Search

The operating temperature of a high-temperature superconducting (HTS) coil is desired to be 15–40 K from the viewpoint of specific heat of the material and the operating current. Development of relatively small-capacity coils with gas helium cooling or refrigerator cooling in this temperature range is underway. Here, refrigerant cooling is desirable for large-capacity coils and liquid hydrogen, which has 20.7 K atmospheric pressure saturation temperature, is a candidate refrigerant. However, due to the difficulty of handling hydrogen, there have been few studies on the HTS coil cooled by liquid hydrogen. And in the HTS coil, the heat generated in the normal conducting region causes a chain of temperature rise and decrease of the critical current, which leads to an irreversible increase in coil temperature beyond the balance with the cooling conditions, and so-called thermal runaway is a problem. In this study, we report on the observation of thermal runaway phenomena in Bi2223 coils under liquid hydrogen immersion cooling. The coils were energized twice at saturated condition of 950 kPa pressure and 30 K temperature. We observed thermal runaway in both energizations and the coil tap voltage before thermal runaway was several tens of mV. From this test, it could be said that the liquid hydrogen cooling has a potential to protect HTS coils.

We have developed a Viterbi decoding circuit which is suitable for DVD players. We designed it to be compact and efficient by utilizing the rule of the DVD recording code. By experiment, we confirmed that the Viterbi decoder reproduced digital data more precisely than a conventional bit-by-bit decoder did. Thereby it improves the reliability of the DVD players. It was integrated into a data processing LSI which restores digital data streams recorded on the DVD. By employing this LSI, we have developed DVD video players, DVD-ROM drives, DVD-Recordable drives, and DVD car navigation systems. We applied the Viterbi decoding to home-use optical disc players for the first time.

AbstractLevels of isoflavones, biomarkers of soy intake, in 24-hour urine (24U) were inversely related to coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality in the World Health Organization’s Cardiovascular Disease and Alimentary Comparison Study. Considering 24 U isoflavone levels were highest and CHD mortality was lowest in the Japanese, who maintained the world’s longest life expectancy, the association of regular soy intake with cardiometabolic risk was investigated in Japanese adults (20–49 years old) and elderly (50–79 years old). In multivariate analysis adjusted for age, sex, and drug treatments, mean 24 U isoflavone excretion was significantly inversely associated with insulin resistance in the elderly and significantly associated with blood folate and potassium in the elderly, but also positively associated with 24 U salt in the elderly. These findings indicate that low-salt soy should be recommended to improve glucose metabolism in elderly Japanese.

Abstract Objective--To examine the effect of transfection of oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) containing a CpG motif (CpG-ODN), of which the sequence was derived from circulating DNA in the sera of patients with [...]

The gas-phase etching of SiO2was examined using HF and methanol vapor at temperatures below 0 °C and at low pressure. The etching rate of SiO2increased with decreasing temperature and showed a maximum around –30 °C. The obtained etching rate was a maximum of 40 nm min−1at plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition SiO2. The etching rate of SiN examined for comparison was more than ten times smaller than that of SiO2under the same condition. As a result, the etching selectivity of SiO2to SiN was found to be over 20 at –40 °C. When utilizing a low temperature of less than –30 °C, gas-phase etching of SiO2showing a high etching rate and selectivity was achieved.

Machine learning (ML) was applied to optimize the etching profile for a line and space pattern sample in plasma etching. To investigate the effect of different initial-learning datasets on the optimization of the etching profile, high-, medium-, and low-quality datasets were prepared. The high-quality dataset was composed of etching results relatively close to a target etching profile. The low-quality dataset was composed of etching results relatively far from the target etching profile. The medium-quality dataset was intermediate between the high- and low-quality datasets. For the ML, the kernel ridge regression method was used. After six learning cycles, better etching results were obtained from the medium- and low-quality datasets than from the whole initial-learning dataset. However, the etching results from the high-quality dataset did not exceed those from the whole initial-learning dataset. These results indicate that an initial-learning dataset that has etching results far from the target profile can be useful for optimizing etching profiles.

