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Background Cryoballoon ablation (CBA) is a useful treatment for pulmonary vein isolation (PVI). Some cases, however, are difficult to treat and may require multiple freezing procedures and/or touch-up ablation. Although several predictors of CBA difficulty have been reported, no report has been able to assess the spatial location and morphology of the left atrium (LA) and pulmonary veins (PVs). A polygonal mesh is a collection of vertices, edges, and faces that defines the shape of a polyhedral object, and is able to represent a spatial location with a small amount of information. We hypothesized that a deep learning model that learns mesh representation datasets could more accurately detect the CBA difficulty and that we could establish a novel evaluation method in CBA. Purpose The aim of this study was to create a model to predict CBA difficulty with a 3D deep learning model using polygonal mesh representation. Methods and results All the 140 patients who underwent CBA for drug-resistant atrial fibrillation between January 2015 and January 2022 were included. A 28-mm cryoballoon (Arctic Front Advance, Medtronic) was used in all cases. We defined CBA difficulty as requiring a touch-up ablation procedure to create complete PVI. We converted the volume data in DICOM format of the computed tomography images of PVs and LA to obj file format (shown in Figure 1), which supports the definition of the geometry for object surfaces using polygonal meshes. Next, we developed a deep learning model that could learn polygonal meshes and classify whether the CBA required touch-up ablation or not. Only a training dataset is used to train the deep learning model, and finally, a test dataset is used to evaluate the model metrics. The accuracy, area under the ROC curve, recall, precision, and f1-score of the deep learning model using the test dataset was 86.5%, 87.7%, 66.7%, 75.0%, 70.6%, respectively. Conclusions We developed a 3D deep learning model that can detect a difficulty in CBA using polygonal mesh representation. By predicting difficult cases in advance, we will be able to develop strategies to increase the success rate. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None.

Correct sequences are prerequisite for quality control of therapeutic oligonucleotides. However, there is no definitive method available for determining sequences of highly modified therapeutic RNAs, and thereby, most of the oligonucleotides have been used clinically without direct sequence determination. In this study, we developed a novel sequencing method called ‘hydrophobic tag sequencing’. Highly modified oligonucleotides are sequenced by partially digesting oligonucleotides conjugated with a 5′-hydrophobic tag, followed by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis. 5′-Hydrophobic tag-printed fragments (5′-tag degradates) can be separated in order of their molecular masses from tag-free oligonucleotides by reversed-phase liquid chromatography. As models for the sequencing, the anti-VEGF aptamer (Macugen) and the highly modified 38-mer RNA sequences were analyzed under blind conditions. Most nucleotides were identified from the molecular weight of hydrophobic 5′-tag degradates calculated from monoisotopic mass in simple full mass data. When monoisotopic mass could not be assigned, the nucleotide was estimated using the molecular weight of the most abundant mass. The sequences of Macugen and 38-mer RNA perfectly matched the theoretical sequences. The hydrophobic tag sequencing worked well to obtain simple full mass data, resulting in accurate and clear sequencing. The present study provides for the first time a de novo sequencing technology for highly modified RNAs and contributes to quality control of therapeutic oligonucleotides. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Brain training games and aerobic exercises showed promise to improve cognitive ability in past researches, but the effectiveness of cognitive training still remains controversial. To study the effects of different kinds of cognitive interventions, we designed a series of brain training exergames for elders. Different from traditional video games, a projector is used in this system and all the gameplay is showed on the wall. Players need to simultaneously solve the cognitive training problems show on the wall and do some physical actions to choose the answer. Unlike other similar platforms, a laser scanner instead of camera is used in this system to protect the privacy of players.

Correct sequences are prerequisite for quality control of therapeutic oligonucleotides. However, there is no definitive method available for determining sequences of highly modified therapeutic RNAs, and thereby, most of the oligonucleotides have been used clinically without direct sequence determination. In this study, we developed a novel sequencing method called 'hydrophobic tag sequencing'. Highly modified oligonucleotides are sequenced by partially digesting oligonucleotides conjugated with a 5'-hydrophobic tag, followed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. 5'-Hydrophobic tag-printed fragments (5'-tag degradates) can be separated in order of their molecular masses from tag-free oligonucleotides by reversed-phase liquid chromatography. As models for the sequencing, the anti-VEGF aptamer (Macugen) and the highly modified 38-mer RNA sequences were analyzed under blind conditions. Most nucleotides were identified from the molecular weight of hydrophobic 5'-tag degradates calculated from monoisotopic mass in simple full mass data. When monoisotopic mass could not be assigned, the nucleotide was estimated using the molecular weight of the most abundant mass. The sequences of Macugen and 38-mer RNA perfectly matched the theoretical sequences. The hydrophobic tag sequencing worked well to obtain simple full mass data, resulting in accurate and clear sequencing. The present study provides for the first time a de novo sequencing technology for highly modified RNAs and contributes to quality control of therapeutic oligonucleotides. Copyright © 2016 John WileySons, Ltd.

