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Behcet's disease is an inflammatory disease which manifests itself as various symptoms, such as uveitis, oral and genital aphthae, erythema nodosa, gastro-intestinal ulcerations and encephalopathy. Among the manifestations, renal dysfunction is reported in some percentage of the patients with this disorder. We experienced a middle-aged male with Behcet's disease who showed an extremely high level of urinary β2-microglulin, which is one of the markers of renal dysfunction, despite normal serum creatinine levels. The patient was on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) therapy for 7 weeks, and this could have affected his renal dysfunction. The present report suggests that renal injury should not be underestimated in patients with Behcet's disease, especially in patients using NSAIDs.

A novel procedure of ODS alloy fabrication was examined using a model alloy in the Fe Al O ternary system. Nano-sized Al oxides were precipitated within the α-Fe matrix through a reaction between Fe Al and Fe2O3 powders. Two types of oxides, FeAl2O4 and γ-Al2O3, were found to precipitate during sintering at 1000 °C and the subsequent annealing at 800 °C. The oxides showed sluggish coarsening at 800 °C, which then provided high resistance to coarsening for the α-Fe grains. Microstructure observation and Vickers hardness measurement indicated that the homogeneous dispersion of oxides was achieved through the present procedure without ball milling.

Behçet's disease is an inflammatory disease which manifests itself as various symptoms, such as uveitis, oral and genital aphthae, erythema nodosa, gastro-intestinal ulcerations and encephalopathy. Among the manifestations, renal dysfunction is reported in some percentage of the patients with this disorder. We experienced a middle-aged male with Behçet's disease who showed an extremely high level of urinary β2-microglulin, which is one of the markers of renal dysfunction, despite normal serum creatinine levels. The patient was on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) therapy for 7 weeks, and this could have affected his renal dysfunction. The present report suggests that renal injury should not be underestimated in patients with Behçet's disease, especially in patients using NSAIDs.

Recently, a surface energy reduction process (SERP) for stiction-free drying is used for a high aspect pattern structure like shallow trench isolation (STI). The key technology of SERP is trimethylsilyl (TMS) groups termination of the device surface. To explain the electrical influence of TMS groups was found acceptable by measuring the planar capacitor flat-band voltage shift, and the threshold voltage characteristics of 1x-nm node MOS transistors.

