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Frailty has been associated with increased risks of perioperative complications. This systematic review explores the associations between preoperative frailty and perioperative complications in benign gynecologic surgery. A comprehensive, systematic literature search was conducted using the PubMed interface for Medline, Embase, and Scopus databases through August 12, 2020. Articles were included if they described the utilization of frailty assessment tools in benign gynecologic patients in the pre- or perioperative setting. Study quality and evidence were evaluated by the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool in Non-Randomized Studies and Grading of Recommendations, Assessments, Development, and Evaluations criteria. One thousand one hundred twenty unique citations were identified, and five studies assessing frailty and perioperative outcomes were included. Three retrospective cohort studies utilized the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database to assess the impact of frailty on perioperative outcomes in hysterectomies and pelvic organ prolapse repair procedures. One retrospective cohort study utilized a California database to assess frailty in prolapse repair surgeries. One cross-sectional study assessed frailty in new urogynecology patient visits. Four of these studies found that preoperative frailty is associated with an increased risk of perioperative complications. Overall, the evidence from the included studies is of low quality and at moderate to critical risk of bias. There are few studies assessing the impact of frailty on perioperative complications in benign gynecologic surgery. This review demonstrates that preoperative frailty is significantly associated with adverse perioperative outcomes, but additional studies are needed to further explore this association.

BackgroundNowadays the use of smartphones and the development of health-related mobile applications has increased worldwide. Menstrual cycle tracking applications (MCTAs) have become especially popular among women because of their practicality in recording menstrual cycles, characteristics of bleeding and prediction of cycle stages. There are various studies regarding the use of MCTAs for different aspects of women’s health such as estimating a fertility window for both conception and contraception, help register last menstrual period for calculation of gestational age, record pre-menstrual symptoms, among others. However, effects of MCTAs have not been analyzed in a systematic review.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of mobile applications for menstrual cycle or fertility trackers on women’s health.MethodsA systematic review will be conducted, starting with a search in PubMed, CENTRAL and Scopus using search terms related to mobile applications and menstrual or fertility tracking. Only randomized controlled trials will be screened with a sample of child-bearing aged women that use menstrual or fertility tracking mobile applications. Selected studies will be fully analyzed and the results will be recorded on a spread sheet. Study selection and data extraction will be conducted by two reviewers independently and the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool for RCT will be used for assessment of risk of bias. Discrepancies will be reviewed with a third reviewer.ConclusionCurrently, there is a lack of information on the effects of using MCTAs on women’s health. This systematic review aims to provide an analysis on the outcomes of the usage of these applications and evaluate any potential effects.Conflicts of interestAll authors declare to have no conflicts of interest.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Preoperative hemodynamic impairment in the affected cerebral hemisphere is associated with the development of cerebral hyperperfusion following carotid endarterectomy. Cerebral oxygen extraction fraction images generated from 7T MR quantitative susceptibility mapping correlate with oxygen extraction fraction images on positron-emission tomography. The present study aimed to determine whether preoperative oxygen extraction fraction imaging generated from 7T MR quantitative susceptibility mapping could identify patients at risk for cerebral hyperperfusion following carotid endarterectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy-seven patients with unilateral internal carotid artery stenosis (≥70%) underwent preoperative 3D T2*-weighted imaging using a multiple dipole-inversion algorithm with a 7T MR imager. Quantitative susceptibility mapping images were then obtained, and oxygen extraction fraction maps were generated. Quantitative brain perfusion single-photon emission CT was also performed before and immediately after carotid endarterectomy. ROIs were automatically placed in the bilateral middle cerebral artery territories in all images using a 3D stereotactic ROI template, and affected-to-contralateral ratios in the ROIs were calculated on quantitative susceptibility mapping–oxygen extraction fraction images. RESULTS: Ten patients (13%) showed post-carotid endarterectomy hyperperfusion (cerebral blood flow increases of ≥100% compared with preoperative values in the ROIs on brain perfusion SPECT). Multivariate analysis showed that a high quantitative susceptibility mapping–oxygen extraction fraction ratio was significantly associated with the development of post-carotid endarterectomy hyperperfusion (95% confidence interval, 33.5–249.7; P = .002). Sensitivity, specificity, and positive- and negative-predictive values of the quantitative susceptibility mapping–oxygen extraction fraction ratio for the prediction of the development of post-carotid endarterectomy hyperperfusion were 90%, 84%, 45%, and 98%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative oxygen extraction fraction imaging generated from 7T MR quantitative susceptibility mapping identifies patients at risk for cerebral hyperperfusion following carotid endarterectomy.

