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Graphical abstract, Highlights • The contents of glabridin and medical component glycyrrhizin were analyzed in herbal medicines and health foods containing licorice. • A small amount of glycyrrhizin was detected in some of health foods. • Estrogenic activity was detected in some of health food ingredients and health foods. • Antioxidant activity was detected in all the materials. • Hepatic CYP activity, liver and uterine weights in estrogen deficient mice are also valuable for the safety evaluation of estrogenic ingredients., Focusing on licorice, a highly used raw material in health foods, quantitative analysis of functional/medicinal components and a safety and functional evaluation was carried out for herbal medicines, health food ingredients, and so-called health foods. A functional component, glabridin, was detected in herbal medicines from Glycyrrhiza glabra and G. inflata, health food ingredients, and in commercially available health foods that contain licorice. Likewise, glycyrrhizin, a medicinal component, was detected in these sources, except in licorice oil extract. Estrogen activity in vitro was detected in some of the herbal medicines, health food ingredients, and in health foods containing licorice. In the in vivo study, liver weight in ovariectomized (OVX) mice treated with licorice oil extract was significantly higher than that in OVX and sham mice in a dose dependent manner. These results suggest that excessive intake of licorice oil extract from health foods should be avoided, even though these ingredients might be beneficial for medical use in order to maintain bone health in postmenopausal women. Measurement of hepatic cytochrome P-450 (CYP) activity, reproductive organ weight, and fat and bone mass in OVX mice was considered useful for evaluating the safety and efficacy of estrogenic health food ingredients derived from herbal medicines.

Optical electric field enhancement in the normal direction was experimentally investigated using mid-infrared slot antennas that were formed on a thin Al2O3 layer/Si substrate. The Al2O3 layer thicknesses could be controlled to an accuracy of a given atomic layer through the use of atomic layer deposition, and varied from 0 nm to 60 nm. An in-depth probe of the electric field was performed by observing the change in the reflection signal arising from the Restrahlen band of the natural oxide of Si formed on the surface of a Si substrate. In contrast to dipole nanoantennas, we could clearly observe Restrahlen bands of Al2O3 as well as the native Si oxide film. This was because the direction of the enhanced electric field was primarily parallel to the substrate surface in the slot antennas, which was different from the dipole nanoantenna having strong normal electric fields at the antenna ends. The atomic layer deposition technique provides versatile information on the electric field distribution within the depth direction, being considered complementary to the electromagnetic simulation of nanoantennas.

PoGOLino is a balloon-borne scintillator-based experiment developed to study the largely unexplored high altitude neutron environment at high geomagnetic latitudes. The instrument comprises two detectors that make use of LiCAF, a novel neutron sensitive scintillator, sandwiched by BGO crystals for background reduction. The experiment was launched on March 20th 2013 from the Esrange Space Centre, Northern Sweden (geomagnetic latitude of $65^\circ$), for a three hour flight during which the instrument took data up to an altitude of 30.9 km. The detector design and ground calibration results are presented together with the measurement results from the balloon flight., Accepted for publication in Nuclear Inst. and Methods in Physics Research, A

Background To clarify the patterns, timing and risk factors of recurrence of gastric cancer after laparoscopic gastrectomy. Methods From January 1999 to March 2012, 577 patients underwent laparoscopic or laparoscopy-assisted gastrectomy for curative resection of gastric cancer. Recurrence patterns were classified as locoregional, hematogenous, peritoneal, distant lymph node and mixed. Recurrence patterns and time to recurrence were retrospectively examined and risk factors for recurrence were analyzed. Results Recurrence occurred in 28 (4.9%) cases with patterns as follows: locoregional in 2 patients (7.1%), hematogenous in seven (25.0%), peritoneal in nine (32.1%), distant lymph node in four (14.3%), and mixed in 6 (21.4%). There was no recurrence pattern peculiar to laparoscopic surgery. Recurrence occurred at one site in 21 patients (78.6%), two in 4 patients (14.3%), and three in 2 patients (7.1%). The median time to recurrence was 384 days (range 83–1497 days). Recurrence was detected within a year in 13 cases (46.4%), within two years in 21 (75%), and within three years in 25 (89.3%). Univariate analysis revealed tumor location, tumor size, type of operation, tumor depth, and lymph node classification as risk factors for recurrence. Multivariate analysis indicated tumor depth and lymph node classification as risk factors of recurrence. Conclusions Patterns, timing and risk factors of recurrence of gastric cancer after laparoscopic gastrectomy are similar to those after open gastrectomy, with no peculiarities specific to laparoscopic gastrectomy. Thus, as long as laparoscopic gastrectomy is performed according to the present inclusion criteria, follow-up can be similarly performed as for open gastrectomy.

