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High resistance polysilicon resistors have been characterized by DC and pulsed I-V sweep measurements, resistance vs. temperature, and DC and pulsed voltage stress/measurement cycling. The combination of these measurements along with resistor linearity and electro-migration rules are used to determine the maximum safe-operating area. It is shown that the resistance shifts at high current conditions cannot be explained by electromigration alone, and are instead attributed to migration of dopants, Si, or hydrogen, either singly or in combination, both due to high self-heating. The results are used to create voltage and current checks within SPICE models allowing for robust design at maximum operating conditions. IR-OBIRCH physical analysis was performed and shows asymmetric changes to the resistor head regions.

The KESPRINT consortium identified K2-216 as a planetary candidate host star in the K2 space mission Campaign 8 field with a transiting super-Earth. The planet has recently been validated as well. Our aim was to confirm the detection and derive the main physical characteristics of K2-216b, including the mass. We performed a series of follow-up observations: high resolution imaging with the FastCam camera at the TCS, the Infrared Camera and Spectrograph at Subaru, and high resolution spectroscopy with HARPS (ESO, La Silla), HARPS-N (TNG), and FIES (NOT). The stellar spectra were analyzed with the SpecMatch-Emp and SME codes to derive the stellar fundamental properties. We analyzed the K2 light curve with the Pyaneti software. The radial-velocity measurements were modelled with both a Gaussian process (GP) regression and the floating chunk offset (FCO) technique to simultaneously model the planetary signal and correlated noise associated with stellar activity. Imaging confirms that K2-216 is a single star. Our analysis discloses that the star is a moderately active K5V star of mass 0.70+/-0.03 Msun and radius 0.72+/-0.03 Rsun. Planet b is found to have a radius of 1.75+0.17-0.10 Rearth and a 2.17-day orbit in agreement with previous results. We find consistent results for the planet mass from both models: 7.4+/-2.2 Mearth from the GP regression, and 8.0+/-1.6 Mearth from the FCO technique, which implies that this planet is a super-Earth. The planet parameters put planet b in the middle of, or just below, the gap of the radius distribution of small planets. The density is consistent with a rocky composition of primarily iron and magnesium silicate. In agreement with theoretical predictions, we find that the planet is a remnant core, stripped of its atmosphere, and is one of the largest planets found that has lost its atmosphere., Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysics 28 June 2018

Background Acute pancreatitis (AP) occurs frequently in dogs, but most previous studies examining the diagnosis of AP have used data from secondary care hospitals. Hypothesis/Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical utility of diagnostic laboratory tests in dogs with AP in a primary care hospital. Animals Sixty-four dogs with clinical signs suggestive of AP diagnosed with nonpancreatic disease (NP) or AP. Methods Medical records were retrospectively reviewed, including diagnostic laboratory tests considered potentially useful in the diagnosis of AP. The diagnostic accuracy of amylase and FUJI DRI-CHEM lipase (FDC lip) were investigated using receiver operating characteristics (ROC). In addition, we verified whether diagnostic laboratory tests were useful for evaluating duration of hospitalization and as biomarkers for monitoring recovery. Results Activities of amylase and FDC lip were significantly higher in the AP group than in the NP group (P = .001, P < .001, respectively). The sensitivity of FDP lip activity for diagnosing AP was 100% (95% confidence interval [CI], 87.7–100%); the specificity was 89.5% (95% CI, 66.9–98.7%). Area under the ROC curve for FDC lip activity was 0.98 (95% CI, 0.93–1). High alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity was associated with extended duration of hospitalization (P = .04). A significant difference in C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration before and 5 days after treatment was found (P = .001). Conclusions and clinical importance Measurement of FDC lip activity appears useful for diagnosing AP. High ALT activity might be associated with prolonged duration of hospitalization, and CRP might be useful as a biomarker for monitoring recovery from AP.

