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This paper describes the formation mechanism of reversely zoned plagioclase, which has been observed frequently in lower crustal shear zones and is indicative of multistage fracturing and meta-morphism in the lower crust, by studying the microstructural and chemical characteristics of plagioclase in sparsely fractured anorthosites and anorthositic mylonites from the Eidsfjord shear zone, Langøya, northern Norway. Based on the field relationship between sparsely fractured anorthosite and anorthositic mylonite, the fracturing of anorthosite occurred before the formation of mylonite. In sparsely fractured anorthosites, transgranular fractures are observed; hydration-reaction products, including Na-rich plagioclase, occur within cracks and fractures, suggesting that hydration reactions occurred during or after fracturing. The hydration reactions in sparsely fractured anorthosites are estimated to have occurred at higher-pressure (P) amphibolite-facies conditions (~0.9–1.0 GPa and ~550–700 °C). In anorthositic mylonites, which are considered to have initiated by fracturing and subsequent hydration metamorphism at lower-P amphibolite-facies conditions (~0.7 GPa and ~600 °C), recrystallized plagioclase grains often show compositional zoning with an Na-rich core and a Ca-rich rim. Because the compositions of metamorphic plagioclase grains in the sparsely fractured anorthosites and those of the Na-rich cores of the reversely zoned plagioclase in anorthositic mylonites are similar to each other, the Na-rich cores of the matrix plagioclase in the anorthositic mylonites have recrystallized under higher-P amphibolite-facies conditions and then been overgrown or replaced by the Ca-rich rims under lower-P conditions. Consequently, the reversely zoned plagioclase observed frequently in lower crustal shear zones is an indicator of multistage brittle fracturing and subsequent hydration metamorphism during exhumation, providing information relevant to understanding the deep rupture process caused by repeated seismicity alternating with aseismic creep below the seismogenic zone.

Nickel nitride (NixN) films were deposited by magnetron reactive sputtering under varying N2 partial pressure (P(N2)) conditions range from 0.005 to 0.184 Pa. With the increasing P(N2), the deposition rate decreased while the resistivity and root mean square roughness increased. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) indicate that Ni4N and Ni3N phases dominate the films at low and medium P(N2), respectively. In addition, Ni2N phase can be also obtained at high P(N2). The Ni/N ratio evaluated from the energy dispersive X-ray spectrum is consistent with the NixN phases showed in the XRD spectra of different P(N2). Compared with the GaN diodes with Ni anode, the Schottky barrier height and turn-on voltage of the Schottky barrier diodes with NixN anode were increased by 0.03–0.18 eV and 0.03–0.15 V, respectively. Capacitance-voltage curves demonstrated that good interface quality with no obvious hysteresis was realized. Ni3N anode diodes obtained at medium P(N2) possess a high barrier height and a low reverse leakage current are regarded as a promising anode material.

Objective The dental caries is developed as a result of an alternative course of mineral gain and loss. In order to distinguish between intrinsic Ca (tooth-derived mineral) and extrinsic Ca (solution-derived mineral) uptakes, a 44Ca doped pH-cycling was performed using 44Ca (a stable calcium isotope) remineralization solution. Methods The natural abundance of 40Ca and 44Ca is 96.9% and 2.1%, respectively. The remineralization solution was prepared using 44Ca to contain 1.5 mmol/L CaCl2 (44Ca), 0.9 mmol/L KH2PO4, 130 mmol/L KCl, 20 mmol/L HEPES at pH 7.0. The pH-cycling was conducted on bovine root dentin daily by demineralization (pH 5.0) for 2 h, incubation in 0% (control) and 0.2% NaF (900 ppm fluoride) for 2 h and 44Ca doped remineralization for 20 h. After 14 days pH-cycling, the specimens were sectioned longitudinally. On the sectioned surface, isotope imaging of 40Ca and 44Ca labeled mineral distribution was observed by a high mass-resolution stigmatic secondary ion 77 (Camera IMS 1270, Gennevilliers Cedex, France). Results Uptake of 44Ca was greater in intensity for the 0.2% fluoride group than the control, especially in the superficial lesions. The control group showed 40Ca (intrinsic) distribution in the subsurface lesions and in the superficial lesions, meanwhile the fluoride group showed 40Ca distribution limited in subsurface lesions. The total Ca (44Ca + 40Ca) image revealed more homogeneously for the control than the fluoride group. Significance Since the fluoride-treated surface is more acid-resistant than intrinsic dentin, alternative minerals were dissolved from the intact intrinsic lesion in the demineralization cycle.