It was demonstrated in two earlier papers that there exists a real, linear, time-varying transformation that decouples any non-defective linear dynamical system in free vibration in the configuration space. As an extension of this work, the present paper represents the first systematic effort to decouple defective systems. It is shown that the decoupling of defective systems is a rather delicate procedure that depends on the multiplicities of the system eigenvalues. While any defective system can be decoupled with the eigenvalues kept invariant, the geometric multiplicities of these eigenvalues may not be preserved. Several numerical examples are provided to illustrate the theoretical developments. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

We extend the analysis of a reeled, tethered system in a constant gravitational field by (i) proposing a differential–algebraic representation when the tether is inextensible and (ii) examining the interaction between the tether and a sharp, fixed guide when contact is rough. The governing equations are derived using an approach that clearly illustrates how singular supplies of linear momentum, such as friction at the fixed guide, feature in the equations of motion. After semidiscretization via finite differences, we formulate the system of differential equations and algebraic constraints as a differential–algebraic equation and solve for various motions of the reeled tether. In addition, we show that, by comparison to a rounded contact analysis with arbitrarily small radius, the reaction force acting on the tether at the guide does not converge to the value of this force when the guide is modeled as a sharp point of contact.

A tritium cleanup system has been developed for exhaust gases containing tritium in various chemical forms. This system is distinguished from conventional procedures in that tritium is removed as tritiated hydrogen molecules. Basically, the system consists of five main components, including a hydrogen separator and a decomposition-processing vessel. A previous study assumed that the gas for processing consisted of hydrogen, methane, and helium, with some proportion of tritiated hydrogen and methane. The performance of this tritium cleanup system was examined using a computer-based simulation. To monitor the removal of tritium from the exhaust gas, the partial pressures of the respective components were examined during processing. The curve for the partial pressure of hydrogen contains two clear bends. In the present study, the correspondence between these bend points and their time width and simulation condition was examined in relation to the hydrogen partial pressure curves obtained under 28 conditions, differing in component proportion and process gas volume. It was found that two bend points moved, depending on the process gas condition, and three patterns appeared for the hydrogen partial pressure curves. A mechanism was proposed for explaining the movement of the bend points and the three patterns.

A tritium cleanup system for application to exhaust gases discharged from a large helical device has been developed. It is constructed of five main components and is able to remove tritium in the chemical form of hydrogen molecules. In a previous study, a decomposition-processing vessel was developed, which is one of the five main components, and the system's performance installed in this vessel was tested based on computer simulations. In the simulations, the process gas was assumed to be made up of hydrogen, methane and helium, where part of the hydrogen and methane had been tritiated, and helium had been added to maintain a proper flow rate in the cleanup system. Several assumptions about the gas component fraction and tritium ratio in the gas to be processed were made. Two fundamental equations were used to express the removal of tritium in both chemical forms of hydrogen molecules and methane in the simulations. However, detailed descriptions of the assumptions and equations were not given. In the present paper, both the assumptions and equations are theoretically explained.

Interband magneto-photoluminescence (MPL) spectra in n-type InGaAs/InAlAs quantum wells (QWs) lattice-matched to InP were measured between 1.4 and 275 K. From a fan chart of MPL peak energy vs. magnetic field, assignment of Landau levels (LLs) associated with conduction subband (CS) was made consistently. Two series of LL peak energies with different Landau quantum number was subtracted to cancel the effects of complex valence subband states and bandgap renormalization, etc. The energy difference of two CS LL peak series in the MPL fan chart, between Landau quantum number 0 and 1, did not agree with the measured cyclotron resonance (CR) energy or the related theoretical CS LL energy difference. The difference was 6-10 meV at 1.4 K near 10 T. Temperature dependence of the difference of CS LL peak energies was studied and the difference tended to diminish at 175-275 K. The behavior suggested that the quantity was the difference of magneto-exciton binding energy and that the exciton states were merged into LLs at higher temperature. A band parameter, Ep, in nonparabolic band theory was discussed.