Spherical rolling is an interesting methodology for locomotion from both nonlinear control and robotics points of view. In this paper, we propose a dynamical model of a spherical mobile robot with focus on the eccentricity of its center of gravity, i.e., the offset in the center of its mass distribution. The proposed robot has a rigid spherical shell as its body, which contains active 2-d.o.f. pendulum inside as the control component. The robot is supposed to roll on the at horizontal oor without any slippage, and to spin around the vertical axis depending on kinematical settings when allowed. Through the dynamical analysis based on the model and several numerical simulations, we observe that the settings concerned with the spin is so crucial that the sphere tends to be severely affected by the torque from the ground, and point out that it should be the essential factors for the modeling and new robot creation in the future work.

We demonstrated the near-infrared (NIR) sensitivity enhancement of back-illuminated complementary metal oxide semiconductor image sensors (BI-CIS) with a pyramid surface for diffraction (PSD) structures on crystalline silicon and deep trench isolation (DTI). The incident light diffracted on the PSD because of the strong diffraction within the substrate, resulting in a quantum efficiency of more than 30% at 850 nm. By using a special treatment process and DTI structures, without increasing the dark current, the amount of crosstalk to adjacent pixels was decreased, providing resolution equal to that of a flat structure. Testing of the prototype devices revealed that we succeeded in developing unique BI-CIS with high NIR sensitivity.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Arterial spin-labeling MR imaging has been recently developed as a noninvasive technique with magnetically labeled arterial blood water as an endogenous contrast medium for the evaluation of CBF. Our aim was to compare arterial spin-labeling MR imaging and SPECT in the visual assessment of CBF in patients with Alzheimer disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 33 patients with Alzheimer disease or mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer disease, CBF images were obtained by using both arterial spin-labeling–MR imaging with a postlabeling delay of 1.5 seconds and 2.5 seconds (PLD(1.5) and PLD(2.5), respectively) and brain perfusion SPECT. Twenty-two brain regions were visually assessed, and the diagnostic confidence of Alzheimer disease was recorded. RESULTS: Among all arterial spin-labeling images, 84.9% of PLD(1.5) and 9% of PLD(2.5) images showed the typical pattern of advanced Alzheimer disease (ie, decreased CBF in the bilateral parietal, temporal, and frontal lobes). PLD(1.5), PLD(2.5), and SPECT imaging resulted in obviously different visual assessments. PLD(1.5) showed a broad decrease in CBF, which could have been due to an early perfusion. In contrast, PLD(2.5) did not appear to be influenced by an early perfusion but showed fewer pathologic findings than SPECT. CONCLUSIONS: The distinctions observed by us should be carefully considered in the visual assessments of Alzheimer disease. Further studies are required to define the patterns of change in arterial spin-labeling–MR imaging associated with Alzheimer disease.

Hybrid bonding, with wafer-level bonding to form oxide-oxide bonds and Cu-Cu bonds, is a promising technology for 3D integrated circuits. In this study, we describe the design, processing. and characterization of test structures formed using hybrid bonding for wafers built in two different technologies; a 180 nm Al BEOL technology and a 110nm Cu BEOL technology. The reliability evaluation shows good results for package level and wafer level stresses.

Data supporting active surveillance of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) for the prevention of postoperative infection remain controversial.To investigate the efficacy of MRSA screening in patients undergoing gastroenterological surgery.Nasal carriage of MRSA was screened using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay on two gastroenterological surgery wards (A and B). Occurrence of postoperative MRSA infection was analysed according to nasal MRSA carriage status (pre-operative carriage and postoperative acquisition).The incidence of pre-operative MRSA carriage was 9.7% on Ward A and 4.3% on Ward B (P = 0.009). Postoperative nasal MRSA acquisition was confirmed in 16.2% and 6.0% of patients, respectively (P0.001). There was no significant difference in the incidence of MRSA surgical site infections (SSIs) between patients with and without pre-operative nasal colonization on either ward. On Ward A, where MRSA nasal acquisition was more common, the MRSA infection rate in patients with postoperative nasal acquisition was 26.8%, which was significantly higher than the rates in patients with pre-operative MRSA colonization and patients without colonization during hospitalization. Postoperative nasal MRSA acquisition was an independent factor associated with MRSA infection on both wards [Ward A: odds ratio (OR) 7.192, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.981-17.352; Ward B: OR 5.761, 95% CI 1.429-23.220].MRSA SSIs were prevented by a screening-based strategy in pre-operative MRSA carriers. Postoperative nasal acquisition was a significant factor affecting MRSA infection, and the effect of screening varied according to the incidence of postoperative MRSA acquisition on the ward.