Ann Rheum Dis 2002;61:849-850 CASE REPORT We report the case of a 69 year old man with non-small lung cancer, who developed arthralgia and myalgia twice during chemotherapy using 210 [...]

As leukemic transformation of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) worsens the clinical outcome, reducing the inherent risk of the critical event in MPN cases could be beneficial. Among genetic alterations concerning the transformation, the frequent one is TP53mutation. Here we show that retroviral overexpression of Jak2 V617Fmutant into wild-type p53murine bone marrow cells induced polycythemia vera (PV) in the recipient mice, whereas Jak2 V617F-transduced p53-null mice developed lethal leukemia after the preceding PV phase. The leukemic mice had severe anemia, hepatosplenomegaly, pulmonary hemorrhage and expansion of dysplastic erythroid progenitors. Primitive leukemia cells (c-kit+Sca1+Lin−(KSL) and CD34−CD16/32−c-kit+Sca1−Lin−(megakaryocyte-erythroid progenitor; MEP)) and erythroid progenitors (CD71+) from Jak2 V617F-transduced p53-null leukemic mice had leukemia-initiating capacity, however, myeloid differentiated populations (Mac-1+) could not recapitulate the disease. Interestingly, recipients transplanted with CD71+cells rapidly developed erythroid leukemia, which was in sharp contrast to leukemic KSL cells to cause lethal leukemia after the polycythemic state. The leukemic CD71+cells were more sensitive to INCB18424, a potent JAK inhibitor, than KSL cells. p53 restoration could ameliorate Jak2 V617F-transduced p53-null erythroleukemia. Taken together, our results show that p53loss is sufficient for inducing leukemic transformation in Jak2 V617F-positive MPN.

The impact tensile properties of laser welded butt joints of two kinds of high strength steel plates with the tensile strength level of 590 MPa and 780 MPa (denoted by HR590 and HR780, respectively), were investigated using split Hopkinson bar tensile testing apparatus. Impact tension tests for the joint specimens pre-fatigued were also carried out to examine the effect of pre-fatigue. There were no significant effects of strain-rate and pre-fatigue on the dynamic and quasi-static tensile strength of laser welded butt joints. However, the decrease in the elongation of HR780 welded joints subjected high cycle pre-fatigue was observed only at a high strain-rate. From the observation of fracture surface, it was found that the decrease in the elongation may be caused by a number of damages due to the combination of high cycle pre-fatigue and high strain-rate.

We report the effect of a small hydrostatic pressure p$\cong $1.4 kBar on the temperature-magnetic field phase diagram of the organic conductor $\lambda $-(BETS)2FeCl4. At zero field a first-order superconducting ($T_{C} \cong $5.6 K) to antiferromagnetic insulator transition ($T_{N} \cong $4 K) is observed. The close proximity between both phases is suggestive of an unconventional superconducting pairing mechanism. Furthermore, the transition temperature towards the field-induced superconducting state (FISC), as well as its concomitant upper critical field, is found to increase by a factor of ∼33 %. The phase diagram of the FISC state for both $p = 1$Bar and 1.4 kBar are well described in terms of the Jaccarino-Peter effect if the quasiparticle nature of the charge carriers is taken into account. Key words. Organic conductors – magnetism – superconductivity.

We investigate the nature of the magnetoresistance in the antiferromagnetic, metallic, and field-induced superconducting ground states of the quasi-two dimensional organic-magnetic conductor $\lambda $-BETS2FexGa$_{1-x}$Cl4for several alloy and experimental configurations. These include a consideration of scaling-type behaviour for x = 0.47 where the field is directed in plane along the c-axis. Here we find that both the antiferromagnetic and the superconducting states follow relatively simple scaling laws with magnetic field and temperature respectively over a considerable range of the phase diagram. An investigation of systematic rotation of the magnetic field with respect to both polar and azimuthal directions for x = 0.8 in high magnetic fields is also reported for both the metallic and antiferromagnetic phases. Key words.Organic conductors – field-induced superconductivity – antiferromagnetism.

