A cooperative randomized controlled study of adjuvant chemoendocrine therapy for breast cancer in Japan

Social competence in subjects at risk for schizophrenia and affective disorder and in normal-comparison subjects was examined in childhood and adolescence. Based on interviews with the parents of the subjects and with the children and adolescents themselves, subjects at risk for schizophrenia had poorer overall social competence than subjects at risk for affective disorder and comparison subjects in early adolescence and adolescence but not in childhood. In analyses of specific aspects of social competence, the adolescents at risk for schizophrenia had significantly poorer peer relationships and decreased hobbies/interests than the adolescents at risk for affective disorder and the normal-comparison adolescents. With respect to school adjustment, however, the two groups of adolescent offspring of parents with psychiatric disorders had significantly poorer adjustment than the comparison adolescents but did not differ from each other on this measure. These results suggest that various aspects of poor social competence may precede the onset of schizophrenia and play an important role in its development.     

Development of 72‐kV high‐pressure air‐insulated GIS with vacuum circuit breaker

SF₆ gas has excellent dielectric strength and interruption performance. For these reasons, it has been widely used for gas‐insulated switchgear (GIS). However, use of SF₆ gas has become regulated under agreements set at the 1997 COP3. Thus, investigation and development for GIS with a lower amount of SF₆ gas are being carried out worldwide. Presently, SF₆‐free GIS has been commercialized for the 24‐kV class. Air or N₂ gas is used as the insulation gas for this GIS. On the other hand, SF₆‐free GIS has not been commercialized for the 72‐kV‐class GIS. The dielectric strengths of air and N₂ gas are approximately one‐third that of SF₆ gas. To enhance the insulation performance of air and N₂ we have investigated a hybrid gas insulation system which has the combined features of providing an insulation coating and suitable insulation gas. We have developed the world's first 72‐kV SF₆‐free GIS. This paper deals with key technologies for SF₆‐free GIS, such as the hybrid insulation structure, a bellows for the high‐pressure vacuum circuit breaker, a newly designed disconnector and spacer, and prevention of particle levitation. Test results of the 72‐kV high‐pressure air‐insulated GIS with the vacuum circuit breaker are described. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 157(4): 13–23, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20451     

40 Gbit/s electroabsorption modulators with impedance-controlled electrodes

A novel travelling-wave electroabsorption optical modulator, electrically matched for 50 /spl Omega/ loads of driving circuit drivers, was developed. The scattering parameter of electric reflection (S/sub 11/) from this modulator is less than -20 dB at 20 GHz. It can thus enable a 40 Gbit/s, 2 km SMF transmission with a 0.3 dB penalty at a 1.3 /spl mu/m wavelength.     

应用遗传算法的多机器人协调动作学习

本文力图做出的系统是应用遗传算法使多机器人学习可以动作协调而总体实现最多的搬运。多机器人移动的环境采用图表表示，移动的规则是用遗传算法优化制订的，在两预定结点之间的往返次数取为适合度，用计算机构造环境并进行仿真，结果表明多机器人协调作学习时可视情况需要而互相让路。     

Thermal link for cartridge-type cryostat

We have developed a simple and small thermal link for cooling a cylindrical cartridge, on which device under test is mounted. It consists of a crown-like ring with an inner diameter of 170 or 140 mm and a clamping belt, which is a metal spring or nylon. A thermal conduction of the thermal link is achieved as the crown-like ring clamps the disk-like stage of the cartridge with external force of the clamping belt. This link can be applied at various temperature ranges from 2 to 100 K. The measured thermal conductance of the 170 mm link is 1.7, 5.6 and 3.3 W K⁻¹ for 4, 12, and 80 K stages, respectively. These values are consistent with a empirical calculation within 10% errors. This link is also effective to reduce mechanical vibration to be 6 μm (peak-to-peak) in the horizontal direction of the cartridge. This link is easily fabricated and is useful to various detectors which require to be cooled down.     

Evaluation of serum KL-6 levels in summer-type hypersensitivity pneumonitis

A high level of serum KL-6 is a known feature of active pulmonary fibrosis. Some researchers have suggested that KL-6 is produced and secreted by type II pneumocytes. The present study evaluated serum KL-6 levels in patients with summer-type hypersensitivity pneumonitis (summer-type HP) (n = 6, 7 episodes), Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (n = 16), Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia (n = 3), Chlamydia pneumoniae pneumonia (n = 9), and bacterial pneumonia (n = 12). In addition, transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) specimens were examined pathologically in order to identify the site of production and secretion of KL-6. In patients with summer-type HP, the serum KL-6 levels exceeded 500 U/ml (2.996 +/- 2.016 U/ml), but was below 500 U/ml (302 +/- 126 U/ml, p < 0.001) in the patients with other infectious pneumonias, with the exception of two. One of these two patients with a high serum KL-6 level had adult respiratory distress syndrome due to Mycoplasma pneumoniae. The other had organizing pneumonia due to Chlamydia pneumoniae. TBLB specimens showed proliferative type II pneumocytes in all summer-type HP cases. We believe that the high serum KL-6 levels were produced by type II pneumocytes, and may provide a useful indicating serum marker for HP. Although serum LDH, serum CRP and PaO2 are known as monitoring markers in summer-type HP, our findings demonstrated no manifest correlations among these markers. However, serum KL-6 levels showed a strong positive correlation with serum LDH levels and an inverse correlation with serum CRP levels. These results suggest that serum KL-6 may be a better marker of the degree of disease activity than serum LDH, CRP, or PaO2 in summer-type HP.     