Summary What is known and objective Niemann-Pick C1-Like 1 (NPC1L1) plays a pivotal role in intestinal cholesterol absorption. Ezetimibe is known as an inhibitor for NPC1L1 and decreases concentration of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in blood. Responses of the decrease of serum LDL-C levels to ezetimibe have been reported to be different among NPC1L1 variants. However, there are still limited data concerning the genetic variation in the NPC1L1 gene, specifically, in Japanese patients with dyslipidemia. The purpose of this study is to elucidate genotype and allele frequencies of the NPC1L1 gene in Japanese patients with dyslipidemia. Methods Written informed consent was obtained from all participants. All patients were administered ezetimibe at the dose of 10 mg for once a day either alone or coadministered with statins. Patient's data were retrospectively obtained from their medical records. Genomic DNA was extracted from whole blood samples and analysed three NPC1L1 SNPs (rs2072183, rs217428 and rs217434) by the direct sequencing method. Results and discussion We found that there is a significant difference of genotype frequencies between healthy Japanese and dyslipidemic subjects in rs2072183. No significant differences were observed in rs217428 and rs217434; however, comparison of our data with literature reports suggests that there are significant differences in the frequencies of rs217428 and rs217434 between Canadian and Japanese dyslipidemic patients. What is new and conclusion Our study is the first report concerning the genotype and allele frequencies of the gene coding for NPC1L1 in Japanese patients with dyslipidemia. The most notable result was to demonstrate that there exists a significant difference in rs2072183 variant between healthy Japanese and dyslipidemic subjects and also found that there exists genetic variation of rs2072183 between Japanese and Canadian patients with dyslipidemia. Our results are expected to facilitate research in the proper use of ezetimibe-based mono- or combination therapies. Further studies will be required to evaluate the effects of rs2072183 on the efficacy of LDL cholesterol reduction by ezetimibe.

This study investigates the warm pre-stress effects under Load–Unload–Cool–Fracture transient with deep-cracked single edge bend specimens of a high strength steel. In the experiment, it has been found that warm pre-stressing increases the apparent overall elastic–plastic fracture toughness KJc_total compared to those of as-received specimens. A simple prediction procedure for fracture toughness of specimens with warm pre-stressing is proposed based on critical plastic zone criterion using fracture parameter superposition rule. It is shown that the increase and the narrower scatter band of fracture toughness of specimens with prior load can be well evaluated within the framework of the Master Curve methodology.

The fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) is reduced by anti-inflammatory treatment in asthma. However, the FENO level is also regulated by individual demographics and there is considerable variation among clinically stable patients.We hypothesized that some demographics may be responsible for persistent FENO elevation despite inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) therapy in asthma.This was a prospective observational study. We initially screened 250 stable asthmatics and determined the FENO cut-off point for identifying poorly controlled asthma defined by one of the following criteria: Asthma control test20, or forced expiratory volume in one-second % of predicted80%, or peak expiratory flow variability80% (Study 1). After 12-weeks, 229 patients who maintained high or low FENO were selected and the independent factors which might contribute to a high FENO were examined (Study 2).A FENO level39.5 p.p.b. yielded 67% sensitivity and 76% specificity for identifying the patients with poorly controlled asthma. The persistent high FENO group (≥ 40 p.p.b.) was more likely to be ex-smokers, to show evidence of atopy (positive specific IgE, higher serum IgE and blood eosinophils), and to have allergic comorbidities. Especially, past smoking history, blood eosinophils, and chronic rhinosinusitis were identified to be independent predictors of high FENO. Neither the dose of ICS nor other medication use showed any difference between the groups.These results suggested that past smoking history, blood eosinophilia, and chronic rhinosinusitis are involved in the persistent airway inflammation detected by FENO. Although their relative contributions on FENO values should be further quantified, clarification of the features of the subjects with high FENO might provide clues for adjustment of the treatment approach in asthma.

