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The magnetic properties of $\mathrm{Cs}{\mathrm{Cr}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Mg}}_{x}{\mathrm{Cl}}_{3} (x=0.073)$ are studied by electron-spin-resonance (ESR), magnetic-susceptibility, and heat-capacity measurements to elucidate the edge state in the finite chains of the $S=2$ quasi-one-dimensional Heisenberg antiferromagnet CsCr${\mathrm{Cl}}_{3}$. The results of the ESR measurements in the temperature range 14-40 K are well explained by an effective $S=1$ fractional spin. A crossover between different Curie constants observed in the susceptibility measurements is also explained by assuming $S=1$ free spins at the ends of the finite chains below 40 K. The appearance of the $S=1$ fractional spin can be understood by the valence-bond-solid model.

The presence of three strains of Salmonella cells in chicken feces was detected by polymyxin-cloth enzyme immunoassay. A cotton swab-full of Salmonella -free chicken feces (containing an aerobic count of about 3×10 7 cfu) was mixed with a small number of Salmonella typhimurium (6 or 12 cfu), Salmonella enteritidis (6 or 15 cfu) or Salmonella hadar (5 or 10 cfu) in 5 ml of brain–heart infusion medium supplemented with 0.5% yeast extract, 0.3% sodium hydrogen selenite, and 0.5% sodium cholate. After 20 h static incubation at 37°C, heat-extracted lipopolysaccharide (LPS) antigens were captured by polymixin B adsorbed onto macroporous polyester cloth. The LPS antigens were then detected via sequential reactions with a mixture of mouse anti- Salmonella LPS antibody and rabbit Salmonella O antiserum followed by a mixture of horseradish peroxidase conjugates of antibody to mouse and rabbit immunoglobulin G. The total procedure took about 22 h. This method was also used to detect endogeneous Salmonella in feces of chicken inoculated with Salmonella and to measure the level of fecal Salmonella . This simple, rapid and sensitive method for Salmonella detection in feces should be useful not only for routine screening of Salmonella shedding in poultry, but also for Salmonella testing of stool from human patients and food handlers.

The crystal structure and physical properties of radical ion salts (EDO-TTFBr 2 ) 2 FeX 4 (X = Cl, Br) composed of halogen-substituted organic donor and magnetic halide anions are investigated. The salts consist of uniformly stacked donor molecules, whose Br substituents are connected to halide ligands of anions with remarkably short intermolecular contacts. Both salts show metallic behavior above ca. 30K. The FeCl 4 salt shows an antiferromagnetic (AF) transition at T N = 4.2K despite the absence of anion...anion contacts, thus the magnetic interaction between the localized spins on the anions is mediated by the π-d interaction through the Br...Cl contacts. For the FeBr 4 salt the AF transition temperature is elevated to T N = 13.5K, accompanied with another anomaly at T C2 = 8.5K. This behavior can be qualitatively explained by a magnetic structure model where the π-d interaction between donor and anion is taken into account.

MoO3ZnO and NiOZnO were subjected to the reverse water gas shift reaction (CO2 + H2 → CO + H2O) at 903 K with excess CO. Carbon deposition (2CO → C↓ + CO2) and methanation of CO (CO + 3H2 → CH4 + H2O) took place during the reaction on NiOZnO catalyst. Contrary to this, the reaction selectively proceeded on MoO3ZnO even in the presence of a large amount of CO. Mo4+ and Mo5+ species were detected on the catalyst surface. It is deduced that the partially reduced form of supported MoO3 would be effective in improving the selectivity of the reverse water gas shift reaction.

