Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction is associated with poor prognosis in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and CHD. We report the case of an infant concomitant with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an atrial septal defect, and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction, who was successfully managed with fenestrated closure of the atrial septal defect.

BaTiO3–SnO solid solutions have been investigated from the viewpoints of synthesis and Sn ion valence. First-principles calculations show that the solution energy of Sn2+ into the Ba sites in BaTiO3 is less than that into the Ti sites under high pressure. The BaTiO3–SnO solid solutions have been synthesized under high pressure (∼20 GPa) and temperatures using a laser-heated diamond anvil cell. The synthesized materials have been characterized using x-ray diffractometry, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. It is found from these various methods that we have successfully synthesized uniform solid solutions of BaTiO3–SnO. Furthermore, it is also clarified by the Sn L3-edge electron energy loss spectra measurements that the valences of the Sn ions in the BaTiO3–SnO solid solution are 2+. These results indicate that the Sn2+ ions are substituted into the Ba sites, according to the ion size. Consequently, the Sn ions can be substituted into the Ba sites of the shrinking BaTiO3 lattice under high pressure, which is similar to the Ca and Sn co-substitution into Ba sites under ambient pressure as reported previously.

Field electron emission model of hydrogen-terminated n-type diamond was discussed. Ultra-violet photoelectron spectroscopy characterizations indicated that the electron affinity was -0.7 eV and an internal barrier of about 3.5 eV existed on the surface. Field electron emission properties depended on anode-diamond distances. Schottky barrier lowering model suggested that this internal barrier was lowered by the electric field (5.4x106 V/cm) applied onto the negative electron affinity surface of the H-terminated n-type diamond.

Objective: To further understand the roles of bacteria and antibiotics in the development of otitis media with effusion (OME).

Methods: Samples of middle-ear effusion (MEE) were collected during the placement of ventilation tubes to treat chronic OME. Children with acute otitis media within the past three months were excluded from this study. We used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect pathogens and to test the susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae to penicillin.

Results: Among MEE samples from 52 children, PCR detected bacterial DNA in 32 per cent (24/75) of them. S. pneumoniae was detected more frequently in middle ears that required ventilation tube insertion at least twice compared with those requiring ventilation tube insertion only once (5/15 versus 4/60; p = 0.013). Higher levels of S. pneumoniae were detected in MEE from children with, than without, a long history of antibiotic administration (7/10 versus 2/14; p = 0.0187). The pbp genes of all isolated S. pneumoniae contained mutations.

Conclusions: Long exposure to antibiotics might significantly influence the bacterial genome in MEE.

We developed a scanning microwave microscope (SμM) designed for characterizing local electric properties at low temperatures. A high-Q λ/4coaxial cavity was used as a sensor probe, which can detect the change of quality factor due to the tip-sample interaction with enough accuracy. From the measurements of combinatorial samples, it was demonstrated that this SμM system has enough performance for high-throughput characterization of sample conductance under variable temperature conditions.

The authors previously reported stress measurement in stainless steel by the use of monochromatic Cr-Kβ X-rays and a position sensitive proportional counter. Results indicated that a stress value can be obtained with high precision on account of the subtraction of background and the elimination of αFe(211) peak by Cr-Kα X-rays. The major disadvantage of this method, however, is that the intensity of Kβ X-rays monochromatized is essentially weak and it is complicated to eliminate Kα X-rays for practical use.

Recently intense X-ray sources have been used in diffraction experiments on stress analysis, dynamical structure analysis, and so on. Since in these experiments one-dimensional position-sensitive X-ray detectors are very useful to reduce the measuring time, various kinds of X-ray detectors and processing systems have been developed. These detectors may be divided into two groups, the pulse type and the integral type. The pulse type employing either the charge division method, or the delay line method, processes each signal produced by an incident X-ray photon. To achieve a precise measurement, a sufficient gas gain and a relatively long processing time are needed. Therefore, the maximum counting rate depends on both detector characteristics and a signal processing time. On the other hand, the integral type, such as self-scanning photodiode array detectors (1, 2) periodically processes the charges produced by X-rays in each pixel. The total maximum counting rate of the detector is the sum of the maximum counting rate of each pixel and is higher than that of the pulse type.

X-ray stress analysis in austenltic stainless steel is generally carried out on the ϒFe(311) diffraction line produced by Cr- Kβ X-rays. However, it is often pointed out that not much reliance can be placed on the precision of the stress because the contrast between a diffraction peak and its background is poor. In addition, to measure the stress is sometimes impossible on a specimen which has martensite structure produced by thes train induced transformation, because the ϒFe(211) line appears in the neighborhood of the desired ϒFe(311) line, since Cr-K6 X-rays accompany Cr-Ka from a conventional X-ray source. If Cr-Ka X-rays can be eliminated and only Cr-KB X-rays directed on the specimen, only the λe(311) line with high contrast will be obtained and one can expect to measure the residual stress with high precision.

Instrumentation for X-ray stress analysis has been advanced rapidly in the last few years. Especially, the time required for data accumulation has been remarkably reduced without motion of the detector by using a new X-ray detector called a position sensitive detector (PSD). Applications of PSD to the field of X-ray stress analysis were carried out by James and Cohen, Ruud and Barrett, and the authors. In our laboratory, several position sensitive proportional counters (PSPCs) were designed and manufactured for residual stress measurements. Results show that the PSPC method is a powerful alternative to the conventional counter method or the film method.

This paper reports a design of a versatile PSPC X-ray stress analyzer for use in industry and the laboratory.

A position-sensitive proportional counter suitable for the X-ray stress measurement has been developed and residual stresses were measured with an apparatus that uses this PSD system. The counter was designed to have a good angular resolution over the counter length for the diffracted X-ray beam and high counting rates. The mean angular resolution measured was about 0.2° in 2θ (FWHM) at 200 mm, and the maximum allowable counting rate reached about 40,000 cps.

The time required for the data accumulation was shown to be 1/10 to 1/30 of the time required with a standard diffractometer.