Minodronate is highlighted for its marked and sustained effects on osteoporotic bones. To determine the duration of minodronate’s effects, we have assessed the localization of the drug in mouse bones through isotope microscopy, after labeling it with a stable nitrogen isotope ([15N]-minodronate). In addition, minodronate-treated bones were assessed by histochemistry and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Eight-week-old male ICR mice received [15N]-minodronate (1 mg/kg) intravenously and were sacrificed after 3 hr, 24 hr, 1 week, and 1 month. Isotope microscopy showed that [15N]-minodronate was present mainly beneath osteoblasts rather than nearby osteoclasts. At 3 hr after minodronate administration, histochemistry and TEM showed osteoclasts with well-developed ruffled borders. However, osteoclasts were roughly attached to the bone surfaces and did not feature ruffled borders at 24 hr after minodronate administration. The numbers of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase–positive osteoclasts and alkaline phosphatase–reactive osteoblastic area were not reduced suddenly, and apoptotic osteoclasts appeared in 1 week and 1 month after the injections. Von Kossa staining demonstrated that osteoclasts treated with minodronate did not incorporate mineralized bone matrix. Taken together, minodronate accumulates in bone underneath osteoblasts rather than under bone-resorbing osteoclasts; therefore, it is likely that the minodronate-coated bone matrix is resistant to osteoclastic resorption, which results in a long-lasting and bone-preserving effect.

This paper describes an attempt to synthesize bismuth-doped diamond by plasma CVD. Solid bismuth was inserted into the reaction plasma of CH4 and H2. Examination by TEM showed that most of the bismuth was included as Bi nanoparticles in the carbon nanospheres, which segregated at the grain boundary of the diamond polycrystals. Diffraction peaks corresponding to the carbon allotrope Chaoite were observed at the grain boundaries. The Raman spectra showed very complex features between 100–1600 cm− 1, suggesting the existance of molecule-like species.

The Ninth Symposium on Polar Science/Ordinary sessions: [OA] Antarctic meteorites / Hayabusa, Tue. 4 Dec. / Conference hall of the Research/Administration Building (2nd floor) at the JAXA Sagamihara Campus

Additional file 1. The analytical methods and figures and tables showing mineralogy and chemical compositions of CV3 matrices and the Sr and REEs partition coefficients for mineral/melt.

We describe the comprehensive analysis of bone quality by using the isotope microscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) imaging, and Raman spectroscopy, which are non-destructive techniques. Isotope microscopy is a novel tool for visualizing microdomains within materials through the imaging of the 3-dimensional distribution of isotopes. This technique enabled us to observe calcium metabolism in the tibiae of mice. Thus, a stable calcium isotope fed to mice was observed in the trabecular and cortical bones. FTIR and Raman spectroscopies are powerful tools for characterizing the chemical compositions of materials and provide both qualitative and quantitative information on molecular structure. An FTIR imaging system, which is an accessory for FTIR spectroscopy, provides a distribution map of functional components in the sample. The crystallinity, secondary structure of collagen, carbonate-to-phosphate ratio, and mineral-to-matrix ratio of bone can be obtained from the IR spectra extracted from the selected area of an FTIR image. Raman spectroscopy complements FTIR spectroscopy; however, the Raman spectrum provides information about functional groups in a sample as well as its FTIR spectrum. The major advantage of Raman spectroscopy for bone analysis is the ability to obtain spectra with higher spatial resolution compared with those acquired using FTIR spectroscopy. Moreover, a wide range of samples, including aqueous solutions, fibers, powders, or frozen materials can be readily analyzed, without any special preparation. Raman spectroscopy generates data on crystallinity, carbonate-to-phosphate ratio, and mineral-to-matrix ratio in bone.