A 1.5-/spl mu/m multigain-levered (MGL)-MQW-DFB-LD which utilizes a new concept of multigain-levering is proposed and realized by two-step selective MOVPE growth. The device consists of three sections with different bandgap energies. High- and flat-FM-efficiency value of 10 GHz/mA was theoretically and experimentally demonstrated up to the 2 GHz modulation frequency. >

Epoxy resins with various ratios from two kinds of curing agents, ethylenediamine (EDA) and N,N′-dimethylethylenediamine (MeEDA), were prepared. In order to examine the strain rate and temperature dependence of the shear yield strength and the shear strength, test specimens were subjected to shear deformation at various strain rates and temperature. The shear yield strength and the shear strength increased almost linearly as the logarithm of the strain rate increased. The strain rate-temperature superposition held for these shear properties. In particular, an experimental equation of the strain rate-temperature superposition for the shear yield strength was found. The shift factor to obtain a master curve was given with the temperature dependence of an Arrhenius type. Furthermore, the strain rate-temperature-mixing ratio of curing agent superposition held for the shear properties, and the shift factor for these superpositions increased with the increase in MeEDA.

We analyzed an initial step of T cell adhesion to endothelial cells under flow conditions. An initial step in T cell-endothelial cell interactions was characterized either by a rolling phase, or by an immediate arrest without rolling. Anti-E- and P-selectin Abs inhibited T cell rolling on endothelial cells under flow conditions. The rolling velocity of T cells on endothelial cells increased after treatment of endothelial cells with anti-E- or P-selectin Abs. Also, rolling of T cells was observed on E-selectin-transfected CHO cells but not on ICAM-1-transfected CHO cells. Thus, rolling of T cells under flow condition was dependent on E-selectin as well as P-selectin expressed on endothelial cells. In contrast, neither anti-E- nor P-selectin Abs inhibited the immediate arrest of T cells on endothelial cells significantly and anti-ICAM-1 Abs also failed to inhibit the immediate arrest of T cells. Therefore, other adhesion molecules may play an important role in the immediate arrest of T cells under flow conditions. The number of CD45RA- T cells rolling on E-selectin-transfected CHO cells was much higher than that of CD45RA+ T cells.

We examined the levels of expression of the multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) gene quantified by Northern blot analysis in comparison with those of the MDR1 gene determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in 104 non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) specimens [59 adenocarcinoma (Ad), 40 squamous cell carcinoma (Sq), four large cell carcinoma (La) and one adeno-squamous carcinoma (AdSq)]. Thirty-three (31.7%) of the 104 NSCLC expressed the MRP gene at various levels. The NSCLC showing high (++) levels of MRP gene expression (19 out of 33, 57.6%) were predominantly squamous cell carcinomas (Ad, 5; Sq, 13; La, 1) (P < 0.05). Six of the eight NSCLCs expressing high levels of MRP mRNA and no MDR1 (MRP ++, MDR1-) were squamous cell carcinomas. Sixty-one of the 104 NSCLC patients received chemotherapy with MRP-related anti-cancer drugs [vindesine (VDS) and etoposide (VP-16)]. Twenty-three patients (37.7%) with tumour expressing high or moderate levels of MRP showed significantly worse prognoses than those with non- or low-MRP-expressing tumours (P < 0.05). These results suggest that the level of MRP gene expression is related to the histopathology and prognosis of NSCLC. Images Figure 1

Total cross section for the double neutral pion photoproduction off the proton is presented in the incident photon energy range of 0.58 to 1.15 GeV. The data were accumulated in the years 2009–2010, recorded by a 4π EM calorimeter at ELPH, named FOREST. The number of recorded events obtained during this period is 1.6×109 for a hydrogen target. Two neutral pions are reconstructed via detecting their decay products, four gammas (2π 0 → 4γ ). Compared to the previous results obtained by other groups, our data are in good agreement with theirs within error bars.

Unconventional magnetic features are reported in charge-transfer complex-based molecular magnets. Quasi-1D metals (DMET) 2 FeBr 4 , (EDTDM) 2 FeBr 4 and semiconductor (EDS–TTF) 2 FeBr 4 are isostructural with alternating stacking of donor π-electron conducting sheets and square lattice d-spins of FeBr 4 − anion sheets. The former two undergo an SDW transition at 15–40 K. For (DMET) 2 FeBr 4 , the magnetoresistance is strongly affected by Fe 3+ spin arrangement, suggesting strong π–d interaction. Quasi-1D metal (EDO–TTFBr 2 ) 3 I 3 undergoes an MI transition around T MI ∼150 K. The susceptibility is featured with 1D antiferromagnetic (AF) system with fractional magnetic moments. It takes a 3D AF ordered state below T N =15 K. The co-existence of metallic conduction and localised moments evidences features of strongly correlated electron system in the MI boundary.

