Suspended sediment estimation and analysis in river basins with rice paddy fields

Suspended sediment, which is an important water quality characteristic concerning effluents from agricultural areas, was studied in relatively small rivers that drain agricultural watersheds with considerable rice paddy areas. Suspended sediment load (SL) was observed daily for thirty three months and analysed--applying data stratification. Suspended sediment prediction models were established and the effect of rice transplanting activities on the rivers' SL was estimated. Results showed that data stratification improved the discharge-SL correlation and reduced regression and curve-fitting errors, thereby improving the efficiency of the derived model equations. Clustering the months into the rice- and non-rice transplanting seasons also improved the resulting regression equations, although not statistically significantly. Suspended SL was found to be higher during the rice transplanting season and the activities contributed a considerable amount of suspended sediment during the period, supporting the conjecture that sediments come from sources other than natural soil erosion.     

MicroRNA Expression Profiles in Superficial Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma before Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection: A Pilot Study

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has a poor prognosis when diagnosed at an advanced stage, and early detection and treatment are essential to improve survival. However, intraobserver and interobserver variation make the diagnosis of superficial ESCC difficult, and suitable biomarkers are urgently needed. Here, we compared the microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles of superficial ESCC tissues and adjacent normal tissues obtained immediately before esophageal endoscopic submucosal dissection. We found that ESCC and normal tissues differed in their miRNA expression profiles. In particular, miR-21-5p and miR-146b-5p were significantly upregulated and miR-210-3p was significantly downregulated in tumor tissues compared with normal tissues. We also detected significant associations between miRNA expression and ESCC invasion depth and lymphovascular invasion. The same differential expression of miR-21-5p, miR-146b-5p, and miR-210-3p was detected in ESCC cell lines compared with normal esophageal epithelial cells in vitro. However, transfection of ESCC cells with miR-210-3p and miR-21-5p mimics or inhibitors had partial effects on cell proliferation and invasion in vitro. These results indicate that miRNA expression is significantly deregulated in superficial ESCC, and suggest that the potential contribution of differentially expressed miRNAs to the malignant phenotype should be further investigated.     

Copper‐Catalyzed Highly Selective Semihydrogenation of Non‐Polar Carbon‐Carbon Multiple Bonds using a Silane and an Alcohol

A copper catalyst bearing a suitable Xantphos derivative or NHC ligand was found to be highly efficient for the selective semihydrogenation of non‐polar unsaturated compounds using a mixture of a silane and an alcohol as reducing agent. The catalytic system was useful for the selective semihydrogenation of internal alkynes to (Z)‐alkenes with suppression of overreduction to the corresponding alkanes. Furthermore, semihydrogenations of terminal alkyne, 1,2‐diene, 1,3‐diene, 1,3‐enyne and 1,3‐diyne systems were also achieved selectively.     

Sol–Gel Synthesis of Silica-Based Oxyfluoride Glass-Ceramic Thin Films: Incorporation of Eu3+ Activators into Crystallites

Transparent oxyfluoride glass-ceramic thin films were prepared using a sol–gel method starting from rare-earth trifluoroacetate/silicon alkoxide solutions. SiO₂–LaF₃ and SiO₂–LaOF glass-ceramics were formed by heating at temperatures of 300°–500°C and 600°–900°C, respectively. Eu³⁺ activators were successfully incorporated into oxyfluoride crystals, as evidenced by their luminescent properties, such as capability of a charge-transfer (O^2––Eu³⁺) excitation, suppression of a multiphonon relaxation, and occurrence of a cross-relaxation at low Eu³⁺ concentrations. As a result, the films exhibited strong red emission by ultraviolet excitation. The incorporation supposedly originated from decomposition of the (La,Eu)-trifluoroacetates in the silica-gel matrix.     

Influence of solution composition on the formation of SiO2/LaF3 composites in the sol-gel process

Influence of starting solution composition on the formation of SiO₂/LaF₃ composites was examined in the sol-gel process of tetramethylorthosilicate, methanol, water and N,N-dimethylformamide. Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and lanthanum acetate were used as chemical sources for LaF₃. Microcrystals of LaF₃ with a size of 10 nm were formed in silica matrix by heating dried gels above 300°C. Colorization, crack formation and fragmentation during drying and heating gels were greatly dependent on the amount of TFA. It was possible to suppress fragmentation of the heated gels by using lanthanum trifluoroacetate gels as precursor in preparing the starting solutions.     

The formation of Ti-polycide gate structure with high thermalstability using chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) planarizationtechnology

A planarized Ti-polycide gate structure with high thermal stability has been developed using a chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) process for the application of high-speed DRAM devices. For a given gate length and without any thermal annealing, the planarized Ti-polycide structure developed via a novel gate line formation technology manifested a substantially lower gate line resistance than that produced by a conventional processing method. In addition, the agglomeration of the TiSi₂ gate in a deep submicron regime was suppressed even after high-temperature cycling at 850°C for 300 min, owing to a negligible local stress at the corner of the active and field region     

Amounts of polyamines in foods in Japan and intake by Japanese

The amounts of polyamines (putrescine, spermidine and spermine) in foods available in Japan were analyzed by HPLC. Though the polyamine concentrations varied in individual foods and food groups, significant differences in polyamine concentrations and distribution patterns were observed between food groups. Beans showed high concentrations of spermidine and spermine, vegetables had higher levels of putrescine and spermidine, fruit and seasonings had high levels of putrescine, fish and shellfish, meat and nuts had high levels spermine. Using the average polyamine concentrations and the amount of each food group consumed, the polyamine intake from foods by the Japanese was estimated to be 200 μmol/day/person, and about half of the polyamine intake was putrescine. This value is significantly lower than those reported for European countries.     

RF performance of diamond MISFETs

A cutoff frequency (f_T) of 11 GHz is realized in the hydrogen-terminated surface channel diamond metal-insulator-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MISFET) with 0.7 μm gate length. This value is five times higher than that of 2 μm gate metal-semiconductor (MES) FETs and the maximum value in diamond FETs at present. Utilizing CaF₂ as an insulator in the MIS structure, the gate-source capacitance is reduced to half that of the diamond MESFET because of the gate insulator capacitance being in series to the surface-channel capacitance. This FET also exhibits the highest f _max of 18 GHz and 15 dB of power gain at 2 GHz. The high-frequency equivalent circuits of diamond MISFET are deduced from the S-parameters obtained from RF measurement