Successful kidney transplantation (KT) can theoretically reconstitute body composition of a patient with chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, the practical changes have not been well documented. We evaluated changes in body composition among candidates before and 1 year after KT.We enrolled 37 male and 18 female kidney recipients eligible for comparison of their body mass index (BMI), body composition, and lipid metabolism before and 1 year after KT. Twenty-one patients had been induced with a calcineurin inhibitor, mycophenolate mofetil, steroid, and basiliximab, and 34 others underwent steroid withdrawal on postoperative day 3. The body composition was analyzed using bioelectrical impedance. We also analyzed changes in BMI and lipid profiles.There was no significant change in BMI (21.4 ± 3.1 vs 21.7 ± 3.5 kg/m(2)). Regarding body composition, the water level decreased significantly (61.2 ± 4.9% vs 58.3 ± 5.3%; P.05). In contrast, fat significantly increased (16.4 ± 6.7% vs 20.3 ± 7.1%; P.05). More interestingly, successful KT significantly decreased the muscle and bone mass at 1 year after KT (37.3 ± 5.1% vs 34.8 ± 4.7%; 16.3 ± 2.1% vs 15.2 ± 2.1%; respectively; P.05). Serum lipid profiles of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglyceride worsened after KT. Comparing the 2 protocols, there was no difference in any item.Care must be taken even after successful KT to avoid dyslipidemia, which is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Well programmed dietary and/or exercise protocols to prevent muscle atrophy and fat gain should be considered even after successful KT.

It has been hypothesized that suppression of bone remodeling allows microdamage to accumulate, leading to increased bone fragility. This study evaluated the effects of reduced bone turnover produced by bisphosphonates on microdamage accumulation and biomechanical properties of cortical bone in the dog rib. Thirty-six female beagles, 1-2 years old, were divided into three groups. The control group (CNT) was treated daily for 12 months with saline vehicle. The remaining two groups were treated daily with risedronate (RIS) at a dose of 0.5 mg/kg per day or alendronate (ALN) at 1.0 mg/kg per day orally. After sacrifice, the right ninth rib was assigned to cortical histomorphometry or microdamage analysis. The left ninth rib was tested to failure in three-point bending. Total cross-sectional bone area was significantly increased in both RIS and ALN compared with CNT, whereas cortical area did not differ significantly among groups. One-year treatment with RIS or ALN significantly suppressed intracortical remodeling (RIS, 53%; ALN, 68%) without impairment of mineralization and significantly increased microdamage accumulation in both RIS (155%) and ALN (322%) compared with CNT. Although bone strength and stiffness were not significantly affected by the treatments, bone toughness declined significantly in ALN (20%). Regression analysis showed a significant nonlinear relationship between suppressed intracortical bone remodeling and microdamage accumulation as well as a significant linear relationship between microdamage accumulation and reduced toughness. This study showed that suppression of bone turnover by high doses of bisphosphonates is associated with microdamage accumulation and reduced some mechanical properties of bone.

In the flower market there is a continuous demand for new cultivars of Alstroemeria as an ornamental flower. Many interspecific hybrids of Alstroemeria are utilized for commercial cultivars. However there is no report about intergeneric hybridization between Alstroemeria and Bomarea. We are investigating the possibility of creating intergeneric hybrids between Alstroemeria and Bomarea. Moreover, ovule culture conditions were examined for overcoming post-fertilization barriers after pollination of Bomarea pollen grains to A. aurea, A. pelegrina var. rosea and A. magenta. The frequency of pollen tube entry into ovules was compared in the pistil of A. aurea, A. pelegrina var. rosea and A. magenta after pollination of B. coccinea pollen grains. Pollen tubes in Alstroemeria ovaries were observed with aniline blue staining 48 hours after pollination. The frequencies of pollen tube entry into ovules were 0.3, 5.6 and 10.0% in A. aurea, A. pelegrina var. rosea and A. magenta, respectively. For ovule culture, pollinated ovaries were harvested 3 and 7 days after pollination, and the ovules were cultured on 2 g L -1 gellan gum-solidified MS medium with or without gibberellic acid, and supplemented with sucrose at different concentrations (30, 60, 80 or 100 g L -1 ). As a result, 3 plantlets were obtained in A. pelegrina var. rosea x B. coccinea cultured on MS medium supplemented with 80 g L -1 sucrose. Although pollen tubes of B. coccinea were reached to A. aurea ovules, this combination might have stronger pre-fertilization barriers than those of A. pelegrina var. rosea and A. magenta. It supposed to be different intensity of pre-fertilization barriers among species. Our data also suggested that sucrose concentration at 80 g L -1 in culture medium was effective to obtain progenies after intergeneric pollination. Confirmation of hybrid natures for the plantlets is now in progress.