We have developed a quick-scanning x-ray absorption fine structure (QXAFS) system and installed it at the recently constructed synchrotron radiation beamline BL33XU at the SPring-8. Rapid acquisition of high-quality QXAFS data was realized by combining a servo-motor-driven Si channel-cut monochromator with a tapered undulator. Two tandemly aligned monochromators with channel-cut Si(111) and Si(220) crystals covered energy ranges of 4.0-28.2 keV and 6.6-46.0 keV, respectively. The system allows the users to adjust instantly the energy ranges of scans, the starting angles of oscillations, and the frequencies. The channel-cut crystals are cooled with liquid nitrogen to enable them to withstand the high heat load from the undulator radiation. Deformation of the reflecting planes is reduced by clamping each crystal with two cooling blocks. Performance tests at the Cu K-edge demonstrated sufficiently high data quality for x-ray absorption near-edge structure and extended x-ray absorption fine-structure analyses with temporal resolutions of up to 10 and 25 ms, respectively.

Cluster [PPN][Ru6C(CO)16(CH3)] (2) has been found to be catalytic active for the hydrogenation and isomerization of olefins at 60°C after an induction period. Reaction of 2 or [PPN][Ru6C(CO)15(C3H5)] with dihydrogen at 130°C gives an unsaturated hydrido cluster [PPN][Ru6C(CO)15H] (6), which behaves as the catalyst at ambient temperature. The structure of 6 has a carbon-centered octahedral geometry of ruthenium atoms which is surrounded by fifteen carbonyl ligands, two terminal ones for each ruthenium atom and three bridging ones, and a bridging hydrido ligand. Treatment of 6 with carbon monoxide yields a saturated hydrido cluster [PPN][Ru6C(CO)16H] (5), which is also prepared by protonation of [PPN]2[Ru6C(CO)16]. X-ray analysis of 5 shows the cluster anion is disordered between two sites in the ratio of 8 to 2. The major one contains a carbon centered octahedron of six ruthenium atoms with two terminal carbonyl ligands for each ruthenium atom, with four bridging carbonyl ligands, and a terminal hydrido ligand.

A model experiment is conducted in a large wave channel to reproduce the settlement failures of caisson type seawalls. Due to wave overtopping and wave transmission through the rubble mound, the reclamed sand is washed down through the back-fill rubble stones. The pore pressure variation in the rubble stones and reclaimed sand can well explain the through-wash of the sand.

The negative ion based neutral beam injector heating system for JT-60U has contributed to core plasma heating and noninductive current drive experiments on JT-60U. For increasing further the beam power and beam pulse duration, the serious issue is improvement of source plasma nonuniformity in the ion source. Various countermeasures have been devised to solve the nonuniformity. The first is to adjust the spatial distribution of the arc discharge through regulating the arc current limiting resistors to be connected in series to each of the filament groups. The second is to change the arc discharge mode through controlling the filament temperature. These measures have been found to be very effective.

Fluconazole is an antifungal agent that is commonly used to treat patients with serious systemic fungal infections in intensive care units. Fosfluconazole is a phosphate prodrug of fluconazole, which was developed to reduce the volume of fluid required to administer fluconazole by intravenous injection. The objective of this study was to characterize the pharmacokinetics of the antifungal fluconazole after the intravenous administration of the prodrug fosfluconazole or fluconazole in critically ill patients with serious systemic fungal infections, by population pharmacokinetic analysis using the nonmem software package.Clinical biochemical data including serum fluconazole levels were obtained from 57 patients treated in the intensive care unit along with two naïve pooled patients gleaned from previous reports. The pharmacokinetic model of fluconazole was estimated using a one-compartment model. The probability that the area under the concentration-time curve is higher than 800 μg h/mL was determined by simulation.It was assumed that all the administered fosfluconazole was converted to fluconazole with an estimated fosfluconazole-fluconazole conversion rate constant of 2·05/h. The significant covariates for clearance for fluconazole (CL) and volume of distribution for fluconazole (Vd) were resulted in creatinine clearance (CLcr) and body weight (BW), respectively, in the final pharmacokinetic model equations: CL (L/h) = 0·799 × [CLcr (mL/min)/92·7](0·685) and Vd (L) = 48·1 × [BW (kg)/65](1·40) , where the interpatient variabilities in CL and Vd and the intrapatient variability were 44·8%, 79·7% and 19·8%, respectively. On the basis of the results of the Monte Carlo simulation, the probabilities of target attainment were 60%, 26% and 11% for 400 mg/day administration as fluconazole equivalent at CLcr values of 40, 70 and 100 mL/min, respectively.The present population pharmacokinetic analysis strongly indicates that fosfluconazole (and fluconazole) dosage should be optimized in terms of CLcr in critically ill patients.

