Prospects for Closer Economic Relations between Latin America and Asia

Regional integration such as NAFTA, MERCOSUR and FTAA have been flourishing in Latin American countries in the 1990s. In addition to these multi-countries FTAs, many bilateral FTAs have also emerged both among Latin American countries and between them and extra-regional countries. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the leading factors that are behind the proliferation of intra-regional and inter-regional FTAs of Latin American countries. We also discuss the prospects for bilateral FTAs between Latin America and Asia, particularly focusing on Japan-Mexico and Japan-Chile FTA. Finally, a new approach to cooperation between East Asia and Latin America, the East Asia Latin America Forum (EALAF), will be examined.

Maggot debridement therapy with a direct dressing can cause compression injuries in patients with chronic limb ischemia

While there are no reports regarding dressing-associated iatrogenic skin ulcer as an adverse event of maggot debridement therapy (MDT), MDT is clinically used on patients with critical limb ischaemia with dermal fragility. Herein we report causes and counter measures for a case of iatrogenic skin ulcer induced by MDT dressing

Maggot debridement therapy for a patient with critical limb ischaemia and severe cardiac dysfunction: possibility of limb salvage

Ischaemic skin ulcer occurred on the foot of a 73-year-old man who had a history of fulminant myocarditis with severe cardiac dysfunction. We attempted wound bed preparation by maggot debridement therapy and salvaged his limb. It can be one of the adjuvant treatment strategies for critical limb ischaemia

Microstructure and deuterium retention of beryllium co-deposition layer formed under high density plasma exposure

A systematic study of the temperature effect on the microstructure and the deuterium retention property in beryllium co-deposition layers has been carried out using W samples exposed to D+Be and D+Be+He mixture plasmas in the linear divertor plasma simulator PISCES-B. A deposition layer consisting of small grains of ∼10nm with original hexagonal close-packed structure of beryllium was formed on a sample exposed to D+Be mixture plasmas at low temperature of 373K. He seeding to the mixture plasmas was found to cause amorphization of the layer. In contrast, columnar structure consisting of Be2C due to crystal growth appeared at high temperature exposure cases of > 773K both with and without He seeding. The formation of these deposition layers brought about a significant D retention. Assuming all retained D atoms uniformly distribute within the deposition layers, the D/Be ratios are estimated to be about 0.05 for the low temperature exposure case of 573K, and to be about 0.01 even for the high temperature at 773K. In addition, post-irradiation of 3keV-D2+ for Be deposited sample demonstrated that the hydrogen isotope retention behavior can be modified drastically, once the Be deposition layer is formed