Testicular histopathology in congenital lipoid adrenal hyperplasia: a light and electron microscopic study

During the 1980s, interest was shown in North America as to how Intensive Care Nurses use their work time, in response to a shortage of trained nurses. These studies were developed to investigate the amount of nursing time that could be saved by computerised recording systems. Similar pressures are now present in the United Kingdom, but there are no published work load studies of Intensive Care Nurses. This study used a five category tool to examine the work load of nurses in a cardiothoracic ICU. The methodology was designed so that comparison could be made with the earlier American studies. The 36 nurses studied spent 41% of their time in direct nursing care, 22% in patient assessment, 19% in clerical duties, 11% in time outside the unit and 7% in non-nursing duties. These findings were compared with the North American studies. Similarities were found which give some support to the reliability and validity of the tool.     

STM-induced light emission from thin films of perylene derivatives on the HOPG and Au substrates

We have investigated the emission properties of N,N'-diheptyl-3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic diimide thin films by the tunneling-electron-induced light emission technique. A fluorescence peak with vibronic progressions with large Stokes shifts was observed on both highly ordered pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) and Au substrates, indicating that the emission was derived from the isolated-molecule-like film condition with sufficient π-π interaction of the perylene rings of perylenetetracarboxylic diimide molecules. The upconversion emission mechanism of the tunneling-electron-induced emission was discussed in terms of inelastic tunneling including multiexcitation processes. The wavelength-selective enhanced emission due to a localized tip-induced surface plasmon on the Au substrate was also obtained.     

Cranberry extract suppresses interleukin-8 secretion from stomach cells stimulated by Helicobacter pylori in every clinically separated strain but inhibits growth in part of the strains

It is known that cranberry inhibits the growth of Helicobacter pylori (HP). In human stomach, HP basically induces chronic inflammation by stimulating stomach cells to secrete interleukin (IL)-8 and other inflammatory cytokines, and causes stomach cancer, etc. The aim of this study was to investigate the inhibiting effects of cranberry on HP growth and IL-8 secretion from stomach cells induced by HP, using clinically separated HP strains. HP growth in liquid culture and on-plate culture was evaluated by titration after 2-day incubation and by agar dilution technique, respectively. For IL-8 experiments, MKN-45, a stomach cancer cell line, was incubated with HP for 24 h and IL-8 in the medium was assayed by ELISA. Cranberry suppressed growth of the bacteria only in six of the 27 strains. Meanwhile, it suppressed IL-8 secretion in all the strains. The results may suggest a possible role of cranberry in prevention of stomach cancer by reducing gastric inflammation.     

400 Mbit/s CMI transmission experiment using a 1.3 ?m LED

A 400 Mbit/s CMI optical transmission experiment has been successfully conducted, using an LED, a GI multimode fibre and a 250 MHz bandwidth monolithic equalising amplifier. In this experiment, 5 km transmission distance has been achieved. The transmission characteristics and required transmission bandwidth are reported.     

Investigations of urban surface conditions for urban canopy model

The authors carried out several investigations to clarify the features of urban surface conditions in the urban canopy Model (UCM). The authors first conducted field investigations regarding the solar reflectance of urban surfaces. First, the wall reflectance and the proportion of the glazing area were measured in several urban areas. The relationship between the solar reflectance of road and traffic density is clarified based on the outdoor measurement and the field survey. It is also presented that the reflectance of the building rooftop varies significantly depending on building use and the influence of machinery in the area of the HVAC.

The authors secondly investigated the height of released anthropogenic heat from the HVAC system based on a field survey and a database of HVAC systems provided by certain journals. From these investigations, it is presented that the type of HVAC system and the height of released anthropogenic heat vary with the building scale. Finally, an investigation of urban geometric figures was conducted using GIS data from Tokyo and Fukuoka in Japan. The vertical distribution features of both the roughness volume density and the building wall area density were classified according to the gross ratio of building volume.     

Analysis of the in-vessel phase of SAM strategy for a Korean 1000 MWe PWR

This study focuses on the in-vessel phase of severe accident management (SAM) strategy for a hypothetical 1000 MWe pressurized water reactor (PWR). To examine the effectiveness of SAM strategy, it is necessary to identify and assess epistemic and aleatory uncertainties. The selected scenario is a station blackout (SBO) and the corresponding SAM strategy is reactor coolant system (RCS) depressurization followed by water injection into the reactor pressure vessel (RPV). The analysis considers the depressurization timing and the flow rate and timing of in-vessel injection for scenario variations. For the phenomenological uncertainties, the core melting and relocation process is considered to be the most important phenomenon in the in-vessel phase of SAM strategy. Accordingly, sensitivity analyses are carried out to assess the impact of the cutoff porosity related to the flow area of core node (EPSCUT), the critical temperature (TCLMAX) and the minimum fraction of oxidized Zr (FZORUP) for cladding rupture, and the flag to divert gas flows in the core to the bypass channel (FGBYPA) on the core melting and relocation process. In this study, the effect of injection time on the integrity of RPV has been examined based on the quantification of the scenario and phenomenological uncertainties.