Protective effects of green tea extracts (polyphenon E and EGCG) on human cervical lesions

We investigated clinical efficacy of green tea extracts (polyphenon E; poly E and (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate [EGCG]) delivered in a form of ointment or capsule in patients with human papilloma virus (HPV) infected cervical lesions. Fifty-one patients with cervical lesions (chronic cervicitis, mild dysplasia, moderate dysplasia and severe dysplasia) were divided into four groups, as compared with 39 untreated patients as a control. Poly E ointment was applied locally to 27 patients twice a week. For oral delivery, a 200 mg of poly E or EGCG capsule was taken orally every day for eight to 12 weeks. In the study, 20 out of 27 patients (74%) under poly E ointment therapy showed a response. Six out of eight patients under poly E ointment plus poly E capsule therapy (75%) showed a response, and three out of six patients (50%) under poly E capsule therapy showed a response. Six out of 10 patients (60%) under EGCG capsule therapy showed a response. Overall, a 69% response rate (35/51) was noted for treatment with green tea extracts, as compared with a 10% response rate (4/39) in untreated controls (P<0.05). Thus, the data collected here demonstrated that green tea extracts in a form of ointment and capsule are effective for treating cervical lesions, suggesting that green tea extracts can be a potential therapy regimen for patients with HPV infected cervical lesions.     

Beam test of the CsI(Tl) calorimeter for the BELLE detector at the KEK-B factory

We studied the performance of a prototype electromagnetic calorimeter for the BELLE detector at the KEK proton synchrotron for an energy range of 0.25–3.5 GeV. The prototype consisted of an array of 6 × 5 CsI(Tl) crystals with 30 cm length (16.2 radiation lengths) and about 6 cm × 6 cm cross section. The scintillation light of each CsI(Tl) crystal was read out by two large-area PIN photodiodes and charge-sensitive preamplifiers attached at the rear face of the crystal. We measured the energy and position resolution for electrons and the e/π separation for two sets of matrix configurations: one corresponded to the center and the other to the edge of the barrel calorimeter. The overall performance measured by the test proves that the prototype calorimeter is satisfactory for the use in the BELLE detector.     

Development of the Base Station Controller and Manager in the CDMA Mobile System

The base station (BS) in the CDMA Mobile System (CMS) connects calls through the radio interface and is designed to provide mobile subscribers with high quality service in spite of mobile subscribers’ motions. The BS consists of multiple base station transceiver subsystems (BTSs), a base station controller (BSC) and a base station manager (BSM). This paper is concerned with the BSC and the BSM. The BSC is located between the BTSs and the mobile switching center (MSC) connected with the public network, and is responsible for controlling mobile calls from and to mobile subscribers via the BTSs. The BSM provides operator-interfaces per the BS and takes responsibility of operation and maintenance (OAM) of the BS. Design of the BSC is based on two module types: functional module and unit module. The functional module is used to support new services easily and the unit module to increase the system capacity economically. Both modular types are easily achieved by inserting the corresponding modules to the system. Particularly, in order to efficiently support the soft handover which is one of CDMA superior advantages, the BSC adopts a large high-speed packet switch connecting up to 512 BTSs, and thus mobile subscribers can be provided with soft handover in high probability. The BSM is based on a commercial workstation to support OAM functions efficiently and guarantee high reliability of the functions. The BSM uses graphical user interface (GUI) for efficient OAM functions of the BS.     

Casein Hydrolysate Fractions Act as Emulsifiers in Process Cheese

ABSTRACT: Degrees of hydrolysis and emulsifying activity of casein hydrolysates were the highest at 4 h hydrolysis. The oil-off values of the mixture of hydrolysate (H) or supernatant (S) and traditional emulsifier (T) were not significantly different from the control made with traditional emulsifier, except for S + T = 3:1. Two other samples made with hydrolysate or supernatant only (H or S) showed higher oil-off value than the others (p < 0.05). In flavor property, no difference was found between samples made with traditional emulsifier and those made with the mixture of hydrolysate or supernatant at the ratio of 3 to 1. Therefore, these results indicated that a mixture of the hydrolysate or supernatant and traditional emulsifier might replace a traditional emulsifier in process cheese manufacturing.     