Probability curves predicting oral food challenge test (OFC) results based on specific IgE levels are widely used to prevent serious allergic reactions. Although several confounding factors are known to affect probability curves, the main factors that affect OFC outcomes are currently unclear. We hypothesized that an increased total IgE level would reduce allergic reactivity. Medical records of 337 and 266 patients who underwent OFCs for 3.5 g boiled hen's egg white and 3.1 ml raw cow's milk, respectively, were examined retrospectively. We subdivided the patients into three groups based on total IgE levels and age by percentile (25th, 25-75th, and75th percentiles), and logistic regression analyses were performed on each group. Patients with higher total IgE levels were significantly less responsive. In addition, age did not significantly affect the OFC results. Therefore, total IgE levels should be taken into account when predicting OFC results based on food-specific IgE levels.

We report recent progress in the study of neoclassical internal transport barriers (N-ITBs) in the compact helical system (CHS) experiment. N-ITBs have been observed in electron cyclotron (EC) heated NBI plasmas. The improved confinement region for electrons is expanded compared with that of previous N-ITB plasmas heated by only EC heating. Moreover, the ion temperature is found to be increased simultaneously by two to three times (Ti(0) ~ 400–500 eV), with a steep gradient region at ρ ~ 0.6. From measurement of the averaged peak energy intensity using a soft x-ray CCD camera, it is confirmed that the impurity confinement is also improved with N-ITBs. The radial electric field is observed to bifurcate into ion and electron root (Er ~ 15 kV m−1), and a rather large electric field shear (dEr/dr ~ −300 kV m−2) is produced in the layer between ion and electron root.

Reversal of turbulent particle flux near the plasma edge of CHS heliotron/ torsatron was observed on various discharge conditions, i.e. during tangential neutral beam injection, electron cyclotron heating at the far edge, and the sawtooth crash. For all cases, the reversal is realized at a narrow particular layer near the plasma edge, when plasma parameters go into low collisionality. The reversal is caused by the change in the cross phase between density (ne) and poloidal electric field (Eθ) fluctuations. The turbulent flux is always inward when the radial electric field shear (Er') exceeds a certain threshold of ~1×106 V m-2. In the sawtoothing plasmas, the arrival of a heat pulse due to the sawtooth crash enhances both ne and Eθ fluctuations but changes the cross phase to π in low-frequency range. As a result, a large inward flux is generated by the sawtooth crash. The particle flux reversal in these cases did not lead to obvious confinement improvement.

The plasma with neoclassical internal transport barrier (N-ITB) has been observed for electron cyclotron heated (ECH) plasma in the Compact Helical System Heliotron/Torsatron. The N-ITB is characterized by the peaked electron temperature, with a large temperature gradient (0.43 keV cm-1) and a large electric field shear at the barrier location. The transport analysis shows that the electron thermal conductivity in plasma with N-ITB is lower than that without N-ITB at the transport barrier. The neoclassical transport is calculated from the analytical model for the neoclassical particle flux. In the ECH plasma with N-ITB, the electron thermal conductivity χe is at the level of the neoclassical χe at the barrier transport which demonstrates that the anomalous transport is reduced to a level well below the neoclassical transport.

The bootstrap current analyses have been carried out for two different kinds of discharges of compact helical system (CHS) heliotron/torsatron. One is the electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) discharge with moderate density and without internal transport barrier (ITB) (ne(0)>0.5×1019 m-3, Te(0) 2.0 keV) in the core domain and large positive radial electric field (Er~ + 10 kV m-1). The dependence of toroidal net current on magnetic axis position Rax was investigated for ECRH discharges without ITB. There is good agreement in the tendency of Rax dependence of the net toroidal current between experiment and neoclassical calculation. In the NC ITB discharges, the experimental net current including both bootstrap and beam-driven current is largely reduced compared with that in the L-mode and it drops to almost zero. It seems as if the reversal of bootstrap current takes place in the NC ITB phase but such a view is inconsistent with neoclassical prediction. The observed reduction of the plasma current in the ITB phase is not explained by the neoclassical theory.