A record high electron mobility (248 cm2/V middots at E eff of 1 MV/cm) was obtained at T inv of 1.47 nm, with a band-edge effective work function, by a Hf-Si/HfO2 stack using gate-last process, resulting in I ON of 1178 muA/mum (I OFF of 100 nA/ mum ) at V dd of 1.0 V for a 45-nm gate nMOSFET without strain-enhanced technology.

V-bending test was conducted for sixteen different lots of austenitic stainless steel alloys, SUS304. The tensile flow stresses of all alloys were nearly identical to each other in the rolling and transverse directions. We found that the springback angles of all alloys were approximately 20% larger in TD-bending than RD-bending, where RD- and TD-bending refer to the modes of V-bending in which the direction of the bending stress is parallel to the rolling and transverse directions of the sheet, respectively. In order to clarify the cause of the asymmetry of springback behaviour between TD- and RD-bending, in-plane tension and compression tests were carried out for one of the alloys and a tension-compression asymmetry was observed. Consequently, we conclude that the difference in the springback angles between RD- and TD-bending is mainly caused by the significant decrease of the flow stress in the rolling direction due to the Bauschinger effect.

This paper deals with two representative unbalanced traffic cases for two-hop wireless relay access systems employing network coding and a slotted ALOHA protocol. Network coding is a recent and highly regarded technology for capacity enhancement with multiple unicast and multisource multicast networks. We have analyzed the performance of network coding on a two-hop wireless relay access system employing the slotted ALOHA under a balanced bidirectional traffic. The relay nodes will generally undergo this unbalanced multidirectional traffic but the impact of this unbalanced traffic on network coding has not been analyzed. This paper provides closed-form expressions for the throughput and packet delay for two-hop unbalanced bidirectional traffic cases both with and without network coding even if the buffers on nodes are unsaturated. The analytical results are mainly derived by solving queueing systems for the buffer behavior at the relay node. The results show that the transmission probability of the relay node is a design parameter that is crucial to maximizing the achievable throughput of wireless network coding in slotted ALOHA on two-hop unbalanced traffic cases. Furthermore, we show that the throughput is enhanced even if the traffic at the relay node is unbalanced.

Newly proposed mobility-booster technologies are demonstrated for metal/high-k gate-stack n- and pMOSFETs. The process combination of top-cut SiN dual stress liners and damascene gates remarkably enhances local channel stress particularly for shorter gate lengths in comparison with a conventional gate-first process. Dummy gate removal in the damascene gate process induces high channel stress, because of the elimination of reaction force from the dummy gate. PFETs with top-cut compressive stress liners and embedded SiGe source/drains are performed by using atomic layer deposition TiN/HfO2 gate stacks with Tinv=1.4 nm on (100) substrates. On the other hand, nFETs with top-cut tensile stress liners are obtained by using HfSix/HfO2 gate stacks with Tinv=1.4 nm. High-performance n- and pFETs are achieved with Ion=1300 and 1000 muA/mum at Ioff =100 nA/mum, Vdd=1.0 V, and a gate length of 40 nm, respectively.

As underground development continues at great depths, the danger of rock bursts will inevitably increase. It is important to consider countermeasures for avoiding rock bursts in underground work. In Japan, rock bursts have actually been experienced during construction of several tunnels, including the Kan-etsu tunnel construction project, during which many rock bursts were observed. Stress analysis of tunnels is performed based on initial stress measurements in the base rock. In addition, AE measurement has been adopted in construction management, allowing safer excavation. Collective analysis of the data obtained has been shown to be effective for safety control during excavation of hard base rock. In this research, initial stress measurements in base rock, secondary stress analysis around a tunnel, and AE measurements are examined. Based on the results of this analysis, it is clear that the generation of rock bursts is related to the presence of geological discontinuities.

