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A unique comprehensive sensory lexicon for describing the appearance, aroma, flavor and texture attributes of almonds was developed by a nine-member panel with extensive experience in descriptive analysis. The almond lexicon was then used to profile the sensory properties of 20 almond samples obtained from three growing regions in California over two harvest years and encompassing seven major almond varieties, to better understand the natural variability in raw almonds. Range graphs were plotted to depict the intensity range (minimum to maximum score) for a given attribute across all samples evaluated for a variety. Descriptive analysis results revealed that the major almond varieties tested had a range of inherent variability and that specific varieties had unique attributes. Distinct walnut, tea and squash flavor aromatics were detected in only some almond varieties. Appearance, aroma, basic taste and chemical feeling factor attribute ranges were generally small and consistent among varieties. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS The detailed, working almond lexicon created in this study will provide researchers, producers and manufacturers with an effective platform to communicate observations for the evaluation of almonds. The sensory attribute assessment of almond varieties obtained from different regions, growers and harvest years allows for a better understanding of the natural variability in almonds. Establishing the range of natural variability found in raw almonds of the major California varieties provides the basis for future research on the effects of processing treatments on the sensory characteristics of almonds.

A continuous-flow two-step process for the production of multifunctional intermediate compounds was performed with a combination of two column reactors packed with different organic immobilized catalysts. The first step of the reaction, nitroaldol condensation between aromatic aldehydes and nitromethane, is promoted by a silica gel-supported primary amine; the second step, Michael addition of beta-dicarbonyl compounds to the nitrostyrenes obtained in the first step, is catalyzed by a silica gel-supported guanidine TBD. In both cases, the catalysts can be directly reused for several runs with no significant changes in activity.

The direct oxidation of benzene to phenol with N2O over ZSM-5 catalysts suffers from the problem of rapid catalyst deactivation mainly due to the secondary transformation of phenol into heavier hydrocarbon compounds leading to the catalyst coking. In order to investigate the deactivation behavior of the ZSM-5 catalysts during this reaction, a comparative study was performed over ZSM-5 catalysts having different crystal sizes. The original catalyst was milled to two different periods of time to obtain catalysts having various crystal sizes. The original and the milled catalysts were tested for the benzene to phenol reaction to get an insight into the effect of crystal size on the catalyst deactivation. There was a decrease in catalyst deactivation with a decrease in crystal size. An indirect dependence of catalyst deactivation with total acidity was observed.

Characterization (9:00-10:30) Chairs: H. Fukutome (Fujitsu Labs. Ltd.) S. Miyazaki (Hiroshima Univ.) B-3: FinFET and GAA Devices (9:00-10:35) Chairs: D. Hisamoto (Hitachi, Ltd.) K. Shibahara (Hiroshima Univ.) C-3: Spintronics (I) (9:00-10:30) Chairs: K. Inomata (NIMS) M. Tanaka (Univ. of Tokyo) D-3: Imaging Devices (9:00-10:30) Chairs: M. Horiguchi (Renesas Tech. Corp.) T. Komuro (Agilent Technologies Japan, Ltd.) E-3: Photo Detectors and Sensors (9:00-10:30) Chairs: Y. Lee (Hitachi, Ltd.) M. Sugawara (Fujitsu Labs. Ltd.)

Early diagnosis of strangulation obstruction is very important for surgeons because delayed diagnosis often leads to severe complications. Thirty patients underwent an operation because of small bowel obstruction between April, 1993 and December, 1999. In the present study, we examined the differences in clinical findings between simple obstruction and strangulation obstruction. In addition, we examined the manifestation of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and whether it is useful for early diagnosis of strangulation obstruction, and whether it is correlated with the severity of ischemia due to strangulation. Tenderness was examined in all patients and signs such as abdominal irritation were detected more often in patients with strangulation obstruction than in the patients with simple obstruction. According to SIRS, the large number of the patients with strangulation obstruction showed SIRS before operation and the manifestation of SIRS correlated well with the length of the necrosis in the strangulated small bowel. We recognized the importance of anamnesis and clinical findings in examinations of small bowel obstruction, furthermore, it was suggested that SIRS should be the warning sign for strangulation obstruction.

Fundamental study in dogs have shown that the synthetic protease inhibitor has pharmaceutical properties characterized by effect on motility of the sphincter of Oddi. Synthetic protease inhibitors, gabexate mesilate and nafamostat mesilate have effects on motility of the sphincter of Oddi in dogs. The motor effect of synthetic protease inhibitor on the sphincter of Oddi has been investigated by manometric evaluation. Immediately after intravenous administration of gabexate mesilate (5, 10, 50, and 100 mg/kg/h) the motility of the sphincter of Oddi was inhibited dose-dependently, on the other hand after intravenous administration of nafamostat mesilate (0.5, 1, and 5 mg/kg/h) motility of the sphincter of Oddi was accelerated. Therefore it was suggested that these results shown some considerable problems in clinical use.