Human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) is a major cause of limbic encephalitis with a dismal prognosis after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (SCT). Because our previous trial of preemptive therapy with foscarnet sodium (phosphonoformic acid; PFA) failed to prevent HHV-6 encephalitis, we conducted a prospective study to examine the safety of prophylactic PFA administration and elucidate the changes in the plasma HHV-6 DNA levels in the early post-SCT period. Plasma HHV-6 DNA was measured thrice weekly from day 6. PFA, 90 mg/kg/day, was administered from days 7 to 21 after bone marrow or peripheral blood SCT and to day 25 after umbilical cord blood transplantation. Of the 10 patients enrolled, 2 dropped out of the study, 1 because of early death, and 1 with a low glomerular filtration rate. Grade 3 or greater adverse events occurred in 9 of the 10 prophylactic PFA patients and in 7 of the 10 control patients who had clinical backgrounds similar to the study subjects and underwent SCT during the same period. Neurological disorders developed in none of the study subjects but in 4 of the 10 control patients, including 2 with HHV-6 encephalitis. HHV-6 reactivation occurred in 3 of the 10 study subjects. The prophylactic PFA regimen was thus safe and it may reduce the risk of limbic encephalitis, but is not considered to be potent enough to prevent HHV-6 reactivation.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic validity of radiographer, first radiologist and second radiologist on gastric cancer screening, in terms of sensitivity, specificity and area under receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) analysis. The study subjects were 431,949 Osaka residents who underwent gastric cancer screening test at the Osaka Cancer Prevention and Detection Center (the Center) between January 1, 1996 and December 31, 2002. Film readings were carried out at first by 21 radiographers and then double-checked by 31 first radiologists and 9 second radiologists. The sensitivity, specificity and AUC were calculated separately on radiographers, first and second radiologists. Sensitivity, specificity and AUC values on radiographer were 62.5%, 94.1% and 0.79, while those on first radiologist were 78.3%, 94.2% and 0.87, and those on second radiologist were 85.9%, 92.2% and 0.91. Sensitivity and AUC of radiographers were significantly lower than those of radiologists (P < 0.05). Although this result seems to be affected by the first film reading of radiographers, it is considered that more training on film reading is necessary for radiographers.

This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.-- et al., We have optimised the atmospheric radiation algorithm of the FAMOUS climate model on several hardware platforms. The optimisation involved translating the Fortran code to C and restructuring the algorithm around the computation of a single air column. Instead of the existing MPI-based domain decomposition, we used a task queue and a thread pool to schedule the computation of individual columns on the available processors. Finally, four air columns are packed together in a single data structure and computed simultaneously using Single Instruction Multiple Data operations., Sony CSL would like to thank the UK Met Office for providing us with a Vendor Benchmarking License, and the Sony Computer Entertainment R&D teams for their support. This work was also supported by EU FP6 project European Climate of the Last Millennium (MILLENNIUM 017008). O. B. and N. B. acknowledge support from the DECC/Defra Hadley Centre Climate Programme (GA01101).

