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Glass fiber-reinforced plastics (GFRPs) are composite materials with high strength and flame retardancy; however, their disposal process is expensive, causing illegal dumping. Herein, recycling of waste GFRPs using pyrolysis with KOH under an inert atmosphere was attempted by the gasification of resin and conversion of glass fibers into soluble silicate. The pyrolysis behavior of the GFRP, characteristics of the obtained residue, composition and yield of the generated gas, and extracted amount of silica in the solution obtained using KOH were investigated. The results indicated that the gasification of the resin and conversion of the glass fiber into soluble silicate were promoted by pyrolysis with KOH. With an increase in the heating temperature, KOH addition amount, and heating time, the yield of gases, especially flammable gases (H2 and CH4), and the extracted amount of silica increased, whereas the residual rate decreased. The amount of silica extracted using 1 M HCl is higher than that extracted using distilled water. Compared with those obtained using NaOH, the yield of gases and specific surface area of the residue achieved using KOH are superior, while the extracted amount of silica obtained using NaOH is higher than that acquired using KOH.

In an estimation of iPAGAT polymer gel dosimeters using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, the dosimetric characteristics were investigated with two echo sequences: a spin echo (SE) and a fast recovery fast spin echo (FRFSE) sequence. FRFSE can shorten total scan time compared to SE because of its short repetition time (TR) and long echo train length (ETL). Although the R2-dose response measured from FRFSE was decreased compared to SE, both responses were fitted quadratic curve with a high correlation coefficient. In addition, their calibrated dose distributions showed high conformity to the planned data in the three-dimensional (3D) gamma index, dose volume histogram (DVH) and surface rendering analyses; however, results of SE were a little superior to FRFSE. In conclusion, it is suggested that FRFSE can present the accurate characteristics of polymer gel dosimeters under the optimum parameters.

Summary Background Idiopathic mesenteric phlebosclerosis (IMP) is a rare disease, characterised by thickening of the wall of the right hemicolon with calcification of mesenteric veins. However, the aetiology remains unknown. Aim To investigate the possible association of herbal medicines with IMP. Method The clinical data of four of our own patients were collected. Furthermore, we searched for previous reports about similar patients with detailed descriptions of herbal prescriptions that they had taken. We compared herbal ingredients to identify the toxic agent as a possible aetiological factor. Results Clinical data on a total of 25 patients were summarised. Mean age was 61.8 years and there was female predominance (6 men and 19 women). The used Kampo prescription, the number of cases, and the mean duration of use were as follows: kamisyoyosan in 12 cases for 12.8 years, inshin-iseihaito in 5 cases for 13.4 years, orengedokuto in 4 cases for 14.3 years, inchinkoto in 1 case for 20 years, kamikihitou in 1 case for 19 years, seijobofuto in 1 case for 10 years and gorinsan in 1 case for an unknown duration. Only one ingredient, sansisi, was common to the herbal medicines of all 25 patients. This crude drug called geniposide in English is a major constituent of the Gardenia fruits. Conclusion The long-term use of geniposide in herbal medicines appears to be associated with mesenteric phlebosclerosis.

Enforced expression of connexin (Cx) 32 gene, a member of gap junction gene family and a tumor suppressor gene in human renal cell carcinoma (RCC), enhanced vinblastine (VBL)-induced cytotoxicity on RCC cells, due to the suppression of multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1) gene product, P-glycoprotein (P-gp). Also, Cx32 gene in RCC is silenced by hypermethylation of CpG islands in a promoter region of the Cx gene. In this study, we investigated if a DNA demethylating agent, 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine (5-Aza) could enhance susceptibility of RCC cells (Caki-1) to VBL. We found that 5-Aza treatment up-regulated Cx32 in Caki-1 cells, and the induction of the Cx led to the suppression of P-gp through inhibition of Src and subsequent activation of c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK). Moreover, increased transcription activity of c-Jun by the JNK activation contributed to the down-regulation of MDR1, thus indicating a central role of JNK signalling to suppress P-gp level in 5-Aza-treated Caki-1 cells. Chemical sensitivity to VBL in Caki-1 cells was increased by 5-Aza pre-treatment, and this effect was abrogated by short interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated knockdown of Cx32. Furthermore, co-treatment of 5-Aza or a P-gp inhibitor with VBL drastically enhanced JNK activation comparing to only VBL treatment in Caki-1 cells. These results suggest that the restoration of Cx32 by 5-Aza pre-treatment improves chemical tolerance on VBL in Caki-1 cells and that the JNK activation is a key factor to induce the effect.