The novel nickel complex with the extended-TTF dithiolate ligand [ Ni(tmdt)2] (tmdt=trimethylene dithiotetrathiafulvalenedithiolate) is the first three-dimensional single-component molecular metal with metallic state down to very low temperature (0.6 K). Recently, the direct evidence for presence of electron and hole Fermi surfaces in [ Ni(tmdt)2] was obtained by detecting the de Haars-van Alphen (dHvA) effect. We have synthesized analogous single-component molecular conductors with various ligands and central metal atoms and examined their structures and physical properties. The visible and irspectra of single-component molecular conductors showed that these molecules have unprecedentedly small HOMO-LUMO gaps. Key words. Single-component molecular metal - dithiolene complex - extended-TTF ligand.

High field electronic state of the quasi-two dimensional organic superconductor, $\kappa $-(BETS)2FeBr4 was investigated. Under the magnetic field exactly parallel to the conducting layers, zero resistance was observed in the region of about $11 \sim 14$T at 27 mK. This is the strong evidence of the field induced superconductivity in this salt. In the antiferromagnetic state below 5 T, Shubnikov-de Haas oscillation with a low frequency of 62 T was observed. This new frequency can be ascribed to a small pocket formed by the reconstruction of the Fermi surface due to the antiferromagnetic order. Key words. Organic conductors – Field induced superconductivity – Shubnikov-de Haas oscillation

In this research, the dynamic and quasi-static deformations of aluminium honeycomb sandwich panels in three point bending were investigated experimentally. The load, the deflection of a loading point and the strain response of the rear surface plate at various locations were measured. A peak load caused by local plastic buckling of the cores just under the loading point appeared in the early stage of both dynamic and quasi-static bending. The peak load observed at dynamic rates was about $10\sim20$% greater than that obtained from static tests. The absorbed energy in the dynamic deformation was also larger than that obtained in static tests. From the change of the strains of the rear surface plate, it was found that the third or higher deformation mode occurred during the early stage of dynamic bending, although only the first mode was observed in static tests. The difference of the bending mode may be one of the principal reasons of greater peak load and absorbed energy in dynamic bending.

Bronchial asthma is characterised by airway inflammation and remodelling with a decline of lung function. Fibrocytes are bone marrow-derived mesenchymal progenitor cells that play important roles in the pathogenesis of airway remodelling. Several clinical parameters are currently being used in routine clinical practice to assess outcome of therapy in asthma including frequency of rescue with short-acting β2-agonist and the asthma control test. In this study, we hypothesised that asthma control test is associated with circulating levels of fibrocytes in bronchial asthma.

Estrogenic symptoms of liver disease patients including biliary tract disorder with high frequency is observed in clinical cases. However, the origin of 17β-estradiol which is abundant enough to cause symptoms remains uncertain. In male rats, it has been reported that the parietal cells which have an abundance of aromatase-synthesized 17β-estradiol, and a part of 17β-estradiol secreted into the portal vein, may flow into the systemic circulation under a pathophysiological condition of the liver including bile duct ligation (BDL). The aim of this study is to reveal the origin of 17β-estradiol increment in female rats and to investigate the effect of BDL on the ovary during the estrus cycle. Wistar female rats were used, and the common bile duct was ligated twice and transected completely at 7 days before termination. Serum portal venous and arterial 17β-estradiol levels, Cyp19a1expressions, aromatase protein levels, and estrogen receptor (ER) α levels in the liver were measured during the estrus cycle. Both arterial and portal venous 17β-estradiol levels increased 2.9 times at proestrus and maintained constant levels during the cycle. The expression of Cyp19a1and aromatase protein in the stomach maintained constant levels, and significantly decreased during the estrus cycle in the ovary. Hepatic ERα protein and Esr1expressions decrease by BDL in all stages. These results suggest that the increment of serum 17β-estradiol levels in obstructive cholestasis induced by BDL is derived from 17β-estradiol secreted from the parietal cells in females as well as males.

