Comb-resolved spectroscopy with immersion grating in long-wave infrared

We have developed a dispersive spectrometer by using a compact immersion grating for direct frequency comb spectroscopy in the long-wave infrared region of 8-10 μm for the first time. A frequency resolution of 460 MHz is achieved, which is the highest reported in this wavelength region with a dispersive spectrometer. We also demonstrate individual comb mode-resolved imaging by cavity filtering and apply this to obtain spectra of both simple and complex molecular spectra. These results indicate that the immersion grating spectrometer offers the next advancement for sensitive, high-resolution spectroscopy of transient and large/complex molecules when combined with cavity enhancement and cooling techniques.

Measurement and comparison of individual external doses of high-school students living in Japan, France, Poland and Belarus-the 'D-shuttle' project

Twelve high schools in Japan (of which six are in Fukushima Prefecture), four in France, eight in Poland and two in Belarus cooperated in the measurement and comparison of individual external doses in 2014. In total 216 high-school students and teachers participated in the study. Each participant wore an electronic personal dosimeter 'D-shuttle' for two weeks, and kept a journal of his/her whereabouts and activities. The distributions of annual external doses estimated for each region overlap with each other, demonstrating that the personal external individual doses in locations where residence is currently allowed in Fukushima Prefecture and in Belarus are well within the range of estimated annual doses due to the terrestrial background radiation level of other regions/countries.

Attachment of Malassezia pachydermatis to the ear dermal cells in canine otitis externa

To investigate the predominance of Malassezia pachydermatis (M. pachydermatis) as a causative agent of canine otitis externa, ear cerumen samples were observed for adhesion of M. pachydermatis to the cornified epithelial cells by light and electron microscopes. The yeasts appeared not to adhere to the cornified epithelial cells directly, but they seemed to exist in the proximity of the epithelial cells with an electron opaque halo-like space around them. Polysaccharide and lipid staining techniques were conducted to identify the substances existing in that space. Lipid substances, not saccharides, were observed around the yeasts and the cornified epithelial cells. These results suggested that in the canine ear canal malassezia yeast attachment to the cornified epithelial cells is mediated by lipids.

Study of lipid in the ear canal in canine otitis externa with Malassezia pachydermatis

An epidemiological investigation of 120 canine otitis externa cases in 1,370 dogs was done on the incidence rate, ear pinna shapes, breeds and their relationships. Eighty-five cases (12.6%) in 672 dogs with pendulous ears and 35 cases (5.0%) in 698 dogs with erect ears had otitis externa, and the difference between them was significant (P<0.05). Ninety-five auditory cerumen specimens were cultured for Malassezia pachydermatis (M. pachydermatis) and analyzed for concentrations of major fatty acids. Although rates of cases positive for M. pachydermatis in both ear pinna shapes were almost the same, i.e. 55.2% in the pendulous group and 53.6% in the erect group, the average total fatty acid level of the pendulous ear group was significantly (P<0.05) higher than that in the erect ear group after dismissing extraordinary levels in the Siberian husky. Isolated M. pachydermatis strains were examined for the effects of fatty acid supplementation on their growth. The majority of the strains utilized fatty acids and grew faster in fatty acid supplemented broth. These results suggest that M. pachydermatis, the predominant causative agent of canine otitis externa, prefers the auditory canal of dogs with lipid-rich earwax and grows fast, but growth strongly depends upon the canine breed.

A polysomnographic study on periodic limb movements in patients with restless legs syndrome and neuroleptic-induced akathisia

Eighteen patients with restless legs syndrome (RLS) and 4 patients with neuroleptic-induced akathisia (NIA) underwent all-night polysomnographic recordings before and during clonazepam treatment. Ten normal control subjects and 4 non-akathitic psychiatric patients treated with neuroleptics underwent polysomnographic recordings, which were compared with those of the RLS and NIA patients, respectively. Daily treatment with 0.5 to 3 mg clonazepam improved subjective complaints of 17 out of 18 patients with RLS and all the 4 patients with NIA. All the 18 patients with RLS exhibited periodic limb movements (PLM) on the polysomnograms before treatment, but only 2 of 10 control subjects exhibited PLM. Three of the 4 patients with NIA exhibited PLM, but none of the 4 controls on neuroleptics showed PLM. Clonazepam decreased the total number of PLM per hour in patients of both RLS and NIA.

Periodic limb movement disorder in neuroleptic-induced akathisia

We recorded all-night polysomnograms of four schizophrenic patients with neuroleptic-induced akathisia (NIA) before and during treatment with clonazepam. Also, four non-akathitic schizophrenic patients were recorded all-night polysomnograms as control subjects. Daily treatment with 1.5 to 3 mg clonazepam improved subjective complaints of all the 4 patients with NIA. Three of 4 patients with NIA exhibited periodic limb movements (PLM) on bilateral legs, but none of 4 control subjects showed PLM. Total number of PLM and PLM per hour decreased during clonazepam treatment. Moreover, mean inter-movement intervals of PLM of 3 patients were prolonged on bilateral legs. NIA might change its feature as PLM during night sleep.

Survey of the living conditions and psychosomatic states of the elderly in Japan who receive home help

The living conditions and psychosomatic states of 2828 elderly people receiving care from home helpers were investigated. The physical condition of men was significantly lower than that of women. With regard to daily life (i.e. eating, sitting, standing, excretion, dressing, bathing, walking, tidiness) 70% were rated as being self-supporting. Eighty per cent of subjects were judged as having normal intelligence. Twenty-two per cent of subjects had more than one psychiatric symptom (e.g. memory impairment, insomnia, talking to oneself, and delusions). Among the various medico-welfare supports, home help was recommended most often.