A mutation in NPS1/STH1, an essential gene encoding a component of a novel chromatin-remodeling complex RSC, alters the chromatin structure of Saccharomyces cerevisiae centromeres

The NPS1/STH1 gene encodes a nuclear protein essential for the progression of G2/M phase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae . Nps1p shares homology to Snf2/Swi2p, a subunit of a protein complex known as the SNF/SWI complex. Recently, Nps1p was found to be a component of a protein complex termed RSC (3) essential for mitotic growth, whereas its function is unknown. We isolated a temperature-sensitive mutant allele of NPS1 , nps1-105, and found that the mutation increases the sensitivity to thiabendazole (TBZ). At the restrictive temperature, nps1-105 arrested at the G2/M phase in MAD1-dependent manner and missegregated the mini-chromosome with higher frequency than the wild type cells. The nuclease digestion of the chromatin of the mutant cells revealed that the mutation causes the alteration of the chromatin structure around centromeres at the restrictive temperature. The results suggested that, in the nps1-105 mutant, impaired chromatin structure surrounding centromeres may lead to an impairment of kinetochore function and the cells arrest at G2/M phase through the spindle-assembly checkpoint system.     

Modulation depth enhancement for highly sensitive electro-optic RF near-field measurement

A modulation depth enhancement technique for highly sensitive electro-optic (EO) sensing of RF near-fields is presented. This technique increases EO signal intensity without increasing total power received by a photodiode (PD). Therefore, sensitivity limitation owing to saturation of the PD can be avoided. Sensitivity improvement of 20 dB compared to the conventional configuration is successfully achieved     

The role of boron in low-temperature synthesis of indialite (α-Mg2Al4Si5O18) by sol–gel process

Powder and pellets composed mainly of indialite (α-Mg2Al4Si5O18) with 2.1 wt% added B2O3 were prepared by a sol–gel process using metal salts as raw materials. When heated at 900°C for 6 h, the pellets showed a relative density of 91.4% of ideal cordierite (β-Mg2Al4Si5O18), a Vickers hardness of 1080 and a relative dielectric constant of 5.0 (at 1 MHz), which was the same value as that of cordierite. Magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance measurements of 29Si, 27Al and 11B showed that boron disturbed the formation of the Si–O–Al network below 300°C and broke the network between 700 and 800°C. The high homogeneity and fluidity caused by the melting helped indialite to crystallize directly from the amorphous state between 800 and 850°C. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Crystal structure of 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase from the moderate facultative thermophile, Bacillus coagulans: two strategies for thermostabilization of protein structures

The crystal structure of 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase from the moderate facultative thermophile Bacillus coagulans (BcIPMDH) has been determined by the X-ray method. BcIPMDH is a dimeric enzyme composed of two identical subunits, each of which takes an open alpha/beta structure with 11 alpha-helices and 14 beta-strands. The polypeptide is folded into two domains. The first domain is composed of residues 1-101 and 257-356, and the second domain, of residues 102-256. The latter domains of the two subunits are associated with one another by a dyad axis to make the dimer, locally forming a beta-sheet and a four-helix bundle. As compared with the structure of the enzyme from the extreme thermophile Thermus thermophilus (TtIPMDH), a new short beta-sheet (residues 329-330 and 340-341) absent in TtIPMDH is formed by the insertion of 5 residues in BcIPMDH. In terms of determinants for thermostabilization, both consistent and inconsistent changes were found between the two enzymes. The regions including inconsistent changes are formed by different usages of the determinants for stabilizing the loops at different levels. Those in BcIPMDH contain some structural redundancies in length of amino acid sequence and flexibility of residues, which seem to be unnecessary for the enzymatic reaction. Such redundancies are also found in the primary structure of the enzyme of the mesophile Bacillus subtilis, but these parts are more stabilized in BcIPMDH by hydrogen bonds and salt bridges. On the other hand, TtIPMDH is stabilized by reducing such redundant parts. This contrast suggests that different strategies may be preferred for thermostabilization, depending on temperature.