Comparison of the Efficacy of Eleven Soil Termiticides on the Formosan Subterranean Termite (Coptotermes formosanus)

Using the tunneling test, the standard test method recommended by the JWPA ( JWPS-TS-S), the minimum effective concentrations of 11 chemicals, known as major soil termiticides in Japan, were determined. Addition of the emulsifying agent, Tween 80, to the low water solubility chemicals among the termiticides yielded a 2- to 8-fold increase in their termiticidal efficacies. In contrast, addition of Tween 80 to the high water solubility chemicals produced no such enhancement of their termiticidal efficacies. In the confined test, in the case of the repellent-type chemicals of the 11 chemicals, all the test termites (10 workers and 2 soldiers) became intoxicated or paralyzed and moribund within one hour of exposure to the minimum concentration fulfilling the criteria of the JWPA standard test method. In the case of non-repellent type chemicals, all the workers became moribund within 2 hours of exposure to the minimum concentrations fulfilling the criteria of the standard test method; in contrast, it took 4 – 24 hours before the soldier termites became moribund

Low Frequency Ultrasonic Array Imaging using Signal Post-processing for Concrete Material

The use of ultrasonic arrays for conducting non-destructive evaluation has been drastically increased in recent years. As one of the array imaging, a post-processing beam-forming technique has been proposed that utilizes a complete set of signals of all combinations of transmission and reception elements. This approach is referred to as full matrix capture (FMC) [1]. In FMC, each array element is sequentially used as an emitter and all other array elements are used as receivers. By changing the emitting element, we obtained a set of flaw signals that was used to form the focal beam. The delay-and-sum beam reconstruction based on the post-processing was applied to imaging of internal voids and reinforced steel bars in concrete material. The reconstruction of voids and steels in concrete specimen (400mm x 400mm x 400 mm) was demonstrated using a phased array transducer in the low frequency range. In this study, the array transducer with total 16 elements and center frequency of 50 kHz was developed. The volume fraction of aggregates in concrete was 70 %, and the maximum size of the coarse aggregate was 20 mm. Figure 1 shows the reconstruction result of a slit. For on-site inspection, we introduced a graphics processing unit (GPU) computation to accelerate the post-processing of beam-forming [2]. The flaw detection time was approximately 0.15 s using Geforce GTX880M (NVIDIA)

Lanthanide-Dependent Methanol and Formaldehyde Oxidation inMethylobacterium aquaticumStrain 22A

Lanthanides (Ln) are an essential cofactor for XoxF-type methanol dehydrogenases (MDHs) in Gram-negative methylotrophs. The Ln(3+)dependency of XoxF has expanded knowledge and raised new questions in methylotrophy, including the differences in characteristics of XoxF-type MDHs, their regulation, and the methylotrophic metabolism including formaldehyde oxidation. In this study, we genetically identified one set of Ln(3+)- and Ca2+-dependent MDHs (XoxF1 and MxaFI), that are involved in methylotrophy, and an ExaF-type Ln(3+)-dependent ethanol dehydrogenase, among six MDH-like genes inMethylobacterium aquaticumstrain 22A. We also identified the causative mutations in MxbD, a sensor kinase necessary formxaFexpression andxoxF1repression, for suppressive phenotypes inxoxF1mutants defective in methanol growth even in the absence of Ln(3+). Furthermore, we examined the phenotypes of a series of formaldehyde oxidation-pathway mutants (fae1,fae2,mchin the tetrahydromethanopterin (H4MPT) pathway andhgdin the glutathione-dependent formaldehyde dehydrogenase (GSH) pathway). We found that MxaF produces formaldehyde to a toxic level in the absence of the formaldehyde oxidation pathways and that either XoxF1 or ExaF can oxidize formaldehyde to alleviate formaldehyde toxicity in vivo. Furthermore, the GSH pathway has a supportive role for the net formaldehyde oxidation in addition to the H4MPT pathway that has primary importance. Studies on methylotrophy inMethylobacteriumspecies have a long history, and this study provides further insights into genetic and physiological diversity and the differences in methylotrophy within the plant-colonizing methylotrophs