Viscous damping and effective helical ripple have been quantitatively estimated for a proposed quasi-axisymmetric stellarator CHS-qa configuration. It is predicted that viscous damping against plasma flow in CHS-qa is low enough to sustain large E?B shear as observed in the H-modes and internal transport barriers in many tokamaks. Effective helical ripple in CHS-qa is adjusted to be on the order of 10-2 or lower, which is suitable to trigger transport barriers due to non-ambipolar neoclassical fluxes peculiar to conventional helical devices. For experimental flexibility, viscous damping and effective helical ripple in CHS-qa can be extensively controlled over a range of about one order by modifying modular coil currents.

A windowless solid hydrogen target has been successfully developed for RI-beam-induced nuclear reactions in the RIKEN RI Beam Facility. Hydrogen crystals of high quality were grown reproducibly in a cell bored in a 10 mm thick pure copper plate which was in direct contact with a liquid helium reservoir. Normal hydrogen gas was crystallized directly on the cell wall between 4.7 and 7.3 K. The diameter of the crystal was 25 mm and the thickness was chosen to be either 5 or 10 mm. After crystallization, sidewalls of the cell were separated from both the crystal and cell plate, and removed to a remote position inside a cryostat. Thus, the crystal was self-supported in the cell without any extra material in its neighborhood. No damage was observed in the separating process. The observed hydrogen pressure indicated the crystal temperature of 4.3 K, when the liquid helium reservoir was at 4.2 K, in agreement with the temperature estimated from the heat balance in the crystal. It shows that we can put the crystal temperature close to the reservoir temperature, though we could not confirm the crystal temperature when the reservoir temperature was reduced to 3 K. Hydrogen sublimation rate was calculated from the vapor pressure and pumping condition. The sublimation loss is negligibly small if the crystal is held at 3 K.

A low aspect ratio quasi-axisymmetric stellarator, CHS-qa, has been designed. An optimization code has been used to design a magnetic field configuration with evaluations of the following physical quantities: quasi-axisymmetry, rotational transform, MHD stability and alpha particle collisionless confinement. It is shown that the electron neoclassical diffusion coefficient is similar to that of tokamaks for the low collisional regime. A self-consistent equilibrium with bootstrap current confirms the global mode stability up to 130 kA for an R = 1.5 m and Bt = 1.5 T device. The neoclassical plasma rotation viscosity is greatly suppressed compared with that of conventional stellarators. The engineering design was completed with 20 main modular coils and auxiliary coils, which provide flexibility of configuration in experiments for confinement improvement and MHD stability.

In a simulated engineered barrier system consisting of a simulated HLW glass doped with 237Np, a compacted bentonite and water under reducing conditions, leaching of Np from the glass and diffusion of the leached Np through the bentonite were measured systematically. The following results were obtained: (1) The concentration of dissolved species of Np in the leachate is 10−7–10−8 M, which indicates that Np(IV) is the dominant oxidation state in the system and the concentration may be controlled by solubility of NpO 2x H 2 O ( am ) . (2) The presence of compacted bentonite facilitates reduction of Np(V) to Np(IV) in the system. (3) The apparent diffusion coefficient of the leached Np through the bentonite is evaluated to be lower than 1.5×10 −13 m 2 / s , showing that the diffusivity of Np(IV) is more than one order of magnitude lower than that of Np(V).

The bifurcated nature of the potential profile of a toroidal helical plasma is investigated in CHS using a heavy ion beam probe. The measurements reveal that three main branches of potential profile exist in ECR heated plasmas with a low density of e ? 0.5 ? 1019m-3. The branches with higher central potential exhibit a rather strong radial electric field shear that should result in fluctuation reduction and formation of a transport barrier. An analysis of the pulsating behaviour in the potential suggests the existence of a fine structure in the potential profiles between the main branches. Lissajous and histogram expressions are useful in extracting the bifurcation characteristics of the potential structure.

A toroidal flow antiparallel to the drift direction is observed in the hot electron mode plasmas when a large positive electric field and a sharp electron temperature gradient are sustained inside the internal transport barrier in the Compact Helical System. This toroidal flow reaches up to 5x10(4) m/s at the plasma center, and it is large enough to reverse the toroidal flow driven by a tangentially injected neutral beam. These observations clearly show the plasma favors flow in the minimum nablaB direction at the transport barrier.