Nous rapportons le cas d’un patient de 69ans souffrant de troubles bipolaires qui trois jours après l’instauration d’un traitement par valpromide, prodrogue de l’acide valproïque, a présenté des signes de confusion, de désorientation spatio-temporelle et des pertes de mémoire. Après la réalisation d’un bilan biologique complet et d’un électro-encéphalogramme, le diagnostic d’une encéphalopathie hyperammoniémique a été posé. L’imputabilité de l’acide valproïque dans l’apparition de cette encéphalopathie hyperammoniémique semble être forte d’autant plus que les symptômes ont disparu à l’arrêt du traitement. Bien que les facteurs de risque ne soient pas bien identifiés, l’apparition d’une hyperammoniémie même faible ayant une manifestation clinique chez notre patient pourrait être due à l’association de plusieurs facteurs : une instauration du valpromide trop rapide, un cotraitement avec la quétiapine et un alcoolisme ancien. Cet effet indésirable rare doit donc être bien connu de tous les prescripteurs afin que ceux-ci puissent prendre les mesures nécessaires rapidement pour le stopper. Une prévention reste toutefois difficile puisque les facteurs de risque sont mal connus et l’apparition d’une manifestation clinique semble dépendre de seuils individuels.

A simple measuring method for impact tensile strength of brittle materials is presented and discussed. It is based on the superposition and concentration of tensile stress waves reflected both from the free ends of a striking bar and a specimen bar. The experiment is conducted by means of a Hopkinson bar technique using an air-gun arrangement. The impact tensile experiment of concrete and mortar specimen bars was performed as well as static strength tests of splitting tension, bending, and compression. The experimental data in relation to those strengths were analyzed statistically by means of a Weibull distribution. The impact tensile strengths were significantly influenced by loading rates, and they were found to be from 1.5 to 2 times of the static values. For examining the adequacy and limit of the present measuring method, numerical simulations on the stress waves propagated in the specimen bars were carried out under the condition of two-dimensional axisymmetric model using the FEM code and some reasonable results were found.

In order to investigate the effect of strain rate change during dynamic tests on the stress-strain curves, an analytical study using the maximum load condition and a simple constitutive equation, [MATH], was carried out. Three kinds of typical loading pulse, i.e. a usual constant incident pulse, an acceleration pulse and a deceleration pulse, were chosen. When the incident pulse is assumed to be [MATH], these pulses correspond, respectively, to the cases with β=0,β>0 and β<0. From the analysis, an instability strain or a strain at maximum load point, ε*, was derived to be [MATH]. It was found that the instability strain increases with the increase of acceleration parameter, β, of loading pulses. To check this analytical result, a series of dynamic tensile tests for 0.45%C steel using SHPB apparatus was performed with the three types of loading pulse. A tapered striker tube was used for acceleration and deceleration dynamic tests. The experimental result agreed well with that predicted by the analysis.

The Cryogenic Moderator System (CMS) is equipped with a catalyst to convert hydrogen from the ortho state to the para state, to keep desirably high parahydrogen fractions in the cold moderators, which is required to deliver a high brightness cold neutron beams to the scientific instruments using neutron scattering. An in-situ measurement system for the ortho and para fractions of liquid hydrogen (OPMS) where a Raman spectroscopy will be used is being developed. The required measurement precision is 0.1% to detect an undesirable shift towards a high orthohydrogen fraction caused by neutron scattering driven para-to-ortho back conversion. The dedicated OPMS sampling line has been designed and is placed in a bypass line from and to the CMS to minimize the hydrogen inventory and to make it physically isolated from the CMS if a sapphire window failure happens. Accident analysis for a hydrogen leak due to the sapphire window failure was carried out using an inhouse-developed simulation code, and the required safety relief size has been determined.