– High-precision isotope imaging analyses of reversely zoned melilite crystals in the gehlenitic mantle of Type A CAI ON01 of the Allende carbonaceous chondrite reveal that there are four types of oxygen isotopic distributions within melilite single crystals: (1) uniform depletion of 16O (δ18O ≈ −10‰), (2) uniform enrichment of 16O (δ18O ≈ −40‰), (3) variations in isotopic composition from 16O-poor core to 16O-rich rim (δ18O ≈ −10‰ to −30‰, −20‰ to −45‰, and −10‰ to −35‰) with decreasing akermanite content, and (4) 16O-poor composition (δ18O ≥ −10‰) along the crystal rim. Hibonite, spinel, and perovskite grains are 16O-rich (δ18O ≈ −45‰), and adjoin 16O-poor melilites. Gas-solid or gas-melt isotope exchange in the nebula is inconsistent with both the distinct oxygen isotopic compositions among the minerals and the reverse zoning of melilite. Fluid-rock interaction on the parent body resulted in 16O-poor compositions of limited areas near holes, cracks, or secondary phases, such as anorthite or grossular. We conclude that reversely zoned melilites mostly preserve the primary oxygen isotopic composition of either 16O-enriched or 16O-depleted gas from which they were condensed. The correlation between oxygen isotopic composition and akermanite content may indicate that oxygen isotopes of the solar nebula gas changed from 16O-poor to 16O-rich during melilite crystal growth. We suggest that the radial excursions of the inner edge of the protoplanetary disk gas simultaneously resulted in both the reverse zoning and oxygen isotopic variation of melilite, due to mixing of 16O-poor disk gas and 16O-rich coronal gas. Gas condensates aggregated to form the gehlenite mantle of the Type A CAI ON01.

The authors fabricated pn diodes with Al+ implantation in p-type epitaxial layers, and investigated the influence of the implantation dose on reverse leakage currents. Only in the highest dose with the Al concentration of 2x1020cm-3, more than 90% of the devices showed high leakage currents above 10-4A at the maximum electric field of 3MV/cm. In such devices, almost all of the emissive spots corresponded to threading screw dislocations (TSDs) by the analysis of emission microscopy and X-ray topography. These TSDs were defined as killer defects with the estimated density of 500cm-2 in the case of the highest dose. The emissions were supposed to be due to microplasmas, since the spectra of the emissions were different from those of heat radiation. Condensation of Al atoms, nitrogen atoms and DI defects were excluded as the origin of the emissions by secondary ion mass spectrometry and low temperature photoluminescence analyses.

This paper presents a new method to generate free-form curves and surfaces whose curvatures change smoothly. The smooth curvature changes are realized by reconstructing connection points and minimizing the measure related to smoothness of curvature change. Connection points of generated curves and surfaces are reconstructed based on the discrete geometry models. The free parameters of generated curves and surfaces are determined by numerical optimization of the function that expresses the smoothness of curvature change. NURBS curves and surfaces with smooth curvature change are generated by this method. The generated curves and surfaces pass near the points specified by a designer.

This paper presents a new scheme for construction of a piecewise G2 surface which interpolates a rectangular curvature continuous quintic Bezier curve mesh. For application to practical CAD/CAM, a parametric surface with a controlled curvature distribution can be generated based on a discrete surface with a smooth curvature distribution. First, a discrete surface is constructed by minimizing an integral of square of the 2nd derivative of principal curvatures. The discrete surfaces have good curvature distributions, because they have a high degree of freedom. A G2 quintic Bezier curve mesh is constructed by curves that minimize an arc length integral of square of the 2nd arc length derivative of curvature binormal, based on the discrete surface. After estimating twist and cross-boundary derivatives from geometric properties of the discrete surface, a G2 surface interpolates the curve network by minimizing an energy function that measures the variation of principal curvatures. The generated surface elements are bi-quintic Gregory patches.

The electrophysiological long-term effects of liver transplantation on peripheral nerve function in patients with familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP) have not been evaluated.Eight FAP patients with a proven ATTRVal30Met gene were observed for 10 years after liver transplantation. We performed repeated measurement of maximal motor nerve conduction velocity (MCV), distal latency, size of compound muscle action potential (CMAP) and maximal sensory nerve conduction velocity (SCV) in both the ulnar and tibial nerves. We also recorded the coefficients of variance in the R-R interval on the electrocardiogram (CV(R-R)).Some autonomic symptoms subsided but motor and sensory symptoms 10 years after transplantation were either slightly improved or almost the same as before surgery in 7 of 8 patients. These 7 have returned to their previous social lives including their jobs. The MCV of the tibial nerve slightly improved, and other parameters of motor and sensory nerve function and CV(R-R) did not show any deterioration during the 10-year observation period.Liver transplantation can halt the progression of peripheral neuropathy in FAP patients.

