A Feasibility Study on the Simultaneous Sensing of Turbidity and Chlorophyll a Concentration Using a Simple Optical Measurement Method

We have been developing a wireless sensor network system to monitor the quality of lake water in real time. It consists of a sensor module and a system module, which includes communication and power modules. We have focused on pH, turbidity and chlorophyll a concentration as the criteria for qualifying lake water quality. These parameters will be detected by a microfluidic device based sensor module embedded in the wireless sensor network system. In order to detect the turbidity and the chlorophyll a concentration simultaneously, we propose a simple optical measurement method using LED and photodiode in this paper. Before integrating a turbidity and chlorophyll a concentration sensor into the microfluidic device based pH sensor, we performed feasibility studies such as confirmation of the working principle and experiments using environmental water samples. As a result, we successfully verified our simultaneous sensing method by using a simple optical setup of the turbidity and the chlorophyll a concentration

Multiple routes of hepatitis C virus transmission among injection drug users in Hai Phong, Northern Vietnam

金沢大学医薬保健研究域医学系To identify hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission routes among injection drug users in Northern Vietnam, plasma samples were collected from 486 drug users in Hai Phong. Plasma viral RNA was extracted from 323 (66.5%) samples that were positive for anti-HCV antibodies. Portions of the HCV 5′- untranslated (5′UTR)-Core and NS5B genes were amplified by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, sequenced directly, and genotyped in 194 and 195 specimens, respectively. Both regions were genotyped in 137 specimens. In the 5′UTR-Core region, genotype 6a was predominant (32.5%), followed by genotype 1a (23.7%), genotype 1b (20.6%), and genotype 6e (14.4%). In the NS5B region, genotype 1a was predominant (42.6%), followed by genotype 1b (24.1%), genotype 6a (14.4%), genotype 3b (7.2%), and genotype 6e (5.1%). Of the 137 specimens with both regions genotyped, 23 (16.8%) showed discordant genotyping results between the two regions, suggesting possible recombination and/or dual infection. Phylogenetic analysis revealed close associations between Hai Phong strains and strains from Southern China: the Yunnan province for genotype 3b; the Guangxi province for genotype 6e; the USA for genotype 1a; and Southern Vietnam for genotypes 1a and 6e. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection rate among HCV-infected injection drug users was 52.6-55.4% and did not differ significantly by HCV genotype. Most drug users infected with HIV-1 [98.8% (171/173)] were co-infected with HCV. These results suggest multiple routes of HCV transmission among injection drug users in Northern Vietnam that may also be HIV transmission routes. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc

A natural inter-genotypic (2b/1b) recombinant of hepatitis C virus in the Philippines

金沢大学大学院医学系研究科感染症制御学The prevalence study and the characterization of hepatitis C virus (HCV) was carried out in the Philippines and the sequence determination of the 5′-untranslated region (5′-UTR)-Core and the NS5B regions of HCV was carried out in this study. An HCV strain (SE-03-07-1689) collected in Metro Manila, Philippines, belonged to discordant subtypes, 2b and 1b in 5′-UTR-Core and NS5B regions, respectively. The 9.3 kb sequence of this strain including the entire open reading frame was compared with those of the reference strains retrieved from the HCV sequences database (GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ) and indicated a recombination event. The computation of the sequence similarity mapped a crossover point within the NS3 region. This is the second report on the inter-genotype recombinant of HCV and the third when an intra-genotype recombinant is included. This recombinant strain, SE-03-07-1689, is designated tentatively as RF3_2b/1b according to the suggestions used for the other two HCV recombinants. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc

Qualitative Improvement of a Coronary Plaque after Treatment with a Strong Statin : Observation using Virtual Histology Intravascular Ultrasound

Statins are used currently for treatment and prevention of coronary artery disease, but it is difficult to assess the therapeutics effects and patient responses to different statins. Virtual histology intravascular ultrasound (VH-IVUS) has been used to evaluate detailed quantitative changes in coronary plaques, and here we report a case in which marked qualitative improvement in a coronary plaque was observed using VH-IVUS after a change in treatment from a conventional statin to a strong statin

「TOTOギャラリー・間+NCUJoint WS」の成果報告書出版

departmental bulletin pape

Fabrication of an Au–Au/carbon nanotube-composite contacts RF-MEMS switch

Abstract This study aims to propose a new fabrication method for an ohmic contact type RF-MEMS switch with Au–Au/carbon nanotube (CNT)-composite contacts. These contacts are proposed to improve the reliability and the high-power handling capability of the ohmic contact type RF-MEMS switch. During the fabrication, we applied Au/CNT-composite electroplated film to the contact area in the signal line, whereas Au electroplating was used to form contacts under the cantilever of the switch. We investigated the influence of the Ar ion beam etching angle on metal layers formation and optimized the Ar ion beam etching conditions to achieve a more reliable RF-MEMS switch. We designed, fabricated, and evaluated an RF-MEMS switch to demonstrate the feasibility of our new fabrication method. We successfully fabricated an Au–Au/CNT-composite contact RF-MEMS switch; it exhibited a low insertion loss of less than 0.7 dB at frequency up to 40 GHz and a cycle life 2.7 times longer than that of an Au–Au contact switch