This paper proposes a low damage smoothing process for magnetic materials using a gas cluster ion beam (GCIB). In order to achieve low damage processing, the effect of incident angle was investigated. Depth profiles of major elements constituting the films were measured by secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS). The film structure and the lattice spacing were obtained by X-ray reflectivity (XRR) and grazing incident X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. After the GCIB irradiation at an acceleration voltage of 20 kV and incident angle of 80° with simultaneous rotation, a smooth surface of a PtMn film was obtained, with an average roughness of 1.2 nm. A damaged layer thickness of less than 1.5 nm was achieved under these conditions. Using the oblique GCIB irradiation, the PtMn film was etched without any change in the strain profile. Thus, the GCIB could be utilized to obtain surfaces of magnetic devices with extremely shallow damage.

A stem-girdling experiment was carried out on an evergreen conifer, the Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis Sieb. et Zucc.), in mid summer in Northeast China. A 50 % higher respiration rate at the upper part of the stem was observed 3 d after stem girdling, and a stable higher rate (1.2–2.8 times) one week later. However, no higher soluble sugar or starch contents were found in the upper bark of the girdled stems in measurements over three weeks. These findings indicate that most of the newly-formed photosynthates were consumed by the high respiratory activity; this is also implied by the strong correlation between the photosynthetic photon flux over the canopy (PPF) and respiration at the upper parts of girdled stems. Moreover, the maximum PPF and cumulative PPF one day before measurement (PPFmax-Y and CPPF-Y, respectively) were closely correlated with the respiratory difference between the upper and the lower parts, but no such correlation was found with the instantaneous PPF (PPF-I) and cumulative PPF on the current day from sunrise to measured time point (CPPF-C). This shows that photosynthates newly formed by canopy needles need at least one day for transportation in order to increase the stem respiration at tree breast height.

The floating zone (FZ) method makes it possible to fabricate Ni3Al thin foils by cold rolling up to 96% without any intermediate annealing steps or boron addition. For the practical application of Ni3Al foils, oxidation behavior, in addition to mechanical properties, at high temperature should be investigated. The cyclic oxidation properties at 1000 °C of cold-rolled Ni3Al foil were investigated, and compared with those of bulk Ni3Al alloy produced by conventional casting. The Ni3Al foil exhibited more stable oxidation behavior than the bulk Ni3Al alloy; in addition, the more stable oxidation behavior of Ni3Al foil relative to bulk Ni3Al alloy was attributable to an abrupt increase of grain boundaries due to recrystallization.

Bisphosphonates are emerging as an important treatment for osteoporosis. But whether the reduced fracture risk associated with bisphosphonate treatment is due to increased bone mass, improved trabecular architecture and/or increased secondary mineralization of the calcified matrix remains unclear. We examined the effects of bisphosphonates on both the trabecular architecture and matrix properties of canine trabecular bone. Thirty-six beagles were divided into a control group and two treatment groups, one receiving risedronate and the other alendronate at 5-6 times the clinical dose for osteoporosis treatment. After one year, the dogs were killed, and samples from the first lumbar vertebrae were examined using a combination of micro-computed tomography, finite element modeling, and mechanical testing. By combining these methods, we examined the treatment effects on the calcified matrix and trabecular architecture independently. Conventional histomorphometry and microdamage data were obtained from the second and third lumbar vertebrae of the same dogs [Bone 28 (2001) 524]. Bisphosphonate treatment resulted in an increased apparent Young's modulus, decreased bone turnover, increased calcified matrix density, and increased microdamage. We could not detect any change in the effective Young's modulus of the calcified matrix in the bisphosphonate treated groups. The observed increase in apparent Young's modulus was due to increased bone mass and altered trabecular architecture rather than changes in the calcified matrix modulus. We hypothesize that the expected increase in the Young's modulus of the calcified matrix due to the increased calcified matrix density was counteracted by the accumulation of microdamage.

