Core loss in amorphous cut cores with air gaps

The effects of air gaps on the high-frequency core loss in cut cores made of amorphous ribbons are discussed and methods to reduce the core loss in them are proposed. It has been found that the high-frequency core loss in amorphous cut cores with air gaps increases strikingly with increasing air-gap length. The increase in the core loss due to air gaps is remarkable in high-frequency and low-induction range. Measurement of leakage magnetic flux as well as analysis of the flux distribution and the eddy current in an amorphous core with the finite-element method suggests that the increase in the core loss due to air gaps observed in the amorphous cores can be attributed to the in-plane eddy current loss generated by the leakage flux perpendicular to ribbon surfaces. Suppression of the leakage flux normal to ribbon surfaces by using semicircular cores and reduction in width of ribbons of which cores are made decreases the high-frequency core loss in amorphous cut cores with air gaps     

Field test results of multi-channel digital tv transmission at 15 and 30 Mb/s through an intelsat satellite using a PSK/FDMA system

This paper describes field test results of multi-channel digital TV transmission using a PSK/FDMA system and the related subjective test results of received TV pictures. The picture quality of the multi-channel 15 or 30 Mb/s transmission for both NTSC and PAL systems through the INTELSAT POR satellite are subjectively evaluated for various bit-error rates. In addition, subjective evaluations were made at various values of earth-station e.i.r.p. to compare the picture quality of digital transmissions with that of current half-transponder FM transmission.     

Development of bifacial PV cells for new applications of flat-plate modules

Bifacial cells have been developed for use in flat-plate static-concentrator modules and bifacial photovoltaic modules. All but one of the fabrication processes are conventional mass production processes, making it possible to produce these cells at low cost. By using 12.5×12.5 cm SOG wafers, bifacial cells with about 15% front- and 10.5% rear-illumination efficiencies have already been developed, and cells achieving higher efficiencies for both surfaces are being developed now. By applying these cells, a bifacial-cell-type flat-plate static-concentrator module showed 82% optical-collection efficiency for normal-incident light with a 2.0 concentration ratio. We have also applied bifacial cells for non-concentrating bifacial modules and developed a new application that reduces the limitations on PV module installation.     

HTLV-I infection in primary Sj?gren's syndrome--epidemiological, clinical and virological studies

The HTLV-I seroprevalence rate among the patients with Sj?gren's syndrome (SjS, 23.0%) was significantly higher than that among blood donors (3.4%). The age-adjusted summary odds ratio of HTLV-I infection among SjS patients as compared with blood donors was 3.1. The etiologic fraction, i.e., the proportion of SjS in the study population that are attributable to HTLV-I infection, was estimated to be 17.6%. Titers of serum antibodies to HTLV-I in the seropositive SjS patients were significantly higher than those among healthy carriers. IgM class antibodies were commonly detected in sera of SjS patients. Salivary IgA class antibodies were common among seropositive SjS patients, but not in HAM patients or in healthy subjects. The findings strongly suggest that HTLV-I is involved in the pathogenesis of the disease in a subset of patients with SjS in endemic areas.     

A randomized cross-over study of high-dose metoclopramide plus dexamethasone versus granisetron plus dexamethasone in patients receiving chemotherapy with high-dose cisplatin

We carried out a randomized, single-blind, cross-over trial to compare the antiemetic effect, for both acute and delayed emesis, of granisetron plus dexamethasone (GRN+Dx) with that of high-dose metoclopramide plus dexamethasone (HDMP+Dx). Fifty-four patients with primary or metastatic lung cancer, given single-dose cisplatin (> 80 mg/m2) chemotherapy more than twice, were enrolled in this study. They were treated with both HDMP+Dx and GRN+Dx in two consecutive chemotherapy courses. On day 1, patients experienced a mean of 2.5 (SD = 4.3) and 0.1 (SD = 0.4) episodes of vomiting in the HDMP+Dx and the GRN+Dx groups, respectively (P = 0.0008). Complete response rate on day 1 was 45 and 90% in the HDMP+Dx and the GRN+Dx groups, respectively (P = 0.0001). Patients treated with GRN+Dx had a tendency to suffer more episodes of vomiting than the HDMP+Dx group on days 2-5, but it was not statistically significant. Twenty-four patients (57%) preferred the GRN+Dx treatment and 14 patients (33%), HDMP+Dx. In the HDMP+Dx group, nine patients (21%) had an extrapyramidal reaction, and 5 patients (12%) had constipation that lasted for at least two days. In contrast, no patients had extrapyramidal reactions, and 18 patients (43%) had constipation in the GRN+Dx group (P < 0.01). GRN+Dx was more effective than HDMP+Dx only in preventing the acute emesis induced by cisplatin. An effective treatment for delayed emesis is still needed.     

