From product-oriented to process-oriented: Emerging new engineering paradigm

The conventional approach has put emphasis upon reducing labour, and increasing efficiency and uniformity. But this holds good only in the mass production paradigm. As we are entering the age of small production with far wider varieties, these principles of yesterday should be re-examined. Labour itself sometimes gives satisfaction if it involves the joy of creation, and longer time does not necessarily mean just patience, it sometimes turns into expectation if greater joy will be provided later. Too much fitness for the purpose sometimes means lack of robustness and adaptability to the quickly and widely changing environment. Thus, we should reconsider the items we thought important in the mass production age to aptly cope with the diversification of each customer’s requirements.     

X gene and precore region mutations in the hepatitis B virus genome in persons positive for antibody to hepatitis B e antigen: comparison between asymptomatic "healthy" carriers and patients with severe chronic active hepatitis

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers with antibody to hepatitis e antigen comprise asymptomatic carriers (ASCs), who have low replication levels of HBV, and patients with chronic active hepatitis (CAH), who have high levels of viral replication. To investigate whether defects in the X protein might be responsible for this difference in the level of viral replication, nucleotide sequences of X and precore gene regions in serum HBV were analyzed in 19 ASCs and 9 CAH patients. All patients had a point mutation creating a stop codon in the precore region. Seventeen ASCs (87.3%) had identical mutations consisting of 4 noncontiguous 1-bp deletions or an 8-bp deletion, both of which truncate the normal X protein, whereas no CAH patient had an X gene mutation (P < .001). Thus, deletion of the X protein might be responsible for the low levels of viral replication in ASCs.     

Far-Infrared Reflection Spectra of Dielectric Ceramics for Microwave Applications

Far-infrared reflection spectra of dielectric ceramics, BaSm₂Ti₅O₁₄, BaTi₄O₉, and some pcrovskites such as Ba(Zn_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃, have been measured at room temperature using a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer in order to investigate the effect of the crystal structure on the dielectric properties. As for perovskites, Sr(Zn_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃ and Sr(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃, in which B site ions are ordered, were also measured. Reflectance data were analyzed by means of a factorized form of dielectric functions instead of the classical dispersion theory, and all of the spectra were well fitted. The values of dielectric constants and tan δ calculated from the reflectance data were in good agreement with resonant cavity measurements at 5 GHz. Furthermore, results of this study have shown that the main contribution to the microwave dielectric properties is caused by low-frequency optically active modes located at 50 to about 300 cm⁻¹, and for perovskite structures it is suggested that the ordering of B site ions is significant in obtaining low dielectric losses.     

Effects of Working Fluid,Tubeside Enhancement and Bundle Depth on the Optimized Fin Geometry of a Horizontal Condenser Tube

A theoretical study has been made to optimize the fin geometry of a horizontal finned tube which is to be usedfor condensers that handle the vapor load of a liquid phase change cooling module.Systematic numerical calcu-lations of the vapor to coolant heat transfer have been performed for parametric values of fin height,fin spacing,vertical bundle depth and tubeside heat transfer coefficient.Three dielectric fluids (R-113,FC-72,and FC-87)at atmospheric pressure were selected as the working fluids.For a single tube with optimized fin geometry,theaverage heat flux increased in the order of FC-87,R-113 and FC-72.Both the optimum fin height and optimumfin spacing increased with increasing vertical bundle depth.     

Subcellular localization of Bcl-2 protein in synovial sarcoma

The subcellular localization of Bcl-2 protein in surgically resected, fixed-frozen tissue specimens of seven tumors from six cases of synovial sarcoma and a synovial sarcoma cell line was examined using laser-scanning confocal microscopy and immunoelectron microscopy. Bcl-2 protein in synovial sarcoma cells was detected in the nuclear envelope, endoplasmic reticulum membrane, and mitochondrial circumference. Based on the finding of pre-embedding immunoelectron-microscopy observation, the distribution of Bcl-2 protein in such membranous organella was patchy. A computer-based image analysis failed to reveal any quantitative differences between the inner and the outer mitochondrial membranes. The tumorigenesis of synovial sarcoma is also discussed from the viewpoint of Bcl-2 overexpression.     

Novel B-ring modified combretastatin analogues: syntheses and antineoplastic activity

A series of B-ring modified combretastatin analogues were synthesized and their inhibitory activity against microtubule assembly, cytotoxic activity against Colon 26 adenocarcinoma cancer cell line were evaluated. Among these, pyridone derivative (19) showed strong antimitotic activity and cytotoxicity, along with excellent water-solubility.     

Effect of the addition of NH4F on anodic behaviors of DSA-type electrodes in H2SO4-(NH4)2SO4 solutions

The effect of NH₄F addition on the high-anodic behaviors of various DSA-type electrodes was investigated in a mixture of sulfuric acid and ammonium sulfate. The pronounced effect of NH₄ addition was observed on DSA-type Ti/RuO₂, Ti/IrO₂?TiO₂ electrodes, but not observed on the other electrodes studied. The close relationship was found between the increment of the electrode potential caused by the NH₄ addition and the quantity of F^? adsorbed on the electrode surface. The effect of NH₄F addition was considered to be resulted from the adsorption of F^? on the electrode surface, and the presence of adsorbed F^? was directly proved.