METALLURGICAL DESIGN OF NEWLY DEVELOPED MATERIAL FOR SEAMLESS PIPES OF X80-X 100 GRADES

ABSTRACT With the increasing development of oil and gas fields in deepwater or ultra-deepwater with deep well depth, the development of high strength seamless pipe has become necessary. This paper describes a metallurgical design of seamless pipe with high strength reaching X80-X100 grade (minimum yield strength, 552 MPa -689 MPa) manufactured by steel containing very low carbon and with a microstructure of uniform bainite. The effect of microstructure of quenched and tempered (QT) steel on strength and toughness is investigated in laboratory. Uniform bainitic structure without coarse martensiteaustenite constituent (M-A) is obtained by lowering bainite transformation temperature during quenching process by controlling the alloying elements. Moreover the structure is very effective in obtaining good toughness for tempered steel even with the high strength X100 grade. Sufficiently low hardness and good toughness in heat affected zone (HAZ) are confirmed by welding tests. The trial production of developed steel is conducted by applying inline QT process in medium-size seamless mill according to an alloying design obtained in laboratory tests. The seamless pipes of the trial production achieve grades X80 to X100 by changing tempering temperature. Some data of mechanical properties of the produced pipes is introduced

児童家庭支援センターが対象とするケースと子ども虐待ケース支援の特徴に関する研究 : 全国児童家庭支援センターへの調査から

論文　児童家庭支援センターは児童相談所の補完的機能を果たす相談機関として、1997 年の児童福祉法の改正で設置された。　2015 年に全国104 センターに対し、①相談ケースのうちの要保護児童対策地域協議会への登録ケースの割合、②児童家庭支援センターによる児童虐待ケース支援の特徴、③市町村が対応しているケースや要保護児童対策地域協議会への支援の実際、等についてアンケート調査を行い、次の結果を得た。　（1）児童家庭支援センター設置運営要綱では、相談対象は「専門的知識及び技術を必要とするもの」とされている。それは、要保護児童対策地域協議会の管理ケースと重なっている。調査結果では、相談実績の中の要保護児童対策地域協議会の管理ケースが4.0% であったことは、相談活動が極めて不十分なものであることを示唆している。今後は、要保護・要支援児童への談を中心に据え、支援の質を高めることが必要である。　（2）児童家庭支援センターの児童虐待ケースへの支援には、①児童虐待の予防に視点をおいた支援の可能性がある、②支援の際の困難は、児童家庭支援センターの役割が不鮮明であること等にその要因がある、③児童相談所と市町村の間にあって、独自の役割・機能があること、などが分かった。　（3）市町村と共同して行う連携は進んでいるものの、市町村への技術的助言などの領域へ十分に入り込めていない。市町村への専門的支援ができるように力量を高める必要がある。　（4）児童相談所からの指導委託ケースで、要保護児童対策地域協議会の管理ケースとなっているのは半数にとどまり、課題となっている。　2016 年の改正児童福祉法の具体化により、児童家庭支援センターの存在意義が問われており、活動の質の担保と活動量の拡大が求められている

Manganese-Enhanced MRI Reveals Early-Phase Radiation-Induced Cell Alterations In Vivo.

For tumor radiotherapy, the in vivo detection of early cellular responses is important for predicting therapeutic efficacy. Mn2+ is used as a positive contrast agent in manganese-enhanced MRI (MEMRI) and is expected to behave as a mimic of Ca2+ in many biologic systems. We conducted in vitro and in vivo MRI experiments with Mn2+ to investigate whether MEMRI can be used to detect cell alterations as an early-phase tumor response after radiotherapy. Colon-26 cells or a subcutaneously grafted colon-26 tumor model were irradiated with 20 Gy of X-rays. One day after irradiation, a significant augmentation of G2–M-phase cells, indicating a cell-cycle arrest, was observed in the irradiated cells in comparison with the control cells, although both early and late apoptotic alterations were rarely observed. The MEMRI signal in radiation-exposed tumor cells (R1: 0.77 +- 0.01 s−1) was significantly lower than that in control cells (R1: 0.82 +- 0.01 s−1) in vitro. MEMRI signal reduction was also observed in the in vivo tumor model 24 hours after irradiation (R1 of radiation: 0.97 +- 0.02 s−1, control: 1.10 +- 0.02 s−1), along with cell-cycle and proliferation alterations identified with immunostaining (cyclin D1 and Ki-67). Therefore, MEMRI after tumor radiotherapy was successfully used to detect cell alterations as an early-phase cellular response in vitro and in vivo

Long-term safety and efficacy of alogliptin, a DPP-4 inhibitor, in patients with type 2 diabetes: a 3-year prospective, controlled, observational study (J-BRAND Registry)

Introduction Given an increasing use of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors to treat patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in the real-world setting, we conducted a prospective observational study (Japan-based Clinical Research Network for Diabetes Registry: J-BRAND Registry) to elucidate the safety and efficacy profile of long-term usage of alogliptin.Research design and methods We registered 5969 patients from April 2012 through September 2014, who started receiving alogliptin (group A) or other classes of oral hypoglycemic agents (OHAs; group B), and were followed for 3 years at 239 sites nationwide. Safety was the primary outcome. Symptomatic hypoglycemia, pancreatitis, skin disorders of non-extrinsic origin, severe infections, and cancer were collected as major adverse events (AEs). Efficacy assessment was the secondary outcome and included changes in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin and urinary albumin.Results Of the registered, 5150 (group A: 3395 and group B: 1755) and 5096 (3358 and 1738) were included for safety and efficacy analysis, respectively. Group A patients mostly (>90%) continued to use alogliptin. In group B, biguanides were the primary agents, while DPP-4 inhibitors were added in up to ~36% of patients. The overall incidence of AEs was similar between the two groups (42.7% vs 42.2%). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed the incidence of cancer was significantly higher in group A than in group B (7.4% vs 4.8%, p=0.040), while no significant incidence difference was observed in the individual cancer. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that the imbalanced patient distribution (more elderly patients in group A than in group B), but not alogliptin usage per se, contributed to cancer development. The incidence of other major AE categories was with no between-group difference. Between-group difference was not detected, either, in the incidence of microvascular and macrovascular complications. HbA1c and fasting glucose decreased significantly at the 0.5-year visit and nearly plateaued thereafter in both groups.Conclusions Alogliptin as a representative of DPP-4 inhibitors was safe and durably efficacious when used alone or with other OHAs for patients with type 2 diabetes in the real world setting