<原著>副腎腫瘤の臨床的検討

We reviewed the records of 13 patients with adrenal masses operated on over a ten-year period to clarify clinical characteristics of adrenal tumors. Tumors were found incidentally in seven of nine patients with primary adrenal tumors (78%); however, three of these seven patients (43%) proved to have shown symptoms related to adrenal hyperfunction when re-e、raluated. Other adrenal tumors (metastatic in three patients and inflammatory in one) were found without any symptoms referable to the tumors. In nine of 13 patients (69%), tumors were discovered by computerized tomography (CT). All patients with primary tumors have been gotten free of disease postoperatively. In contrast, although all three patients with metastatic adrenal tumors underwent resection of all known disease tissue, they died of the recurrence of malignancies within 10 months. This study suggests that a number of functional adrenal tumors are possibly left undiagnosed until found incidentally, and that CT is the most powerful tool to detect adrenal tumors. Our data did not support surgical intervention in cases of metastatic adrenal tumors.副腎腫瘤の臨床的特徴を明らかにするために過去10年間に当科で手術された13例を検討した. 原発性腫瘍9例中2例は臨床症状より原発性アルドステロン症を疑われ副腎腫瘍を発見されているが, 残りの7例(78%)は偶然腫瘍が発見された, いわゆる incidentaloma であった. しかしながら, retrospective にみるとこの7例中3例(43%)で副腎機能亢進によると考えられる症状を呈していた. 転移性腫瘍3例, histoplasma による肉芽腫1例は全て無症状であった. 13例中9例(69%)はCTにより, 2例は超音波, 1例は血管造影, 1例は scintigraphy によりそれぞれ病変を発見され, CT で副腎腫瘤を指摘できなかったのは1例のみであった. 13例中11例は経腹的に, 2例 は開胸開腹で手術されたが, 術後合併症は1例に創感染を認めたのみであった. 原発性腫瘍例は全例術後再発を認めていないが, 転移性腫瘍の3例は全例, 術後10ヶ月以内に再発死した. 以上の結果は機能性副腎腫瘍でも偶然発見されるまで診断されない場合が多いことを示唆しており, 臨床症状を注意深く検討し常に副腎腫瘍の可能性を考慮にいれることが肝要であると考えられる. また, 今回の結果より CT が副腎腫瘤の診断において重要な位置を占めるものと考えられた. なお, 転移性副腎腫瘍に対する手術療法は今回の検討ではそれを積極的に支持する結果は得られず, 今後さらに検討を要する問題と思われる

2D-Time of Flight MR Angiography in Intrathoracic Masses

正常ボランティア5例, 胸部腫瘤性病変の患者15例に対してMR Angiographyを施行した.MRAは, 6秒の息、止めでFLASH法(TR=20msec, TE=8msec, Flip angle=30°)を用いて撮像した像から作成した.全ての症例で胸部大動脈, 上大静脈, 下大静脈, 肺動脈及び肺静脈根部など太い血管の明瞭なMRA像が得られ, 腫瘤とそれら大血管系との関係が把握しやすく胸部腫瘤性病変の評価に有用と考えられた.MR Angiography of the thorax was performed in 5 healthy volunteers and 15 patients with intrathoracic masses. 2D-MRA was obtained sequentially by means of a fast low angle shot(FLASH)technique(TR=20msec.TE=8msec, Flip angle=30within a 6-second period of breath holding. MRA for great vessels was successfully completed in all volunteers and all patients. The relation between tumor and vasculature can be visualized so definitely that MRA may be thought to be a promising complement to MR imaging in the evaluation of intrathoracic masses

In situ evaluation of podocin in normal and glomerular diseases

In situ evaluation of podocin in normal and glomerular diseases.BackgroundMutations of the NPHS2 gene are responsible for autosomal-recessive steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome. Its product, podocin, faces the slit diaphragm area with its two ends in the cytoplasm of foot processes.MethodsWe generated rabbit polyclonal antibodies against conjugated peptides from human podocin N- and C-termini, and studied podocin and synaptopodin using kidney tissues of normal humans and those with glomerular diseases.ResultsAntipodocin antibodies detected the original 42 kD fragment and an extra smaller fragment by Western blot analysis using human isolated mature glomeruli. RNA analysis showed two bands, the original and the other of a decreased length. Immunohistochemically, podocin was detected in a linear pattern along the glomerular capillary loop. Antipodocin antibody (C-terminal) stained the smooth muscles of renal arterioles and aorta. Among 42 patients, podocin was normally expressed in glomeruli in purpura nephritis, IgA nephropathy (IgAN), and minimal-change disease (MCD), while it was either decreased or absent in most subjects with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). The expression of synaptopodin was similar to that of podocin, although some discrepancy existed.ConclusionAlthough indirect, our data suggest the existence of a vascular isoform of podocin with a different molecular mass. We propose that examination of podocin expression may help differentiate MCD from FSGS

Nonvolatile SRAM based on Phase Change

金沢大学大学院自然科学研究科電子情報科学金沢大学工学