A toroidal flow antiparallel to the 〈E_r×B_θ〉 drift direction is observed in the hot electron mode plasmas when a large positive electric field and a sharp electron temperature gradient are sustained inside the internal transport barrier in the Compact Helical System. This toroidal flow reaches up to 5×10^4 m/s at the plasma center, and it is large enough to reverse the toroidal flow driven by a tangentially injected neutral beam. These observations clearly show the plasma favors flow in the minimum ∇B direction at the transport barrier.

A new x-ray imaging technique to measure magnetic axis and two-dimensional soft x-ray energy spectra for a long-pulse discharge has been developed by utilizing a soft x-ray photon-counting charge-coupled-device (CCD) camera. This system consists of pinholes, Be filters, and a 1024×1024 frame-transfer back-illumination CCD detector (the imaging area has 1024×512 pixels). By choosing appropriate combinations of pinholes and Be filters, the x-ray flux is adjusted to the level suited for photon-counting mode and imaging mode, respectively. The Shafranov shift is derived from a two-dimensional soft x-ray intensity map measured in the imaging mode in the compact helical system (CHS) and large helical device. Two-dimensional profiles of electron temperature and two-dimensional profiles of high-Z impurity Kα radiation intensity are derived from two-dimensional energy spectra of x rays measured in photon-counting mode for the CHS hot-electron-mode plasma.

Recent experimental results are summarized. One of them is the bifurcation phenomenon of the electric potential which manifests itself in various aspects of CHS plasmas. Here, electrons heated with ECH play an essential role. The CHS will be operated, after being moved to the Toki site, so as to perform complementary experiments to LHD.

The bifurcation nature of the electrostatic structure is studied in the toroidal helical plasma of the Compact Helical System (CHS) [K. Matsuoka et al., Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research, Nice, 1988 (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1989), Vol. 2, p. 411]. Observation of bifurcation-related phenomena is introduced, such as characteristic patterns of discrete potential profiles, and various patterns of self-sustained oscillations termed electric pulsation. Some patterns of the electrostatic structure are found to be quite important for fusion application owing to their association with transport barrier formation. It is confirmed, as is shown in several tokamak experiments, that the thermal transport barrier is linked with electrostatic structure through the radial electric field shear that can reduce the fluctuation resulting in anomalous transport. This article describes in detail spatio-temporal evolution during self-sustained oscillation, together with correlation between the radial electric field and other plasma parameters. An experimental survey to find dependence of the temporal and spatial patterns on plasma parameters is performed in order to understand systematically the bifurcation property of the toroidal helical plasma. The experimental results are compared with the neoclassical bifurcation property that is believed to explain the observed bifurcation property of the CHS plasmas. The present results show that the electrostatic property plays an essential role in the structural formation of toroidal helical plasmas, and demonstrate that toroidal plasma is an open system with a strong nonlinearity to provide a new attractive problem to be studied.

A superconducting electron cooler with an adiabatic expansion factor of 100 was designed for high-precision experiments and high-speed cooling. The gun solenoid is a liquid-helium-free superconducting magnet with a 20-cm room-temperature bore, which can produce a magnetic field of up to 3.5 T. An electron beam is expanded from a diameter of 5 to 50 mm in a gradually decreasing solenoid field from 3.5 T to 35 mT. With this cooler, a transverse electron temperature on the order of 1 meV was attained. The longitudinal cooling force was measured with an induction accelerator as functions of the ion and electron currents, and the expansion factor. The longitudinal cooling force does not depend much on the expansion factor.

We have been investigating a current imbalance in multi-strand cable conductor using several types of solenoid coils wound by insulated multi-stranded copper cable, and obtained a result that the current distribution in the multi-stranded conductor is strongly affected by the magnetic coupling coefficient between strands. This time, we have carried out an experiment to investigate the current imbalance problem using a superconducting cable conductor. The main purpose of this investigation is to make clear the relation between the current imbalance and the impedance distributions among the strands. The experiment was carried out on (1) DC test, and (2) AC test. The calculation results show that the resistance component becomes dominant in the frequency region lower than 0.1 Hz. On the other hand, inductance component becomes dominant in the frequency region higher than 1 Hz. For the experimental results lower than 1 Hz, the amplitude and the phase characteristics of the current in each strand coincide well with the calculated results based on the measured resistance and impedance distribution. From these results, it can be concluded that a precise impedance measurement utilizing high accuracy LCR meter can estimate the current imbalance in insulated multi-stranded superconducting cable conductor before actual superconducting operation.