Energy metabolism of tissues after organismal death was investigated in dogs. Cardiac blood was taken from dogs killed by ligation of coronary artery at 1, 2, 4, 7 and 24h after cardiac arrest. For comparison, venous blood was removed from living dogs. Plasma concentrations of lactate, pyruvate, hypoxanthine plus xanthine, uric acid and allantoin were determined. Both lactate and the sum of the three oxypurines (hypoxanthine, xanthine and uric acid), recognized as good indicators for anoxia increased rapidly till 4h after death, then increased gradually till 24h. These changes appear to reflect anaerobic metabolism in cardiac muscle after death. Although further study is needed, the present results may find application in the estimation of postmortem intervals in human.

A rapid and highly sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for determination of human alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) using commercially available reagents was devised and applied to identification of fetal bloodstains. When experimentally prepared bloodstains, 1 by 2 mm in area, were submitted to analysis, only fetal bloodstains showed positive reactions in the present ELISA. The reactions did not change significantly when these bloodstains were stored at room temperature for one week. The present ELISA seems to be suitable for forensic science practice.

Mechanical forces applied to the neck region are known to release certain amounts of thyroglobulin into circulation. In this experiment, an attempt was made to detect thyroglobulin in bloodstains as an aid in the diagnosis of mechanical asphyxia. Experimental bloodstains containing thyroglobulin at concentrations of 1, 2, 5 and 10 mu g/mL were prepared on a sheet of filter paper. Small pieces of bloodstains, measuring approximately 2.4 cm2 in area, were extracted with 0.1 mL of distilled water and the extracts were tested against an antihuman thyroglobulin serum by precipitation-electrophoresis. Bloodstains containing more than 1 mu g/mL of thyroglobulin formed distinct precipitin lines for up to one month of storage, while bloodstains containing more than 5 mu g/mL of thyroglobulin formed distinct precipitin lines for up to three months of storage. The present results suggest that the bloodstains can be utilized in the diagnosis of mechanical asphyxia.

A nationwide survey of cases of congenital dilatation of the biliary duct was conducted to obtain the data on cases of congenital dilation of the biliary duct in Japan between 1972 and 1982. A total of 645 cases were surveyed. An anomalous arrangement of the pancreaticobiliary ductal system (AAPABIDS) was associated with congenital dilatation of the biliary duct in 90.2% of the cases examined extensively. These cases and 62 cases that were collected in our hospital during the period from 1963 to 1984 were chosen as the subject of this study. The results may be summarized as follows: Various factors which affect the sphincter of Oddi are needed for the clinical manifestations of AAPABIDS. The incidence of biliary carcinoma increases with age, in parallel with that of intestinal metaplasia in cases of congenital dilatation of the biliary duct. These findings suggest that intestinal metaplasia may be one of the important factors in the development of biliary carcinoma. From the view points of timing and indication of surgery, it is necessary to cut off reflux of pancreatic juice into the biliary duct and remove the portion in which bile is stagnant prior to the development of serious complications.

Attempts were made to detect phenotypes of the enzymes phosphoglucomutase (PGM) and phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (PGD) in human skin and adipose tissues. Both enzymes could be typed using approximately 3 mg wet weight of tissue. Phenotypes could be distinguished after up to 15 days of aging for PGM and ten days of aging for PGD. Analysis of isoenzymes is potentially useful for mediolegal identification of human skin and adipose tissue.

A retrospective study have been performed to investigate the correlation between stone formation and bacteriae in the bile of 211 consecutive biliary stone patients (133 females and 78 males, age ranged 1.3 to 87.0 years old, 196 cholecystolithiasis, 54 choledocholithiasis and 9 hepatolithiasis). They had undergone surgery since January 1980 to December 1987. Bile was collected to perform bacterial culture from the gallbladder and common bile duct during operation and all stones had been classified according to morphology after surgery and confirmed with component analysis if necessary. Totally 5115 stones had been collected and 20.4% had been classified as pure cholesterol stone, 16.8% as combination stone, 17.2% as mixed stone, 23.6% as calcium bilirubinate stone, 17.6% as black stone, 0.8% as calcium fatty acid stone and 3.6% as unknown. In bile culture, 84 from the gallbladder and 31 from the common bile duct were positive. Streptococci were the most frequent and followed by Klebsiella, Escherichia coli and so on. A higher incidence of positive culture was shown in calcium bilirubinate and lower incidence was shown in cholesterol stones. These results suggest that bacteriae in the bile may play a role in the formation of pigment biliary stones.