In this paper, a batch microfabrication process is presented for creating high aspect ratio, micron-sized helical and toroidal inductors with Q greater than or equal to 50 at multi-GHz frequencies. With a maximum processing temperature of only 220/spl deg/C, the inductors can be fabricated on top of standard CMOS wafers. This process can also be used to create "inductor chiplets", which are polymer-encapsulated inductors with the same form factor as an EIA (Electronics Industries Association) standard 0201 surface mount device. The chiplets can be assembled onto CMOS wafers using a fluidic microassembly technique. This technique allows for multiple electrical interconnects to the inductor chiplets. The 40-/spl mu/m gap between the substrate and assembled inductor increases the Q by a factor of /spl sim/3 compared to as-fabricated inductors. Assembled and as-fabricated inductors have been characterized on similar substrates and have maximum Q values of 50 and 15 with resonant frequencies of 10 GHz and 9 GHz, respectively. Performance of the assembled inductors is nearly comparable to that of inductors as fabricated and tested on quartz substrates.

牛クローディン－16(CL-16)欠損症19頭およびそれ以外の腎不全黒毛和種牛2頭におけるビタミンA(VA)とレチノール結合蛋白質(RBP)の動態および過長蹄の発現について調査した。CL-16欠損症では、1-6ヶ月齢の子牛3頭を除き84%で過長蹄がみられた。CL-16欠損症を過長蹄群と正常蹄群にわけて正常黒毛和種子牛群36頭と比較したところ、過長蹄群ではRBP、VA、尿素窒素(UN)およびクレアチニン(Cre)の有意な増加がみられ、正常蹄群ではVAのみ有意な増加がみられた。RBPはVA、UN、およびCreと有意な正の相関を示し、VAはVA添加飼料が給与される5-13ヶ月齢で著しい高値を示した。腎不全牛2頭(腎盂腎炎、腎低形成症)でも過長蹄がみられ、VAおよびRBPは高値を示した。CL-16欠損症で正常蹄の牛は、若齢または軽度の腎障害であったことから、過長蹄はCL-16欠損症に特異な症状ではなく、重度の腎機能障害の持続により発現すると考えられた。

Texture evolutions of cold-rolled thin foils of binary stoichiometric Ni 3 Al single crystals were examined as a function of the initial crystal orientation. In the cases of the initial rolling direction (RD) close to , a double {110} texture associated with a banded structure tends to develop irrespective of the initial foil normal direction (ND). The macroscopic shape of these foils with the banded structure is straight and simply elongated along RD, keeping their rectangular shape. In contrast, when the initial RD is close to , the texture and the microstructure are rather uniform without the texture splitting and the banded structure formation. The foils of group B are macroscopically curved, twisted and eventually cracked from the side edge of the samples. Tendencies of the lattice rotations vary with the initial ND in the latter case. According to the plastic strain analysis, the formation of the banded structure is found to be essential for fabricating the thin straight foils in the case of the cold rolling of Ni 3 Al single crystals.

We purified ghrelin from stomach extracts of a teleost fish, the Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica) and found that it contained an amide structure at the C-terminal end. Two molecular forms of ghrelin with 21 amino acids were identified by cDNA and mass spectrometric analyses: eel ghrelin-21, GSS(O-n-octanoyl)FLSPSQRPQGKDKKPP RV-amide and eel ghrelin-21-C10, GSS(O-n-decanoyl) FLSPSQRPQGKDKKPPRV-amide. Northern blot and RT-PCR analyses revealed high gene expression in the stomach. Low levels of expression were found only in the brain, intestines, kidney and head kidney by RT-PCR analysis. Eel ghrelin-21 increased plasma growth hormone (GH) concentrations in rats after intravenous injection; the potency was similar to that of rat ghrelin. We also examined the effect of eel ghrelin on the secretion of GH and prolactin (PRL) from organ-cultured tilapia pituitary. Eel ghrelin-21 at a dose of 0.1 nM stimulated the release of GH and PRL, indicating that ghrelin acts directly on the pituitary. The present study revealed that ghrelin is present in fish stomach and has the ability to stimulate the secretion of GH from fish pituitary. A novel regulatory pathway of GH secretion by gastric ghrelin seems to be conserved from fish to human.

