Allergic granulomatous angiitis associated with cerebral infarction, myo-pericarditis and acute respiratory failure due to eosinophilic pneumonia

We encountered a 23-year-old woman with allergic granulomatous angiitis (AGA) associated with cerebral infarction, myo-pericarditis, and acute respiratory failure due to extended eosinophilic pneumonia. She underwent emergency treatment at our hospital because of right hemiparesis and impaired consciousness. AGA was suspected because the patient had a history of bronchial asthma accompanied by pulmonary infiltrations with eosinophilia, and presented with diffuse pulmonary infiltrates, pericardial effusion, diffuse hypokinesis of myocardium, cerebral infarction and marked peripheral eosinophlia. Pulmonary eosinophilia was confirmed by examination of broncho-alveolar lavage fluid. Myocardial tissue biopsy specimens revealed fibrous granulation indicative of myocarditis. The patient responded well to corticosteroid therapy.     

Compact mass axis alignment device with piezoelements for opticalfibers

A compact mass axis alignment device with piezoelements which can independently align individual optical fibers is proposed. Axis alignment experiments were performed with the fabricated device. The authors describe the construction of the mass axis alignment device. Experimental results of axis alignment with the fabricated device are reported. Splice loss reduction through the use of the proposed device is outlined. The estimated splicing loss that occurs when using the proposed device is 0.063 dB for 1.55-μm DSF     

Fullerene-C60 incorporated in liposome exerts persistent hydroxyl radical-scavenging activity and cytoprotection in UVA/B-irradiated keratinocytes

The aim of this study is to examine antioxidant activity of fullerene-C60 (C60) incorporated in liposome (LpsmFlln, a diameter of 75.6 nm). LpsmFlln is water-soluble, and composed of hydrogenated lecithin of 89.7%, glycine soja sterol of 10% and C60 of 0.3%. Hydroxyl radicals (*OH), generated from UVA- or UVB-irradiated H2O2, were scavenged by LpsmFlln but not by C60-lacking Lpsm as assessed by ESR, showing that the active principle is C60 as scanty as 1/415 weight versus LpsmFlln; the *OH amount (% of non-additive control) was decreased, LpsmFlln-dose-dependently, and for 0.5% LpsmFlln (C60-eq.:16.7 microM) to 34.1% or 78.3% upon irradiation with UVA (12 J/cm2) or UVB (500 mJ/cm2), respectively, showing the superiority for UVA to UVB in terms of the *OH scavenging of LpsmFlln. Cell viability of human skin keratinocytes HaCaT decreased to 41.1% upon UVA-irradiation at 10 J/cm2, but retained to 60.6% with 0.025% LpsmFlln (C60-eq.: 0.84 microM) together with prevention of cell-morphological degeneration, in contrast to scarce effects of C60-lacking Lpsm. The scavenging activity for Fenton reaction-generated *OH, detected by DMPO/ESR, was 96.2% or 72.2% (% of no-additive control) at 1 min and decreased time-dependently to 24.8% or 28.3% at 12 min with 16.7 microM L-ascorbic acid (Asc) or Trolox, respectively, whereas 0.5% LpsmFlln (C60-eq:16.7 microM, the same concentration as for Asc) diminished *OH by 90.9% at 1 min and 91.5% even at 12 min, demonstrating the superiority of LpsmFlln to Asc or Trolox in terms of persistence of *OH-scavenging ability. Repressive efficacy on beta-carotene discoloration (% of control) for 60 min was in the order, based on the same molar or weight concentration: 1.3%:3.34 microM Asc < 25.0%:0.1% Lpsm < 36.3%:0.1% LpsmFlln (C60-eq.:3.34 microM) < 57.2%:3.34 microM Trolox, indicating the preventive effect of LpsmFlln against beta-carotene oxidation. Thus, LpsmFlln was demonstrated for an antioxidant ability characteristic of long-term persistence, and is attributed to fullerene-C60 but scarcely to Lpsm in all the tests examined, and is expected as the skin-protecting agent against oxidative stress.     

Blood compatibility of components and materials in silicon integrated circuits

The blood coagulation test of fundamental materials, packages, and polymers related to ICs was made by the Sahli-Fonio method Samples of 18 kinds were tested. Among all samples, parylene C, which is used as an electronics-coating polymer film, is the best Silicon is poor next to glass     

Femtosecond snapshot imaging of propagating light itself

An ultrafast imaging technique has been developed to visualize directly a light pulse that is propagating in a medium. The method, called femtosecond time-resolved optical polarigraphy (FTOP), senses instantaneous changes in the birefringence within the medium that are induced by the propagation of an intense light. A snapshot sequence composed of each femtosecond probing the pulse delay enables ultrafast propagation dynamics of the intense femtosecond laser pulse in the medium, such as gases and liquids, to be visualized directly. Other examples include the filamentation dynamics in CS2 liquid and the propagation dynamics in air related to the interaction with laser breakdown plasma. FTOP can also be used to extract information on the optical Kerr constant and its decay time in media. This method is useful in the monitoring of the intensity distribution in the nonlinear propagation of intense light pulses, which is a frequently studied subject in the field of physics regarding nonlinear optics and laser processing.     