Introduction Ceaseless scaling of semiconductor devices has caused nano-structure stiction issues during drying step of wafer cleaning. The following mechanism is considered to explain nano-structure stiction. Capillary force of remaining liquid in one trench where neighboring trenches are empty causes nano-structure bending, and an adhesive force generated by neighboring nano-structures contact area tends to keep stiction [1][2]. Within the elastic limit, an elastic force overwhelms the adhesive force, so the contacted nano-structures are forced detached again [3][4]. However, if the adhesive force defeats the elastic restoring force, the nano-structures may stay adherent even after drying [5]. To reduce the capillary forces, a low surface tension liquid such as isopropyl alcohol (IPA) has been used rinsing liquid. Furthermore, zero surface tension with super critical fluid (SCF) is beginning to be employed for semiconductor mass production. To suppress the adhesive forces, we have proposed the surface energy reduction process [6]. Moreover, we have already demonstrated this process is more effective for preventing nano-structure stiction than conventional IPA drying. The ideal surface termination is to minimize the number of high energy molecule sites. In case of silicon oxide surfaces, it means to replace highly reactive hydroxyl groups with inactive molecules. In this paper, we will present the proper molecular structure for the surface energy reduction agents and its evaluation method. Experimental Protocol We used two types of silylation agent for the surface energy reduction. The carbon number of straight-chain alkyl group of the agents is 1 and 8, so named as C1 and C8 respectively. We dipped thermally oxidized Si pieces in these agents, and measured the water contact angles. We also estimated the surface free energy from the critical surface tension obtained by Zisman plot. We treated 15nm half pitch SiO2 high aspect ratio line and space patterns with a single wafer cleaning tool, and checked the presence or absence of its pattern stiction with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results and Discussion As shown in Fig.1, the water contact angles of thermal SiO2 with C1 and C8 treatment are 85º and 101º. Supposedly, longer straight-chain alkyl groups enables more highly hydrophobic surface. As shown in Figure 2 Zisman plot, critical surface tension of the C8-treated SiO2 surface is 25 mN/m. Whereas the critical surface tension of the C1-treated surface is 22.5 mN/m in spite of its lower water contact angle than that of C8 treated surface. It is supposed that hydrogen bonds influence should be considered in use of a water probe since hydrogen bonds in water generate higher liquid surface tension. As explained by Cassie-Baxter theory, complex surfaces water pinning effect enhances the apparent water contact angle. Namely, in order to suppress nano-structure stiction,we should reduce the surface free energy at the interface between contacting nano-structures [6]. To obtain the surface free energy, we had to eliminate the influence of hydrogen bonds. So, we have focused a nonpolar hydrocarbon probe used for Zisman plot method which is free from hydrogen bonds influence. Eventually, we have obtained the ideal surface free energy of the nano-structure surface. Figure 3 shows the SEM images of the 15nm half pitch line and space samples treated with C1 and C8 respectively. The only C1-treated sample shows no stiction. This result indicates that it is not so important to obtain high water repellency, but is very important to obtain lower surface free energy. Summary We evaluated two types of silylation agent (C1,C8) for suppression of nano-structure stiction. Although C1-treated surface enables lower water contact angle than that of C8, its surface free energy becomes lower. For 15nm half pitch line and space, C8-treatment cannot suppress the line stiction since C8-treatment is insufficient to reduce the surface free energy as C1. We have confirmed that surface free energy reduction is important for the suppression of stiction, and have attained stiction free drying of 15nm half pitch high aspect ratio line & space using C1-treatment. References [1] T.Tanaka, M.Morigami, N.Atoda, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 1993,32,6059-6064 [2]Cao, Nealey and Domke, J. Vac. Sci. Technol.B 2000, vol.18 No.6., 3303 [3] C.H. Mastrangelo, J. Microelectromech. Syst. Vol2, No.1 44 (1993) [4] Boar and Michalske, J. Appl. Phys. Vol.86, 817 (1999) [5] M. Sankarapandian, B. Peethala etc, Solid State Phenomena, Vol.195, 107 (2013) [6] T. Koide, S. Kimura, H. Iimori, T. Sugita, K. Sato, Y. Sato and Y. Ogawa, ECS Trans., Vol. 69, No. 8, 131 (2015) Figure 1

Autonomouse underwater vehicles(AUVs) are vital tools for detailed ocean survey in recent years. Amongst them, hovering-type AUVs are specialized in optical observation using cameras and travel near the seafloor avoiding obstacles. Therefore, it is important to maintain proper distance between AUV and objects which should be approached to take pictures.

This study examined the structure of Water-Intake-Works, which can control the inflow of suspended sediment to the inside the fishing port without reducing the amount of introduced water. A section experiment on two dimensions and a numerical calculation were executed in this study. As a result, it is confirmed that reducing the suspended load and controlling the vortex generated in water chamber could reduce the inflow of the suspended sediment to the inside the fishing port. The results also showed that there were several effective methods to reduce the suspended sediment in inflow as following: 1) to enlarge the size of the submerged mound and water chamber, 2) to install the rejection sand entrance, 3) to install the partition wall in water chamber, 4) to make training mouth upward.