The material with a composition of BC6N was obtained by the reaction of acrylonitrile with boron trichloride ( mole ratio =2 : 1) at 1500–1800°C under atmospheric pressure. The films obtained at 1500 and 1800°C had graphite-like layered structure whose interlayer spacings (nano-space) were 0.350 and 0.342 nm, respectively. The band gap of BC6N was estimated to be larger than that of graphite by the comparison of their reduction and oxidation potentials. The potential change during the electrochemical intercalation of lithium into BC6N electrode was also quite different from that into graphite. These results suggest that BC6N has a novel nano-space between the layers and is a promising material as a new semiconductor and a unique host material.

Nonparabolic effective masses of conduction electrons were comprehensively studied in two-dimensional InGaAs quantum wells (QWs) deeply confined within InAlAs barriers of the 0.52-eV band offset. Cause of nonparabolicity was attributed not to the penetration of wavefunctions into barriers but to the InGaAs bulk band structure of bandgap energy of 0.74 eV. Band calculations by a Kane's three-level model for narrow-gap semiconductors and a Zawadzki's model under Landau quantization modified for QW confinement were fairly compared with in-plane apparent cyclotron masses of electrons measured in a 10-nm-wide InGaAs QW. Simulation of optical transmittance through complex epitaxial wafer structures fit quite well with cyclotron resonance experiments. Masses normal to the QW plane were also determined from a series of eigen-energies observed in 20-nm-wide InGaAs QW. In-plane nonparabolicity was found to be several times larger than normal nonparabolicity.

The present study was designed to reveal the incidence of silent myocardial ischemia in asymptomatic elderly non-insulin-dependent diabetic (NIDDM) patients (aged over 60 years). As a first step screening, maximal treadmill exercise test was performed. Of 140 patients studied, 54 (38.6%) were unable or not expected to achieve diagnostic levels of exercise during treadmill testing. A positive exercise test was noted in 39 of 86 (45.3%) subjects. As a second step examination, dipyridamole thallium scintigraphy was performed for 93 subjects who exhibited a positive exercise test and could not perform a maximal exercise test. Abnormal perfusion pattern was found in 39 of 93 (41.9%), who were finally considered to have a silent myocardial ischemia. Coronary angiography was performed in 18 subjects with diagnosis of silent myocardial ischemia, who gave their consent. Significant coronary artery stenosis was in fact found in 17 of 18 (94.4%) subjects studied, confirming a very high positive predictive value of this diagnostic procedure. In conclusion, elderly NIDDM patients (aged over 60 years) had an extremely high prevalence (estimated 26.3%) of silent myocardial ischemia. This evidence suggests that early and intensive detection may be needed as a part of routine care for this group.

The effect of aging on the rubber-like behavior of martensite in a Au–50.5 at.% Cd alloy was studied, and compared with stoichiometric Au–50% at.% Cd and a Au–49.5 at.% Cd alloy. It is found that for all these alloys the critical stress for domain reversion increases with aging, and gradually saturates at long aging time, following a Chipman function. The magnitude and the rate of the aging effect are strongly dependent on composition. The magnitude decreases monotonically with increasing Cd content, but the aging rate reaches a minimum at the stoichiometric composition. These results suggest that point defects (anti-structure defects and vacancies) play a central role in the martensite aging effect, and anti-structure defects contribute much more to the magnitude of the aging effect than vacancies do.

A study was carried out on the low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) and PL excitation measurements of hexagonal In x Ga 1-x N microcrystals. synthesized by the nitridation of the sulfide in the In concentration range, 2% < x < 6%. The broad PL bands decomposed into the single-peak bands with the commonly observed peaks and some additive peaks. The peak energies of the single-peak bands were compared with those of the bands for In x Ga 1 -x N epilayers in previous reported results and the transitions of the selected single-peak bands were assigned to the recombination of the exciton at localized levels due to alloy disorder. The large Stokes shifts and the absorption band within a gap confirmed the luminescence center states were localized. To explain the facts that the gap energy varied for the samples with the same In content and the emission peak energy did not relate to the band gap energies, we proposed that the localized states originate from the In clusters caused by the fluctuation of the In concentration. This type of localized center provides the microscopic structures of the localized states in In x Ga 1 -x N epilayers.

