Preparation of mechanically cross-linked poly(vinyl alcohol)

Summary A novel cyclic macromonomer based on a cyclic polystyrene was prepared. Its radical copolymerization with vinyl acetate was carried out to give a mechanically cross-linked poly(vinyl acetate) which was converted to a mechanically cross-linked poly(vinyl alcohol) with high swellability.     

Phase II study of irinotecan and etoposide in patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer

Melatonin production in the chick pineal gland is high at night and low during the day. This rhythm reflects circadian changes in the activity of serotonin N-acetyltransferase (arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase, AA-NAT; EC 2.3.1.87), the penultimate enzyme in melatonin synthesis. In contrast to the external regulation of pineal rhythms in mammals by the suprachiasmatic nucleus, rhythmic changes in AA-NAT activity in cultured chick pineal cells are controlled by an oscillator located in the pineal cells themselves. Here we present evidence that the chick pineal clock generates a rhythm in the abundance of AA-NAT mRNA in cultured cells that parallels the rhythm in AA-NAT activity. In contrast, elevating cAMP by forskolin treatment markedly increases AA-NAT activity without producing strong changes in AA-NAT mRNA levels, and lowering cAMP by norepinephrine treatment decreases enzyme activity without markedly decreasing mRNA. These results suggest that clock-controlled changes in AA-NAT activity occur primarily through changes at the mRNA level, whereas cAMP-controlled changes occur primarily through changes at the protein level. Related studies indicate that the clock-dependent nocturnal increase in AA-NAT mRNA requires gene expression but not de novo protein synthesis, and that AA-NAT mRNA levels are suppressed at all times of the day by a rapidly turning over protein. Further analysis of the regulation of chick pineal AA-NAT mRNA is likely to enhance our understanding of the molecular basis of vertebrate circadian rhythms.     

Preparation of a fine powder composed of oxide–metal composite by an arc-plasma method

Fine oxide–metal composite powders have been prepared under an H₂–Ar gas environment using an arc-plasma irradiation technique. Initial Cu particles with grain sizes between 10 and 30 μm were mixed with TiO₂ powder of submicron size at different weight ratios to form targets by sintering. Mixtures with varying Cu/TiO₂ weight ratios were prepared, but mostly a mixture with the weight ratio at 95:5 was used. The targets were exposed to arc-plasma irradiation to form a fine composite powder. Particles prepared are Cu-fine core particles each coated with a thin film of TiO₂. The thickness of the oxide film ranges from a few nanometers to some tens of nanometers, and is independent of the ambient gas composition and irradiation. The size distribution of prepared composite particles is broad, and most of them range from 20 to 100 nm. H₂ gas in the chamber plays a significant role in forming the composite powder.     

New high power planar gate GaAs MESFETs with improved gate-drainbreakdown voltage

The authors present a new approach to power GaAs MESFETs with planar gate structures, based on the MBE growth technique on an undoped surface GaAs layer on an ion-implanted channel layer. This undoped GaAs layer increases the gate-drain breakdown voltage and serves as both an ideal passivation layer and an ideal annealing cap of ion implanted channels. To realise a good surface condition before MBE growth, the UV-ozone surface treatment is introduced. This new simple structure offers high performance power GaAs MESFETs     

The spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a rural community: will it become a common microorganism colonizing among the general population?

Myocardial perfusion imaging with 99mTc-MIBI was studied in 80 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), 29 cases of normal controls and 37 cases of noncoronary heart diseases. The perfusion imaging was analysed both by qualitative and quantitative methods. The results revealed that the diagnostic sensitivity, specificity and accuracy for CAD were 91.5%, 83.8%, and 88.5% respectively by qualitativ method, and were 88.1%, 94.6% and 90.6% respectively by quantitative method. The diagnostic sensitivity of electrocardiogram (ECG) was 69.5%. Fourteen cases with the narrowing of coronary artery > 50% shown by coronary angiography also had abnormal myocardial perfusion imaging. It suggests that analysis of perfusion imaging by quantitative method in detecting CAD is superior than qualitative method and ECG.     