We have been conducting an experimental program to study strangeness photoproduc‐tions on the deuteron by measuring K0 and Λ in the threshold energy region. The π−π+ from K0 and π−p from Λ are detected by use of large acceptance magnetic spectrometers. At the first stage of the program, we started with Neutral Kaon Spectrometer (NKS), which consisted of timing counters and tracking devices in the magnetic field. The NKS spectrometer was employed to measure K0 photoproductions from deuteron and carbon target for the first time. A newly constructed spectrometer (NKS2) has been employed for the second stage experiment. It consists of a 110 ton dipole magnet and a combination of detectors. The momentum distributions of K0 and A from γ+d process were observed, and compared with the calculations based on the isobar models. The NKS2 spectrometer has been upgraded by installing a three dimensional tracking device in the central region. This improvement enables to explore the simultaneous measurement of the K0‐A with reasonable statistics.

The dissociation constant of meta -arsenous acid (HAsO 2 ) was accurately determined from spectrophotometric measurements, combined with volumetric methods. The measurement of pH of the analyte solution containing HAsO 2 , which was titrated with sodium hydroxide, was achieved by the spectrophotometric method using thymol blue as a pH indicator. Acetic acid and aqueous ammonia were used as primary standards. The p K a of HAsO 2 was determined to an accuracy of ± 0.005 p K a units at temperatures between 25 and 65°C, and ionic strengths between 0 and 3 M. The standard enthalphy change of HAsO 2 , Δ H °, which was calculated from its dissociation constants, was 29.59 ± 0.78 kJ/mol. Determination of the p K a values is necessary for the characterization of As 2 O 3 as a dual purpose acid-base and oxidation-reduction primary standard reagent under various conditions.

Activated platelets expressing P-selectin in their surfaces are known to adhere to monocytes and neutrophils. We examined the possibility that the leukocytes are functionally modified by their adhesion to activated platelets. We used human peripheral blood monocytes and neutrophils and measured superoxide anion generation by these cells cultured with platelets. The levels of superoxide anion production were found to be markedly elevated when thrombin-activated platelets were used. The extent of this enhancement was much smaller when leukocytes were cultured with resting platelets than activated platelets. The increase depended on incubation time and platelet concentration. The membranes prepared from activated platelets also induced superoxide anion production, but the culture supernatant of activated platelets did not. The enhanced superoxide anion production was inhibited by anti-P-selectin antibody, anti-sialyl-Lewis X antibody, or a soluble recombinant P-selectin fusion protein. These results indicate that the adhesion of activated platelets to the leukocytes through P-selectin was a crucial step for the activation of leukocyte function, and support the idea that activated platelets are actively involved in inflammation processes.

A study was done on the peripheral-recrystallized structures formed in AlZnMgCuZr alloy materials during extrusion and on their quenching sensitivity. It was found that the peripheral-recrystallized structures were thicker at the head and tail sections of the extrusion than at the other sections. The further downwards towards the tail, the greater the thickness of the structures became. The peripheral-recrystallized structures had a remarkable quenching sensitivity and under some heat treatment conditions, attained only half of the hardness of the fiber structure. Even with the same fiber structure, the extrusion (material) tail had a higher quenching sensitivity than that of the head protion. It is though that the drop in strength that is encountered frequently in the proximity of the tail portion of the extrusion during actual production of this type of alloy may occur under the same mechanisms as controls the above-described phenomenon, and that the phenomenon of the sharpening of sensitivity to quenching is caused by the change of Al3Zr from a precipitate coherent with the matrix to a precipitate incoherent with the matrix, resulting from the strain during extrusion. The incoherent Al3Zr precipitate is though to become an ν-phase precipitation site. This zone of sharp quenching sensitivity responds to the surface or to the tail, which latter undergoes a large plastic strain during extrusion. In the section undergoing plastic strain, the quenching sensitivity is especially acute, and if an adequate quench rate cannot be achieved during solution treatment, such a high quenching sensitivity can be a cause of an insufficient increase in hardness after ageing. Most billet homogenizing treatments on this alloy are done at temperatures of about 450°C–480°C. However, it is shown that when a lower temperature of 400°C is selected as a homogenizing treatment parameter, the sharp sensitivity to quenching can be restrained.