In the Au-Cd alloy system, two different martensitic transformations are known to date. For Au-47.5at%Cd composition, the {beta}{sub 2}(B2) {yields} {gamma}{sub 2}{prime} (orthorhombic) transformation occurs, while for Au-49.5at%Cd composition the {beta}{sub 2} {yields} {zeta}{sub 2}{prime} (trigonal) transformation. The former transformation is well-known for the first discovery of the shape memory effect and the rubber-like behavior, and as one of the prototypes for which the phenomenological crystallographic theory was successfully applied. On the contrary, the latter transformation was not understood until recently. The crystal structure of the martensite, the shape memory effect, superelasticity and the rubber-like behavior were found only recently. The kinetics of the {beta}{sub 2} {yields} {zeta}{sub 2}{prime} transformation was previously studied by Subramanya et al. both for quenched and furnace-cooled specimens. They observed a considerable increase of the electric resistance for both the specimens, when they were aged slightly above the Ms temperature.

The acute and subchronic toxicity of 1,1-dichloro-1-fluoroethane (HCFC-141b), a CFC alternative, was evaluated in several acute and subchronic studies to assist in establishing proper handling guides. Data from acute toxicity studies in rats and rabbits demonstrated that HCFC-141b has very low acute toxicity. HCFC-141b was not a skin irritant, but was a mild eye irritant, in rabbits and was not a skin sensitizer in guinea pigs. Skin application of HCFC-141b to rabbits at 2000 mg/kg body weight produced no adverse effects. Oral administration at 5000 mg/kg body weight did not cause any deaths or clinical signs of toxicity in rats. The 4-hr LC50 for HCFC-141b was about 62,000 ppm in rats. Repeated exposures of rats for 6 hr/day, 5 days/wk for up to 90 days at concentrations of 2000, 8000 or 20,000 ppm did not result in significant adverse effects. Minor, but dose-dependent, reductions in body weight were observed in male and female rats during the 90-day study. Decreased responsiveness was also observed in rats but only at 20,000 ppm. An increase in serum cholesterol or triglycerides was observed in male and female rats at 20,000 ppm, and in males at 8000 ppm. No specific organ pathology was noted in these subchronic inhalation studies. The no-observable-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) from these studies was 8000 ppm. Results from other studies demonstrate that HCFC-141b was not neurotoxic in rats. As with trichlorofluoroethane (CFC-11), a cardiac sensitization response to an intravenous epinephrine challenge occurred in dogs with HCFC-141b at 5000 ppm and higher concentrations in experimental screening studies.

The X-ray diffraction patterns for Bi 2 Sr 2 Ca 1− x Y x Cu 2 O 8+ y sintered in air or Ar indicated that the reduction in the number of excess oxygen ions induced a structural change from orthorhombic to pseudotetragonal. To explain the oxygen nonstoichiometry effect in this system, we presented the model that there were two different locations for excess oxygen in the Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O 8+ y structure, i.e., in the Bi O layer and in the vicinity of the Cu O sheets. Compared with the Bi 2 Sr 2− x La x CaCu 2 O 8+ y system, it was considered that substituting Y for Ca in this model resulted in coulomb interaction between the excess oxygen ion (O 2− i ) in the vacant sites around Ca 2+ ions and the Y 3− ion in the Ca 2+ site (Y + Ca ). The association between O 2− i and Y + Ca was thought to explain the reduction of the orthorhombicity. When the valency of Bi decreased, the period of modulation in Bi 2 Sr 2 Ca 0.4 Y 0.6 Cu 2 O 8+ y increased from4.2 b to4.4 b . This result suggested that the modulation period was correlated with the excess oxygen in the Bi O layer. These results supported this model for the origin of the excess oxygen in the Bi-2212 structure.

The temperature dependence of electrical resistivity of BaBiO3−x is measured at oxygen partial pressures of 1.0, 2.1 × 10−1, and 1.8 × 10−2 atm. The oxygen-partial-pressure-dependence of resistivity indicates that the charge carrier in BaBiO3-x is a hole. The resistivity exhibits a minimum at the temperature Tm which corresponds to a phase boundary temperature in a BaBiO3-x phase diagram.

The effects of oxygen nonstoichiometry on the normal-state electrical conduction and the superconducting properties of Bi 2 Ca 2.5 Nd 0.5 Cu 2 O y have been investigated. The highest T c was obtained for the sample of Bi 2 Ca 2.5 La 0.25 Pr 0.25 Cu 2 O y . The magnitude of T c was dependent on the valency of Cu ion which was different for different species of the rare-earth element, Ln. The superconducting properties of and normal-state conduction in Bi 2 Ca 2.5 Ln 0.5 Pr 0.25 Cu 2 O y were affected by the oxygen nonstoic hiometry. Both valencies of Bi and the rare-earth element were unaffected by the ambient oxygen partial pressure during sintering.

