Validation of Platelet Counting Accuracy With the Celltac F Automated Hematology Analyzer

Rapid and accurate analysis of platelet count plays an important role in evaluating hemorrhagic status. Therefore, we evaluated platelet counting performance of a hematology analyzer, Celltac F (MEK-8222, Nihon Kohden Corporation, Tokyo, Japan), that features easy use with low reagent consumption and high throughput while occupying minimal space in the clinical laboratory. All blood samples were anticoagulated with dipotassium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA-2K). The samples were stored at room temperature (18^{^}C–22^{^}C) and tested within 4 hours of phlebotomy. We evaluated the counting ability of the Celltac F hematology analyzer by comparing it with the platelet counts obtained by the flow cytometry method that ISLH and ICSH recommended, and also the manual visual method by Unopette (Becton Dickinson Vacutainer Systems). The ICSH/ISLH reference method is based on the fact that platelets can be stained with monoclonal antibodies to CD41 and/or CD61. The dilution ratio was optimized after the precision, coincidence events, and debris counts were confirmed by the reference method. Good correlation of platelet count between the Celltac F and the ICSH/ISLH reference method (r = 0.99, and the manual visual method (r= 0.93) were obtained. The regressions were y = 0.90 x+9.0 and y=1.11x+8.4, respectively. We conclude that the Celltac F hematology analyzer for platelet counting was well suited to the ICSH/ISLH reference method for rapidness and reliability.     

E.s.r. study of annealing and melting effects on the molecular motion of spin trapped chain-end radicals located on the polyethylene surface

E.s.r. spectra of chain-end spin labels on the surface of polyethylene powder were obtained for high and low density polyethylene samples at various stages of heat treatment process. The subsequent crystalline structures of the samples were examined with wide angle and small angle X-ray diffraction spectra. The effects of annealing on the motion of the labels were dependent on annealing temperature and the type of the samples. Higher temperature annealing decreased the rotational correlation times (τ_c) and their activation energy in high density polyethylene but did not affect those of low density polyethylene. Melting decreases the values of τ_c and ΔE for both high an low density polyethylene samples. The cause of these decreases were attributed to the changing of the sites of the chain-end labels. The motion of the labels appeared to be influenced by the local segmental motion of the polymer main chains.     

The European,Japanese and US protective helmet,gloves and boots for firefighters: thermoregulatory and psychological evaluations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the physiological and subjective responses of the European, Japanese (JPN) and US firefighters' helmet, gloves and boots for international standardisation. Three experimental conditions were evaluated (clothing mass: 9.4, 8.2 and 10.1 kg for the three conditions, respectively) at the air temperature of 32°C and 60% relative humidity. The results showed that there was no significant difference among the three conditions in oxygen consumption, heart rate, total sweat rate, rectal temperature and mean skin temperature, whereas peripheral temperatures and subjective perceptions were lower in the JPN condition than in the other conditions (P < 0.05). These results indicate that a 0.5-kg reduction in helmet mass and a 1.1-kg reduction in boot mass during exercise resulted in a significant decrease in head and leg temperatures and subjective perceptions, while a 1.9-kg reduction in total clothing mass had insignificant influences on the metabolic burden and overall body temperature.     

Morphological study by TEM on uniaxially oriented thin films of PET, PEN and their blends

Uniaxially oriented thin films of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), poly(ethylene 2,6-naphthalene dicarboxylate) (PEN) and their blends were prepared by applying shear strain to their respective melts, and the resulting morphologies were studied by transmission electron microscopy. Selected-area electron diffraction of each film revealed well-defined uniaxial orientation of polymer chains in the shearing direction. In the uniaxially oriented thin film of PEN, stacked-lamellar structure with the average long period of 27 nm consisting of a crystalline region about 15 nm thick and an amorphous one about 12 nm thick was found here and there in the dark-field image: PEN-type. On the other hand, stacked-lamellar structure was rarely observed in the case of PET: PET-type. In PET/PEN blends, the morphologies changed from the PET-type to the PEN-type with increasing content of PEN.     