An experiment was carried out to determine endogenous excretion of allantoin (AN) in lambs and kids fasted and fed on a purine-free diet (milk replacer: MR). After weaning (40–50 days after birth), the animals were reared by feeding on MR until they were 120 days old. At 8 months of age, they were fasted for 8 days, and then re-fed on MR for 13 days. After weaning, AN excretion gradually decreased almost to a constant level at 80–120 days after birth (mean 0·14 mmol/kgW0·75/day). In goat kids, there was variation but no definite trend in urinary AN excretion in the period 40–120 days (mean 0·35 mmol/kgW0·75/day). Urinary AN excretion was very low after fasting for 8 days, mean values (per kgW0·75/day) being 0·13 mmoles for lambs and 0·17 mmoles for goat kids. In lambs, urinary AN excretion did not increase following subsequent re-feeding of MR, and for goat kids the increase was small. Changes in plasma AN concentration after fasting and re-feeding showed a similar response to that of urinary AN excretion for both sheep and goats so that there was a high positive correlation between the plasma AN and urinary AN excretion (r=0·881 for lambs and r=0·853 for kids). It is concluded that, in these young animals, urinary AN excretion rapidly responds to changes in plasma AN and is therefore likely to be a useful practical indication of endogenous PD excretion.

ZnO thin films were deposited on nesa silica glass substrates via sol-gel method using Zn(CH3COO)2·2H2O—Co(CH3COO)2 ·4H2O—polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)—diethanolamine—2-methoxyethanol solutions. The effects of the Co2+ ions and PVP in coating solutions on the photoanodic properties of the resultant films were studied by measuring photocurrent—potential curves and action spectra in a three-electrode cell with a supporting electrolyte of pH = 9.18. The photoanodic current under xenon lamp light decreased with increasing amount of Co2+ ions due to the decreased quantum efficiency in the UV regions. The photoresponse was extended to wavelengths of ca. 450 nm when the Co/Zn mole ratios were 0.05 and 0.15, while the response to the visible light diminished at Co/Zn > 0.3. The UV photoresponse of Co2+-free ZnO films increased when PVP was added in the coating solutions, where the maximum quantum yield of 0.62 was obtained at a wavelength of 364 nm. On the other hand, the UV photoresponse rather decreased when PVP was added in Co2+-containing solutions.

An opening in a fully developed burning room is the main path of a fire spreading from floor to floor and to an adjacent building. Even though the issue of fire spread to an adjacent building has been incorporated in fire safety engineering design guidelines, a performance-based design provides an alternative and accurate method to optimize the distance between the burning building facade and an adjacent building. This situation was simulated by performing a series of small–scale experiments having a facade wall with flames and an opposite parallel wall representing an adjacent building in order to investigate the physics of the flame behaviour and measure the heat fluxes between two walls. The outcome of this research provides unique information for engineering design for separation distances between adjacent buildings. A new length scale, 3 l , representing the length after which the flames turn from horizontal to vertical was developed in this research. The significance of this length scale has been verified by the experimental results for flame heights and heat fluxes and by observations. A similarity correlation for flame heights between the two parallel walls were developed in this research. Similarity correlations for radiative heat fluxes on facade walls were developed by dividing the data into two groups. One is for the distance between two walls being larger than length scale 3 l , the other is for the distance being less or equal to length scale 3 l .

山形県内の枝肉共進会に出品された血統の明確な黒毛和種肥育牛を用い、性および枝肉共進会開催日(以下と殺時期)を母数効果、父牛を変量効果とした最小二乗法により枝肉形質とと殺時の血清総コレステロール(TC)値等の8形質について遺伝的パラメータを推定した。その結果、血清TCと枝肉重量および牛脂肪交雑基準(B.M.S.No.)の間には中程度以上の遺伝相関がみられた。遺伝率は血清TC値および枝肉重量でそれぞれ0.85、0.66と高く、B.M.S.No,では0.34であった。枝肉重量および血清TCにおける母数効果は、雌および7月と9月で負、去勢と11月は正であり、性・時期による差がみられた。以上から枝肉性状は遺伝的能力と季節に大きく影響され、また血清TC値は枝肉重量およびB.M.S.No.をモニターする生化学マーカーとして有用であることが示唆された。