A new self-tuning PID controller has been developed for distributed process control systems. The self-tuning PID controller is able to identify the process dynamics using a short period of process behaivior such as a setpoint change under the closed loop control condition, and to tune PID parameters based on the identified iodei parameters for both setpoint tracking and disturbance regulation characteristics, which makes it easy to set up the inital PID parameters and adapt the PID values to the process dynamics changes. This paper describes the basic principles of the self-tuning controllers, and explains the functions to be implemented on. Finally, some application results illstrate the effectiveness of the self-tuning controllers.

A micro-positioning table with a 0.005 μm resolution has been developed to enhance the performance of a conventional grinding machine in the fine grinding of ceramics. A piezoelectric actuator with high stiffness and resolution has been applied to drive the table and to provide small depths of cut for the workpiece. The performance of the table is investigated with both open and closed-loop operation to drive the actuator. The accuracy and stiffness of the positioning are improved by means of the closed-loop control. Grinding experiments with ceramics, such as partially stabilized zirconia (PSZ) and hot-pressed silicon nitride (Si3N4), were carried out to demonstrate the performance of the table. The actual resolution of depth-of-cut control was determined by measuring ground groove depths on the ceramic surface. A mirror-like surface on the ceramic was easily obtained by grinding at the small depth of cut of 0.1 μm with the aid of the table.

The subtraction of massive modes and the summation over contributions of ininitely many fermions, as discussed by Narayanan and Neuberger, can make manifest not only anomaly of the chiral zero mode but also its dynamics of chiral symmetry breaking. As a result, it is possible to reproduce the “η” mass in two-dimensional CPn−1 model with quarks. The same physical result emrges from two different definition of axial transformation.

The polypeptides of mouse B16 melanoma lines of defined metastatic potential have been analyzed by two-dimensional electrophoresis. Parent B16 melanoma and two independently isolated B16-F1 lines, which are low metastatic, exhibited a new polypeptide, Ax (pI 5.2; Mr = 43,000), comprising approximately 30% of the total actin, in addition to normal beta- and gamma-actin. The Ax is present in the Triton-insoluble fraction (cytoskeleton and nuclear matrix) as well as in the Triton-soluble fraction at a constant ratio of about 0.5 to beta- plus gamma-actin. The Ax polypeptide has been identified as a variant form of actin by immunostaining with anti-actin antibody and by a comparison of its tryptic patterns with those produced by beta- and gamma-actin polypeptides; the Ax is also identified as a component of microfilaments. On the other hand, the Ax polypeptide disappears or its expression is very low in high metastatic lines, two independently isolated B16-F10s and B16-BL6. By in vitro translation, we have identified the mRNA species that code for Ax in B16-F1, but not in B16-F10.

The solid state reactions and the phase relations in the CaAl2O4|CaGa2O4 system, of which both end-members have the stuffed tridymite structure, were examined by using three kinds of starting materials; A (CaCO3 + (Al,Ga)2O3), B (CaAl2O4 + CaGa2O4) and C (CaCO3 + Al2O3 + Ga2O3). In the starting material B, a very low rate of solid state reaction between CaAl2O4 and CaGa2O4 was found, which seemed to be due to very slow interchange of Al3+ and Ga3+ located in tetrahedra of this structure. In order to obtain the probable equilibrium phase relations, it was necessary to use the starting material A. In the present system, a new phase was found in a wide range of composition as a stable phase, which was supposed to have the same structure as so-called metastable phase of CaGa2O4 and different array of tetrahedra from either CaAl2O4 or CaGa2O4|I.

SUMMARY The present paper describes the effect of the administration of peptidoglycan (PG) and dializable transfer factor (TF) upon the immunoresponse and the incidence of diarrhoea amongst sucking piglets. In experiment I, larger numbers of IgA-bearing cells in the lamina propria of the mucosa of the small intestines in the PG and TF-treated groups aged three and four weeks were observed compared to those of control groups, while no clear difference of serum IgG levels was seen between the treated groups and the controls. The counts of viable E. coli in various parts of the small intestines of piglets treated with PG and TF were somewhat lower than those of the controls. In experiment II, the incidence of diarrhoea of PG and TF-treated sucking piglets was compared with that of the non-treated controls. Lower incidences of diarrhoea in the PG (P