Decomposition of Carbon Dioxide to Carbon with Active Wustite at 300°C

Active wustite (FeδO, with a δ value of 0.98) was prepared by keeping normal wustite (δ value of 0.94) in a N₂ atmosphere at 300°C for 10 min. This reaction is given by (4δ₂–3)Fe_δ1O→(4δ₁–3)Fe_δ2O + (δ₂–δ₁)Fe₃O₄ where δ₁= 0.94 and δ₂= 0.98. The equation indicates that the normal wustite undergoes eutectoid decomposition into active wustite and stoichiometric magnetite (Fe₃O₄). Carbon dioxide (1.013 × 10⁵ Pa) was almost completely (100%) decomposed into carbon (zero valence) by the active wustite at the low temperature of 300°C, which was associated with the transformation of the active wustite into the stoichiometric magnetite. The internal pressure of the reaction cell eventually became a vacuum.     

Control of molecular weight distribution of isotactic polypropylene obtained by a MgCl2-supported TiCl4 catalyst

It is of great importance in propene polymerization to control molecular weight and molecular weight distribution as well as isotacticity. Propene polymerization was carried out with an isospecific MgCl₂/TiCl₄-Cp₂TiMe₂ catalyst in the presence of various kinds of external Lewis bases. It was found that the molecular weight distribution of the isotactic polymer could be controlled while retaining high activity, high isospecificity and high molecular weight only by changing the kind and/or amount of the Lewis bases. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.     

Measurement of self-diffusion coefficients in Li ionic conductors by using the short-lived radiotracer of 8Li

For the effective use of short-lived radioactive beams, soon to be available at the Tokai Radioactive Ion Accelerator Complex, the authors have developed a radiotracer method for diffusion studies in solids. The experimental test was performed by the measurement of the diffusion coefficients of Li in a sample of the compound βLiAl using an α-emitting radiotracer of ⁸Li (T_1/2=0.84 s). It was found that the time-dependent yields of the α particles from the diffusing ⁸Li that was initially implanted in the sample could be used as a measure of the diffusivity of the tracer in a nondestructive way. The method was applied to measure the self-diffusion coefficients of Li in βLiGa, and for investigating how the Li diffusion in the Li ionic conductors is affected by the concentration of atomic defects (i.e., the existence of the atomic vacancies of Li and the defects in Ga sites that are replaced by Li).     

Cost-Efficient Traffic Aggregation Employing Cross-Layer Shared Protection

Shared protection/restoration is a promising solution for reducing protection resources and is supported at each layer of the current multi-layer networks. Software-defined networking is expected to reduce equipment cost as well as operational cost by orchestrating these shared protection functionalities. However, although protection resource sharing improves link utilization, it sometimes increases the required equipment. Meanwhile, traffic re-aggregation at each layer is an important technique for low volume traffic to utilize the underlying link capacity more efficiently, but re-aggregation also makes it difficult to share protection resources with traffic at lower layers. In this paper, we present multi-layer network design strategy and method that reduce equipment cost by means of both traffic re-aggregation at each layer and protection resource sharing among multiple service traffic at different layers. The strategy first prioritizes traffic re-aggregation at each layer, and then maximally delegates shared protection to lower layers as long as it does not increase the required capacity at the lower layer. Evaluation results from the example three-layer networks confirm that the proposed method can effectively reduce equipment cost compared to the conventional design method. Cost reduction is achieved by leveraging shared protection functions at multiple layers.     

High‐pixel‐rate grating‐light‐valve laser projector

Abstract— A high‐pixel‐rate, high‐contrast (30,000:1) wide‐color‐gamut grating‐light‐valve laser projector is reported. A new optical engine enabling high‐frame‐rate (240 Hz) scan projection is employed. Panoramic wide‐angle‐scan projection with a 64:9 aspect ratio was also developed. Speckle noise is eliminated using a simple but highly efficient technique. The optical throughput efficiency of the grating‐light‐valve laser projector is reviewed.     

Motion analysis of a tripod parallel mechanism

A tripod parallel mechanism consists of three links of fixed length and a rigid platform, and these are connected by revolute joints. The platform can achieve sixdegrees-of-freedom (6-DOF) motion by the coordinated movement of the bottom ends of the three links on a horizontal plane. This mechanism has advantages over the more common six extendible parallel manipulators. It has a much larger work space and a simple structure. In this article, we show that the vector analysis for this tripod parallel mechanism and the derivation of the positions of the three bottom ends of the links in an arbitrary attitude of platform can be found by inverse kinematics and the conditions of geometrical constraint. Then, by a numerical simulation, the trajectories of the bottom ends of the three links are shown.