Unusual non-human parasitic nematodes and eggs were detected in the faeces of an 8-year-old Japanese female suffering from Henoch-Schönlein purpura. The worms were adult female rhabditiform nematodes measuring 325.6–441.2 μm in length and 18.3–26.5 μm in width. One pair of the labia oris was notched with many spiny projections, while the other pair was strongly curved outwards. The worms were identified using light and scanning electron microscopy as the free-living nematode Diploscapter coronata (Cobb) based on their characteristic morphology. The patient's faeces containing worms and eggs were cultured using a filter-paper culture technique and after 7 days of culture, male as well as female worms were recovered. Worm survival time and hatchability of the eggs were examined in vitro after treatment with an artificial gastric or intestinal fluid. Although adult worms survived for less than one minute, eggs hatched after treatment with artificial gastric fluid. This suggests that eggs accidentally ingested or produced by adult D. coronata could develop in the human gastro-intestinal tract. Some morphological features of male D. coronata are also described.

We constructed a syndromic surveillance system to collect directly information on daily health conditions directly from local residents via the internet [web-based daily questionnaire for health surveillance system (WDQH SS)]. This paper considers the feasibility of the WDQH SS and its ability to detect epidemics. A verification study revealed that our system was an effective surveillance system. We then applied an improved WDQH SS as a measure against public health concerns at the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit meeting in 2008. While in operation at the Summit, our system reported a fever alert that was consistent with a herpangina epidemic. The highly mobile WDQH SS described in this study has three main advantages: the earlier detection of epidemics, compared to other surveillance systems; the ability to collect data even on weekends and holidays; and a rapid system set-up that can be completed within 3 days.

Objective: To evaluate the inner ear of a patient with an enlarged vestibular aqueduct and acute hearing deterioration, using three-dimensional fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (3D FLAIR) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Background: Three-dimensional fluid-attenuated inversion recovery MRI has been recently developed to detect haemorrhage and high concentrations of protein. Application of this method to inner-ear diseases has not been fully described.

Method: We used 3D FLAIR MRI to evaluate a patient with an enlarged vestibular aqueduct and acute hearing deterioration.

Results: On 3D FLAIR MRI, this patient had high signals in the endolymphatic duct and sac, the vestibule and the cochlea and was diagnosed as having a high protein concentration in the inner ear. These high signal areas were not detected by T1- and T2-weighted MRI.

Conclusion: This is the first published case in which a high protein concentration in the cochlea of a patient with an enlarged vestibular aqueduct was detected by 3D FLAIR MRI. These findings strongly supported the theory of the pathophysiology of hearing deterioration in patients with an enlarged vestibular aqueduct, which states that hyperosmolar fluid in the enlarged endolymphatic sac refluxes into the cochlea, resulting in damage to the hair cells. Thus, these finding may help clarify the cause of hearing deterioration in the presence of a large endolymphatic duct and sac.

We report the synthesis and thermoelectric properties of [(Ca1-xREx)2CoO3-δ]0.62CoO2 compounds (RE: rare earth element, RE = Y, Sm, Eu, Tb, Dy, Ho and Lu). From optimization of synthesis conditions, all the chosen RE in this study were able to be substituted for the Ca sites in the block layers up to x = 0.25. In the case of RE = Tb, at 1150 K, only κ was systematically decreased with x, while both Seebeck coefficient (S) and resistivity (ρ) were almost constant for the charge of x. Consequently, the dimensionless figure of merit (ZT) was increased with x and reached 0.2 at 1150 K for x = 0.25. Moreover, interestingly, it was found that S and ρ at 300 K were enhanced with ionic radius of the doped trivalent RE ions in spite of the doping of equivalent RE ions. This is probably because local structures of oxygen sites around Co ion in the CoO2 layers largely depend on kinds of the doped RE.

We have fabricated n-channel InSb MISFETs using SiO2 films as gate insulators. The insulator was deposited by PECVD using tetra-isocyanate-silane (TICS) and oxygen (O2) as source gases. Threshold voltage and carrier mobility at 77K were 0.5V and 4200cm2/Vs, respectively.

The growth of the shells of C60 crystals was carried out under various conditions. The detailed structures of the grown shells were investigated by transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The shells were formed during thermal sublimation of the C60 crystals, which were irradiated with white light in air. The shells were mainly composed of a kind of amorphous carbon. From these results, it is suggested that the oxygen-induced disintegration of C60 cages is responsible for the shell formation.

Microstructure evolution was studied in silicon nitride ceramics by a novel characterization method, and its relevance to the strength was discussed. The characterization method involves an immersion liquid for making green and partially sintered bodies transparent, and a subsequent direct optical microscopic examination. Granules for compaction process were prepared with the spray-drying process and were found to contain pores or deep dimples. Green bodies formed by CIP with these granules contain regularly arrayed pores at the center of granules and also crack-like voids at the boundaries of granules. These pores were preserved in the sintering process and resulted in large pores in the sintered body. They behave as fracture origin in ceramics and reduce the fracture strength. The Weibull modulus was high due to the presence of uniformly distributed pores.

1. The action of raw and heated soya beans on pancreatic function was studied by measuring the amylase activity of the pancreases and intestinal contents of intact chickens and of chickens with ileostomies at fasting and after eating, before and after adaptation to heated and raw soya-bean diets, with a methionine supplement and without. 2. The concentration of amylase in the pancreases of 8-week-old chickens eating raw soya-bean diets was lower than that of those eating heated soya-bean diets. These chickens were deficient in methionine; supplementation of the raw soya-bean diet with methionine greatly increased the levels of amylase in the pancreases of such chickens; supplementation of the heated soya-bean diet with methionine increased the levels of amylase in pancreases to a smaller extent. 3. Methionine was less effective in increasing the amylase levels of the pancreases of 11-week-old chickens eating raw soya-bean diets, since at this age the deficiency of methionine was much less pronounced. 4. More amylase activity was found in intestinal contents of chickens eating raw soya-bean diets than in those eating heated soya-bean diets. 5. In vitro studies showed that fractions prepared from raw soya beans, all containing high levels of trypsin inhibitors, stabilized amylase activity despite the active proteolysis of other protein substrates in the same amylase-containing mixtures. 6. CaCl2 stabilized amylase activity in vitro in unactivated and activated pancreatic juice as such, and after additions of raw soya beans or their fractions before and after autoclaving. 7. The increased levels of amylase found in the intestinal contents of the chickens eating raw soya beans may represent greater secretion of amylase activity by the pancreas, stabilization of amylase activity by the raw soya bean, or both factors. Interpretation of measurements of amylase activity in the intestinal contents of chickens eating heated or raw soya beans is uncertain. 8. The bearing of this work on current views of the nutritional value of raw and heated soya beans is discussed.