A high ion temperature (Ti) mode is observed for neutral beam heated plasmas in the Compact Helical System (CHS) heliotron/torsatron. The high Ti mode plasma is characterized by a high central ion temperature, Ti(0), and is associated with a peaked electron density profile produced by neutral beam fuelling with low wall recycling. Transition from L mode to high Ti mode has been studied in CHS. Ti(0) in the high Ti mode discharges reaches 1 keV, which is 2.5 times higher than that in the L mode discharges. The ion thermal diffusivity is significantly reduced by a factor of more than 2-3 in the high Ti mode plasma. The ion loss cone is observed in neutral particle flux in the energy range 1-6 keV with a narrow range of pitch angle (90° ±20°) in the high Ti mode. However, the degradation of ion energy confinement due to this loss cone is negligible.

Variation of the plasma position relative to the centre of the helical coil winding is a very effective means of controlling the MHD stability and the trapped particle confinement in heliotron/torsatron systems, but improving one of these two characteristics with this parameter simultaneously has a detrimental effect on the other. The inward shifted configuration is favourable for drift orbit optimization but is predicted to be unstable according to the Mercier criterion. Various physics problems, such as electric field structure, plasma rotation and MHD phenomena, have been studied in the Compact Helical System (CHS) with a compromise intermediate position. With this standard configuration, CHS has yielded experimental results that contribute to the understanding of general toroidal confinement physics and low aspect ratio helical systems. In the recent experiments, it was found that a wide range of inward shifted configurations give stable plasma discharges without any restriction to the special pressure profile. Such an enhanced range of operation made it possible to study experimentally the drift orbit optimized configuration in heliotron/torsatron systems. The effect of configuration improvement was studied with plasmas in a low collisionality regime.

Study of recombining plasmas resulting from a neutral gas injection has been made in a high density steady-state plasma. Recently, the inverted population between He I 1s2p 1 P and 1s3p 1 P due to the selective double electron capture process, He 2+ + H 2 → He * (1s3 l ) + 2H + , was observed in a single layer column plasma [S. Namba et al., Fusion Eng. Design 34–35 (1996) 777], when a helium plasma contacts with a hydrogen molecule. Moreover, experimental results which suggest an effect of the vibrational states of hydrogen molecules, He 2+ + H 2 ( ν ′) → He * (1s nl ; n =3, 4, 5) + 2H + , have been obtained for a double layer column plasma which was generated by a change of helium gas flow rate into the discharge region. The results on the hydrogen gas injection experiments relevant to two plasma conditions are presented.

Enhanced production of ΛΛ pairs, above levels predicted by a two-step process model, has been observed near threshold (in the mass range 2.23-2.26 GeV/c2) in the 12C(K−,K+) reaction at 1.66 GeV/c using a scintillating fiber target. The differential cross section for ΛΛ production in the momentum region 0.95≤pK+≤1.3 GeV/c averaged over the range 2.3o≤θK+≤14.7o was found to be 7.6±1.3 ±0.9 μ b/sr, and that for the enhancement was found to be approximately 3 μ b/sr.

Cascade hypernuclei have been studied in the ${(K}^{\ensuremath{-}}{,K}^{+})$ reaction on a scintillating fiber target. The experimental result is compared with a theoretical calculation in order to extract information concerning the ${\ensuremath{\Xi}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ nucleus potential.

Enhanced production of ΛΛ pairs, above the prediction of a two-step process model, is observed near threshold (around the masses of 2.23 – 2.26 GeV/c2) in the12C(K−,K+) reaction at PK− = 1.66GeV/c using a scintillating fiber target. The differential cross section for the ΛΛ production averaged over 2.3° ≤ $$K + ≤ 14.7° in the momentum region 0.95 ≤ pK + ≤ 1.3GeV/c was found to be 7.6 ± 1.3 μb/sr, and that for the enhancement approximately 3 μb/sr.

