(Bi,La) 4 Ti 3 O 12 (BLT) (Bi: 10 % excess) thin films were prepared on Pt/Ti/SiO 2 /Si substrates by chemical solution deposition method. The effects of vanadium doping amount (0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and ...2.0 %, respectively) on the electrical properties of BLT thin films were investigated. The thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and electrical measurements. The films were polycrystalline and phase pure. The highest remanent polarization (2Pr), 35.0 w C/cm 2 , was obtained at 1.0 % vanadium doped BLT thin film.
The nanostructure and the strain fields in the superlattice CeO2/YSZ5 fabricated on a SiO2/Si(001) substrate were investigated macroscopically and nanoscopically using XRD and HRTEM with geometric ...phase analysis (GPA) and related methods. The XRD analyses elucidated that the out-of-plane lattice parameter of CeO2 and YSZ layers was relaxed. However, the in-plane lattice parameter was almost identical. Results of HRTEM and related analyses revealed that CeO2 and YSZ layers formed a superlattice structure. Results showed that the superlattice has some defects, such as misorientation, varied thickness of CeO2 and YSZ layers, varied artificial periodicity, and interface roughness. However, the out-of-plane lattice parameter had periodicity corresponding to the superlattice structure. The in-plane lattice parameter was also equal to the local deviation. Therefore, the strain effect in the superlattice persisted to some degree.
To suggest improved guidelines for treating lymphatic spread and to understand the results of extended lymphadenectomy. A total of 141 cases of cardia carcinoma admitted to our hospital during 1980 ...to 1993 were analyzed.
123 of 141 cases underwent resection. The incidence of mediastinal lymph node involvement rose from 8.7% in cases with 1-2 cm invasion to 52.9% in cases with more than 4 cm invasion into the esophagus. The incidence of abdominal lymph node involvement also rose with increasing esophageal invasion. Paraaortic lymph node metastasis was frequently observed in cases of more than 1 cm esophageal invasion. D4 lymphadenectomy (extended lymphadenectomy) revealed better results for the cases with lymph node involvement (P<0.05). There was no difference in the incidence of postoperative complication or in operative death, between the abdominal approach and the thoracoabdominal approach, or between the D4 lymphadenectomy and D2 lymphadenectomy.
Sufficient mediastinal and abdominal lymphadenectomy under a clear wide surgical field achieved through the thoracoabdominal approach appeared to bring better results.
Third Department of Medicine, Shiga University of Medical
Science, Seta, Otsu, Shiga 520-2192, Japan
To examine the
effects of chronic hyperinsulinemia on vascular tissues, we examined
the production ...of superoxide anion
(O 2 ) in the aortic tissues of control
and exogenously hyperinsulinemic rats performed by the implantation of
an insulin pellet for 4 wk. O 2
production by aortic segments from hyperinsulinemic rats was 2.4-fold
(lucigenin chemiluminescence method) and 1.7-fold (cytochrome
c method) of that of control rats
without any differences in O 2
degrading activities in aortic tissues, respectively
( P < 0.025). The increment was
completely abolished in the presence of either 100 µmol/l apocynin
(an inhibitor of NADPH oxidase) or 10 µmol/l diphenyleneiodonium (an
inhibitor of flavin-containing enzyme) and was exclusively endothelium
dependent. Consistently, NAD(P)H oxidase activities in endothelial
homogenate in hyperinsulinemic rats were dose dependently stimulated
above the values of control rats, although these activities in
nonendothelial homogenate were not significantly stimulated by insulin.