The Large Helical Device (LHD) has six superconducting coil pairs that form a magnetic field, and plasma experiments of LHD require high accuracy and stability to control the coil current, which mu...

The phytotoxicity of the new antifouling compound Irgarol 1051 (2-methylthio-4-tert-butylamino-6-cyclopropylamino-s-triazine) and its degradation product M1 (2-methylthio-4-tert-butylamino-6-amino-s-triazine) was assessed by a battery of bioassays with marine and freshwater species. Both compounds at low concentrations affected aquatic plant species such as the red macroalga Porphyra yezoensis conchospores, the brown macroalga Eisenia bicyclis gametophytes, the freshwater green microalga Closterium ehrenbergii, the floating macrophytes Lemna gibba G3 and Lemna minor 1769. The toxicity of Irgarol 1051 was higher than that of M1 for all the aquatic plant species tested, but M1 showed a higher toxicity to root elongation of a terrestrial plant. The NOEC (0.3 μg / l ) of Irgarol to the brown seaweed was identical to the maximum concentration (0.296 μg / l ) detected in Japanese coastal waters, and the maximum concentration of M1 (1.87 μg / l ) detected amounted to only 20% of the NOEC value. The bioassay results suggest the possibility that both Irgarol 1051 and M1 may influence the primary producer community in the aquatic environment.

The fusion (F), small hydrophobic (SH), and hemagglutinin-neuram- inidase (HN) regions of 15 mumps virus (MuV) strains were sequenced to demon- strate the genetic variability since 1976 in Japan. The MuV strains were classified into 2 major genotypes, A and B, and genotype A was subdivided into three subtypes (Aff1, Aff2, and Aff3). Aff1 and Aff2 strains were mainly isolated in 1977 and 1980. Aff3 strains were isolated in 1985 and 1989 and genotype B strains in 1993 and 1994. Genotypes Aff1, Aff2, and Aff3 were closely related indigenous lineages in Japan but genotype B was in the similar cluster in Europe and North America.

We have demonstrated the method to stabilize gold particles by using the technique of self-assembled alkanethiol. Au and S peaks of the X-ray spectroscopy show that it consists of Au particle and alkanethiols. The chemical bond between Au and S is confirmed by the NMR spectrum. The typical size of the particle is less than 30 nm, observed by the scanning electron microscope. The predicted structure of the thiol-adsorbed particle is like a micelle, and we have named this particle the organometallic micelle.

Suggestions in the literature indicate that the observed similarity in ionospheric drifts between Arecibo-summer and Shigaraki-winter and again between Arecibo-winter and Shigaraki-summer are due to conjugate effects owing to the circumstance that the Shigaraki magnetic conjugate point has the same latitude as does Arecibo (in the opposite hemisphere). Here we develop this theory further from one of association to one of cause and effect. We base our explanation on the control of drifts at conjugate locations resting with the location of higher electrical conductance and suggest that this usually results in practice in summer hemisphere control of the winter hemisphere at night, with the daytime case being more complicated. Consequences of our theory are that the Arecibo-summer Shigaraki-winter similarity is, indeed, due to conjugate effects but that the Arecibo-winter Shigaraki-summer similarity has little to do with conjugacy. We combine empirical models of thermosphere and ionosphere structure and dynamics to test our conceptual ideas. We make predictions for such reverse-season similarities for other pairs of incoherent scatter radar locations.