Increase in adhesion molecules on CD4+ cells and CD4+ cell subsets in synovial fluid from patients with rheumatoid arthritis

OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the role of adhesion molecules in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: We evaluated their expression and that of an activation marker on CD4+ cell populations and CD4+ cell subsets in specimens of peripheral blood (PB) and synovial fluid (SF) obtained from 10 patients with RA and 7 with osteoarthritis (OA). A 2 or 3-color immunofluorescent method was used for analysis. RESULTS: The SF from both groups of patients showed a greater density of adhesion molecules including LFA-1 alpha, LFA-1 beta, CD2, VLA-4 alpha and VLA-5 alpha on CD4+ cells, and a higher percentage of CD4+HLA-DR+ cells compared with their PB. IN PB-CD4+ cell subsets from the arthritic and healthy subjects, the CD4+CD45RO+ cell population showed an increased expression of adhesion molecules compared with CD4+CD45RA+ cell population. The expression of adhesion molecules on circulating CD4+ cell population and CD4+ cell subsets from the patients with RA and OA was comparable to that from healthy subjects. SF from both groups of patients showed a higher percentage of CD4+CD45RO+ cells and a lower percentage of CD4+CD45RA+ cells. In SF-CD4+ cell subsets from patients with RA, the CD4+CD45RO+ cell population had an increased expression of VLA-4 alpha compared to the CD4+CD45RA+ cell population; however, there was no significant difference in other adhesion molecule expression and the percentage of HLA-DR+ cells between the 2 cell subsets. Furthermore, the expression of VLA-4 alpha on the CD4+CD45RO+ cell population in SF from patients with RA was significantly higher than that in matched PB. In CD4+CD45RA+ cell population from both groups of patients, SF showed an enhanced expression of adhesion molecules and an increased percentage of HLA-DR+ cells compared with matched PB. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that increased expression of adhesion molecules and increased percentage of HLA-DR+ cells on CD4+ cells in SF may be responsible for cellular interactions between these cells and synovial cells or extracellular matrix.     

Comparison of routine and selective endoscopic retrograde cholangiography before laparoscopic cholecystectomy

To evaluate the role of endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (ERC) before laparoscopic cholecystectomy, we compared the frequency of concomitant common bile duct stones, their clinical outcome, and the frequency of bile duct injury between a group of 128 patients with routine preoperative ERC (group A) and 1010 patients with selective ERC (group B). Overall, 48 patients (4.2%) had duct stones, but the predictive signs were absent in six of them (12.5%). The stones were demonstrated by ERC and removed by sphincterotomy in all 11 patients in group A. Of 37 patients in group B, 22 were diagnosed by selective ERC and underwent endoscopic removal. Of four patients whose stones were found by operative cholangiography, one had immediate open surgery, another passed a stone spontaneously, and the other two underwent postoperative sphincterotomy, which failed in one. The stones were not recognized until pain recurred in the remaining 11 patients. Sphincterotomy was successful in nine patients but failed in the other two. Thus postoperative sphincterotomy failed in 3 of 13 patients (23%), necessitating open surgery. Forty-two patients overall (3.7%) had aberrant biliary tract anatomy, which did not lead to bile duct injury in any of the patients. Morbidity of routine ERC (3.1%) was lower than that of selective ERC (7.4%) (p < 0.05). It should be noted that a certain proportion of duct stones may be missed by selective ERC, necessitating laparotomy when sphincterotomy fails. The routine use of preoperative ERC may be justified at institutions where the expertise is available, at least until laparoscopic lithotomy becomes easy.     

Advanced IC packaging for the future applications

The performance of electronic equipment is improving rapidly. Portable electronic equipment requires smaller and thinner packaging systems for saving space and miniaturization. In addition, highly integrated, high-speed applications demand improved electrical performance to minimize noise effects. As a result of these considerations, the role of IC packaging has expanded from its traditional role of protecting the integrity and performance of an IC, to being a central factor in the development of electronic system concepts. In developing the optimum system, packaging technology must be a prime design consideration to ensure optimum performance, reliability, and cost. Soldering technology and Printed Wiring Board (PWB) routing density are two of the major technological issues facing miniaturized packaging systems today. Chip Scale Package (CSP), which is a new concept in packaging technology has been introduced. This is an ideal technology to enable the design and manufacture of the next generation of electronic equipment, while overcoming many of the technological issues facing system development     

A control method for the matrix converter based on virtual AC/DC/AC conversion using carrier comparison method

This paper proposes a novel control method based on the virtual AC/DC/AC conversion for the matrix converter. The virtual AC/DC/AC conversion method is a very simple strategy to control the input current and the output voltage for the matrix converter. There are two new topics proposed in this paper. First, this paper proposes the minimum switching loss modulation on the virtual rectifier. In our proposed modulation, only two arms switching in the virtual rectifier using DC link current control by the virtual inverter can obtain clean sinusoidal input current. Second, a novel lean controlled carrier modulation on the virtual inverter is proposed. The leans of the triangle carrier are controlled by the duty ratio of the rectifier side pulse. The lean controlled carrier reduces harmonic distortion of the input current by avoiding interference between the rectifier control and the inverter control. These new proposals are confirmed by simulation and experimental results. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 152(3): 65–73, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20144