Furthermore, an insulin effect was also demonstrated 1 h after exposing
aortic tissues to insulin. These results indicate that
O 2 production specifically increases
in endothelium of aortic tissues in chronic hyperinsulinemic rats
through the activation of NAD(P)H oxidase.
oxidative stress; free radicals; endothelial cells
A cDNA for delta1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate (P5C) synthetase (cOsP5CS), an enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of proline, was isolated and characterized from a cDNA library prepared from 14-day-old ...seedlings of Oryza sativa cv. Akibare. The deduced amino acid sequence of the P5CS protein (OsP5CS) from O. sativa exhibited 74.2% and 75.5% homology to that of the P5CS from Arabidopsis thaliana and Vigna aconitifolia, respectively. Northern blot analysis revealed that the gene for P5CS (OsP5CS) was induced by high salt, dehydration, treatment of ABA and cold treatment, while it was not induced by heat treatment. Simultaneously, accumulation of proline was observed as a result of high salt treatment in O. sativa. Moreover, the levels of expression of OsP5CS mRNA and content of proline under salt stress condition were compared between a salt-tolerant cultivar, Dee-gee-woo-gen (DGWG) and a salt-sensitive breeding line, IR28. It was observed that the expression of the P5CS gene and the accumulation of proline in DGWG steadily increased, whereas those in IR28 increased slightly.
A cDNA for Delta super(1)-pyrroline-5-carboxylate (P5C) synthetase (cOsP5CS), an enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of proline, was isolated and characterized from a cDNA library prepared from ...14-day-old seedlings of Oryza sativa cv. Akibare. The deduced amino acid sequence of the P5CS protein (OsP5CS) from O. sativa exhibited 74.2% and 75.5% homology to that of the P5CS from Arabidopsis thaliana and Vigna aconitifolia, respectively. Northern blot analysis revealed that the gene for P5CS (OsP5CS) was induced by high salt, dehydration, treatment of ABA and cold treatment, while it was not induced by heat treatment. Simultaneously, accumulation of proline was observed as a result of high salt treatment in O. sativa. Moreover, the levels of expression of OsP5CS mRNA and content of proline under salt stress condition were compared between a salt-tolerant cultivar, Dee-gee-woo-gen (DGWG) and a salt-sensitive breeding line, IR28. It was observed that the expression of the P5CS gene and the accumulation of proline in DGWG steadily increased, whereas those in IR28 increased slightly.
Plants respond to abiotic stresses, such as drought, high salinity, and cold, to acquire stress tolerance. Molecular and genomic studies have shown that a number of genes with various functions are ...induced by abiotic stresses, and that various transcription factors are involved in the regulation of stress-inducible genes in Arabidopsis and rice. These gene products function not only in stress tolerance but also in stress response. In this review, recent progress in the analysis of complex cascades of gene expression in drought and cold stress responses is summarized. Various genes involved in stress tolerance are also discussed for their application to molecular breeding of drought, salinity, and/or cold stress tolerance.
We isolated a cDNA for a gene that encodes the 23 kDa protein of the oxygen-evolving complex of photosystem II in rice. The amino acid sequence deduced from the cDNA is highly similar (71-60% ...homology) to those of the analogous genes from wheat, tomato, pea, spinach, tobacco and mustard. The expression of the gene that corresponds to the 23 kDa protein was inducible in green organs of mature and immature leaves, stems and young panicles but not inducible in roots. The high level of the transcripts was detected in both mature leaves and young panicles. The expression of the gene was low in etiolated seedlings, while the transcript of the gene was strongly induced by light, and the level of the expression increased during light irradiation. These observations suggest that the expression of the gene encoding the 23 kDa protein is organ-specific and light-inducible.
To study the effect of step edges on the growth of Pt thin films on oxide substrates, Pt films were grown on SrTiO3(100), rutile TiO2(100), and Al2O3(11–20) stepped surfaces at 673 and 973 K by ...pulsed laser deposition. No clear effect due to the step edges on the film growth was found on the SrTiO3 at 673 K. However, the Pt grains were larger in size at the step edges than on the terraces at 973 K. The estimated length of the Pt surface diffusion was longer than the average terrace width at 973 K and shorter at 673 K. Similar growth behavior was also observed on the TiO2 at 973 K, while there was no clear effect caused by the step edges in the case of the Al2O3. The Pt diffusion length was estimated to be longer than the terrace width on the TiO2 and shorter on the Al2O3. The effect of the step edges can therefore be understood by considering the Pt surface diffusion.
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