The present paper reviews dynamical features of the mid-latitude ionosphere and thermosphere in the Asian sector as quantified by the MU radar at Shigaraki, Japan (35°N, 136°E) and compares these with dynamics reported for other locations. The thermospheric wind and temperature in the Asian sector differ from the wind and temperature measured at other mid-latitude locations. Furthermore, the perpendicular plasma drifts have strong resemblances to those predicted by current models, but their seasonal trends suggest a strong conjugate effect that has not been fully incorporated into our expectations of local behavior. These results provide additional evidence that global features cannot be described by a simple zonal mean. Finally, two features related to gravity waves are discussed. Gravity waves seem to be ubiquitous in the thermosphere and play an important role in creating a variety of electron density fluctuations and irregularities in the mid-latitude ionosphere. Tracking the progression of ionospheric gravity-wave effects between MU radar beams has allowed gravity wave packets to be identified and their dispersion relation to be determined. The character of ionospheric irregularities observed are consistent with their seeding by the Perkins mechanism.

Self-assembled monolayers of alkanethiols and dialkyl disulfides having different tail groups (methyl, hydroxyl, and azobenzene) coadsorbed onto Au(111) were studied with high-gap-impedance scanning tunneling microscopy. Topographic differences correlated to the tail groups allowed recognition ofindividual molecules in these two-component monolayers and established that topographic contours were generated at the monolayer episurface. The constituents of the monolayer do not segregate during the adsorption or thermal treatment, and their packing remained ordered and compact. Characteristic patterns generated by the distribution of the different tail groups allow statements concerning diffusion processes and specific intermolecular interactions. Adsorption of mixed disulfides showed no separation of the tail groups, either because the disulfide remained intact upon chemisorption or because the energy barrier for lateral diffusion of the thiolates formed was too high. Individual azobenzene molecules diluted in a monolayer of methyl-terminated chains fit into the hexagonal lattice. Small clusters of azobenzenes disrupt the hexagonal lattice locally, although globally the monolayer maintains a well-packed lattice. Using scanning tunneling microscopy, we are able to investigate accurately the structure ofthese complex self-assembled monolayers and thereby contribute to a better understanding of organic interfaces.

A novel scanning charge-pumping method using one or more extra contactless gates is proposed for silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer inspection. In the proposed method, a contactless; gate electrode is used as a measuring gate instead of the permanent gate electrode of normal metal-oxide-semiconductor transistors, allowing a wafer map of interface trap density to be obtained. A preliminary study is carried out using a sample device having two extra gate electrodes in the close vicinity of a measuring gate electrode, which are contacted on an oxidized SOI wafer. The results demonstrate that the proposed method is a promising technique for the characterization of interface trap density in SOI wafers.

This paper is concerned with the accuracy of temperature measurements with radio acoustic sounding system (RASS) consisting of a pulsed Doppler radar and an acoustic source, where the latter excites short monochromatic pulses. Through the use of a numerical model and middle and upper atmosphere (MU) radar experiments, we found that the accuracy is significantly affected by the acoustic and radar pulse length ratio. When the Bragg condition is not strictly satisfied, a numerical model predicted that the mean frequency shift fm of a RASS echo spectrum is detected between the Doppler-shifted frequency corresponding to the sound speed fs and the transmitted acoustic frequency fa. When the ratio is close to or larger than unity, fm becomes almost identical with fa, while fm approaches fs as the ratio decreases. RASS experiments involving the MU radar operating at 46.5 MHz (6.45-m wavelength) and an acoustic transmitter with a frequency of about 100 Hz showed that the observed characteristics of RASS echoes for various acoustic pulse lengths agreed quite well with model predictions. Although the numerical model suggested that a small value of the ratio is preferable for accurate measurement of temperature with RASS, the minimum value of the ratio was determined to be about 0.2 by taking into account the system sensitivity of the MU radar, since the RASS echo intensity decreases as the acoustic pulse length becomes shorter. When the lengths of the acoustic and radar pulses were set equal to about 60 m (18 acoustic wave cycles) and 300 m (l μs in pulse duration), respectively, which gives a ratio of the acoustic pulse length to the radar pulse length of approximately 0.2, we were able to obtain temperature profiles at 5 to 9 km every 3 min with an accuracy of about 0.5°C.

This paper reports on progress in the study of the water entry phenomenon. First, an experiment conducted measuring the velocity of the projectile after water entry. An empirical formula was obtained describing the change of the velocity of an underwater projectile with water depth. From the formula, the velocity decay coefficient β=0.5ρw A o C d/m, was determined, where ρw is the water density, A o is the projection area of the projectile, C d is the drag coefficient and m is the mass of the projectile. A theoretical model was then presented to describe the motion of the projectile during entry. Based on the obtained value of β, when the projectile was treated equivalently as a sphere, the theoretical water depth for deep closure of the cavity was predicted.