The hyperinsulinemic–euglycemic clamp (EGC) technique was used to investigate the effects of calcium salts of long-chain fatty acids (LCFA-Ca) and rumen-protected Met (RPM) on insulin sensitivity in the peripheral tissues of lactating cows. Six multiparous Holstein cows were used in a 3 × 3 Latin square experiment in each 14-d period. Dietary treatments were 0 (RPM0), 20 (RPM20), and 60 (RPM60) g/d of RPM, supplemented with a diet containing 1.5% of LCFA-Ca equal to 110% of the cows' ME requirement. And as a control for the 3 LCFA-Ca–containing diets, a dietary treatment without LCFA-Ca (Con) was also included. After a 10-d adaptation period, milk samples were collected for 4 d, and EGC experiments were performed on d 14 of each treatment period. Insulin solution was infused through a jugular vein catheter at a rate of 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4 milliunits·kg BW–1·min–1for 30 min and then at a rate of 0.5 milliunits·kg BW–1·min–1for 60 min. Glucose solution was variably infused to maintain plasma glucose at steady state through the same catheter. Blood samples for measurements were taken using the contralateral catheter. Plasma total cholesterol, cholesterol ester, free cholesterol, and phospholipid concentrations in RPM0 and RPM20 were higher than those in Con, whereas the concentrations in RPM60 were low at the same degree of those in RPM0 (P< 0.05). Plasma Met concentration was greatest in RPM60 (P< 0.05). In the EGC experiment, the glucose infusion rate was greater in RPM60 than in RPM0 and RPM20 and an effective concentration of insulin resulting in 50% maximal glucose infusion rate was lower in RPM60 compared with RPM0 (P< 0.05), indicating that insulin sensitivity was intensified in RPM60. Although the insulin sensitivity evaluated from the EGC data in RPM0, RPM20, and RPM60 was not different from Con, a slight decline was observed in RPM0 and insulin sensitivity in RPM60 was higher than Con. Our results from the EGC experiment demonstrated that the feeding RPM lead to increased insulin sensitivity, which suggests that dietary Met affects lipid metabolism via insulin action in lactating dairy cows fed a LCFA-Ca–containing diet.

We present 15 images from the global mm-VLBI sessions in 1990 April at 100 GHz and 1993 April at 86 GHz. These observations probe the central engines of the 16 observed AGN's with up to 50 μas resolution. Among other sources previously observed with λ3 mm VLBI we present the first λ3 mm maps of 0735+178, 0748+126, 1055+018, 2145+067, and CTA 102, in total we have been able to image 13 out of the 16 observed sources. 6 out of the 13 imaged sources observed exhibit curvature and rapid structural changes, although the low dynamic range in two thirds of the maps limits the detection of weak features. Most of the sources have unresolved cores even at this high resolution. There is substantial evidence that the observed sources can be grouped into two general groups: A misaligned population with parsec scale jets in the form of low pitch helices and an aligned population with straight jets with small changes in PA due to intrinsic bends.

The infrared and Raman spectra of neutral bis(ethylenedithio)tetraselenafulvalene (BETS) as powder sample is reported. An assignment of the fundamental vibrational modes is presented and discussed; the vibrations are assigned using correlations between the obtained data and those for similar compounds: BEDT-TTF and BEDO-TTF. The results are used for analysis of absorption spectra and microreflectance polarized IR spectra of single crystal k-(BETS)2FeCl4. The vibrational features of the spectra have been essentially assigned to a mixture of normally-inactive totally-symmetric Agmodes and IR-active modes of other symmetries. A general discussion of the origin of the electronic bands is given also. To our knowledge, the first spectral investigation of BETS and its salt are presented in this paper.

BETS salts (where BETS is bis(ethylenedithio)tetraselenafulvalene) with the CuCl3, Cu2Cl6, (CuCl4)nand Fe0.75Ga0.25Cl4anions have been synthesized. The physical properties of θ-BETS4Cu2Cl6and κ-BETS2(Fe0.75Ga0.25Cl4) salts and crystal structures of θ-BETS4Cu2Cl6have been studied. Both compounds have been found to exhibit Shubnikov-de Haas and angle-dependent magnetoresistance oscillations.