The double strangeness exchange reaction ( K − , K + ) is investigated with respect to the sub-threshold production of scalar and vector mesons ( f 0 / a 0 / φ ) decaying into K + K − and the two-step processes induced by intermediate mesons and Ξ − hyperons at p k − = 1.66 GeV/ c using a scintillating fiber active target. The differential cross section ( 〈 dσ dΩ L 〉) averaged over the angular interval (2.3° ⩽ θ K + L ⩽ 14.7°) for the sub-threshold f 0 / a 0 / φ meson production with the K + K − decay is 11 ± 6 μ b/sr at 0.6 ⩽ p K 1 c . The present result differs significantly from the theoretical calculation which predicts the contribution of the f 0 / a 0 / φ meson production to be predominant in the ( K − , K + ) reaction below p K + = 0.95 GeV/ c . We found a sizable contribution from two-step ( K − , K + processes, characterized by production of two S = −1 hyperons, consistent with the result of the intra-nuclear cascade (INC) model calculation with respect to the meson-induced hyperon (or hyperon resonance) pair production in the momentum region 0.6 ⩽ p K + c . The observed enhancement of the cross section for the two-step ΛΛ production beyond the prediction of the INC model at p K + ⋍ 1.1 GeV /c could be due to the Ξ − p → ΛΛ reaction in 12 C.

Multiple and small sample volume measurements of the density turbulence and potential profile measurements in tokamak plasmas were conducted using a heavy ion beam probe. The obtained wavenumber-frequency spectrum S(k, omega ) shows that the cross-sections of neutral beam injection (NBI) heated plasmas are divided into three regions of different turbulence characteristics outside the layer where the direction of the density turbulence propagation reverses, a low frequency and low wavenumber mode travelling in the ion diamagnetic drift direction dominates. The region enclosed by this reversal layer is divided into two parts during nearly perpendicular NBI heating: a region where the propagation velocity is near the Etau /Bt poloidal rotation velocity and a bad curvature region of very small wavenumber and high propagation velocity. The region of high propagation velocity, found in NBI plasmas, disappears in the ohmic plasmas. In addition, a small component that propagates in the ion diamagnetic drift direction is observed in NBI plasmas

A pellet injection system with controllability of the injection angle has been developed and installed in the JIPP T-IIU tokamak. A long helical ablation cloud (‘tail’) has been observed when an ice pellet is injected into the tokamak plasma using the controllable injection angle system. The ‘tail’ does not flow along the direction of the total magnetic field lines of the torus. In order to understand the details of the ice pellet ablation structure in the ‘tail mode’, the local parameters of electron density and temperature within the ablation cloud are obtained by a spectroscopic method. The electron density determined from Stark broadening of the Balmer β line is in the range 1.0 × 10 16 −1.0 × 10 17 cm −3 while the temperature obtained from the line-to-continuum intensity ratios is in the range 1–4 eV. It has also been observed by a heavy ion beam probe (HIBP) measurement that the potential at the plasma centre becomes more negative and the potential profile becomes deeper negatively after pellet injection.

We have studied ( K − , K + ) reactions at P K − = 1.66 GeV/c by using a newly developed active target made of plastic scintillating fibers. The H dibaryon ( S = −2, I ( J π ) = 0(0 + )) has been searched for through the direct process, K − + C → K + + H + X , by the analysis of the K + momentum spectrum with the help of visual data of the scintillating fiber target. No evidence for the H production was observed. Upper limits for the differential cross section for the H production in the forward direction of the K + is 0.04–0.6 μb/sr at the 90% confidence level for the H mass range from 1850 to 2215 MeV/c 2 .

A mechanism for self-organization of GalnP strained quantum wires in (GaP)m/(lnP)m short-period binary superlattice (SPBS) is discussed. To elucidate the self-organization mechanism, GalnP/AllnP compressively strained multi-quantum-wire (CS-MQWR) lasers were fabricated, changing the superlattice monolayer numberm in (GaP)m/(lnP)m SPBS active layers. The self-organization occurred form>1.2, determined from transmission electron microscopy images and from the anisotropic TM/TE polarization ratio in electroluminescence, i.e. an anisotropic dipole moment.