A numerical investigation is made of the production of sound by turbulence interacting with a noncompact body. The problem is formulated in the frequency domain by extending the theory of vortex sound proposed by Howe. The anomalous "numerical" generation of sound by the sudden termination of Lighthill's stress tensor at the outer boundary of a finite computational domain is avoided by identification of "scattered" sound sources that generate sound principally by interaction with the solid surface. It is argued that the boundary element method is the most efficient means of computing the aeroacoustic Green's function for the problem, because it requires a minimum of CPU time, is not prone to numerical errors such as dispersion and dissipation during propagation, and the radiation condition is easily applied at the outer boundary. The method is applied to the problem of sound generation by high Reynolds number flow past a circular cylinder. The "scattered" sources are shown to be confined to the vicinity of the cylinder surface. At low frequencies the radiation has a dipole-like directivity in agreement with the compact approximation. However, the directivity is quite different at high frequencies, where our noncompact method predicts a more complicated "leaf-like" radiation pattern.

Purpose: To evaluate the dosimetric impact of the interplay effect between multileaf collimator (MLC) movement and tumor respiratory motion during delivery of volumetric modulate arc therapy (VMAT) by using customized polymer gel dosimeter. Methods: Polyacrylamide-based gel dosimeter contained magnesium chloride as a sensitizer (iPAGAT) was used in this study. An excellent gas barrier PAN (BAREX) techno bottle (φ8 cm, 650 mL) filled with iPAGAT was set to the QUASAR™ respiratory motion phantom, and was moved with motion amplitudes of 1 and 2 cm with a 4 second period during VMAT delivery by the Novalis Tx linear accelerator (Varian/BrainLAB). Two spherical tumors with a 2 cm diameter (GTV1 and GTV2) were defined, and ITV1 (GTV1+1 cm) and ITV2 (GTV2+2 cm) with expansion in the superior-inferior (S-I) direction were also defined with simulated respiratory motion. PTV margin was 2 mm around the ITV considering the setup uncertainty. Two single arc VMAT plans with 30 Gy at 3 Gy per fraction (GTV: D98>100%, PTV: D95=100%) were generated by the Varian Eclipse treatment planning system. Three-dimensional dose distribution in iPAGAT was read out by the Signa 1.5T MRI system (GE), and was evaluated by dose-volume histogram (DVH) using in-house developed software. Results: According to DVH analysis by iPAGAT, D98 of GTV1 and GTV2 were more than 100% of the prescribed dose. In contrast, D95 of PTV1 and PTV2 were about 85% and 65%, respectively. Furthermore, low-to-intermediate dose was widespread with motion amplitude of 2 cm. Conclusion: DVH analysis using iPAGAT polymer gel dosimeter was performed in this study. As a result, interplay effect was negligible, since dose coverage of GTV was sufficient during VMAT delivery with simulated respiratory motion. However, the dose reduction of PTV and the spread of low-to-intermediate dose compared to the planned dose require scrupulous attention for large tumor respiratory motion.

Using a large animal model, we examined whether circumferential stricture after esophageal endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) can be treated by grafting a bioabsorbable esophageal patch. Circumferential ESD was performed on the thoracic esophagus in pigs (n = 6) to create a stricture, for which one of the following interventions was performed: (1) the stricture site was longitudinally incised, and an artificial esophageal wall (AEW) was grafted after placing a bioabsorbable stent (AEW patch group, n = 3); (2) endoscopic balloon dilation (EBD) was performed every other week after stricture development (EBD group, n = 3). In both groups, esophageal fluoroscopy was performed 8 weeks after the interventions, and the esophagus was excised for histological examination of the patched site. In the AEW patch group, esophageal fluoroscopy revealed favorable passage through the patched site. Histologically, the mucosal epithelium and lamina propria had regenerated as in the normal area. In the EBD group, the circumferential stricture site showed marked thickening, and there were hypertrophic scars associated with epithelial defects on the luminal surface. Histologically, defects of the mucosal epithelium and full-thickness proliferation of connective tissue were observed. AEW patch grafting was suggested to be a potentially novel treatment strategy for post-ESD esophageal circumferential stricture.