Objective: Psychotic disorders are a significant risk factor for suicide, especially among young people. Psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) in the general population may share an etiological background with psychotic disorders. Therefore, the present study examined the association between PLEs and risk of suicide in a community sample of adolescents. Method: Psychotic-like experiences, suicidal feelings, and self-harm behaviors were studied using a self-report questionnaire administered to 5073 Japanese adolescents. Depression and anxiety were evaluated using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Results: The presence of PLEs was significantly associated with suicidal feelings (OR = 3.1, 95% CI = 2.2-4.5) and deliberate self-harm behaviors (OR = 3.1, 95% CI = 2.0-4.8) after controlling for the effects of age, gender, GHQ-12 score, victimization, and substance use. Suicidal feelings and behaviors were more prevalent in subjects with a greater number of PLEs. Conclusion: Psychotic-like experiences may increase the risk of suicidal problems among adolescents. Language: en

The MU radar was used to observe the ionospheric F-region electron density simultaneously in four oblique beams during the geomagnetic storm of 20-23 October 1989, when the first significant auroral display over Japan since 1960 was observed. The four beams, separated by about 250 km horizontally in the F region, observed drastically different behavior, with independent and extreme changes occurring on time scales of one minute during the period of peak activity, indicating a strongly structured ionosphere streaming over the radar. The authors observed cases in which, simultaneously, a deep trough was seen in one beam, densities exceeding 4 {times} 10{sup 6} cm{sup {minus}3} were seen in another, and a normal ionosphere was seen in a third. During the most disturbed periods the F-layer peak height appeared to rise to 800 km altitude in one beam while it remained near 500 km in another.

The pulse-to-pulse beam steerability of the M U radar of Kyoto University enables us to observe multiple beam positions simultaneously. Based on 560 h of this type of data, we present two typical patterns of mid-latitude ionospheric disturbances and their horizontal traveling characteristics. Wavy structures have not been found in large-scale disturbances. Isolated disturbances travel primarily southward (equatorward) in disturbed conditions, while no preferred direction is observed in quiet conditions.

We present MU radar ionospheric incoherent scatter results from the period December 1986 to August 1988. We extend our previous 3-month model of the ion vector velocity to a full year and determine seasonal variations. We also present solstitial and equinoctial patterns of electron-density and plasma-temperature behavior. Compared with our previous 3-month model, the full-year velocity model is largely diurnal in nature, the higher harmonic being very variable and tending to average out as noise over a long period. The seasonal behavior of the electron density may be explained largely in terms of the behaviors of the neutral composition and of the timing of the diurnal change of direction of the neutral wind with respect to the time of sunset. According to the neutral composition a high-altitude O+ layer and a low-altitude molecular-ion layer compete for density predominance. The molecular-ion layer often becomes stronger during summer, and also during times of strong magnetic disturbance. The mean equinox daytime F-region electron and ion temperatures (Te and Ti), and particularly their ratio ( T r = T e T i ), is controlled largely by the electron density, with other specific time-of-day effects. At night Tr= 1, and at sunrise Tr > 1 at all F-region altitudes measured. During midday we have two cases. For a peak F-layer density of about 106 cm−3 or greater, Tr > 1 below 300 km altitude and Tr = 1 above 300 km altitude; for lower electron densities Tr > 1 at all F-region altitudes. Near sunset Tr generally increases as the electron density decreases while photoionization is continuing.

Spam e-mails and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks have now become critical issues to the Internet. These attacks are considered to be sent from bot infected PCs. As a bot communicates with a malicious controller over an encrypted channel and updates its code frequently, it becomes difficult to detect infected personal computers (PCs) using pattern-based intrusion detection systems (IDSs) and antivirus systems (AVs). As sending attack and control packets from the bot process are independent of the user operation, a behavior monitor is effective to detect an anomaly communication. In this paper, we propose a bot detection technique that checks outbound packets with destination-based whitelists. If any outbound packets during the non-operating term do not match the whitelists, the PC is considered to be infected by the bot. The whitelists are a set of a destination IP address and/or domain names (DNs) that are listed by monitoring outbound packets from an un-infected PC. Because the many IPs and DNs are grouped into a few sub-networks and superior DNs, it is easier to maintain the destination-based whitelists than the pattern-based IDS/AV. We implement the proposal system as a host-based detector and evaluate false negative (FN) and false positive (FP) frequencies for detection of bot activities.

