Interspecific variation in wildlife responses to cattle, swine and chicken feed in the forests surrounding poultry farms.

To strengthen farm biosecurity, wildlife behaviors around livestock environments require significant attention. Livestock feed is considered one of essential factors that attract wildlife to the livestock environment. We experimentally studied wildlife response to cattle, swine, and chicken concentrated feeds in the forests surrounding poultry farms.

Few-layer HfS2 transistors.

HfS2 is the novel transition metal dichalcogenide, which has not been experimentally investigated as the material for electron devices. As per the theoretical calculations, HfS2 has the potential for well-balanced mobility (1,800 cm(2)/V·s) and bandgap (1.2 eV) and hence it can be a good candidate for realizing low-power devices.

Effects of hypoxia and glucose-removal condition on muscle contraction of the smooth muscles of porcine urinary bladder.

To elucidate the dependence of aerobic energy metabolism and utilization of glucose in contraction of urinary bladder smooth muscle, we investigated the changes in the reduced pyridine nucleotide (PNred) fluorescence, representing glycolysis activity, and determined the phosphocreatine (PCr) and ATP contents of the porcine urinary bladder during contractions induced by high K(+) or carbachol (CCh) and with and without hypoxia (achieved by bubbling N2 instead of O2) or in a glucose-free condition. Hyperosmotic addition of 65 mM KCl (H-65K(+)) and 1 µM CCh induced a phasic contraction followed by a tonic contraction. A glucose-free physiological salt solution (PSS) did not change the subsequent contractile responses to H-65K(+) and CCh.

Permeability-controlled optical modulator with Tri-gate metamaterial: control of permeability on InP-based photonic integration platform.

Metamaterials are artificially structured materials that can produce innovative optical functionalities such as negative refractive index, invisibility cloaking, and super-resolution imaging. Combining metamaterials with semiconductors enables us to develop novel optoelectronic devices based on the new concept of operation. Here we report the first experimental demonstration of a permeability-controlled waveguide optical modulator consisting of an InGaAsP/InP Mach-Zehnder interferometer with 'tri-gate' metamaterial attached on its arms.

Evaluation of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography using perfluorobutane (Sonazoid(®)) in patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma: comparison with dynamic computed tomography.

This study aimed to elucidate the efficacy of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) with perfluorobutane (Sonazoid(®)) in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs), particularly small HCCs, by comparing the results with dynamic computed tomography (Dy-CT). Seventy-nine nodules in 69 patients with chronic liver disease, suspected as HCCs were studied. The nodules were selected based on the results of B-mode ultrasonography and/or Dy-CT conducted between January and August 2007.

Matrix metalloproteinase-9 expression in congenital diaphragmatic hernia during mechanical ventilation.

Purpose: Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) is detected in lung tissues subjected to ventilator-induced injury and is involved in the process of lung injury. We investigated the immunohistochemical expression of MMP-9 in the bilateral lungs of newborns with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) during mechanical ventilation and evaluated the degree of damage based on MMP-9 expression.

Methods: Lung tissue samples were obtained during autopsy from six newborns with CDH.

Design and experiments of a near-field optical disk head for very high efficiency.

A high-density optical disk system with super parallel optical heads using a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) array is described for higher data transfer rate and technological capability. Optical heads of the VCSEL array and microlens array play key roles for obtaining higher evanescent light from small apertures with the optical disk, which is coated with lubricant and protective films on the flat surface in order to keep the gap between the super parallel optical head and the disk surface within 20 nm. Higher throughput efficiency has been obtained in the near-field semiconductor optical probe array head.

Young's double-slit interference observation of hot electrons in semiconductors.

We have carried out Young's double-slit experiment for the hot-electron wave in man-made semiconductor structures with a 25-nm-space double slit in an InP layer buried within GaInAs, a 190-nm-thick GaInAsP hot-electron wave propagation layer, and a collector array of 80 nm pitch. At 4.2 K, dependences of the collector current on the magnetic field were measured and found to agree clearly with the double-slit interference theory.

Detection of peripherally inserted central catheter occlusion by in-line pressure monitoring.

Background: Peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC) are being increasingly used in neonatal practice. Their use is not without technical difficulty. This report describes the use of continuous pressure monitoring to detect catheter occlusion in critically ill neonates.