We have previously shown that a thickened cell wall is responsible for the vancomycin resistance of vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) (equivalent to vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus and glycopeptide-intermediate S. aureus ) strain Mu50 (L. Cui, H. Murakami, K. Kuwahara-Arai, H. Hanaki, and K. Hiramatsu, Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 44:2276-2285, 2000). However, the mechanism of vancomycin resistance in other VRSA strains remained unclear. In this study, 16 clinical VRSA strains from seven countries were subjected to serial daily passage in drug-free medium. After 10 to 84 days of passage in the nonselective medium, passage-derived strains with decreased MICs of vancomycin (MIC, −6 to 1.64 × 10 −3 . The data indicated that vancomycin-resistant cells are frequently generated from the passage-derived strains even after vancomycin selective pressure is lifted. Cell wall thicknesses and MICs of glycopeptides (vancomycin and teicoplanin) and beta-lactams (imipenem and oxacillin) were determined for a total of 48 strains, including 15 sets of three strains: the clinical VRSA strain, the passage-derived strain, and the vancomycin-resistant mutant strain obtained from the passage-derived strain. No simple correlation between glycopeptide and beta-lactam MICs was seen, while significant correlations between MICs of vancomycin and teicoplanin ( r = 0.679; P < 0.001) and between MICs of imipenem and oxacillin ( r = 0.787; P < 0.001) were recognized. Moreover, all of the VRSA strains had significantly thickened cell walls, which became thinner with the loss of vancomycin resistance during drug-free passages and again became thick in the resistant mutant strains. The data showed that cell wall thickness had high correlation with the MICs of the two glycopeptides (correlation coefficients, 0.908 for vancomycin and 0.655 for teicoplanin) but not with those of the beta-lactam antibiotics tested. These results together with coupled changes of cell wall thickness and vancomycin MICs in 16 isogenic sets of strains indicate that thickening of the cell wall is a common phenotype of clinical VRSA strains and may be a phenotypic determinant for vancomycin resistance in S. aureus.

We measured static characteristics and dynamic behavior of OLED devices, and we confirmed experimentally that device characteristics of OLED devices were dependent on ionization potential of a hole transport layer through a space charge layer formation in the device.

Adherence of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) to intestinal epithelium is essential for initiation of the infection. To identify genes involved in adherence, an EHEC O157:H7 strain (O157Sakai) was mutagenized by mini-Tn 5 Km2, where Km refers to kanamycin resistance, and 4,677 insertion mutants were screened for their ability to form microcolonies (MC) on Caco-2 cells. The less adherent mutants were divided into three groups: those with no adherent ability (designated as class 1 mutants, n = 10), those less adherent than the wild type (class 2 mutants, n = 16), and those unable to form MC but which adhered in a diffuse manner (class 3 mutants, n = 1). The sites of insertion in class 1 mutants were all found within genes of the locus for enterocyte effacement (LEE) thought to be required for type III protein secretion. Indeed, the class 1 mutants failed to secrete type III secreted proteins such as EspA and Tir into the culture medium. The insertions in class 2 mutants were outside the LEE, and all the mutants except one were able to secrete type III proteins into the culture medium. The class 3 mutant had the insertion in the tir gene in the LEE and was deficient in Tir and intimin expression, suggesting that in the absence of intimin-Tir, O157Sakai can still adhere to Caco-2 cells but in a diffused manner. This was confirmed by construction of a nonpolar eae (encoding intimin) mutant. Examination of the eae mutant together with O157Sakai and one of the class 1 mutants for the ability to form MC revealed that EHEC initially adhered diffusely at 1.5 h after infection. Following washing out of the nonadherent bacteria, while wild-type EHEC bacteria developed MC for another 2 to 3 h on Caco-2 cells, the eae mutant diffusely adhered throughout the infection without forming MC. MC with O157Sakai but not the diffusely adherent eae mutant could evoke F-actin condensation beneath the bacterium. Our results suggest that EHEC encodes additional adherence-associated loci and that the type III secreted proteins are involved in the initial diffuse adherence, while the intimin-Tir interaction is required for the subsequent development of MC.

The purpose of the present study was to clarify the role of biofilms in the chemotherapy of cholangitis. In 1 case of recurrent cholangitis with intrahepatic stones, the patient underwent right hepatectomy after chemotherapy was performed for 42 weeks. In the other case, chemotherapy including ciprofloxacin was performed during an attack of recurrent cholangitis. Repeated culture of bile specimens yielded negative results, whereas culture of the choledochal stone yielded Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We observed an acute transient IgM response to a component of the biofilm of P. aeruginosa (alginate) in this case. In both cases, electron microscopy revealed viable bacteria covered with biofilm in the component of brown pigment stones. It was concluded that biofilm is a factor of drug resistance.

