Dynamics of phase-separated fluids under external fields

Phase separation in external fields has attracted much attention recently. The reason is twofold. Since kinetics of phase separation and morphology of growing domains can be controlled by external fields, it is of technological importance. The other is that existence of mesoscale domains causes curious dynamical properties in fields, which provides us with a fundamental statistical dynamic problem. One example is a phase separation of binary fluids under shear flow. Phase-separated domains are deformed under the field, which causes burst, fusion, and reconnection of domains so that extra energy dissipation occurs in these processes. Because of this large deformation of domains, the system exhibits quite unusual rheological behavior. The kinetics of phase separation of binary fluids is also influenced by an external electric field when the new phases have different dielectric constants. Deformation and interaction of domains in an electric field are investigated by means of an interfacial approach.Paper presented at the Twelfth Symposium on Thermophysical Properties, June 19–24, 1994, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.     

Multimode power divider using radiation from tight bendingwaveguide

By using a large-core and high-Δ polymeric optical waveguide, we developed the mode-division power divider which enables wide-angle power dividing, and compared it with a conventional Y-junction power divider. The core size and Δ were 100×100 μm² and 5.4%, respectively. At the conditions of 25° branching angle and 50/50 splitting ratio, the excess loss of the mode-division and Y-junction were estimated to be 2.5 and 9.5 dB, respectively. These values were including 1.2 dB fiber-connecting loss. Furthermore, we observed that both the mode-division type outputs have almost the same modal power distribution as the input     

Prognostic value of epidermal growth factor receptor expression in endometrioid endometrial carcinoma

We report here a retrospective study of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression in 140 patients with human endometrioid endometrial carcinoma (median period of follow-up, 43.8 months; ranging from 1 to 155 months). Tumor specimens were immunohistochemically examined for the overexpression of EGFR, and the correlation among EGFR status, various clinicopathologic parameters, and prognosis was statistically evaluated. Monoclonal antibody (clone 31 G 7), which recognizes the extracellular domain of the EGFR molecule, was used for immunostaining. Ninety-four of 140 cases were immunohistochemically positive for EGFR (67.1%). The presence or absence of EGFR did not correlate with surgical stage, depth of myometrial invasion (DI), or lymph node involvement, but did correlate with histological grade and patient's age. Furthermore, patients with EGFR-positive endometrial carcinoma had a statistically significant shorter length of survival than those with EGFR-negative tumors (P = .018). This trend is more apparent among the patients more than 50 years old (P = .003). When adjusted for surgical stage, DI, and patient age, EGFR status retained prognostic value by multivariate analysis. However, when adjusted for surgical stage, histological grade, DI, and patient age, EGFR status failed to retain prognostic value by multivariate analysis. The results of this study suggest that EGFR expression is correlated with histological grade and greater invasiveness of human endometrioid endometrial carcinoma.     

Effects of the creep deformation on the fractal dimension of the grain boundaries in an austenite steel

The change in the fractal dimension of the grain boundaries during creep was investigated using an austenitic SUS304 steel at 973 K. The fractal dimension of the grain-boundary surface profile (the fractal dimension of the grain boundaries, D, 1 < D < 2) in the plane parallel to the tensile direction (in the parallel direction) and in the transverse direction, was examined on specimens deformed up to rupture (about 0.30 creep strain). Grain boundaries became serrated and the fractal dimension of the grain boundaries increased with increasing creep strain, because the density of slip lines which formed ledges and steps on grain boundaries increased as the creep strain increased. The increase in the fractal dimension due to creep deformation was slightly larger under the higher stress (118 MPa) than under the lower stress (98 MPa), while the increase of the fractal dimension with strain was a little larger in the specimens tensile-strained at room temperature (293 K) than in the crept specimens. These results were explained by the grain-boundary sliding and the diffusional recovery near grain boundaries, which lowered the increase of the fractal dimension with the creep strain. The fractal dimension of the grain boundaries in the parallel direction was slightly larger than that in the transverse direction in both creep at 973 K and tensile deformation at room temperature, especially at the large strains. This could be correlated with the shape change of the grains by creep or plastic deformation. Grain-boundary cracks were principally initiated at grain-boundary triple junctions in creep, but ledges, steps and carbide precipitates on serrated grain boundaries were not preferential nucleation sites for the cracks.     

