during milking

There has been a need in recent years for a method that will enable dairy farmers to monitor milk quality of individual cow during milking. We constructed a near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopic sensing system for online monitoring of milk quality on an experimental basis. This system enables NIR spectra of unhomogenized milk to be obtained during milking over a wavelength range of 600–1050 nm. We developed calibration models for predicting three major milk constituents (fat, protein and lactose), somatic cell count (SCC) and milk urea nitrogen (MUN) of unhomogenized milk, and we validated the precision and accuracy of the models. The coefficient of determination (r ²) and standard error of prediction (SEP) of the validation set were obtained: for fat, r ² = 0.95, SEP = 0.42%; for protein, r ² = 0.91, SEP = 0.09%; for lactose, r ² = 0.94, SEP = 0.05%; for SCC, r ² = 0.82, SEP = 0.27 log SCC/mL; and for MUN, r ² = 0.90, SEP = 1.33 mg/dL, respectively. These results indicated that the NIR spectroscopic sensing system developed in this study could be used to monitor milk quality in real-time during milking. The system can provide dairy farmers with information on milk quality and physiological condition of each cow and therefore give them feedback control for producing milk of high quality and for optimizing dairy farm management.     

Evaluation of organ doses in CT examinations with an infant anthropomorphic phantom

The aim of this study is to evaluate organ doses in infant CT examinations with multi-detector row CT scanners. Radiation doses were measured with radiophotoluminescence glass dosemeters set in various organ positions within a 1-y-old child anthropomorphic phantom and organ doses were evaluated from the measurement values. Doses for tissues or organs within the scan range were 28-36 mGy in an infant head CT, 3-11 mGy in a chest CT, 5-11 mGy in an abdominal-pelvic CT and 2-14 mGy in a cardiac CT. The doses varied by the differences in the types of CT scanners and scan parameters used at each medical facility. Compared with those for children of various ages, the doses in an infant CT protocol were found to be similar to or slightly smaller than those in a paediatric CT for 5- or 6-y-old children.     

Microscopic evidences that bone marrow mononuclear cell treatment improves sciatic nerve regeneration after neurorrhaphy

Cell therapy constitutes a possibility for improving nerve regeneration, increasing the success of nerve repair. We evaluate the use of mononuclear cells in the regeneration of the sciatic nerve after axotomy followed by end‐to‐end neurorrhaphy. Forty adult male Wistar rats (250–300 g) were divided into four groups: (1) sham, (2) neurorrhaphy: the sciatic nerve was sectioned and repaired using epineural sutures, (3) culture medium: after the suture, received an injection of 10 μL of culture medium into the nerve, and (4) mononuclear cell: after the suture, a concentration of 3 × 10⁶ of mononuclear cell was injected in epineurium region. Mononuclear cells were obtained from the bone marrow aspirates and separated by Ficoll‐Hypaque method. The histological analyses were performed at the 4th postoperative day. The sciatic functional index, histological, and morphometric analyzes were used to evaluate nerve regeneration at the 6th postoperative week. Six rats were used for immunohistochemical analysis on the 4th postoperative day. In the group 4, on the fourth day, the histological analysis demonstrated a more accelerated degenerative process and an increase of the neurotrophic factors was observed. In the 6th week, all the morphometric results of the group 4 were statistically better compared with groups 2 and 3. There was a statistically significant improvement in the sciatic functional index for group 4 compared with groups 2 and 3. Mononuclear cells stimulated nerve regeneration, most probably by speeding up the Wallerian degeneration process as well as stimulating the synthesis of neurotrophic factors. Microsc. Res. Tech., 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Polyamide4‐block‐poly(vinyl acetate) via a polyamide4 azo macromolecular initiator: Thermal and mechanical behavior,biodegradation, and morphology

A series of polyamide4‐block‐poly(vinyl acetate)s were synthesized by the radical polymerization of vinyl acetate (VAc) using an azo macromolecular initiator composed of polyamide4 (PA4). The block copolymers were investigated by examining their molecular weight, structure, thermal and mechanical properties, biodegradation, and the morphology of the film surface. The compositions and molecular weights (Mw) ranging from 46,800 to 163,700 g mol^?1 of the block copolymers varied linearly with increasing molar ratio of VAc to azo‐PA4. The block copolymers have high melting points of 248.2–262.5°C owing to PA4 blocks and heats of fusion, which were linearly dependent on the PA4 content. The mechanical properties of the block copolymers were monotonically dependent on the composition, i.e., increasing the PA4 content increased the tensile strength, whereas increasing the poly(vinyl acetate) content increased the elongation at break. The morphology of the block copolymers suggested the appearance of microphase separation. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42466.     

Structure and biomechanics of culms of Phragmites australis used for reeds of Japanese wind instrument “hichiriki”

Hichiriki is a traditional Japanese double‐reed wind instrument used in Japanese ancient imperial court music, gagaku, which has been performed since the 7th century. The best reeds for hichiriki have been made of culms or stems of Phragmites australis (P. australis) that are harvested from only a limited reed bed at Udono near Kyoto. The aim of this study is to elucidate why the stems from Udono are the best materials for hichiriki reeds. Plant anatomy was examined for choice stems of P. australis grown in different reed beds in Japan as well as morphology, and the local indentation hardness and Young's modulus of tissues on the cross‐sections of some representatives of hichiriki reeds were measured. It is concluded that the good stems for hichiriki reeds have an outer diameter of about 11 mm, a wall thickness of about 1 mm and comparatively homogeneous structure where harder materials, such as epidermis, hypodermis, sclerenchymatous cells, and vascular bundle sheaths with hard walls, are orderly deployed with softer materials such as parenchyma cells and vascular bundles. This structure has smaller differences of hardness and Young's modulus between the hard and soft materials in the reed, providing the best music performance. Microsc. Res. Tech. 78:260–267, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.