By combining the Coherent Potential Approximation with the spin polarized relativistic Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method of band structure calculation it got possible to describe the electronic structure of disordered magnetic alloys in a fully relativistic way. This new development allowed us to extend our theoretical description of the magnetic X-ray dichroism (MXD), which is based on the spin polarized relativistic Green's function formalism, to deal not only with pure and impurity systems but also with this interesting class of materials. We demonstrate this by calculations of K- and L-edge MXD spectra in the alloy systems FexCo1−x, CoxPt1−x and FexPt1−x, which are found in a very satisfying agreement with corresponding experimental data. In addition the relationship of the integrated MXD-spectra with the calculated spin magnetic moments is discussed in short.

B1-type tantalum nitride (polycrystalline bulk state) was synthesized by shock compression. Shock-compression recovery experiments of the porous sample of tantalum nitride with a hexagonal structure (CoSn-type) were performed in the impact-velocity range up to 1.5kms−1. The instrumental chemical analysis, X-ray and electron diffraction experiments were carried out on the recovered tantalum nitride sample and the combustion-synthesized B1-type sample for comparison. The recovery rate of the B1 -type phase increased with increasing porosity, impact velocity and impactor thickness; among these above all the effect of porosity was most remarkable. Almost 100% recovery rate was achieved for the powder of 70% porosity impacted by a 2 mm thick tungsten plate with velocities above 1.4 kms−1. It was confirmed by chemical analysis that the nitrogen content did not change by shock compression. The chemical formulae of the shock-synthesized and combustioned-synthesized B1-type phases were estimated to be TaN0.96–0.99 and TaN1.13–1.16, 1.27–1.30, respectively. The lattice parameter of the shock-synthesized B1 -type (Fm3m) phase was ao=0.43363- + (1) nm. The results of X-ray and electron diffraction experiments also supported that the shock-synthesized B1-type tantalum nitride has a good stoichiometry compared with the combustion-synthesized ones.

The Imaging Plate (IP) has the excellent properties of a large active area size and a wide dynamic range, however, the long readout time of the stored image is becoming the greatest drawback at synchrotron radiation facility. To overcome this difficulty, a high-speed IP detector, which can readout a large number of 400×400 mm 2 IPs successively in less than 60 s/IP has been designed and developed for protein crystallography.

2-exo-Substituted 2-endo-acetamidonorbornenes (3) were synthesized in a two-step procedure from 2-acetamidonorbornene-2-carboxylic acids (1, 1′) with exceedingly high exo-selectivities based on a new approach involving anodic decarboxylation followed by organoaluminum-promoted nucleophilic substitution on 2-endo-acetamido-2-exo-methoxynorbornene (2).

Epitaxially grown multilayer systems offer the possibility to study the influence of ferromagnetism on superconductivity in a new and controlled way. In this paper, we explore how the superconducting properties of high quality, epitaxially-grown superconductor/normal-metal/ferromagnet trilayers evolve as a function of the exchange splitting in the ferromagnet, and the thickness of the normal metal layer. We report results for Nb(110)/Au(111)/Co(0001), and make a detailed comparison with earlier results for Nb(110)/Au(111)/Fe(110). We use quantitative FFT analysis to confirm the existence of a long-period (2.1 nm) oscillation in the superconducting transition temperature Tc as a function of the Au-layer thickness tAu, for tAu>2 nm, and highlight an additional short-period (0.76 nm) oscillation for tAu, 23 pages, 10 figures

Weaned pigs were fed a control diet or one containing 1.5% Jerusalem artichoke tuber flour (JAF) containing fructooligosaccharides or 1.5% Neosugars (NS) for 4 wk. Experimental parameters, including feed intake, body-weight gain, feed efficiency, digesta volatile fatty acid levels and microbiological profile were not significantly affected by diet. Key words: Jerusalem artichoke, fructooligosaccharide, bifidobacteria

The temperature dependence of the magnetization of Fe/Au multilayers was investigated using a SQUID magnetometer in the temperature range from 10 to 90 K with an external field of 10 kOe. The samples prepared by vacuum deposition consist of the bilayers (Fe(10 AA)/Au(d))n, where d=20, 50 or 100 AA and the number n of bilayer repetitions is from 1 to 12. The temperature dependence closely obeys the relation 1-M(T)/M(10 K)=CTalpha and, as the number n increases, the exponent alpha increases from 1.10 (n=1) to 1.55 (n=10) for d=50 AA. The crossover behaviour of alpha as a function of n is qualitatively explained by a simple spin-wave model.