A scalar potential of inflation is proposed and the angular power spectra of the adiabatic density perturbations are computed. The potential consists of three scalar fields, S, Y and T, together with two free parameters. By fitting the parameters to cosmological data at the fixed point T = 1, we find that the potential behaves like the single‐field potential of S, which slowly rolls down. We further show that the inflation predictions corresponding to this potential provide a good fit to the recent three‐year WMAP data, e.g. the spectral index ns = 0.951.The TT and TE angular power spectra obtained from our model almost completely coincide with the corresponding results obtained from the ΛCDM model. We conclude that our model is considered to be an adequate theory of inflation that explains the present data.

The effect of the simultaneous partial substitution of Co/sup 2+/ for Fe/sup 3+/ and of La/sup 3+/ for Sr/sup 2+/ ion in Sr ferrite on the magnetic properties of anisotropic Sr ferrite magnets was investigated. It was found that the coercive force of Sr ferrite magnets is increased without significant decrease in residual flux density by La-Co substitution. Temperature coefficients of coercive force were found to be also improved by La-Co substitution.

The crystal structures of the perovskites R{sub 1-x}Sr{sub x}CoO{sub 3} (R=La, Pr, and Nd) with 0{

An investigation was carried out to draw a similarity between contact heat transfer and current for two contacting spherical particles where the results can be used for the discrete element method (DEM) simulation. The experimental work is presented in two conditions of mechanical contact phenomena i.e., static contact and dynamic contact, respectively. Nevertheless, for dynamical contact, it is hard to obtain heat transfer directly during the collision. Hence, the authors attempted to use current according to the analogy between heat transfer and current. This paper firstly examined the contact phenomena under the static contact condition. The analysis was based on the contact forces on the particles as well as the surface roughness parameters of the particles. It is found that contact heat transfer and current which flow through a spherical surface have a good similarity in the way they were affected by the surface roughness of the particles. Both contact heat transfer and current increase as surface roughness becomes large. However, this is not a common trend because larger surface roughness yields larger contact resistance. Using the similarity, a simple relation between contact heat transfer and current on two contacting particles (spheres) was introduced. This empirical relation can be used to estimate the heat transfer in dynamic contact condition

In our animal studies, we have reported that bone marrow cells (BMCs) infused via a peripheral vein efficiently repopulate the cirrhotic liver. Repopulated BMCs produce collagenases including matrix metalloproteinase-9. As a result, we observed reduced liver fibrosis, elevated serum albumin levels, and a significant increase in …

We conducted a systematic study of the electrical resistivity (/spl square/) and the Seebeck coefficient (S) on polycrystalline samples of Ca/sub 3/Co/sub 2/-XZn/sub x/O/sub 6/ with x up to 0.1. We observed that /spl rho/ decreases monotonically with increasing temperature for all compositions. The resistivity decreased with Zn doping and the x=0.1 sample exhibited the lowest /spl rho/. However, the Seebeck coefficient of this sample was almost the same as that of the non-doped one at high temperatures. Consequently, the power factor (=S/sup 2///spl rho/) of this sample was the largest among the studied samples, and was 1.7 times larger than that of the non-substituted one.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection causes various gastric diseases, among them H. pylori-associated gastritis characterized by diffuse redness of the gastric mucosa. The haemoglobin index (IHb) of the fundic mucosa is an objective parameter of the extent of mucosal redness, but it is unclear whether or not IHb can be used as a diagnostic marker for H. pylori infection. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the correlations between IHb of the fundic mucosa and H. pylori infection, inflammatory cell infiltration, and inflammatory mediator production.IHb of the fundic mucosa was measured in 108 patients with various gastric diseases (group 1), and values were compared between H. pylori-positive and H. pylori-negative patients. Fifteen patients with H. pylori infection from group 1 underwent H. pylori eradication therapy and IHb was measured before and after treatment. Both IHb and inflammatory cell infiltration were assessed in 61 patients (group 2). In 31 patients from group 2, the expression of interleukin (IL)-8 and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) messenger RNA (mRNA) was assayed in gastric biopsy specimens by the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).IHb levels were significantly higher in H. pylori-positive patients than in H. pylori-negative patients (P0.001). IHb was decreased at one month after the eradication of H. pylori (P0.001). IHb was higher in patients with infiltration by both mononuclear cells and neutrophils (P0.001). There was a significant correlation between the IHb level and the expression of IL-8 mRNA (P0.001), as well as between IHb and iNOS mRNA expression (P0.05).There were significant correlations between IHb of the gastric mucosa and H. pylori infection, inflammatory cell infiltration, and IL-8/iNOS mRNA expression, suggesting that IHb is a reliable marker of H. pylori infection for use during follow-up endoscopy after H. pylori eradication therapy.