Curvature is known as an important geometrical property for curve generation in engineering applications. Many methods have already been proposed to control the curvature distribution of curves, but most of them are for planar curves. This research proposes a new scheme for controlling curvature distribution of planar and space curves, based on discrete curves. Discrete curves, such as discrete Clothoid, have an ideal curvature distribution, because discrete geometry models have a high degree of freedom. For application to practical CAD/CAM, a parametric curve with a controlled curvature distribution can be generated based on a discrete curve with an almost ideal curvature distribution. A G2 curve consisting of quintic Bezier curve segments has been generated by the energy minimization method. The generated curve passes through the given points and has the given tangent vector, normal vector and curvature on both ends. And the curvature distribution of the generated curve by using the method of this paper shows the smooth change throughout the curve.

The osteocytic cytoplasmic processes show regularly-arranged three-dimensional structure, a cellular network called osteocytic lacunar-canalicular system (OLCS). We have demonstrated the ultrastructure of the cellular network of OLCS by means of a structured illumination microscope method (SIM) and a Focused Ion Beam-Scanning Electron Microscope (FIB-SEM). We also attempted to localize exogenously-administered minodronate, a new generation of bisphosphonate, as well as calcium deposition onto the bone forming surface, using an isotope microscope system. Recent devised microscopic technique may provide new insights in the research field of bone.

An enrichment of oxygen-16 of about 8% relative to the Earth has been found in a chondrule from the Acfer 214 carbonaceous chondrite. In contrast, isotopic abundances of major cations, Mg and Si, are similar to those of the Earth. These suggest that oxygen isotopic heterogeneity in the early solar system was much larger ever thought and assist mass-independent-isotopic fractionation for the origin. Because the chondrule has solar abundance for refractory and normal lithophile elements, we propose that silicate dusts in the early solar system were initially enriched in 16O corresponding to the 16O-rich reservoir.

We present a new finite difference-based thermo-fluid simulation method by using reduced order models. Reduced order modeling technique is to project a high dimensional problem onto a lower dimensional subspace and then solve the problem in the reduced subspace. We solve the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations and the heat equation in their respective subspaces and join the two equations by projecting the advection term onto the joint reduced space. Our algorithm allows for fast thermo-fluid simulation of the large-scale computational models at a fraction of computational load. Our method shows more than one thousand times faster speed than usual mesh-based fluid simulation, while maintaining acceptable engineering accuracy. The real-time feature of our method enables interactive user interfaces for, e.g., assessing an immediate thermal field change in response to consecutive control of air-conditioning equipment in a data center.Copyright © 2013 by ASME

To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of liver transplantation in patients with ATTR Val30Met familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP), were repeatedly examined the neurophysiological function of peripheral nerves in nine patients. The maximal motor and sensory conduction velocities (MCV and SCV) of the ulnar and tibial nerves, size of compound muscle action potential (CMAP), terminal latency of CMAP, skin temperature of extremities, CVR-R, blood pressure, heart rate, and Schellong's test were examined before and every 6 months after the operation. Although there were no changes in CVR-R, blood pressure, or heart rate, the skin temperature of foot and hand increased soon after surgery and did not decrease during the period of observation. The temperature-adjusted MCV of tibial nerve gradually increased, but the MCV of ulnar nerve showed no change. The temperature-adjusted tibial nerve SCV worsened slightly soon after transplantation and remained at that level in the distal part. The ulnar nerve SCV worsened and subsequently improved. Liver transplantation is very effective for halting the progression of this type of FAP, but the recovery of peripheral nerve function in patients seems to be very slow and limited, especially the function of large diameter myelinated fibers.

The histopathological observation was carried out on 12 periodontally involved gingivae and the microscopic inflammatory index was utilized for a quantitative expression of the periodontal pathology. Namely, each of 40 to 50 sections obtained from one gingival biospy was microscopically examined concerning the changes in the epithelium of the periodontal pocket and the gingival lamina propria which were divided into several items tested. The total number of the indices for each item examined was defined as the microscopic inflammatory index in individual cases. This index showed a tendency to increase proportionally to the decrease of the amount of collagen per wet weight of gingiva adjacent to the gingival biopsy aforementioned. In evaluating periodontal diseases, this estimation appears to be more objective and reproducible compared with other various indices based on clinical observation.

A combined use of the acrylic and wires which are inserted into the root canals exhibits the great retention. As a result, this modified splint can serve for several years and has the following advantages:1. It has retention better than that of a well made temporary splint and can be maintained in the mouth for a long time.2. It can be used in occlusal discrepancies such as rotated or inclined teeth.3. It does not impinge on the gingival tissues and thus allows for good oral hygiene.4. It is an esthetic splint.5. It delays the need for extractions.6. It forestalls expensive and time-consuming dental rehabilitation.7. It may be considered a long-range semi-permanent splint without a high frequency of breakage.