A case of crushing head injury with bilateral abducens and facial nerve palsies

A 20-year-old male was admitted to our hospital suffering from a crushing head injury. At accident, his head had been compressed by the printing machine on both temporal regions. He remained at dull conscious. On admission one hour after the injury, he showed bilateral sixth-nerve and seventh nerve palsies and bleeding from the nose. CT scan showed marked pneumocephalus, traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage, fluid collections in the bilateral sphenoid sinuses and right mastoid air cells. Bone CT disclosed bilateral temporal bone fractures. MRI did not show cerebral parenchymal damage. He recovered fully conscious at four hours after the injury, but cranial nerve palsies sustained over 30 days after the injury. Bilateral decompression of the facial canal were performed at day 31. At one year after the injury, bilateral abducens nerve palsies and facial nerve palsies recovered incompletely (grade III). The case report and the mechanism of such cranial nerve injuries by low-velocity crushing head injury is described.     

A 0.25-μm CMOS 0.9-V 100-MHz DSP core

This paper describes a 0.25-μm CMOS 0.9-V 100-MHz DSP core which is composed of a 2-mW 16-b multiplier-accumulator and a 1.5-mW 8-kb SRAM. High-speed operation with a supply of less than 1 V has been achieved by developing 0.25-μm CMOS technology, reducing threshold voltage to 0.3 V, developing tristate inverter 3-2/4-2 adders for the multiplier, realizing small bit-line swing operation for the SRAM, and so on. The adder circuits operate faster than conventional adders at low supply voltages. In addition, short-circuit current and area for diffusion contact are reduced. Small bit-line swing operation has been realized by using a device-deviation immune sense amplifier. Leakage current during sleep mode was reduced by the use of high threshold voltage MOSFETs     

Histogenetic stereological reconstruction of rat basophilic, clear, and oncocytic neoplastic renal cell lesions using carbonic anhydrase type II-PAS double-stained sections

The histogenesis of 3 types of rat renal cell tumors (basophilic cell, clear cell, and oncocytic) was stereologically analyzed, with particular attention paid to transitions from normal tubules. Early nitrosamine-induced preneoplastic lesions, including dysplastic tubules (altered tubules), epithelial hyperplasias, and small adenomas, were reconstructed using serially sectioned specimens processed for carbonic anhydrase type II (CA) and periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) (CA-PAS) double staining to allow easier distinction of the nephron segments: Proximal tubules had a PAS-positive brush border and were weakly positive for CA in the cytoplasm; distal tubules were PAS negative and weakly positive for CA; collecting ducts were PAS negative and strongly positive for CA. Similarly, cytochrome c oxidase (CytOx) and CytOx-PAS double staining was also applied to confirm the character of oncocytic lesions. All basophilic lesions (7 of 7) showed transition to proximal tubules. Clear cell lesions positive for CA, on the other hand, showed transition to distal tubules in 4 of 9 (44.4%) lesions and to collecting ducts in 4 of 9 (44.4%) lesions, but in only 1 of 9 (11%) to a proximal tubule. All oncocytic lesions (16 of 16), characterized by positivity for both CA and CytOx, showed transition to collecting ducts. The results indicate that the origins of renal cell neoplasia are proximal tubules for the basophilic cell lesions, either proximal or distal tubules for their clear cell counterparts, and collecting ducts for oncocytic lesions.     

Characterization of avian H5N1 influenza viruses from poultry in Hong Kong

The management of abnormal cytology during pregnancy has changed dramatically during the last 3 decades. The goal has been and remains timely diagnosis of and treatment planning for invasive carcinoma of the cervix. Because therapy for preinvasive disease can safely be postponed until the postpartum period, the ability to distinguish CIN from invasive cancer without cone biopsy has been a major step forward in the management of cervical disease in pregnancy. The data presented herein demonstrate the safety and accuracy of the more conservative approach of colposcopy and biopsy. The use of cone biopsy during pregnancy, associated with substantial morbidity, has been significantly reduced by the diligent application of colposcopy. As is true in the nonpregnant state, cone biopsy is necessary when colposcopic examination is nonsatisfactory. Cone biopsies cannot be considered therapeutic during pregnancy owing to the high incidence of positive margins and residual disease on postpartum evaluation. For this reason, the importance of postpartum reevaluation cannot be overemphasized.