In order to investigate the deformation of ceramics tube in lateral compression, a series of experiments was carried out at dynamic and static rates. It was observed that the load and deflection when fracture occurred in dynamic tests were greater than those obtained in static tests. However, a difference between Young's moduli obtained dynamically and statically was not found. By using a primary curved beam theory, Young's modulus and the fracture stress of ceramics tube could be derived from the results of experiments. The Young's modulus showed reasonable agreement with that obtained from tensile tests. The fracture stress also showed the value close to the bending strength of the ceramics tube.

Internal friction of (SiO2)1-x(GeO2)xglasses (x = 0, 5, 10, 24 and 100 mole%) is measured at temperatures between 1.6 and 280 K. The data are filted with the equations for thermally activated relaxation with distributing activation energies in symmetrical double-well potentials. From the determined relaxation strength spectra for each sample, the contributions from each type of microscopic structural units are calculated assuming that transverse motion of the bridging O atom in Si-O-Si, Si-O-Ge or Ge-O-Ge bridge (T model) is the microscopic unit responsible for relaxation. For instance, the magnitude of internal friction for SiO2-5% GeO2or 24% GeO2is calculated from the data of pure SiO2, SiO2-10% GeO2and pure GeO2. The calculated results agree well with the measurements of SiO2-5% GeO2and SiO2-24% GeO2. Thus T model is shown to be quantitalively consistent with internal friction of SiO2-GeO2binary glasses.

Viscoelastic properties of amorphous solids deformed under uniform shear stress were studied using a kind of sandwich method with utilizing a sensitive optical technique. Time-dependent deformation data were analyzed on the basis of a mechanical model of anelasticity plus viscosity. Experiments were performed to determine the temperature dependence of viscosity for several kinds of inorganic glasses and an amorphous polymer below their glass transition temperatures. Activation energies controlling the relaxational viscosity have been determined.

Using low-stress pseudoshear deformation, we measured the ambient-temperature creep-recovery behavior of polycrystalline indium. The ε-σ diagram shows three regions with increasing stress : stress exponents of 1.05, 7.4, and 2.0. The diagram resembles remarkably the dislocation-velocity-shear-stress diagrams reported for various materials by many authors, who interpreted the diagrams by dislocation dynamics. Applying an extended Burgers model (two Kelvin-Voigt elements) gave for the three regions the following relaxation times τ2and τ3(in seconds) : (1) 11, 123 ; (2) 10, 132 ; (3) 12, 154. Thus, τ1is nearly stress independent, and τ2increases with increasing stress. Laplacean transformation of our ε(t) measurements to get the retardation-time distribution function g(ln τ) indicates in all three regions a strong peak near τ2=3s and a weaker, broader peak near τ3=150s. These agree surprisingly well with the Burgers dashpot-spring-model results. We analyzed the recovery part of the strain ε(t) obtain Q-1(f) curves.

The aerodynamic response of longspan suspended and cablestayed bridges can be significantly improved by streamlining the deck geometry. In some cases, a full streamlining may not be practical and, as a compromise, partial streamlining is considered. The present technical note is concerned with the aerodynamic response of the deck of a cablestayed bridge. The results of a windtunnel study employing a section model of the deck are presented. The experimental data include the deck response in heave and flow patterns about the stationary and oscillating decks. The effects of modification of the deck geometry (addition of streamlining fairings and removal of traffic barriers) on the vortexinduced response of the deck are discussed. It is shown that partial streamlining of the deck geometry may result in an increase in the deck aerodynamic response.

