Epitaxial growth and transport properties of Nb-doped SrTiO3_{3} thin films

Nb-doped SrTiO$_{3}$ epitaxial thin films have been prepared on (001) SrTiO$_{3}$ substrates using pulsed laser deposition. A high substrate temperature ($>1000^{\circ}{C}$) was found to be necessary to achieve 2-dimensional growth. Atomic force microscopy reveals atomically flat surfaces with 3.9 \AA $$ steps. The films show a metallic behavior, residual resistivity ratios between 10 and 100, and low residual resistivity of the order of 10$^{-4}$$\Omega$cm. At 0.3 K, a sharp superconducting transition, reaching zero resistance, is observed.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Burden of Disease in Japan: Using National and Subnational Data to Inform Local Health Policy

The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study has been instrumental in guiding global health policy development since the early 1990s. The GBD 2010 project provided rich information about the key causes of mortality, disability-adjusted life years, and their associated risk factors in Japan and provided a unique opportunity to incorporate these data into health planning. As part of the latest update of this project, GBD 2013, the Japanese GBD collaborators plan to update and refine the available burden of disease data by incorporating sub-national estimates of the burden of disease at the prefectural level. These estimates will provide health planners and policy makers at both the national and prefectural level with new, more refined tools to adapt local public health initiatives to meet the health needs of local populations. Moreover, they will enable the Japanese health system to better respond to the unique challenges in their rapidly aging population and as a complex combination of non-communicable disease risk factors begin to dominate the policy agenda. Regional collaborations will enable nations to learn from the experiences of other nations that may be at different stages of the epidemiological transition and have different exposure profiles and associated health effects. Such analyses and improvements in the data collection systems will further improve the health of the Japanese, maintain Japan's excellent record of health equity, and provide a better understanding of the direction of health policy in the region

Reduced expression of Toll-like receptor 4 contributes to impaired cytokine response of monocytes in uremic patients

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a pivotal role in pathogen recognition and subsequent cytokine synthesis by immune cells. Uremic patients have a high infectious morbidity, but it remains unclear if this arises from the defective innate immune responses related to TLRs. We studied TLR4 expression in monocytes and their intracellular cytokine synthesis in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation in 35 predialysis patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) with or without predisposition to bacterial infections and 16 age-matched controls. Expression of TLR4 in unstimulated peripheral monocytes was determined by staining with anti-TLR4 antibody and analysis with flow cytometry. Monocytes were then stimulated by LPS, labeled with anti-CD14 antibody, and subjected to intracellular cytokine staining and flow cytometry. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and IL-8 synthesis was examined in CD14+ monocytes. TLR4 expression was constitutively diminished in CKD patients with reduced expression being more severe in those CKD patients who were predisposed to infections. Monocytes from these infection prone CKD patients exhibited significantly reduced synthesis of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-8 in response to LPS challenge compared with those from control subjects. The intensity of synthesis of each cytokine significantly correlated with TLR4 expression levels in monocytes (P<0.01). The capacity of monocytes to synthesize proinflammatory cytokines was significantly reduced in infection prone CKD patients, and this may possibly be due to the reduced monocyte expression of TLR4. Abnormal TLR4 expression by monocytes may play a role in the susceptibility of such patients to bacterial infections

Spectral analysis of aegelin isolated from maja leaves (Aegle marmelos Corr.)

Aegelin is an alkaloid which isolated from Maja (Aegle marmelos Corr.) leaves. The molecular structure of the compound contains a chiral carbon atom. In our earlier publications the existence and influence of a chiral carbon atom have not been discussed yet. The existing of the chiral carbon atom gave rise two pair of doublets at d 3.67 J=3.4 Hz and d 3.43 J=8.5 Hz in the proton nmr spectrum. The doublets are signal of two proton which attached on adjacent atom of the chiral carbon atom which is confirmed bythe two dimension nmr spectrum (HMQC). The two protons are magnetic unequivalent which cause their chemical shifts are different. The protons appear as two doublet with different J value because its couple to a proton attached at the chiral carbon atom and the spin-spin splitting is observed. The existence of the two pairs of the doublets at d 3.67 d,J=3.4 Hz and d 3.42 d,J=8.5 Hz because the isolated aegelin from E.marmelos leaves contains of its enantimeer.Key words: E. marmelos, aegelin, enantiomeer, spectroscop

Research into the Retention Force of Electroformed Secondary Bar

INTRODUCTION: Electroformed metals are known to present good adaptability and biocompatibilities, but it is not yet known if the retention force of the electroformed secondary bar frame (ESBF) can endure long use. To clarify this point, the retention force between the primary cast bar and ESBF were measured. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An edentulous model was prepared and four implants (Frialit 2) were embedded. The fabrication of the primary bar was cast from pure titanium. We coated the completed titanium bar with silver lacquer and applied 0.3mm thick electrodeposite. The ESBF was attached to the cast titanium primary bar, cyclical tests performed for 15000 cycles and the retention force measured each time. The retention forces were measured in 37°C distilled water . RESULTS: The retention force value dropped as the number of reseating increased. It was 22N after 1000, 19N after 5000, 18N after 10000 and 16N after 15000 cycles. The hysteresis curve indicated that the resistance during cyclical testing was constant and stable up until the completion of 15000 cycles. CONCLUSION: The results confirmed that the retention force dropped gradually as the number of cycles increased, but that the stress imposed on the implants due to attaching and removal was low. This may be due to the excellent adaptation accuracy. In the case when repetition of attaching and removing for a long period is considerered, we need an attachment to enable the provision of a stable retention force Supported by Wieland Edelmetalle