Wide-band polarization-independent tensile-strained InGaAs MQW-SOAgate

A high-performance tensile-strained InGaAs multi-quantum-well semiconductor optical amplifier (MQW-SOA) gate developed for wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) applications is reported. The -0.47% InGaAs-strained SOA gate has a very low polarization dependence of 0.3 dB over a driving current between 30 and 60 mA and a wide-input signal wavelength range from 1530 to 1580 nm. The fabrication tolerance of the mesa stripe width is very large, ranging from 1.0 to 1.75 μm. The MQW-SOA gate has an extinction ratio of more than 40 dB. The fiber-to-fiber lossless operation current is less than 50 mA over the fiber-amplifier gain band. The gating speed is less than 1 ns     

Flashover voltage characteristics of contaminated station insulators under temporary ac overvoltages in the ac system connected with a frequency converter station

According to the recent analysis results of temporary ac overvoltage in the ac system connected with a frequency converter station, large-magnitude over-voltages were confirmed to occur under some special system conditions. Most of the station insulators currently used cannot withstand such overvoltages according to an evaluation based on the data obtained earlier. The necessity of tests to be done to evaluate such performance more accurately was recognized. Both power frequency and switching impulse overvoltage flashover tests were made on contaminated insulators by the method well simulating the natural wetting condition. Switching impulse flashover voltage with the waveshape having a long wavefront time of 2 ms can be well correlated with the flashover voltage characteristics of temporary ac overvoltage. Higher flashover voltage characteristics were obtained by a clean fog test method compared with those obtained by equivalent fog test method.     

Bladder injury model induced in rats by exposure to protamine sulfate followed by bacterial endotoxin

PURPOSE: A bladder injury model was developed using protamine sulfate (PS) and endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administered intravesically to female Sprague-Dawley rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Experimental and control animals were catheterized and intravesically exposed to PS-LPS, PS, LPS, or phosphate buffered saline. After 4, 24 or 72 hours, rats were sacrificed. Urines and bladder tissues were then obtained. Bladder mucosal permeability was evaluated by measuring 14C-urea uptake 24 hours after injury. Repeated instillations of PS/LPS were also made in another group of rats over a period of 5 weeks to attempt to establish a more serious mucosal injury, possibly reflected by altered staining of the collagen IV component of the urinary basement membrane (UBM). RESULTS: Histological examination of the tissues indicated a maximal inflammatory response in the mucosa 4 hours after instillation of PS/LPS. Neutrophils and macrophages in close proximity to the UBM and intraepithelially could be demonstrated. Bladder permeability was significantly altered (26.9% 14C-urea uptake) in rats assayed 24 hours after the PS/LPS treatment, but not after exposure to PS or LPS alone (11.9 and 17.5%, respectively). Protease activity detected in urines from experimental, but not control, animals coincided with the appearance of inflammatory cells in the lamina propria. Inflammatory injury did not appear to alter the collagen IV staining of the UBM. CONCLUSIONS: This rat bladder injury model is useful for examining controversial issues regarding bladder wall structure-function alterations induced by inflammation and possibly important in the pathobiological mechanisms involved in some patients with interstitial cystitis.     

Resistive superconducting transition of κ-type BEDT-TTF organic superconductors in a magnetic field

The superconducting transition of the organic compoundsκ-(BEDT-TTF)₂ X is studied by resistive measurement in a magnetic field up to 10 T applied normal to the conducting plane. For the salts withX=Cu[N(CN)₂]Br andX=CuCN[N(CN)₂] the transition shows fanshaped broadening caused by superconductivity fluctuation. For theX=Cu(NCS)₂ salt the resistivity shows a peak in the transition region in a magnetic field below 4 T.This phenomenon is suppressed in defect-reduced samples for intralayer conduction. We discuss this peak in relation to the thermal fluctuation on the Josephson junction structures in this salt.     

Progressive bronchial obstruction during the acute stage of respiratory tract infection in asthmatic children

To study the time-course of infectious asthma, we retrospectively examined FEV1 from 5 days before to 10 days after the onset of illness in 31 asthmatic children (20 boys and 11 girls), aged 8 to 12 years. Infections were confirmed by a rise of at least fourfold in serum compliment fixation titers (respiratory syncytial virus, adenovirus, and Mycoplasma pneumoniae) and hemoagglutination inhibition titers (parainfluenza virus types 1, 2, and 3). All the patients had 20 percent or more fall in FEV1 from baseline value during acute phase, but were clinically tolerable and required minimum or no bronchodilators. Regardless of infectious agent, FEV1 began to fall on the first disease day or the previous day, and deteriorate for the first few days. Mean(SD) maximum fall in FEV1 ranged from 39(12) percent to 45(20) percent. Thereafter, FEV1 began to improve and returned to the preillness level by the seventh to tenth day. These results suggest that progressive bronchial obstruction may be inevitable during the acute stage of any infectious asthma.     