A method is described for the conductimetric determination of CO 2 . The proposed system was constructed with a pervaporator chamber coupled to a flow system comprised of a six-way solenoid valve, a conductivity cell, a conductivimeter and a PC microcomputer for data acquisition and external controls. An amount of 2 g of dry soil samples were directly weighted in the donor compartment of the pervaporation chamber. The CO 2 was determined from an analytical curve within 5.0 x 10 -3 -5.0 x 10 -2 mol kg -1 CaCO 3 . This curve was constructed with the matrix matching approach and presented a linear regression of y = 13.58 + 584.77r (r = 0.9962). Soils with different lime amounts were analyzed by the proposed methodology and with the official method, that uses the calcium difference between the total, extracted with HCl 1 mol l -1 and exchangeable, extracted with the KCl 1 mol l -1 After paired t-test application, no significant difference between the methods was found at the 95% probability level. The proposed method presented sampling rate of 17 h -1 , detection limit of 8.0 x 10 -4 mol kg -1 CaCO 3 , and R.S.D. < 3%. The use of the pervaporator allowed the in situ soil pretreatment for the residual lime determination.

This study evaluated the early and late results of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in patients on long-term maintenance hemodialysis (chronic HD) at Teikyo University Ichihara Hospital between January 1996 and June 2000. Thirty-six patients on chronic HD underwent CABG. There were 26 males (72%) and 10 females (28%) ranging from 41 to 81 years (mean +/- SD, 61.8 +/- 9.2 years) of age. Twenty-one patients (58%) had unstable angina, 14 (39%) stable angina, and 1 acute myocardial infarction. Eleven patients (31%) had urgent or emergency CABG. The average graft number was 2.5 +/- 0.8 (arterial graft 1.3 +/- 0.7/patient). Six patients had concomitant cardiac operations. Three patients underwent re- or a second re-CABG. Five patients underwent off-pump CABG. Principally, HD was performed during cardiopulmonary bypass and was followed by continuous hemodiafiltration in the early postoperative period. The early mortality was 11%; 25% in emergency and urgent CABG and 4% in elective CABG. In the follow-up period between 1 and 53 months (mean +/- SD 21.9 +/- 15.1 months), 4 patients died, and 9 patients developed recurrence of angina pectoris (6, occlusion of saphenous vein graft and 3, native coronary progression). Six patients had coronary intervention. The postoperative angiogram showed that all arterial grafts were patent, but the patency of the vein grafts was only 61.5%. The early results of CABG in patients on chronic HD was satisfactory. The late recurrence of angina pectoris mostly was caused by occlusion of the saphenous vein graft. In conclusion, the aggressive use of arterial grafts is crucial in CABG for patients on chronic HD.

Insect haemolymph contains growth promotor(s) for cultured insect cells and is frequently used as an additive to the culture media. Insect haemolymph serves as a pool of a protein product produced by a virus vector-insect host system. Haemolymph collection is an essential step in the above process, which should limit the scale and cost of their performance. In the present study, a simple procedure for bleeding from lepidopteran larvae, Bombyx mori, has been developed which utilized a spontaneous contraction of the insect body after a freezing-thawing treatment. In the case of fifth-instar B. mori, 60 to 80% of the total haemolymph was collected by this method. The authors applied the method to a haemolymph collection from frozen larvae stored at -80°C for longer than 1 month. Preservability of the frozen larvae enabled the development of a system dealing with a huge bulk of insects. The bleeding method was effective under cooled condition at 0°C or 4°C, which was desired for protein handling. Development of a large system would result in a cost reduction for the insect haemolymph products such as insect cell-culture additive. Furthermore, the above bleeding method was applied to the nuclear polyhedrosis virus-infected B. mori larvae and up to 80% of the total haemolymph was collected from the virus-infected larvae. It suggests the bleeding method as an effective means of haemolymph collection in the protein productive system using a virus vector and its insect host.