Electron microscopy and bacteriological culture revealed viable bacteria covered with a glycocalyx (biofilm) in choledochal stones recovered from two patients with acute cholangitis. On the cut surface of the choledochal stones, the cholesterol stone component was surrounded with a layer of brown pigment stone. In each case, bacterial culture of the choledochal stone recoveredPseudomonas aeruginosa. Since alginate is the main component of the glycocalyx produced byP. aeruginosa, serum IgM, IgG and IgA anti-alginate antibodies were measured in each patient. The present study is the first to demonstrate acute and transient IgM seroconversion to alginate in cases of acute cholangitis. In one case, the elevation of anti-alginate IgM preceded the elevation of anti-alginate IgG. The authors propose that the bacterial glycocalyx may play a significant role in acute cholangitis.

Cadmium (Cd) and fluoride (F) affect the metabolism of hard tissues, but their effect on human beings is not yet known. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Cd and/or F on DNA and protein syntheses of human cultured cells. Four human gingival fibroblast primary cultures (GF-5, 6, 12 and 13 cells) and two human malignant cell lines (HeLa S3cells and KU-2 cells) were used. All cells were grown in Eagle's minimum essential medium supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum. After 24hr incubation, cells were cultured in media containing CdCl2 and/or NaF in order to study their growth, DNA and protein synthesis, and intracellular Cd level. The growth and DNA synthesis of cells were inhibited by 2.0mM NaF or 10-4mM CdCl2. The incorporation of 14C-leucine in cells was increased by 0.5mM NaF or 10-5mM-10-4mM CdCl2. The enhancement of incorporation of 14C-leucine was greater in cells exposed to NaF plus CdCl2 than in cells exposed to CdCl2 alone. Increased incorporation of 35S-cysteine in cells was observed with 10-5mM-10-4mM CdCl2 or NaF plus CdCl2. However, F had no effect on the incorporation of 35S-cysteine. Gel filtration was performed with Sephadex G75. 35S peak was found in an metallothionein (MT) fraction. The intracellular Cd level was lower in gingival fibroblasts than in malignant cells. These results indicate that Cd induced the synthesis of MT in both human gingival fibroblasts and malignant cells. It also seems that F has the ability to stimulate the inducement of MT synthesis by Cd.

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A persistent dialkylsilanone was synthesized by the dehydrobromination of a dialkylbromosilanol with tris(trimethylsilyl)silyl potassium in solution at -80 °C: It was characterized by NMR and IR spectroscopy, and was tested in several reactions. In (29) Si NMR spectrum in [D8 ]toluene, the signal due to the unsaturated silicon nuclei was observed at 128.7 ppm. Reactions of the dialkylsilanone with water and mesitonitrile oxide gave a silanediol and a [2+3] cycloadduct, respectively. The silanone remains intact in [D8 ]toluene below -80 °C for at least two days, while it undergoes unprecedented isomerization to give a siloxysilene by means of 1,3-silyl migration at higher temperatures.

