Styryl silsesquioxane photoresist

There is a substantial need for photopattern‐able, heat resistant, and transparent materials that are applicable to electronic devices, such as imaging or display elements. Styryl silsesquioxane based photoresist forms thin micro patterns after i‐line exposure and alkaline development, and the resulting transparent film shows remarkable heat resistance. Radicals generated from a photoinitiator induce polymerization of styryl functionality in the photoresist film to form the micropatterns. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 41459.     

Impairment of neural nitric oxide-mediated relaxation after antigen exposure in guinea pig airways in vitro

A solid-phase erythrocyte adherence assay has been developed for the serological detection of reagin antibodies in syphilis. Capture-S (Immucor, Inc., Norcross, Ga.) is a nontreponemal, qualitative screening test for the detection of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM antilipid antibodies in serum or plasma samples from blood donors. The Capture-S assay utilizes a modified Venereal Disease Research Laboratory antigen bound to microtitration wells and anti-IgG- plus anti-IgM-coated indicator erythrocytes as the detection system. The Capture-S assay was evaluated at six separate sites on 10,942 specimens. For patient samples of clinically diagnosed syphilis categories (n = 366), the Capture-S assay yielded a sensitivity of 80.7% versus 80.3% for the rapid plasma reagin (RPR) card test (Becton Dickinson Microbiology Systems, Cockeysville, Md.). In comparative experiments on patient and donor samples (n = 10,222), the Capture-S assay demonstrated a sensitivity of 94% compared to 91.2% for the RPR card test. The Capture-S and RPR card tests produced essentially equivalent specificities of 99.2% and 99.3%, respectively, for this sample population. For five test sites, the Capture-S and RPR card test demonstrated a 98.3% agreement (10,085 of 10,264) of test results. These evaluations indicate that the Capture-S compares favorably to the RPR card test in assay sensitivity and specificity, with the added benefits of ease of use, accommodation of high-volume testing, and potential for automation.     

Episodes and Topics in Multivariate Temporal Data

The term ‘episode’ refers to a time interval in the development of a dynamic process or behaviour of an entity. Episode-based data consist of a set of episodes that are described using time series of multiple attribute values. Our research problem involves analysing episode-based data in order to understand the distribution of multi-attribute dynamic characteristics across a set of episodes. To solve this problem, we applied an existing theoretical model and developed a general approach that involves incrementally increasing data abstraction. We instantiated this general approach in an analysis procedure in which the value variation of each attribute within an episode is represented by a combination of symbols treated as a ‘word’. The variation of multiple attributes is thus represented by a combination of ‘words’ treated as a ‘text’. In this way, the the set of episodes is transformed to a collection of text documents. Topic modelling techniques applied to this collection find groups of related (i.e. repeatedly co-occurring) ‘words’, which are called ‘topics’. Given that the ‘words’ encode variation patterns of individual attributes, the ‘topics’ represent patterns of joint variation of multiple attributes. In the following steps, analysts interpret the topics and examine their distribution across all episodes using interactive visualizations. We test the effectiveness of the procedure by applying it to two types of episode-based data with distinct properties and introduce a range of generic and data type-specific visualization techniques that can support the interpretation and exploration of topic distribution.     

Cyclic Fatigue-Crack Growth and Fracture Properties in Ti3SiC2 Ceramics at Elevated Temperatures

The cyclic fatigue and fracture toughness behavior of reactive hot-pressed Ti₃SiC₂ ceramics was examined at temperatures from ambient to 1200°C with the objective of characterizing the high-temperature mechanisms controlling crack growth. Comparisons were made of two monolithic Ti₃SiC₂ materials with fine- (3–10 μm) and coarse-grained (70–300 μm) microstructures. Results indicate that fracture toughness values, derived from rising resistance-curve behavior, were significantly higher in the coarser-grained microstructure at both low and high temperatures; comparative behavior was seen under cyclic fatigue loading. In each microstructure, Δ K _th fatigue thresholds were found to be essentially unchanged between 25° and 1100°C; however, there was a sharp decrease in Δ K _th at 1200°C (above the plastic-to-brittle transition temperature), where significant high-temperature deformation and damage are first apparent. The substantially higher cyclic-crack growth resistance of the coarse-grained Ti₃SiC₂ microstructure was associated with extensive crack bridging behind the crack tip and a consequent tortuous crack path. The crack-tip shielding was found to result from both the bridging of entire grains and from deformation kinking and bridging of microlamellae within grains, the latter forming by delamination along the basal planes.     