Between 2003 and 2007, 99 knees in 77 patients underwent opening wedge high tibial osteotomy. We evaluated the effect of initial stable fixation combined with an artificial bone substitute on the mid- to long-term outcome after medial opening-wedge high tibial osteotomy (HTO) for medial compartmental osteoarthritis or spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee in 78 knees in 64 patients available for review at a minimum of five years (mean age 68 years; 49 to 82). The mean follow-up was 6.5 years (5 to 10). The mean Knee Society knee score and function score improved from 49.6 (sd11.4, 26 to 72) and 56.6 (sd15.6, 5 to 100) before surgery to 88.1 (sd12.5, 14 to 100) and 89.4 (sd15.6, 5 to 100) at final follow-up (p <  0.001) respectively. There were no significant differences between patients aged ≥ 70 and < 70 years. The mean standing femorotibial angle was corrected significantly from 181.7° (sd2.7°, 175° to 185°) pre-operatively to 169.7° (sd2.4°, 164° to 175°) at one year’s follow-up (p < 0.001) and 169.6° (sd3.0°, 157° to 179°) at the final follow-up (p = 0.69 vsone year). Opening-wedge HTO using a stable plate fixation system combined with a bone substitute is a reliable procedure that provides excellent results. Although this treatment might seem challenging for older patients, our results strongly suggest that the results are equally good.Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2014;96-B:339–44.

Many molecular imaging probes have been developed in recent years that hold great promise for both diagnostic and therapeutic functions in urogynecologic disease. Historically, optical probe designs were based on either endogenous or exogenous fluorophores. More recently, organic fluorophore probes have been engineered to target specific tissues and emit fluorescence only upon binding to targets. Several different photochemical mechanisms of activation exist. This review presents a discussion of the history and development of molecular imaging probe designs and provides an overview of successful preclinical and clinical models employing molecular probes for in vivo imaging of urogynecologic cancers.

Apart from its role in the coagulation system, thrombin plays an important role in the inflammatory response through its protease‐activated receptors (PARs). However, the role of thrombin in the immune response is not clear.

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptors are commonly expressed on the cell membrane of cancer cells and activity of these receptors results in accelerated cell growth and carcinogenesis. A variety of targeted molecules have been developed to block ligand binding and/or inhibit the function of these receptor tyrosine kinases, and several have proven therapeutic benefits. Along with the advent of new therapeutic agents comes a need for non-invasive tools to diagnose, characterize, and monitor tumor responsiveness to therapy. Imaging EGF receptors with radionuclides has been performed for decades. However, recently this area has advanced considerably with the development of EGF receptor-targeted optical imaging probes. Herein, we review recent advances in molecular imaging of the EGF receptor family, focusing specifically on optical imaging. Such agents provide the opportunity for earlier diagnosis, improved tumor characterization, and the ability to measure and monitor tumor responsiveness to anti-EGF receptor treatment strategies.

Nano-level 3-D measurement is one of the key technologies for the current and future generation of production systems for semi-conductors, LCDs and nano-devices. To meet with these applications, wide range nano-level 3-D shape measurement method using combination of RGB lights has been developed. It measures the height of nano-objects using RGB lights interference color fringes. To analyze the RGB color fringes, the adaptive phase analysis method of interference fringes has been developed and achieved its efficiency. But it cannot measure the shape of edges. To meet with the difficulty, the color analysis method on xy-color plane has been introduced. The combination of the phase measurement method and the color analysis method has measured the 5 micrometer columns precisely. The evaluation shows that the method has the ability to measure the plane height at 10 nm level measuring deviation with 0,5 micrometer horizontal preciseness. For a practical application, the shape of needles for AFM has been extracted, successfully.

Light-sheet microscopy, it is known as single plane illumination microscope (SPIM), is a fluorescence imaging technique which can avoid phototoxic effects to living cells and gives high contrast and high spatial resolution by optical sectioning with light-sheet illumination in developmental biology. We have been developed a multifunctional light-sheet fluorescence microscopy system with a near infrared femto-second fiber laser, a high sensitive image sensor and a high throughput spectrometer. We performed that multiphoton fluorescence images of a transgenic fish and a mouse embryo were observed on the light-sheet microscope. As the results, two photon images with high contrast and high spatial resolution were successfully obtained in the microscopy system. The system has multimodality, not only mutiphoton fluorescence imaging, but also hyperspectral imaging, which can be applicable to fluorescence unmixing analysis and Raman imaging. It enables to obtain high specific and high throughput molecular imaging in vivo and in vitro.