Identification of Floral Volatiles From Ligustrum japonicum that Stimulate Flower-Visiting by Cabbage Butterfly, Pieris rapae

Floral scent compounds of Ligustrum japonicum that affect the foraging behavior of Pieris rapae adults were examined by means of chemical analyses, electroantennogram (EAG) responses, and behavioral bioassays; the behavioral biossays consisted of two tests: reflex extension of proboscis (REP) in response to odor, and attraction to scented and unscented artificial flowers. More than 30 compounds, including 2-phenylethanol, benzyl alcohol, and methyl phenylacetate as the major components were identified from L. japonicum flowers. Of these, 22 compounds were tested for their effect on foraging behavior. Phenylacetaldehyde (PA), 2-phenylethanol (PE), and 6-methylhept-5-en-2-one (MHO) elicited the highest REP responses, and benzaldehyde (BA) and methyl phenylacetate (MPA) evoked intermediate REP responses. EAG responses were not necessarily correlated with REP activities; the three high-REP compounds gave only moderate EAG responses, whereas two other compounds (ethyl phenylacetate and 2-phenylethyl acetate) that released high EAG responses showed low REP activities. In two-choice behavioral bioassays, flower models scented with any one of these high-REP compounds attracted significantly more adults, while compounds with low REP activities exhibited weak or no appreciable attractiveness. This suggests that the REP responsiveness closely reflects the attractiveness of a compound and could be an effective measure in elucidating which chemical attractants are involved in flower-visiting. A synthetic blend of five floral chemicals (PA, PE, MHO, BA, and MPA) displayed an attractiveness that was comparable to that of the floral extract and was more effective in attractiveness than the compounds tested singly. Consequently, it is highly likely that the flower-visiting by P. rapae to L. japonicum is mediated largely by floral scent chemicals and that a synergistic effect of the five floral components would be most responsible for attraction of the butterfly to this flower. The present results also strongly suggest that specific floral volatiles may facilitate close-range flower location by P. rapae, could serve in part as a cue for recognizing food sources, and also be profoundly implicated in flower preference.     

Dual actions of nitric oxide in N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor-mediated neurotoxicity in cultured retinal neurons

This study was performed to elucidate the role of nitric oxide (NO) in N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-mediated glutamate neurotoxicity in the retina. The experiments were done with primary retinal cultures obtained from 17- to 19-day-old rat fetuses. The NOS activity measured by monitoring the conversion of [3H]arginine to [3H]citrulline was approximately 5 pmol/min/mg protein. A 10-min exposure of the cultured cells to glutamate (1 mM) or NMDA (1 mM) followed by a 1-h incubation in a normal medium consistently resulted in 60% cell death. The concomitant addition of an inhibitor of NOS, Nomega-nitro-L-arginine (300 microM), with glutamate or NMDA reduced cell death by 70%. A brief exposure of the cells to sodium nitroprusside (SNP, 500 microM) or S-nitrosocysteine (SNOC, 500 microM), NO-generating agents, caused 60% cell death. Depletion of NO by reduced hemoglobin prevented the cell death induced by either glutamate, NMDA, or NO generating agents. Fifty microM SNOC alone had no effect on the cell viability. However, pretreatment with 50 microM SNOC as well as simultaneous application of 50 microM SNOC with NMDA inhibited cell death induced by NMDA. These findings indicate that a low concentration of NO plays a protective role in glutamate neurotoxicity via closing the NMDA receptor gated ion channel. However, elevated concentrations of NO, interacting with oxygen radicals, become toxic and mediate glutamate-induced neurotoxicity in the cultured retinal neurons.     

A vector control system using a neutral-point-clamped voltage-source pwm inverter

This paper describes a vector control system of an induction machine using a neutral-point-clamped voltage-source inverter (NPC-VSI) that is one of the double series-connected inverters. The NPC-VSI is able to output five-level step-shaped line-to-line voltage without output transformers or reactors, and it may reduce harmonic currents corresponding to torque ripples. However, the NPC-VSI has a problem in that excessive high voltage is applied to switching devices when a neutral point of two dc capacitors of the NPC-VSI varies from the center of the dc link voltage, because the neutral point is floating. This paper proposes also a current controller to which the space vector theory is applied. This can reduce harmonic currents to one-fourth those of a conventional voltage-source inverter using six switching devices, and regulate the neutral point potential within a preset range. To simplify the current controller, information about voltage space vectors is given from the vector controller to the current controller. The validity of the current controller is confirmed by a prototype using an induction machine of 2.2 kW.     

High-performance computing service over the Internet for intraoperative image processing

This paper presents a framework for a cluster system that is suited for high-resolution image processing over the Internet during surgery. The system realizes high-performance computing (HPC) assisted surgery, which allows surgeons to utilize HPC resources remote from the operating room. One application available in the system is an intraoperative estimator for the range of motion (ROM) adjustment in total hip replacement (THR) surgery. In order to perform this computation-intensive estimation during surgery, we parallelize the ROM estimator on a cluster of 64 PCs, each with two CPUs. Acceleration techniques such as dynamic load balancing and data compression methods are incorporated into the system. The system also provides a remote-access service over the Internet with a secure execution environment. We applied the system to an actual THR surgery performed at Osaka University Hospital and confirmed that it realizes intraoperative ROM estimation without degrading the resolution of images and limiting the area for estimations.