Development of the Design Codes Grounded on the Performance-Based Design Concept in Japan

This paper traces the recent introduction of performance-based design (PBD) into Japanese design codes (especially geotechnical design codes) and describes the distinguishing characteristics of PBD codes. An overview is provided for source documents that initiated the concept of performance-based design, and consideration is given to the impact of the WTO/TBT Agreement and Japanese government policies on this issue. Three design codes are introduced to explain the development of PBD codes in Japan: JGS4001-2004 ‘Principles for Foundation Design Grounded on a Performance-Based Design Concept’ (Geocode 21); Technical Standards for Port and Harbor Facilities (TSPHF); and Specifications for Highway Bridges (SHB). The first one is a model code established by JGS, whereas the latter two are regulatory design codes used in practice. Performance-based design is now recognized as the most important concept in code drafting and the majority of design codes will introduce this concept at least partially. Thus, PBD is a key concept for understanding the current Japanese design codes.     

Research Committee on Ruthenium and Technetium Chemistry in PUREX System,Organized by the Atomic Energy Society of Japan

The paper summarizes the activity of the committee Ruthenium and Technetium Chemistry in the PUREX System, with a focus on basic information on technetium behavior in the PUREX process, the principles of plant design, and the behavior during the final waste treatment.     

Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor-induced cough and substance P

BACKGROUND: Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors cause coughing in 5-10% of patients, but the exact mechanisms of this effect are still unclear. In the airways ACE degrades substance P so the cough mechanism may be related to this peptide. METHODS: Nine patients who developed a cough and five patients who did not develop a cough when taking the ACE inhibitor enalapril (2.5 or 5.0 mg/day) for hypertension were enrolled in the study. No subjects had respiratory disease and the respiratory function of all subjects was normal. One month after stopping enalapril, inhalation of hypertonic saline (4%) was performed using an ultrasonic nebuliser for 15-30 minutes to induce sputum. The concentration of substance P in the sputum sample was measured by radioimmunoassay. In four of the nine cases with a cough enalapril was given again for 1-2 weeks and the concentration of substance P in the induced sputum was again measured. RESULTS: One month after stopping enalapril the mean (SE) concentration of substance P in the sputum of the group with a cough was 16.6 (3.0) fmol/ml, significantly higher than that in the subjects without a cough (0.9 (0.5) fmol/ml). All four subjects in the group with a cough who were given a repeat dose of enalapril developed a cough again, but the concentrations of substance P in the induced sputum while taking enalapril (17.9 (3.2) fmol/ml) were similar to the values whilst off enalapril (20.0 (2.5) fmol/ml). CONCLUSIONS: The mechanisms of ACE inhibitor-induced coughing may involve substance P mediated airway priming. However, the final triggering of the ACE inhibitor-induced coughing is unlikely to be due to this peptide.     

New trends in the clinical use of platelet transfusions

Reference is made to the indications for platelet transfusions, the way in which they are prepared, and the criteria used in assessment of their therapeutic results.     

Effects of isometric handgrip exercise on coronary sinus blood flow in idiopathic cardiomyopathy

Rabbit proximal straight tubules from superficial nephrons were perfused in vitro in order to elucidate the mechanism of fluid and bicarbonate absorption. Both processes were greatly inhibited when sodium was replaced in the perfusate and bath by other cations, when ouabain was added to the bath, or when potassium was removed from the bath. We infer that these experimental manipulations inhibit active sodium tranport, and that active sodium transport is a primary process leading to fluid and bicarbonate absorption. Fluid absorption also decreased (but only by 22 to 36%) when bicarbonate was replaced by chloride in the perfusate and bath or when acetazolamide (10(-3)M) was added, suggesting that fluid and sodium transport depend in part on bicarbonate. We infer that the links between fluid, sodiu, and bicarbonate transport are complex and involve at least two mechanisms: 1) a sodium for hydrogen ion exchange mechanism located in the brush border membrane and 2) the transepithelial concentration difference for bicarbonate, which results from its absorption and which acts as an additional driving force for fluid and sodium absorption. Finally, bicarbonate absorption was unaltered when chloride was replaced by nitrate in the perfusate and bath, suggesting that chloride is not necessary for acidification in this nephron segment.     

Synthetic study on carbocyclic analogues of cyclic ADP-ribose

Cyclic ADP-ribose (cADPR, 1) is a newly discovered general mediator involved in Ca2+ signaling. Carbocyclic analogues of 1, namely, 2 and 3, were designed as a stable isosteres of 1, and their synthesis was studied. The reaction of a triflate 9 which was derived from known diol 4, and inosine derivative 10 gave desired N1-alkyl derivative 11 in 38% yield, and then it was converted to diphosphate derivative 12.