Introduction Nano-structure stiction during drying has often occurred due to scaling of semiconductor devices. Nano-structure contact caused by capillary forces is considered to cause the stiction [1][2]. The nano-structure stiction tends to be reduced by decreasing the surface tension of the rinsing liquid such as isopropyl alcohol (IPA), or using zero surface tension super critical fluid. Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) devices also have been faced on the stiction issue which is termed of “static friction”. Supposedly, it is caused by not only capillary forces but also adhesion forces, electrostatic forces, Van Der Walls forces and hydrogen bonding [3][4]. It is supposed that the release of the stiction is influenced by the correlation between the elastic restoring forces and the adhesion forces [5]. We have focused on the influence of the surface energy in order to release the stiction. Within the elastic limit, even if the nano-structures are deflected by capillary forces, they may be restored to their undeformed state after drying. We have illustrated the effect of the surface energy reduction process for high aspect-ratio nano-structures by both calculation and experimental data. Calculation The adhering nano-structure is imitated as S-shaped beam (Figure1). The elastic restoring energy is (equation 1) Where E is Young modulus, I is moment of inertia of area, s is half of space, h is detachment length, t is thickness and w is width (not shown). The adhesive energy is determined by the surface tension of the solid material (g s ) and the area of contact (w(L-h)) in the opposite direction against the restoring energy. (equation 2) To minimize the total energy (UT ) given from UE+US indicates that the nano-structures are stable. If UT is larger than zero, the stiction is released. We calculated these energies for nano-structures of a single material such as silicon oxide. Figure 2 shows the calculated energy curves in condition A and B, respectively, given the parameters from Table I. When the surface tension is 70 mN/m [6] on condition A, the total energy minimizes at about a 220 nm detachment length. This means that the nano-structures with about an 80nm contact length remain adhered. When the surface tension is brought down to 22 mN/m (condition B), the total energy does not have a minimal point below a 300nm detachment length. This indicates that even the adhering nano-structures will be released. Experimental We fabricated a 31nm half pitch line patterned structure of silicon oxide which is about a 320nm height. We obtained various line thickness samples by changing the etching time of diluted hydro-fluoride (DHF) treatment. As etched, the samples have a high surface energy (HSE). The state of the low surface energy (LSE) is achieved by using a surface modification agent. As shown in Figure 3, we plot the experimental data in STICTION as cross symbols, and in NO STICTION as open symbols, respectively, in each condition A (HSE) and B (LSE). Also the dotted line is a calculated curve in condition A. The solid line is calculated in condition B. The value of the surface energy is determined 22mN/m by a Zisman plot (not shown). In the left-hand area “Stiction” of the solid line, all the samples adhered. In the area ”Release Stiction” between the solid and dotted lines, only the samples with LSE did not adhere. This indicates that once the lines come in contact with each other, the elastic restoring force will release the stiction. In the area “Separation” under the dotted line, all the samples were not found not to have adhered. This means that the samples were kept separated over the whole process period. The experimental data correspond to the calculated lines very well. Summary We have evaluated the effect of the surface energy on the stiction with both calculation and experimental data, and have successfully demonstrated that the surface energy reduction process can suppress high aspect-ratio nano-structure stiction. Figure 1

The first dialkyl-substituted silicon-chalcogen doubly bonded compounds [R2Si=X; R2=1,1,4,4-tetrakis(trimethylsilyl)butane-1,4-diyl, X = S (4), Se (5), and Te (6)]were synthesized by the reactions of an isolable dialkylsilylene R2Si: (3) with phosphine sulfide, elemental selenium, and elemental tellurium, respectively. Systematic changes of characteristics of silicon-chalcogen double bonds are elucidated by X-ray analysis, UV-vis spectroscopy, and DFT calculations. In the solid state, the unsaturated silicon atom in 4-6 adopts planar geometry and the extent of the shortening of Si=X double bonds from the corresponding Si-X single bonds decreases in the order 456. In the absorption spectra of 4-6, pi --pi* transition bands are observed distinctly in addition to n --pi* transition bands. Both the n --pi* and pi --pi* transitions are red-shifted in the order 456, and the difference between the energies of the two transitions is kept almost constant among 4-6. The tendency is explained using the qualitative perturbation theory and is reproduced by the DFT calculations for model silanechalcogenones. Addition reactions of water, methanol, and isoprene to 4-6 are reported.

We studied gastric function in patients with functional dyspepsia, using capsules containing contrast medium. We were able to estimate intragastric capsule movement by this method. Here, we report gastric functions in patients with esophagitis. We were able to recognize gastric dysfunction (delayed gastric emptying) in these patients.

A 24 year-old single female had been suffering from lassitude, low grade fever and a slight sore throat for several weeks.While under the care of local practioner a diagnosis of acute pharyngitis was made, however the fever did not subside and there was little change in other symptoms. We took smears and cultures from the fossa supratonsillaris and numerous Serratia marcescens were evident.The disc sensitivity test showed gentamycin to be the most sensitive, and she responded well to this treatment.

A two dimensional hydrodynamic and morphological model is applied to the Natori River mouth to predict sand spit flushing and resulting topography change during the floods in September 1982 and August 1989. Time-variation of water level in the mouth can be simulated quite well by means of the present model, in which sediment movement due to streamwise current as well as that induced by secondary current is considered.

The constant potential anodic oxidation reaction of phenylated bis-homocubanes involved the [2+2]cycloreversion to give the dienes via a radical chain mechanism.