Exact solutions to the D-dimensional Einstein-Maxwell dilaton theory are considered. By using the 'patching method', black hole solutions are obtained. These solutions have mass, electric charge and scalar charge, and there is a relation between the above three quantities. The solutions are compared with those obtained in a different parametrization.

The elementary photo-strangeness production process has been intensively studied based on the high-quality data of the charged kaon channel, γ + p → K+ + Λ(Σ0). However, there had been no reliable data for the neutral kaon channel γ + n → K0 + Λ(Σ0) and the theoretical investigations suffer seriously from the lack of the data. In order to have reliable data for the neutral kaon photo-production data, substantial effort has been made to measure the γ + n → K0 + Λ process in the π+π- decay channel, using a liquid deuterium target and a tagged photon beam (Eγ = 0.8-1.1 GeV ) in the threshold region at the Laboratory of Nuclear Science (LNS), Tohoku University. We have taken exploratory data quite successfully with the use of Neutral Kaon Spectrometer (NKS) at LNS-Tohoku in 2003 and 2004. The data is compared to theoretical models and it indicates a hint that the K0 differential cross section has a backward peak in the energy region. The second generation of the experiment, NKS2, is designed to extend the NKS experiment by considerably upgrading the original neutral kaon spectrometer, fully replacing the spectrometer magnet, tracking detectors and all the trigger counters. The new spectrometer NKS2 has significantly larger acceptance for neutral kaons compared with NKS, particularly covering forward angles and much better invariant mass resolution. The estimated acceptance of NKS2 is three (ten) times larger for [Formula: see text] than that of NKS. The spectrometer is newly constructed and installed at the Laboratory of Nuclear Science, Tohoku University in 2005. The deuterium target data was taken with tagged photon beam in 2006-2007. We will report recent results of NKS2 in this paper. Additionally, a status of the upgrade project that gives us larger acceptance and capability of K0 + Λ coincidence measurement will be presented.

The purpose of this study is to introduce a new interface program to calculate a dose distribution with Monte Carlo method in complex heterogeneous systems such as organs or tissues in proton therapy. This interface program was developed under MATLAB software and includes a friendly graphical user interface with several tools such as image properties adjustment or results display. Quadtree decomposition technique was used as an image segmentation algorithm to create optimum geometries from Computed Tomography (CT) images for dose calculations of proton beam. The result of the mentioned technique is a number of nonoverlapped squares with different sizes in every image. By this way the resolution of image segmentation is high enough in and near heterogeneous areas to preserve the precision of dose calculations and is low enough in homogeneous areas to reduce the number of cells directly. Furthermore a cell reduction algorithm can be used to combine neighboring cells with the same material. The validation of this method has been done in two ways; first, in comparison with experimental data obtained with 80 MeV proton beam in Cyclotron and Radioisotope Center (CYRIC) in Tohoku University and second, in comparison with data based on polybinary tissue calibration method, performed in CYRIC. These results are presented in this paper. This program can read the output file of Monte Carlo code while region of interest is selected manually, and give a plot of dose distribution of proton beam superimposed onto the CT images.