Primary biliary cirrhosis: symptoms, laboratory data and diagnosis

The most frequent and important symptoms in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) are pruritus and jaundice. In the majority, jaundice appears within one half to two years of onset of pruritus. Xanthoma, bone change and sicca syndrome are often observed. The recent increase in number of asymptomatic PBC is the result of progagation of medical examination. In the biochemical tests, elevation of the biliary enzymes, such as ALP and gamma-GTP, is characteristic, as well as, a high level of serum IgM. Serum bilirubin values are gradually raised along with the clinical course of the disease. Positive antimitochondrial antibody (AMA) is the most valuable immunological finding for the diagnosis of PBC. Anti-pyruvate dehydrogenase complex E2 component E2 has the same significance as AMA. Diagnostic criteria si shown in this paper.     

Color registration error reduction method compensating the influence of belt thickness variation in electrophotographic process

This paper proposes a new belt drive control method for reducing a belt velocity-fluctuation that is caused by a belt thickness-variation in the circumferential direction. A belt driving system performs feedback control with a rotary encoder-output mounted on a driven roller. This proposed method correct the reference value of the feedback control for the purpose of the belt velocity regulation. The correction includes two steps. The first step acquires the encoder-output of the driven roller and calculates the rotational angular velocity-fluctuation with one cycle of the belt rotation. The second step converts from the velocity-fluctuation to the correction value of the feedback reference. The correction value cancels a detection error of the driven roller caused by the belt thickness-variation. After these steps, the belt driving system controls the belt velocity as compensating the belt velocity-fluctuation. Experimental result showed the significant fluctuation reduction on a typical tandem-engine printer.     

Properties of thin TiN films deposited onto stainless steel by an in-line dry coating process

A new coil-coating pilot plant, capable of utilizing ion plating, sputtering and plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition (PACVD) processes, independently or in series, was developed and optimum conditions for TiN, TiC, Al_xO_y, SiO_x and Cr coating were established. This paper is mostly concerned with the results of characterization (conducted in parallel by the authors′ two institutions) of TiN films deposited by ion plating or sputtering onto type-304 stainless steel strips. In particular, the dependence of the basic properties such as chemical composition, structure, adhesion, and color on the coating process are discussed with respect to anti-corrosion, anti-wear, and decorative applications. TiN coatings with a very attractive gold coloration were obtained; they performed well in wear testing, but did not show satisfactory corrosion resistance. However, it was found that the latter can be improved significantly by depositing a SiO_x, top layer by PACVD above the TiN coating. Thus the in-line dry coating processes are capable of producing highly functional steel surfaces with decorative color and high corrosion resistance.     

Westernized food habits and concentrations of serum lipids in the Japanese

It has recently been reported that there exists a new 'RING-finger' protein family among the zinc-finger (Zf) proteins. Previously, we had isolated the mouse Mel-18 cDNA (mMel-18) encoding the nuclear RING-finger protein that exhibits an ability to bind to a nonspecific DNA column. Here, we have isolated and characterized the human Mel-18 cDNA (hMel-18) using the mMel-18 cDNA as a probe. The deduced hMel-18 protein contains 344 amino acids (38 kDa) with a RING-finger motif, a helix-loop-helix (HLH)-like structure and a Pro/Ser-rich region. The hMel-18 gene is conserved among vertebrates. Its mRNA is highly expressed in placenta, lung and kidney, but the level is low in liver, pancreas and skeletal muscle. Using in situ hybridization, we mapped hMel-18 to band q22 of chromosome 12. It is possible that the Mel-18/bmi-1 gene family represents a mammalian homologue of the Drosophila polycomb gene group.     

Intramolecular triplet energy migration in poly(2-vinylnaphthalene) and poly(naphthylalkyl methacrylate)s in solid solution: Effects of side chain length

Summary The effect of side chain length on intramolecular triplet energy migration of naphthalene containing polymers was investigated by a delayed fluorescence (DF) spectroscopy for the solid solution of the polymers. The degree of triplet energy migration depends strongly on whether the chromophores are directly attached to the main chain or not.