Effect of meso Positioned Substituents on the Stability and Photodynamic Activity of Lipid-Membrane-Incorporated Porphyrin Derivatives

In this study we prepared aqueous solutions of lipid-membrane incorporated tetraarylporphyrins and tetrapyridylporphyrin (LMIPors) by the injection method using dimethyl sulfoxide. The porphyrins with proton-donor groups at the meso position afforded stable aqueous solutions of LMIPors. However, although tetrakis(carboxyphenyl)porphyrin was scarcely incorporated in lipid membranes, it was soluble in water. Among these LMIPors, the photodynamic activity of tetrakis(hydroxyphenyl)porphyrin was higher than that of tetrakis(aminophenyl)porphyrin. This was attributed to the self-aggregation of a part of tetrakis(aminophenyl)porphyrin in the liposomes, which induced self-quenching and the consequent decrease of its photodynamic activity.     

Efficient power coupling using taper-ended multimode optical fibres

Highly efficient power coupling of up to 97% between a d.h. laser and a multimode step-index fibre is demonstrated by employing a tapered fibre launcher. Also, it is shown theoretically that a tapered end increases the effective numerical aperture of a fibre. For a Lambertian emitter, the use of a taper launcher permits the maximum coupling efficiency allowed by the Liouville theorem.     

Measurement of large negative reactivity of an accelerator-driven system in the Kyoto University Critical Assembly

Large negative reactivity of a subcritical system driven by a pulsed 14 MeV neutron source has been measured in the Kyoto University Critical Assembly. The subcriticality of the accelerator-driven system (ADS) ranged in effective multiplication factor roughly from 0.98 to 0.92, which corresponded to an operational range of an actual ADS proposed by Japan Atomic Energy Agency. As the measurement technique, pulsed neutron method, power spectral analysis for pulsed neutron source, accelerator-beam trip method were employed. From neutron count decay data obtained by the pulsed neutron experiment, not only the prompt-neutron decay constant of fundamental mode but also a higher spatial mode could be derived. The subcriticality was also determined from the fundamental decay constant. The measured cross-power spectral density consisted of a familiar correlated reactor-noise component and many uncorrelated delta-function-like peaks at the integral multiple of pulse repetition frequency. The fundamental prompt-neutron decay constant, i.e., the subcriticality determined from the latter uncorrelated peaks was consistent with that obtained by the above pulsed neutron experiment. However, the magnitude of the former correlated component was reduced with an increase in the subcriticality and eventually this component became almost white at deeply subcritical state ranging in the multiplication factor under 0.95. Consequently, the determination of the decay constant from the correlated component was impossible under such a subcritical state. As data analysis method for the beam trip experiment, both the conventional integral count method and the least-squares inverse kinetics method (LSIKM) were employed. The LSIKM analysis led to the consistent subcriticality with that obtained by the pulsed neutron experiment, while the integral count method significantly underestimated the subcriticality. This underestimation originated from a residual background count, which was maintained after the beam trip. The LSIKM was mostly not influenced by such a slight count rate.     

High-speed DCFL circuits with very shallow junction GaAs JFETs

High-speed DCFL (direct-coupled FET logic) circuits implemented with advanced GaAs enhancement-mode J-FETs are discussed. A divide-by-four static frequency divider operates at up to 6 GHz with a power consumption of 20 mW/flip-flop. A high channel concentration of more than 1×10¹⁸ cm^-3 together with a very shallow junction depth of less than 30 nm for the p⁺-gate results in a transconductance as high as 340 mS/mm at a gate length of 0.8 μm. Open-tube diffusion of Zn using diethylzinc and arsine makes it possible to control a very shallow p⁺-layer less than 10 nm thick. The propagation delay time, as measured with a ring oscillator, was 22 ps/gate with a power consumption of 0.42 mW/gate     

Detection of wide-band E-M signals emitted from partial dischargeoccurring in GIS using wavelet transform

Recently, diagnostic techniques have been investigated to detect a partial discharge (PD) associated with a dielectric material defect in a high-voltage electrical apparatus. Gas insulated switchgear (GIS) is an important equipment in a substation, it is highly desirable to measure a partial discharge (PD) occurring in GIS which is a symptom of an insulation breakdown. As it is important to develop a noncontact method for detecting the insulation fault, this paper proposes a new method to detect the wide-band electromagnetic (E-M) wave emitted from PD using the Wavelet transform. The Wavelet transform provides a direct quantitative measure of spectral content, “dynamic spectrum”, in the time-frequency domain. This paper experimentally shows the “dynamic spectrum” of the wide-band E-M wave emitted from PD in the time-frequency domain. This method is shown to be useful for detecting the symptom of the insulation breakdown occurring in GIS     

A polymer optical waveguide with out-of-plane branching mirrors forsurface-normal optical interconnections

We have developed a simultaneous fabrication method using temperature control reactive ion etching (RIE) for channel optical waveguides incorporating plural out-of-plane branching mirrors made from polymer film. By using this method, the etching rate can be adjusted locally by controlling the temperature. This technology also enables the formation of trenches of various depths on the same polymer optical waveguide. We noted from scanning electron microscope (SEM) observations that simultaneous control of the mirror tilt angle and a smooth core surface could be achieved. To be specific, a heat treatment temperature of 130-135°C appears to be the optimum to maintain a rectangular cross section and to achieve a sufficiently smooth core surface for a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) waveguide. The measured propagation loss is small, in spite of the presence of a high-Δ waveguide (Δ=5.4%). For example, losses of 0.1, 0.3, and 0.7 dB/cm are measured at wavelengths of 650 nm, 850 nm, and 1.3 μm, respectively. From far-field pattern (FFP) measurements, we found that the mirror plane was almost rectilinear, and that the reflected light can be captured efficiently by a photodiode. In operational temperature tests, we showed that intensity fluctuations of the coupling light can be reduced to less than 1.5 dB for the temperature range between -25°C and +85°C by adopting a sandwich structure with glass plates     

Complete neurological recovery of an adult patient with type II citrullinemia after living related partial liver transplantation

Type II citrullinemia is an adult-onset hepatocerebral disease caused by a deficiency of argininosuccinate synthetase in liver. A 25-year-old Japanese man suddenly developed encephalopathy, showing disorientation and flapping tremor. Plasma concentrations of ammonia and citrulline were extremely high, and hepatic argininosuccinate synthetase activity was deficient. The patient's condition deteriorated rapidly in spite of intensive medications. Therefore, we performed a partial liver transplantation using a graft obtained from his healthy 61-year-old father. After surgery, his neurological symptoms soon disappeared and plasma levels of ammonia and citrulline were normalized within 3 months after operation. Type II citrullinemia is one fulminant form of various liver-based metabolic diseases, and immediate liver transplantation is necessary to rescue patients with this disease. As liver transplantation from cadaveric donor is still not possible in Japan, it seems justifiable to use living related partial liver transplantation for our patient.     

Hepatic failure in a case of multiple myeloma-associated amyloidosis (kappa-AL)

We report a case of kappa-AL amyloidosis which rapidly developed hepatic failure in a 79-year-old Japanese female who was admitted to our hospital because of abdominal distension and loss of appetite. Laboratory examination revealed a marked deterioration of liver function with cholestasis and monoclonal gammapathy. At the time that the diagnosis of IgG-kappa type multiple myeloma was made, jaundice was advanced, with continuous gastrointestinal bleeding. The patient died of hepatic failure 2 weeks after admission. Needle biopsy of the liver revealed a diffuse, massive deposition of amyloid protein.