We have utilized lift-up laminoplasty to treat patients with myelopathy caused by ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) of the cervical spine. The preliminary surgical outcome with computer-assisted morphological assessment is presented.The surgical technique of lift-up laminoplasty includes standard posterior exposure of the cervical spine, en-bloc laminectomy, and expansion of the cervical canal by lift-up of the laminae with custom-designed hydroxyapatite laminar spacers and stabilization of the laminae using titanium miniplates. From 1998 to 2003, 10 consecutive patients with cervical myelopathy secondary to OPLL have been treated with this method and comprehensively evaluated. Care was taken to tailor the treatment to individual patients by using different sizes of spacers to adjust the degree of expansion depending on the amount of stenosis of the cervical spine. The degree of expansion of the cervical canal was altered by design, based on the preoperative imaging simulation.Preliminary surgical outcome, evaluated at 6 months after surgery, revealed a significant improvement of neurological function. Image analysis revealed that the cervical canals were significantly expanded, with a mean reduction of 13.1% in the stenosis ratio. Lift-up laminoplasty was effective in the treatment of patients with myelopathy secondary to cervical OPLL, and the amount of expansion could be individually adjusted at the discretion of the surgeon.Although analysis with a larger population and a longer follow-up period needs to be undertaken, our method of lift-up laminoplasty appears to be a viable choice among standard posterior cervical approaches for cervical OPLL.

A digital mobile communication system that allows more cellular subscribers as well as achieving upgraded service has been developed. The design concept and performance of car-mounted, portable, and handheld cellular telephones for the digital mobile communication system is presented. Major system parameters standardized by RCR, which are mandatory in the Japanese digital cellular system, and the mobile radio unit configuration based on the specification are introduced. Novel technologies for achieving highly precise and efficient pi /4-shifted QPSK transmission in digital mobile radio units are shown, and excellent performance is demonstrated. Furthermore, based on these technologies, a design method to achieve low power consumption and small-sized handheld telephone is shown. >

The 1.5 GHz pocket-size portable telephone has been developed by NTT DoCoMo for our personal digital cellular system. The telephone's major design parameters, the configuration of the radio unit, software configuration, and interfaces to fax/modem adaptors are described. Besides being compact, the portable telephone features high speech quality, long stand-by time, high quality data communication and a user-friendly man-machine interface. >

The design and implementation of a Nyquist QPSK (quadrature phase-shift keying) transmission scheme using a rational-function receiving filter are presented. The scheme is suitable for mobile radios which must be as small as possible and operate with limited power sources. A transitional Butterworth-Thomson (TBT) filter is examined as a rational-function filter, and a ceramic receiving filter is developed with optimum TBT characteristics. pi /4-shifted QPSK transmission experiments using this filter are conducted. The experimental results show that the required input level and cochannel interference are superior by 1 dB to 0.9 dB, respectively, to those of the conventional transmission scheme. The maximum permissive delay spread in frequency-selective fading channels is improved by around 30%. >

A novel type of pi /4-shifted QPSK (quadrature phase-shift keying) demodulation LSI employing adaptive carrier tracking (ACT) for digital TDMA (time-division multiple-access) mobile communication systems has been successfully developed. ACT provides fast carrier tracking and thus yields good bit-error-rate performance under a fast Rayleigh fading environment. This ACT demodulation (ACT-Demod) LSI, which is implemented entirely by digital circuits, includes two branch QPSK detectors for postdetection selection diversity, a bit timing recovery circuit, and an AFC (automatic frequency control) circuit. ACT-Demod LSI achieves a transmission performance better than that of conventional noncoherent differential detection while consuming less than 9 mW of power. >