A flow injection system for cobalt determination in faeces of bovines and equines receiving Co-EDTA as a tracer in animal nutrition studies is proposed, using 1.0 mol HCl l−1 as extracting medium, and detection by flow injection spectrophotometric procedure based on the catalytic effect of Co(II) on the oxidation of Tiron by hydrogen peroxide. Linearity was observed up to 8.0 μg Co l−1, and the detection limit was 0.2 μg Co l−1 (3 s blank). The system requires 0.12 mg Tiron per determination and handles 65 samples h−1. No baseline drift was observed during extended operation periods (8 h) and precise results (r.s.d.

Mural paintings with ∼20 × 25cm2 in size excavated in Egypt were analyzed by the external PIXE technique. Colored layers were stacked with white, yellow, red and black pigments in sequence, which were composed of Mg3Ca(CO3)4 (white), αFeO·OH and As2S3 (yellow), αFe2O3 (red) and soot (black), respectively. A single particle of As2S3 was also found from the yellow colored part, which glinted in the sun. A thin paraffin layer did not disturb the PIXE analysis, which was a part of reinforcement materials for ancient remains and was flowed out from a back side to a surface region.

One of the key issues confronting today's telecom carriers is how to rapidly detect variation in service quality to improve customer satisfaction. Since the volume of data required for performance analysis has been increasing due to diversification of network environments, the time required to detect any variation in the network condition has also grown. Due to the complexity of managed data, network services are at a risk of degrading customer experiences. Accordingly, to enable instant performance analysis, we present lightweight performance analysis to dynamically change the monitoring network resource via our proposed two functions. One is a continuous rule-creation function, which creates an analysis rule to change a monitoring resource based on hierarchical network topology and the network condition. The other is a data control function, which can suppress performance data by controlling a database based on the analysis rule. These functions can facilitate not only understanding of network quality, but also reduction of the analysis processing load. To evaluate our approach, a mechanism implemented into a prototype performance analysis system was successfully demonstrated in a network testbed. Its effectiveness was validated in that the proposed performance analysis mechanism reduced CPU utilization by one-third compared to the existing performance analysis approach.

Focusing a femto-second laser (1 mJ/pulse repetition 1 kHz) on a special tape, a strong radiation consisting of the electron beam of ~ 200 keV and X-rays of ~ 6.4 keV (5 %) has been generated. It has been verified that the radiation source is sufficient to kill the tumor cells and the DNA laddering structure in the in-vivo test is obtained. More test implanting the tumor under the skin of mouse and irradiating the laser-generated radiation, we have shown the radiation has a clear powerful therapeutic capability. For about 80 % of mice irradiated, their tumor disappeared. For further clinical test use, a compact laparoscope-type unit mounted on an articulated arm has been constructed and it can generate the necessary amount of the radiation dose.

All serotonin derivatives described here (1-9) inhibited BACE 1 in a dose dependent manner. The 50% Inhibition Concentration (IC50) of N-cinnamoyl serotonin (1) was 86.7 +/- 4.0 microM. The peptide conjugation of serotonin derivatives influenced the BACE 1 inhibitory activity. Among serotonin derivatives (1-8), introduction of substituents, such as hydroxyl and methoxy groups at the 4'-position decreased the inhibitory activity (N-p-coumaroyl serotonin (2), N-p-methoxy cinnamoyl serotonin (3)). With a hydroxylgroup at the 4'-position, and the meta-hydroxy function being substituted by a hydroxyl group or methoxy group (N-caffeoyl serotonin (4), N-feruloyl serotonin (5)), inhibitory activity was weakened, (IC50400 microM). BACE 1 inhibitory activity was effected by the substituents of the cinnamic acid moiety. This is the first report on Structure-Activity-Relationships (SAR) for the BACE 1-inhibiting activity of serotonin derivatives. These serotonin derivatives, which have anti-oxidative effects as well are expected to be useful in the study of the mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease.