An analytical model for high electron mobility transistors

In this paper we present a new model for HEMT's which is based on a single analytical function that describes the electron concentrations in the two dimensional electron gas and in the AlGaAs layer. Besides accounting for the AlGaAs conduction, the model includes the effect of mobility degradation, channel length modulation in the saturation region and the series resistances R_S and R_D. The model results in closed form expressions for the current, transconductance, output conductance and gate capacitance. Finally, the theoretical predictions of the model are compared with the experimental data and shown to be in good agreement over a wide range of bias conditions     

Over GHz electrical circuit model of a high-density multiple line grid array (MLGA) interposer

The multiple line grid array (MLGA) interposer was recently introduced as a future high-density high-speed bonding method. In this paper, we introduce an electrical model and high-frequency characteristics of the MLGA interposer. The high-frequency electrical model was extracted from microwave S-parameter measurements up to 20 GHz as well as from fundamental microwave network analysis. For the parameter fitting process during model extraction, an optimization method was used. Several different types of MLGA interposers were designed, assembled and tested. The test vehicles contained coplanar waveguides, probing pads and an MLGA interposer structure. The height of the MLGA, the conductor shape inside the MLGA, and the dielectric insulator of the MLGA were varied. From the model, an MLGA with a height of 0.4 mm and a polymer dielectric insulator was found to have 203 pH of self inductance, 49 pH of mutual inductance with the nearest ground conductor line, and 186 fF of mutual capacitance. By reducing the height of the MLGA and by using an insulator with a lower dielectric constant, parasitic inductance and capacitance is further reduced. TDR/TDT simulation and measurement showed the validity of the extracted model parameters of the MLGA interposer. Circuit simulation based on the extracted model revealed that the MLGA interposer could be successfully used for microwave device packages up to 20 GHz and for high-speed digital device packages with a clock cycle up to 5 GHz.     

Effects of potential and heat treatment on phase transition of alumina dielectric layer

The characteristics and growth behaviors of alumina dielectric layer formed by anodic oxidation were investigated. The aluminum oxide layer anodized at 400 V was predominantly amorphous alumina, but at the applied potentials more than 500 V, amorphous and crystalline γ-alumina were existed in anodic oxide layer and the ratio of γ-alumina increased with the increasing applied potential. During the heat treatment at 600^°C or higher temperature, amorphous alumina layer was transformed into the crystalline γ-alumina. The phase transition of anodic amorphous alumina into crystalline depends on anodic applied potentials and heat-treatment temperatures.     

Nanoporous activated carbon cloth for capacitive deionization of aqueous solution

Activated nanostructured-carbon cloths with a high ratio of surface area to volume are used as electrode for capacitive deionization. The electrochemical properties on capacitive deionization for NaCl solution have been investigated to improve efficiency of capacitive deionization properties from aqueous solution, employing chemical surface-modification by etching in alkaline and acidic solution. The removal efficiency of inorganic salts of activated carbon cloths by chemical modification significantly increased. Specially the carbon cloth surface modified in HNO₃ showed an effect of improvement in the CDI efficiency due to not only ion adsorption by an electric double layer, but also electron transfer by Faradaic reaction.     

Analysis of hazard area associated with hydrogen gas transmission pipelines

Hydrogen is considered to be the most important future energy carrier in many applications reducing significantly greenhouse gas emissions, but the safety issues associated with hydrogen applications need to be investigated and fully understood to be applicable as the carrier. Generally, the locations of hydrogen production and consumption are different. Hydrogen must be transported from the point of production to the point of use. Pipeline delivery is cheaper than all other methods for large quantities of hydrogen. The rupture of a hydrogen pipeline can lead to outcomes that can pose a significant threat to people and property in the immediate vicinity of the failure point. In this work, a simplified equation of hazard analysis is proposed for the pipeline transporting hydrogen, which relates the diameter, the operating pressure and the length of the pipeline to the size of the affected area in the event of a failure of the pipeline. The dominant hazards are thermal radiation from sustained fire and shock pressure from gas cloud explosion. For a transmission pipeline of hydrogen gas, the hazard area from the fire is slightly larger than by the other event. The hazard area is directly proportional to the operating pressure raised to the power one-half, and to the pipeline diameter. This simplified equation to estimate the hazard area will be a useful tool for safety management of hydrogen gas transmission pipelines.