Compact geometry for diode-pumped Cr:LiSAF femtosecond laser

A novel geometry for dispersion compensation in femtosecond lasers without specific cut of optical parts in a flat/Brewster angle or Gires-Tournots mirrors is demonstrated for attaining a compact diode-pumped Cr:LiSAF femtosecond pulse laser. In this geometry, the laser medium lies between the dispersion-compensation prism pair. This approach enables the laser to operate at variable repetition rates from 163 to 235 MHz keeping the pulsewidth less than 90 fs, where the value of the time-bandwidth product are not larger than 0.34. An 89 fs pulse duration generated at the 235 MHz repetition rate is, to our knowledge, the shortest pulse achieved in an all-solid-state Kerr-lens mode-locked laser operating above the 200 MHz repetition rate     

Two_stage procedures for estimating a linear function of multinormal mean vectors

We consider the problenl of const,ructing a fixed-size confidence region for a linear functioll of mean vectors of k multinormal populations. The covariance matrices are assunlcd to be known except for the unknown scalar multipliers. A two-stage procedure is proposed to derive such a confidence region. We also discuss the asylnptotic efficiency of the procedure.     

Solar photocatalysis, photodegradation of a commercial detergent in aqueous TiO2 dispersions under sunlight irradiation

A commercial detergent whose major components are an anionic surfactant and a fluorescent whitening agent can be photodegraded in aqueous TiO₂ dispersions under irradiation with concentrated sunlight in the presence of air. The degradation process followed apparent first-order kinetics in terms of the total sunlight energy impinging on the photoreactive system. The effects of (a) TiO₂ loading, (b) circulation flow rate, and (c) pH of the reactant solution on the kinetics of decomposition of the detergent were examined. Under the prevailing conditions, the optimal operational parameters for this detergent were, respectively: TiO₂ loading, 6 g l⁻¹; circulation flow rate, 4.9 l min⁻¹; and pH, 4.9. The rate of increase of the surface tension was greater than the rate of decrease of the concentration of the detergent. This study adds to our knowledge base in the effective use of sunlight irradiation to detoxify wastewaters containing undesirable detergents.     

Magnetoresponsive on-demand release of hybrid liposomes formed from Fe3 O4 nanoparticles and thermosensitive block copolymers

A new approach to control the release of encapsulated materials from liposomes by using thermosensitive block copolymers and magnetic nanoparticles is reported. Hydrophobized Fe(3) O(4) nanoparticles are synthesized via the hydrothermal process, and can be incorporated into liposomal membranes by hydrophobic interactions. Thermosensitive block copolymers of (2-ethoxy)ethoxyethyl vinyl ether (EOEOVE) and octadecyl vinyl ether (ODVE) are synthesized by living cationic polymerization. The poly(EOEOVE) block acts as a temperature-sensitive moiety, and the poly(ODVE) block acts as an anchor unit. Hybrid liposomes encapsulating pyranine, a water-soluble fluorescent dye, are prepared from mixtures of phospholipids, the hydrophobized Fe(3) O(4) nanoparticles, and the copolymer. While the hybrid liposomes released negligible amounts of pyranine under static conditions, the release of pyranine is drastically enhanced by alternating magnetic field irradiation. The magnetically induced release is attributed to the transition of the thermosensitive segment of the copolymer, which is caused by the release of localized heat from the Fe(3) O(4) nanoparticles under magnetic stimuli, rather than the rupture of the capsules. The release rate of the hybrid capsules is controlled by varying the amount of Fe(3) O(4) nanoparticles embedded into the liposomes.     

Two-Stage Procedures for Estimating the Difference of Means when the Sampling Cost is Different

Abstract

We suppose that there are two independent normal populations, π₁: N(μ₁, σ²) and π₂: N(μ₂, a ²σ²), where μ₁, μ₂, σ² are unknown but a (0 < a ≤ 1) is known. We suppose that the sampling cost from π₂ is more expensive than that from π₁. We consider estimating Δ = μ₁ ? μ₂ by some appropriately constructed fixed-width confidence interval. We give two types of two-stage procedures denoted by 𝒫₅ and 𝒫₆ for this purpose. Assuming that both two-stage sampling strategies are implementable in some situation, we show that 𝒫₆ compares favorably with 𝒫₅ and suggest implementing 𝒫₆ in practice. We also reaffirm these sentiments with illustrations using a real data set from Mukhopadhyay et al. (2004 Mukhopadhyay , N. , Son , M. S. , and Ko , Y. C. ( 2004 ). A New Two-Stage Sampling Design for Estimating the Maximum Average Time to Flower , Journal of Agricultural, Biological, and Environmental Statistics 9 : 479 – 499 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]).