Background and aims Increased cerebral haemoglobin oxygen saturation (rSO 2 ) and decreased cerebral fractional tissue oxygen extraction (FTOE) 24 h after birth in infants have reported to be associated with adverse outcomes. Near-infraredtime-resolved spectroscopy (TRS) device enables the simultaneous assessment of quantitative hemodynamics, and absolute values of (rSO 2 ) and cerebral bloodvolume (CBV). The purpose of our study was to determine the usefulness of both rSO 2 and CBV measured by TRS in infants with asphyxia after birth. Methods Twenty-six infants with asphyxia (Apgar score 2 and FTOE were measured by TRS at 12, 24, 48, and 72 h after birth. Results rSO 2 was significantly higher and FTOE was significantly lower in the HIE group (n = 5) than in the non-HIE group (n = 21) at 12, 24, 48, and 72 h after birth. CBV was significantly higher in the HIE group (n = 5) than in the non-HIE (n = 21) from 3–6 h after birth through all measurement time points. Conclusions Changes in CBV occurred earlier than those in rSO 2 . Thus, CBV may be an early predictive parameterfor adverse outcomes in infants with asphyxia after birth.

Background and aims The effects of haemodynamic changes on cerebral and systemic perfusion in infants with perinatal asphyxia are not well understood. We investigated the relationship between cerebral and systemic perfusion, and short-term outcome in infants with asphyxia. Methods Ten infants (gestation age >35 weeks) with asphyxia (Apgar score Results TOI was significantly higher and FTOE was significantly lower in the HIE group (n = 4) than in the non-HIE group (n = 6) at all measurement time points. Although SVC flow and LVCO were not significantly different between the 2 groups, they were consistently higher in the HIE group than in the non-HIE group at all measurement time points. We found a positive correlation between SVC flow and LVCO in both groups, and between SVC flow and TOI in the non-HIE group. Conclusions Combined bedside monitoring of TOI and FTOE by NIRS and SVC flow may be useful for evaluating secondary energy failure and disrupted regulation of brain circulation in infants with asphyxia.

To assess patient compliance and efficacy of a combination chemotherapy consisting of weekly administration of paclitaxel and carboplatin for gynecologic malignancy in Japanese women.Fourteen ovarian and three uterine cancer patients received 80 mg/m2 of paclitaxel (paclitaxel) and AUC 1.5 to 2.0 of carboplatin weekly. The toxicity was evaluated and patients' QOL was tested.Neutropenia higher than grade 3 were observed in 29.4%. Four patients received G-CSF support. Grade 1 neurotoxicity was seen in 76.5% of patients. Evaluation of QOL by EORTC-QLQC30 showed significantly better tolerance of a weekly than monthly regimen. Three out of four patients with lung metastasis showed complete disappearance of the lesions. One patient with stage IIIb cervical cancer underwent postchemotherapy-hysterectomy and a complete pathological response was confirmed. The overall response rate was 64.7% including patients previously treated with platinum based multidrug regimens.A weekly paclitaxel and carboplatin regimen was well tolerated by Japanese women. The regimen was active in over 60% of cases and it also appeared active in multidrug resistant cases.

The basilar pons plays an important role in the establishment of the corticopontine projection by releasing a diffusible molecule which induces and directs collateral branchings along the corticospinal axon shafts. To reveal the molecule which is involved in the developing process of the corticopontine projection, we attempted to modify the mRNA differential display to search for genes expressed differentially in the basilar pons during the formation of the corticopontine projection by introducing the RGD motif (arginine-glycine-asparate) in the primers of the polymerase chain reaction. With our modification, we were able to identify 99 mRNAs expressed in the basilar pons but not in the cerebral cortex where the apparent pontine-derived activity is not observed. Among these 99 gene fragments, 3 novel fragments could be selected as final candidates of the pontine-derived molecule based on their expression patterns. Modified differential display is thus a promising method for identification of these genes.

We reported a 13-year-old boy diagnosed as multiple sclerosis associated with narcolepsy. He had suffered from retrobulbar optic neuritis at the age of 11 years which was improved gradually by prednisolone. Four months later he was admitted because of excessive somnolence. The diagnosis of narcolepsy was made based on hypnagogic hallucination, sleep paralysis, changes of personality and the sleep onset sREM (SOREM). The elevation of anti-measles antibody and a positive oligoclonal band in CSF, low density areas in the bilateral internal capsule on CT scan, and high signal areas in the same region on T2-weighted MRI confirmed the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. An abnormal arousal response occurred occasionally in sleep stage 2 and 4, which started with electrical silence followed by a period with irregular high voltage slow waves and repetitive focal spike train. Those clinical symptoms and abnormalities of biochemical and electrophysiological studies normalized after treatment with prednisolone. However, abnormalities on MRI showed no improvement even after long term administration of prednisolone (2.5 mg/day).