The aim of this study was to show how tyrosinase inhibitory activity is correlated with the structure of cinnamic acid derivatives. We synthesized cinnamic acid derivatives, and investigated their tyrosinase inhibitory and DPPH radical scavenging activities. The results show that reduction of C=C double bonds and the substituent group of cinnamic acid derivatives have an effect on antioxidant activity and tyrosinase inhibitory activity. Among these compounds, compounds 2, 6 and 6a showed a potent tyrosinase inhibitory activity with IC50 (50% inhibitory concentration) values of 115.6 microM, 114.9 microM and 195.7 microM, respectively. The results obtained provide a useful clue for the design and development of new tyrosinase inhibitors.

Effective methods to inactivate or remove budded particles of a nuclear polyhedrosis virus of Bombyx mori (BmNPV) from a cell-cultured media or from host haemolymph that is infected by this virus have been developed. Two types of suspensions containing BmNPV budded virus particles, TC-100 media that cultured BmN4 cells infected by this virus and haemolymph of B. mori larvae infected by this virus, were treated by 6% (w/v) polyethylene glycol (PEG), 0.01% (w/v) chitosan, 0.05% (v/v) linoleic acid (an emulsion), and/or diethylether. Treatment by linoleic acid followed by PEG-precipitation and treatment by diethylether followed by PEG-precipitation were so effective that these treatments suppressed the viral titre of BmNPV-infected larval haemolymph from an original titre (> 10 9 TCID 50 units/ml) to below a detectable limit. These methods are suggested as being potentially useful in an insect factory system; that is, a protein production system utilizing a baculovirus vector and its insect host or cultured cells on a large scale.

This paper proposes a network architecture to achieve a QoS assured network, which is composed of two QoS control technologies such as IP flow control and MPLS DiffServ-TE. IP flow control technology is utilized to treat IP packets as an IP flow distinguished by source and destination IP addresses, ports, protocol and priority and to apply the CAC function on the per-flow basis. MPLS DiffServ-TE is also used to accommodate multiple IP flows along the LSP via a bandwidth guarantee with certain service classes. By using the network testbed, we confirmed some of functions in our proposed architecture of the QoS assured network worked properly following the CAC capability of flow state routing and LSP-based bandwidth guarantee of MPLS DiffServ-TE. Multiple IP flows can be appropriately conveyed over the assigned LSP. Moreover, we verified the operation of the prototype NMS to monitor IP flows, LSPs and the inclusion relationship between them. And we also derived a policy to set the bandwidth for CAC at the edge router for effective utilization of bandwidth.

A localized X-ray source for the pin-point treatment of cancers using femt-second laser has been developed. Particular emphasis is put on i) stable emission of X-rays, ii) a sufficient dose and iii) a sufficient photon energy for the treatment. Almost 80 % of the objectives listed above has been realized and the first X-ray irradiation test on cancer cells shows a significant effect on the cancer DNA.

The H-II launch vehicle is being developed by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) to meet the demands of Japan's applications satellite users for cost-effective, heavy-lift launches in the 1990s. At present, NASDA is conducting detailed design and development tests in preparation for the first test flight in 1993. This paper describes the present status of the design and development of the H-II launch vehicle. Special attention is given to the test results of the solid rocket booster and the payload fairing. The updated overall configuration and system descriptions are also presented.

Purpose: ArcCHECK and 3DVH system (Sun Nuclear) can reconstruct the three-dimensional (3D) dose distribution and provide the DVH analysis in a patient. The aim of this study was to evaluate dosimetric accuracy of this system using customized polymer gel dosimeter, and also Gafchromic EBT3 films. Methods: Polyacrylamide-based gel contained magnesium chloride as a sensitizer (iPAGAT) was used in this study. Volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plan was performed for the C-shape structure by the Eclipse treatment planning system (Varian) and used to irradiate the ArcCHECK by the Novalis Tx linear accelerator (Varian/BrainLAB). The cubic phantom filled with iPAGAT and EBT3 films placed in three orthogonal planes (axial, sagittal, and coronal) inserted into the I’mRT Phantom (IBA Dosimetry) simulated a patient were irradiated with the same VMAT plan. The measurement-guided 3D dose distribution was reconstructed using 3DVH software from the measured data of the ArcCHECK. The 3D dose distribution in iPAGAT was read out by Signa 1.5 T MRI system (GE), and 2D dose distribution on EBT3 was read out by color scanner (Epson). The comparison of all the dose distributions was performed with dose profiles and gamma index analysis in orthogonal planes using in-house developed software. Results: A good agreement was observed by overlaying the dose profiles of 3DVH, EBT3, and iPAGAT. The mean pass rates by gamma index analysis with 3%/3 mm criteria in orthogonal planes were 94.3% (3DVH vs EBT3), 91.1% (3DVH vs iPAGAT), and 96.4% (iPAGAT vs EBT3), respectively. Conclusion: 3D dose distribution reconstructed by ArcCHECK and 3DVH system was estimated accurately in a patient. However, slightly differences were observed between 3DVH and iPAGAT because of MRI noise, therefore further study is required to improve the accuracy of MRI based polymer gel dosimetry for the DVH analysis.