Periodic leg movements in sleep with restless legs syndrome: effect of clonazepam treatment

Fifteen patients with restless legs syndrome underwent whole-night polysomnographic recordings before and during clonazepam treatment. The treatment with 0.5 to 1.5 mg clonazepam improved subjective complaints of all the 15 patients. All the patients presented periodic leg movements on the polysomnograms before the treatment. The clonazepam treatment significantly decreased the total numbers of leg movements and the numbers of leg movements per hour without affecting the mean intermovement interval.

A clinical study on intellectual impairment in parkinsonian patients during long-term treatment

The severity of intellectual impairment of 89 patients with Parkinson's disease was evaluated with the Osaka Intelligence Scale for the Aged (OISA). Based on their intelligence levels, the patients were divided into three groups: normal, slight dementia and dementia. EEGs, psychiatric complications such as hallucination, degree of motor disability, history of medication, relationship between changes in intelligence and total amount of administered drugs were also examined. There was no significant correlation between the length of duration of the illness and the degree of intellectual impairment. Two characteristic subgroups were found among our subjects: a group of patients who rapidly became demented after the onset of Parkinsonism, and a group of patients whose intelligence was preserved for a longer period. The mean age of the onset of the disease in the former group was older than that of the latter. Patients of the former group exhibited psychiatric complications and EEG abnormalities more frequently. The severity of motor disability and medications administered at the time of the OISA examination did not differ between the two groups. Deterioration of the intelligence of the patients with Parkinson's disease did not correlate with the total amount of the administered antiparkinsonian drugs.

[Intellectual impairments in patients with Parkinson's disease--a proposal of the subgroups of the disease]

The severity of intellectual impairments of the 89 patients with Parkinson's disease was evaluated with Osaka Intelligence Scale for the Aged (OISA). They were divided into three groups; normal, slightly impaired, and demented using three discriminative functions of OISA. Their motor disabilities were rated on the Hoehn and Yahr's functional classification scale. EEG, psychotic symptoms such as visual hallucination and "leibhaftige Bewusstheit (K. Jaspers)", medications and prognosis for life were also examined. There was no significant correlation between the duration of the illness and the degree of their intellectual impairments. There were two specific subgroups among our samples; a group of patients who were demented rapidly after their onsets of parkinsonism, and a group of patients whose intelligence was preserved for a long period. The age of onset of the former group was older than the latter. The duration from the onset to death in the former was shorter than the latter. The former group of the patients exhibited psychotic symptoms and EEG abnormalities more frequently. The severity of motor disability and medication did not differ between two groups.

Parallelism between regulatory effects of erythrocyte glycoproteins on phagocytosis and on the alternative complement pathway

Major membrane glycoprotein fractions from erythrocytes of humans, rats, sheep and rabbits were isolated and reconstituted into dinitrophenyl (DNP)-haptenated liposomes, in an attempt to compare their effects on the phagocytic response of human polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN) and on the alternative pathway of human complement. These glycoproteins on liposomes, by themselves, barely induced the nitroblue tetrazolium blue (NBT)-reducing reaction in PMN cells, but exhibited a suppressive effect to a variable extent on the Fc receptor-mediated uptake of haptenated liposomes opsonized with IgG, as judged by NBT reaction. The rank order in the suppressive activity was human greater than rat, sheep greater than rabbit. In parallel to their effect on phagocytosis, these glycoproteins were also found to suppress the alternative pathway of human complement which was initiated by IgG molecules attached to the same liposome surface. The results are taken to suggest that a molecular mechanism analogous to that in the complement cascade might also be involved in the phagocytic recognition system.

[Pathophysiology of muscular atrophy due to disuse--with special reference to a single muscle fiber and its ultrastructure]

Immobilization muscule atrophy was experimentally induced by fixing one ankle joint with a K-wire in an extended position in rats. The animals were sacrificed at designated intervals to obtain the soleus muscle from the fixed (or disused) side and the free side; the muscles were weighed wet, evaluated (musculo) physiologically using a single-skinned muscle fiber method, and further examined histochemically and electron-microscopically. The wet weight of the disused soleus muscle was reduced to 54% of that of the healthy (used) muscle. According to classification by types of muscle fibers stained for ATPase, conversion of muscle fiber type, i.e., conversions of type 1 (red muscle) into type 2 (white muscle) was noted on the disused side, and similar findings were also observed by examination using a single skinned muscle fiber method. The maximal tension developed by the disused single muscle fiber was lower. This may be attributable to structural changes in the myofilament arrangement observed under an electron microscope. No abnormalities were found in calcium ion uptake by the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Under the present experimental conditions, it was clarified that the disuse atrophy of skeletal muscle induces not only reduction of muscle fibers in diameter but also their dedifferentiation and redifferentiation.

Two-frequency method for measuring impurity profiles

A new method of plotting the impurity profile is described. It makes efficient use of the advantage of an operational amplifier and the nonlinearity of the junction capacitance in a semiconductor. When two small ac signals are applied to the inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier, intermodulation arises due to the nonlinearity of the junction capacitance inserted in the feedback loop, at the time the reverse bias voltage to the junction can be supplied from the noninverting input terminal; then the signals concerning both the depletion layer width x and the impurity concentration N (x) arise at the output terminal of the operational amplifier. By detecting each of the amplified input signals and the difference-frequency ones corresponding to x and N (x), respectively, the relation of x-N (x) can be plotted easily, at the same time, in a short time, and at a low cost.