A study is conducted of the feasibility of alpha particle measurement using a high energy diagnostic beam in combination with a neutral particle analyser for an ITER plasma. In order to measure alpha particles over an energy range of 0.5 to 3.5 MeV, the required beam energy is approximately 1 MeV for a 3He0 beam and 3 MeV for a 6Li0 beam, the beam current density being about 1 mA/cm2 for both cases. Among the various methods of producing such a high energy neutral beam, the acceleration of negative ions is the most favourable. Recent results of relatively small scale experiments with these negative ion sources reveal that the required current density is now attainable. Technical problems as to how to scale the ion sources used on an ITER sized experiment are also discussed for these experiments

The H dibaryon search experiment using a scintillating-fiber target was performed at KEK-PS. The preliminary results are reported. No evidence of the H production via C(K−, K+) reaction has been found. The upper limit of the ratio of the H production to the quasi-free process, K−+(p)→K++Ξ− is 0.05–0.6% forM H⩽2200 MeV/c2. For 2200 MeV/c2⩽MH⩽2230 MeV/c2, the upper limit for the production of the H which decays into Σ−+p is 0.6–07%.

The first measurement of two-nucleon pion absorption in 4 He at 1 GeV/ c has been performed at the KEK 12 GeV proton synchroton. Both the (π + , pp) and (π + , pn) modes were measured and clearly identified, even at this energy. An isospin dependence was obtained which was different from that in the Δ-energy region.

The new type of visual detector, scintillating fiber, has been used as an active target to search the H-dibaryon by using (K − ,K + ) interactions. The fiber target is readout by two set of image-intensifier tubes providing three dimensional information for production, decay and interaction of Ξ − 's. Several hundreds of visual images of stopped and inflight interactions of Ξ ' s are expected to be accumulated. Sensitivity for the H search as well as the feasibility to study Ξ − p , Ξ − C interactions are discussed.

The $^{40}\mathrm{Ca}$(\ensuremath{\gamma},n) reaction cross section has been measured with tagged photons with energies ranging from 31.2 to 102 MeV, for neutron emission angles of 45\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}, 60\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}, 75\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}, 90\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}, and 135\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}. Exclusive differential cross sections for the $^{40}\mathrm{Ca}$(\ensuremath{\gamma},n) and $^{40}\mathrm{Ca}$(\ensuremath{\gamma},p) reactions are found to be of a similar magnitude, but are not well predicted by recent random-phase-approximation and relativistic direct knock-out calculations. A quasideuteron model calculation with spin-orbit splitting of single-particle shells and an improved nucleon transparency correction is found to be consistent with the data. However, it is shown that this does not establish that the photoabsorption matrix element for the deuteron is necessarily similar to that of a correlated np-pair in nuclear matter. This result is generalized to question the predicted sensitivity to short-range correlations for photonuclear reactions calculated within the Gottfried factorization.

Excellent NLTS characteristics at high write frequencies beyond 150 MHz have been realized by a suspension with an IC-chip named "chip on suspension". The IC-chip, however, causes the temperature rise of both the IC-chip and a merged MR head. The thermal deformation of the suspension is also very critical for flying characteristic of a slider in HDD. Therefore, we have numerically analyzed the thermal distribution and thermal displacement of the suspension with the IC-chip using a 3D-FEM program. The heat of the IC-chip hardly causes the temperature rise of the head. The maximum change of head loading force was simulated to be around 0.04 gram.

In this paper we report cross-section measurements for $\Xi^-p$ elastic and inelastic scatterings at low energy using a scintillating fiber active target. Upper limit on the total cross-section for the elastic scattering was found to be 24 mb at 90% confidence level, and the total cross section for the $\Xi^-p\to\Lambda\Lambda$ reaction was found to be $4.3^{+6.3}_{-2.7}$ mb. We compare the results with currently competing theoretical estimates., Comment: 9 pages

A 43-year-old-woman who had sever anterior chest pain visited our hospital on April 3, 2000. A well-defined abnormal shadow was seen in the middle and lower field of the right lung on chest X-ray. Computed tomography showed a large fat density mass in the right pleural cavity with a septum enhanced by contrast medium. Percutaneous needle biopsy revealed lipoma or liposarcoma. Complete resection could be done with combined resection of right lung, lpericardium, parietal pleura and diaphragm. Final histologic diagnosis was well differentiated liposarcoma. There are few reports of liposarcoma arising in the thoracic cavity, we present our case and review the 23 cases reported from the Japanese literatures.