The Euclidean distance transform is one of the fundamental operations in image processing. It has been widely used in computer vision, pattern recognition, morphological filtering, and robotics. This paper proposes a systolic algorithm that computes the Euclidean distance map of an N times N binary image in 3N clocks on 2N2 processing cells. The algorithm is designed so that the hardware resources are reduced; especially no multipliers are used and, thus, it facilitates VLSI implementation

In the course of Sabin-inactivated poliovirus vaccine (S-IPV) development, we have established high-yield virus production techniques based on Vero cell micro-carrier cultures. Development of specific ELISA tests to quantify the antigen content of S-IPV has been achieved. To adjust the immunogenicity of S-IPV so as to be comparable with the conventional-IPV, a new formulation was determined using a potency test using rats. The reformulated S-IPV was shown to be efficacious for the immunization of monkeys.

A seamless end-to-end call set up over multi-carrier ASON and GMPLS network domains was successfully achieved. Interworking of two ASON network domains and five GMPLS network domains was demonstrated on a nationwide scale.

The aim of this study is to optimize the experimental conditions for an in vitro skin sensitization test using the human cell lines THP-1 and U-937. As regards pre-culturing time, the expression of CD86 on DNCB-treated THP-1 cells tended to be higher after 48h and 72h pre-culture compared with other time points evaluated. Next, we investigated the effect of chemical treatment time, and found that induction of CD86 expression on THP-1 cells by DNCB reached a plateau after 24h. Augmentation of CD86 expression is often observed when cells are treated with a subtoxic dose of allergens. To determine the appropriate dose of test samples, the cytotoxicity of test samples to THP-1 and U-937 cells was assessed with MTT assay, and the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of each test sample was calculated. Based on the cytotoxicity assay data, four concentrations in the range between toxic and non-toxic were selected (0.1x, 0.5x, 1x and 2x IC50). Several kinds of antibodies were tested for staining THP-1 and U-937 cells treated with allergens/non-allergens (e.g., DNCB, Ni/SLS), and suitable antibodies for staining CD86 and CD54 were selected. We confirmed that the working dilutions of the selected CD86 and CD54 antibodies were appropriate for use in our method. The effect of an FcR blocking procedure was also evaluated. The mean fluorescence intensity (MFI value) was decreased by the FcR blocking procedure, which indicated that non-specific staining was blocked. Therefore, this procedure should be included in the method. Based on our findings, the protocol for this assay was optimized and the experimental conditions to be used in a future validation study were identified. We propose to call this kind of in vitro skin sensitization test h-CLAT, which is short for human Cell Line Activation Test.

Primary pulmonary malignant lymphoma is a rare disease that is thought to belong to a category of malignant lymphomas arising from mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT). We presented 2 cases of MALT lymphoma. Case 1: In a 39-year-old woman, an abnormal shadow was detected in chest radiography in the left S3. The diagnosis was organizing pneumonia in consequence of the further examination. One year after an growing abnormal shadow was detected again, we performed the tumor resection with the thoracoscopy in the possibility of malignancy. The pathological diagnosis was MALT lymphoma. Case 2: In a 70-year-old man, middle lobe syndrome was detected in chest radiography. As a result of the bronchial biopsy, the lesion was suspected of MALT lymphoma. Right middle lobectomy was performed, and the tumor was diagnosed as a MALT lymphoma histologically. He underwent an effective postoperative radiotherapy and has had no evidence of recurrence.