Recently, mass screening for gastric cancer has been popularized in Japan. In the screening, gastric radiography is carried out using a contrast medium, usually barium sulfate. Recently, a high concentration barium sulfate has been developed and is currently used in several medical facilities. However, high concentration barium sulfate flows out of the stomach faster than a solution of lower concentration used in the past, which interferes with the diagnosis. The flow rate is dependent on the viscosity of barium sulfate, which changes based on gastric pH and temperature. In this study, the viscosity changes of barium sulfate induced by pH and temperature changes were examined. Two types of high concentration barium sulfate, 185B barium and 200C barium, and one type of moderate concentration barium sulfate, 145A barium, were used in this study. The radiographs of gastric phantoms applied with the three types of barium sulfate were also tested under several different pH and temperature conditions. Furthermore, we analyzed the particle size distribution of the three types of barium sulfate. The results indicated that 185B barium is the best among three types tested for gastric radiography. This study of characteristics of barium sulfate may improve radiography technology in mass screenings for gastric cancer.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential benefits of additional x-rays in detecting gastric cancer during x-ray screening. We analyzed 151 gastric cancer cases among 136,450 individuals who underwent x-ray screening for gastric cancer. X-rays were performed by 10 radiographers at a single screening center in Japan from 2000 to 2002. Additional x-rays were taken based on the radiographer’s judgement in cases of suspected cancer lesions. During reinterpretation of the x-rays of cancer cases by 2 radiologists, we determined the number of cancer cases that were detected by standard x-rays alone. We next determined the number of cancer cases detected using both standard x-rays and additional x-rays. We then investigated whether additional x-rays increased the rate of cancer detection. The number of cancer cases detected by standard x-rays alone was 122 and the number of cancer cases detected by standard x-rays and additional x-rays was 151. We observed a significant increase in cancer detection with the use of additional x-rays when judged necessary by the radiographer (29 cases, P = 0.007, Wilcoxon signed..ranks test). No statistically significant correlation was observed between the number of additional x-rays performed and the increased rate of cancer detection due to additional xrays taken arbitrarily (rs = - 0.38, P = 0.28, Spearman’s rank correlation). We found that additional x-rays, performed when judged to be necessary by the radiographer during screening, can identify cases of cancer which are not detectable with the standard x-rays alone.

High concentration barium sulfate has been developed and used in mass screening for gastric cancer. However, high concentration barium sulfate flows out from the stomach faster than moderate concentration one, which often interferes with diagnosis. The speed of flow is seemed to depend on the viscosity of barium sulfate. Previously, the authors reported viscosity changes of high concentration barium sulfate with pH and temperature changes. In this study, it is examined that the viscosity of barium sulfate also changes with artificial gastric juice volume. The results indicate that the viscosity of high concentration barium sulfate is more stable than that of moderate concentration one and the image of gastric phantom with high concentration barium sulfate is evaluated to be better than that with moderate concentration one. The study on characteristics of barium sulfate may improve radiography technology in mass screening for gastric cancer.

In three experiments, piglets were fed either a control milk replacer (CONT) (total 18 piglets) or one containing added immunoglobulins (+IG) (total of 18 piglets) or Jerusalem artichoke flour (+JA) (total of 18 piglets). Piglets had been left with the sow for one day to receive colostrum before starting the three experiments and had zero mortality. Scouring was not a problem in any group. In all experiments, +JA group consumed less milk than the other 2 groups. The weight gain data were variable, but in 2 of the 3 experiments the +JA group gained the least amount of weight. Key words: Milk replacer, Jerusalem artichoke, neonate

We examined the association between glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa, a receptor for fibrinogen, and membrane skeletons in both unstimulated and thrombin-activated human platelets. After a treatment with dithiobis succinimidyl propionate (DTSP), a cross-linker, unstimulated and activated platelets were simultaneously extracted and fixed with a fixing solution containing Triton X-100. Also, the localization of GPIIb/IIIa on the plasma membrane was observed by a preembedding staining method of unextracted platelets. In unstimulated platelets, 20-40% of the whole plasma membrane remained in the detergent-extracted samples. Amorphous structures with 10-70 nm in diameters are distributed at 20 to 100-nm intervals on the surface of plasma membrane. Similar structures also were identified in the intact platelets by the immunocytochemical method. By careful inspection, we found that most of the amorphous structures that contained gold particles were connected to the submembrane zone just beneath the plasma membrane. The submembrane zone was identified as the membrane skeleton because actin was detected in the zone. After activation, detergent-insoluble granules were surrounded by dense networks of microfilaments in the central part of platelets. The filaments were identified as actin and became associated with myosin. These results demonstrate that GPIIb/IIIa on the plasma membrane is connected to the membrane skeleton and suggest that, during activation, actin filaments which extend into the cytoplasm from the membrane skeleton increase and form dense networks around Triton-insoluble granules.