Microwave Circuits Based on Negative Refractive Index Material Structures

The paper presents the fundamentals of composite right/left-handed (CRLH)transmission lines and materials,and proposes an accurate circuit model of these structures for the design of practical applications.Three novel applications of CRLH meta-structures,developed at UCLA,are demonstrated:an arbitrary coupling-level backward-wave coupler,a zero th order resonator and a distributed planar negative lens

Doppler echocardiographic assessment of left ventricular diastolic function in chronic hypoxic rats

Little information is available on the mechanism of diastolic left ventricular (LV) dysfunction in patients with chronic respiratory disease complicated by hypoxia. The purpose of this study was to investigate how chronic hypoxia impairs LV diastolic function in an hypoxic animal model. Thirty-six male Wistar rats 8 weeks old were assigned to normoxia (N), chronic hypoxia (CH), and re-normoxia (RN) groups, 12 rats per group. The N group rats were kept in ambient air for 8 weeks, while the CH group was kept hypoxic for 8 weeks. After 8 weeks of hypoxia the RN group rats were kept for a further 8 weeks in ambient air. LV systolic and diastolic functions, as well as right ventricular (RV) function, were analyzed using Doppler echocardiography;we also measured the hematocrit, and weighed the LV and RV. Hematocrit, RV weight/body weight, and RV weight/LV weight were higher in the CH group than in the other 2 groups. However, most of these parameters returned to normoxia levels after re-normoxia. In the CH group, LV dimension and area were smaller than in the other 2 groups. LV systolic function was preserved in all groups;however, in the CH group, mitral flow showed a restrictive pattern, while pulmonary flow demonstrated a pulmonary hypertensive pattern with prolonged RV ejection time. In conclusion, chronic hypoxia induced pulmonary hypertension and RV hypertrophy. Although LV systolic function was preserved, diastolic function was impaired in hypoxia. Ventricular interaction may impair LV diastolic function.</p

Transition Probability to Turbulent Transport Regime

Transition phenomena between thermal noise state and turbulent state observed in a submarginal turbulent plasma are analyzed with statistical theory. Time-development of turbulent fluctuation is obtained by numerical simulations of Langevin equation which contains hysteresis characteristics. Transition rates between two states are analyzed. Transition from turbulent state to thermal noise state occurs in entire region between subcritical bifurcation point and linear stability boundary.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, to be published in Plasma Phys. Control. Fusio

High Pressure Steam Gasification of Coal

A high pressure reactor for the steam gasification of coal was constructed and tested for two Japanese coals. The gasification rate was determined as a function of temperature, steam pressure, partial pressure of hydrogen added to steam, and steam feed rate. The reactivity increased with steam pressure. Nickel salt was impregnated on coal to investigate its catalytic activity. The degree of the advantage by catalyst utilization decreased with increasing steam pressure. The size of residual char for Shin-Yubari coal was interpreted by the unreacted core model

Mechanism of strong quenching of photosystem II chlorophyll fluorescence under drought stress in a lichen, Physciella melanchla, studied by subpicosecond fluorescence spectroscopy

AbstractThe mechanism of the severe quenching of chlorophyll (Chl) fluorescence under drought stress was studied in a lichen Physciella melanchla, which contains a photobiont green alga, Trebouxia sp., using a streak camera and a reflection-mode fluorescence up-conversion system. We detected a large 0.31 ps rise of fluorescence at 715 and 740 nm in the dry lichen suggesting the rapid energy influx to the 715–740 nm bands from the shorter-wavelength Chls with a small contribution from the internal conversion from Soret bands. The fluorescence, then, decayed with time constants of 23 and 112 ps, suggesting the rapid dissipation into heat through the quencher. The result confirms the accelerated 40 ps decay of fluorescence reported in another lichen (Veerman et al., 2007 [36]) and gives a direct evidence for the rapid energy transfer from bulk Chls to the longer-wavelength quencher. We simulated the entire PS II fluorescence kinetics by a global analysis and estimated the 20.2 ns−1 or 55.0 ns−1 energy transfer rate to the quencher that is connected either to the LHC II or to the PS II core antenna. The strong quenching with the 3–12 times higher rate compared to the reported NPQ rate, suggests the operation of a new type of quenching, such as the extreme case of Chl-aggregation in LHCII or a new type of quenching in PS II core antenna in dry lichens

Multidimensional imaging of liver injury repair in mice reveals fundamental role of the ductular reaction

Upon severe and/or chronic liver injury, ectopic emergence and expansion of atypical biliary epithelial-like cells in the liver parenchyma, known as the ductular reaction, is typically induced and implicated in organ regeneration. Although this phenomenon has long been postulated to represent activation of facultative liver stem/progenitor cells that give rise to new hepatocytes, recent lineage-tracing analyses have challenged this notion, thereby leaving the pro-regenerative role of the ductular reaction enigmatic. Here, we show that the expanded and remodelled intrahepatic biliary epithelia in the ductular reaction constituted functional and complementary bile-excreting conduit systems in injured parenchyma where hepatocyte bile canalicular networks were lost. The canalicular collapse was an incipient defect commonly associated with hepatocyte injury irrespective of cholestatic statuses, and could sufficiently provoke the ductular reaction when artificially induced. We propose a unifying model for the induction of the ductular reaction, where compensatory biliary epithelial tissue remodeling ensures bile-excreting network homeostasis

A Case of Ovarian Strumal Carcinoid. A Histochemical, Immunohistochemical and Ultrastructural Study

A histochemical, immunohistochemical and electron microscopic study was made on a case of ovarian strumal carcinoid arising from a mature cystic teratoma. This tumor formed a solid nodule and was histologically composed of both thyroid tissue and carcinoid tumor. In this nodule, the carcinoid component was predominant and a trabecular pattern was observed with ribbons of identical cells. Carcinoid cells had argyrophilic granules with Grimelius stain, but argyrophilic granules could not be detected in the thyroid tissue. Both components were negative to Masson-Fontana reaction. By immunoperoxidase technique, immunoreactive thyroglobulin was demonstrated within the thyroid follicles and their epithelial cells. Serotonin was positive in some of the carcinoid cells, but negative in the thyroid components. Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), calcitonin, cdetoprotein and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) were all negative in these components. Microfollicles or acinar structures in the intermediate zone from the thyroid tissue to the carcinoid component showed a mixed characteristic, being positive for thyroglobulin and Grimelius stain. Electron microscopically, round and densecored neurosecretory granules could be seen in the cytoplasm of the trabecular part. These findings suggest that strumal carcinoid developed in close association with the teratomatous thyroid tissue in the mature cystic teratoma of the ovary

Complete Genome Sequence of Streptococcus mitis Strain Nm-65, Isolated from a Patient with Kawasaki Disease

Streptococcus mitis Nm-65 is a human commensal streptococcal strain of the mitis group that was isolated from the tooth surface of a patient with Kawasaki disease. The complete genome sequence of Nm-65 was obtained by means of hybrid assembly, using two next-generation sequencing data sets. The final assembly size was 2,085,837 bp, with 2,039 coding sequences

Newly Developed Motor Cooling Method Using Refrigerant

One of the greatest issues for electric vehicles such as an electric vehicle (EV), a hybrid vehicle (HV), a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) and a fuel cell vehicle (FCV) is further improvement of effective motor cooling, since higher rated torque is achieved with higher cooling performance. In this paper, we introduce and propose a newly developed motor cooling method we tested using refrigerant, comparing with conventional water cooling. Test results show higher cooling performance of refrigerant cooling, which achieved the rated torque 60% higher than that of water cooling. Document type: Articl