In this study, we observe the nonlinear behavior of the two-photon geometric phase for polarization states using time-correlated photon pairs. This phase manifests as a shift of two-photon interference fringes. Under certain arrangements, the geometric phase can vary nonlinearly and become very sensitive to a change in the polarization state. Moreover, it is known that the geometric phase for N identically polarized photons is N times larger than that for one photon. Thus, the geometric phase for two photons can become two times more sensitive to a state change. This high sensitivity to a change in the polarization can be exploited for precision measurement of small polarization variation. We evaluate the signal-to-noise, ratio of the measurement scheme using the nOnlinear behavior of the geometric phase under technical noise and highlight the practical advantages of this scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large parts of the mantle wedge near subduction boundaries are likely to be hydrated and contain antigorite. This mineral is acoustically highly anisotropic and potentially has a strong influence on seismic properties of the wedge. The Higashi–Akaishi body of SW Japan is an exhumed sliver of partially serpentinized forearc mantle, ideal for studying the effects of antigorite on the development of tectonic fabrics in the mantle. Samples with less than 1% antigorite show strong B-type olivine crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) patterns. In contrast, samples with >10% antigorite deformed during the same tectonic event show much weaker olivine CPO patterns lacking the flow-normal a-axis concentration. These microstructural data suggest that the development of antigorite during deformation weakens olivine CPO due to phase boundary slip and associated rigid-body rotation of olivine grains. Antigorite and similar sheet silicates are likely to be present to some extent in the mantle wedge of all convergent margins. Our results suggest that even if this amount is only a few percent, strong olivine CPO is unlikely to develop and any pre-existing CPO is likely to be destroyed. Under these conditions, olivine CPO is unlikely to contribute significantly to seismic anisotropy in the mantle wedge.

A series of new magnetic organic conductors consisting of $\pi $donors with stable organic radical part and inorganic anions was prepared. The air-stable TTP derivatives containing a PROXYL radical were synthesized by phosphite-based cross-coupling reaction of 1,3-dithiol-2-one derivatives and the thione containing a PROXYL radical. The ClO4and FeCl4salts of TTP-PROXYL were electrochemically prepared. Besides the 2:1 salts with fairly high conductivity (D2A; D=radical donor, A= anion), there is a semiconducting 1:1 complex (TTP-PROXYL)FeCl4($\sigma $(RT) = 10$^{-3} \quad \Omega ^{-1}$cm-1, $E_{a} = 0.12$eV). The temperature dependence of the susceptibilities suggests the coexistence of n-radical spins (S=1/2) and Fe3+magnetic moments (S=5/2). The system with non-magnetic ions, (TTP-PROXYL) GaCl4and (CpTTP-PROXYL)AsF6salts were also examined. Key words.magnetic organic conductors, electrochemical method.

Interlayer magnetoresistance measurements under the pressure of 6 kbar have been performed for the magnetic field induced organic superconductor $\lambda $-(BETS)2FeCl4to investigate the role of pressure and magnetic field. No evidence of the metal-insulator phase transition is observed down to 1.5 K and a broad superconducting transition occurs. A series of magnetic transition from antiferromagnetic to paramagnetic phase are observed with increasing magnetic field. Key words.$H-T$phase diagram, BETS, pressure.

Polarized reflectivity spectra of the 2 K organic superconductor BETS4Hg2.84Br8(T$_{c}=2$K) and the metal down to 35 K BETS4Hg3Cl8were measured in the 700-6000 cm-1frequency range down to 10 K. Higher anysotropy of reflectivity in the conducting plane of these compounds compared to their BEDT-TTF-based analogues is explained by the differences in intermolecular overlap. No Drude-peak is observed in the optical conductivity spectra of these compounds in the measured frequency range down to 10 K. In BETS4Hg3Cl8 a simultaneous splitting of the electronic mid-infrared band and EMV-coupled $\nu _{3}$(a$_{g})$vibration at about 150 K might suggest that the charge-ordering takes place in this compound below 150 K. Key words. organic conductors, infrared spectroscopy.