Summary form only. The development of high energy neutral particle measurement system for ion temperature measurements and high energy particle confinement analysis in Large Helical Device (LHD, major radius=3.9 m, average minor radius=0.6 m) is described here. For NBIs, 180 keV hydrogen beams will be used in Phase I of LHD experiment schedule and 360 keV deuterium beams will be used in Phase II. In ICRF heating experiment, the hydrogen and helium-3 will be used as minorities. It is important to observe the pitch angle distribution to investigate the confinement of high energy particles. For this purpose the neutral particle analyzer should have a wide observation energy range above the maximum energy of NBI (or accelerated particle by ICRF heating) and an ability to separate the particle species of hydrogen, deuterium and He-3. The high noise reduction ability for the radiation, especially neutron from DD reaction, is important. We have been improving the time-of-flight (TOF) neutral particle analyzer for LHD which had been developed in ENEA Frascati. The mass rejection factor was improved up to 1/1000 by using a biased diaphragm in front of the stop detector. The fast neutral particle measurement system is constructing now. In Compact Helical System (CHS), the electrostatic neutral particle analyzer (maximum detectable energy of 50 keV hydrogen) is used. We have compared the spectrum obtained from the measurement by a passive method in CHS with that from the calculation by PROCTR code. At the energy range below 1 keV, neutral contribution from the plasma boundary is too large due to the large background neutral density and large charge exchange cross section.

It remains unclear whether the number of circulating mast cell progenitors is increased in patients with atopic diseases. Distinct genotypes are reported to affect mast cell/basophil activation.We compared the number and function of mast cell progenitors present in the peripheral blood from donors with normal IgE (IgE400 U/mL) and those with atopic dermatitis accompanied by high serum IgE (IgE5000 U/mL).Purified peripheral blood cells were cultured in serum-free methylcellulose containing stem cell factor (SCF), IL-6 plus IL-3. Fresh methylcellulose containing the cytokines was layered over every 2 weeks. The cultured mast cells were retrieved from the methylcellulose and were functionally analysed.Mast cell colonies were distinguished at 6 weeks of culture as other colony types had been degenerated. The number of mast cell colony-forming cells varied depending on donors and was not significantly increased in peripheral blood from the hyper-IgE atopic patients. A significant inversed correlation was found between the number of mast cells per one colony and the ages of donors. The cultured mast cells derived from atopic patients and those from normal IgE donors equally expressed Fc epsilon RI and released histamine through Fc epsilon RI, although IL-4 priming in vitro markedly enhanced the function of mast cells regardless of donors.These results indicate that the number of circulating mast cell progenitors may be regulated by unknown individual factors unrelated to IgE levels. Mast cell function may be regulated largely by environmental factors, such as IL-4, but not determined by their progenitors' genotypes.

The vibrational cooling of ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}^{+}$ and ${\mathrm{D}}_{2}^{+},$ having no dipole moment, has been studied at the storage ring TARN II. A two-dimensional imaging technique was used to measure the kinetic-energy release (KER) in the dissociative recombination of ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}^{+}$ and ${\mathrm{D}}_{2}^{+}$ as a function of the storage time at a relative energy of 0 eV. The vibrational-level populations of the ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}^{+}$ and ${\mathrm{D}}_{2}^{+}$ beams were estimated from the KER data. The estimation shows that the relative population of ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}^{+}$ ions in their vibrational ground states reaches more than 90% at a storage time of 26 s. This result is in agreement with the recent result in TARN II [T. Tanabe et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 2163 (1999)]. The relative population of ${\mathrm{D}}_{2}^{+}$ ions in their vibrational ground states is estimated to be more than 90% for a storage time of 10 s.

A toroidal flow antiparallel to theE(r) x B(straight theta)drift direction is observed in the hot electron mode plasmas when a large positive electric field and a sharp electron temperature gradient are sustained inside the internal transport barrier in the Compact Helical System. This toroidal flow reaches up to 5x10(4) m/s at the plasma center, and it is large enough to reverse the toroidal flow driven by a tangentially injected neutral beam. These observations clearly show the plasma favors flow in the minimum nablaB direction at the transport barrier.